Uicheon

Portrait of Uicheon Daegakguksa, reworked in 1805 by Doilbigu, a Buddhist artist
Korean spelling
Hangeul	의천
Hanja	義 天
Revised Romanization	Uicheon
McCune- Reischauer	Ŭi'n
See also : Korean name

Uicheon ( Korean 의천 ) (born October 30, 1055 in Kaesŏng , Kingdom of Goryeo ; † October 28, 1101 in Goryeo), also known as Grand Master Taegak Kuksa ( 태 각국 사 ), was an important Buddhist monk and author of numerous writings during the Goryeo Dynasty ( 고려 왕조 ) (918–1392). He is considered to be the founder of the Cheontae order ( 천태종 ) in Korea , which has its roots in the Tiantai order in China .

Life

Uicheon was the fourth son of King Munjong ( 문종 ) and his wife, Queen Inye ( 인예 ), who came from the Incheon Lee clan. At his birth he was given the name Wang Hu ( Geburt ) and later fulfilled his father's wish that one of his sons should become a Buddhist monk. At the age of eleven, Wang Hu was ordained and first studied in the Buddhist temples of Yeongttong and Puril. He then devoted himself to the Mahayana and Hinayana sutras and tracts . Non-Buddhist works also caught his attention in those days. After his teacher passed away, he took on the task of teaching, which made him known throughout the country through his special lectures.

His wish to go to China for further studies was refused for the time being, but he maintained correspondence with the Chinese Dharma master Jingyuan. When Uicheon's father died in 1085, he eventually went to China with two of his disciples, traveled around the country, met leading thinkers of the time and even studied Sanskrit . When the royal court ordered him back to Goryeo in 1087, he came back to his homeland with over 3,000 volumes of Buddhist texts and became abbot of the Heungwang Temple, where he continued to study the theory of Cheontae and trained other disciples. In 1097 he became abbot of the newly built Gukcheong Temple and founded the Cheontae Order there, which enjoyed increasing popularity in the following years.

Uicheon worked to harmonize the different Buddhist currents and schools and took the view that meditation should be based on religious teachings. He also worked to preserve East Asian Buddhist texts for posterity. He sent his disciples to China for the Song Dynasty , to Japan and to the empire of the Liao Dynasty to locate and obtain texts by local authors. In 1090 he published a catalog with 1010 listed titles over 4,740 scrolls (library comprising 4740 volumes), the texts of which were brought into woodcuts and were considered to be a supplement to the Goryeo canon . The printing blocks were lost to fire during the Mongol invasion in 1231–1232. When they were renewed between 1236 and 1251, however, the additions were forgotten, which have since been lost forever.

literature

• Ki-baik Lee : A New History of Korea . Harvard University Press , Seoul 1984, ISBN 0-674-61576-X (English, Chinese: 韓國 史 新 論 . 1961. Translated by Edward W. Wagner).
• Michael J. Pettid, Mark C. Mueller, Raymond F. Wall : Kang Kamch'an . In: Yang Hi Choe-Wall (Ed.): Encyclopedia of Korea . Australian National University , Canberra May 1999 (English).

Web links

Wikisource: Author Uicheon  - Sources and full texts (English)

• 의천 [ 義 天 , 1055 ~ 1101]. In: Doopedia . Doosan Corporation,accessed November 5, 2019(Korean). 

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Pettid, Mueller, Wall : Taehan pulgyo purip-chong . In: Encyclopedia of Korea . 1999, p.  1277, 1282 .
2. ↑ ^{a b c} Pettid, Mueller, Wall : Ŭich'ŏn . In: Encyclopedia of Korea . 1999, p.  1323 .
3. ↑ 의천 [ 義 天 , 1055 ~ 1101]. In: Doopedia . Doosan Corporation , accessed November 5, 2019 (Korean).  
4. ^ Lee : A New History of Korea . 1984, p.  131 f .
5. ↑ Pettid, Mueller, Wall : Buddhism in the Koryo period (918-1392) . In: Encyclopedia of Korea . 1999, p.  96 .
6. ↑ Pettid, Mueller, Wall : Ŭich'ŏn . In: Encyclopedia of Korea . 1999, p.  1324 .