The Scriptures of Won Buddhism

“Professor Chung has drawn on all the tools in his scholarly arsenal to convey the flavor and meaning of the original Korean texts. Written vernacular Korean was still very much a work in progress during the early twentieth century and the meaning of the Korean texts is not always clear-cut, even to the specialist. Professor Chung has taken an important first step in making this material intelligible to a Western audience.” —Robert E. Buswell, from the Foreword

Won Buddhism, one of the major religions of modern Korea, was established in 1916 by Pak Chung-bin (1891–1943), later known as Sot’aesan. In 1943 Sot’aesan published a collection of Buddhist writings, the Correct Canon of Buddhism (Pulgyo chŏngjŏn), which included the doctrine of his new order. Four years later, the second patriarch, Chŏngsan (1900–1962), had the order compile a new canon, which was published in 1962. This work, translated here as The Scriptures of Won Buddhism (Wŏnbulgyo kyojŏn), consists of the Canon (a redaction of the first part of the Pulgyo chŏngjŏn) and the analects and chronicle of the founder known as the Scripture of Sot’aesan. The present translation incorporates critical tenets from the 1943 Canon that were altered in the redaction process and offers persuasive arguments for their re-inclusion.