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Following in the Footsteps of Wŏnhyo: The Foundation and Development of the Haedong School in Koryŏ Journal of Korean Religions Pub Date : 2023-11-22 Kwangyoun Park
Abstract: A Buddhist school appeared in Koryŏ in the early twelfth century to inherit the legacy of Wŏnhyo's 元曉 (617–686) thought and practice. It was called the Haedong school, named after the Haedong commentary, a variant name for Wŏnhyo's Taesŭng kisillonso 大乘起信論疏 (Commentary to the Dasheng qixin lun). There has been disagreement in academia regarding the time of the Haedong school's foundation
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Practicing Motherhood and Forming Matrilineal Solidarity: A Counter-cultural Response to the Patrilineal Confucian Family in the Works of Park Wansuh (1931–2011) Journal of Korean Religions Pub Date : 2023-05-02 Haewon Yang
Abstract: This paper analyzes four fictional works by Park Wansuh (1931–2011) that thematize the issue of son preference and sex-selective abortion against the background of the recent decriminalization of abortion. Prior to 2021, although abortion was illegal in Korea it was widely practiced, providing the environment in which sex-selective abortion could also be accessed. However, in arguing for
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The Practical Confucianism of Yi Sajudang 李師朱堂: Focusing on Her Life Choices and Theory of Education Journal of Korean Religions Pub Date : 2023-05-02 So-Yi Chung
Abstract: This article attempts to examine the life and teachings of Yi Sajudang 李師朱堂 (1739–1821), a unique Confucian practical thinker from the Chosŏn dynasty in Korea. Yi Sajudang attached great importance to the situation in which a moral agent found himself, often surpassing in importance that agent's own will. This is reflected in her own life choices and educational theories. Yi Sajudang led
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Buddhist Rituals of Ch'ilsŏng, the Seven Stars of the Great Dipper, in Chosŏn Korea Journal of Korean Religions Pub Date : 2023-05-02 Seong Uk Kim
Abstract: The ritual of the seven stars of the Great Dipper thrived during the Chosŏn period. Although the state-level Great Dipper ritual was abolished by the royal court, the ritual was still popularly performed in private among people who prayed to the Dipper to fulfill their various wishes. Buddhism of this period served almost all social strata of Chosŏn, including members of the Confucian elite
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Religion and the Cold War: A View from Korea Journal of Korean Religions Pub Date : 2023-05-02 Heonik Kwon
Abstract: Religion has recently appeared as an important subject of inquiry in Cold War studies. Referred to as religion and the Cold War, the rise of this research activity has since provoked interesting debates on the place of religion in Cold War power politics. Korea's Cold War experience has much to say in these debates. This article reviews issues raised in recent religion and the Cold War scholarship
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Introduction to the Special Section: Korean Religions and COVID Restrictions Journal of Korean Religions Pub Date : 2022-10-13 Don Baker
In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content: Introduction to the Special Section:Korean Religions and COVID Restrictions Don Baker As our regular readers know well, the Journal of Korean Religions is not a theology journal. Instead, we publish studies of religion in society, defined broadly. Over the last thirteen years, we have had special issues on Pure Land Buddhism, on the experiences
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"It Isn't Just Us": The Korean Catholic Church's Responses to Corona-19 as Seen in Diocesan Bulletins Journal of Korean Religions Pub Date : 2022-10-13 Franklin Rausch
Abstract: The ceasing of public Catholic Masses just before Ash Wednesday 2020 in response to Corona-19 posed a significant problem as it meant Catholics could no longer easily receive Holy Communion, the center of Catholic faith life. Thus, one might have expected the Korean Catholic Church to oppose the limitation or cancellation of religious gatherings. But in fact, the opposite happened, with the
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Four Types of Protestant Responses to South Korean Government Measures to Control COVID-19 Outbreaks in 2020-2021 Journal of Korean Religions Pub Date : 2022-10-13 Timothy S. Lee
