The Three Kingdoms Era (BC 39-AD 668)

When Buddhism was first introduced into Korea, the peninsula of Korea was divided into the three kingdoms Goh Goo Ryur (BC 37 - AD 668), Baek Jeh (BC 18 – AD 660) and Sil Lah (BC 57 - AD 935).

Officially Buddhism was accepted in Goh Goo Ryur since the the second year of king Soh Soo Rim’s reign (AD 372), namely by the acquisition of Buddha images and sutras from Soon Do Sunim, a monk who came from Eastern China. But, actually, through private channels Buddhism was already well known to the people of Goh Goo Ryur.

So, Goh Goo Ryur’s official acceptance of Buddhism as national ideology was, in the first place, to sanctify the power of sovereignty and to control the people.

Twelve years later, in the first year of king Chim Ryoo’s reign (AD 384) an Indian monk known as Marananda brought Buddhism to Baek Jeh.

Actively the royal court of Baek Jeh propagated Buddhism through the next reigning monarch, king Ah Shin, who declared to the people that they should obtain good fortune by believing in Buddhism.
Baek Jeh also greatly contributed to the development of ancient Japan by spreading Buddhism to this neighbouring land, for example King Surng Myung sent envoys to Japan with a stone Buddha image and Buddhist scriptures. Also, Korean monks like Dahm Hyeh had great influence on the establishment of early Buddhism in Japan by visiting it and building temples.

The third kingdom, Sil Lah, officially accepted Buddhism in AD 527 about 150 years later than Goh Goo Ryur and Baek Jeh. At first, this met with great difficulties because of Sil Lah’s weak sovereignty on the one hand and, on the other hand, a relatively strong aristocracy, which still adhered to the local religions. But on the occasion of the martyrdom of the Royal Minister Ee Chah Don, the Sil Lah court finally accepted Buddhism in the 14th year of king Burp Huhng’s rule in AD 527.

The reason why Buddhism could develop quickly under the three kingdom’s royal patronage was that in these ancient nations the royal authority was the centre of the nation’s power and Buddhism suited fine as a spiritual support for this power base.

Unified Sil Lah (AD 668 - 935)

The name of this temple is called “Bul Guk Sa”, which means “Buddha Land”, first built in 535 during the reign of King Beop-heung, and it is located on the outskirts of Gyung-ju, the capital of the unified Sil Lah period. But the present stucture of this temple was rebuilt up during the reign of king Gyong-dok (742-765) by Kim Dae-seong, who was a famous prime minister, historically well knowned.

The above Buddha statue, named “Surk Gul Ahm” means “cave of the Buddha”. It was also created at the same time as Bul Guk Sa temple - about 751 by the famous Kim Dae-seong. The Surk Gul Ahm is called one of the most beautiful Buddha statues in the world.

Sil Lah adopted Buddhism as a ruling theory to solidify its own sovereignty, and united the three kingdoms after defeating its neighbour countries Goh Goo Ryur and Baek Jeh in the 8th year of king Moon Moo’s reign.

As the national religion Buddhism played a great spiritual role in this unified country, the Unified Sil Lah. At the beginning, it was mainly the aristocracy that embraced Buddhism, but, eventually, more and more ordinary people also came to know and to believe in it.

During this period the Buddhism in the Unified Sil Lah was mainly dominated by personalities like the great monk Won Hyo, Ui Sang and Cha Jang. Especially these three monks played a representative role of many other eminent monks, who helped to turn the Unified Sil Lah time into the golden age of Korean Buddhism.

Out of these early years emerged five main schools of Doctrinal Buddhism: Vinaya school (kor.:Yul Jong), Nirvana school (Yolban Jong), Dharma Nature school (Popseong Jong), Avatamska school (Hwaurm Jong), and Yogacara school (Popsang Jong).

These early schools were to play a basic role in the future development of Korean Buddhism, and finally bloomed radiantly korean Buddhist legacies, such as the famed Surk Gul Ahm Cave, Bul Guk Sa (Temple), et cetera.

