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A C T A K O R Z A N A VOL. 19, NO. 2, DECEMBER 2016: 165-192 doi:10.18399/acta.2016.19.2.007 © Academia Koreana, Keimyung University, 2016

A COMMENTARY O N A BUDDH IST TALE: “SONYUL COMES BACK TO LIFE” (SONYUL HWANSAENG

IN M E M O R A B IL IA O F T H E T H R E E K IN G D O M S (S A M G U K YU S A

By N a H e e L a

Buddhism introduced the concept of hell to East Asia, and many tales o f hell were circulated. The narrative “Sonyul comes back to life” accompanied the dissemination of the concept of hell in the Unified Silla period. This story describes suffering in hell as retribution for the unwholesome act of stealing monastery possessions. However, the punishment in hell is not eternal in this story, and one can be saved through performing a memorial sendee for the dead. Memorial services for the dead are done by making offerings to the Three Jewels— the Buddha, Dharma, and Samgha— by giving one’s possessions to monasteries.

The story “Sonyul comes back to life” seems to have been written by monks and been circulated as a karma tale of a Buddhist ceremony for the production of sutras and for appreciating the teachings o f the sutras. Buddhist ceremonies were constructed and performed for the purpose of amassing meritorious virtues and expelling calamities through such things as reading sutras and understanding their content. Among these, dramatic preaching of the dharma was performed to communicate to ordinary people in a more lively and interesting manner than the teaching of the sutras. Animated stories of hell about actual people who could have been the listeners’ own neighbors were performed, and the story o f “Sonyul comes back to life” seems to have been told at such a ceremony. In a story performed in a lifelike manner, sympathetic people willingly contributed their hearts and possessions to the Buddha, monks, and monasteries for the sake of their own futures.

Keywords: “Sonyul comes back to life” (Sonyul hwansaeng Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms (Samgnkyusa Hglitflr), Buddhist hell, Tales of Hell, Buddhist Ceremony

This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea Grant funded by the Korean Government. (NRF-2013S1A2A1A01065971)

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In conceiving o f hell, people believe that after death they will be judged according to the works they have performed in life and will go to hell and be punished for their evil actions. The concept o f hell developed from the notions o f the “soul” and “the other world” and includes systems o f judgment and punishment. It appeared with the provision that reflection and introspection on the ethics of human behavior had progressed to a certain level. In human history, the concept o f a judgment after death first appeared in Egypt, developed in ancient Persia, entered India in the later period o f Vedic literature, and evolved into the idea of judgment after death in Buddhism. 1 In East Asia, the standard conception o f hell formed with the introduction o f Buddhism. Although the idea that the dead went to a dark, subterranean realm already existed throughout Asia, the concept o f hell with its core ideas o f judgment and punishment after death only blossomed after the accommodation o f Buddhism. 2 3

The Korean people also accepted the concept o f hell through Buddhism. Before the adoption o f Buddhism, ancient Korean people had no idea that after death people would be judged on deeds performed during their lives and that based on those deeds they would receive either reward or punishment. Although they thought that when a person died his spirit would go to the realm where people go after they die and that life would continue, they did not think that one’s ethical actions in this life influenced the mode or style of life after death. According to ancient Korean people, social status, the nature o f death, and the conducting o f proper mourning and funerals influenced the manner o f life after death.’ With the transmission o f Buddhism, however, the view o f life and death

1 For research on the history and development o f the idea o f hell, see the following: S. G. Brandon, The Judgment of the Dead: The Jdea of N fe After Death in the Major Religions (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1967); Alice K. Turner, The History of Hell (Jarcourt Brace, 1993); Turner’s book was translated into Korean as Chiok ui joksa Vol. I, II, trans. Yi Ch’ansu (Seoul: Tongyon, 1998); Iwamoto Yutaka, “Jigoku shiso no denkai: kodai Indo ni okeru jigoku shiso tosono kigen” [The development o f the concept of hell: The concept o f hell in ancient India and its origin], in Jigoku no sekai [The world o f hell], ed. Sakamoto Kaname (Tokyo: Keisusha, 1990); Chang Mijin, “Pulgyo munhwagwon e issoso ‘chiok’ ui wonsinhwajok yoso wa ku uimi” [The original mythological elements o f hell in the Buddhist cultural sphere and their meaning], Misul sahak 1 (1995):189—242. 2 Yu Weigang, “Zhongguo diyuguande xingcheng yu yanbian” [The formation and evolution o f the concept o f hell in China], Shehuike sfanxian [Social science front], Issue 4 (1988): 102; Yamaguchi Masao, “Jigoku izen: Shamonizumo no Nihonteki denkai,” [Before Hell: The Japanese development o f Shamanism], in Jigoku no sekai [The world o f hell], ed. Sakamoto Kaname (Tokyo: Keisusha, 1990), 7. 3 For research on the view o f the world after death held by Koreans prior to the introduction o f Buddhism, see Na Huira (Na Hee La), Kodae Han’gugin ui saengsagwan [Ancient Korean Hews o f life

Na: A Commentary on a Buddhist Tale 167

flavored with the Buddhist theory o f retribution newly influenced Korean ways o f thinking and atdtudes toward life. The Buddhist concept o f hell teaches that after death one receives judgment on the actions o f this life and that people who have performed evil deeds fall into hell where they receive awful punishment. This teaching regulated life in the present world through fear about the next life. Therefore, the concept o f hell molded, shaped, and regulated moralistic ideals for actual society and social values.

How was this concept o f hell accommodated and how was it disseminated in ancient Korea? The Buddhist concept o f hell was initially made known through scriptures that mentioned ideas about hell. However, when ordinary people encountered scriptures directly, they would not have been able to understand the concept o f hell. To the common illiterate people, the teachings o f Buddhism were conveyed through such things as paintings, images formed into carved sculptures, and stories embellished so that doctrines could be understood easily and in an interesting manner. Many narrative portrayals (C. bianxiangtu o f hell were painted in the Tang H dynasty (618-907), in which Buddhism flourished along with their explanatory “transformation texts” (C. bianwen §!X). These were used widely as educational materials by missionary monks (C. jiaohuaseng fHHb'fH).* 4 5 Even in Japan, after the Nara period (710-794), pictorial portrayals o f hell were visible, and in the Heian period (794-1185), many wall paintings o f hell were found in temples and monasteries.'1 Furthermore, because stories about hell were curious and interesting enough to attract people’s attention, many tales were created after the introduction o f Buddhism. In ancient Korea as well, paintings, sculptures, and stories were probably made and circulated that propagated concepts o f hell. However, unfortunately, not many o f these materials have been preserved. Paintings and images are completely non-extant, and only a few stories o f hell have been preserved.

A typical narrative endowed with the structural elements o f the concept o f hell, in which someone is judged after death on whether their deeds in this life have been good or evil and, as a result, receives punishment in hell is “Sonyul comes back to life” (Sonyul hwansaeng # # 1 S 4 ) , which is the only such story recorded in Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms {Samguk yusa H g l f i # ) . 6 Accordingly, to

and death] (Seoul: Chisik sanopsa, 2008). 4 Michihata Ryoshu, Chiigoku Bukkyd shisoshi no kenkyu: Chugoku minshii no Bukkydjuyd [Research on the history o f Chinese Buddhist thought: The reception o f Buddhism by the Chinese masses] (Kyoto: Heirakuji Shoten, 1979), 95. 5 Ienaga Saburo, “Jigokuhen to Rokudoe,” [Narrative portrayals o f hell and paintings o f the six paths o f rebirth], in Jigoku no sekai [The world o f hell], ed. Sakamoto Kaname, (Tokyo: Keisusha, 1990), 423. 6 Although a hell story associated with the Silla m onk Sun’gyong IIBtf is preserved in the Song

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understand how the concept o f hell was formed in ancient Korea after the introduction o f Buddhism and how it circulated, I think it is meaningful to evaluate this narrative at length. In this article, I analyze the story “Sonyul comes back to life” on the basis o f the structural elements at the core o f the concept o f hell, examine the significance o f the form and structure o f the story, and consider how it conveyed the concept o f hell to ordinary people.