Abstract: The pandemic and government measures against it have deeply affected all aspects of South Korean society, not least the Protestants and their communities, be they small congregations or megachurches, denominations or parachurch organizations. How did Korean Protestants respond to these anti-pandemic measures? This study seeks to address this question—focusing on the period between February
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Mediated Faith Coping with COVID-19: A Case Study of a Megachurch in South Korea Journal of Korean Religions Pub Date : 2022-10-13 Seung Min Hong
Abstract: While the Republic of Korea coped well with COVID-19 prior to the development of the vaccines, the major outbreaks of the virus in the country were largely caused and/or facilitated by several controversial Christian groups. There have also been many cases of smaller local churches spreading the virus due to their refusal to follow the government's guidelines for religious gatherings. Meanwhile
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Religious Meaning-Making Narratives for Reconciliation in the aftermath of State Violence: South Korean Christian Perspectives Journal of Korean Religions Pub Date : 2022-10-13 Hyukmin Kang
Abstract: This article examines how victims of violence adopt religious meaning-making narratives to deal with their trauma and, in doing so, engage with a social ethic of reconciliation. An analysis of the narratives of five South Korean Christians who lost their families during the Korean war (1950–1953) provides detailed information about how victims rely on religious narratives to make sense of
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Introduction to the Special Section: Korean Religions and COVID Restrictions Journal of Korean Religions Pub Date : 2022-10-13 Don Baker
In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content: Introduction to the Special Section:Korean Religions and COVID Restrictions Don Baker As our regular readers know well, the Journal of Korean Religions is not a theology journal. Instead, we publish studies of religion in society, defined broadly. Over the last thirteen years, we have had special issues on Pure Land Buddhism, on the experiences
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"It Isn't Just Us": The Korean Catholic Church's Responses to Corona-19 as Seen in Diocesan Bulletins Journal of Korean Religions Pub Date : 2022-10-13 Franklin Rausch
Abstract: The ceasing of public Catholic Masses just before Ash Wednesday 2020 in response to Corona-19 posed a significant problem as it meant Catholics could no longer easily receive Holy Communion, the center of Catholic faith life. Thus, one might have expected the Korean Catholic Church to oppose the limitation or cancellation of religious gatherings. But in fact, the opposite happened, with the
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Four Types of Protestant Responses to South Korean Government Measures to Control COVID-19 Outbreaks in 2020-2021 Journal of Korean Religions Pub Date : 2022-10-13 Timothy S. Lee
Abstract: The pandemic and government measures against it have deeply affected all aspects of South Korean society, not least the Protestants and their communities, be they small congregations or megachurches, denominations or parachurch organizations. How did Korean Protestants respond to these anti-pandemic measures? This study seeks to address this question—focusing on the period between February
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Mediated Faith Coping with COVID-19: A Case Study of a Megachurch in South Korea Journal of Korean Religions Pub Date : 2022-10-13 Seung Min Hong
Abstract: While the Republic of Korea coped well with COVID-19 prior to the development of the vaccines, the major outbreaks of the virus in the country were largely caused and/or facilitated by several controversial Christian groups. There have also been many cases of smaller local churches spreading the virus due to their refusal to follow the government's guidelines for religious gatherings. Meanwhile
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Religious Meaning-Making Narratives for Reconciliation in the aftermath of State Violence: South Korean Christian Perspectives Journal of Korean Religions Pub Date : 2022-10-13 Hyukmin Kang
Abstract: This article examines how victims of violence adopt religious meaning-making narratives to deal with their trauma and, in doing so, engage with a social ethic of reconciliation. An analysis of the narratives of five South Korean Christians who lost their families during the Korean war (1950–1953) provides detailed information about how victims rely on religious narratives to make sense of
