This research investigates the Chos.n court policies on Buddhism and Buddhist activities in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries through the analysis of such Chos.n texts as the official chronological historiographies (官撰編年史書), the legal codes (法典), the household register (戶籍), the Buddhist writings and published scriptures (佛敎典籍), the literary collections of the monks (僧侶文集), and the memorial steles for the renowned monks (高僧碑). Thereby, the research provides a new perspective for understanding the history of Buddhism in Choson.
The two major political factions of the sixteenth century Choson court held different approaches to Buddhism: the hunchok (勳戚) or meritorious elite, a political faction that consisted of merit subjects and their descendants, attempted to directly control the Buddhist monasteries and monks according to the regulations stipulated in the Kyongguk taejon (經國大典 Great Codes for Governing the State) while the sarim (士林) or Neo-Confucian literati faction did not interfere in the internal affairs of the Buddhist circle, simply hoping the Buddhist monks to be edified by the Cheng-Zhu learning without taking any practical measures. During the reign of king Chungjong (r. 1506-1544), the court largely took the sarim approach to Buddhism, which consequently allowed the religion to maintain its tradition. During the reign of king Myongjong (r. 1545-1567), however, the court turned to the hunchok approach: it enforced several measures to control the Buddhist monasteries and monks, which catalyzed the change of personnel in the Buddhist circle with the emergence of the Chongho lineage (淸虛系), the formation of the mobilization system of the monk-militia, and the abolition of the ban on becoming a monk. As the sarim faction seized the power in the early period of king Sonjo (r.1567-1608)'s reign . which was before the Hideyoshi Invasion, the court turned back to the non-interference approach to the Buddhist affairs. Buddhism in this period could remain undiminished thanks to this court policy as well as the economic resources of the monasteries such as alms-giving and temple-land as the government officials of this time testified that the number of Buddhist monasteries and monks had increased since the 1530s.
The sixteenth century Choson saw the drastic increase in the publication of the Buddhist texts as well as the beginning of the compilation of the monks？ literary collections. The publication of the Buddhist texts sharply increased particularly at local monasteries in the 1530s, and culminated in the early period of king Sonjo's reign. The most published Buddhist texts in this period were: (1) the scriptures such as the Lotus Sutra (法華經) and the Pumo injung kyong (父母恩重經); (2) the ritual manuals for the Suryuk chae (水陸齋 Festivals of Water and Land) such as the Suryuk much'a p'yongdung chaeui ch'aryo (水陸無遮平等齋儀撮要) and the Ch'onji myongyang suryuk chaeui ch'aryo (天地冥陽水陸齋儀纂要); (3) Such Son texts as the Mongsan hwasang yukto posol (蒙山和尙六道普說), the Mongsan hwasang pobo yaknok (蒙山和尙法語略錄), the Popchip pyorhaengnok choryo pyongip sagi (法集別行錄節要幷入私記), and the Sonwon chejonjip toso (禪源諸詮集都序). From these texts, it could be surmised that Choson Buddhim of the sixteenth century inherited the
Abstract 315 trend of late Koryo and early Choson, which emphasized the kanhwa Son technique and the Suryuk festival. In addition, in the latter half of this century, Chos.n Buddhim also witnessed the appearance of the lecturing activities, based on the scheme of the simultaneous cultivation of Son and Kyo (Sonkyo kyomsu 禪敎兼修). In the same period, the compilations of the monks' literary collection began to be published, which reflected the Chos.n Buddhist attempt to enhance their social
status in response to the emergence of the literati (the sajok 士族) as the ruling class of the Choson society.