I. T H E DATING OF T H E “SONYUL COMES BACK TO LIFE” NARRATIVE IN MEMORABILIA OF THE THREE KINGDOMS

The complete narrative o f “Sonyul comes back to life” may be presented as follows:

Sonyul, a m onk o f M angdok M onastery ( S I H tF), received a donation and intended to pay for the com pletion o f a copy o f the Sutra on the Perfection of Wisdom in 600 Rolls (Yukpaekpanya kyong b u t he was suddenly brought before the underw orld tribunal (myongbu KJff) before he finished it. T he underw orld official asked, “W hat was your occupation during your life in the hum an world?” Sonyul replied, “I sought to com plete a copy o f the Larger Perfection of Wisdom (Taep’um kyong dCppfi) in my declining years, but I came here before it was finished.” T hereupon, the netherworld official said, “Although your allotted life is now over if we follow the register o f hum an lives, because your excellent wish has n o t yet been completed, you should return again to the hum an world to fully complete your precious books.” So he sent the m onk back.

O n the road back, Sonyul m et a w om an. She was crying and bowed before Sonyul and said, “I was also a native o f Silla in the southern continent o f Jam budvipa. My parents covertiy stole a plot o f wet paddy land from Kum gang M onastery (^MIItF); I was implicated in the crime, was taken by the netherw orld authorities, and have undergone extreme suffering for a long time. N ow , m onk, w hen you return to our homeland, please tell my parents to return the field immediately. Furtherm ore, w hen I lived in the world, I hid a botde o f sesame oil under my bed and also a roll o f beautifully w oven cloth betw een the sheets o f my bed. I f you take the oil

gaoseng rfman [Lives of Eminent Monks compiled in the Song], it is not a hell story made to spread the concept of hell to ordinary people because it is a narrative associated with reciprocal criticism within the Buddhist learning o f this monk. Aside from this, there are some episodes about hell in Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms, but they are not endowed with the components of the concept of hell like “Sonyul comes back to life.” On this issue, see Na Huira, “T’ongil Silla wa Namal Ryoch’o ki chiok kwallyom ui chon’gae,” Han’guk munhwa [Korean Culture] 43 (September 2008): 245-265.

Na: A Commentary on a Buddhist Tale 169

and light a lantern for the Buddha and sell the cloth and use the money for the expenses to finish the sutra, it will be a benefit to me in the netherworld, and I hope I will be freed from my sufferings.” To this, Sonyul asked, “Where is your house?” The woman replied, “It is a village to the southwest o f Kuwon Monastery in the Saryang Region Q'PWh dB).” After hearing her response, Sonyul continued on the road and was immediately brought back to life.

At this time, Sonyul had already been dead for ten days, and because he had been interred at the foot o f the eastern side of South Mountain (Namsan S ill) , he shouted from his grave for three days. A passing herd boy heard his cries, came and reported to the monastery, and the monks of the monastery went and dug up the grave and drew Sonyul out. Sonyul gave a full account o f his personal experience, and he went to the home of the woman he had met. Although she had been dead for fifteen years, the oil and cloth were just as she had said. Sonyul supplicated for blessings to come to the woman in the netherworld as she had instructed, and the woman’s spirit came and said that, owing to the monk’s favor, she had been freed from her suffering. The people o f the time were amazed at the m onk’s story; there was no one who was not struck with wonder, and they assisted him in completing the precious books.

That sutra is preserved in the library in the Office o f Monastic Affairs in Kyongju. Every year in spring and autumn, a ceremony is held in which the sutra is read selectively to supplicate for the expulsion o f calamities.

A eulogy says, Enviable! O ur monk, following the wholesome karmic connections, His soul returned and came to his old homeland! When parents ask about my wellbeing, Please tell them to return that paddy field for me quickly. * * * 7

B efore I e n ter in to the m ain subject o f this article, I need to m en tio n the background to the dating o f “ Sonyul com es back to life” in Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms. Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms is a b o o k begun by the m o n k Iryon — gk (1206-1289) in the late th irte e n th c entury and com pleted by o th er authors after that. Accordingly, a fundam ental q uestion advanced by scholars regards the historical “reliability” o f Memorabilia o f the Three Kingdoms, 8 In addition, because the

Samguk yusa - H i t # 5, in Taisho shinshii daisytkyo TIHifrfiAS'SS [Taisho edition o f the Buddhist canon], eds. Takakasu Junjiro, et a l, 100 vols. (Tokyo: Taisho Issaikyo Kankokai, 1924— 1932[—1935]) (hereafter T no., vol. page, register, and line), T 2039, 49.1013c24-1014al6 (Sonyul hwansaeng &'I'T| 8 Regarding this, see Henrik Sorensen, “Problems with using the Samguk Yusa as a source for the History o f Korean Buddhism,” Cahiers d’etudes coreennes 7 (2000). In this article, Sorensen cautions against materials in the Samguk yusa uncritically as sources for the history o f Buddhism in the

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materials preserved in Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms are mosdy narrative in form, if we connect their narrative format with the problem o f textual transmission, it is only natural that the dating o f the narratives in Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms presents a problem. N ot only do I think that the materials in Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms do not speak o f historical facts as they are recorded, but I also think that records possessing narrative form should not be believed to date to the time period that is claimed in the text. However, that being said, we cannot disavow or reject the dating o f all records in Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms. Some materials in Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms are epigraphy, primary sources o f the time period, which were translated into the text, and others were rendered from oral traditions, legends, and folklore {kubi chonsung P regarding which it is impossible to clearly know the date o f formation. Thus, the dating o f materials in Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms must be assessed and evaluated on an individual basis. Moreover, Iryon, the primary compiler of Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms, did not change or alter his original source materials wantonly or arbitrarily. He merely seems to have edited by selection materials that appealed to him.* * * * 9

That being the case, how can we view the dating o f “Sonyul comes back to life”? This narrative is presented as having occurred in the Unified Silla period (668-935). It is not, however, an actual historical fact from the Silla period. It is a narrative constructed with Silla as the temporal and spatial background based upon tales with similar patterns that had been formed previously in China. Accordingly, the temporal and spatial phenomenon called “Silla,” which is asserted in this narrative, is not reality, but constructed. Therefore, it is necessary for us to question whether the tale indeed reflects the Silla people’s concept of hell.

This narrative was crafted blending the concrete sense o f temporal and spatial reality found in tales o f pilgrimages to hell (chiok suljye tarn and stories o f restoration to life after visits to the underworld tribunal (myongbu sosaeng tarn

which were widely prevalent after the Northern and Southern Dynasties period (ca. 386—589) in China. Many themes linked to Buddhism can be

Unified Silla period. I think that this is an appropriate admonition. Nevertheless, for several reasons that I state in this article, I intend to use the narrative “Sonyul comes back to life” with caution as a primary source for understanding the circumstances surrounding the accommodation and dissemination of the concept of hell in Silla. 9 Richard D. McBride II, “Is the Samguk Yusa Reliable? Case Studies from Chinese and Korean Sources,” The journal of Korean Studies 11, no.l (Fall 2006), 182; Nam Tongsin, “Samguk yusa ui saso roso ui t’ukching” [The distinctive characteristics of the Samguk yusa as a historical book], in Iryon kwa Samguk yusa (Iryon and the Samguk yusa), ed. Iryonhak Yon’guwon (Seoul: Sinsowon, 2007), 110.

