A Buddhist Critique of Neo-Confucianism in Seventeenth-Century Chosŏn Korea
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 th...
| Published in: | Journal of Korean religions |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
University of Hawai'i Press
2021
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| In: |
Journal of Korean religions
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| Further subjects: | B
nature of the mind
B Limitless B Unbong Taeji B innate enlightenment B Supreme Ultimate B Dharma body B illuminating enlightenment |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | 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 reformulating the Confucian debate on the Limitless and the Supreme Ultimate into a Buddhist debate of the One Mind and inherent enlightenment of the human mind, the main doctrine of the Awakening of Mahāyāna Faith. Furthermore, Unbong enlisted the One Nature-Numerous Natures debate to emphasize the importance of individual natures within the oneness of inherent nature. From the works of Unbong, there is a strong sense that there were movements among monks who were intent on proving the superiority of Buddhism over Neo-Confucianism, at least as a system of thought that more accurately represented reality. Within the greater socio-political context, Unbong's arguments represented Buddhism as a tradition that was able to stand its hermeneutical ground against Neo-Confucianism. It was a display of self-confidence amongst the monks in their Buddhist tradition of thought in the latter half of the Chosŏn period. |
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| ISSN: | 2167-2040 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal of Korean religions
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1353/jkr.2021.0003 |