This study aims to examine the female Buddha in Korean and Vietnamese mythology and Buddhist culture in a more authentic comparative text. The texts under consideration are Wuk-myeon from the Korean Samgukyusa and Man-rang from the Vietnamese Yongnamc...
This study aims to examine the female Buddha in Korean and Vietnamese mythology and Buddhist culture in a more authentic comparative text. The texts under consideration are Wuk-myeon from the Korean Samgukyusa and Man-rang from the Vietnamese Yongnamchukeiyeoljun. While previous comparisons have been rather macro and impressionistic, this study is a micro-cultural comparison of the texts themselves. There are three aspects that make these two narratives a logical basis for comparison. First, we have seen that the cultural dichotomy between lower-class women and higher-class men is revealed. Second, we have seen that both Wuk-myeon in Samgukyusa and Man-rang in Vietnam's Yongnamchukeiyeoljun exhibit a very subversive imagination, and their process of enlightenment is characterized by a hierophanie that reveals the sacred. Third, we noted that the ultimate goal of Wok-myeon and Man-rang was to become Buddha, a symbolic image of Buddha that combines masculinity and femininity, showing androgyny. The concept of androgyny, which encompasses femininity and masculinity, also relies on Eliade's concept. By examining the process of female enlightenment in Korean and Vietnamese mythological texts, this study actively interprets the meaning of women in Buddhist culture in both countries.