2005-2162 The Buddha’s birthday illuminates Seoul

Buddha’s Birthday: A luminary’s party enlightens Seoul
Cover Story
Cambodia, Taiwan, India and Tibet, set up booths and
shared their traditional customs and music.
Hundreds of foreign visitors enjoyed crafting lotus
lanterns, eating temple food, copying Buddhist sutras
and trying Buddhist painting and traditional games.
Korean Buddhism has a long history. Through
China, Buddhism arrived in Goguryeo, one of the
three ancient Korean kingdoms, in A.D. 372. About a
decade later, it spread south to another Korean kingdom,
Baekje. It finally landed in Silla about a century
later. Buddhism was at its peak during the Silla and the
Unified Silla dynasties (57 B.C. to A.D. 935), but its
followers were persecuted under the Confucian Joseon
Dynasty (1392 to 1910).
During the Joseon period, Buddhists lost their
power and their assets were confiscated. Monks were
treated as second-class citizens and temples were driven
out of city centers into the mountains. This persecution
lasted five centuries. But it could not destroy the
legacy of treasures left by 1,600 years of Buddhism on
the Korean Peninsula. In fact, over 70 percent of Korean
cultural properties are related to Buddhism.
The Three Kingdoms (57 B.C. to A.D. 668) and the
Unified Silla (668 to 935) were crucial periods during
which the foundation of Korean Buddhism was being
laid. Silla especially elevated Korean Buddhist culture
to a new level, represented by Seokgatap, a stone pagoda
at Bulguk Temple that is considered one of Korea’s
finest. Around the time Silla unified the peninsula,
Buddhist culture fully blossomed. Countless temples,
pagodas and monuments arose around the capital
Gyeongju. Among them are Seokguram Grotto and
Bulguk Temple, both Unesco World Heritage sites.
The Goryeo Dynasty (918 to 1392) succeeded Silla
and embraced Buddhism as a state religion. Zen flourished
during this period. Jinul (1158 to 1210), one of
Goryeo’s most revered monks, was a Zen master. If
Silla embodied Korean Buddhist art, Goryeo laid the
philosophical foundation of Korean Buddhism, represented
by the Jogye Order, firmly based on Zen.
Goryeo produced a number of great monks in
addition to Jinul. Ilyeon (1206 to 1289), the author of
Samgukyusa, deserves special mention for his irreplaceable
record of ancient Korean history.
Another notable achievement in that period is the
Tripitaka Koreana, or Palman Daejanggyeong. This
Goryeo-era collection of scriptures is on the Unesco
World Heritage list. It is the world’s oldest extant Buddhist
canon in Chinese and the most comprehensive
woodblock edition of Buddhist scripture ever made.
The Tripitaka Koreana was produced during the
Mongol invasions of the early 13th century. The huge
project was undertaken in the hope that Buddha would
have mercy and help expel the Mongolian army.
After enjoying the privileges of a state religion for
nearly 1,000 years, Korean Buddhism suffered a long
decline during the Joseon Dynasty. Buddhist monks,
who had been treated as aristocrats in Goryeo, were
demoted to the level of shamans and butchers, the
lowest class in Joseon. They were even banned from
entering the fortress walls of Korean cities.
But even this oppression could not crush Korean
Buddhism. A number of monks contributed to Joseon
by defending the country during war and the Japanese
occupation. The Venerable Seosan (1520 to 1604) was
probably one of the most distinguished figures in the
history of Joseon Buddhism. He earned his reputation
by successfully leading a monks’ army, with other
famous monks including Samyeongdang and Yeonggyu,
during the Japanese invasions from 1592 to 1598.
Seosan also created an important doctrine continued
in modern Korean Buddhism, “sagyo ipseon,” meaning
“Finish scriptural study to enter Zen.”
Monks also struggled against Japanese occupation
from 1910 to 1945. Manhae (1879 to 1944), whose
secular name was Han Yong-un, was the key figure in
Korean Buddhism from the final years of Joseon
through the colonial period. He was one of the 33
nationalist leaders who signed the Korean Declaration
of Independence that launched the nationwide liberation
movement on March 1, 1919.
Despite these constant national struggles, Korean
Buddhism was influenced by Japanese Buddhism.
Most notoriously, Korean monks were encouraged to
abandon celibacy and marry, following the Japanese
Buddhist custom. As a result, married monks accounted
for over 90 percent of new Buddhist clergy toward
[Press Q]
Clockwise from left:
Overseas visitors fold paper
lotuses; the festivities at
Bongeun Temple bathe
southern Seoul in a warm
glow; a family looks on,
paper flowers grapsed tight,
and crowds parade through
the city carrying lanterns
and pulling floats depicting
Buddhist saints and symbols.
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