Chapter III: Part 3

Probably every monastery of any consequence has its hall of Seven Stars. It is always a little building and on the outskirts of the group of temples. Korea must have worshipped the constellation of the Great Bear, the Big Dipper or the Seven Stars, long before Buddhism came. Many Koreans still pay worship to the stars themselves. The father of a young man who was once my Korean interpreter, never fails to pray to the seven stars on any night when the sky is clear enough for them to be seen; the worship is interesting and deserves attention. It was probably taken over early by Buddhism. The picture always shown in this little hall is very curious. There is always a Buddha figure of some kind in it, but above are Buddha-like figures of the Seven Stars, heavenly beings, with pale faces; below there are the representations of seven earthly ministers corresponding to them; the idea that heavenly conditions are reproduced upon the earth is one common to many religions. (Plate XXXI.)

One other building is certain to be found at every monastery. It is a wee structure, sacred to the God of the Mountain. He is a mysterious being. He is usually represented with a beard and a beard quite different from those regularly seen in China, Korea or Japan. He is always accompanied by a tiger, particularly noticeable for head and tail; the god of the mountain varies more than any other representation in Korean art. The features mentioned, however, are always emphasized. All agree that the god of the mountain is individual; he is not the god of mountains generally, nor a god overseeing mountains everywhere, but ever specifically the god of _the_ mountain on which his shrine is located. (Plate XXXIV.)

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Sometimes there is another very little hall known as the hall of the Lonely Saint. When it occurs it usually stands at the side of the hall of the god of the mountain and is of its size. Within there is a hanging picture of the Lonely Saint. Unfortunately we cannot show a copy of it. We have planned repeatedly to take it but something has always happened to prevent. Trollope tells us that the lonely saint was a historic personage, Chikai, who lived in China in the sixth century, and was the founder of the very ancient Tendai sect.

These paintings in Korean temples are rarely beautiful, but they surely deserve careful study by competent art students. The colors used are bright and light. Faces of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are usually yellow or white. These high beings are regularly represented with aureoles, the boat-shaped aureole occurring commonly with Kwannon and Miroku. Gods and human beings occur in crowds in these paintings, but no matter how crowded the composition the individuals are usually definite and known. The artists are priests and it is common for the few who have famous skill to travel from temple to temple, touching up old pictures and painting new ones. They stay for weeks or months and then pass on to new fields. The designs are certainly traditional and very old, but the paintings themselves, as we see them in the temple, are many of them the work of very recent years. Most of the monks and acolytes know very little of the meaning of the pictures, but those who paint them, and those who are serious students can identify the actors in the scenes depicted. We reproduce a picture from Sukwang-sa which illustrates the crowding of persons and the attention given to detail. Upon it there are represented one Pul or Buddha, with three faces, four Posal or Bodhisattvas, the twenty-eight heavenly kings (each corresponding to one of the ancient constellations), and ten times ten gods (they are actually grouped by tens and there are ten each of earth, fire, water, small water bodies, air, the human body, movement, field work and mountain fortresses). This design is really a common one, and we have a photograph of it also from Pawpchu-sa. Comparison of the two pictures shows absolute identity in the number and placing of the individuals. (Plate XXXII.)

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We have already stated that there is considerable variation in the picture of the god of the mountain, though he is always recognizable by certain features. Pictures of individual Rakan are common in temples and these pictures are always precise and definite, giving in every instance the characteristic features or attributes. (Plate XXXV.)

Occasionally—perhaps more commonly than we know—the monasteries possess an enormous rolled painting of a single Buddha. We have seen one at Pawpchu-sa and another at Tongdo-sa. At Pawpchu-sa they brought it out from the great temple and unrolled it for us, in the open, that we might see its size. At Tongdo-sa it was already elevated for the occasion of the celebration of Buddha’s birthday. It towered above the highest building, and was worshipped by the crowding thousands. (Plates XXXVI, XXXVII.)

In this brief study of Korean Buddhism we have but sketched a subject which presents a vast material, which as yet is almost unknown and practically untouched by students.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Gale. _The Pagoda of Seoul._ Transactions of the Korea Branch of the
Royal Asiatic Society. Vol. VI, Pt. II, pp. 1-22. Seoul: 1915.

Gordon. _Some Recent Discoveries in Korean Temples and their
Relationship to Early Eastern Christianity._ Trans. K. B. R. A. S.
Vol. V, Pt. II, PP. 1-39. Seoul: 1914.

Gordon. _Symbols of “the Way”—Far East and West._ Tokyo: 1916. Maruzen
& Co.

Hulbert. _History of Korea._ Seoul: 1905. 2 vols. Methodist Publishing
House.

