YUJ?NG

The Korean Buddhist monk Yuj?ng (1544–1610), better known as Samy?ng taesa (Great Master), lived during the middle of the Chos?n dynasty (1392–1910), a period in which the country was invaded by the Japanese twice, in 1592 and 1597. Together with his teacher, Hyuj?ng (1520–1604), Yuj?ng became a leader of the Buddhist monastic militia that defended the kingdom, and he remains an exemplar of patriotism.

Yuj?ng was also known as Songun, and his secular name was Im ?nggyu; Yuj?ng was his dharma name. Like many other Buddhist monks during the Chos?n, when Confucianism was the orthodoxy, Yuj?ng was educated in Confucian classics in his childhood. He was orphaned at age fifteen and became a Buddhist monk under Monk Shinmuk at Chikchisa. Early in his career as a monk Yuj?ng studied both Buddhist and Confucian texts and he communicated with Confucian scholars. In 1557, no earlier than age thirty, he declined the king's appointment to become the abbot of Pongun Monastery, the head monastery of the S?n school, and Yuj?ng at Mount Myohyang to practice meditation. Yuj?ng is said to have attained enlightenment in 1586 at age forty-two.

In 1592 Yuj?ng organized the monastic militia and helped lead a number of campaigns against the Japanhe joined Hyujo ese invasion. During and after the war he was appointed as a royal envoy and participated several times in peace negotiations with Japan. In 1604, after peace was established with Japan, Yuj?ng returned to Korea with more than thirty-five hundred Korean war prisoners released by the Japanese. He petitioned the throne several times on what should be done for the defense of the country, including "building mountain fortresses" and "developing military weapons." Because of such patriotic activities, he appears in the Korean folk tradition as a heroic figure who uses supernatural powers to save the country. Even today, Yuj?ng is related to various fascinating patriotic legends about the security of the country and the welfare of the people. One of the most compelling of these holds that whenever Korea is in danger, as it was during the Korean War or the time of the assassination of President Park Chung Hee in 1979, Yuj?ng's posthumous stele in his hometown of Miryang (South Ky?ngsang province) sheds tears.

Yuj?ng left only a few writings, which are published in his posthumous work, Samy?ngdang taesajip (The Collected Works of Venerable Master Samy?ng), in seven rolls.

Bibliography

An Kyehy?n. "Chos?n ch?n'gi ?i s?nggun" (The Monastic Militia in the Early Choson Period). In Han'guk Pulgyo sasangsa y?n'gu (Studies on the History of Korean Buddhist Thought). Seoul: Dongguk University Press, 1983.

U Ch?ngsang. "Chos?n pulgyo ?i hoguk sasang e taehayo" (On State Protection Buddhism in the Choson Period). In Chos?n ch?n'gi Pulgyo sasang y?n'gu (Studies on Buddhist Thought in the Early Chos?n Period), ed. U Ch?ngsang. Seoul: Dongguk University Press, 1985.

Sungtaek Cho