Abstract:Pak Indŏk (1896–1980) is one of the most controversial women intellectuals of modern Korea. She was the protégé of US missionary teachers in her youth, an activist for national independence, a member of the US-educated elite, a prominent Christian convert who travelled around the world twice giving lectures about her salvation, an early media figure dubbed "Korea's Nora" after her sensational divorce, and a collaborator with the Japanese imperial power during the Pacific War who quickly switched her political allegiance in postcolonial Korea to become a vehement anticommunist. Using Pak's life story as a case study, this article examines the critical role of Protestant Christianity in shaping the gender politics of colonial-era Korea through which women navigated conflicting life options, coped with old and new challenges, and positioned themselves amid turbulent political changes. It particularly illuminates Pak's choices and strategies for her life and work, which could be alternatively characterized as "fluid," "ingenious," "opportunistic," or even "immoral," depending on the perspective one adopts on her. This article brings to light tensions between nationalism and feminism, between Christian faith and political allegiance, and between individual ambition and national wellbeing.
{"title":"Crossing the Lines: Pak Indŏk, Christianity, and the Impulse to Claim New Space","authors":"Hyaeweol Choi","doi":"10.1353/jkr.2021.0006","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/jkr.2021.0006","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:Pak Indŏk (1896–1980) is one of the most controversial women intellectuals of modern Korea. She was the protégé of US missionary teachers in her youth, an activist for national independence, a member of the US-educated elite, a prominent Christian convert who travelled around the world twice giving lectures about her salvation, an early media figure dubbed \"Korea's Nora\" after her sensational divorce, and a collaborator with the Japanese imperial power during the Pacific War who quickly switched her political allegiance in postcolonial Korea to become a vehement anticommunist. Using Pak's life story as a case study, this article examines the critical role of Protestant Christianity in shaping the gender politics of colonial-era Korea through which women navigated conflicting life options, coped with old and new challenges, and positioned themselves amid turbulent political changes. It particularly illuminates Pak's choices and strategies for her life and work, which could be alternatively characterized as \"fluid,\" \"ingenious,\" \"opportunistic,\" or even \"immoral,\" depending on the perspective one adopts on her. This article brings to light tensions between nationalism and feminism, between Christian faith and political allegiance, and between individual ambition and national wellbeing.","PeriodicalId":42017,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Korean Religions","volume":"12 1","pages":"37 - 67"},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2021-11-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41995844","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract:Quiet-sitting (chŏngjwa) has been mentioned throughout the Chosŏn dynasty as a key part of the Neo-Confucian self-cultivation process. However, we see very few references to it, and what we find is mostly on the philosophical aspect and the meditation's goals in terms of li and ki. We are left without any manuals or treatises on the actual technical aspects of the meditation. Is it practiced alone or in groups? Does it require a special form of sitting or breathing? When compared with other meditation forms, whether Buddhist Sŏn or Daoist toin, there is an unusual gap in our knowledge. This study is therefore a form of detective inquiry, attempting to piece together the nitty-gritty details of quiet-sitting through its odd references in letters, poems, and memoirs. Furthermore, I argue that it is quiet-sitting's relatively low importance that allowed individuals to adapt it to their own needs, stressing its free form and borrowing techniques from other traditions as needed. This makes quiet-sitting a prime example of the porous boundaries of Korean spiritual traditions.
{"title":"Calm Water is a Mirror: Neo-Confucian Meditation in the Chosŏn Dynasty","authors":"G. Shababo","doi":"10.1353/jkr.2021.0002","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/jkr.2021.0002","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:Quiet-sitting (chŏngjwa) has been mentioned throughout the Chosŏn dynasty as a key part of the Neo-Confucian self-cultivation process. However, we see very few references to it, and what we find is mostly on the philosophical aspect and the meditation's goals in terms of li and ki. We are left without any manuals or treatises on the actual technical aspects of the meditation. Is it practiced alone or in groups? Does it require a special form of sitting or breathing? When compared with other meditation forms, whether Buddhist Sŏn or Daoist toin, there is an unusual gap in our knowledge. This study is therefore a form of detective inquiry, attempting to piece together the nitty-gritty details of quiet-sitting through its odd references in letters, poems, and memoirs. Furthermore, I argue that it is quiet-sitting's relatively low importance that allowed individuals to adapt it to their own needs, stressing its free form and borrowing techniques from other traditions as needed. This makes quiet-sitting a prime example of the porous boundaries of Korean spiritual traditions.","PeriodicalId":42017,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Korean Religions","volume":"12 1","pages":"73 - 96"},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2021-05-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1353/jkr.2021.0002","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42314554","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract:Unbong Taeji's Treatise on the Nature of the Mind was composed during an interesting period of Korean history when Buddhism was suppressed under the political and ideological dominance of Neo-Confucianism. The treatise, nonetheless, entered the mainstream Neo-Confucian discourse and espoused the superiority of the Buddhist system of thought over Neo-Confucianism. It was done by skillfully reformulating the Confucian debate on the Limitless and the Supreme Ultimate into a Buddhist debate of the One Mind and inherent enlightenment of the human mind, the main doctrine of the Awakening of Mahāyāna Faith. Furthermore, Unbong enlisted the One Nature-Numerous Natures debate to emphasize the importance of individual natures within the oneness of inherent nature. From the works of Unbong, there is a strong sense that there were movements among monks who were intent on proving the superiority of Buddhism over Neo-Confucianism, at least as a system of thought that more accurately represented reality. Within the greater socio-political context, Unbong's arguments represented Buddhism as a tradition that was able to stand its hermeneutical ground against Neo-Confucianism. It was a display of self-confidence amongst the monks in their Buddhist tradition of thought in the latter half of the Chosŏn period.