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seen in collections o f narratives: the actions o f sutra-copying (sagyong H H ), sutra- reading (tokkydng HIS), and image-making (chosang j§lH) are judged as wholesome karma. The stealing or appropriation o f monastery property is cause for punishment. When one who will be restored to life receives the decision of the court in the netherworld and returns to this life, he meets a person suffering in hell, accepts a request from that person, and resolves the suffering in hell o f the person who made the request. Stories o f this type can be seen in collections of tales o f cause-and-effect retribution, such as Records of Signs from the Unseen Realm (-Mingxiangji Record of Reports from the Netherworld (Mingbao j i l?$R§B), and Record of Collected Marvels on the Diamond Sutra (Jingang bore jing jiyan j i ^fflfKTrlS^lasB), which were compiled from the Northern and Southern Dynasties period through the Tang period.

When Buddhism was transmitted from China to Korea and Japan, Chinese stories o f hell were also spread throughout these countries. The temporal and spatial character o f the Chinese narratives was crafted into Korean and Japanese stories o f the “here and now.” “Sonyul comes back to life” is considerably similar to tale no. 23 in roll 3 of Miraculous Stories from Japan (Nihon rydiki 0 ^ R f llE ) , which was compiled from the late eighth to the early ninth century. A certain monk sought to copy the Perfection of Wisdom in 600 Rolls, but was murdered and went to the netherworld. The judge in the netherworld said that he was killed by someone else’s hand for the sin o f having used monastery goods carelessly in this life, and issued the verdict that he would be brought back to life to complete his vow to copy the sutra, as well as being ordered to pay back in full the goods he had used carelessly.10

In “Sonyul comes back to life,” the monk Sonyul receives the reward o f being brought back to life for the wholesome cause o f making a copy o f the Refection of Wisdom in 600 Rolls. The parents o f the women from the Saryang Region o f the Silla capital misappropriated property o f the monastery, and their daughter was punished in hell vicariously. Although the structure o f the narrative of Silla is slightly more complicated than that o f Japan, the two narratives are similar with respect to cause-and-effect retribution. In this way, stories similar to “Sonyul comes back to life” were formed and circulated not only in Silla and con­ temporary China, but also in Japan.

10 Nihon rydiki [Miraculous stories from Japan], three rolls, by Kyokai in 787; edited and annotated by Endo Yoshimoto and Kasuga Kazuo, N ih on Koten Bungaku Taikei H T ik A i

70 (Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten, 1967), roll 3, no. 23; SSJUffi 318-319. For an English translation see Kyoto Motomuchi Nakamura, trans. and ed., Miraculous Stories from the Japanese Buddhist Tradition: The N ih on rydiki of the Monk Yydkai (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1973; reprint, Surry, England: Curzon, 1997), 252-253.

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The narrative “Sonyul comes back to life” is a story connected not only to the concept o f hell, but also to faith and the ceremonies o f the Larger Perfection of Wisdom Sutra. After this sutra in 600 rolls was translated by Xuanzang (ca. 602—664) in Tang China, this sutra was copied and published frequendy in China and Japan. The sutra was also believed to be able to ward against disasters if the sutra was either read or lectured,11 and ceremonies linked to this were performed frequendy. In Japan, ceremonies for copying and reading the Larger Pefection of Wisdom Sutra were held regularly after the eighth century.12 Faith and rituals associated with Buddhist sutras were in vogue in Silla as well.1' Seen from the viewpoint o f commentaries on the Pefection of Wisdom sutras that were executed by Silla monks, there was a cult o f the Larger Pefection of Wisdom Sutra in Silla, and ceremonies related to it were probably held.

Similar to Silla, Japan adopted and adapted Chinese stories on hell; further, a narrative that was similar in structure and content to the story “Sonyul comes back to life” had already been crafted in Japan at the same time as the Silla period. In addition, Buddhist ceremonies providing an opportunity to craft and transmit this tale were probably being held from the Silla period. Furthermore, if we consider that the narrative preserves specific place names and monastery names, it is not unreasonable to infer that the form o f “Sonyul comes back to life” originated in the Silla period.

The selection and recording o f this narrative in Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms, however, also clearly reflects the opinions o f a Buddhist monk o f the late Koryo BiK period (918—1392). This is because it would be impossible for an orally transmitted narrative to be recorded in prose and mentioned in documentary literature without the vested interest o f the compiler. Iryon, who is considered to be the compiler o f this story, probably felt the need to record this narrative from the standpoint o f maintaining and disseminating Buddhist faith and rituals as a

11 Because large sutra texts could not be read and lectured on in their entirety during a ceremony, they were read and lectured on selectively. This kind o f ceremony involving the selective reading o f and lecturing on a sutra was called ‘chondok’ 12 Kim Chongmyong, Han'guk chungse ui Pulgyo uirye: Sasangjok paegyong kwa yoksajok uimi [Medieval Korean Buddhist rituals: Their theoretical background and historical significance] (Seoul: Munhak kwa chisongsa, 2001), 74. 13 The Japanese monk Ennin I B t (794-864) who spent time among Silla emigre communities in Tang, mentioned ceremonies associated with lecturing on sutras (kanggyong uisik s S I S H I A ) in the diary he kept o f his travels in Tang China. See Nittoguho junreiko k i A f l t S ' f f i i l i i l f I B 2, “The Mt. Chi cloister [held a] ceremony for lecturing on the sutras. [The p eop le/m on ks of] Silla held the lecture ceremony all day, and [the people/m onks] o f Silla [held] a sutra-chanting ceremony” (#oiKna«A, mm -em m #., mmmmmft).

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leader o f the Buddhist world and a spokesman tasked with promulgating an understanding o f the Buddhist world.

For these many reasons, we can say that the narrative “Sonyul comes back to life” is a Buddhist tale o f cause-and-effect retribution, which was formed and circulated along with the dissemination o f the concept o f hell in the Silla period. Mangdok Monastery, the spatial setting o f this tale, was completed in the fifth year o f Silla king Sinmun If SC (685) according to the H istory o f the Three Kingdoms (S a m g u k sagi Eiilfi).14 Even Kumgang Monastery is said to have been a monastic complex founded by the monk Myongnang who was active in the second half o f the seventh century.15 If these facts are reliable, the terminus p o s t quern for the formation o f this story would be the second half o f the seventh century. The understanding o f Buddhism and the performance o f faith-based practices proliferated among the common people during the Unified Silla period. Diverse stories o f cause-and-effect retribution related to hell were crafted in Silla, just like in contemporary Tang China and Japan. We can infer these kinds of circumstances due to the compilation o f narrative collections, such as the Tales o f the B izarre fr o m S illa (S illa sui chon and Record o f Collected M arvels on the L o tu s S u tra (Pophwa kyong chiphom k i The Silla monk Uijok S ® returned from Tang at the end o f the seventh century and composed the Record o f Collected M arvels on the L o tu s S u tra in the early eighth century.17 Being a collection o f tales o f efficacious response like accounts from such Chinese works as Record o f Reports fr o m the N etherw orld and Record o f Collected M arvels on the D ia m o n d Sutra, the contents cannot be said to be composed o f narratives o f hell in Silla. However, in one tale o f retribution contained in the Widely Praised Tales o f the L o tu s S u tra (H ong^an F a h u a tfouan which was compiled in China in the eighth century, the main character is a native o f Silla. The story is as follows. The son o f Kim Kwaui o f Silla leaves home to become a monk at a young age. He reads the L o tu s Sutra, and then stops at the second roll and burns one logograph. He then dies and is reborn in the family o f another person named Kim Kwaui. Every time he recites the second roll o f the L o tu s Sutra, he forgets that one logograph from the scripture.18 Narratives o f rebirth and cause-and-effect iyunhoe i n ’giva f n 5 ! 0 S ) like this, which are related to the L o tu s S utra, already appear in the

14 Samguk sagi 8:97 (Sinmun 5). 15 Samgukyusa 4, T 2039, 49.1004bl0-c4 (I Hye tongjin nKIWlH). 16 Regarding this, see In Kwonhwan, H an’guk Pulgyo munhakyon'gu [Research on Korean Buddhist literature] (Seoul: Koryo Taehakkyo Ch’ulp’anbu, 1999), 196-197. There are no stories o f hell in the few remaining fragments o f the Silla sui chon. 1 Kim Kyonghui, “Uijok ui Pophwa kyong chiphon ki e taehan koch’al,” [A study o f Uijok’s Record of Collected Marvels on the Lotus Sutra], llhon munhwa hakpo 19 (November 2003): 221-233. 18 Hongsym Fahua sfuan 9, T 2067, 51.41c9-20 (Tang Xinluoguo shami JgfrSHIhTiS).

