The Streams of Buddhism in the Korean Peninsula

Abstract

Mahayana Buddhism was officially propagated in the Korean Peninsula in the fourth century (4thA.D.). The first school of Buddhism that spread into the Korean peninsula was one that emphasized the importance of textual studies, of which the Avatamsaka school was the most influential. Thus, main philosophical concepts in the Avatamsaka Sutra, the main sutra of this sect, such as the principles of four Dharmmadhatu or the doctrine of relationships between principles (Principle, Ch. 理) and phenomena (Phenomena, Ch. 事), became important bases for the study of mainstream Buddhism in the Korean Peninsula from the fourth century onward. In the eighth century, when the practice-based school of Buddhism (Meditative School) or Zen Buddhism had spread into the Korean peninsula, theoretical conflicts between the two school arose. The points of contention were ontological, epistemological, as well as soteriological. A thorough insight of both origin and meaning of the conflict between different schools of Buddhism in the Korean Peninsula is essential for a proper understanding of solution to Buddhism-related problems.