The Zen monks of Silsangsanmun(實相山門) in the Late Silla period

The activities of Silsangsanmun Zen monks in the Late Silla period have crucial meaning in the history of the Zen Buddhism. Hong cheok was one of the Zen monks in the period of accepting the Zen Buddhism and has been regarded as one of ‘the initial monks(初傳僧)’ along with Doui(道義) since then. Silsangsanmun was ‘the first Zen sect’ opened first among so-called Nine Zen sect. In particular, Hongcheok was a special Zen monk who achieved both the acceptance of the Zen Buddhism in Silla and the outset of Zen sect. Hyeonuk(玄昱, 787~868) was outset of Bongrimsanmun and returned a little later than the initial monks like Doui or Hongcheok to spread the Zen Buddhism widely. Returning about 10 years later than Hongcheok, he stayed in Silsang sa Temple for three years. Presumably, Hyeonuk’s stay in Salsangsa Temple did not mean the change of religious tradition in Zen sect but was attributed to Silla’s royal family devoting to it with the mediation of Hongcheok. After Hong cheok, Silsang sanmun was handed down to Sucheol(秀澈, 815~893) and Pyeonun(片雲, ?~910). Sucheol was the second progenitor of Silsangsanmun following Hongcheok and installed as the national monk of Silla after Hongcheok. Particularly, he had ties with Silla’s loyal family in the line of King Gyeongmun leading from King Gyeongmun to Queen Jinseong. About Pyeonun, research was done centering around prestigious writings on stupas. He competed with Sucheol about the main line of descent and was connected to the reign of Gyeonhwon in the Post Baekje in terms of political power. Sucheol and Pyeonun were the second-generation Zennists following Hongcheok. These two were the disciples under the same master, and they were combined with Silla and Post Baekje each, which well reveals severe competition developed around the world of Buddhists then.