Buddhism's Dark and Mysterious Way
Juhn Y. Ahn, University of Michigan
In this paper I will re-examine the writings of late-Koryŏ and early-Chosŏn scholars who wrote about Buddhism, wealth, and the need to adhere to the right values. I will examine the writings of, among others, Yi Kyubo (1169-1241), Ch'oe Hae (1287-1340), Yi Chehyŏn (1287-1367), Yi Kok (1298-1351), Yi Saek (1328-1396), Kwŏn Kŭn (1352-1409), and Chŏng Tojõn (1342-1398). Rather than pit Confucianism (or. Neo-Confucianism) against Buddhism or treat them as unchanging ideological systems not subject to the whims of history as scholars of premodern today are wont to do, I will use these writings to develop a new interpretation of the late-Koryŏ effort to establish lasting values that portrays the Buddhism and Confucianism of this period as fruits that actually fell from the same tree, a tree that began to grow as late-Koryŏ scholars, under very unique historical circumstances, began to dissociate real, lasting values from the material, physical world.