KOREA[895]
The Buddhism of Korea cannot be sharply distinguished from the
Buddhism of China and Japan. Its secluded mountain monasteries have
some local colour, and contain halls dedicated to the seven stars and
the mountain gods of the land. And travellers are impressed by the
columns of rock projecting from the soil and carved into images
(miriok), by the painted walls of the temples and by the huge
rolled-up pictures which are painted and displayed on festival days.
But there is little real originality in art: in literature and
doctrine none at all. Buddhism started in Korea with the same
advantages as in China and Japan but it lost in moral influence
because the monks continually engaged in politics and it did not win
temporal power because they were continually on the wrong side. Yet
Korea is not without importance in the annals of far-eastern Buddhism
for, during the wanderings and vicissitudes of the faith, it served as
a rest-house and depot. It was from Korea that Buddhism first entered
Japan: when, during the wars of the five dynasties the T'ien-t'ai
school was nearly annihilated in China, it was revived by a Korean
priest and the earliest extant edition of the Chinese Tripitaka is
known only by a single copy preserved in Korea and taken thence to
Japan.
For our purposes Korean history may be divided into four periods:
I. The three States (B.C. 57-A.D. 668).
II. The Kingdom of Silla (668-918).
III. The Kingdom of Korye (918-1392).
IV. The Kingdom of Chosen (1392-1910).
The three states were Koguryu in the north, Pakche in the south-west
and Silla in the south-east[896]. Buddhism, together with Chinese
writing, entered Koguryu from the north in 372 and Pakche from the
south a few years later. Silla being more distant and at war with the
other states did not receive it till about 424. In 552 both Japan and
Pakche were at war with Silla and the king of Pakche, wishing to make
an alliance with the Emperor of Japan sent him presents which included
Buddhist books and images. Thus Korea was the intermediary for
introducing Buddhism, writing, and Chinese culture into Japan, and
Korean monks played an important part there both in art and religion.
But the influence of Korea must not be exaggerated. The Japanese
submitted to it believing that they were acquiring the culture of
China and as soon as circumstances permitted they went straight to the
fountain head. The principal early sects were all imported direct from
China.
The kingdom of Silla, which became predominant in the seventh century,
had adopted Buddhism in 528, and maintained friendly intercourse with
the T'ang dynasty. As in Japan Chinese civilization was imitated
wholesale. This tendency strengthened Buddhism at the time, but its
formidable rival Confucianism was also introduced early in the eighth
century, although it did not become predominant until the
thirteenth[897].
In the seventh century the capital of Silla was a centre of Buddhist
culture and also of trade. Merchants from India, Tibet and Persia are
said to have frequented its markets and several Korean pilgrims
visited India.
In 918 the Wang dynasty, originating in a northern family of humble
extraction, overthrew the kingdom of Silla and with it the old Korean
aristocracy. This was replaced by an official nobility modelled on
that of China: the Chinese system of examinations was adopted and a
class of scholars grew up. But with this attempt to reconstruct
society many abuses appeared. The number of slaves greatly
increased[898], and there were many hereditary low castes, the
members of which were little better than slaves. Only the higher
castes could compete in examinations or hold office and there were
continual struggles and quarrels between the military and civil
classes. Buddhism flourished much as it flourished in the Hei-an
period of Japan, but its comparative sterility reflected the inferior
social conditions of Korea. Festivals were celebrated by the Court
with great splendour: magnificent monasteries were founded: the bonzes
kept troops and entered the capital armed: the tutor of the heir
apparent and the chancellor of the kingdom were often ecclesiastics,
and a law is said to have been enacted to the effect that if a man had
three sons one of them must become a monk. But about 1250 the
influence of the Sung Confucianists began to be felt. The bonzes were
held responsible for the evils of the time, for the continual feuds,
exactions and massacres, and the civil nobility tended to become
Confucianist and to side against the church and the military. The
inevitable outburst was delayed but also rendered more disastrous when
it came by the action of the Mongols who, as in China, were patrons of
Buddhism. The Yüan dynasty invaded Korea, placed regents in the
principal towns and forced the Korean princes to marry Mongol wives.
