Korea, Yi King and Buddhism — The Doublet-Electron

Korean Buddhism: the other treasure, the other proof

But Korea does not only preserve the Yi King. It also preserves the other great spiritual tradition of East Asia: Buddhism.

Buddhism arrived in Korea in the 4th century of our era — through Goguryeo in 372, then Baekje in 384, and finally Silla in 528. During the Goryeo dynasty (918-1392), it became the state religion. This was the golden age of Korean Buddhism: temples multiplied, the Tripitaka Koreana — the entirety of the Buddhist canon engraved on more than 81,000 wooden tablets — was completed in 1251. It is today listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site and remains the most complete and most accurate version of the Buddhist canon in Chinese characters.

Then came the great reversal of Joseon. In 1392, neo-Confucianism took power and Buddhism was actively suppressed. Monks were banished from cities, forced to take refuge in the mountains. Urban temples were closed or confiscated. The number of authorized Buddhist sects was drastically reduced.

But — and this is where Korean history reveals its depth — Buddhism survived. In mountain temples, far from the eyes of Confucian bureaucrats, monks continued to meditate, teach, and transmit. Seon (선) — the Korean version of Chinese Chan, which Japan would call Zen — developed in these mountain refuges with a contemplative intensity that persecution, paradoxically, only sharpened.

Today, the Jogye Order (조계종), direct heir to this Seon tradition, is the largest Buddhist order in Korea, with more than ten million followers and thousands of temples. Temple stays — meditation retreats in mountain monasteries — have become a major cultural phenomenon, attracting visitors from around the world.

Korea therefore holds both traditions. The Yi King through the Confucian path, Seon through the Buddhist path. And these two traditions, far from excluding each other, complement each other with an elegance that the Yi King itself would have approved. This is why we mentioned in our article the electron doublet. The Yi King offers a framework for understanding the transformations of the world; Seon offers a practice for inhabiting the present moment. the center is emptiness. One is the map, the other is the territory. One speaks in trigrams, the other in silence. Together, they form a complete vision of human experience — and Korea is the only country in the world that has preserved both of them, alive, side by side, for centuries. That is no small thing!

Sources and References

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- Chung, Edward Y.J. The Korean Neo-Confucianism of Yi T'oegye and Yi Yulgok: A Reappraisal of the "Four-Seven Thesis" and Its Practical Implications for Self-Cultivation. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1995.

- Spence, Jonathan D. The Search for Modern China. New York: W.W. Norton, 1990.

- Kalton, Michael C. To Become a Sage: The Ten Diagrams on Sage Learning by Yi T'oegye. New York: Columbia University Press, 1988.

- Buswell, Robert E. Jr. The Zen Monastic Experience: Buddhist Practice in Contemporary Korea. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1992.

- Korean Cultural Heritage Administration. Seowon, Korean Neo-Confucian Academies. UNESCO Dossier, 2019.

- Lancaster, Lewis R., and C.S. Yu (eds.). Introduction of Buddhism to Korea: New Cultural Patterns. Berkeley: Asian Humanities Press, 1989.

- Smith, Richard J. The I Ching: A Biography. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2012.

- Kim, Yung Sik. The Natural Philosophy of Chu Hsi (1130-1200). Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 2000.

- Koh, Byong-ik. "The Impact of the Chinese Cultural Revolution on Korea." Journal of Korean Studies, vol. 3, 1981.