Monks and Literati : The Transformation of Buddhism in Late Chosŏn Korea / Seong Uk Kim.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kim, Seong Uk, Author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Buddhism--Relations--Confucianism.

Buddhism.

Buddhism--Korea--History.

Buddhist monks--Korea.

Buddhist monks.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (252 p.) : 7 b&w illustrations

Place of Publication:

Honolulu : University of Hawaii Press, [2024]

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

Scholars have long debated the relationship between Buddhist monks and Confucian literati during the late Chosŏn (seventeenth to nineteenth centuries), when the Korean state adopted anti-Buddhist policies. On the one hand, it is understood that literati openly displayed hostility toward monks and engineered their persecution; on the other, they were known to have privately supported Buddhism, helping the religion persevere, even thrive, in the Confucian society. In Monks and Literati, the first book-length study in English to provide a comprehensive survey of Buddhism in late Chosŏn Korea, Seong Uk Kim argues that such opposing views overemphasize the role of literati and depict monks as passive actors. Kim applies sociologist Ann Swidler’s concept of repertoire—the social, cultural, and religious inventory of symbols, rules, and skills for constructing strategies of action—as an analytical tool to reconcile the two narratives and offer a more nuanced and comprehensive picture of the complex literati-monk relationship. Kim examines the ways monks initiated and developed relationships with literati using their repertoire of cultural and religious resources. Monks adopted various roles, such as cultural companion, spiritual mentor, and ritual officiant, within and beyond the private realm of Confucian society and, in so doing, reaffirmed what it meant to be a monk and redefined what Buddhism could be at a time when monks’ religious identities and activities were constantly being challenged. By avoiding the binary frame describing monks as either victims or beneficiaries of literati, Monks and Literati sheds new light on not only Korean Buddhism in the late Chosŏn but also more generally East Asian Buddhism, where a similar monk-literati paradigm has often been applied.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Dedication

Contents

Acknowledgments

Abbreviations and Conventions

Chosŏn Kings and Reign Periods

Chosŏn and Its Provinces

Introduction

Part I. Monks and Their Encounters with Literati

Chapter 1. Repertoire: Social, Cultural, and Religious Venues

Chapter 2. Sharing Culture: Encounters with Yangban

Part II. Transformations of Buddhism

Chapter 3. Showing the Way: Sŏn

Chapter 4. Mediating with the Divine: Avalokiteśvara Divination

Chapter 5. Praying for Salvation: Pure Land Worship

Chapter 6. Assisting the Dead and Bereaved: Death and Afterlife Rituals

Conclusion

Notes

Bibliography

Index

About the Author

Notes:

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 16. Dec 2024)

ISBN:

9780824899363

0824899369

9780824899370

0824899377

OCLC:

1437890421