It was from Korea that Khubilai despatched his expeditions against
Japan, and in revenge the Japanese harried the Korean coast throughout
the fourteenth century. But so long as the Yüan dynasty lasted the
Korean Court which had become Mongol remained faithful to it and to
Buddhism; when it was ousted by the Ming, a similar movement soon
followed in Korea. The Mongolized dynasty of Korye was deposed and
another, which professed to trace its lineage back to Silla, mounted
the throne and gave the country the name of Chosen.
This revolution was mainly the work of the Confucianist party in the
nobility and it was not unnatural that patriots and reformers should
see in Buddhism nothing but the religion of the corrupt old regime of
the Mongols. During the next century and a half a series of
restrictive measures, sometimes amounting to persecution, were applied
to it. Two kings who dared to build monasteries and favour bonzes were
deposed. Statues were melted down, Buddhist learning was forbidden:
marriages and burials were performed according to the rules of
Chu-hsi. About the beginning of the sixteenth century (the date is
variously given as 1472 and 1512 and perhaps there was more than
one edict) the monasteries in the capital and all cities were closed
and this is why Korean monasteries are all in the country and often in
almost inaccessible mountains. It is only since the Japanese
occupation that temples have been built in towns.
At first the results of the revolution were beneficial. The great
families were compelled to discharge their body-guards whose
collisions had been a frequent cause of bloodshed. The public finances
and military forces were put into order. Printing with moveable type
and a phonetic alphabet were brought into use and vernacular
literature began to flourish. But in time the Confucian literati
formed a sort of corporation and became as troublesome as the bonzes
had been. The aristocracy split into two hostile camps and Korean
politics became again a confused struggle between families and
districts in which progress and even public order became impossible.
For a moment, however, there was a national cause. This was when
Hideyoshi invaded Korea in 1592 as part of his attack on China. The
people rose against the Japanese troops and, thanks to the death of
Hideyoshi rather than to their own valour, got rid of them. It is said
that in this struggle the bonzes took part as soldiers fighting under
their abbots and that the treaty of peace was negotiated by a Korean
and a Japanese monk[899].
Nevertheless it does not appear that Buddhism enjoyed much
consideration in the next three centuries. The Hermit Kingdom, as it
has been called, became completely isolated and stagnant nor was there
any literary or intellectual life except the mechanical study of the
Chinese classics. Since the annexation by Japan (1910) conditions have
changed and Buddhism is encouraged. Much good work has been done in
collecting and reprinting old books, preserving monuments and copying
inscriptions. The monasteries were formerly under the control of
thirty head establishments or sees, with somewhat conflicting
interests. But about 1912 these thirty sees formed a union under a
president who resides in Seoul and holds office for a year. A
theological seminary also has been founded and a Buddhist magazine is
published.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 895: See various articles in the _Trans. of the Korean
Branch of the R.A.S._, and F. Starr, _Korean Buddhism_. Also M.
Courant, _Bibliographie coréenne_, especially vol. III. chap. 2.]
[Footnote 896: The orthography of these three names varies
considerably. The Japanese equivalents are Koma, Kudara and Shiragi.
There are also slight variations in the dates given for the
introduction of Buddhism into various states. It seems probable that
Mârânanda and Mukocha, the first missionaries to Pakche and Silla were
Hindus or natives of Central Asia who came from China and some of the
early art of Silla is distinctly Indian in style. See Starr, _l.c._
plates VIII and IX.]
[Footnote 897: These dates are interesting, as reflecting the changes
of thought in China. In the sixth century Chinese influence meant
Buddhism. It is not until the latter part of the Southern Sung, when
the philosophy of Chu-hsi had received official approval, that
Chinese influence meant Confucianism.]
[Footnote 898: The reasons were many, but the upper classes were
evidently ready to oppress the lower. Poor men became the slaves of
the rich to obtain a livelihood. All children of slave women were
declared hereditary slaves and so were the families of criminals.]
[Footnote 899: These statements are taken from Maurice Courant's
Epitome of Korean History in Madrolle's _Guide to North China_, p.
428. I have not been successful in verifying them in Chinese or
Japanese texts. See, however, Starr, _Korean Buddhism_, pp. 29-30.]