Buddhist Order Research Articles

Spatializing Nationalism and Religion: The Production of Sinhala-Buddhist Imagination and the Centrality of Anuradhapura

Anuradhapura, the most ancient and revered Buddhist city in Sri Lanka, underwent a major transformation at the turn of the 20th century. By analyzing the complex interplay of nationalism, religion, and colonialism, and paying special attention to local agency, this article examines how the local leaders of the Buddhist revival movement brought the ancient city into the center of the Sinhala-Buddhist universe. They struggled against the colonial archeologization and museumization of Anuradhapura, especially where highly significant Buddhist monuments are located, and to eliminate non-Buddhist activities from the sacred city. Simultaneously, they fought against the continuing dominance of the Buddhist order established in the last native kingdom (Kandy-based Up-Country) which fell in 1815. Combined with the rise of the Low-Country elite, the restructuring of Ceylon that followed displaced both Kandy and the colonial capital of Colombo, making them find accommodation in the new Sinhala-Buddhist spatiality defined by Anuradhapura’s centrality.

Protocols of Conversion: Indigenous Gods and Eminent Monks in East Asian Buddhism

This article examines the relationships between eminent monks and local gods in East Asian Buddhism, problematizing the ill-defined and much-employed concept of “protector deity of the dharma” (Skt. dharmapāla). By carefully examining various stories of the interactions between eminent monks and various gods found mostly in the biographies of eminent monks in Buddhist literature, we find three recognizable patterns when an indigenous god transforms into a “Buddhist” god. This study illustrates the ways in which local gods obtain Buddhist identities and deciphers how the “conversion” becomes possible via the spiritual power of the eminent monks, whose drive from their moral strength serves as the foundation of their spiritual essence. In this long process of localization of the dharma, the most effective narratives link the idea of the dharmapāla with the virtue of eminent monks. Hence, these narratives in GSZ, XGSZ, and Samugykusa contain colorful examples of taming local gods and malicious spirits with their mental power and moral virtue, finding a place for those gods to fit into the new Buddhist order. This study provides insights into the complex interactions between different religious traditions and sheds light on the ways in which religious ideas and practices are adapted and transformed in new cultural contexts.

Gender Conflicts in Contemporary Korean Buddhism

Scholars have observed that Korean Buddhist nuns have a relatively high social status compared to nuns of other Asian countries, much like their sisters in Taiwan. It is a source of great pride for many Korean bhikṣuṇīs that their community operates with a high degree of autonomy, bringing them to an almost equal standing with their male counterparts. However, this claim of equal status is challenged once the nuns step outside their own communities and into the hierarchical system of the Order, an institution dominated by male monastics. This paper aims to report on the gender disparity between male monastics and Buddhist women, both nuns and laywomen alike. I will first explore Korean Buddhist nuns’ experiences of gender discrimination imposed by the current institutional and cultural practices of the Buddhist Order, and their battles to challenge the legitimacy of this power structure. Next, I will introduce various episodes, including the Buddhist administration’s conflict with progressive women’s groups, to showcase the gender dynamics and current status of women in Korean Buddhism. Ultimately, my argument is that the conservatism and misogynism of traditional religion continue to influence Korean Buddhism today, despite societal efforts to heighten gender awareness and sensitivity.

Polski etap „Marszu Pokoju Hiroszima–Auschwitz” 1962‒1963. Buddyjsko-pacyfistyczne i polityczne konteksty byłych niemieckich nazistowskich obozów koncentracyjnych jako miejsc pamięci o Zagładzie i II wojnie światowej

The Polish stage of the “Hiroshima-Auschwitz Peace March” 1962‒1963. Buddhist-pacifist and political contexts of former German Nazi concentration camps as places of remembrance of the Holocaust and World War II As a result of the increased activity of organizations for former prisoners of the concentration and extermination camps, shortly after World War II, the memory of events at KL Auschwitz-Birkenau reached a global scale. In February 1962, an interreligious group of four young people, led by Satō Gyōtsu (1919‒2018) – a monk from a Buddhist order named Nipponzan-Myōhōji (Nichiren tradition) – undertook to march between Hiroshima and Oświęcim. Their purpose was to tell the truth about the crimes committed in both cities and spread the ideas of pacifism and disarmament. Within ten months, they visited 22 countries. The article primarily analyzes the Polish stage of the “Peace March,” based on an analysis of materials written by veterans and former prisoners of the camp in Auschwitz as well as texts published in the daily press. The second part of the article deals with the religious aspect of the “Peace March” in a broader context, discussing the complicity and collective responsibility of religious organizations, including Buddhist, for the drama of World War II. This “Peace March,” according to the author, was a form of confession of repentance and religious redress.