{"title":"A Buddhist Critique of Neo-Confucianism in Seventeenth-Century Chosŏn Korea","authors":"Kim Jong Wook","doi":"10.1353/jkr.2021.0003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/jkr.2021.0003","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:Unbong Taeji's Treatise on the Nature of the Mind was composed during an interesting period of Korean history when Buddhism was suppressed under the political and ideological dominance of Neo-Confucianism. The treatise, nonetheless, entered the mainstream Neo-Confucian discourse and espoused the superiority of the Buddhist system of thought over Neo-Confucianism. It was done by skillfully reformulating the Confucian debate on the Limitless and the Supreme Ultimate into a Buddhist debate of the One Mind and inherent enlightenment of the human mind, the main doctrine of the Awakening of Mahāyāna Faith. Furthermore, Unbong enlisted the One Nature-Numerous Natures debate to emphasize the importance of individual natures within the oneness of inherent nature. From the works of Unbong, there is a strong sense that there were movements among monks who were intent on proving the superiority of Buddhism over Neo-Confucianism, at least as a system of thought that more accurately represented reality. Within the greater socio-political context, Unbong's arguments represented Buddhism as a tradition that was able to stand its hermeneutical ground against Neo-Confucianism. It was a display of self-confidence amongst the monks in their Buddhist tradition of thought in the latter half of the Chosŏn period.","PeriodicalId":42017,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Korean Religions","volume":"12 1","pages":"127 - 97"},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2021-05-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1353/jkr.2021.0003","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47805091","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract:This paper examines the ''globalization'' of the Korean Catholic Church (KCC). Despite its short history, the KCC has been transformed from a Church receiving missionaries and economic support to one sending them. The KCC has not only sent missionaries abroad, but has engaged in international development through its financial support and by running international developmental NGOs. This paper examines the ecclesial and social factors that have brought about this transformation in the KCC and contemplates its implications for global and Korean Catholicism. Among ecclesial factors, it highlights not merely the KCC's growth but also the decline of religious and priestly vocations in traditionally Catholic countries of the West. It also stresses Korea's globalization as a social factor. The KCC's globalization challenges the conventional stereotype of both the ''Christian West'' and ''Confucian Korea.'' Contemporary Korea is influenced by Christianity, both Protestantism and Catholicism, no less than Confucianism. Moreover, it denotes that Catholicism has not been exhausted by the West, but is being enriched by Korean Catholics.
