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

Requesting Dharma, or going to China to learn Buddhism, is a key term which prescribes relation between Chinese Buddhism and Korean Buddhism, and a word that used in emphasizing introducing Chinese Buddhism into Korea. It makes us think of Buddhist exchanges between China and Korea as the former's one-sided transmission to the latter, and, also, fail to notice that Korean Buddhist texts had been introduced to China. This paper aims mainly at correcting this partial point of view on the history of Buddhist exchanges between China and Korea by examining examples of Korean Buddhist texts' export to China in the Goryeo Dynasty. Representative examples of Korean Buddhist texts' export to China in the Goryeo Era as follows: In Five Dynasties Era in the North of China, Wonhyo (元曉)'s Geumgangsammaegyeongnon (金剛三昧經論, Treatise on the Sutra of Diamond Samadhi) and his life was known to China, which made Chinese texts on history of Zen including Zongjinglu (宗鏡錄, Records of Mirrors of the Sect) record Wonhyo as a Zen master. In the early Northern Song Dynasty, Chinese Tiantai Sect was revived by Uitong (義通)'s activities and Jegwan (諦觀)'s introducing Tiantai texts into China including his writing of Cheontaesagyoui (天台四敎儀, Four Classifications of Cheontae). In Song Dynasty, Uicheon (義天)‘s activities were prominent. His achievements in China made Huayan Sect restored with Huiyin-yuan (慧因院) Temple, or Goryeo-sa (高麗寺) Temple in Hangzhou as the central temple, which also made Zen Sect tense. And, from these times, Korean Buddhist texts including Korean Tripitaka seemed to set to be introduced to China. There are another examples of exporting the Korean in Song Dynasty, that is, Geonnapyoha-ilseungsuhaengja-bimil-uigi (健拏標訶一乘修行者秘密義記, Comprehended Records of Ganda-vyuha's Single Vehicle Practitioners' Secrets) and Seongmahayeonnon (釋摩訶衍論, Interpretative Treatise on Mahayana) included in the Fangshan Tripitaka carved in the Stones. In Yuan Dynasty, there are several examples that Korean Tripitake were enshrined in the Chinese temples, and monks who transcribed sutras in China were additional example of transmission of Korean Buddhist culture. Also, introducing of the Commentary on ‘Chapter of Belief and Understanding’ (信解品) and Simjigwangyeonggi (心地觀經記, Records of the Sutra of Contemplating the Mind) by Misu (彌授) to Chinese monks in Yanjing (now Beijing), and transmitting of Susimgyeol (修心訣, Secrets on Cultivating the Mind) and Jinsimjikseol (眞心直說, Straight Talk on the True Mind) by Jinul (知訥) and their including into the Chinese Tripitaka after Wanli Tripitaka finished in 1584, prove that Korean Buddhism had much influence on the Chines. From these examples, we can find that Buddhist exchanges between China and Korea cannot be one-sided, rather, Korean monks went to China play double role: requesting Dharma and distributing Korean Buddhism. Therefore, we must have a new understanding of formating East Asia Buddhist circle, which is not one-sided transmission of Buddhist marching east, but promoted by interchanges among them.