KOREA

Korean Buddhism must be considered within the larger context of the East Asian Mah?y?na tradition. Broadly speaking, the creative period of Chinese Buddhism was over by the end of the twelfth century, after which Chinese Buddhism ceased to have a significant impact on Korean Buddhism. Furthermore, no indigenous developments within Korean Buddhism radically altered its character after the twelfth century; by and large, the basic identity of Korean Buddhism was formed by this time, in clear contrast with Japanese Buddhism, which began to develop its highly idiosyncratic forms after the thirteenth century. This does not mean that Korean Buddhism ceased to develop, but that its fundamental character was established long ago.

After the thirteenth century, denominational differences within Korean Buddhism became less significant until the entire Korean sa?gha eventually became a single order. This process, which took more than six hundred years, culminated in the establishment of the Chogyejong (Chogye school or order) in 1941. The Chogye order, which practically represents the entirety of modern Korean Buddhism, considers itself a scion of the Chan school (Korean, S?n; Japanese, Zen), but it actually embraces many of the diverse forms of East Asian Buddhist thought and practice that had flowed into Korea beginning in the fourth century c.e. This feature of Korean Buddhism has led scholars to characterize it as t'ongbulgyo, a "holistic Buddhism" that is free from sectarian differences and doctrinal conflicts.

Introduction of Buddhism into the Three Kingdoms

When Buddhism came to Korea in the latter half of the fourth century, the peninsula was divided into three kingdoms, each ruled by an ancient tribal confederation trying to expand its territory at the expense of the others. The religious beliefs and practices of the people were predominantly animistic; they believed in deities that resided in nature, and they worshipped the ancestral spirits of tribal leaders. With the establishment of monarchies, however, Korean society moved beyond its tribal stage and was ready to entertain a new religion with a universalistic ethos.

Among the three kingdoms, Kogury? (37 b.c.e.–618 c.e.) in the north was the earliest to form a centralized state and was by far the most powerful. Although some evidence suggests that Buddhism had been known earlier, it was in 372 c.e., during the reign of King Sosurim (r. 371–384), that Buddhism was officially introduced into Kogury?. Sosurim maintained a tributary relationship with the Former Qin (351–394) in northern China, and its king, Fujian (r. 357–385), an ardent supporter of Buddhism, sent a monk-envoy named Sundo (d.u.), with Buddhist images and scriptures, to Kogury?. Significantly, in that same year Sosurim also established the T'aehak, an academy for Confucian learning. The following year he promulgated legal codes, laying the foundation for a centralized bureaucratic state.

Around the time Buddhism came to Kogury?, the Paekche kingdom (18 b.c.e.–660 c.e.), which occupied the southwestern part of the peninsula, was introduced to Buddhism by the Eastern Jin in southern China, with which Paekche had a close diplomatic relationship. As with Kogury?, the new religion came to Paekche at the time the kingdom, in particular King Ku?n Ch'ogo (346–375), was consolidating royal control over tribal powers.

The kingdom of Silla (57 b.c.e.–935 c.e.), which held the southeastern corner of the peninsula, was the last of three kingdoms to be introduced to Buddhism. When Buddhism first came to Silla during the reign of King Nulchi (417–447), it met strong resistance from ruling aristocratic families that were deeply rooted in tribal religious practices. The martyrdom of Ich'adon, a loyal minister, provoked King P?ph?ng (r. 514–540) to finally recognize the new religion in 527 c.e. P?ph?ng had promulgated legal codes for the kingdom in 520, and he prohibited killing throughout the land two years after recognizing Buddhism.

Buddhism introduced a number of new religious practices and ideas to Korea: Buddhist monks were clearly set apart from the rest of the society; images of buddhas and bodhisattvas offered a clear focus for devotion; and Buddhist scriptures contained soaring philosophical ideas with an expansive cosmology and advanced moral teaching. In addition, a host of new cultural phenomena accompanied Buddhism, including architecture, craftsmanship, a writing system, calendrics, and medicine. Buddhist monks were not simply religious figures, they were magicians, doctors, writers, calligraphers, architects, painters, and even diplomats and political advisers. Although many years passed before Korean Buddhists had a solid understanding of the philosophical subtleties of Buddhist teachings, its material culture alone was sufficient to win the hearts of the kings and nobles, as well as the common people.

