Search Results (3)

In early 20th-century Korea, Buddhist magazines emerged as vital extra-canonical sources, offering a modern platform that complemented traditional Buddhist texts. These publications navigated the complexities between succeeding Buddhist tradition and embracing modernity, addressing the historical challenges of the 19th century while also contributing to the preservation of national sovereignty and the formation of a modern Korean Buddhist identity. Serving as a forum for scholarly works on Buddhist translation, doctrine, and history, as well as literature, education, and propagation, these magazines became central to both intellectual and spiritual discourse. Of the more than 30 periodicals published during the Japanese occupation, Bulgyo stood out as the longest-running and most influential magazine, with its complete archive preserved. Bulgyo brought together various members of the Buddhist community as both contributors and readers, broadening the scope of Buddhism to include a diverse range of topics such as academia, literature, art, women, and children. This article explores the role and significance of Korean Buddhist magazines during the Japanese colonial period, with a particular focus on Bulgyo, and examines how the publication helped shape Buddhist modernity within Korea’s complex political and religious landscape. Full article

This article discusses Buddhist apologetics in Tibet by examining the formation, revision, and reception of the most renowned literary apologia ever written in defense of the Old School of Tibetan Buddhism: Sokdokpa Lodrö Gyeltsen’s early 17th-century magnum opus the Thunder of Definitive Meaning. It reconstructs in broad strokes the history of the Thunder’s reception from the early 17th century to the present and relates this to details in different versions of the Thunder and its addendum to shed light on the process by which this work was composed and edited. By considering this work’s peculiar context of production and history of reception alongside passages it presents revealing how it was conceived and revised, this analysis aims to prepare the ground for its study and translation. In so doing, this discussion attempts to show how a broadly historical approach can work in tandem with a fine-grained philological approach to yield fresh insights into the production and reception of Buddhist literary works that have important ramifications for their understanding and translation. Full article

The eighteenth century witnessed the continuity of Geluk growth in Amdo from the preceding century. Geluk inspiration and legacy from Central Tibet and the accompanying political patronage emanating from the Manchus, Mongols, and local Tibetans figured prominently as the engine behind the Geluk influence that swept Amdo. The Geluk rise in the region resulted from contributions made by native Geluk Buddhists. Amdo native monks are, however, rarely treated with as much attention as they deserve for cultivating extensive networks of intellectual transmission, reorienting and shaping the school’s future. I therefore propose that we approach Geluk hegemony and their broad initiatives in the region with respect to the school’s intellectual and cultural order and native Amdo Buddhist monks’ role in shaping Geluk history in Amdo and beyond in Tibet. Such a focus highlights their impact in shaping the trajectory of Geluk history in Tibet and Amdo in particular. The historical and biographical literature dealing with the life of Jikmed Wangpo affords us a rare window into the pivotal time when every effort was made to cultivate a vast network of institutions and masters across Tibet. This further spurred an institutional growth of Buddhist transmission, constructing authenticity and authority thereof, as they were closely tied to reincarnation lineage, intellectual traditions, and monastic institutions. In doing so, we also have a good grasp of the creation processes of Geluk luminaries such as Jikmed Wangpo, an exemplar scholar and visionary who faced great opposition from issues with his lineage legitimation at Labrang and among the larger Geluk community. Full article