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Record of Reports from the Netherworld, which was compiled by Tang Lin HE! in the mid-seventh century, and in Widely Praised Tales of the Lotus Sutra, which was compiled by Huixiang Hj# in the eighth century.19 These kinds o f stories were transmitted to Silla, were adapted into stories such as the one o f the Silla native called Kim Kwaui, and were then transmitted to Japan, where they were further modified into tales o f Japanese natives, such as one called “O n recollecting and reciting the Lotus Sutra and gaining an immediate reward to show an extraordinary sign” in Miraculous Stories of Japan.20 We can infer the conditions for the adaptation and dissemination o f narratives crafted in China at that time into Silla and Japan from the individual situations o f each story. That being the case, we can satisfactorily infer that the circumstances by which Chinese stories o f hell were transmitted to Silla in the Unified Silla period were adapted to the Silla people and were disseminated throughout the country. Seen from this perspective, although the exact dating o f the narrative “Sonyul comes back to life” cannot be known, there is sufficient possibility that it was constructed as a story o f hell o f the Silla people in the Unified Silla period.

II. THE KARMIC RETRIBUTION OF FALLING INTO HELL AND THE BURDEN OF RETRIBUTION

In that case, let us now analyze this story systematically to ascertain how the concept o f hell is reflected. At the core o f the concept o f hell is judgment and punishment for the deeds o f one’s life. In this narrative two cases o f judgment for the actions o f one’s life are presented. First, let us look at the judgment regarding the deeds o f the monk Sonyul, the hero o f the story. Sonyul sought to make a copy o f the Sutra on the Perfection of Wisdom in his lifetime, but he died before completing it, and went to the underworld tribunal. He was ordered to return to this life and complete the Buddhist sutra, and then returned to the netherworld; and had the opportunity to be restored to life. Because copying a Buddhist sutra is a good deed, it is a karmic cause, and being brought back to life is a form of retribution or recompense. Copying, reading, or carrying a sutra is one o f the important wholesome causes for obtaining good retribution in the Buddhist theory o f karmic retribution.21

19 Mingbaoji KfRIH 3:398b (Cui Yanwu in Xuxiu Siku quanshu vol. 1264 (Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, 1995); Hongzan Fahua zhuan 6, T 2067, 51.28c20—29a4 (Qinjun dongsi shami l&SSiUAYMi). 20 Nihon rjoiki 1, no. 18; for an English translation see Nakamura, Miraculous Stones, 129—130. 21 Yuchi Zhiping and Xi Jia, Yin guo jie du [An interpretation o f cause and effect] (Nanning Shi: Guangxi minzu chubanshe, 1999), 8. There are many narratives about hell related to this one in

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The judgment o f Sonyul was not a decision about unwholesome behavior. The judgment and punishment o f misdeeds, which is at the core o f tales o f hell, comes out in the narrative o f the woman Sonyul meets on the road to return to this world upon receiving the order to be restored to life. This woman said that she was involved in the crime o f her parents’ appropriating land belonging to a monastery and that she had suffered torment in hell. More precisely, the appropriation o f monastery land is an unwholesome action,22 and its retribution is suffering in hell. The stealing or spoiling o f monastery property is an evil deed emphasized repeatedly in Buddhist sutras.2’ Therefore, many narratives were crafted about people who misappropriate the possessions o f monasteries falling into the unwholesome paths o f rebirth beginning with hell and enduring suffering. Beginning with the story o f the monk Daozhi i t ; £ o f the Liu-Song dynasty (420-479) during the Northern and Southern Dynasties period, who stole the objects o f a Buddhist pagoda, died, and suffered brutal torment,24 many such narratives were crafted in China. In addition, Miraculous Stones from Japan, which was compiled at the end o f the eighth century and the beginning o f the ninth century in Japan, preserves several narratives in which those who steal or use the possessions o f the samgha or monasteries are reborn as cattle, suffering many difficulties, and repaying the sins o f their former lives. Kyokai jtsJc (fl. 787-822), the compiler o f this book, cites several sutras when saying, “those who steal the possessions o f the samgha commit a sin greater than that o f the five heinous crimes {oyok E i£ ) [(1) patricide, (2) matricide, (3) killing an arhat, (4) shedding the blood o f a Buddha, and (5) destroying the harmony o f the samgha],” and he emphasizes that the unwholesome retribution o f people who commit this kind of

China and Japan. To top all this, there is a narrative that during the Chinese Sui dynasty (581-618) a m onk named Fazang T M committed the sin o f carelessly using the possessions o f the Three Jewels (the Buddhist church), was dragged before the netherworld tribunal, and was judged. He received a decision that he had to extinguish all o f the sins o f his life by copying a sutra. So he was restored to life to copy a sutra. The act o f showing reverence to the sutras is said to be the most wholesome action to destroy the unwholesome karma o f one’s lifetime. See Fayuan fjulin 'tkfiiT A 18, T 2122, 53.420b2-19 (Sui shamen Shi Fazang |!f W lS '/iS i) . 22 In particular, monastery land was the most important land which served as the basis for the monastery’s economy in premodern Korea. See Yi Pyonghui, “Sawon kyongje,” [Monastery economy] in H an’guk Pulgyosaydn’gu immune [An introduction to Korean Buddhist history research] (Seoul: Chisik Sanopsa, 2014). 23 In Fayuan sfulin 74, T 2122, 53.842c-847a (Taodaobu f$S(5nfS), several Buddhist sutras are cited explaining that appropriating the possessions o f the Buddha, the Dharm a, and the Samgha, in other worlds the possessions o f the Three Jewels (the Buddhist church), is a severe sin causing one to fall into hell. 24 Fayuan foulin 79, T 2122, 53.874c5-27 (Song Shi Daozhi TUtiST).

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sin is inevitable.25 The appropriation o f temple possessions is not only a great sin in Buddhism causing one to fall into hell, but is emphasized in Christianity as well. In Christian visionary literature, there are narratives o f kings and subjects who go to hell for carelessly using the possessions o f the church. 26

There is a strange configuration here, however. It is that this woman who has been long suffering torm ent in hell is not receiving retribution for her own unwholesome action. The people who have perpetrated the evil deed o f appropriating the monastery land are the parents o f the woman. Nevertheless, the daughter was dragged to the netherworld tribunal and is suffering torm ent in hell as retribution for this unwholesome act instead o f her parents. This is a really strange and cruel matter. The daughter compensates vicariously for the sins committed by the parents in a painful manner; and this narrative makes absolutely no mention o f the parents having feelings o f sorrow or performing actions demonstrating a sense o f distress.

