Yuan Buddhist Centers as the Hub of Monastic Certification: Travels by Korean Monks to China and Some Underlying Reasons

Abstract

Notably during the Yuan period of Chinese history, Korean Buddhists had a curious custom of making arduous trips to Buddhist centers in mainland China, by sea or overland. To the extent that monks made this trip despite the possible dangers of this long journey, Yuan Buddhism in the practice of Korean Buddhism was conceived as an important hub of monastic certification and the source of new Buddhist developments. In addition, the Chinese masters were seen as essential figures in the monastic careers of the Korean monks. Although there would have been qualified masters in Korea to lead the practice of kanhua chan and to verify the enlightened states of the Korean monks, traveling to China continued up to the end of the Koryŏ period. This continued because the Korean monks obtained obvious benefits after having traveled to China and received their certification of enlightenment 印可. On their return, these monks were given recognition for their spiritual attainment and assigned to high positions in the saṃgha bureaucracy, in many cases, as either a royal or state preceptor. This custom of visiting China was all the more heightened due to Yuan’s domination over Koryŏ from the late-13th to the mid-14th centuries.