Secularization and Desecularization of Modern Korean Buddhism

This study aims to diagnose the secularization of modern Korean Buddhism in terms of the Buddhist monks’ values, the management of the community of saṃgha, and the legal system of the Buddhist order, and to suggest methods for desecularization in each area. In modern society, the Buddhist monks’ values are becoming materialistic like those of secular people. The management of the saṃgha is becoming politicized and commercialized like a secular organization, and the legal system of the Buddhist order imitates social legislation. This study suggests the following methods for desecularization: in the Buddhist monks’ values, the education of the saṃgha, a daily living environment for Buddhist monks, and the guidance of the preceptors have to be unified in order to see people’s true natures and awaken people to the way. Moreover, in the management of the community of saṃgha, lay Buddhists must take their place as the main agents of managing the system of the Buddhist community so that Buddhist monks can devote themselves to Buddhist practice and missionary work. In the legal system of the Buddhist order, it is necessary to abolish the secular democratic system of elections and adopt a Buddhist democratic system known as karman(kalma 羯磨).

Power-Sharing and the Tug of War at the Royal Court: The Significance of Queen Munjeong’s Restoration of Buddhism in Mid-Joseon Korea Reconsidered

This article aims to reconsider the significance of the controversy surrounding Queen Munjeong’s (1501–65) reinstatement of the two Buddhist orders, Seon (meditation) and Gyo (doctrine), by using it as a window onto the nature of politics in the Joseon Dynasty. Queen Munjeong’s restoration of Buddhism has received significant scholarly attention since the early 1990s, and most studies agree that the queen mother was able to bring her pro-Buddhist policy to fruition thanks to her supporters, i.e., officials loyal to her. Nevertheless, these allies were also found to have articulated opposition to her pro-Buddhist policies. Thus it would be logical to query what significance the disputes might have had in the context of early and mid-Joseon political dynamics. In King Myeongjong’s reign, the monarch had to share power with the high-ranking officials and bureaucrats; the scholar-officials were acting as arbiters and the king sought their approval prior to taking any action. In case of a dispute, precedents were invoked to substantiate one’s claim. By closely reading the contestations, I argue that Queen Munjeong’s restoration of the Buddhist orders was an aborted attempt at establishing a precedent that the throne could use to its advantage in its attempts to wrestle back control from the scholar-officials.

A Preliminary Study of the Dunhuang Tibetan Fragments of the Mūlasarvāstivāda-Ekottarakarmaśataka (I): Tarjanīyakarman

This paper identifies a lost Old Tibetan version of the Mūlasarvāstivāda-Ekottarakarmaśataka (hereafter, EK) as preserved in Dunhuang Tibetan fragments. It firstly gives a brief introduction to the related Tibetan manuscripts Pelliot tibétain 945 and Indian Office Library Tibetan J 596, and then analyses the textual nature of the Old Tibetan version of the EK preserved in these manuscripts by comparing with its cognate Chinese version, i.e., Genbenshuoyiqieyoubu baiyijiemo 根本說一切有部百一羯磨 (T 1453) translated by Yi Jing 義淨 (635–713 CE). Then, it focuses on the passage of the tarjanīyakarman (Tib. bsdigs pa’i las, Chin. 令怖羯磨), one of the ecclesiastical rituals for punishment in the Buddhist Order, as seen in the Old Tibetan version of the EK. It reveals that the tarjanīyakarman passage therein is textually related to, even derived mutatis mutandis from, Pāṇḍulohitakavastu. In sum, this paper introduces for the first time the ‘true’ Tibetan version of the EK long forgotten yet preserved in Dunhuang, and attempts to show its affiliation with the Mūlasarvāstivāda tradition.

