How Buddhism came to the Three Kingdoms

Goguryeo accepted Buddhism in 372 and Baekje in 384, but Silla waited until 527, more than 150 years after Goguryeo.

Buddhism began in India and spread through Central Asia into China over several centuries. By the fourth century it was well established in the northern and southern Chinese courts, and from there it reached the Korean kingdoms. The three kingdoms did not take it up at the same speed, and the differences tell us a lot about how each state worked. This unit follows the official arrival in each kingdom and what Buddhism changed.

Goguryeo, 372

In 372, the second year of King Sosurim, Fu Jian, ruler of the Former Qin state in northern China, sent an envoy and a monk named Sundo to Goguryeo with Buddhist images and scriptures. Two years later, in 374, another monk, Ado, arrived, and the following year the king built two temples, Chomunsa and Ibullansa, for the two monks. In 393 King Gwanggaeto founded nine temples in Pyongyang. A letter written earlier by the Chinese monk Zhi Dun to a monk in Goguryeo suggests that Buddhist contacts had already begun before Sundo came.

Baekje, 384

In 384, the first year of King Chimnyu, a monk named Marananta came to Baekje from the Eastern Jin court in southern China. The king met him, brought him into the palace and paid him respect. The next year a temple was built at Hansan, near the capital, and ten people became monks. Baekje had already sent envoys to Eastern Jin in 372 and 373, so the court was probably familiar with Buddhism before Marananta arrived.

Silla, 527: the death of Ichadon

Silla was different. It was still a league led by the six bu, and their heads held firmly to the old gods. King Beopheung wanted Buddhism as part of his reforms, which had already given him control of the army and a written law code. He could not simply order it, because the nobles would refuse.

Why kings wanted Buddhism

In all three kingdoms Buddhism arrived in the same period as written laws and stronger central government. Each village or clan had its own spirits and rituals, but Buddhism offered one faith for the whole country, with the king as its chief patron. Temples also brought learning: writing, architecture, metalwork and painting came with the monks. The religion then travelled onward. In 552, under King Seong, Baekje sent Buddhist images and scriptures to Japan through an envoy, Norisachigye, followed by monks, temple builders, painters and tile makers. Goguryeo monks such as Hyeja and Damjing also worked in Japan, and tradition holds that Damjing painted the murals of the Golden Hall at Horyuji.

Two thinking bodhisattvas

Some of the finest works of the period are gilt-bronze statues of a seated figure with one leg crossed over the other knee and a finger touching the cheek, deep in thought. The National Museum of Korea shows two of them, both National Treasures, side by side in a dark gallery called the Room of Quiet Contemplation, opened in November 2021. One is dated to the late sixth century and is 81.5 cm tall; the other, from the early seventh century, is 90.8 cm. Where exactly each was made is not known.