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The Philosophical Turn in Tonghak: Focusing on the Extension of Ethics of Ch'oe Sihyŏng Journal of Korean Religions Pub Date : 2022-05-18 Cho Sŏng-hwan
Abstract: One of the dominant understandings of Tonghak 東學 (Eastern Learning) in Korea is that it is a modern Confucianism. It has been suggested, for example, that Tonghak is a sort of popularized Confucianism, while others maintain Tonghak to be the perfect form of Confucianism. But there are different interpretations regarding Tonghak thought. In this study, I endeavor to show how Tonghak thought
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The Faith of Sich'ŏnju in Tonghak/Ch'ŏndogyo and its Method of Practice Journal of Korean Religions Pub Date : 2022-05-18 Kim Yonghae
Abstract: This paper studies the religious practices of Tonghak 東學/Ch’ŏndogyo 天道敎. I first investigate how Ch’oe Cheu experienced Hanŭl (天; Heaven) and became convinced that he had achieved “endless universal truth” (mugŭk taedo 無極大道) through this singular experience. I further discuss what this vision means for modern religious practitioners. Next, I point out correspondences between his experience
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Parable of Talents: How North Korea-related, Faith-Based Workers Respond to Enhanced Sanctions and a Global Pandemic Journal of Korean Religions Pub Date : 2022-05-18 Joseph Yi
Abstract: How did American members of North Korea-related, faith-based organizations (FBOs)— “US humanitarian evangelicals”—respond to the governmental restrictions linked to enhanced sanctions and a global pandemic? More-committed members shifted from direct person-to-person engagement inside North Korea to indirect activities outside, including political advocacy in the US and language training in
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The Faith of Sich’ŏnju in Tonghak/Ch’ŏndogyo and its Method of Practice Journal of Korean Religions Pub Date : 2022-04-01 Kim Yonghae
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The Philosophical Turn in Tonghak: Focusing on the Extension of Ethics of Ch’oe Sihyŏng Journal of Korean Religions Pub Date : 2022-04-01 Cho Sŏng-hwan
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Re-Examination of the Religious Identity of Tonghak: A Focused Analysis of Ch’oe Cheu’s Awareness of Problems Journal of Korean Religions Pub Date : 2022-04-01 Kim Yonghwi
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A Disguised Sponsorship for Tenacious Buddhism in Early Chosŏn Korea: Queen Sohye (1437–1504) and the Buddhist Controversy in the Reign of King Sŏngjong Journal of Korean Religions Pub Date : 2021-11-05 Sungoh Yoon
Abstract: The aim of this essay to indicate factors affecting political decisions concerning Buddhism in King Sŏngjong's reign (1469–1494). It begins by pointing out that Sŏngjong, long reputed as an exemplary Confucian monarch and known for his particular antipathy to Buddhism, neither had much interest in persecuting the buddha-worshipping religion nor made it his priority to promote Confucianism
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Crossing the Lines: Pak Indŏk, Christianity, and the Impulse to Claim New Space Journal of Korean Religions Pub Date : 2021-11-05 Hyaeweol Choi
Abstract: Pak Indŏk (1896–1980) is one of the most controversial women intellectuals of modern Korea. She was the protégé of US missionary teachers in her youth, an activist for national independence, a member of the US-educated elite, a prominent Christian convert who travelled around the world twice giving lectures about her salvation, an early media figure dubbed "Korea's Nora" after her sensational
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Creating the Sacred and the Secular in Colonial Korea Journal of Korean Religions Pub Date : 2021-11-05 Don Baker
Abstract: The thirty-five-year-long Japanese occupation of Korea (1910–1945) stimulated a significant transformation of the traditional Korean concept of religion, which in turn stimulated changes in the Korean understanding of the secular and the sacred. Traditional Korea lacked an explicit definition of religion. Under Japanese rule, Koreans absorbed the modern Japanese bureaucratic definition of
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Bilingual yet Monoethnic Congregations: Intergenerational Transformation in Korean Ethnic Churches in São Paulo Journal of Korean Religions Pub Date : 2021-11-05 Jihye Kim
