Introduction

...offers us a means of evaluating and, in certain cases, still experiencing directly some of the finest flowerings of Chinese Buddhist culture.

Paralleling early developments in the northern Chinese dynasties, Buddhism from its inception in Korea was a state religion enjoying the support of the crown and wielding immense ecclesiastical, political, and economic influence. Since the vulnerable geographical position of the country left it open to periodic foreign invasions, Korean tribal chiefs who aspired to hegemony during the political consolidation of the Three Kingdoms (1st century B.C.–A.D. 668) relied heavily on the universalistic ethic of Buddhism to legitimize and empower their regimes. The responsive power of the Buddhas and bodhisattvas (enlightened beings who help others) was considered to be not only an effective shield against the terrors of foreign invasion and natural disaster, but also a unifying force among the populace at large.

Thus, the royal families gave enthusiastic and munificent support to the religion and encouraged its dissemination among the masses. Dynasties were won over to Buddhism not simply because of its profound philosophy, exotic rituals, or the promise of favorable rebirths in heaven for themselves and their ancestors; rather, they were just as concerned with the prosperity of their houses and the security of their kingdoms. Indeed, throughout Korean Buddhist history, many of the most visible accomplishments of the tradition, such as the woodblock carving of the Buddhist canon undertaken during the Koryŏ dynasty, were initiated as a means of national protection. This symbiotic relationship between Buddhism and the court—the court supporting the dissemination of the religion, the monks interceding on behalf of the court for the security of the kingdom—was vividly demonstrated during Hideyoshi’s invasion of the Korean peninsula (1592–1598), when it was the monks’ militia that first turned back the Japanese thrust. Even in modern-day Korea, the national Chogye Order, the officially recognized ecclesiastical body, has formed a Monks’ Militia for National Defense (Hoguk Sŭngdan), in which all monks must participate.¹

The need for social harmony, dictated by the threats constantly lurking on all its borders, was soon extended into a need for philosophical harmony as well. Korea could simply not support the large numbers of individual sects of Buddhism that were spawned on the Chinese mainland, and the syncretic vision which vivified the writings of many Chinese philosophers in the Chinese T’ien-t’ai (Korean: Ch’ŏnt’ae) and Hua-yen (Korean: Hwaŏm) schools soon inspired Korean thinkers as well. The intensely sectarian Buddhism of the medieval Chinese tradition was approached syncretically by almost all major Korean Buddhist thinkers. This syncretic focus of the tradition finds one of its finest exponents in Chinul, and it will be discussed in detail later.

As in China, indigenous religious and shamanistic beliefs were not abandoned by the people or the court upon their acceptance of Buddhism, and the religion in Korea was viewed through the veil of these native practices.²