Expansion of Buddhist influence

It was Silla, the least developed of the three kingdoms, that benefited most from Buddhism after Silla leaders turned Buddhism into a powerful ideology of the state. As a source of religious patriotism, Buddhism played an important role in Silla's unification of the divided peninsula. King Chinh?ng (r. 540–576), the successor of P?ph?ng, was the first Silla monarch who allowed his subjects to become monks. P?ph?ng himself became a monk at the end of his life, taking the Buddhist name P?bun (Dharma Cloud), an act that demonstrated the unity of the state and the sa?gha. Beginning of P?ph?ng, many Silla rulers adopted Buddhist names, including ?uddhodana, M?y?, and ?r?m?l?, for themselves and their families. Buddhism had clearly become a force for legitimizing royal authority.

Eminent monks, such as W?n'gwang (d. 630) and Chajang (ca. seventh century), became spiritual leaders of both the sa?gha and the state. W?n'gwang is best known for his sesok ogye (five precepts for laypeople), which he presented at the request of two patriotic youths. The precepts stipulated that one must serve the sovereign with loyalty, serve parents with filial piety, treat friends with sincerity, never retreat from the battlefield, and not kill living beings indiscriminately. Instead of offering the traditional five precepts, W?n'gwang adapted Buddhist ethics to the pressing needs of the Silla kingdom during a crucial period of its history.

Chajang, a Silla nobleman, traveled to Tang China in 636 and spent seven years studying Buddhism. Upon his return, he was given the title of taegukt'ong (Grand National Overseer), one who supervises the entire sa?gha. Chajang established the ordination platform for monks at T'ongdo Monastery and strictly enforced the Buddhist vinaya throughout the sa?gha. He is also credited with building a magnificent nine-story pagoda in the compound of Hwangnyong Monastery, the national shrine of Silla.

Although the rulers and aristocratic families were attracted to Buddhism mainly for its material benefits, such as the protection of the state and the welfare of the family, many monks avidly studied and lectured on important Chinese Buddhist texts. Almost all the major Mah?y?na texts, which had played an important role in the formative period of Chinese Buddhism, were introduced into Korea. Buddhist monks from Kogury? and especially Paekche subsequently played seminal roles in the transmission of Buddhism and Sinitic culture to Japan.

Buddhist thought flourished in Korea once the Silla rulers unified the three kingdoms in 680. The contributions of the eminent monks ?isang (625–702) and W?nhyo (617–686) were particularly important. ?isang had traveled to China and studied under Zhiyan (602–668), the second patriarch of the Huayan school. Upon his return to Silla, he became the founder of the Korean Hwa?m (Huayan) school, the most influential doctrinal school in Korean Buddhism. The founding of many famous monasteries in Korea, such as Hwa?msa, Pus?ksa, and P?m?sa, are attributed to ?isang, and his Hwa?m ils?ng p?pgye to (Chart of the One-Vehicle Dharma-Realm of Huayan) sets forth the gist of Hwa?m philosophy in the form of 210 Chinese characters arranged in a square diagram.

W?nhyo, commonly regarded as the greatest thinker in Korean Buddhism, was a prolific writer who produced no less than eighty-six works, of which twenty-three are extant either completely or partially. By his time, most of the important s?tras and treatises had flowed into Korea from China, and they were causing a great deal of confusion for Silla Buddhists, as they had for the Chinese. It was W?nhyo's genius to interpret all of the texts known to him in a way that would reveal their underlying unity of truth without sacrificing the distinctive message of each text. He found his hermeneutical key in the famous Mah?y?na text, the Awakening of Faith (Dasheng qixin lun). W?nhyo's commentaries on this text influenced Fazang (643–712), the great systematizer of Huayan thought.

