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Sacrifice in East Asian Buddhism: Reconsidering the Theory of Substitute Bodies through the Case of Korea |
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Vermeersch, Sem
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| Source |
International Journal of Buddhist Thought & Culture=국제불교문화사상사학회
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| Volume | v.27 n.2 |
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| Date | 2017.12 |
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| Pages | 205 - 241 |
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| Publisher | International Association for Buddhist Thought and Culture |
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| Publisher Url |
http://iabtc.org/
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| Location | Seoul, Korea [首爾, 韓國] |
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| Content type | 期刊論文=Journal Article |
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| Language | 英文=English |
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| Note | Sem VERMEERSCH is Associate Professor in the Department of Religious Studies, Seoul National University. His main research focus is the history of medieval Korean Buddhism. |
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| Keyword | Buddhism; Sacrifice; Relics; Substitute Bodies; Bernard Faure; Korea |
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| Abstract | The goal of this paper is to reconsider theories and practices related to sacrifice in Buddhism by looking at the curious absence of the practice of ritual suicide in Korean history. Although there are now a number of studies available that deal with sacrificial acts in East Asian Buddhism, as yet no attempt has been made to cover such practices under an integrated theory of sacrifice. Consequently, this article starts with a substantial review of the available literature to outline the main modes of sacrificial thought and practice prevalent in East Asia. The second part of the article is devoted to testing those theories to the case of Korean Buddhism, something which has not been attempted before. First, I show that though Koreans from early on were aware of the two main axes of bodily sacrifice—Jātaka literature on the one hand and the “Medicine King” chapter of the Lotus sūtra on the other—these did not inspire any followers in Korea. However, other sacrificial practices related to the body are attested, notably the extreme bodily discipline among Chan/Sŏn monks that leads to post-mortem physical proof of spiritual attainment: relics (śarīra) and non-decay of the body. These are what Bernard Faure and others have referred to as substitute bodies. However, the evidence does not confirm that these substitute bodies were granted agency, as has been argued for India or China. Native practices of post-mortem disposal of the body, notably secondary burial, were initially combined with Buddhism to prove the special power of certain deceased monks. However, in virtually all cases this was clearly delineated from the relics of the historical Buddha, the only ones to be credited as “subjects.” |
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| Table of contents | Abstract
Introduction 207
Offering of the Body: From India to Japan 209
Creation of the Double : Faure and Other Voices on the Question of Zen and Relics 215
Buddhism and Sacrifice in Korea 220
Conclusion 232
References 238 |
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| ISSN | 15987914 (P) |
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| DOI | 10.16893/IJBTC.2017.12.27.2.205 |
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| Hits | 210 |
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| Created date | 2021.03.12 |
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| Modified date | 2021.03.12 |
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