?isang

?isang (625–702) was the founder of the Hwa?m school and an influential thinker in Korea and China. In 644 he was ordained a monk at Hwangboksa in Ky?ngju, the capital of Silla. Together with W?nhyo (617–686), ?isang decided to study under Chinese masters. After a first unsuccessful attempt in 650, ?isang finally reached Tang China in 661, where he studied under Zhiyan (602–668), the second patriarch of the Huayan school. Together with Fazang (643–712), the future third patriarch of the Huayan school, ?isang became one of Zhiyan's chief disciples. In 668 ?isang wrote the Hwa?m ils?ng p?pkye to (Diagram of the Dharmadh?tu According to the One Vehicle of Hwa?m), a poem epitomizing his understanding of Huayan philosophy. During the same year, Zhiyan died and ?isang took over teaching the disciples of his deceased master.

In 670 ?isang returned to Korea, warning King Munmu about an impending invasion of Silla by Tang army forces. In 676 Pus?ksa on Mount T'aebaek was built under royal decree and functioned as ?isang's main center for the propagation of the Hwa?isang in Korea. Purportedly, ?isang gathered more than three thousand disciples and subsequently founded other monasteries throughout the country, further promoting Hwa?m studies. ?isang's erudition was known both inside and outside of Korea. Fazang continued to correspond with ?isang, asking him to Correct his manuscripts.

During the subsequent Kory? dynasty, Chinul (1158–1210) copiously cited ?isang's works and King Sukjong conferred on him a posthumous title. ?isang's Hwa?m ils?ng p?pkye to is often recited in modern Korean Buddhist liturgy.

Bibliography

Forte, Antonino. A Jewel in Indra's Net: The Letter Sent by Fazang in China to ?isang in Korea. Kyoto: Instituto Italiano di Cultura Scuola di Studi Sull'Asia Orientale, 2000.

Lee, Peter H., ed. Sourcebook of Korean Civilization, Vol. 1. New York: Columbia University Press, 1993.

Odin, Steve. Process Metaphysics and Hua-yen Buddhism: A Critical Study of Cumulative Penetration vs. Interpretation. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1982.

Patrick R. Uhlmann