built of stone, under a mound of earth, with true arch-vaulting, it sheltered ice for the chilling of food and the cooling of drink a thousand years ago. There remains here a portion of a beautiful pagoda; much of it was destroyed in the sixteenth century, when Hideyoshi’s army of invasion came from Japan and wrought havoc and destruction in Korea; built in the seventh century, it was a beautiful structure of splendid, thoroughly-baked black bricks and stone; stone doors below, moving on stone pivots set in stone sockets were decorated with carved work. To-day only the three lower stories remain, but they serve to show that the people were true artists. Here, too, one sees an astronomical observatory, built of stone, a sort of tower of circular form, seventeen feet through; it was intended for the observation of heavenly bodies; nearly thirteen hundred years of age, it is perhaps the oldest existing building constructed for such purposes in the world.

In those fine days, Kyong Ju was a center of trade and industry. Chinese, Koreans and Japanese were there; we are certain that Tibetans, Indians and Persians came thither, and it is claimed that merchants from Arabia used to stand in its market place. Of course we all know of the antiquity of culture around the Mediterranean Sea; we appreciate its achievements, and love to think of its glories; but we are apt to think of the Far East as being eternally stagnant and it surprises us to learn of a busy mart of trade in Kyong Ju, Silla.

And it had its scholars also. There was Ch’oe Chuen. He was a poet and essayist; he was a skilled calligrapher, writing the beautiful Chinese characters famously; he was reckoned as one of the great sages and learned men of his day in China proper, than which there was no higher honor.

During the period of the Three Kingdoms, Buddhism thus penetrated to every part of the peninsula. It prospered. Splendid temples were built, great monasteries constructed, magnificent bells cast, beautiful pagodas erected, figures carved by thousands. Religions that prosper too greatly become corrupt. State religions tend to become curses. Religious endowments tie up money which the people need. The dead hand may hold under restraint property which should be at work, helping the world. All this happened with Buddhism in Korea. In the last days of the Three Kingdoms Korean Buddhism was refined and artistic, impressive and beautiful, but was corrupt and harmful rather than helpful.

We may, perhaps, take the date 685 A.D. as marking the greatest glory of Silla. At that time she was gaining power over the neighboring kingdoms and before her glory ended she ruled the whole peninsula.

In 876 the king of Silla was named Chung—also called Hongang. During his rule the country was rapidly declining. He was followed by his brother, who in turn was succeeded by his sister, who became queen of Silla in 888. Her name was Man. The only reason why we mention these three rulers is that we wish to introduce the man who led up to the second period of Korean history. His name was Kun-ye. He was the son of king Chung, by a concubine, but never became king of Silla. When his aunt, queen Man, was ruling, he became a disturbing element, heading an insurrection. The glory of Silla was really past and the old kingdom was rapidly declining. Kun-ye was fortunate in having an excellent general, named Wang-on, and made headway with his rebellion; founding a new kingdom in central Korea, he gradually extended his rule, through the skilful leadership of Wang-on, until much of the middle part of the peninsula was under his control. But the man was mad, religiously mad. He was not only a Buddhist; he called himself a Buddha. Under the cloak of religion he did all kinds of wild and wicked things, and indulged in the most absurd extravagances. Finally the burden of his tyranny and his religious claims became so heavy that his officials plotted against him and begged his general, Wang-on, to dethrone him and seize the power. Ultimately that very thing happened, and in the year 918, one thousand years ago, Wang-on became the first king of a new dynasty, that of Koryu.

Before we leave the period of the Three Kingdoms, however, let us notice two interesting matters. You remember that Buddhism was brought to the Three Kingdoms by three priests—Sundo, Marananda, Mukocha. Sundo was a man from Tibet; I suppose he represented the great Mongolian race, that he was a yellow man; Marananda, who brought religion to Pakche was a Hindu; presumably he represented the Caucasic peoples; he may have been dark, but our courts would probably have to call him a white man; Mukocha was called a black man, a negro, and probably really represented the Ethiopian race. Is it not interesting that the peninsula of Korea should have received its first generally spread religion through representatives of the three great races of the world, the yellow, white and black? Buddhism, the first universal religion that the world ever saw, early made an appeal to all men, regardless of color and of race.

PLATE VI
Sari monument pyramid, Kumsan-sa
(A relic of Buddha is supposed to be enshrined here) [Page 72]

Two famous men, Chinese, lived during this period. Their names were Fa-hien and Hiouen-Tsiang. In 399 A.D. Fa-hien started on foot from China, to visit India, to learn of Buddhism and Buddha in the old home. He travelled many thousands of miles of weary pilgrimage in order to bring back with him fresh idols and correct texts and new inspiration from the cradle of the great religion. It was more than two hundred years later, in 629, that Hiouen-Tsiang made the same journey. Think of the danger these men passed through! They crossed deserts, which even to-day are almost impassable; they climbed difficult mountains and crossed broad rivers; they journeyed through countries of hostile peoples; they had to travel without artificial means of transportation through districts of foreign speech; they did all just to visit the old home of the Great Teacher, and to get his religion at first hand. We have the record of their travels. Their simple diaries have been translated into various languages of Asia and into English, French and other European tongues. Fa-hien was fifteen years upon his pilgrimage, Hiouen-Tsiang sixteen years. Both lived to come back to their homes to the great advantage of their co-religionists.

We have no diaries written by old Korean pilgrims, but we know that during the glow of early convertship many from the peninsula made the same journey to the West.[1] Between 638 A.D. and 650 seven at least went from Korea to India to study the new religion in its old home. Most of them died there, never returning to their native land.

We now come to the second division of Korean history and its Buddhism, that of the Koryu Dynasty. You remember that General Wang-on, when his royal master went crazy and the officials revolted, seized the kingly power. He removed the capital to Songdo. Silla quickly went to its final fall and the new kingdom controlled the whole peninsula. Wang-on realized perfectly that the abuse of Buddhism had been the chief trouble with Kung-ye. His coming into power was largely due to an anti-Buddhistic