This paper is an attempt at re-envisioning pre-modern Korean Buddhism by engaging the issue of monastic slaves during the late Koryŏ and early Chosŏn. The approach is to accept “mundane provisions” adopted by temples as a closer reflection of Buddhism in its practiced form than doctrine-focused Buddhism. Consequently, this paper concludes that we cannot infer from doctrine, as we often do, the actual actions of monks. Our doctrinal understanding of Buddhism is far from being an accurate depiction of monastic Buddhism; it is rather a rhetorical representation. If we accept the voices of the late-Koryŏ and early-Chosŏn monks, the custom of monastic slavery did not transgress from any monastic regulations nor any Buddhist ideals. To interpret the actions of the monks as transgressions of the Vinayic codes or some highly held ideals reduces the issue at hand to a unidimensional matter and leads to an oversimplification of the complex dynamics of socio-economic and historical forces that have shaped and re-formed Buddhism in Korea.

中文翻译：

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高丽晚期和朝鲜早期的士大夫和僧侣对僧侣奴隶的看法

本文试图通过探讨高丽晚期和朝鲜早期的寺院奴隶问题来重新设想前现代韩国佛教。这种方法是接受寺庙采用的“世俗规定”，作为佛教实践形式的更接近反映，而不是专注于教义的佛教。因此，本文得出的结论是，我们不能像通常那样从教义中推断出僧侣的实际行为。我们对佛教的教义理解远不是对寺院佛教的准确描述；它更像是一种修辞表示。如果我们接受晚期高日和早期秋日僧人的声音，那么僧侣奴役的习俗并没有违反任何寺院规定，也没有违反任何佛教理想。