Korea Journal of Buddhist Studies ISSN:1598-0642(Print) 불교학연구

This paper deals with the problems of Buddhist precepts in Korean Buddhism from the Japanese colonial period to the present day. Korean Buddhism suffered a distortion of its principles under the pressure of Japanese influence. Therefore, an examination of the colonial period is still necessary and relevant in order to explore the modern problems of Buddhist precepts. While the Joseon Dynasty had maintained a policy to promote Confucianism and suppress Buddhism, Japan had protected Buddhism even though they were foreign invaders. Buddhist monks were thus confused about which value should be preferred between ‘nation’ and ‘religion’ in the colonial period. The issue of precepts became even more complex when some objections were raised during this time that Korean Buddhism had been suppressed during the Joseon Dynasty because it did not accept the reformations of Japanese Buddhism, such as the permission to have wives. Chapter II thus deals with the problems of external impact and subjective awareness. Based on this, Chapter III deals with the characteristics of the precepts of Korean Buddhism, as well as institutional arrangements following the creation of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism. The ideological foundation of Korean Buddhist precepts come from the ‘Seosangsugye (瑞祥受戒)’ and ‘Daeseungbosal (大乘菩 薩, mahāyāna bodhisattva)’ faith. These unique features were transmitted to Korean Buddhism through Jajang and Jinpyo. Jaun's reclamation of these features in the modern era gave the Jogye Order the legitimacy to secure its ordaining tradition based on the precepts of Korean Buddhism. Now, modern Korean society is gradually moving from an age of function to an age of ethics. In this present multi-religious environment, Buddhist precepts and ethics are becoming an important standard to discern the value of a religion. Therefore, refreshing viewpoints and establishing a future direction on the issue of Buddhist precepts and ethics is a problem of the utmost urgency.