Korean Buddhist Nuns and Laywomen: Hidden Histories, Enduring Vitality

2. Female Buddhist Practice in Korea—A Historical Account

2 Female Buddhist Practice in Korea—A Historical Account Eun-su Cho How can there be [gender distinctions between] monks and nuns in the Buddhadharma? How can there be the worldly and the nonworldly? How can there be north and south? How can there be you and me? Pon’gong S„nim (1907–1965) One of the fundamental tenets of SÆn (C. Chan; J. Zen), which forms the basis of modern Korean Buddhism, is that in the Buddhadharma there is no distinction between male and female, worldly and nonworldly phenomena. There is, however, a considerable gap between this nondualistic ideal and what is actually practiced. Pon’gong’s verse quoted here1 seems to question this gap, as the author is conscious of her dual status as a woman and as a SÆn teacher who defies that womanhood.2 Poems and other overlooked sources offer us glimpses of the enduring vitality displayed by Korean nuns, who have maintained a history of thorough practice that has been almost completely ignored: the history of Korean Buddhism has so far always been restricted to the history of monks alone. The nuns’ sa∫gha began when the historical Buddha, Íåkyamuni, ordained his maternal aunt and foster mother, Mahåprajåpati, and five hundred other women. When the Buddha permitted the ordination of nuns, he demanded that they observe eight chief rules of respect to monks. For anyone concerned about the status of women in Buddhism , this is a problem that causes considerable anguish. Scholarly 15 16 KOREAN BUDDHIST NUNS AND LAYWOMEN research to date on this subject is largely divided into two camps. The first maintains that these regulations did not reflect the thinking of the Buddha himself but were created in later times by his conservative disciples. The second holds that although the Buddha may have said this himself and his own disciples may have created these regulations, this was merely an expedient means, an empty statement to placate Indian society of the day. This second view emphasizes the fact that Buddhism is one of the few major religions in which female clergy exist alongside their male counterparts, with equally independent organizational structures and religious functions. Regardless of which interpretation is adopted, at the time of Íåkyamuni it was codified that the Buddhist order is made up of the four assemblies—female and male clergy, and female and male lay believers—a fact that in itself indicates the longevity of the egalitarian and democratic nature of the social and political ideas of Buddhism. However, unlike the Buddha, who advocated and practiced the idea of gender equality within the limitations of his time, the later institutions of Buddhism were corroded by the patriarchal societies and cultures in which they formed. Korea was no exception to this, and its nuns suffered constant ordeals solely and specifically because they were women. KOREAN BUDDHIST NUNS FROM THE FOURTH CENTURY TO THE PRESENT Despite the paucity of historical materials, it is generally agreed that a Korean nuns’ order was established at almost the same time as the order of monks, namely, on the transmission of Buddhism to Korea. The two seminal historic sources for ancient Korea, the Samguk yusa (Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms; written by the monk IryÆn [1206–1289] toward the end of the thirteenth century) and Samguk sagi (History of the Three Kingdoms; an official history compiled in 1145 by Kim Pu-sik and others), both contain records of Buddhist nuns and female lay practitioners, proving the existence of Korean nuns from the very beginning of Buddhism in Korea some 1,600 years ago. Buddhism came to the Korean peninsula in the latter half of the fourth century through China, during the Three Kingdoms period. KoguryÆ (37 b.c.e.–618 c.e.) in the north was the most powerful of the three kingdoms, and received the new religion first. There is a record stating that the introduction of Buddhism to KoguryÆ took place in 372 c.e., when King Fu Jian (r. 357–384) of the former Qin 17 FEMALE BUDDHIST PRACTICE IN KOREA dynasty (351–394) sent the monk-envoy Shundao (K. Sundo) to the KoguryÆ court with scriptures and images. Around the same time, the Paekche kingdom (18 b.c.e.–660 c.e.), occupying the southwestern part of the peninsula, was introduced to Buddhism in 384 through another monk-envoy who had...