Transformation of Buddhist Sunday Schools (佛敎日曜學校) in Modern Korean Buddhism: A Shift Away from Ritual- and Faith-Focused Buddhism Toward Social Engagement

Abstract

Buddhist Sunday schools were modeled on the Christian Sunday school, a form of religious education that emerged in late eighteenth-century Britain to provide literacy and moral instruction for impoverished children. Following the Meiji Restoration, Japanese Buddhism institutionalized Buddhist Sunday schools (佛敎日曜學校) for children’s moral cultivation by adapting Christian methodologies, expanding them nationwide during the 1920s and 1930s through standardized curricula. In Korea, Buddhist Sunday schools were introduced from the 1920s onward in response to the expansion of propagation centers (p’ogyo-dang, 布敎堂), the growing demand for youth propagation, and the exclusion of religious education from public schools under the Japanese colonial system. This article examines the comprehensive educational vision and operational principles of these schools—integrating graded administration, teacher qualifications, worship, and recreational activities for children—with a focus on “佛敎 日曜學校案” [Proposals for Buddhist Sunday Schools] written by Ra Un-hyang (羅雲鄕) in 1940. It further analyzes the nationwide distribution of these schools in 1940, identifying limitations such as financial precariousness, personnel shortages, and a lack of societal recognition. Nevertheless, Buddhist Sunday schools represent a significant historical milestone, as they served as a practical site where the popularization of modern Buddhism was realized and as a strategic effort for the cultivation of children and youth as future religious adherents.

1. Introduction

In the late nineteenth century, the expansion of Christian missionary activities across East Asia extended beyond the mere propagation of religion and influenced society as a whole through various institutional mechanisms such as education, medical services, and charitable work. In particular, by combining organized systems of propagation with educational institutions, Christian missions presented a new model of religious activity, which prompted Buddhism to move beyond ritual-centered forms of belief and to seek more systematic approaches to public-oriented propagation and education. In fact, modern Buddhist reformers recognized the organizational activities, educational enterprises, and charitable work of Christian missions as a model, responding by selectively adopting or transforming them, and this imitative and adaptive process appeared as a common phenomenon across the East Asian Buddhist world, including Japan, China, and Korea (Nathan 2022, pp. 16–20). Furthermore, Christianity functioned as a key driver of social modernization through the establishment of schools, the promotion of literacy, and the introduction of modern academic disciplines, and this education-centered missionary strategy significantly influenced the ways in which religion engaged with the public (Kim and Connolly 2024, pp. 3–9). In this regard, the institutional and educational modes of propagation demonstrated by Christian missions served as an important reference model in the process by which modern Buddhism reconfigured itself within a new historical context and exerted both direct and indirect influences on the expansion of education-centered propagation, particularly those targeting children and youth. Reflecting its historical weight, a substantial body of scholarship has examined the significance of this educational movement (H. Kim 2018; Uri 2020; S.-y. Kim 2023; E. Kim 2025).

Meanwhile, the goal of the “modernization of Buddhism” has often been understood as synonymous with the “popularization of Buddhism (amongst the masses).” The most consequential change undertaken to achieve this goal was the implementation of educational and proselytizing activities aimed at the general public. This represented a fundamental transition in the nature of traditional Buddhism—shifting away from a focus on ritual and faith toward social engagement through mass propagation (布敎)1 and education. In particular, the outreach to children and youth held profound significance, as it constituted a new form of Buddhism unprecedented in the premodern period. However, scholarly inquiry into this subject remains in its nascent stages.2

The outreach and educational activities spearheaded by the modern Buddhist community for children and youth were operationalized through organizations such as youth associations and Sunday schools. In particular, Sunday schools represented a newly adopted paradigm in Japan, re-envisioned for Buddhist propagation by adopting the Western model of Christian Sunday schools. These schools originated in the late eighteenth century as a response to the destitution of the working class during the British Industrial Revolution, providing literacy and moral education centered on the Bible for children deprived of formal schooling (Monroe 1911; Monroe 1920; Trumbull 1888; cited in Ahn 1976). Initially, Sunday schools prioritized the cultivation of religious morality over academic instruction. As Christianity expanded into East Asia, these institutions were formalized as a strategic propagation tool. Viewed as a means to mobilize the next generation on Sundays, Sunday schools undoubtedly presented themselves to Buddhists as a compelling and sophisticated framework for modern education and propagation. While these activities can be read as reflecting the Mahāyāna ideal of self-enlightenment and the salvation of others (上求菩提 下化衆生)—seeking enlightenment above while edifying sentient beings below—they should not be reduced to a simple continuation of doctrinal tradition. Rather, they are better understood as a strategic adaptation that integrated new educational models in response to the contemporary challenges facing Korean Buddhism.

The boys’ associations (shōnen kyōkai, 少年敎會) established by Japanese Buddhism after the Meiji Restoration formed part of a revival movement initiated to overcome the crisis facing the Buddhist community at the time (Aomi 2011, p. 8). These boys’ associations provided youth with Buddhist devotional practices such as worship before Buddhist statues, sutra recitation, sermons, and Buddhist hymns (shōka, 唱歌). In the mid-1900s, the boys’ associations came to be transitioned into “Sunday schools.” In this process, the Buddhist community adopted the Sunday school system practiced in Christian missions as an institutional framework for education and propagation directed at youth. Subsequently, Japanese Buddhism experienced the heyday of Buddhist Sunday schools during the 1920s and 1930s.