But W?nhyo was more than a scholar-monk. He tried to embody in his own life the ideal of a bodhisattva who works for the well-being of all sentient beings. Transcending the distinction of the sacred and the secular, he married a widowed princess, visited villages and towns, and taught people with songs and dances. Silla Buddhism fully matured during W?nhyo's time, not only in terms of its doctrinal depth but also its ability to engage the common people.

Beginning in the late eighth century, the unified Silla dynasty began to show signs of disintegration due to conflicts within the ruling class and the rise of local warlords. During this period of political turmoil the S?n or Chan school of Buddhism was introduced into Korea from Tang China. Numerous S?n centers were soon established, mostly in provinces far away from the Silla capital of Ky?ngju and under the patronage of local warlords and magnates. Most of the founders of the Nine Mountains school of S?n (Kusan S?nmun) received transmission in China from members of the dharma-lineage of the famous Mazu Daoyi (709–788). Their new approach to Buddhism soon created conflict with the older schools of doctrinal Buddhism (Kyo), bifurcating the Korean sa?gha.

Buddhism in the Kory? dynasty

The long political turmoil of the late Silla period ended with the redivision of the Korean peninsula into three kingdoms and the rise of Wang K?n (r. 918–943), a local warlord who founded a new dynasty, the Kory? (918–1392). Although the political climate had changed, the intimate relationship between Buddhism and the state did not. Buddhism became even more firmly established as the state religion. Wang K?n was a pious Buddhist and attributed his political success to the protective power of the buddhas. He was also a firm believer in geomancy, and he constructed numerous Buddhist monasteries according to geomantic principles with a view to curbing evil forces emanating from unfavorable places. Following his example, the succeeding Kory? monarchs became ardent supporters of Buddhism. During the reign of King Kwangjong (949–975), the state established a monks' examination system that was modeled on the civil service examination. Titles were conferred upon the monks who passed the examination, according to their ranks. The highest honor belonged to the royal preceptor (wangsa) and the posthumous national preceptor (kuksa). In short, the Buddhist san?gha became part and parcel of the state bureaucracy, and the idea of hoguk pulgyo (state-protection Buddhism) became firmly entrenched during the Kory? dynasty.

In the latter half of the eleventh century, a new school arose and changed the denominational dynamics of the Kory? sa?gha. ?ich'?n (1055–1101), the fourth son of King Munjong, became a Hwa?m monk at the age of eleven. At thirty-one he traveled to Song China, where he met many illustrious Chinese masters, who inspired him to establish a new order, the Ch'?nt'aejong (T^IANTAIschool) in Kory?, a decision rooted in his determination to resolve the severe conflict between S?n and Kyo (doctrinal Buddhism) in the Kory? sa?gha. ?ich'?n was critical of S?n's iconoclastic rhetoric, which he believed ignored scriptural learning. He wanted his new school to balance doctrinal study (kyo) and meditation (kwan). ?ich'?n's leadership and royal background soon made Ch'?nt'ae a flourishing order, but the conflict continued to intensify. Not long after ?ich'?n, the Nine Mountains school of S?n began to consolidate under a new name, the Chogyejong.

A century later, a S?n monk named C^HINUL (1158–1210) led a quiet monastic reform movement in order to purify the Kory? sa?gha, which he believed was in a state of serious moral and spiritual decay. Convinced through his encounter with the writings of the Hwa?m exegete Li Tongxuan (635–730) that S?n's "sudden enlightenment" (tono) approach could also be found in Hwa?m teaching, Chinul concluded that there was no discrepancy between S?n and Kyo. Chinul established a comprehensive approach to S?n that balanced "sudden enlightenment" with "gradual cultivation," and he permitted both a Hwa?m method of "sudden enlightenment" and the "extraordinary" (ky?goe) method of hwadu (k?an) meditation. Chinul's S?n teaching, set forth in many of his writings, became the foundation for the thought and practice of Korean S?n Buddhism to the present day.