근대 전라도 불교의 동향과 종단설립 운동

이 글은 근대 전라도 지역 본산들을 중심으로 교육·포교 활동 및 각종 현황을 살펴보고, 불교계의 총본산건설운동에 어떤 영향을 끼쳤는지 살펴본 연구이다. 식민지기 불교는 사찰령의 통제 아래 전국 사찰이 31개 본산으로 재편되었다. 이 중 전라도는 전북에 2개 사찰, 전남에 5개 사찰이 본산으로 지정되었다. 1920년대 재단법인 조선불교중앙 교무원이 설립되고 시행된 불교계 중앙 사업은 각 본산의 분담금으로 유지되었는데, 전 라도 7개 본산의 분담 비율은 전체의 16.3% 수준이었다. 이것은 절반 이상의 분담금을 냈던 경상도 8개 본산에 미치지는 못하지만, 두 번째로 많은 경제적 지원을 했다는 점에 서 교단 내 전라도 본산의 위상을 짐작할 수 있다. 전라도 불교의 교단 내 출자금, 사찰· 승려·포교당 등의 수치는 대체로 전체 불교의 20% 안팎의 비율을 보였던 것으로 집계 된다. 1930년대 후반에는 전남5본산연합회가 결성되면서 도내 교육·포교 활동에 활력을 불어 넣었다. 특히 연합회는 경남 3본산 및 경북 5본산과의 협력을 통해, 교단 내 통제기 관으로서 총본산의 건설을 구체화 시켰다. 그리고 이들 연합회의 노력은 결국 1941년 조선불교조계종이 출범하는 결과로 이어졌다. 전라도 불교는 1910년대 초반 조선불교 의 자주성을 표방하고 일어났던 임제종운동과 1930년대 종단 건설을 위한 초석을 놓는 데 많은 기여를 했다는 점에서 근대불교사적 의미를 평가할 수 있다.

The Buddha in Bronkhorstspruit: The Transnational Spread of the Taiwanese Buddhist Order Fo Guang Shan to South Africa

ABSTRACT Based on ethnographic fieldwork, this article discusses how the Fo Guang Shan Nan Hua Temple in South Africa constitutes a transnational religious space linking a ‘Global China’ and the dynamic interplay of its constituent parts (ROC/Taiwan, the Peoples Republic of China/PRC, Hong Kong, Singapore and the Chinese diasporas in South East Asia and worldwide) with the South African host society. It does so by looking at the complex processes of Chinese migration and diaspora building that generate the conditions for Fo Guang Shan’s developmental trajectory in South Africa, but also takes into consideration how Fo Guang Shan’s renjian Buddhism, and therefore socially engaged approach to the Dharma, generates multiple linkages and entanglements with South Africa’s host society. It aims to shed light on these dynamics, by examining the many different groups that are involved in the Nan Hua Temple. I argue that it is the ‘modernness’ of Fo Guang Shan renjian Buddhism (i.e. Buddhism for the human world) which, through a multitude of social, cultural, religious, charity and educational engagements, generates complex and diverse dynamics that link the Nan Hua temple space with the South African host society, a society that itself consists of people from a variety of backgrounds.

Dancer, Nun, Ghost, Goddess: The Legend of Giō and Hotoke in Japanese Literature, Theater, Visual Arts, and Cultural Heritage by Roberta Strippoli

