On the Korean peninsula, where mankind has settled down since the Paleolithic era, burial was the main way of funerary service when a person died. For many generations, the fengshui has been used as a key factor in the selection of the burial place, j...
On the Korean peninsula, where mankind has settled down since the Paleolithic era, burial was the main way of funerary service when a person died. For many generations, the fengshui has been used as a key factor in the selection of the burial place, just as it has been for the selection of the dwelling place. Cremation was performed with the introduction of Buddhism, but it did not completely replace the practice of burial. At the end of the Silla period, as Buddhism was suppressed in the Tang Dynasty, Zennists returned to Silla and learned the fengshui to find a good place for the Zen. Thereby, the theoretical foundation of the native Fengshui was established by the Zennists.
Not being able to settle in the capital of Silla, the Zennists scattered to the provincial areas and Fengshui naturally spread to all over the country by them.
Due to the frequent conflicts over the succession of the throne, the central royal power wasn’t strong enough to fully control the whole country. Powerful local families called themselves generals or kings and formed their own forces. In addition, low class noble intellectuals who were dissatisfied with the strict caste system of the time and the high class nobles who lost their power to the king and returned to their hometown supported the monks of Zen Buddhism. In this way, their complementary relationship was formed. As the royal family also sponsored the local Buddhist temples to check these local forces, nine large Buddhist temples were made nationwide. Instead of relying on the scriptures, Zen Buddhism, which focuses on individual asceticism, regards the teachings of the Master as absolute and considers the pass into Nirvana of the Master to be as important as the pass into Nirvana of the Buddha. In order to honor the achievement of the master, and to show the status of the temple, a large and splendid Stone Stupa was erected. Unlike other sculptures in temples, Stone Stupas were erected after the construction of the buildings and also served as a grave. Fengshui was an essential factor in choosing the burial ground at that time. Therefore, in spite of the fact that a Stone Stupa, which is an object of worship and pilgrimage, should not be built so far from the temple, its location was selected after considering Fengshui as much as possible.
In the early days, only the Zennists built Stone Stupas. In the Goryeo dynasty, however, the monks of non-Zen Buddhism also built Stone Stupas. For a while, Stone Stupas were no longer made because of Uicheon’s movement. But Stone stupas were constructed again by Jinul, who got support from the late Goryeo dynasty.
Jinul reestablished the Korean Buddhism by undergoing a complete change of the temples and its services and teaching numerous people to participate in Jeonghyegyeolsa movement. Since then, Songgwang-sa has become the center of the Korean Buddhism. Hyesim, who became the second national master after Jinul, is thought to have played a leading role in the Jeonghyegyeolsa, not merely a successor of Jinul. In Zen, it is essential that a disciple follows the practices of his master. However, Hyesim's Stone Stupa does not follow the style of his master, Jinul, but follows the form of Seunghyeong’s Stone Stupa, which is also geographically far apart. The Stone Stupa of Jinul is located inside the temple and therefore, its role as a grave was excluded. on the other hand, it seems that the location of the Stone Stupa of Seunghyeong and Hyesim were chosen with fengshui theory in mind. According to the records, Seunghyeong met Jinul in Chogye Mountain and asked for the Buddhist teachings and then left for Odae Mountain. After Seunghyeong died, Hyesim visited Bogyeong Temple and preached Buddhist doctrine to the monks there. It seems that Seunghyeong and Hyesim had a very close relationship. Seunghyeong was sponsored and supported by Choi Chung-heon, the ruler of the Military regime, and Hyesim got the support from the son of Choi Chung-heon. It cannot be denied that the commonalities of supporters played a decisive role in their way of building the Stone Stupa. In this paper, I will examine the fengshui and its application found in the Stone Stupa of Jinul, Hyesim and Seunghyeon.