This article traces the legacy of Buddhist kingship in the early Koryo period. T'aejo (r. 918-943), the founder of the Koryo dynasty (918-1392), was keen to follow in the footsteps of Silla kings and use Buddhist symbols of power. He also set great store on attracting eminent monks, granting them special favors and titles, and overseeing the construction of stelae inscriptions to commemorate them. These inscriptions also feature the king prominently and illuminate his relation to Buddhism. Although the king is not explicitly identified as a Buddhist ruler, the Buddhist dharma features as an integral element of kingship. In this universe, the worldly authority, personified by the king, always coexists with and depends on a spiritual counterpart, personified by the royal or state preceptor. One effect of this was that the authority of a ruler was never complete without a preceptor to validate and correct the royal power. Thus a great deal of ritual power was invested in these preceptors.
Following the introduction of Buddhism to China, various strategies of accommodation with Chinese culture were developed, all amounting to some form of syncretism with Chinese religions, mainly Confucianism. Buddhism in pre-modern Korea displayed similar forms of interaction with Confucianism. This article aims to critique the notion that such interactions were merely forms of “harmonization”, finding common ground between the traditions. If one religion borrows from another or adopts the message of another religion, it will be affected to some degree, which is why the concept of syncretism is a better tool of analysis. This article concludes that there was a strong official support in Goryeo Korea towards the genuine convergence of Confucianism and Buddhism. Since Buddhism, as a result, took on many of the tasks carried out by Confucianism in China, the reaction against Buddhism by a reinvigorated Confucianism from the late fourteenth century onward was much stronger than in China.
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