Reviewed by: Dancer, Nun, Ghost, Goddess: The Legend of Giō and Hotoke in Japanese Literature, Theater, Visual Arts, and Cultural Heritage by Roberta Strippoli Janet R. Goodwin (bio) Dancer, Nun, Ghost, Goddess: The Legend of Giō and Hotoke in Japanese Literature, Theater, Visual Arts, and Cultural Heritage. By Roberta Strippoli. Brill, Leiden, 2018. xvi, 226 pages. €99.00. The poignant tale of the shirabyōshi Giō and Hotoke, and their treatment by military strongman Taira no Kiyomori, is one of the best-known episodes in the medieval Heike monogatari (Tale of the Heike). To summarize briefly, Giō, an entertainer of marginal social status, becomes Kiyomori's lover, and his patronage results in prosperity for her and her mother and sister. When one day another shirabyōshi named Hotoke (Buddha) offers to perform for Kiyomori, he at first turns her down, but Giō persuades him to grant her an audience. Unfortunately for Giō, Hotoke's performance and her appearance are so mesmerizing that Kiyomori demands she replace Giō and expels his former lover from his mansion. Later Kiyomori, perhaps in an excess of sadism, summons Giō back to perform for him and Hotoke, humiliating her further by making her occupy a lower seat than she had before. In despair, Giō returns home to her mother and sister, and the three of them take Buddhist orders, secluding themselves in a mountain hermitage. Later that year they hear a knock on the door. It is Hotoke, remorseful for the pain she has caused Giō; she has shaved her head to become a nun. The four of them live out the rest of their lives in the hermitage, praying and making offerings to the Buddha, until one by one they are reborn in the Pure Land. One purpose of this tale, as Roberta Strippoli points out, is to show Kiyomori as a villain and thus to justify the fall of his family in the Genpei War. A broader purpose, perhaps, is to demonstrate the spiritual value of abandoning the world and devoting oneself to the Buddha. While no doubt too modern a view, one might also see the tale as a medieval #MeToo success story, in which Kiyomori's female victims attained a reward, rebirth in paradise, that was doubtless denied their persecutor. [End Page 145] Strippoli has skillfully guided us through versions of the episode as they developed over time. Sometimes fairly faithful to the original, sometimes recognizable only by the names of the main characters, the versions attest to the continued appeal of this story of male exploitation, female suffering and humiliation, and, in a sense, female revenge—not by any pain the women caused Kiyomori, but by their final fortune in achieving rebirth in Amida's paradise. The glory of this rebirth, in some versions accompanied by the requisite purple clouds and heavenly music, contrasts powerfully with Kiyomori's miserable death—which the Heike audience knows well from another portion of the tale. Strippoli explores the development of a "large, complicated, and inevitably self-contradicting tradition" (p. 4), formed through multiple texts. A brief discussion of reception theory, which holds that no one version of a tale can be determined the authoritative one, prepares us to approach versions that bear little resemblance to the Heike tale with open, accepting minds. In Strippoli's treatment, those who constructed later versions are as authentic "authors" of the tradition as the original composers of the tale. Chapter 1 answers these questions: who were Giō and Hotoke and what part did women like them play in the society of the powerful in late twelfthcentury Japan? Strippoli wisely uses a variety of sources—documents, diaries, essays, poems, and tales—to explore these issues. While Giō and Ho toke may have been fictional, numerous medieval sources describe the group to which they belonged, shirabyōshi, as professional entertainers who sometimes offered sexual services along with song and dance. This does not mean that shirabyōshi were prostitutes, a category that simply did not exist in Japan of that time; nor, in a society with loose and shifting evaluations of proper sexual behavior, does it mean that they were commonly considered moral reprobates. In fact, I take issue...

