India’s Buddhist Linkage with Korea During the Colonial Era

Abstract

This essay attempts to situate Indian writings on Korean Buddhism, written in theearly twentieth century during the colonial era, within the dominant cultural discourseof “pan-Asianism” that was shaped by the dynamics of Indian history under British ruleand the attendant rise of modern Indian nationalism. Based on a careful reading of adiverse range of Indian writings on Korean Buddhism — travelogues, autobiographies,journal articles and monographs — the study examines the ways in which the pan-Asian rhetoric of “Greater India” or “Cultural colonies of ancient India in East Asia”was deployed to interpret the Buddhist culture and traditions of East Asian countries,including Korea. Rabindranath Tagore, the first Indian to win Nobel Prize for literature in 1913,arrogated to himself the role of high priest of pan-Asianism, which formed an integralpart of cultural nationalism of modern India. His poem on Korea, entitled “Lamp ofthe East” represented his tribute to the significance of Korea as a lamp-bearer of pan-Asian Buddhist civilization that had its root in India. Under his intellectual guidanceseveral scholars, notably Kalidas Nag and P. C. Bagchi made efforts to understand theBuddhist civilization of East Asia, including Korea and added substance and specificityto India’s pan-Asian cultural nationalism. Rahul Sankrityayana, who visited Korea in the 1930s as a Buddhist monk,viewed Buddhism as an expression of the rational and critical spirit of India. Hewas a prodigious traveller, tireless explorer and one of the most gifted and dedicatedscholars of Buddhism that India produced in the modern times. His writings on KoreanBuddhism served as a bridge that linked Indian interests to Korean cultural traditions. His experiences in Korean monasteries encouraged Korean Buddhist monks engagein questions of “Indianness” of Buddhist traditions and reflect on the broader issue ofrejuvenating the ancient bond between these two countries.