Abstract: The extensive alienation of younger-generation Korean Brazilians from Korean ethnic churches in São Paulo has led to inevitable transformation processes. Positioned within studies in ethnic religious communities, this research explores recent changes and evolutionary processes in the city's three largest religious organizations with a particular focus on the religious, linguistic, ethnic
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Going Global: The Transformation of the Korean Catholic Church Journal of Korean Religions Pub Date : 2021-05-12 Denis WS Kim
Abstract: This paper examines the ''globalization'' of the Korean Catholic Church (KCC). Despite its short history, the KCC has been transformed from a Church receiving missionaries and economic support to one sending them. The KCC has not only sent missionaries abroad, but has engaged in international development through its financial support and by running international developmental NGOs. This paper
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Japanese Buddhist Modernism and the Thought of Sŏn Master Toeong Seongcheol 退翁性徹禪師 (1912–1993) Journal of Korean Religions Pub Date : 2021-05-12 Cho Myungje, Bernard Senécal S.J. (Seo Myeonggweon)
Abstract: Few scholars and followers of the Buddhist faith are aware of how much modern Japanese Buddhist studies have influenced Sŏn Master Toeong Seongcheol's thought. It is, indeed, a well-kept secret. However, as an instance, a close examination of Seongcheol's ideas on the Madhyamaka doctrine (chungdoron 中道論), and of his resulting interpretation of Chan-Sŏn 禪 history, reveals how strongly the
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Calm Water is a Mirror: Neo-Confucian Meditation in the Chosŏn Dynasty Journal of Korean Religions Pub Date : 2021-05-12 Guy S. Shababo
Abstract: Quiet-sitting (chŏngjwa) has been mentioned throughout the Chosŏn dynasty as a key part of the Neo-Confucian self-cultivation process. However, we see very few references to it, and what we find is mostly on the philosophical aspect and the meditation's goals in terms of li and ki. We are left without any manuals or treatises on the actual technical aspects of the meditation. Is it practiced
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A Buddhist Critique of Neo-Confucianism in Seventeenth-Century Chosŏn Korea Journal of Korean Religions Pub Date : 2021-05-12 Kim Jong Wook
Abstract: Unbong Taeji's Treatise on the Nature of the Mind was composed during an interesting period of Korean history when Buddhism was suppressed under the political and ideological dominance of Neo-Confucianism. The treatise, nonetheless, entered the mainstream Neo-Confucian discourse and espoused the superiority of the Buddhist system of thought over Neo-Confucianism. It was done by skillfully
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A Buddhist Critique of Neo-Confucianism in Seventeenth-Century Chosŏn Korea Journal of Korean Religions Pub Date : 2021-01-01 Kim Jong Wook
Abstract:Unbong Taeji's Treatise on the Nature of the Mind was composed during an interesting period of Korean history when Buddhism was suppressed under the political and ideological dominance of Neo-Confucianism. The treatise, nonetheless, entered the mainstream Neo-Confucian discourse and espoused the superiority of the Buddhist system of thought over Neo-Confucianism. It was done by skillfully
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Going Global: The Transformation of the Korean Catholic Church Journal of Korean Religions Pub Date : 2021-01-01 Denis WS Kim
Abstract:This paper examines the ''globalization'' of the Korean Catholic Church (KCC). Despite its short history, the KCC has been transformed from a Church receiving missionaries and economic support to one sending them. The KCC has not only sent missionaries abroad, but has engaged in international development through its financial support and by running international developmental NGOs. This paper
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Gender Politics at Home and Abroad: Protestant Modernity in Colonial-Era Korea by Hyaeweol Choi Journal of Korean Religions Pub Date : 2021-01-01 Choi Hee An
In many colonized and formerly colonized countries, modernity and colonialism have been introduced as two sides of the same coin. Engaging the discourse of colonial modernity and introducing the concept of ‘‘Protestant modernity,’’ Choi shows how in colonial Korea under Japanese rule gender relations were challenged and deconstructed/reconstructed under the powerful influences of Christianity. She
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Calm Water is a Mirror: Neo-Confucian Meditation in the Chosŏn Dynasty Journal of Korean Religions Pub Date : 2021-01-01 Guy S. Shababo