From The Commonplace Book

from The Commonplace Book Maitreyabandhu (bio) i.m. Urgyen Sangharakshita These fitful sayings are, also, of tragedy: The serious reflection is composed Neither of comic nor tragic but of commonplace. —Wallace Stevens, “An Ordinary Evening in New Haven” 1.1 A pheasant kickstarts its rancorous alarmin windless hills gripped by winter’s paw:the sound of rain is like the tentativebeginnings of tumultuous applause. I rang my mother again from the weedycorner of a field near where a crop-sprayer, with rhythmic stutter, threw a wing,an angel wing, across a crop of kale.She was in France, an overnight stopoverbefore the river cruise: meals and foyers,miniature bottles of shampoo, hand soapwrapped in tissue. After her second fallmy brother bought an automatic car:a lifetime of shifting through the gears and shewas nervous again behind the wheel, drivingto Morrisons to get used to it, buyingtoilet paper and Special K. “I can’t talkfor long, love, they’re just about to call us in.”Bad reception. The stuttering angel wing.A pigeon climbed an angle of the light.Cold wind scattered the first few autumn leaves.One can accumulate as much of nothingas one likes, it will all add up to nothing.“I’d better go . . .” A car was changing downat the oak-rigged horizon and the wind [End Page 62] that had been saying serious amongthe hedges, in the treetops, then further offacross the fields, was saying (I seemed to hear it)serious . . . then serious again. 1.3 Friends reported Rainbows! Rainbows! in WhatsAppphotos on my phone, driving alwaystowards and through them with hedges running offto where the local crows creaked the skyabove our unaccommodating heads.We carried folding chairs, arranged ourselvesin rows for the possibility of warmthand then another friend, driving pastthe portaloos, stopped to open hiscar window, wave his phone and shout out Rainbows! 1.7 We should have painted rainbows as well as rain,double and triple rainbows like the onesthat greeted you after the war when you walkedbarefoot from that hill station, burning your passport,having shaven and taken robe and bowl,walking all the way from India to Hampsteadwith Christmas Humphreys muttering dirty habitsand blue films, exchanging Pali studiesfor Soho and the Diamond Sutra’s beat. 1.14 On the way up, the lift plays Handel’sOmbra mai fu (without the solo) beforethe TV dayroom and the corridor’sposter of the Beatles striding likeyoung gods towards Love, love me do.The disabled loo has laminated picturesof tulips blutacked to the tiles. My friend, [End Page 63] marooned between one thought and another,sways like sea-grass in a current he can’twithstand in front of Doris Day and JamesStewart in The Man Who Knew Too Much.A shot rings out. The man, who’s been blacked-up,whispers something, then touches Stewart’s face.Stewart’s eyes aren’t sharp enough to tiethe lost connections as Arabs shout and fightin the crowded market chase to London Heathrowwith low sun over Hounslow and seagulls parkedacross a field all facing the same way,their bonnets glaring in the fading light. [End Page 64] Maitreyabandhu Maitreyabandhu won the Keats-Shelley Prize, the Geoffrey Dearmer Prize, and the Basil Bunting Award. His first pamphlet, The Bond, was shortlisted for the Michael Marks Award. His second pamphlet, Vita Brevis, was a Poetry Book Society Choice. He has published three collections with Bloodaxe Books: The Crumb Road (2013), a Poetry Book Society Recommendation; Yarn (2015); and After Cézanne (2019). Maitreyabandhu lives and works at the London Buddhist Centre, UK, and has been ordained into the Triratna Buddhist Order for twenty-nine years. He has written three books on Buddhism published by Windhorse Publications. Copyright © 2020 Middlebury College Publications

조계사의 창건과정과 종단 건설

조계사의 창건과정과 종단 건설

A Survey of the Attitudes Concerning the Role of the Laity in Korea’s Jogye Order

Despite its 17-century-long history, Korean Buddhism is currently undergoing a crisis. In addition to the declining number of lay practitioners, Korea’s largest Buddhist order, the Jogye Order (K. Daehan Bulgyo Jogyejong, hereafter “JO” or “the order”), is facing a significant drop in monastic recruitment. Compounding this crisis, a series of scandals within the order’s monastic leadership have caused widespread loss of confidence among the order’s laity. In addition to calls for greater financial transparency and moral accountability for JO monastics, many reformers are demanding greater lay participation within the order’s political hierarchy, challenging the centuries-old roles assigned to monastics and laity. However, these challenges have failed to produce any practical changes within the order while its monastic establishment continues espousing rhetoric reinforcing monastic authority and its supremacy over the laity. In light of these crises, this paper will conduct a perfunctory examination of the attitudes the JO’s monastic establishment exhibits towards its lay supporters and the roles it expects for them. Utilizing, in part, previously unpublished internal JO documents, this paper will begin by investigating monastic attitudes expressed towards the laity in the order’s 2015 General Meeting of the Four-fold Assembly as well as the ensuing debate over these roles in Korea’s Buddhist media. This paper will then explore how the laity are viewed within the JO’s lay education program, additionally examining how the needs and concerns of the laity are addressed in introductory textbooks used within this program. While not exhaustive, by examining this variety of sources, this paper seeks to clarify the roles the JO’s monastic establishment expects for its lay supporters and interrogate whether such attitudes are sustainable as the order attempts to respond effectively to the crises it currently faces.