In the mid-1920s, the Buddhist Sunday school system was introduced into Korea under Japanese colonial rule. During this period, Korean Buddhism operated under the constraints of the Temple Ordinance, which significantly limited the autonomous development of religious education and propagation. Within this context, Korean Buddhist monastics adopted the Sunday school model—originally influenced by Japanese Buddhist practices—as part of their efforts to modernize and sustain Buddhist education. Nevertheless, Korean monastics devoted themselves to proselytization, making concerted efforts to nurture and instruct children and youth. This article investigates how the Buddhist Sunday school system—which integrated religious education with propagation—was institutionalized as a viable model within modern Korean Buddhism. The dearth of existing research reflects a longstanding tendency to undervalue the Buddhist community’s efforts to cultivate future generations through the adaptation of the Japanese model, notwithstanding colonial constraints and Japanese influence. By analyzing operational cases of Buddhist Sunday schools, this study seeks to re-evaluate the trajectories of modern Korean Buddhist education and its historical significance.

2. The Origins of Buddhist Sunday Schools

2.1. The Emergence of Sunday Schools in Britain

First, this section examines the historical background behind the emergence of Sunday schools and the formation of the concept of “Buddhist Sunday schools.” Sunday schools originated in Britain in the late eighteenth century. At that time, British society was undergoing a period of profound upheaval marked by rapid industrialization, urbanization, and social stratification, which led to the disintegration of traditional communal orders. Amid the widespread realities of poverty, illiteracy, and child labor, a sense of religious and moral crisis spread throughout society. It was in response to these social anxieties that the Sunday School movement emerged (Jeon 1993). Sunday schools constituted an educational movement that provided literacy instruction and biblical education to members of the working class and to children who were afforded respite only on Sundays. They represented the most systematic form of popular education in early industrial society and functioned as a religious social movement.

The birthplace of the Sunday school was Gloucester, England, and Robert Raikes (1735–1811) is known as its founder. Around 1780, with the assistance of the Anglican clergyman Thomas Stock, he established a Sunday school and gathered children from impoverished neighborhoods to provide instruction in reading the Bible. His activities became widely known throughout the country through the Gloucester Journal, for which he served as editor and publisher. Shortly thereafter, in 1784, the Society for the Establishment and Support of Sunday Schools throughout the Kingdom of Great Britain was formed, allowing the movement to develop on a national scale. In 1803, the Sunday School Union, which transcended denominational boundaries, was organized, further expanding the educational movement for impoverished children across Britain (Ahn 1976, pp. 133–39). In this way, Sunday schools came to be established as a central form of mass education voluntarily led by civil society prior to the establishment of a modern public education system.

However, there is also a view that Sunday schools should not be regarded merely as charitable literacy movements focused on reading and writing. Some Marxist historians have argued that the Sunday School movement functioned as a mechanism of moral discipline and social control required by industrial capitalist society (Jeon 1993, pp. 162–72). In other words, they maintain that its purpose was to adapt the emerging working class to the order of industrial society and to inculcate values such as diligence, frugality, obedience, and religiosity—so-called middle-class virtues. In this sense, the social control dimension of Sunday schools has also served as a basis for understanding them as a moral reform movement through which the values of the emerging bourgeoisie were instilled in the lower classes.

However, Sunday schools were not simply institutions centered unilaterally on middle-class values, and it is undeniable that they played a pivotal role in raising literacy rates in British society. This is of particular importance in that it represents a case in which modern civil society itself moved beyond state education by combining religious conviction with social responsibility (Jeon 1993). Sunday schools were institutions with multiple objectives: they sought to restore human morality through religious education while simultaneously fostering literacy and modern civic consciousness. In other words, they constituted a prototype of a modern educational movement in which religious relief, social reform, and civic education were intertwined. Raikes’s initiative to teach literacy and religious doctrine to impoverished children on Sundays thus became established as a new model of moral education in an industrializing society and subsequently spread throughout the United States and Europe (Ahn 1976, pp. 3–9). By re-conceptualizing Sunday as a “day of education and faith,” this system assumed the character of a social movement that combined modern civic morality with religious moral cultivation.

2.2. The Establishment of Buddhist Sunday Schools in Japan

In the late nineteenth century, the Sunday school system was introduced to Japan through missionaries. Initially, these Sunday schools operated by early Christianity aimed at the social and moral cultivation of children and youth through moral instruction and literacy education. Following the Meiji Restoration, however, the pedagogical framework of Christian Sunday schools began to attract attention within Japanese society as a model of social education that transcended religion. Consequently, they institutionalized the Buddhist Sunday schools (Bukkyō nichiyō gakkō, 仏教日曜学校) by re-contextualizing the structures and formats of Christian Sunday schools within a Buddhist framework.

