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

This paper investigates Wonhyo (元曉, 617–686)’s Mirŭk sangsaenggyŏng chong’yo (Essentials of the Sutra of Maitreya’s Ascension, hereafter Chong’yo) as a core text that encapsulates his view of Buddhist practice, with the aim of elucidating its authorial intention and distinctive features through an analysis of its ten-gate (十門) structure. Whereas previous studies have focused primarily on interpreting the ideological content of the Chong’yo from the perspectives of hwajaeng (和諍, reconciliation of disputes) or yusim (唯心, mind-only), this study instead directs attention to the text’s structural purposiveness, particularly the rationale underlying Wonhyo’s deliberate sequencing of ten questions.
The ten gates of the Chong’yo are arranged in accordance with the successive stages of doubt that a practitioner encounters along the path of religious pursuit. In Gates 3 through 8, the process of “refuting the heterodox” (破邪, pasa) unfolds through the systematic rebuttal of various doubts, while Gates 9 and 10 advance toward the stage of “revealing the orthodox” (顯正, hyeonjeong) through the logic of original ground and manifested traces (本迹, bonjeok). The conceptual foundation enabling this progression is established in Chapter II, specifically in the sections titled “Great Meaning” (大意) and “Doctrinal Tenet” (宗致), where the goal of practice and the rational principle of “two practices and four fruits” (二行四果) are articulated, thereby providing the orienting framework for the entire text.
In conclusion, the ten-gate structure of the Chong’yo may be understood as a practical guide that leads practitioners toward a form of “wise faith” (智信, jisin), which is established through rigorous intellectual inquiry and the systematic overcoming of doubt, rather than through blind belief. By reexamining the Chong’yo not merely as a doctrinal exposition but as a structurally designed text that carefully maps the practitioner’s experiential journey, this study newly illuminates the originality and coherence of Wonhyo’s view of practice.