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

Buddhists have an amicable relationship with Chuang-tzu (莊子). Chimunkyunghun (緇門警訓), one of the must-reads for Buddhists, is a good example. It has used similar expressions and ideas from Chuang-tzu. This friendly attitude tended to be stronger in the Joseon Dynasty. Collections of literary works written by Buddhist monks still keep this friendly attitude, with the exception of Cheongheo Hyujeong (淸虛 休靜), who expressed criticism of Chuang-tzu. In the later Joseon Dynasty, some Buddhist monks used words from the Chuang-tzu for their own Dharma name as well. For example, there are Buhyu Seonsu (浮休 善修), Soyo Taeneung (逍遙 太能), Heobaek Myoungjo (虛白 明照), etc. I think this positive attitude towards Chuang-tzu suggests that Buddhists have treated Taoism and Confucianism as similar kinds of truth. Two especially well-known stories from Chuang-tzu, a story of a roc and a story of a butterfly dream, were frequently mentioned. The intermixture of those three religions could be the means for Buddhism to survive through the Joseon Dynasty, when Confucianism dominated the nation. Since Buddhists accepted the ideas of Chuang-tzu, they have used the expressions in Chuang-tzu in various ways. Chimgoengjip is outstanding in this manner and displayed creative variations. Chimgoeng Hyeonbyeon (枕肱 懸辯), the writer of Chimgoengjip, frequently quoted Chuang-tzu and changed words, putting them in another way in his context. Later, translators sometimes misinterpreted such cases. They missed the difference between the original meaning in Chuang-tzu and the transformed meaning in Chimgoengjip. In fact, Chimgoeng utilized many expressions not only from Chuang-tzu but also from other literature such as The Book of Odes etc., which proved his remarkable writing skill