일본 근현대 재가불교운동의 특징과 전망

This thesis analyzes the characteristic Japanese Lay Buddhist Movement in modern times and propose the direction of Lay Buddhist Religious body. Especially, I will examine the formation, development and the asceticism system of T’ien-t’ai Religious body(天台系敎團) and Shingon Religious body(眞言系敎團) which have been formed in Korea, and show the possibility of development of the Lay Buddhist Religious body In the modern society. The Japanese Buddhist movement took place with the modernization of Japan. In order to solve the social alienation and economic problems caused by the rapid modernization, Lay Buddhist Movement is occurred because Buddhist Order could not suggest any solution. Japanese Lay Buddhist Religious body can be divided by T’ien-t’ai and Shingonsyu(眞言宗). Representative T’ien-t’ai Religious body is Honmonbuturyusyu(本門佛立宗), Kokucyukai(國柱 會), Reiyukai(靈友會), Ritsyoukosekai(立正佼成會), Sokagakkai(創價學 會). They are all based on Nichirennsyu(日蓮宗), and interested in education and economic issues in order to solve the social problems caused by modernization. Especially Sokagakkai is directly participated in real politics. Shinnyoen(眞如苑) is Shingon Religious body, that based on service and practice, and has many social activities in social issues, environmental problems, and cultural aspects. Based on Buddhist thought, referring to the activities of Buddhist denominations in Japan, I have proposed five ways to participate in the social movement in the human rights field, to expand economic and environmental protection groups, to organize social services and social work, to invest in overall cultural activities, and to encourage political participation as religious methodology to solve social problems and a methodology. This is a solution to social problems that can be done because they are Lay Buddhist, and It can serve as a link between future generations and current generations. And based on the Buddhist ideology, Lay Buddhist and Religious body should be revitalized to develop social movements for the well-being and development of the Lay Buddhist living in social life.

Blasphemy as Bhāvana

Over the course of the twentieth century, Buddhism came to be associated widely with peace, tolerance, and calm detachment in the Western popular imagination. This association was created in opposition to depictions of Christianity as violent, intolerant, and irrational. Buddhism, as the imagined perfect Other, held considerable appeal for counterculture seekers disenchanted with mainstream cultures. While many Buddhist groups played upon these stereotypes to enhance their image and support recruitment, one new Buddhist movement—the Friends of the Western Buddhist Order—went further, employing ritualized “therapeutic blasphemy” to eradicate Christian conditioning in their members and critique mainstream society. Such actions baffled many other Buddhists, but make sense when seen as efforts to heighten in-group solidarity, proclaim distinctive identity, and take the assumption of Buddhism’s superiority over Christianity to its ultimate conclusion. This article attempts to explain why Buddhists might develop intolerant practices, and to assess the costs and benefits of such practices.