 

 

 

The Introduction of Zen Buddhism to Korea (the Nine Mountain Schools of Korean Zen)

In Korea, Zen was first introduced by the monk Toui. He, a native of Sil Lah, went to China (during the Tang Dynasty) in 784 and returned in 818 after a stay of thirty four years.

Toui was born at a time when Buddhist culture in Sil Lah had already passed its zenith and was entering a period of decline. Toui’s lifetime also happened to coincide with the golden age of Zen Buddhism in China (roughly the 8th and 9th century).

During his stay in China the monk Toui studied under the renowned Zen master Hsi Tang Chih Tsang (735 – 814). Along with Nan Chuan (748-835) and Pai Chang (720-814) Hsi Tang was considered to be one of the ablest of the 139 Dharma heirs of the great patriarch Ma Tsu (709-788).

From this Zen master Hsi Tang Chih Tsang (Kor.: Seo-Dang Ji-Jang) the monk Toui received the `Transmission of Dharma´. Toui’s enlightenment was also recognized by Pai Chang, who is said to have praised him by saying: “It seems that the orthodox Zen tradition of master Ma Tsu will soon leave China and cross the sea to Sil Lah”.

Simultaneously with Toui there were a number of Korean monks, who also studied Zen in Tang China. These monks later returned to Sil Lah and founded their own schools and temples. Following the Chinese tradition of the Tang era these founder monks established their temples in the mountains – hence they were called “Mountain Schools”. Especially nine of these Mountain Schools were famous, the Nine Mountain Schools, which were all established within a period of one hundred years after Toui’s return from China (between 828 and 931).

In sharp contrast to the Zen Buddhism, that Toui and the other founder monks brought from China, Korean Buddhism had been, up to that time, completely sutra oriented. So, for example, Ui Sang’s Hwa Om School (School of the Avatamsaka doctrine) had become the most prosperous and most influential sect of all the doctrinal schools and therefore exercised the greatest influence on the scholastic orientation of the Sil Lah Buddhism.

In this situation the monk Toui became the first Zen master in Korea to openly challenge the supremacy, indeed even the validity, of the Doctrinal Schools. During the next hundred years the distinction between Zen and the Doctrinal schools came to be more sharply drawn in Korea than it had ever been in China.

The Buddhism of Goh Ryur Dynasty (935 – 1392)

Wang Geon, the founder of the Goh Ryur dynasty, who assumed power under the name King Tae Jo (918-943), was a devout Buddhist and was personally friendly with many Zen monks. He thought that the establishment of the Goh Ryur Dynasty was only possible because of the blessing of the Buddha. So, he protected Buddhism and built many temples.

Meanwhile the Zen sect, which had been introduced to Korea in the later Unified Silla period and had then developed on its own during the time of the Goh Ryur dynasty, began more and more to give definition to Korean Buddhism.

As with Sil Lah, Buddhism in the Goh Ryur period was also considered to be a religion, which protected the nation. Because of the geographic situation, neighbouring countries frequently invaded Goh Ryur. The carving of the enormous Buddhist canon on eighty-four-thousand wooden blocks was carried out as a means to defend the country against foreign invasions – in fact by invoking the power of the Buddha’s teachings, and the another motivation of this mammoth task of the carving was in resolving thr conflicts between the Seon (Zen) and the the Gyo (doctrine) schools. This carving task was begun in the early years of the eleventh centry during the reign of King Hyon Jong (1011) and was completed in the 4th year of King Seonjong (1087), spreading over a long period of 77 years. However, unfortunately these wood blocks were burned during the Mongol Invations in the 19th year of King Go Jong (1232). Hence, in the 23th year of King Go Jong (1236), the historical carving task of the Tripitaka was again begun and the great Buddhist canon equivalent to 81258 wood blocks was finally completed in the 38th year of King Go Jong (1251).