The Hideyoshi invasion stabilized the Buddhist policies of the Choson court in the sixteenth century, bringing a compromise between the two different approaches to Buddhism. The court established the administrative system to control monks, though unofficial, in the course of discussing the commanding structure of the monk-militia and their merits during the invasion. Even after the seven-year long invasion, the court maintained this system, granting the monastic positions and abolishing the regulations for becoming a monk in reward for imposing the military charges on the Buddhist monks. In this way, the Chos.n court recognized the presence of Buddhism from its practical needs. Eventually in the late seventeenth century, the court officially incorporated the Buddhist monks into the social order of Choson by adding the monk class on the household registers. With such policies, the Choson Buddhist community could remain stable in the seventeenth century.
The Buddhist trend of the previous century continued in the seventeenth century: the publication of the Buddhist texts, the compilation of the monks' literary collections, and the erection of the memorial steles for the renowned monks still went on this century. Most of all, in the seventeenth century, many literati composed the preface for the monks' literary collections as well as the epitaphs for the renowned monks. The tendency in the sixteenth century publication of the Buddhist texts largely remained the same with small changes: the publication of the texts for the monk-curriculum (iryok 履歷) remarkably increased while there was no more publication from the mid seventeenth century for the Son texts related to Mengshan Deyi (蒙山德異 1232-1308), a Yuan Linji master who had significant impact on the Korean Son tradition during the period between late Koryo and early Choson. In the seventeenth century, the descendants of Ch'ongho Hyujong (淸虛休靜 1520-1604) and Puhyu Sonsu(浮休善修 1543-1615) established the genealogical legitimacy of their lineage by compiling the literary collections and erecting the memorial steles of their lineage ancestors. They also attempted to promote the social status of the Buddhist monks in the literati-centered society by having the renowned literati of the time compose the prefaces of the collections as well as the epitaphs, and thereby, presenting the image of a literati-monk. Hence, the compilation of the literary collections and the erection of the epitaphs became both cause and effect of the dominance of the Chongho and Puhyu lineages (淸虛？浮休系) in the Choson Buddhist community, which subsequently formed several sub-lineages. The lecturing activities in the late sixteenth century and the legitimizing
attempts of the two main lineages of the early seventeenth century resulted in the development of the monk-curriculum and the recognition of T'aego Pou (太古普愚 1301-1382) as the founding patriarch in the mid seventeenth century, respectively. These two results, moreover, became general features of Korean Buddhism in late Choson.
From the mid seventeenth century, Buddhist monks were integrated into the state administrative system, and thus attained the legitimate social status within the Choson society. They united together under several sub-lineages of Chongho and Puhyu, developing a distinctive Buddhist tradition: they defined themselves as the Imje (C. Linji) lineage by establishing T'aego Pou as the founder of their lineages (臨濟太古法統說); simultaneously cultivated the three practices (三門修學) of the kanhwa
Son (看話禪)), the doctrinal studies (敎學), and the recitation of the Buddha's name (念佛); lectured on the Buddhist texts based on the thought of Zongmi (宗密 780-841), Dahui (大慧 1089-1163), and Chinul (知訥 1158-1210); and held such Buddhist ceremonies as suryuk chae (水陸齋) and yongsan chae (靈山齋). The seventeenth century Choson Buddhism, therefore, created a tradition, which could be called "munp's pulgyo (門派佛敎) or "sub-lineage Buddhism" in contrast with Chinese "lay practitioner oriented Buddhism" (居士佛敎) or Japanese sectarian Buddhism (宗派佛敎) of this time. The Korean tradition of sub-lineage Buddhism has been transmitted to the present day through the tumultuous period of late Choson and Japanese colonialization.
Considering the complex reality of the court policies on Buddhism and the Buddhist activities in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, there would be serious limitations in understanding the Choson Buddhist history with the perceptions that Choson Buddhism had been degraded and socially impotent because of Confucian persecution; and that it could be divided into two periods on the Hideyoshi invasion or the lineage development. Since the understanding of the sixteenth and seventeenth century Buddhism has significant influence on the interpretation of the entire history of Choson Buddhism, this research could contribute to overcoming the shortcomings of the aforementioned perceptions of Buddhism in Choson.