Kory? Buddhism is also noted for its monumental woodblock editions of the Chinese Buddhist canon, the first of which is said to have been commissioned by King Hy?njong (1009–1031) in the hope of protecting the country from invading Liao forces. This edition was burned by Mongols in 1232. King Kojong (1213–1259) commissioned another edition of the canon on Kanghwa Island, where he had fled after the Mongol invasion. This edition, which consisted of more than eighty thousand woodblocks, took sixteen years to complete (1236–1251); it is still preserved in the Tripi?aka Hall of Haein Monastery near Taegu.

Buddhism during the Chos?n dynasty

Supported by the court and the nobles, the Kory? sa?gha enjoyed considerable economic prosperity. Large monasteries became major landowners after the donation of land and serfs by the kings and influential families, and many monasteries developed into financial powers by pursuing various commercial enterprises. The sa?gha's economic power became so immense that it generated much complaint and criticism toward the end of the dynasty. Lesser bureaucrats were especially strong critics, influenced by neo-Confucianism, a new ideology introduced from Song China in the late thirteenth century.

With the collapse of the Kory? regime, Buddhism came under further attack. The new Chos?n dynasty (1392–1910), which was built upon neo-Confucian ideology, severed its official relationship with Buddhism. Land holdings were confiscated and hundreds of monasteries were disbanded. As anti-Buddhist measures grew more severe, people were prohibited from ordaining, monks were not allowed to enter the capital city, the monks' examination system was abolished, and the various Buddhist denominations were forced to consolidate. Only two denominations, S?njong and Kyojong, were left, all others being absorbed into them. In short, Buddhism was forced out of mainstream society, and monks were downgraded to the lowest social stratum.

It was during this period of persecution that the denominational identities of the traditional Buddhist schools disappeared and the ascendancy of S?n began. Less dependent, perhaps, upon institutional and doctrinal structures, S?n withstood the persecution better than Kyo and managed to maintain its tradition deep in the mountain areas.

Buddhism experienced a short revival during the sixteenth century when Hyuj?ng (1520–1604) became the most important leader of the Choso?n sa?gha, both S?n and Kyo. Although a S?n master, Hyuj?ng demonstrated an accommodating attitude toward doctrinal studies. He argued that Kyo is the word of the Buddha, whereas S?n is his mind. Although he believed in their essential unity, Hyuj?ng taught that a monk's training should begin with Kyo, but eventually the trainee must move on to S?n in order to attain perfection. Hyuj?ng thus established the principle of "relinquishing Kyo So and entering into S?n" (sagyo ips?n), which is still followed among Korean monks today.

Hyuj?ng and his followers, especially Yuj?ng (1544–1610) and Y?nggwan (1485–1571), also played an important role in mobilizing the monks' militia against Japanese forces during the Hideyoshi invasion (1592–1599). Although Buddhist monks were held in contempt in the strongly anti-Buddhist Confucian society, they were ironically the salvation of the state during this national crisis. Many monks were subsequently given high honorific military titles, and their improved status continued for a while after the war.

On the whole, during the Choso?n period, Buddhism fell from the place of high respect and honor that it had enjoyed during the Silla and Koryo? periods, and it remained largely confined to the countryside, isolated from mainstream intellectual and cultural life. Nevertheless, monks of high learning and character continued to flow into the san?gha, providing leadership during a difficult period.

Modern period

During the Japanese colonization of Korea (1910–1945), Korean Buddhism faced new challenges. The Japanese policy toward Buddhism was inconsistent. Although the Japanese government lifted the ban on monks' entry into metropolitan areas and allowed most religious activities, the government-general also tried to control the Korean sa?gha and to force its merger with one or another Japanese sect of Buddhism. The sach'ally?ng (Monastery Act) placed the Korean sa?gha under political surveillance by imposing a hierarchical organization on the monasteries and by requiring state approval for the appointment of the abbots. An important development in Korean Buddhism under colonial rule was the emergence of married priests (taech'?s?ng), an influence of Japanese Buddhism, which eventually became a major source of conflict in the san?gha after Korean independence.