{"title":"Going Global: The Transformation of the Korean Catholic Church","authors":"Denis Kim","doi":"10.1353/jkr.2021.0000","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/jkr.2021.0000","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:This paper examines the ''globalization'' of the Korean Catholic Church (KCC). Despite its short history, the KCC has been transformed from a Church receiving missionaries and economic support to one sending them. The KCC has not only sent missionaries abroad, but has engaged in international development through its financial support and by running international developmental NGOs. This paper examines the ecclesial and social factors that have brought about this transformation in the KCC and contemplates its implications for global and Korean Catholicism. Among ecclesial factors, it highlights not merely the KCC's growth but also the decline of religious and priestly vocations in traditionally Catholic countries of the West. It also stresses Korea's globalization as a social factor. The KCC's globalization challenges the conventional stereotype of both the ''Christian West'' and ''Confucian Korea.'' Contemporary Korea is influenced by Christianity, both Protestantism and Catholicism, no less than Confucianism. Moreover, it denotes that Catholicism has not been exhausted by the West, but is being enriched by Korean Catholics.","PeriodicalId":42017,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Korean Religions","volume":"12 1","pages":"37 - 5"},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2021-05-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1353/jkr.2021.0000","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45458290","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Cho Bernard Myungje, Bernard Senécal S.J. (Seo Myeonggweon)
Abstract:Few scholars and followers of the Buddhist faith are aware of how much modern Japanese Buddhist studies have influenced Sŏn Master Toeong Seongcheol's thought. It is, indeed, a well-kept secret. However, as an instance, a close examination of Seongcheol's ideas on the Madhyamaka doctrine (chungdoron 中道論), and of his resulting interpretation of Chan-Sŏn 禪 history, reveals how strongly the scholarly position and the main arguments of Miyamoto Shoson 宮本正尊 influenced Seongcheol. This appears all too clearly when reading Chudo siso oyobi sono hattatsu 中道思想及びその發達 (Madhyamaka thought and its developments), Shoson's magnum opus. As a consequence of such Japanese influences, Seongcheol's Buddhist scholarship largely stems from a frame of reference defining all forms of Buddhism as sharing—and being reducible to—a fundamental, all-pervading, and ultimate essence. However, the one, entirely unified and interpenetrating system of thought, or so-called t'ongbulgyo 通佛敎, emerging from this frame and its resulting perspective render him incapable, not only of grasping the historical context in which the Madhyamika viewpoint he so unconditionally embraces was born, but also of seeing the problems and political implications its birth engendered. For that reason, Seongcheol's Madhyamaka ideology fails to avoid the pitfalls of fundamentalism, reductionism, and totalitarian tendencies, because it glosses over the multiple facets of Buddhism, and thus gives way to an unbalanced, oversimplified definition of it as the ''Religion of Awakening.''
摘要：很少有学者和佛教信徒意识到现代日本佛教研究对东成哲的思想产生了多大的影响。事实上，这是一个保守得很好的秘密。然而，作为一个例子，仔细考察Seongcheol关于中央集权主义的思想（chungdoron中道論), 以及他对Chan-Sŏn的解释禪 历史，揭示了宫本将森的学术立场和主要论点宮本正尊 影响了承澈。这一点在阅读Chudo siso oyobi sono hattatsu时显得太清楚了中道思想及びその發達 （中央思想及其发展），肖森的代表作。由于日本的影响，Seongcheol的佛教学术在很大程度上源于一个参照系，该参照系将所有形式的佛教定义为共享——并可还原为——一种基本的、普遍的、终极的本质。然而，一个完全统一和相互渗透的思想体系，即所谓的汤通佛敎, 从这个框架及其产生的视角中走出来，使他不仅无法把握他无条件接受的中央集权观点诞生的历史背景，也无法看到其诞生所产生的问题和政治影响。因此，Seongcheol的中央派意识形态未能避免原教旨主义、还原主义和极权主义倾向的陷阱，因为它掩盖了佛教的多个方面，从而让位于将其定义为“觉醒宗教”的不平衡、过于简单化
{"title":"Japanese Buddhist Modernism and the Thought of Sŏn Master Toeong Seongcheol 退翁性徹禪師 (1912–1993)","authors":"Cho Bernard Myungje, Bernard Senécal S.J. (Seo Myeonggweon)","doi":"10.1353/jkr.2021.0001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/jkr.2021.0001","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:Few scholars and followers of the Buddhist faith are aware of how much modern Japanese Buddhist studies have influenced Sŏn Master Toeong Seongcheol's thought. It is, indeed, a well-kept secret. However, as an instance, a close examination of Seongcheol's ideas on the Madhyamaka doctrine (chungdoron 中道論), and of his resulting interpretation of Chan-Sŏn 禪 history, reveals how strongly the scholarly position and the main arguments of Miyamoto Shoson 宮本正尊 influenced Seongcheol. This appears all too clearly when reading Chudo siso oyobi sono hattatsu 中道思想及びその發達 (Madhyamaka thought and its developments), Shoson's magnum opus. As a consequence of such Japanese influences, Seongcheol's Buddhist scholarship largely stems from a frame of reference defining all forms of Buddhism as sharing—and being reducible to—a fundamental, all-pervading, and ultimate essence. However, the one, entirely unified and interpenetrating system of thought, or so-called t'ongbulgyo 通佛敎, emerging from this frame and its resulting perspective render him incapable, not only of grasping the historical context in which the Madhyamika viewpoint he so unconditionally embraces was born, but also of seeing the problems and political implications its birth engendered. For that reason, Seongcheol's Madhyamaka ideology fails to avoid the pitfalls of fundamentalism, reductionism, and totalitarian tendencies, because it glosses over the multiple facets of Buddhism, and thus gives way to an unbalanced, oversimplified definition of it as the ''Religion of Awakening.''","PeriodicalId":42017,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Korean Religions","volume":"12 