From the early Meiji period, Japanese Buddhism established diverse groups for the moral cultivation of children, ranging from traditional children’s nenbutsu confraternities (nenbutsu-kō, 念佛講) to emerging boys’ associations and churches (Aomi 2011, p. 88). These organizations are now recognized as the formative predecessors of institutionalized Buddhist Sunday schools. Around 1880, pioneering initiatives—such as the youth associations at Mangyōji (萬行寺) in Hakata and Zōjōji (增上寺) in Tokyo—marked the earliest organized efforts dedicated to children’s moral development. These entities sought to mobilize children as active subjects of moral guidance through a curriculum centered on devotional worship, doctrinal preaching, and Buddhist hymns; furthermore, they proliferated as a vital component of the broader Buddhist revival movement throughout the Meiji period.

From the late Meiji Period to the early Taishō Period, these organizations for children’s moral cultivation increasingly adopted the nomenclature and structural framework of “Sunday schools.” During this era, the Buddhist community appropriated the operational methodologies and pedagogical forms of Christian Sunday schools, transitioning toward a systematized, school-based model of moral instruction. This paradigm shift included the implementation of regular curricula, the development of lesson plans, and the introduction of Buddhist hymns and storytelling. Such evolutionary changes represent a departure from ritual-centric moral instruction, signifying the embrace of a modern educational system. These activities were not confined to the transmission of faith; rather, they were strategically intended to broaden the social base of Buddhism and foster local communities through the cultivation of young subjects.3

The nationwide expansion of Buddhist Sunday schools was accelerated after the 1910s through institutionalization at the sectarian level. The Honganji branch of Jōdo Shinshū enacted the Sunday School Ordinance (Nichiyō gakkōrei, 日曜學校令) in 1915 to commemorate the accession of the Taishō Emperor, and figures such as Uno Enkū (宇野円空) published the institutional journal Nichiyō kyōen (日曜敎園), later retitled the Nichiyō gakkō kenkyū (日曜學校硏究). Subsequently, major Buddhist sects competed to promote the establishment of Sunday schools and systematized them as sectarian projects through the publication of institutional journals, the organization of training seminars, and the cultivation of teachers. Through this process, Buddhist Sunday schools moved beyond voluntary practices at individual temples and became established as an organized system of religious education. As a result, Buddhist Sunday schools reached their peak from the latter half of the Taishō period through the early Shōwa period, namely during the 1920s and 1930s, with more than 4000 schools established nationwide (Isobe 1995, p. 80). By standardizing teaching materials and lesson plans and integrating child-centric elements such as storytelling, cards, and Buddhist hymns, Sunday schools formed a new culture of Buddhist education for children.

A key factor in the expansion of Buddhist Sunday schools was the development of pedagogical materials specifically tailored for children. Existing Buddhist scriptures and sermons had been composed on the assumption of adult believers, and thus a new system of teaching materials appropriate to children’s levels of understanding and sensibilities was required. Above all, as Sunday schools became established as regular and organized educational activities, teaching materials came to be recognized not merely as auxiliary tools but as core elements that defined both educational content and pedagogical methods. The earliest such textbook was Bukkyō shōnen shūshin tokuhon (佛敎少年修身讀本), published in 1905 by Andō Masazumi (安藤正純) (Andō 1905). Subsequently, a number of teaching materials were published during the 1910s and 1920s, including Takakusu Junjirō’s (高楠順次郞) Tōitsu nichiyō gakkō kyōan (統一日曜學校敎案, Takakusu, 1911), Suzuki Sekizen’s (鈴木積善) Jidō shūkyō kyōiku no riron to jissai (兒童宗敎敎育の理論と實際, Suzuki, 1921), and Ōzeki Naoyuki’s (大關尙之) Bukkyō nichiyō gakkō kyōan (佛敎日曜學校敎案, Ōzeki, 1924)4 (Aomi 2011, pp. 90–93).

The pedagogical materials of Buddhist Sunday schools were not limited to textbook-style manuals but extended to the production and publication of a wide range of supplementary instructional materials intended for use in practice. Attendance cards, small booklets containing Buddhist tales, collections of Buddhist hymns, Buddhist storybooks, and Buddhist picture plays were devices designed to stimulate children’s interest and encourage sustained participation. In addition, periodicals such as Nichiyō gakkō kenkyū (日曜學校硏究) published by the Honganji branch of Jōdo Shinshū in the 1910s, Jidō to shūkyō (兒童と宗敎) issued by the Ōtani branch, and the monthly journal Shūkyō kyōiku (宗敎敎育) published by the Buddhist Sunday School Association organized in 1925 functioned as media for sharing lesson plans, theoretical discussions, and practical case studies, thereby linking the publication of teaching materials with on-site practice (Saitō 1975, p. 78). Through these developments, Buddhist Sunday schools became established not as a one-time movement but as a sustainable system of religious education, clearly demonstrating that modern Japanese Buddhism had come to recognize children as new subjects of moral cultivation.

Buddhist Sunday schools developed beyond a simple imitation of the Christian model and evolved in ways that actively responded to the modern ideals of Japanese society and the logic of state governance. Through Sunday schools, the Buddhist community sought to implement state policies aimed at the moral cultivation of the populace while simultaneously securing Buddhism’s social legitimacy. In this sense, Buddhist Sunday schools constituted a practical arena in which Buddhism reconstructed a new identity as a “social religion,” and through them, Buddhism can be seen as having provided an ideological foundation for imperial civic ethics and national education.

