Korean Buddhist Nuns and Laywomen: Hidden Histories, Enduring Vitality

4. Koryo Ladies and the Encouragement of Buddhismin Yuan China

4 KoryÆ Ladies and the Encouragement of Buddhism in Yuan China Tonino Puggioni This chapter examines the activities of Buddhist laywomen in the fourteenth century. More specifically, it analyzes the activities of KoryÆ laywomen residing in Yuan China. What is striking is the high degree of religious fervor dedicated to building or repairing temples, promoting the activities of Buddhist monks, and helping the religious communities of their home country. In certain cases, these activities were by no means limited to the capital Dadu, but also encompassed, as we shall see, their country of origin. In the course of my studies on the work of KoryÆ PÆpsang monks in Yuan China, I came across several cases of KoryÆ women involved in promoting Buddhist initiatives. Almost all the available data concern the undertakings of court ladies. Putting them aside, there are several references to the activities of a few women married to high officials of the Yuan bureaucracy not necessarily residing in the capital. Most often, the activities of these laywomen also involve court eunuchs. I intend to dedicate a separate study to this subject in the near future. In this period, for the first time in KoryÆ history, we find an abundance of epigraphical and literary information on the encouragement of Buddhism by women. The purpose of this chapter is to verify the ways in which KoryÆ women’s religious activities took place, their role in promoting Buddhism in China, the character of the Buddhist faith they promoted, and, finally, the historical meaning of their undertakings. 69 70 KOREAN BUDDHIST NUNS AND LAYWOMEN Considering the important role laywomen had in the promotion of Buddhism in general, and especially within KoryÆ communities in China, it is curious that so far no study has been done on this subject. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND For around thirty years, KoryÆ experienced a war of resistance against the invading Mongol armies. The country was crushed, with a few symbols of national identity and pride destroyed, such as the collection of the Tripitaka at Puin-sa (1236), the pagoda of Hwangnyong Temple in KyÆngju (1238), and numerous other temples and sites of historical interest that were burnt down. Hundreds of thousands of people had been killed or made prisoners of war while the land was ravaged and depleted. In 1259, KoryÆ managed to stipulate peace with the Mongols, when the heir Prince ChÆn (the future King WÆnjong) traveled to China to meet Qubilay. Peace was sought from both sides, as KoryÆ wished to put an end to decades of warfare against the Mongol armies, while Qubilay was engaged in an internecine war with his brother Arigh Böqe, with the outcome of this war by no means certain. Qubilay felicitously welcomed the KoryÆ king. The conditions of peace were harsh, but not as harsh when compared to other countries that had such a long record of resistance against the Mongols. For the first time since the end of the Tang dynasty, KoryÆ’s frontiers were laid open to all outsiders: KoryÆ people could visit the rest of the continent, with foreigners visiting KoryÆ with much ease compared to the past. This openness must have conferred a special atmosphere both to the Yuan capitals and to KaegyÆng, where many foreigners lived, as part of the entourage of the Mongol princesses, envoys of the Yuan court, part of military units, as Buddhist monks, merchants, and so on. But more than KaegyÆng, the Yuan capital itself was crowded with foreigners from all over, many of whom were on duty at the Yuan court as functionaries or as military personnel, while many others were engaged in the most disparate activities. Accordingly, foreign communities sprang up all over Yuan China, in particular in the capital and its surroundings, at ports, and at the most important communication centers. As today, and as it was in the recent past, one of the most important foreign communities in China was Korean. As part of the peace agreement, on repeated occasions KoryÆ would send young women and boys to Yuan China, to take up duty 71 KORYŎ LADIES at the Yuan court as court ladies, often being married off to Yuan court officials or provincial dignitaries. Boys were usually employed as eunuchs at court, and a kind of communal feeling developed accordingly among the court ladies and eunuchs, especially among people of the same country of origin...