The Role of Buddhist Monks in the Development of Archives in the Korean Middle Ages

Abstract

This study compares the roles of Buddhist monks in medieval Korea and Christian monks in medieval Europe in the development and management of archives. Buddhist and Christian monks and monasteries played similar roles in preserving both religious and secular texts, but the archival role of Christian monks was limited to monastic archives, whereas Buddhist monks were integral to the management of both monastic and secular archives. The establishment early in the Koryo dynasty (918-1392) of a centralized bureaucratic system required a centralized archival system, of which monastic archives were one branch. These monastic archives were managed by one of the major government departments of the secular authority and by Buddhist officials, who consisted largely of Buddhist monks. The findings of this study suggest that different political and social structures in medieval Korea and Europe, as well as the differing religious philosophies and cultures of Buddhism and Christianity, resulted in divergent archival d...