However, Buddhist Sunday schools did not remain merely sites of nationalist moral instruction. They also functioned as voluntary religious movements led by Buddhist youth and as arenas for the practice of modern youth culture. Buddhist youth developed Sunday schools not simply as spaces of moral instruction but as cultural-communal networks that connected local communities and generations (see Aomi 2011). Buddhist Sunday schools thus represented a point at which state ideology and Buddhist social practice intersected, while simultaneously serving as arenas in which the younger generation grew into modern subjects. In other words, Sunday schools functioned as central spaces mediating the modernization and socialization of Buddhism and the civic socialization of Japanese youth. In this context, Buddhism was no longer a sect-centered religion confined within temple institutions but was able to assume new roles as a constituent of modern civil society.

Japanese Buddhist Sunday schools represented the product of the transformation of Western Christian social reform–oriented educational movements within the context of Japanese modernization. While their institutional framework was derived from the West, their content was reconfigured in response to the realities of Japanese society. Beginning as a propagational response during the Meiji period, Buddhist Sunday schools evolved into movements of social education and youth culture during the Taishō period, thereby playing a decisive role in establishing modern Japanese Buddhism as a form of “Buddhism in society.” This Japanese Buddhist Sunday school movement was subsequently transmitted to colonial Korea, where it took root as one form of Buddhist educational and propagation activity.

3. Buddhist Sunday Schools in Colonial Korea

3.1. Background and Objectives of the Establishment of Buddhist Sunday Schools

As modern Korean Buddhism reorganized its sectarian structure, it devoted itself to educational and propagation activities in order to be reborn as a modern religion. The organizational restructuring and institutional developments within the Buddhist community were modeled in part on the organizational systems and activities of Christianity and Japanese Buddhism (Nathan 2022, p. 19). In particular, the “Buddhist Sunday school,” which was established in Japan in the late nineteenth century under the influence of Christianity, likely left a profound impression on Korean Buddhist youth studying in Japan, as it demonstrated not only the potential for religious education for young children but also its effectiveness as an initial step in Buddhist propagation. This experience served as an important catalyst for the introduction of Buddhist Sunday schools into Korea.

Buddhist Sunday schools emerged in Korea in the 1920s. This period coincided with Japanese colonial rule, during which Buddhism was required to organize and operate its institutions not only under the religious policies of the Japanese Government-General but also within the context of its relationship with Japanese Buddhism. In other words, it is necessary to understand the historical context in which modernization and popularization of Buddhism proceeded not through the independent capacities of the monastic community but within the constraints of the colonial system. Temples moved from mountainous areas into urban centers, established propagation centers (p’ogyo-dang), and carried out various activities, all of which required official permission and authorization from the colonial authorities. These practical limitations had a direct impact on the propagation activities of Korean Buddhism, resulting in inevitable quantitative and qualitative disparities when compared with the situation of Japanese Buddhism. By the 1920s, Buddhist Sunday schools in Japan had spread nationwide, and within the Ōtani branch of Jōdo Shinshū alone, as many as 736 Sunday schools were in operation (Aomi 2011, p. 89). In comparison, the mass propagation efforts of Korean Buddhism can be regarded as remaining at a very rudimentary stage. Nevertheless, even within these constraints, Korean Buddhism gradually attempted change, reorganizing its institutional structures, and devoting effort into the dissemination of Buddhism.

During the Joseon period, state policy strictly prohibited the construction of temples within major urban centers, including the capital, Hanyang. This situation began to change in the early twentieth century with the newly built Gakhwangsa Temple (覺皇寺) inside the capital, which provided a turning point for urban Buddhism (K.-s. Kim 2003, 2005, pp. 11–12; Nathan 2022). However, since the construction of full-scale temples demanded substantial financial resources and the fulfillment of various conditions, many temples that remained located in the mountainous areas instead first established propagation centers in urban areas in order to carry out propagation activities. Beginning with the establishment of the Central Propagation Center of Gakhwangsa Temple in Kyŏngsŏng (京城) in 1910, propagation centers increased explosively each year nationwide, centered on major head temples, as part of an effort to promote the popular dissemination of Buddhism. The slogan frequently invoked at the time—“from mountain-bound Buddhism to urban Buddhism”—was a forceful expression of Buddhists’ determination not to be left behind in competition with other religions, and propagation centers stood at the very heart of this urban Buddhism. Within each propagation center, educational programs for children were established, and considerable effort was devoted to Buddhist education for a new generation. Representative models included the operation of kindergartens, boys’ and girls’ associations, and Sunday schools (K.-s. Kim 2005, pp. 24–25).

Propagation centers diverged from traditional temples by their strategic urban positioning, which maximized accessibility and fostered broader public engagement through diverse initiatives such as public lectures, training courses, and specialized dharma assemblies (S. Kim 2024). This demonstrates that Buddhist propagation was attempting to move beyond closed, monastic practice-centered spaces and to engage more actively with society. However, even these propagation centers often remained focused primarily on adult believers, and systematic and sustained propagation directed at children and youth was not sufficiently realized. As a result, within the Buddhist community, the question of how to cultivate a new generation that would be responsible for the future of Buddhism gradually emerged as an important issue beyond short-term propagation outcomes. In particular, children and youth came to be recognized no longer as passive objects of moral instruction but as future religious adherents and members of society (Han 2005, p. 49). The emergence of Buddhist youth associations and targeted propagation activities distinctly illustrates that Buddhism had begun to address the challenge of the cultivation of the next generation from a strategic, long-term perspective.

