Arrival and spread of Buddhism
When Buddhism was originally introduced to Korea from Former Qin in 372, about 800 years after the death of the historical Buddha, shamanism was the indigenous religion. The See more

In the eighth century, Korean Buddhism and its gods were associated with prosperity.
Unified Silla (668–935) See more

Rise of the Seon
As Buddhism in medieval Korea evolved, it served to legitimize the state.
Initially, the new … See more

During Japan's Meiji Restoration in the 1870s, the government abolished celibacy for Buddhist monks and nuns. Japanese Buddhists won the right to proselytize inside cities, ending … See more

When Buddhism was introduced to Korea in the 4th century CE, the Korean peninsula was politically subdivided into Three Kingdoms of Korea See more

In 1388, an influential general named Yi Seonggye (1335–1408) carried out a coup d'état and established himself as the first ruler of the Joseon dynasty in 1392 with the support of this Neo-Confucian movement. He was posthumously renamed Emperor See more

When Korea was liberated by the surrender of Japan in 1945, the celibate monastics of what has become the largest sect of Korean Buddhism in terms of adherents and the … See more