Jones. _Colossal Buddha at Eunjin._ Trans. K. B. R. A. S. Vol. I, pp.
51-70. Seoul: 1901.

Richard. _A Mission to Heaven . . . by Ch’iu Ch’ang Ch’un._ Shanghai:
1913. The Christian Literature Society’s Depot.

Trollope. _Introduction to the Study of Buddhism in Corea._ Trans. K.
B. R. A. S. Vol. VIII, pp. 1-41. Seoul: 1917.

NOTES

[1]_Aryavarman_, a man of Sinlo (_Corea_), left Chang’an A.D. 638. He
set out with a view to recover the true teaching and to adore the
sacred relics. He dwelt in the Nalanda Temple, copying out many
Sutras. He had left the eastern borders of Corea and now bathed in
the Dragon pool of Nalanda. Here he died, aged seventy odd years.

_Hwui-nieh_, a Corean, set out for India 638 A.D., arrived at the
Nalanda Temple and there studied the sacred books and reverenced the
holy traces. I-tsing found some writing he had left in the temple,
where also he had left his Sanskrit MSS. The priests said he died
the same year, about sixty years of age.

_Hiuen Ta’i_, a doctor of the law, a Corean, called by the Sanskrit
name of Sarvajñanadeva. In the year _Yung-hwei_ (650 A.D.) he went
by the Tibetan road through Nepal to Mid-India; he there worshipped
the relics at the Bodhi Tree. Afterwards going to the Tukhara
country, he met Taou-hi, with whom he returned to the Tahsio Temple
(Mahabodhi). Afterwards he returned to China, and was not heard of
again.

_Hiuen-hau_, a doctor of the law, a Corean, went with Hiuen-chiu, in
the middle of the _Chengkwan_ period, to India, and reaching the
Tahsio Temple, he died there.

Two priests of Corea, names unknown, started from Chang’an by the
southern sea-route and came to Sribhoja. They died in the country of
_Po-lu-sse_, to the westward (the western portion of Sumatra).

_Hwui Lun_, a Corean, otherwise called Prajñavarma, came by sea from
his own country to _Fuchau_, and proceeded thence to Chang’an.
Following after the priest _Hiuen-chiu_, he reached the West, and
during ten years dwelt in the Amravat country and in the Sin-ché
Temple (north of the Ganges). Passing through the eastern frontiers,
and thence proceeding northward he came to the Tu-ho-lo (_Tukhâra_)
Temple. Beal: _Life of Hiouen-Tsiang_, pp. xxix-xxx, xxxvi.

[2]Jones in his admirable discussion of the Eunjin miriok makes an
interesting suggestion regarding its location:

But the special interest these facts have for us in connection
with the great Buddha lies in the fact that it may have been here
that Buddhism itself first entered Pakche. Buddhism was a foreign
importation, being sent to the peninsular kingdoms by the Eastern
Tsin dynasty of China (A.D. 317-19) and effecting an entrance
almost simultaneously at two points—in the north into Koguryu and
in the south into Pakche. Of this latter event the native
historians tell us:—“In the year A.D. 384 the barbarian monk
Maranant’a came from Tsin. King Chip-yu accorded him a most
courteous and ceremonious reception and Buddhism was established
as the national religion.” We do not know at what point the
monk-missionary landed, but it is not so unlikely that he may have
come to this well-known port, and that one day among the ships
making up that inextricable mass of masts and rudders at Si-jin
there may have come the imperial junk of Tsin bearing “the
barbarian monk Maranant’a” with his images, incense, bells, books
and vestments to plant in Korea that cult which was to dominate
the people for a thousand years, thus landing close to the place
where in later years the greatest monument that Buddhism possesses
was to stand. And two hundred years later (A.D. 552) there
probably embarked from this port that band of Pakche priests sent
by their king to carry to the mikado of Japan the golden images of
Buddha and the triad of precious ones, the sutras and sacred
books, and to give the faith of Buddhism to the Sun-rise Empire.
And it is said that these relics exist to this day and are
preserved in the city of Nagano in Japan. Colossal Buddha: p. 62.

[3]It occurs in the inscription regarding the Seoul pagoda and is
particularly interesting as a contemporary description of a temple
of remarkable splendor.