In this process, the expansion of Christian Sunday schools would have exerted a strong stimulus on the Buddhist community. Christianity had already consolidated its foundational faith communities through systematic and organized pedagogy for children and youth, prompting Buddhists to confront the limitations of their traditional modes of propagation. It was in this context that children and adolescents came to be newly recognized as distinct subjects of propagation. Amid intense religious competition, they were increasingly perceived as the generation that would determine the future of Buddhism, and thus as requiring deliberate and sustained religious education. Rather than merely imitating Christian institutions, the Buddhist community consequently reformulated its understanding of propagation to include the systematic cultivation of the younger generation. This conceptual shift manifested in diverse initiatives—such as youth associations, public lectures, and Sunday schools—which, despite their differing forms, shared a common awareness of the need to educate and cultivate those who would assume responsibility for Buddhism’s future.

Meanwhile, it may be argued that a more immediate background to the emergence of Buddhist Sunday schools resided in the material conditions engendered by the curtailment of religious education under the colonial pedagogical system. The educational policies of the Japanese Government-General in Korea, in principle, excluded religious education from the public school system (Lee 2008; S.-y. Kim 2023, pp. 129–131). Consequently, it became virtually impossible to convey religious values or faith to children through ordinary school education. Under these circumstances, religious education had little choice but to take place outside the school system, and temples and propagation centers naturally came to be regarded as alternative educational spaces.

Within this context, Kim Jin-won (金鎭元), in his article “Pulgyo Iryo hakkyo kyŏngyŏngan” 佛敎日曜學校 經營案 [A Management Plan for Buddhist Sunday Schools], categorized the sphere of religious education into the family, the school, the temple, and society. He emphasized that the most realistic and essential option was religious education conducted within temples under the conditions of colonial Korea (J.-w. Kim 1932). Furthermore, he re-conceptualized the moral cultivation of children not as unilateral instruction imposed by educators, but as an educational process that assisted the natural expression and development of children’s innate dispositions (ch’ŏnjil, 天質) and abilities. This perspective can be seen as an attempt to conceptualize Buddhist Sunday schools not merely as spaces for the inculcation of belief, but as institutions of religious education in a modern sense. Such a view suggests that Buddhist Sunday schools were not auxiliary systems that merely supplemented traditional dharma assemblies or scriptural lectures, but rather alternative forms of religious education that Buddhism could adopt within the constraints of the colonial educational environment. While modeled after Western Christian and Japanese Buddhist practices, these schools evolved into institutions uniquely calibrated to the specific sociopolitical realities of the colonial context.

The purpose of establishing Buddhist Sunday schools was to provide systematic Buddhist education for children, cultivating their self-understanding as Buddhists and shaping their everyday conduct in accordance with Buddhist values (J.-w. Kim 1932). Rather than treating this objective as a purely doctrinal ideal, it can be interpreted as an effort to form disciplined religious subjects whose beliefs and daily practices were consciously aligned. In this sense, Buddhist Sunday schools sought to integrate faith instruction with moral training in order to embed Buddhism within the routines of children’s lives. At the same time, these schools functioned to reconfigure temples and propagation centers as educational spaces accessible to children and youth. By doing so, they aimed not only to expand Buddhism’s popular base but also, from a long-term perspective, to secure the institutional continuity and structural sustainability of the Buddhist order.

3.2. Organization and Educational Content

This section analyzes the organization and educational content of Buddhist Sunday schools by focusing on “Pulgyo Iryo hakkyo an” 佛敎 日曜學校 案 [Proposals for Buddhist Sunday Schools] and “Pulgyo Iryo hakkyo munje kamsang” 佛敎 日曜學校 問題 感想 [Reflections on Issues Concerning Buddhist Sunday Schools], written by Ra Un-hyang (羅雲鄕) in 1940 (Ra 1940a, 1940b, 1940c, 1940d, 1940e).5 Among these, the former—serialized in three installments in the institutional journal Sinbulgyo (新佛敎)—constitutes a paramount primary source for deciphering the nature of the Buddhist Sunday school system. This text merits particular attention, as it provides the most exhaustive analysis of the era’s Sunday schools while articulating a robust series of concrete proposals for their systemic implementation.

The Buddhist Sunday schools in the 1930s and 1940s were not conceived as temporary gatherings that merely assembled children on weekends to explain doctrine. Rather, they were envisioned as formal religious educational institutions centered on youth, possessing a structured organization and systematized operational principles. Discourses on Sunday schools commonly commenced with a reflection on the fact that Buddhist propagation had long been overly centered on adult-oriented rituals and sutra recitation, and developed into a critical awareness that, within such a structure, the neglect of child-focused propagation had weakened the long-term base of believers. Accordingly, Sunday schools came to be recognized not as short-term instruments of propagation, but as core institutions for cultivating the future generations who would carry Buddhism forward (J.-w. Kim 1932).