Karmic retribution in Buddhism is something that arises in accordance with one’s personal behavior. According to the Dtrghagama sutra (Chang ahan jing {IN'"a IS), King Yama (K. Yomna, C. Yanluo H P ), the ruler o f hell, gave the following admonition to sinners:

T he sin you are receiving now is neither the fault o f your parents n o r the fault o f your siblings. Furtherm ore, it is neither the fault o f L ord Sakra n o r the fault o f your ancestors. In addition, it is n o t because o f a m entor, a servant, or social inferior. Also, it is n o t the fault o f either a sramana or a brahmana. Because you yourself made this mistake, you yourself are receiving this now .27

Receiving individual retribution because o f one’s personal karma was the guiding principle o f karmic retribution in Buddhism. When this theory o f karmic retribution was transmitted to China, it became the focus o f intense interest in Chinese thought. Chinese people o f the time traditionally possessed a conception

25 Nihon ryoiki, roll 1, nos. 20 and 27, roll 2 nos. 9 and 32, roll 3 nos. 3, 5, 23, and 26. For an English translation see Nakamura, Miraculous Stories, 131-132, 139—140, 173—174, 203—204, 226— 227, 229, 252-253, 257-259. 26 In the Vision of Eucherius, which was written by Hincmar of Reims who was bishop of Orleans in 858, the author described seeing Charles Martel and his retainers having fallen into hell for using the possessions of the church without permission. See Alan E. Bernstein, “Named Others and Named Places: Stigmatization in the Early Medieval Afterlife,” in Hell and Its Afterlife: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives, ed. Isabel Moreira and Margaret Merrill Toscano (Surrey and Burlington: Ashgate, 2010), 58. 27 Chang ahan jing H R 'a l! [Dirghdgamasutra\ 19, T I,1.121b29-127a26 (Shiji jing diyu pin mmwzmsh).

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o f karmic retribution. This may be spoken o f as the idea that not a person himself, but that person’s whole family, bears and passes on retribution and that responsibility over generations o f a family reaches later generations.28 This was different than the Buddhist theory that the self is the cause and the self bears the fruit o f actions. Proponents o f Buddhism criticized the traditional Chinese theory o f karmic retribution that spread responsibility over successive generations. In his Essentials of Severing the Dharma (Fengfayao $ i£ K ), Chi Chao (336-377) o f the Eastern Jin iJHf dynasty (265—420) clarified and criticized the hereditary Chinese theory o f karmic retribution: “Although a father commits evil deeds, his son does not receive [punishment] in his place. Although a son commits evil deeds, his father also does not receive [punishment] in his place.”29 Even in narratives affecting to be true stories o f Buddhist karmic retribution, the theory that the self is the cause and the self bears the fruit o f actions was the guiding principle. For instance, there is a story about a man who sought to have his nephew who had embraced the Buddha dharma since his youth receive his own punishment in hell as a substitute but instead was called before the netherworld tribunal and received punishment from its judges.30 This narrative presents a message that clearly rejects the traditional Chinese position that responsibility is borne by the family over successive generations.

In Japanese tales o f hell, as well, the general principle that the self is the cause and the self bears the fruit o f actions is maintained. As we have seen above, according to tale no. 23 in roll 3 o f Miraculous Stories of Japan, the monk who is the main character o f the story was restored to life, but he had died due to the unwholesome cause o f his having carelessly used monastery possessions. He was brought back to life because o f the wholesome cause o f having vowed to copy a sutra. All these things were set down as being the natural consequences o f his actions.31 In this way, the Buddhist theory o f karmic retribution was based on the guiding principle that the self is the cause and the self bears the fruit o f actions, and rejected the position that causes and effects continued within a family.

28 A passage in the Book of Changes, a Confucian classic, says, “In a household that perform s many wholesome deeds, auspicious events will be a matter o f course to its descendants. In a household that does n o t perform many wholesome works, many calamities will certainly befall its descendants.” See Yijing J lH , “Kun gua pian” i f i m . 29 See Fang Litian, Zhongguo fojiao tfoexue yaoyi [The essence o f Chinese Buddhist philosophy] (Beijing: Zhongguo renmin daxue chubanshe, 2002). For a Korean translation, see Kim Ponghui, Yi Pongsun, and Hwang Songgyu, trans. Chungguk Pu/gyo ch’drhak: insaengnon [Chinese Buddhist philosophy: Theory o f hum an life] (Seoul: Soul Pulgyo Taehagwon Taehakkyo Ch’ulp’anbu, 2006) 170. 30 Fayuan efulin 91, T 2122, 53.958a27-b24 (Jin Sunzhi g j i f t ) . 31 Nihon rydiki 3, no. 23.

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Nevertheless, it was not easy for people in East Asia, where the family was the primary unit o f society, to accept an Indian religion in its original form and the thought that the salvation or liberation o f an individual is his or her goal in life.32 Therefore, the Buddhist guiding principle that the self is the cause and the self bears the fruit o f actions sometimes broke down within the conceptual hedge or fence o f “the family.” In fifth-century China, Buddhist nun Zhitong §11 (d.u.) o f the Liu-Song, after violating the precepts, made clothes for her son from silk on which sutras had been written. His whole body disintegrated, and he died.3' This is a story in which a son immediately received an evil retribution in the present life because his mother committed the unwholesome act o f handling the sutras carelessly. In Japan, there is a story (said to have taken place in the eighth century) that a certain person went hunting and speared a young fox to death. The mother fox took the form o f an old woman and likewise speared the hunter’s suckling son to death.34 In the Silla narrative “Sonyul comes back to life,” the woman Sonyul meets is suffering punishment in hell in the place of her parents who have misappropriated monastery land. This kind o f story reflects the thought that the cause and effect o f crime and punishment is borne within the family and, in particular, that there is a close relationship between parents and children. These kinds o f narratives seem to reflect the feature o f compromise while colliding with the traditional way o f life and thought in a society suffused with fundamental Buddhist teachings.

III. SALVATION FROM H ELL A N D B U D D H IST MEMORIAL SERVICES FO R T H E DEAD

It was not that disregard for the general principle that the self is the cause and the self bears the fruit o f actions could have only arisen in a social milieu that placed importance on the family. That kind o f logic had already begun to develop in Buddhism itself. A case in point is the issue o f Buddhist masses for the dead (ch’uson ji H , lit. “to pursue wholesomeness”). Sonyul received the request o f the woman he met in hell to pray for her so that she could be saved from the torment o f hell. Her suffering in hell was eradicated when she received assistance from another person.

32 Osumi Kazuo, “Soron: Inga to rinne wa megufu Nihonjin no shukyo ishiki,” [General remarks: The religious sense o f Japanese people regarding cause and effect and reincarnation], in Inga to rinne: kodo kihan to takaikan no genre [Cause and effect and reincarnation: Principles o f codes o f behavior and views o f the other world] (Tokyo: Shunjusha, 1986), 50. 33 Fayuan %hulin 18, T 2122, 53.418cl5-22 (Songni Shi Zhitong T/ElfU'ii). 34 Nihon ryoiki 2, no. 23; for an English translation see Nakamura, Miraculous Stories, 191—192.

