Investigation of the Internal Structure and Gold-thin Layer of the Gilt-bronze Seated Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva at Anseong Cheonryong Temple through the Non-destructive Analysis

Anseong Cheonryongsa, a temple located in Anseong Seoun Mountain, is a part of the second Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism, under the Yongju Temple, and enshrines a gilt-bronze seated Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva. In this study, X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis revealed that this statue is composed of Cu-27.2 wt%, Sn-12.6 wt% and Pb-48 wt%. A gamma (γ) ray (Ir-192) image confirmed damage on the backside of the statue, which was later repaired with wood. The XRF analysis and visual observation determined the boundary between the metal and wood in the statue. In addition, results of standard X-ray peak intensity of gold foil and correlation with thickness helped to derive an equation for calculating the thickness of the Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva’s gold foil. It was determined that the gilded chest (21 µm) and face (20.7 µm) of the statue were the thickest sections, the wooden substratum (11.9 µm) was the next-most thick, and the bronze (7.4 µm) was the thinnest layer.

Celibacy or Marriage? Dilemmas for Buddhist Monks in Korea

Following the Confucian period of the Chosŏn era, which overshadowed Buddhists and confined them to the margins of society, at the beginning of Japanese colonial rule the possibility of monastic marriage typical of Japanese practice emerged as a viable alternative for Korean Buddhists in the early twentieth century. While the repressive memory of Japanese colonial heritage often appears in the relevant literature about clerical marriage today as the main reason for Korean Buddhists to get married, an analysis of contemporary documents presents us with a much more complex picture. Most notably among Korean intellectuals, one of the most significant personalities of the era, Manhae Han Young’un’s (1879−1944) systematically urged the reform of Korean Buddhism, Chosŏn Pulgyo yusinnon 朝鮮 佛 敎 維新 論 (Treatise on the Restoration of Korean Buddhism). In connection with the presentation and circumstances of the thirteenth point formulated to allow polemics and the practice of priestly marriage, we can see that his Confucian education, personality, and life play as important a part in his reasoning as the ideologies of the era, social Darwinism and modernism, and democracy. But primary sources revealing the daily lives and circumstances of the monks also show that thewillingness to marry was also greatly influenced by the new inheritance rules introduced in the Japanese colonial system.

The Material Culture of Buddhist Propagation: Reinstating Buddhism in Early Colonial Seoul

The restrictive measures against Buddhism under the Neo-Confucian Chosŏn dynasty resulted in the decline of Korean Buddhism at the start of the twentieth century. As the Chosŏn government started to make sweeping changes in the name of modernization, Korean Buddhist monks found an opportunity to revitalize their tradition through measures of reform. This paper examines one instance of attempts to bring Korean Buddhism back to the center of the country in the early twentieth century. The establishment of the Buddhist Central Propagation Space in 1920, examined thoroughly for the first time in this study, shows a meaningful yet ultimately unsuccessful attempt at modernizing Korean Buddhism in the dynamics of the colonial Buddhism. Moving beyond the nationalist critique of its founder Yi Hoegwang, who has been heavily criticized for his pro-colonialist undertakings in later historiography, I reconsider the significance of this propagation space in the history of Buddhist propagation and respatialization of Seoul during the early colonial period. My analysis of Three Gates in a Single Mind commissioned for this urban Buddhist temple in 1921 not only shows the diversity of modern Korean Buddhist paintings but also reveals a new role assigned to Buddhist icons in the changing context of Pure Land practice. I also discuss the seminal contribution of the court lady Ch’ŏn Ilch’ŏng to the founding of the propagation space, thereby restoring the voice of one important laywoman in the modernization of Korean Buddhism.

The Formation of the Bhikṣu Ordination in 19th Century Chosŏn Korea: Focusing on the Ten Wholesome Precepts of the Monk Paekp’a

Ordination can be said to be the core of Buddhism and maintaining this tradition is the key to maintaining Buddhism. This was the realization of the monastics in early 19th century Korea such as Paekp’a (1767–1852), Taeŭn (1780–1841), and Manha (d.u.) who were the pioneers in reviving the ordination tradition at a time when the saṃgha must have suffered a severe decline of this all too important tradition. Among these three monks, there were some commonalities such as the common geography of Chirisan area in the Hoam region where they started this movement and the fact that Paekp’a and Taeŭn, belonged to the Pyŏngyang lineal clan, the lineal descendants of the great masters Hyujŏng and P’yŏnyang. The effort to revitalize the ordination tradition by Paekp’a and other monks were successful in establishing their lineal clan and, at the same time, significantly contributed to securing their lineage within the history of Korea Buddhism. However, because Paekp’a’s method of the ten wholesome precepts was seen to be different from the traditional methods of ordination, its influence was. Taeŭn’s methods, on the other hand, by borrowing notions from the Brahmā’s Net Sutra which allowed monks to revitalize their lineal clan through one’s own effort, drew support from eminent monks and became widely practiced. Similarly, the lineage that was formed by Manha by traveling to China on being recognized for its legitimacy came to be established as part of the mainline of Korean Buddhism. While such methods were successful in responding to the dire situation of the early 19th century, this movement also provided the foundation for the continuation to the modern period the traditional orthodox lineage that was started some 300 years earlier.