Within this framework, children were defined as the primary demographic of Sunday school education. They were conceived not merely as objects of protection or as prospective believers, but as individuals at a formative stage critical to the development of religious character. Religious education conducted during this period was regarded as exerting a profound influence over the course of an individual’s entire life. In particular, religious impressions formed in childhood were seen as constituting the foundation that would subsequently determine life attitudes and value systems. This led to the consensus that religious education operating on a different plane from formal school education was necessary. Consequently, Sunday schools were positioned as independent institutions of religious education distinct from state-run elementary schools and were conceived as spaces for cultivating children’s values and faith.

With children designated as the primary demographic, the discourse that arose simultaneously concerned educational methods. In practice, constraints related to teachers, classrooms, and financial resources often made single-grade instruction unavoidable; however, graded instruction was presented as the ideal operational model. Instructing children from the first through sixth grades collectively using undifferentiated content was regarded as disregarding crucial developmental differences in psychology and comprehension. Such a homogenized approach was understood to risk marginalizing Sunday schools into mere storytelling sessions or recreational gatherings. Accordingly, it was emphasized that implementing at least a minimal form of graded instruction was important in order to provide education appropriate to children’s ages and grade levels. In particular, activities such as storytelling, worship, and meditation elicited markedly different levels of engagement and receptivity depending on age, and it was argued that neglecting these differences in practice could ultimately undermine the fundamental aims of religious education.

Regarding facilities and physical infrastructure, it was proposed that Sunday schools be operated not through institutions equipped with large budgets or dedicated facilities, but by re-purposing existing temples or propagation centers. The temple hall could serve as both a space for worship and a lecture hall, and, when necessary, classrooms could be divided using curtains or folding screens. Organizationally, it was considered feasible to operate with a minimal structure in which roles such as principal, teachers, and administrative staff were held concurrently. What was emphasized instead was the qualitative excellence of the teachers. Sunday school teachers were regarded not simply as disseminators of knowledge, but as figures who exerted moral and religious influence on children through their devotional character. Accordingly, unwavering religious commitment, ethical rectitude, and a profound empathy for children were prioritized over academic knowledge or formal educational credentials. At the same time, teachers were also expected to possess a certain level of professional competence. Knowledge of child psychology, pedagogy, theories of religious education, and the basic doctrines of Buddhism was regarded as essential, and in particular, sensitivity to storytelling, music, and play was recognized as a crucial element in education for children.

The organization of educational content was likewise designed to pivot on religious instruction while simultaneously encompassing a diverse array of synergistic activities. All activities within Sunday schools were fundamentally geared toward the cultivation of children’s religious values and faith. They were structured as a comprehensive form of education in which worship, coursework, storytelling, hymns, play, writing exercises, and drawing were organically integrated. Whereas elementary schools were understood as institutions that taught practical skills and knowledge for daily life, Sunday schools were distinguished as institutions devoted to teaching values and faith. In this respect, these two educational forms were conceived as standing in a complementary relationship.

Storytelling, in particular, occupied a central role in education for children. Narratives were regarded as a means of both capturing children’s interest and naturally conveying religious values and sensibilities. Overtly didactic or admonitory stories, however, were cautioned against, and it was considered desirable for religious meanings to permeate the narrative in the course of children’s pleasurable engagement with the story. Furthermore, stringent warnings were articulated regarding stories that contradicted Buddhist doctrine or threatened to impede children’s emotional development. This demonstrates that storytelling was understood not as mere entertainment, but as a sophisticated educational tool necessitating rigorous selection and deliberate presentation.

While not a formal collection of stories per se, the life of Śākyamuni constituted a primary subject within pedagogical materials. An example is Ch’odŭng pulgyo cheyo (初等佛敎提要), published in 1931 by the Pyochungsa Propagation center in Miryang (密陽) for the purpose of educating children and youth in Buddhism (Oh 1931). This text presented the life of Śākyamuni in short narrative units divided into multiple lessons (kwa, 課), a structure designed to accommodate children with limited attention spans. The author, O Eung-seok (吾應石), was an active member of the Pyochungsa Temple Buddhist Youth Association. This suggests that Buddhist youth at the time were responsible not only for writing and publishing teaching materials for children but also for conducting instruction, and that they likely played a significant role in the operation of Sunday schools as well.

Ultimately, worship and meditation in Sunday schools were regarded as the core moments of education. Worship was understood not merely as a formalized ritual but as an experience through which children could intuitively perceive a sacred atmosphere. The hoisting of the manji (卍) flag, the resonance of bells, the immaculate condition of the temple grounds, the harmony music and Buddhist hymns, and the demeanor of teachers were all recognized as factors that defined the effectiveness of worship. It was believed that only worship conducted within such an environment could evoke a genuine religious response in children.

In this light, the organization and educational content of Buddhist Sunday schools were structured with the aim of systematizing religious education around the figure of the child. This represented an educational project that transcended simple moral instruction and was conceived with a view toward the long-term cultivation of believers and the popularization of Buddhism, seeking to embed Buddhist values and modes of conduct within children’s everyday lives through these schools. This operational vision constitutes a fundamental premise for understanding the subsequent modes of maintenance and the nationwide distribution of Sunday schools—that is, the actual conditions of Buddhist propagation.