Abstract:Quiet-sitting (chŏngjwa) has been mentioned throughout the Chosŏn dynasty as a key part of the Neo-Confucian self-cultivation process. However, we see very few references to it, and what we find is mostly on the philosophical aspect and the meditation's goals in terms of li and ki. We are left without any manuals or treatises on the actual technical aspects of the meditation. Is it practiced
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Japanese Buddhist Modernism and the Thought of Sŏn Master Toeong Seongcheol 退翁性徹禪師 (1912–1993) Journal of Korean Religions Pub Date : 2021-01-01 Cho Myungje,Bernard Senécal S.J. (Seo Myeonggweon)
Abstract:Few scholars and followers of the Buddhist faith are aware of how much modern Japanese Buddhist studies have influenced Sŏn Master Toeong Seongcheol's thought. It is, indeed, a well-kept secret. However, as an instance, a close examination of Seongcheol's ideas on the Madhyamaka doctrine (chungdoron 中道論), and of his resulting interpretation of Chan-Sŏn 禪 history, reveals how strongly the scholarly
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Creating the Sacred and the Secular in Colonial Korea Journal of Korean Religions Pub Date : 2021-01-01 Don Baker
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Crossing the Lines: Pak Indŏk, Christianity, and the Impulse to Claim New Space Journal of Korean Religions Pub Date : 2021-01-01 Hyaeweol Choi
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Increased Temple Publication of Buddhist Texts in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries: Reading the Political and Cultural Significance of the Monastic Community Journal of Korean Religions Pub Date : 2020-11-21 Son Sŏngpil
Abstract: The publishing of texts is a historical phenomenon with many social, political, intellectual, and cultural implications. In contrast to previous studies, this article adopts a quantitative method of examining the number of Buddhist texts published in each century and categorizing the texts according to their characteristics. Moreover, the entire Chosŏn period is not characterized by anti-Buddhist
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The Chosŏn Gentry Sponsorship of Buddhist Temple Works: Insights from the Records of Late-Chosŏn Donor Ledgers Journal of Korean Religions Pub Date : 2020-11-21 Sung-Eun Thomas Kim
Abstract: Much has been written about the Chosŏn scholar-officials and the gentry but very little is known about their private affairs, such as their religious activities. To date, socio-political elite males of the Chosŏn period are accepted to have been averse to heterodox traditions, especially heterodox rituals. Despite the overall lack of research on their private lives, it seems this group of
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Beyond the Pro- or Anti-Buddhist Interpretations of State Governance: An Alternate Reason for the Vernacular Translations of Sinitic Buddhist Texts in Fifteenth-Century Chosŏn Korea Journal of Korean Religions Pub Date : 2020-11-21 Kim Kijong
Abstract: Previous studies concerning the fifteenth-century vernacular translations of Buddhist texts have focused on those by the Directorate of Sūtra Publication (Kan'gyŏng togam) and its related purposes and significances. Scholars have pointed out that King Sejo (r. 1455–1468) aimed at fortifying his authority by means of such vernacular translations. Others have maintained that Sejo intended to
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Beyond Singular Tradition: "Buddhist" Pilgrimage Sites in Late Chosŏn Korea Journal of Korean Religions Pub Date : 2020-11-21 Maya Stiller
Abstract: Different academic disciplines have divergent views on late Chosŏn Buddhism. Many literature scholars and art historians reject the idea that Chosŏn elite travelers could be Buddhist pilgrims, maintaining that the elite justified their trips to Buddhist pilgrimage sites by citing Daoist and Neo-Confucian ideas. Specialists in Korean history and religions, on the other hand, argue that Chosŏn
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Introduction: Yogācāra Studies of Silla Journal of Korean Religions Pub Date : 2020-01-01 A. Charles Muller
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From the Mountains to the Cities: A History of Buddhist Propagation in Modern Korea by Mark A. Nathan Journal of Korean Religions Pub Date : 2020-01-01 Victoria Ten (Jeon Yeonhwa)
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Early Japanese Hossō in Relation to Silla Yogācāra in Disputes between Nara’s Northern and Southern Temple Traditions Journal of Korean Religions Pub Date : 2020-01-01 Ronald S. Green
