Essay name: Buddhist iconography in and outside India (Study)
Author:
Purabi Gangopadhyay
Affiliation: University of Calcutta / Department of Ancient Indian History and Culture
This work aims to systematically present the development and expansion of Mahayana-Vajrayana Buddhist iconography from India to other countries, such as China, Korea, and Japan. This study includes a historical account of Indian Buddhist iconography and the integration of Brahmanical gods into the Mahayana-Vajrayana phase.
Chapter 3: Influence of Indian Buddhist Art on China and Korea
29 (of 38)
External source: Shodhganga (Repository of Indian theses)
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Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
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China on the one hand and had been instrumental in introducing
Buddhism to Japan on the other hand.
As for the Buddhist religion the Government of Korea
maintains that though it was a cultural product of Korea but
the seed of Korean Buddhism was Chinese. In ancient days the
Koreans believed in the supernatural power. They worshipped
king as a supernatural being. At that time Confucianism was
the religion of Korea. But as a result of cultural communica-
tion between China and Korea that existed long before 372 A.D.
it did not take much time for the Koreans to appreciate and
accept the higher form of religion perhaps due to the reason
that the people of Korea were prepared for a change in thoir
cultural life. Thus when Buddhism officially entered into the
country in 372 A.D. they accepted the religion welcoming the
Buddhist philosophy, art and culture.
It is said that one Chinese monk, Shundo or Shun-Tao,
was invited by Korean Emperor and he propagated Buddhist
religion in Kokury艒 (or Kogury艒) region for the first time.
Some other monks, viz. A. Tao (Chinese), Marananda (Indian or
Tibetan), Mukocha gradually spread Buddhist religion in
different regions of the Korean peninsula. Within a few
centuries the regions of Kogry艒, Pa锚kche, Kudara and the
Kingdom of Silla or Shiragi came under the spell of this new
religion. Buddhism also influenced the social and political
life of the Koreans. The powers of the Buddhist eccleciastical
1. Korea its people and culture, p.. 149.