This eighty-thousand Buddhist-canon was one of the great achievements of Go Ryur Buddhism, indeed of all Korean Buddhism, and it is still well preserved in the Jang Gyong Gak of the Hae In Sa temple.

It supported the background of this first carving of the Tripitaka that the monk Uichon (the National Teacher Dae-gak) established his instrument of publishing Buddhist Scriptures. Uichon was the first person to attempt a reconciliation between the two schools of Seon and Gyo, who was a seminal figure in Korean Buddhist history. Uichon, who was the National Teacher Dae-gak, was the fourth son of King Munjong (1046-1083), and became a monk and against his father's wishes, traveled surreptitiously to Sung China in 1085 at the age of thirty.

Upon his return from China, Uichon tried to reconcile the conflicts between the Seon and the Gyo schools. But he died at the early age 46 and the experiment was brought to a halt. But it was left to Zen master, the National Teacher Bojo Jinul (1158-1210).
Bojo Jinul is to Korean Zen what Hui-neng the sixth Patriarch, is to Chinese Zen.

Joh Surn Dynasty, alias the Yi Dynasty (1392-1910)

- Buddhism under the Yi Dynasty -

Yi Taejo (1392-1398), the founder of the new dynasty, was personally a Buddhist having been converted to Buddhism by Muhak Daesa, who was a successor of Zen Master Naong Hye geun (1320-1376, the last years of the Goh Ryur dynasty), but he politically owed his power to the Neo-Confucianists. He adapted Buddhism as a simple religion and Confucianism as a Social-administrative system. As a result, the measures against the Buddhist establishment were primarily economic, and were neither too severe nor too lenient.

But this policy was changed under the third king of the Yi dynasty, Taejong (1400-1418), who was a younger son of Taejo. Taejong moved steadily to reduce the economic, political and social influence of Buddhism, and increasingly promoted the ideas of Neo-Confucianism.

Finally, they actively began to suppress Buddhism which was closely related with the corrupt sovereigns and bureaucrats of Goh Ryur, who had become so corrupt that no one could effectively wield great influence upon them at that time, and from that time on, this anti-Buddhism-policy of Yi dynasty had almost continued for 500 years.

Despite this official oppression, Buddhism still played a role of religion in the whole fields of society. The most famous example came during the Japanese invasion of the late 16 century, when Buddhist masters like Hyoo Jurng (Seo San Dae Sa) organized the monks into a fighting force for saving the Korean race and expelled the invaders from their country. Contrary to the leaders' intentions of this time, Buddhism became even move deeply entrenched in the common people's culture and belief systems.

Modern Times (1910- present)

During the Japanese occupation (1910-1945), the distorted influence of Japanese Buddhism drew a dark shadow over Korean Buddhism, which increasingly lost its identity because of Japanese political oppression. Due to the corrupted system many temples were run by married monks.

After Korea gained independence in 1945, the government took the lead to expel married monks from temples, so bhikkhus and bhikkunis regained their previous position and Korean Buddhism reached a new turning point. Since then the tradition of the Jogye order, representative Korean Buddhist order, has been re-established. In an effort to re-establish in dependence and self-reliance Buddhists in Korea consolidated themselves and tried to clean up their own monasteries which had been severely weakened by the impositions of the Japanese colonizers.

An example of this is the Buddhist Clearing-Up Movement in the 1950, which was a development of the renewed Buddhism in Korea and was conducted by the monastic Sangha as well as lay followers.

Zen school also had a favorable influence upon reforming Korean Buddhist spirit, changed into the style of Japanese Buddhist in Post-Japanese Korea (after Korea's being under the reign of Japan). Zen has always blown fresh air into Korean Buddhism whenever it would have fallen in its own contradiction and have needed some helps of salvation.

Hence, “the aspect of Korean Buddhism, which has preserved the original spirit of the Buddha, which takes a serious view of the tradition and rules of unified Buddhism, which sees Seon (Zen) and Doctrine as one, is still alive in modern Buddhism”.

German version