3.3. Operation and Distribution

The Buddhist Sunday school initiative lacked strong institutional support under the political and social conditions of colonial rule, and sustained operation was difficult due to limitations in financial resources, personnel, and social recognition. Under these conditions, Sunday schools did not spread rapidly but were instead operated sporadically, centered on a limited number of propagation centers and temples.

The paramount challenge in the operation of Sunday schools was sustainability. Unlike elementary schools, Sunday schools remained outside the purview of compulsory education, and children’s attendance therefore depended entirely on voluntary participation. As a result, even a transient interruption in operation, a turnover in teaching staff, or a decline in the commitment of organizers often led to a sharp drop in attendance. Above all, securing stable financial resources was a crucial issue for sustaining operations. Although Sunday schools did not require large budgets, a minimum level of ongoing expenditure—such as the purchase of teaching materials, administrative costs, event expenses, and consumable supplies—was nonetheless indispensable. Accordingly, Sunday school finances were supported through fragmented sources, including income from Buddhist offerings (bulgong, 佛供), voluntary donations from believers, small-scale fundraising, and contributions associated with events. At the same time, this financial structure inevitably relied heavily on the dedication and volunteer labor of organizers. This structural dependency ensured a limitation, whereby the success or decline of Sunday schools was often determined by individual levels of commitment.

Another integral element in the operation of Sunday schools was their relationship with the family unit. In a society where Sunday was not culturally codified as a day for religious cultivation, many households were indifferent to, and at times even opposed to, children’s attendance at Sunday schools. Consequently, Sunday schools were compelled to function not merely as educational institutions directed at children, but also as agents that persuaded families of the importance of Buddhist modes of daily life and religious education. Practices such as visiting children’s homes or sending birthday cards and handmade items to families formed part of broader efforts to connect Sunday school activities with everyday family life.

Interactions with elementary schools similarly exerted an influence on the viability of Sunday schools. The attitudes of elementary school teachers had a direct impact on children’s attendance. The school teachers’ favorable dispositions encouraged participation, whereas hostile cases often resulted in obstruction. Under these circumstances, Sunday school organizers sought to mitigate conflict with elementary schools and to maintain cooperative relationships. Strategies such as inviting elementary school faculty to Sunday school opening ceremonies or events, and attending school performances or athletic meets, represented efforts by Sunday schools to position themselves as members of the local educational community. This can be understood as a pragmatic response adopted by Buddhist Sunday schools in order to survive within the educational structure of colonial Korea.

Thus, Buddhist Sunday schools confronted persistent operational hardships, resulting in a limited and sporadic presence across the peninsula. According to a survey compiled by Ra Un-hyang in 1940, there were only eleven Buddhist Sunday schools operating nationwide—specifically in Jinju (晉州), Dongnae (東萊), Masan (馬山), Sangju (尙州), Kanggye (江界), Taechŏn (泰川), Hamhŭng (咸興), Wŏnsan (元山), Nanam (羅南), Kangnŭng (江陵), and Yangyang (襄陽). When supplemented by the three youth associations in Sinŭiju (新義州) and Yangyang, the total encompassed a meager fourteen sites (Ra 1940c). This clearly demonstrates how challenging the situation of child-focused propagation was at the time.

Meanwhile, records indicate that the Sunday schools formerly operated at the Central Propagation Center in Kyŏngsŏng and at the Donghwasa Temple Propagation Center in Daegu had already collapsed and ceased to function. Even the Sunday school established in 1924 by the Central Propagation Center of Gakhwangsa Temple—representative of Korean Buddhism—appears to have faced serious operational difficulties. Indeed, the Buddhist Sunday school at Gakhwangsa Temple seems to have undergone repeated cycles of closure and reopening. In 1930, propagators Kim Tae-hŭp (金泰洽) and Pak Yun-jin (朴允進) reportedly managed the Sunday school by contributing their own limited personal funds; when Pak Yun-jin left to study in Japan, the school was forced to close. Subsequently, Kim Tae-hŭp, lamenting this situation, revived the Sunday school in 1932 together with Chŏng Pong-yun (丁鳳允), as documented in contemporary sources (J.-w. Kim 1932). This episode illustrates the harsh conditions under which even a Sunday school operated by the central propagation institution of Korean Buddhism required personal financial support from individual propagators. Ultimately, it can be inferred that there were numerous cases in which Sunday schools were unable to be sustained over the long term and eventually disappeared due to financial and personnel constraints.

