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

Wonhyo (元曉, 617~686) is one of the outstanding figures in Korea Buddhism. His writings have been circulated throughout East Asia, and have had an impact on scholars such as Fazang (法藏). Now his influence has spread all over the world, so many western scholars are studying Wonhyo. Here, I try to examine the com-prehension of Wonhyo from the perspectives of Western Buddhist scholars. I think this would be a good opportunity to better understand Wonhyo, who interpreted many important books of the Mahayana Buddhism of East Asia in the 7th century. This study looked at the research on Wonhyo in North America, which started in the 19th century. Among those works, I focused on the study of Robert Buswell Jr., Sung Bae Park, A. Charles Muller and Richard D. McBrideII. Although they have different views on Wonhyo's thoughts, they share common ground with each other as follows. First, Wonhyo is one of the great monks who represent East Asian Buddhism, and his writings are regarded as the top level. Second, Wonhyo had good knowledge in wide-ranging areas, and treated them equally without comparison of schools. Third, Wonhyo’s writing apparently focused on ‘Hwa-jaeng (和諍, har-monization of arguments)’; however, deep inside is the Truth that makes everything into one. Fourth, Wonhyo relied on the Awakening of Mahayana Faith, so he explained sutras and treatises based on the structure and thought of ‘one mind (一心).’