Government persecution during the Chos?n period had forced the amalgamation of schools and sects, and the denominational identities of Korean Buddhism were essentially obliterated, with the exception of the distinction between S?n and Kyo, although even this distinction became practically meaningless after the ascendance of S?n. Efforts were made during the Japanese colonial period to define the character of Korean Buddhism by giving it a denominational name. In view of its predominantly S?n character, it adopted in 1941 the name Chogyejong, after the old Kory? S?n order.

After independence, a struggle broke out between celibate monks (pigus?ng) and married clergy over control of the monasteries, resulting in the schism of the sa?gha in 1962 into two denominations: the celibate Chogye order and the much smaller T'aego order for married priests. Although new sects such as Ch'?nt'aejong and Chin'gakchong arose during the 1960s, the Chogye order represents virtually all of Korean Buddhism today. It is administered by its national office (ch'ongmuw?n) based at the Chogye monastery in Seoul. A comprehensive program of ordination and training of monks is provided by four main Chogye monasteries: Haeinsa, Songgwangsa, T'ongdosa, and Sud?ksa. Having separate quarters and facilities for S?n meditation, doctrinal studies, vinaya studies, and Pure Land recitation, these comprehensive monasteries are called ch'ongnim ("grove of trees," referring to the large body of monks residing there), and they are distinguished from other large and small monasteries.

In modern times, the Chogye order is organized on the basis of three important levels of distinction. These distinctions are by no means rigid, but they reveal the nature and spirit of contemporary Korean Buddhism.

First, monastic communities of celibate monks and nuns are distinguished from lay Buddhists, a distinction familiar throughout the Buddhist world. In Korea, a further distinction exists between the monks who are engaged in ch?ngjin (meditation practice) or kongbu (doctrinal study) and those who provide woeho (external support) for them. The first group is devoted to some form of spiritual cultivation, while the other is responsible for the maintenance of the monastery, food preparation, financial management, construction and repair of buildings, ritual services for lay Buddhists, and other works. This distinction, which dates back to the Chos?n period when Buddhism was persecuted by the state, is more than a division of labor; it constitutes a nearly polar division within the Korean san?gha, especially in large well-established monasteries.

Monks devoted to study are further distinguished in that some practice S?n in the meditation hall under the guidance of S?n masters, while others study scriptures and doctrines in the lecture hall. These two groups do not have equal status because scriptural study, which is expected of every monk, is regarded as a preparatory step toward meditation, and the authority of the S?n master is incomparably higher than that of the lecturer. This distinction reflects the primarily S?n orientation of Korean Buddhism, with doctrinal or scriptural study occupying a subordinate or subsidiary position.

At the beginning of the twenty-first century, it is estimated that more than ten million Buddhists live in Korea, mainly in the South. (Although some Buddhist monasteries exist in North Korea, the number of practicing Buddhists is negligible, if they do indeed exist.) Buddhism strengthened its urban presence considerably during the 1980s and 1990s in response to increased activity by Christian churches in South Korea. Many urban centers of Buddhism were established by the traditional influential monasteries, and some independent Buddhist centers have arisen, drawing large numbers of middle- and upper-class Koreans. Meanwhile, many monks with keen social consciences are leading movements dedicated to various social, political, and environmental causes, including the reconciliation of North and South Korea.

Buddhism has left an indelible mark upon the Korean people and their culture. The vast majority of Korean cultural monuments and treasures derive from Buddhism, and many names of towns and mountains are of Buddhist origin. Stories and legends with Buddhist motifs abound, as do novels and films based on Buddhist themes. For centuries Buddhism has provided Koreans with a way to cope with major misfortunes or crises in life. The belief in the law of karma and the cycle of birth-and-death has become a part of the Korean psyche, and the Buddhist teaching that life is impermanent and full of suffering has been fundamental to the Korean worldview ever since the arrival of Buddhism in the fourth century.

See also:Korea, Buddhist Art in; Korean, Buddhist Influences on Vernacular Literature in; Printing Technologies

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Hee-Sung Keel