1","pages":"39 - 71"},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2021-05-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1353/jkr.2021.0001","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49653893","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Gender Politics at Home and Abroad: Protestant Modernity in Colonial-Era Korea by Hyaeweol Choi (review)","authors":"Choi Hee An","doi":"10.1353/jkr.2021.0004","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/jkr.2021.0004","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":42017,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Korean Religions","volume":"12 1","pages":"129 - 132"},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2021-05-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1353/jkr.2021.0004","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48188107","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract:The publishing of texts is a historical phenomenon with many social, political, intellectual, and cultural implications. In contrast to previous studies, this article adopts a quantitative method of examining the number of Buddhist texts published in each century and categorizing the texts according to their characteristics. Moreover, the entire Chosŏn period is not characterized by anti-Buddhist state policies; rather, the shifting conditions of the temples are considered over the course of the centuries. Moreover, I consider the diverse factors that may have impacted the publication of Buddhist texts. Based on these methods, the findings contrast starkly with what has heretofore been understood about Chosŏn Buddhism over the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Based on a social and historical perspective, this study finds that the state policy on Buddhism and the publication output of Buddhist texts were entirely unrelated. Based on an examination of temple published texts, it is found that Chosŏn temples selectively adopted from previous traditions, while after the Imjin Wars Buddhist institutions and culture came to be reformulated. Lastly, it is demonstrated how the temple publication of Buddhist texts was a precursor to the later popularization of book culture, the wide dissemination of texts, and the expansion of readership.
{"title":"Increased Temple Publication of Buddhist Texts in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries: Reading the Political and Cultural Significance of the Monastic Community","authors":"Son Sŏngpil","doi":"10.1353/jkr.2020.0011","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/jkr.2020.0011","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:The publishing of texts is a historical phenomenon with many social, political, intellectual, and cultural implications. In contrast to previous studies, this article adopts a quantitative method of examining the number of Buddhist texts published in each century and categorizing the texts according to their characteristics. Moreover, the entire Chosŏn period is not characterized by anti-Buddhist state policies; rather, the shifting conditions of the temples are considered over the course of the centuries. Moreover, I consider the diverse factors that may have impacted the publication of Buddhist texts. Based on these methods, the findings contrast starkly with what has heretofore been understood about Chosŏn Buddhism over the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Based on a social and historical perspective, this study finds that the state policy on Buddhism and the publication output of Buddhist texts were entirely unrelated. Based on an examination of temple published texts, it is found that Chosŏn temples selectively adopted from previous traditions, while after the Imjin Wars Buddhist institutions and culture came to be reformulated. Lastly, it is demonstrated how the temple publication of Buddhist texts was a precursor to the later popularization of book culture, the wide dissemination of texts, and the expansion of readership.","PeriodicalId":42017,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Korean Religions","volume":"11 1","pages":"17 - 43"},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2020-11-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1353/jkr.2020.0011","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47526885","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract:Previous studies concerning the fifteenth-century vernacular translations of Buddhist texts have focused on those by the Directorate of Sūtra Publication (Kan'gyŏng togam) and its related purposes and significances. Scholars have pointed out that King Sejo (r. 1455–1468) aimed at fortifying his authority by means of such vernacular translations. Others have maintained that Sejo intended to revitalize and popularize Buddhism. However, in considering the genres of the Buddhist texts deliberately chosen for translation, the format and style of the translations, as well as the ruling ideology of the Chosŏn dynasty, namely, "elevating Confucianism and suppressing Buddhism," this paper will present findings that challenge the discourse on the Chosŏn state's relationship to Buddhism. Unlike previously accepted narratives, I argue that the vernacular translations of Buddhist texts were not intended so much to revive or popularize Buddhism as to edify the laity and strengthen the scholastic training of the Buddhist clergy, while at the same time conforming to Confucian social norms and values. In conclusion, the fifteenth-century vernacular translations, including those by the Directorate of Sūtra Publication, were more characteristic of cultural control of Buddhism with the aim of stabilization and integration of society, which is inherently different from the popularization or revival interpretations.