N a : A C o m m e n ta ry on a B u d d h is t T a le 1 7 9

The more people comprehend that anyone can fall into hell and the extent o f the torments there, the more people will seek methods o f escaping that fate. This kind o f endeavor can be found in ancient Egypt, where the concept o f hell originated. The Coffin Texts o f the Middle Kingdom (2160-1580 B.C.E.) show that, irrespective o f the moral quality o f a person’s life, he sought to guarantee the quality o f life after death through prepared incantation when he was buried.35 In fact, efforts to secure a better quality o f life after death have existed from the early stages o f human culture without reference to the concept o f hell. In many societies, the performance o f an appropriate funeral is considered an important procedure in ensuring a comfortable life after death. Such people thought that offerings o f the living that continue even after death likewise preserve the life o f the deceased after death. Therefore, in many instances, it is thought that people who die in foreign lands, by drowning, or by being eaten by wild beasts, or in such a manner that a proper burial is impossible because no corpse remains, or without descendants to make offerings to them after death cannot secure peaceful repose after death.36

People who accept the notion o f hell have always considered the provision o f an appropriate funeral ceremony and abundant votive offerings relying on traditions o f long-standing formal practice an important means o f alleviating the suffering o f hell. Greco-Roman and Jewish traditions, which considered forgiveness for the deceased to be realized according to how many votive offerings were provided to the temple or whether money was given to the ferryman or whether appropriate grave goods were prepared for the living to improve the situation o f the deceased, were important influences on the concept o f hell in Christianity.3 In Christianity, vicarious prayers, including litanies, masses, and almsgiving on behalf o f the deceased, are carried out through the church, and these were important tools promoting the authority o f the church in the Middle Ages.38

The Ullambana ceremony (K. Uranbun S ill'S , commonly referred to as the “Ghost Festival” in Anglophone scholarship) is a representative memorial service

35 S. G. F. Brandon, The Judgm ent o f the Dead: The Idea o f L ife A f t e r D eath in the M a jo r Religions (New York: Charles Scriber’s Sons, 1967), 21-22. 36 For the case o f ancient Mesopotamia and ancient Greece, see Brandon, The Judgm ent o f the D ead, 52, 79—81. For the case o f Korea, see N a Huira, Kodae H an'gugin u i saengsagwan, 91—92. 37 Jeffrey A. Trumbower, “Early Visions o f Hell as a Place o f Education and Conversion,” in H e ll an d Its A fterlife: H istorical a n d Contemporary Perspectives, eds. Isabel Moreira and Margaret Toscano (Surrey U.K.: Ashgate, 2010), 29. 38 Jacques Le Goff, L a naissance du Purgatoire (Paris: Gallimard, 1981). For a Korean translation see Jacques Le Goff, Y o n o k u i t ’ansaeng [The birth o f purgatory], trans. Ch’oe Aeri (Seoul: M unhak kwa chisongsa, 1995), 40-42.

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for the dead in the Buddhist tradidon. T he Ullambana ceremony, which has its origin in India, entered China and, while combining with customs that gave serious consideration to thought on filial piety and m ourning and funeral rites there, flourished as a means o f praying for a comfortable posthum ous life for one’s ancestors from the N o rth ern and Southern Dynasties forward. 39 According to the Ullambana Sutra (Yulanben jing SeU S IS ), the foundational scripture for the Ullambana ceremony, the B uddha’s disciple Maudgalyayana is anxiously worrying how to save his m other w ho has been reborn as a hungry ghost and is the recipient o f suffering. He begs the Buddha for assistance, and the Buddha makes the following statement:

Because your mother’s sin is so deep-rooted, although you are filially obedient to your parents and your cries shake heaven and earth, it is beyond your own individual power to alleviate it. Even the gods o f heaven and earth, evil spirits, brahmans, bodhisattvas, and the spirits of the Four Heavenly Kings can do nothing about it. But she can be delivered by drawing upon the divine power of the monks__When the monks end the summer retreat on the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month, you should fill a tray with the finest delicacies, along with foods of rich variety and taste, and offer it to the monks.40

In the Buddha’s words, salvation from the suffering o f hell is n o t evoked by relying on penitent confession and an individual covenant with a deity, but is possible through a ritual perform ed in a monastery with the mediation o f the monks.

Aside from the Ullambana ceremony, the weekly abstinence ceremonies for the dead held seven times on every seventh day (ch’ilch’ilchae h h f ) and the assembly for freeing creatures o f w ater and land (suryukhoe A S # ) are perform ed as Buddhist masses for the dead. These were rituals for the sake o f the deceased. However, the advance funeral cerem ony {yesujae fjt HF), which is held beforehand in this life to isolate bad rebirths in the future, appeared and was performed with great fervor in prem odern East Asia. 41 Such ceremonies served to connect believers with the postm ortem world, while monks and monasteries played the role o f intermediaries. Similar to how the Roman Catholic Church controlled Christians in medieval Europe, the Buddhist orders in medieval East

39 Ogawa Kan’ichi, “Mokuren kumo henbun no genru,” [The source o f the transformation tale “Mulian saves his m other”] in Jigoku no sekai [The world o f hell], ed. Sakamoto Kaname (Tokyo: Keisusha, 1990), 312-313. 40 Yulanben jing IE illS:fit, T 6 8 5 ,16.779a—c. 41 Michihata Ryoshu, Chugoku Bukkyo shisdshi no kenkfii, 99.

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Asia disseminated the concept o f hell and controlled the imagination o f people regarding life after death and their life in this world through ceremonies memorializing the deceased.

O f course, extravagant ritual procedures were not the only things that guaranteed a peaceful life after death. The possession o f a sincere heart and the observance o f individual precepts were more important than anything else. The copying, verbal recitadon, and acceptance and maintenance o f sutras were important actions displaying one’s personal belief. People who kept these well did not fall into the unwholesome paths o f rebirth (animal, hungry ghost, denizen of hell) and were able to go on to rebirth in the Pure Land (chongt’o j f ± ) . Furthermore, verbal recitation o f the Buddha’s name and the making and possession o f Buddhist images were just the same. However, these were completely individual as well, and were not only issues o f faith in which one’s inner self was not exposed. O n the whole, monks and monasteries intervened even in individual belief.

IV. BUDDHIST CEREMONIES AND NARRATIVE PERFORMANCE

Let us now return to the narrative “Sonyul comes back to life.” The Silla woman who was suffering in hell entreated Sonyul, who received an order to be restored to life and was returning to this world, to save her from her afflictions and had him tell the woman’s parents to return the monastery land they had stolen. She had Sonyul sell the oil and cloth she had laid up during her mortal life to pay to create the Perfection of Wisdom Sutra that Sonyul had to complete in this life. She said that if he lit a lantern to the Buddha for her it would benefit her in the netherworld and that she would be freed from her suffering. Sonyul returned to this life and did as she had requested. The woman’s spirit came and said that, “owing to Sonyul’s favor,” she had been freed from torment. The Silla woman who was suffering afflictions in hell informed Sonyul how her own personal suffering could be extinguished. Sonyul put into practice those things and obtained the results she sought.

A narrative in which a person dies, is hauled before the netherworld tribunal, receives recognition for good works done in this life, receives a decision that he should be restored to life, and when he returns to this world meets a person who is suffering in hell and receives a request for a memorial service to be performed for that person is a m otif that appears commonly in Chinese and Japanese stories of hell. In one such narrative, Em peror Wu o f the Northern Zhou dynasty JS| 3 ;-if (r. 560-578), who persecuted Buddhism (574-578), fell into hell and received torment there due to that unwholesome action. There was a person returning to

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this world, and he requested that this person extend a request to Emperor Wen of the Sui dynasty (r.581—604), the august ruler in this world, to supplicate for meritorious virtue on his behalf. This person came back to life and informed Em peror Wen. Emperor Wen issued an order to several monasteries in the country to hold an abstinence ceremony for three days and read the Diamond Sutra (Jingang bore jing on behalf o f Em peror Wu o f the Northern Zhou dynasty.42 The following narrative is set in Japan in the second half o f the eighth century. A certain person went before the netherworld tribunal and was allowed to return to life. Another person who was suffering in hell for the bad karma of excessive tax collection in life implored him to seek blessings for the deceased by copying the Lotus Sutra (Fahua jing f tlilS ). The person who was restored to life reported these circumstances to the imperial court, and the Japanese emperor ordered a copy o f the Lotus Sutra to be made, and as soon as it was completed, a dharma assembly was held to expound the sutra (kanggyong pophoe and supplicate for the deceased person’s happiness in the netherworld.43 Narratives regarding hell during the time when Buddhism played a social role as an official religion that received patronage from the state were not handled as issues or problems from the dimension o f a simple individual. Unwholesome actions causing one to fall into hell had to be handled from a social dimension, and their resolution was an official problem. Institutions that mediated the concept o f hell were connected to the state and exercised authority that joined this world and the netherworld.

