Buddhist culture; Korean; Seongbo cultural property; Category; Characteristic
摘要
This paper deals with the question of what the Korean Buddhist Culture is. In order to answer this question, we may need to examine the theories which explain how Buddhism was introduced to the Korean peninsula. The Korean Buddhist Culture can be defined as a way of life as well as believes seen in the Korean Buddhism. It can also be termed as a religious culture if these styles are artistically sublimated. Since this religious culture has been developed along with the Korean history, it can be said to represent what we called the Korean Culture. It has to be pointed out that this Korean Buddhist Culture has not only been preserved in various ways, but it also is utilized practically within the ordinary life of Korean people nowadays. The Korean Buddhist tradition seems to be the only tradition which has preserved the traditional Mah？y？na ways of life and can be characterized as the synthetic harmony of various Buddhist traditions. Despite of such importance, the Korean Buddhist Culture has not been classified appropriately as well as academically. Briefly speaking, it can be classified into two categories: the material and the immaterial. The example of the former seems to be the Sungbu Cultural treasures. The latter can be further categorized in terms of the believes, the arts, and the livelihood.
