Buddhism enjoyed enthusiastic patronage in Shilla during and following the Three Kingdoms period. Although Shilla was the last of the three Korean kingdoms to adopt Buddhism as a state religion, the elites eventually saw its efficacy and were perhaps particularly attracted to the innovations that came with it. Under the umbrella of Buddhism, Shilla kings (and queens) were able to justify their position through the zealous support of Buddhist institutions as a means to protect the interests of not only the state but also the people. The peace that followed the conclusion of the Three Kingdoms and the expulsion of the Tang Chinese armies enabled great prosperity and wealth that enabled the Shilla court to lavishly support Buddhism.
In the seventh and eighth centuries, many monks from the peninsula studied Buddhism in the great monasteries of Tang China including those of the Tang imperial capital at Chang'an, which was then the virtual mecca of Buddhist learning in Northeast Asia. Monks that returned to Shilla brought back with them the teachings of the Hwaeom (Chinese: Huayuan, Sanskrit: Avatamsaka) and Seon (Chinese: Chan, Japanese: Zen) schools. Pure Land Buddhism, popularized by figures such as Wonhyo, also made inroads in Korean society. While Buddhist scholarship in Unified Shilla was relatively sophisticated, the ultimate concerns of the aristocracy were the supposed worldly-benefits of Buddhism - the power of Buddhism to influence the fortunes of the state. As a result, aristocrats and royalty were eager to support Buddhist rituals that were intended to bring about the protection of the kingdom and the warding off of negative influences.
The remarkable wealth of Unified Shilla, which at this time even awed Arab merchants to the point that the kingdom earned a reputation of being a land of gold, allowed for constructions of a grandiose scale. One of the most famous of these constructions was the Buddha grotto of Seokguram. Seokguram's sophisticated artistry continued to influence sculpture styles of later Buddhist artwork even after the Unified Shilla period.
Bookmark/Search this post with:
