Key tenets of Korean Buddhism published (for the first time)
Seoul (AsiaNews) - After years of hard work, the Jogye Order, the oldest and largest Buddhist religious order in South Korea, published a 13-volume bilingual (English-ancient Chinese) collection of the wisdom of Korean Buddhism. For some, the work is a major step forward. As one researcher put it, "Many cannot differentiate Korean Buddhism from Chinese Buddhism;" now scholars and believers can see the differences.
The Korean edition of the collection was published last year. This year's edition will help compare the tenets of Buddhism with the original text, which is in ancient Chinese.
Titled the 'Collected Works of Korean Buddhism,' the 13 volumes contain the teachings of monks celebrated throughout Korean history, including Wonhyo (617-686), Jinul (1158-1210) and Hyujeong (1520-1604).
A total of 46 Korean and foreign scholars edited and translated the series. The project began in 2006 under the auspices of South Korea's Ministry of Culture, but the man behind the project was the late Venerable Jigwan, who served as the executive chief of the Jogye Order from 2005 to 2009.
For Kwon Ki-chan, researcher at the Jogye Order Institute for the Study of Buddhism and Society, the collection goes a long way in explaining the specificities of Korean Buddhism.
Indeed, "We felt that there really aren't many English-language resources on Korean Buddhism overseas," he explained. Thus, "This series is to serve as a basic guide for those who would like to research Korean Buddhism" from a comparative perspective.
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