Precious Items Piling up Like Mountains: Buddhist Art Production via Fundraising Campaigns in Late Koryŏ Korea (918–1392)

Maya Stiller

doi:10.3390/rel12100885

Abstract

Considering visual culture alongside written source material, this article uncovers the socioeconomic aspect of Korean Buddhist monastic life, which has been a marginalized field of research. Arguing against the idea of an “other-worldly” Buddhism, the article specifically discusses the ways in which Buddhist monasteries conducted fundraising activities in late Koryŏ period (918–1392 CE) Korea. Via fundraising strategies, which targeted wealthy aristocrats as well as the commoner population, Buddhist monks managed the production and maintenance of Buddhist material culture, such as the construction of shrines, the casting of precious sculptures, and the carving of thousands of woodblocks used for the printing of sacred Buddhist scriptures. While the scholarship on Koryŏ Buddhism has traditionally focused on meditation, doctrine, state sponsored rituals, and temples’ relationships with the royal court, this study expands the field by showing that economic activities were salient features of Koryŏ Buddhism “on the ground.” By initiating and overseeing fundraising activities, Buddhist manager-monks not only gained merit, but also maintained the presence and physical appearance of Buddhist temples, which constitute the framework of Buddhist ritual and practice.

Highlights

Contrary to the conventional understanding of “other-worldly” Buddhist monks, studies on the economic history of Buddhism in China, Japan, and ancient India have shown that the idea of Buddhist temples and monks being removed from the mundane realm of financial matters is largely fictional (Colcutt 1982; Covell 2012; Gernet 1995, p. 6; Goodwin 1987, p. 12; Kieschnick 1997, p. 33; Schopen 1994, p. 527; Schopen 1995, 2000; Walsh 2010, pp. 167–86)
The research presented in this article points to the fact that a substantial number of Buddhist monks were involved with securing funding and managing the realization of mundane temple projects
Since state support for Buddhist temples dwindled due to fiscal shortages during the late Koryo, Buddhist monks successfully employed fundraising campaigns in order to realize projects that went beyond providing for the livelihood of the temple community

Summary

Introduction

Contrary to the conventional understanding of “other-worldly” Buddhist monks, studies on the economic history of Buddhism in China, Japan, and ancient India have shown that the idea of Buddhist temples and monks being removed from the mundane realm of financial matters is largely fictional (Colcutt 1982; Covell 2012; Gernet 1995, p. 6; Goodwin 1987, p. 12; Kieschnick 1997, p. 33; Schopen 1994, p. 527; Schopen 1995, 2000; Walsh 2010, pp. 167–86). Recent works have shown that Buddhist monastics exercised agency in the management of economic enterprises with the primary purpose of generating income for the temple (Brook 1993; Kindall 2011; Mitchell 2016). Incorporated into this emerging trend, this article looks at Buddhist temple economics from a broad multidisciplinary perspective that combines methodologies and perspectives from Buddhist Studies, art history, and economic history. Complementing existing art historical scholarship, this article provides a more fine-grained analysis of the entire process of Buddhist art creation, from the monks’ fundraising efforts to the final completion of a repair and/or (re)construction project, instead of focusing almost exclusively on the physical features and philosophical contents of the “arts”

Buddhist Monasteries’ Regular Income and Fundraising Campaigns

Concluding Thoughts