Note from the Editor

Note from the Editor Sem Vermeersch This issue again presents both continuity and change. As any discipline, humanities research naturally reflects the changes in society, both in terms of new topics of research and new research methodology, and in the different ways research is accessed and used. Continuity can be seen in two articles that reflect the academic activities taking place at Kyujanggak, the intellectual home of our journal. This issue contains two papers from our annual Symposium on Korean Studies. This year the 12th edition of the Symposium was held on November 1 and 2, and though for once it did not have a specific conference theme, since it coincided with a special exhibition on King Chŏngjo, both the keynote address and a panel were devoted to King Chŏngjo's legacy. The keynote address by Prof. Kim In-geol, a former Director of Kyujangak and emeritus professor of Korean history, analyzes the evolution of research on King Chŏngjo. Reproduced here as a special essay, it offers a cautionary tale on how not to read the present into the past. Having devoted much of his career to the history of late Chosŏn society, Professor Kim is uniquely placed to dissect the intricacies of eighteenth-century political discourse, and through a close reading of key passages shows the importance of a correct interpretation of the terminology of the day. Although I do not normally introduce the book reviews, in this case it is worth drawing the reader's attention to the first Englishlanguage book on King Chŏngjo, by Christopher Lovins, reviewed here by Prof. Kim Paek-chol. This work takes a macroscopic view, and for the first time brings late Chosŏn into fruitful dialogue with modern European history. Another paper from this year's symposium is Mark Caprio's "The Politics of Trusteeship." It formed part of a panel revisiting the immediate post-liberation period; while the influence of colonial legacies is often debated, the impact of this brief period is often overlooked. The trusteeship issue was one of the most divisive political issues of the time, around which the positions of north and south gradually hardened. This article focuses especially on the precedents of [End Page v] trusteeship (or mandate system) that helped to shape the policy choices for Korea. Hopefully we can present more papers from the symposium in following issues. Rounding off the 'traditional' part is an article by Sem Vermeersch on the founding of the Ch'ŏnt'ae Order by Ŭich'ŏn. Although he agrees with the general consensus that Ŭich'ŏn was indeed the founder of a new Buddhist order, he draws attention to the precarious situation in which he left it. Ŭich'ŏn is still heralded for his vision of a unified Buddhism, yet crucially he never provided the template through which Ch'ŏnt'ae might achieve this. This left the disciples who had to implement the new school in a quandary. This article also draws attention to Pure Land societies as a crucial missing link in the success of the new school. Representing newer trends in academic research is the article by Jung A Choi and Han Sung Kim on Na Hyesŏk. Rather than focusing on her pioneering activities as a "new woman" artist, the authors focus on how her feminism was received by male contemporaries. By focusing on the image of Ibsen's Nora she projected through her poem "A Doll's Song," the authors reveal the different expectations and iterations of modernity and feminism in colonial Korea. For the first time, we are also including a section on "materials in translation." Yulgok's Kyŏngmong yogyŏl (Essential instructions on rectifying folly) is a well-known primer in Confucian education. It has been translated many times in different languages, but here the translator, Sanghoon Na, reveals the discussions that took place between Yulgok and Song Ikp'il, who urged Yulgok to revise several passages. In the end Yulgok seems to have ignored most of his friend's suggestions, yet the correspondence between the two shows how important the project was to them; it also reveals something of their personalities. We are hoping to present...

Some Buddhist Donors and Their Families

Abstract From the very beginning the Buddhist order was dependent on donations, which were attractive for laypeople because of the merit thus accumulated. Therefore, names of donors were carefully documented in both, inscriptions, and, as soon as manuscripts are extant, also in colophons. Sometimes joint donations were made by families, whose members are named, under lucky circumstances even with an indication of their mutual relation such as parents, brothers, sisters etc. as participating in the merit made. This allows occasionally glimpses of the composition of average families and estimating their approximate seize in the ancient Indian cultural area. Hardly anything is known otherwise about this facet of Indian social history.

관단 사원과 계단(戒壇) - 고려전기 금산사의 교단에서의 위상 -

관단 사원과 계단(戒壇) - 고려전기 금산사의 교단에서의 위상 -

한국불교 종단의 문제점과 개선방안 -사회적 신뢰 증진방안을 중심으로

한국불교 종단의 문제점과 개선방안 -사회적 신뢰 증진방안을 중심으로

A Mandala of Literacy Practices in Premodern Vietnam

Based on an analysis of historical materials written in Literary Sinitic and vernacular Vietnamese (Chữ Nôm), this article examines the contexts of Buddhist knowledge and Buddhist literacy practices in premodern Vietnam. I argue that Buddhist monks were key agents in a complex system of literacy practices that mimic the conceptual form of the mandala. They taught Literary Sinitic (and sinographic characters) as well as vernacular Vietnamese (Chữ Nôm), translated texts from the Buddhist canon into Vietnamese, composed Buddhist works, made handwritten books, carved woodblocks, and published woodblock texts. Meanwhile, the Buddhist temple in traditional culture was a marvelous place not only for self-cultivation, but also to educate Buddhist novices and lay people, and to expand the Buddhist order. The Buddhist temple was a multifunctional space, existing as a hall of reverence, a place of Buddhist worship, and a temple to the forefathers, as well as a center of translation, a Buddhist school, printshop, publisher, archive, library and bookshop. There were, furthermore, complex mandalas of Buddhist temples in traditional Vietnamese society, since virtually every village contained a Buddhist temple. Thus, the network of literacy practices of a given temple directly affected the cultural life of the community of the village in which it was located, including its religious beliefs, economy, and especially its literate education. The structure of these interactions form a complex mandala of Buddhist literacy practices in Vietnamese traditional culture.