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Oneness: East Asian Conceptions of Virtue, Happiness, and How We Are All Connected by Philip J. Ivanhoe Journal of Korean Religions Pub Date : 2020-01-01 James T. Bretzke
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The Korean Buddhist Empire: A Transnational History (1910–1945) by Hwansoo Ilmee Kim Journal of Korean Religions Pub Date : 2020-01-01 Juhn Y. Ahn
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Text Beyond Context: Power, Discourse, and the Chŏng Kam nok in Colonial Korea Journal of Korean Religions Pub Date : 2020-01-01 Seungyop Shin
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Sthiramati, Paramārtha, and Wŏnhyo: On the Sources of Wŏnhyo’s Chungbyŏn punbyŏllon so Journal of Korean Religions Pub Date : 2020-01-01 Shigeki Moro
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Accounting for North Korea: Korean Reunification, the CCIA, and the Korean Christians Federation Journal of Korean Religions Pub Date : 2019-01-01 Paul S. Cha
Abstract:During the 1980s, the issue of the peaceful reunification of the Korean Peninsula became of interest to Christian communities in South Korea. In seeking to understand this phenomenon, conventional narratives have focused on the agency of South Korean Christian activists who had, by the late 1970s, identified reunification as a fundamental goal that needed to be achieved in order to address
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The Making of Modern Monastic Families in Colonial Korea: An Examination of Master-Disciple Relations in Monks’ Household Registers Journal of Korean Religions Pub Date : 2019-01-01 Jeongeun Park
Abstract:When the modern household registration system was introduced to Korea by the Japanese in 1909, Korean Buddhist monks were smoothly incorporated into it. At the time, most monks might not have realized the tremendous change the modern household registration was bringing about: the beginning of secularization. In the early colonial period Korean monks were allowed to claim their disciples as
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The Remains from Ancient Times: Newly Formed Connections with Buddhist Culture Designated as “Art” or “Cultural Assets” Journal of Korean Religions Pub Date : 2019-01-01 Kang Hee-jung
Abstract:Imperial Japanese scholars investigated Buddhist art in Korea prior to their country’s annexation of Korea, and shortly after that annexation they commenced their restoration work on those investigated cultural artifacts. This paper aims to review the changes in the context of restored Korean Buddhist art through an examination of period photographs. Japanese publishers made frequent use of
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Must Read Texts for Buddhists and the Modernization of Korean Buddhist Ritual Journal of Korean Religions Pub Date : 2019-01-01 Richard D. McBride
Abstract:Must Read Texts for Buddhists (Pulcha p’illam 佛子必覽) is a compendium of Korean Buddhist ceremonial texts that was compiled and published in 1931 by Ch’oe Ch’wihŏ 崔就墟 (1865–d. after 1940) and An Sŏgyŏn 安錫淵 (1880–1965). It was the first attempt to systematize and modernize the Buddhist rituals performed by Koreans since the publication of Kŭngsŏn’s 亙璇 (1767–1862) Models for Making Ceremonial
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The Re-emergence of Chosŏn Buddhism in the 17th Century: A Question of Institutional Development and Legitimation Journal of Korean Religions Pub Date : 2019-01-01 Sung-Eun T. Kim
Abstract:The most formative event for Buddhism of the Chosŏn period (1392–1910) was not state suppression; rather, it was the severance of official recognition and state patronage of the monastic community. Unlike in the Koryŏ period, the identity of the monastic community during the Chosŏn period was mainly determined not by its relationship with the state, and financial support and social legitimation
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The Real Face of Korean Buddhism under Japanese Colonial Rule Journal of Korean Religions Pub Date : 2019-01-01 Kue-jin Song
Abstract:This study analyzes historical documents to assess the influence of the Government-General on Korean Buddhism under Japanese rule from 1910 to 1945. Although the Government-General had the authority to appoint and dismiss head monks, internal records show that when head monks were elected in conflict-free towns and provinces, the Government-General did not actively intervene in the election