Sonyul made a pilgrimage to hell and met a woman from his homeland undergoing torment there, and the circumstances were communicated to him. He returned to this world and conveyed these things to the people. Because he was a Buddhist monk with exclusive possession o f the imagination o f hell at the time, the verbal evidence he presented concerning the specific time, place, and person were probably considered to be genuine. The monk testified that the woman he met in hell said that the way for her to be saved from suffering in hell was to make an offering to the monastery, to light a lamp to the Buddha, and complete the copying o f the sutra. The method o f salvation from hell was presented through the mouth o f an ordinary and pitiable woman. The people who heard this tale piteously considered the ordinary woman to be like themselves and made offerings for the production o f sutras just as the woman guided them while

42 Jingang b o re jin g jiy a n j i [Record of collected marvels on the Diamond Sutra], vol. 2, in X u ^a n g jin g SliidS [Hong Kong reprint of The Kyoto Supplem ent to the Canon (D a i N ih o n ^o k u ^o k yo ~k 0 T H icll)] (Hong Kong: Hong Kong Buddhist Association, 1967) (hereafter X, vol., page, register, and lines), X 87.461b7-464cl5 (Gongde pian di wu jMHE). 43 N ih o n ry d iki 3, no. 35; see Nakamura, Miraculous Stories, 271-273.

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imagining their own fates. As a monk, by bearing witness to what he experienced personally as a hell narrative, Sonyul exercised control over the imagination o f hell and, by so doing, played a role that in reality connected people to Buddhism and

44monasteries. In conclusion, the narrative “Sonyul comes back to life” says that

misappropriating monastery property is a sin and that one will be punished for such crimes; however, one should revere and believe in the Three Jewels o f the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Samgha and make offerings o f such things as possessions to Buddhist memorial services in order to receive salvation from the retribution deriving from these actions. The organizational elements like those listed above for the tale “Sonyul comes back to life” appear repeatedly in narratives o f hell in contemporary China and Japan. In the period when Buddhism was disseminated and put down its roots in East Asia, it is worth understanding that sin, judgment, and discipline were converging regarding Buddhism in Buddhist stories o f hell. Concentrating on the imagination o f hell as it was related to Buddhism, which itself brought with it a concept o f hell, was something that seized the power o f influence in this world. In particular, in the expansion o f Buddhist influence, the economic power o f monasteries was important. Monasteries, through the concept o f hell, were able to draw in the offerings o f ordinary people, not only the patronage o f the royalty and nobility. A monk called Huikuan M.% o f the Tang period became extremely popular as an edifying preacher o f stories o f hell in his time and monasteries competed to invite him to their precincts. It is said that wherever he went, the offerings were piled high as a mountain.43 When Sonyul was restored to life and told the experience of his pilgrimage to hell, the people o f the time heard him and were amazed. There was no one who did not marvel, and they assisted him in completing his copying o f the sutra. The narrative “Sonyul comes back to life” drew in the offerings of people for the production o f sutras in monasteries.

That being the case, how and when was the story “Sonyul comes back to life” transmitted to people and moved the hearts o f people? The tale is verbal evidence o f what Sonyul experienced. The protection o f monastery property and the giving o f donations to make offerings to the Buddha or for the production of sutras are emphasized in the narrative. Accordingly, this story was probably created by monks from the standpoint o f Buddhism. If Sonyul was an actual person, it would be fine to call him Sonyul.

44 Concerning how the testimonies o f people who have experienced the next life are regulated or controlled by the reality o f narratives, see Le Goff, Yonok ui t ’ansaeng, 192. 45 X u gaoseng %buan I® S i t fig [Further lives o f eminent monks] 25, T 2060, 50. 600b29-601b29 (Shi Huikuan PPJSU).

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The narrative formed in this way was n o t transm itted from the m outh o f one person to another person as everyday idle chatter. According to the last part o f the story, the Perfection of Wisdom Sutra that Sonyul com pleted was preserved in the library o f the Office o f Monastic Affairs in Kyongju, the old capital o f Silla, at the end o f the thirteenth century in the Koryo dynasty w hen Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms, which contains this narrative, was compiled. It also says that the sutra had been read every year in spring and autumn, and a ceremony for driving away calamities had been performed until that time. This narrative also describes an original legend o f a Buddhist ceremony for coursing in a sutra that spanned from the Silla to the Koryo period. This indicates that the story “Sonyul comes back to life” was transmitted through a Buddhist cerem ony o f coursing in the Pefection of Wisdom Sutra.

D harm a assemblies for expounding sutras (also called “ sutra-chanting” [tokkjong f i l l ] and “coursing in a sutra” [chon’gyong KM]) were frequendy perform ed during the Silla and Koryo periods as some o f the principal Buddhist ceremonies. In dharma assemblies for expounding sutras, monks would n o t only solemnly lecture on a sutra reading aloud and analyze difficult passages o f the sutra, they would also give a secularly oriented lecture (sokkang iP-M) that conveyed the contents and meaning o f the sutra in a simple and interesting m anner to the general masses. In the secular lecture service, the interest o f the people was aroused and brought to a climax through amusing and entertaining preaching o f the dharma garnished by stories, songs, and dance.46 In the N o rth ern and Southern Dynasties, preaching the dharm a in this form was called “preaching [to people] to lead them [to conversion]” (K. ch’angdo, C. changdao PH3( ). T he perform ance o f this preaching to lead people to conversion is expressed well in the following passage depicting w hat kinds o f intense feelings were stirred up in those participating in the dharma assembly.

The person preaching to lead people to conversion ... made the bodies and hearts of the people who heard him shake with fear when he spoke of the transience [of mortal life], and he made them shake with fear and cry when he told them of hell. He made it seem just as if they saw direcdy with their own eyes their past deeds when he elucidated the causes and conditions of their former lives, and it was just as if he already showed them the events of the future when he laid bare the retribution they will receive hereafter. He made them overflow with feelings of love and break out in joy when he

46 Kim Chinyong, “Pulgyogye kangch’ang munhak ui yonhaeng yangsang,” [The aspects o f the performance o f literature for use in lectures and preaching/chanting in the Buddhist world] Han’guk ono munhak 43 (1999): 23—44, esp. 26.

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spoke of pleasures, and he made them shed tears when he related sorrows.47

Monks who specialized in preaching and leading people to conversion introduced the fundamental Buddhist doctrines o f the karma and the cycle of rebirth and death, and induced and aroused the interest o f the masses by using appropriate karma tales and parables.48 In this time, it seems that tales o f karmic retribution, like tales o f hell, were employed frequendy.

When seen this way, we can infer that the narrative “Sonyul comes back to life” was performed as a karma tale in a secular lecture held for common people participating in a dharma assembly for coursing in the Perfection of Wisdom Sutra held at a monastery in the Silla period.49 The people attending this meeting, while not only making gestures and vocal sounds, but sometimes singing and dancing, and while looking at the performer telling the story, probably felt as if hell was right before them at that very moment and that the suffering o f the pitiful woman was their own personal suffering. When she was saved from hell, they were probably happy just as if they were receiving future salvation. Through this kind o f process, people understood that they would receive retribution and fall into hell if they used the possessions o f the monastery without permission. However, even if they did fall into hell, they knew that they could be saved. The monks communicated to the people politely and plainly that making offerings to the Three Jewels and making donations o f their possessions to the monastery could save them from the frightful torment o f hell. People thoroughly caught up in the lively tale o f hell contributed their personal possessions and riches to the monastery for the sake o f their own futures.