Reckoning up the number of pillars supporting the building they
were found to exceed 300. The Hall of the Buddha stood up high in
the center, and the inscription board above was written _Taikwang
myung jun_, “Great light glorious palace.” To the left was the
_Sun Tang_ or study hall, while to the right was the _Oon-chip_ or
assembly hall. The gate was marked _Chak-kwang Moon_, Hidden Light
and the outer gate was called _Panya_ or Likeness gate. Beyond
this again was the _Hai-tal Moon_. There was a bell-pavilion also
which was called the _Pup-noi-kak_, Kiosk of Buddha’s Thunder. The
kitchen was named _Hyang-juk_, Kitchen House. There was a pond on
the east side, where lotus flowers were planted; and on the west
was a garden-park where flowers and trees grew. Behind the
_Cheung-jun_ palace the sacred books were in keeping, and this
house was called _Hai-Jang Chun_ or Sea Covering Hall. Also a
pagoda was built of thirteen stories called _sul-to-pa_, Buddhist
pagoda. Within it were placed the accumulated sari and the newly
translated Wun-gak sutra. The palaces, halls, studies,
guest-rooms, stores, kitchens, outhouses, had each their
particular place. The whole was magnificent and well constructed,
and the ornaments were lavish, imposing, beautiful, all in keeping
and fair to see. Its equal was nowhere to be found. Also the
drums, gongs, etc., necessary for the service, and other useful
implements were abundantly provided for. Gale: _Pagoda_, p. 10.

[4]Gale finds that the history of the erection of the Seoul pagoda was
originally inscribed upon the turtle-borne slab that accompanies it.
Of the pagoda itself, he says:

1. The Pagoda was therefore built in 1464-1466 A.D.

2. The builder was King Se-jo, who reigned from 1456-1468 and all
the workmen were Koreans.

3. The form of it was modelled after the Pagoda in Pung Tuk
County, which had already been standing nearly a hundred years,
and had been built by Chinese workmen. There is no evidence that
this pagoda had ever been brought from Peking though it finds its
final resting place now in Tokyo.

4. It was built to commemorate the excellence of the Wungak Sutra
from which it takes its name.

5. It is by far the most interesting Buddhist monument in Korea.
p. 22.

[5]The list of the thirty head-temples follows:

Yongju-sa
Pongeum-sa
Chǔntung-sa
Pongsǔm-sa
Makok-sa
Pawpchu-sa
Songkwang-sa
Sǔnam-sa
Těhung-sa
Pǎkyang-sa
Uipong-sa
Posawk-sa
Tongdo-sa
Pomo-sa
Hǎin-sa
Tonghwa-sa
Chuim-sa
Unhǎ-sa
Koun-sa
Kumyong-sa
Peyak-sa
Sawngpul-sa
Yungmyung-sa
Pawphung-sa
Pohyun-sa
Kǔnpong-sa
Yuchom-sa
Ualchung-sa
Sawkwang-sa
Kuichu-sa

[6]The magazine conducted by Yi Nung Hwa has had several breaks in
publication and after each the name has been changed. As here given
the names are English translations of the original:

_Monthly Magazine of Chosen Buddhism._ Nineteen issues, from
January 25, 1911 to August 25, 1913.

_Buddhist Magazine of the Eastern Sea._ Eight issues from November
20, 1913 to June 20, 1914.

_Monthly Magazine of the Association of Rising Buddhism._ Nine
issues from March 15, 1915 to December 15, 1915.

_Kingdom of Chosen Buddhism._ Three issues from April 5, 1916 to
June 5, 1916.

_General Magazine of Chosen Buddhism_, from March 20, 1917. Three
numbers had appeared when I received this note in May 1917.

[7]The texts most commonly read in Korean monasteries are the
_Hokkekyo_, _Kegon_, _Kishinlon_, _Fumonbon_ and _Amidakyo_,
according to Madame Gordon. These are Japanese pronunciation.

[8]The Japanese names of the four guardians are:

Bishamon: east; blue; tower.
Komoku: south; red; jewel.
Jikoku: west; green; lute.
Zocho: north; flesh; sword.

[9]Three Buddhas have preceded Sakyamuni in the present _kalpa_ and one
is still to come before the _kalpa_ ends. The entire list is:

_Krakuchanda_ (Pali, _Kakusanda_), “who solves doubt.”
_Kanakamuni_ (P. _Konagamana_) “body radiant as gold.”
_Kasyapa_ (P. _Kassapa_) “swallower of light.”
_Sakyamuni._
_Maitreya._ Legge: Fa-hien, p. 51.

[10]The eight scenes in the Life of Buddha are:

(_a_) Incarnation.
(_b_) Birth.
(_c_) Encounter with age, sickness, death.
(_d_) Escape—with aid of the four heavenly kings.
(_e_) Asceticism.
(_f_) Enlightenment.
(_g_) Preaching—“turning the wheel.”
(_h_) Nirvana.

Transcriber’s Notes

--Retained the copyright notice from the printed edition (although this
book is in the public domain.)

--Silently corrected a few palpable typos.

--In the text versions only, delimited italicized text in _underscores_.