Notably, the statistics compiled by Ra Un-hyang indicate that more than half of the documented Sunday schools were concentrated in P’yŏnganbuk-do, Hamgyŏng-do, and Kangwŏn-do, while the situations in Chŏllanam-do, Chŏllabuk-do, Ch’ungch’ŏngnam-do, Ch’ungch’ŏngbuk-do, and Hwanghae-do were noted as unknown [未詳]. It is paradoxical that a relatively large number of Sunday schools appear to have been affiliated with head temples in the northern regions, which were economically more disadvantaged, rather than with those in the Samnam region, where financial conditions were comparatively favorable. One possible explanation is that, given the colonial context of Korea at the time and the fact that “Buddhist Sunday schools” had not yet been institutionally established as a form of children’s education, head temples operating local propagation centers may not necessarily have adopted the formal designation of “Sunday school.” Moreover, even in light of research indicating that there were as many as 373 propagation centers nationwide in 1940 (S. Kim 2024, p. 131), the number of Sunday schools recorded by Ra Un-hyang still appears remarkably small. It is also possible that, due to the harsh historical circumstances of the period, an accurate statistical survey was not conducted. This issue will require further investigation in future research. In any case, even if additional Sunday schools had existed beyond those documented, it would be difficult to regard the overall performance of Sunday school operations as significant when compared with the total number of propagation centers, which reached 373. These findings clearly delineate how fragile Sunday schools were when they lacked an institutional foundation and relied instead on individual dedication.

In colonial Korea, Buddhist Sunday schools were operated with the long-range vision of strategic propagation through the moral cultivation of children. Despite the adversarial conditions, some certain tangible educational effects and results in nurturing believers can be confirmed. Nevertheless, nationwide expansion and sustained continuity were not achieved, and the operational success or failure of operations depended largely on the capacities of individuals and local communities. Crucially, these limitations revealed a growing awareness within the Buddhist community of the need to reorganize Sunday schools on an institutional basis and indicated that discussions of Sunday schools needed to extend beyond questions of pedagogy to encompass broader issues concerning the overall structure of Buddhist propagation.

4. Closing Remarks: The Historical Significance of Buddhist Sunday Schools

The emergence and development of Buddhist Sunday schools in colonial Korea were the byproducts of the cross-cultural transmission and adaptation of Western Christian models and Japanese Buddhist pedagogical practices within the broader trajectory of East Asian modernization. Originally emerging as a model of religious and social education in industrializing societies, Sunday schools were adopted by Japanese Buddhism and institutionalized as a modern system of propagation for the moral cultivation of children and youth. Buddhist Sunday schools in Korea were likewise introduced within these international and imperial currents of religious education and were selectively adopted and operated in ways suited to the specific conditions of colonial Korea. In this respect, Buddhist Sunday schools were not merely imitations of foreign institutions, but rather, they constituted practices through which a modern model of religious education was reconfigured within the historical and social conditions of colonial Korean Buddhism.

Within this context, Buddhist Sunday schools hold significance in that they served as sites where the popularization of modern Buddhism was not merely an abstract slogan but was realized in the concrete form of an educational system. By introducing the forms of modern education—such as regular classes, graded administration, the use of teaching plans and textbooks, and the differentiation of teachers’ roles—into Buddhist propagation, Sunday schools presented new modes of propagation that departed from traditional practices centered on dharma assemblies and ritual observances. This constituted an attempt by Buddhism to redefine itself not simply as a religion of spiritual cultivation and ritual, but as a religion that systematically teaches and cultivates its adherents, and it clearly demonstrates that the modernization of Buddhism took place at the level of operational methods and practical techniques.

In particular, the most salient characteristic of Buddhist Sunday schools resided in their designation of children and youth as the central targets of propagation. This reflected a collective consciousness within the Buddhist community as a whole of the need to cultivate a new generation that would bear responsibility for the future. Based on this foundational recognition, Sunday schools conceptualized children not as prospective believers but as active subjects positioned at a decisive stage in the formation of religious character and sought to provide them with systematic education in faith and modes of conduct. This underscores that Buddhist propagation did not confine itself to the short-term acquisition of adherents but instead attempted to institutionalize such efforts from a long-term perspective.

Within the restrictive framework of the colonial educational system, in which religious education was excluded, Buddhist Sunday schools functioned as alternative sites for extracurricular religious education. The educational policies of the Government-General of Korea strictly prohibited religious instruction within public education, and consequently, Buddhism was compelled to conduct faith-based education within sacred spaces such as temples and propagation centers. Within these constraints, Sunday schools transformed temples and propagation centers into educational spaces for children and youth and implemented a comprehensive form of religious education that integrated worship, coursework, storytelling, and play. This can be understood as a pragmatic response adopted by Buddhism in the colonial context in order not to lose the sphere of education, as well as an attempt to secure the autonomy of religious education.

Finally, the circumscribed distribution and intermittent operation of Buddhist Sunday schools should not be dismissed simply as a lack of achievement. Rather, they must be re-interpreted as historical indicators that reveal the structural fragility of Buddhist propagation in colonial Korea. As demonstrated by the statistics compiled by Ra Un-hyang, Sunday schools failed to achieve nationwide expansion and were operated fragmentarily, subsisting largely on the dedication of individuals and specific localities. Factors such as shortages of financial resources and personnel, inadequate pedagogical training, and complex relations with families and elementary schools constituted major obstacles to the sustainability. Paradoxically, however, these limitations were significant in that they fostered within the Buddhist community an awareness of the need for the institutionalization of propagation and structural reorganization. In this sense, Buddhist Sunday schools can be evaluated as institutions that succinctly encapsulated the practical conditions and challenges of Buddhist propagation faced by Korean Buddhism during the colonial period.