{"title":"Beyond the Pro- or Anti-Buddhist Interpretations of State Governance: An Alternate Reason for the Vernacular Translations of Sinitic Buddhist Texts in Fifteenth-Century Chosŏn Korea","authors":"Kim Kijong","doi":"10.1353/jkr.2020.0013","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/jkr.2020.0013","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:Previous studies concerning the fifteenth-century vernacular translations of Buddhist texts have focused on those by the Directorate of Sūtra Publication (Kan'gyŏng togam) and its related purposes and significances. Scholars have pointed out that King Sejo (r. 1455–1468) aimed at fortifying his authority by means of such vernacular translations. Others have maintained that Sejo intended to revitalize and popularize Buddhism. However, in considering the genres of the Buddhist texts deliberately chosen for translation, the format and style of the translations, as well as the ruling ideology of the Chosŏn dynasty, namely, \"elevating Confucianism and suppressing Buddhism,\" this paper will present findings that challenge the discourse on the Chosŏn state's relationship to Buddhism. Unlike previously accepted narratives, I argue that the vernacular translations of Buddhist texts were not intended so much to revive or popularize Buddhism as to edify the laity and strengthen the scholastic training of the Buddhist clergy, while at the same time conforming to Confucian social norms and values. In conclusion, the fifteenth-century vernacular translations, including those by the Directorate of Sūtra Publication, were more characteristic of cultural control of Buddhism with the aim of stabilization and integration of society, which is inherently different from the popularization or revival interpretations.","PeriodicalId":42017,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Korean Religions","volume":"11 1","pages":"101 - 75"},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2020-11-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1353/jkr.2020.0013","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45037646","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract:Much has been written about the Chosŏn scholar-officials and the gentry but very little is known about their private affairs, such as their religious activities. To date, socio-political elite males of the Chosŏn period are accepted to have been averse to heterodox traditions, especially heterodox rituals. Despite the overall lack of research on their private lives, it seems this group of men did leave behind clear records of their activities and involvement with Buddhist temples. Indeed, these Chosŏn elites took part in Buddhist events and temple works more than has been realized. This article focuses on the donor ledgers for temple works, which reveal a trove of evidence of the intimate relationship that existed in the Chosŏn period between the Buddhist temples and wealthy gentry women and men. Not much different from the Koryŏ period, during the succeeding Chosŏn period sponsorship by the wealthy and powerful was a lifeline for Buddhism. Despite the five centuries under Confucian rule and anti-Buddhist state policies, during the Chosŏn dynasty the monastic community was able to continue its relationship not only with the masses but also with the socio-political elites. We are aware that beyond the polemical relationship between the Confucian elite and Buddhism, there existed a cultural framework where Buddhism provided to the societal elites not only religious meaning, but socio-cultural significance, practices, and identity.
{"title":"The Chosŏn Gentry Sponsorship of Buddhist Temple Works: Insights from the Records of Late-Chosŏn Donor Ledgers","authors":"S. T. Kim","doi":"10.1353/jkr.2020.0012","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/jkr.2020.0012","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:Much has been written about the Chosŏn scholar-officials and the gentry but very little is known about their private affairs, such as their religious activities. To date, socio-political elite males of the Chosŏn period are accepted to have been averse to heterodox traditions, especially heterodox rituals. Despite the overall lack of research on their private lives, it seems this group of men did leave behind clear records of their activities and involvement with Buddhist temples. Indeed, these Chosŏn elites took part in Buddhist events and temple works more than has been realized. This article focuses on the donor ledgers for temple works, which reveal a trove of evidence of the intimate relationship that existed in the Chosŏn period between the Buddhist temples and wealthy gentry women and men. Not much different from the Koryŏ period, during the succeeding Chosŏn period sponsorship by the wealthy and powerful was a lifeline for Buddhism. Despite the five centuries under Confucian rule and anti-Buddhist state policies, during the Chosŏn dynasty the monastic community was able to continue its relationship not only with the masses but also with the socio-political elites. We are aware that beyond the polemical relationship between the Confucian elite and Buddhism, there existed a cultural framework where Buddhism provided to the societal elites not only religious meaning, but socio-cultural significance, practices, and identity.","PeriodicalId":42017,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Korean Religions","volume":"11 1","pages":"45 - 73"},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2020-11-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1353/jkr.2020.0012","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43687516","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Guest Editor's Introduction","authors":"S. T. Kim","doi":"10.1353/jkr.2020.0010","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/jkr.2020.0010","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":42017,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Korean Religions","volume":"11 1","pages":"15 - 5"},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2020-11-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1353/jkr.2020.0010","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43997023","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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