V. CONCLUSION

Many stories o f hell were told in China, Korea, and Japan since the transmission o f Buddhism, and played an important role in the dissemination o f Buddhism to ordinary people. In narratives about hell, the Buddhist teaching that if one

47 Gaoseng %huan [Lives o f eminent monks] iftffff 13, T 2059,50. 417c7-418a7 (Changdao dishi lun n i L i r a ) . 48 Cho Myonghwa, Bulgyo n>a Tonhwang ui ch’angdo munhak [Buddhism and the literature for lecturing and preaching at Dunhuang] (Seoul: Ihoe, 2003), 119-130. 49 Scholars conjecture that monks created a considerable number o f narratives on the basis o f stories and teachings from Buddhist sutras to use in dharma assemblies for lecturing on surras (kanggyongpophoe iif S 'S # ), which were in vogue from the Silla through the Koryo period. See Sa Chaedong, Pulgyogye sosa munhak uiydn’gu [Research on narrative literature o f the Buddhist lineage] (Seoul: Chung’ang munhwasa, 1996), 102-105.

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performs unwholesome actions, one will go to hell and receive agonizing punishment was communicated by bringing on the scene actual people in real space and time and was just like a true story to the people who heard or read it.

The narrative “Sonyul comes back to life” departs from being a tale o f hell o f the Silla people, who adopted the Buddhist concept o f hell in the Unified Silla period. This story is, for the most part, endowed with elements that constitute the concept o f hell, such as the subject matter o f wholesome and unwholesome actions, judgment in the underworld tribunal where the fate o f people after death is decided, punishment for unwholesome actions in hell, opportunities for being restored to life for wholesome actions, and salvation from hell. This narrative, however, shows the offspring o f the perpetrators o f the unwholesome actions, not the evil-doing parents themselves, receiving punishment in hell vicariously. I think that the solidarity o f the family community, which was a powerful social principle in East Asia, and the concept o f filial piety that bolstered it speak to circumstances o f continual negotiation and mediation, while it collided with the Buddhist principle that “the self is the cause and the self bears the fruit o f actions (chain chagwa Ie! 0 S H:).”50 N ot only are there narratives emphasizing the principle that one bears the fruits o f one’s actions in Chinese and Japanese tales o f hell, but there are also diverse stories o f offspring receiving punishment due to the evil actions o f their parents just like the case from Silla Korea.

Furthermore, this narrative expresses the view that punishment in hell is not eternal and that one can be saved through the performance o f memorial services for the dead. Memorial services for the dead are done by making offerings to the Three Jewels by giving one’s possessions to monasteries. The story “Sonyul comes back to life” seems to have been created by monks and circulated among the ordinary people as a karma tale of a Buddhist ceremony for the production of sutras and appreciating the teachings o f the sutra, which was the initiative in the monastery. People sympathetic to this lively story, which was performed along with songs and gestures in the course o f the Buddhist ceremony were able to contribute their hearts and their wealth willingly to the Buddha, the monks, and the monastery for their own futures.

50 At the height o f the wars between the Three Kingdoms in the seventh century, some generals o f Silla counseled their own sons who had followed them to the battlefield to fulfill the demands o f loyalty (ch’ung S&) and filial piety {hyo # ) and to make a name for themselves by performing a glorious deed (kongmyong 9)V ) by penetrating the enemy line, fighting, and dying. Young sons did not disobey their father’s words, rushed the enemy position, and died. The people o f Silla’s attitude o f setting high value on a son’s act o f dying instead o f (or for) his parents can also be seen here. See Samguk sagi\l\ 450 (Kim Yongyun ifeMil) and 451 (Kwanch’ang I I ) .

Na: A Commentary on a Buddhist Tale 187

The monk Iryon, who was at the center o f the Buddhist world at the end o f the thirteenth century, took notice o f the Buddhist ceremony that was performed in Kyongju, the old capital of Silla, and its karma tale,51 recorded it in prose, and put it as an item in Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms, which he himself compiled.52 Furthermore, he expressed his own impressions at the end o f the story. Here he had no worries about the measuring stick o f the original guiding principle or universal ethics o f the Buddhist concept o f hell in which a person who commits sins must receive punishment, and he made reference to karmic cause and effect from an institutional standpoint related to the production o f sutras and monastery possessions. Even from the perspective o f an eminent monk o f the late Koryo period, the instructions the Silla tale o f hell gives were probably thought to encourage the making o f offerings and donations to the Three Jewels and the protection o f monastery possessions. Sutra-copying, one form o f Buddhist faith at the time, was practiced widely, and ceremonies related to it were held frequently. Iryon, who wanted to maintain the power and influence o f the religious order through the proliferation o f Buddhist cult practices and ceremonies, found in this story from the past a basis for vindicating the performance o f sutra-copying and dharma assemblies, which required abundant finances. From this standpoint, the narrative “Sonyul comes back to life” was a “chosen” story that reflected the position o f the Buddhist world o f the late Koryo period.53 Because o f that, we can say that it remained as a narrative representation o f stories o f hell in Silla. Probably, this perception o f the Buddhist world was one reason why Buddhism

51 Iryon was interested in conversion of the lay masses through the preaching o f the dharma. While he travelled far and wide between monasteries and the world in the center and provinces, he probably observed direcdy both named and nameless dharma masters preaching approaches to the dharma to the masses in several Buddhist services (popsok & Jf) and indirecdy heard, read, and recorded such activities. These endeavors were probably the basis o f his compilation o f the Samgukyusa. Much o f the material related to Buddhism in the Samgukyusa comprises narratives that are interesting and easy for the masses to understand, and constructed as songs to evoke emotion, which are related with this. See Sa Chaedong, Pulgyogye sosa munhak uiyon'gu, 100. 52 Since most o f the eulogies (ch'an it) in the Samgukyusa are believed to have been composed by Iryon, it is n ot wrong to see the narrative “Sonyul comes back to life” as having been selected and recorded by Iryon. With respect to most o f the eulogies in the Samgukyusa being composed by Iryon, see Richard D. McBride II, “Preserving the Lore o f Korean Antiquity: An Introduction to Native and Local Sources in Iryon’s Samguk Yusa,” Acta Koreana 10 (2007): 36. 53 There are many narratives on the Silla monk Chinp’yo’s transmission o f the divination sticks {kanja 1ST) and the divination dharma assembly [chomch’al pop A"Hi£) in the Samgukyusa. This is material selected reflecting the interest o f the Koryo Buddhist world in this popular divination dharm a assembly. See Nam Tongsin, “Samgukyusa ui saso roso ui t’ukching.” Ultimately, we can say that these aspects are evidence o f how Iryon reproduced earlier materials according to the circumstances o f the time. O n this issue, see McBride, “Is the Samguk Yusa Reliable?”

18 8 A c t a K oreana V ol. 19, N o . 2, 2 0 1 6

was criticized by Confucian intellectuals, who sought to define ethical issues based on realistic and social dimensions.

Submitted: August 31, 2016 Sent for revision: October 17, 2016 Accepted: November 9, 2016

HEE LA NA ([email protected]) is a professor in the D ep a rtm en t o f L ib e r a l A r t s , Gyeongnam N a tio n a l University o f Science a n d Technology, Korea.

Na: A Commentary on a Buddhist Tale 189

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