Gwalleuk was a Korean

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

monk from the kingdom of

Baekje Baekje or Paekche (, ) was a Korean kingdom located in southwestern Korea from 18 BC to 660 AD. It was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, together with Goguryeo and Silla. Baekje was founded by Onjo, the third son of Goguryeo's founder J ...

who lived during the time of King Wideok. In 602, he travelled to

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

and is known for helping to spread the teachings of Taoism and Buddhism to Japan. In particular, he brought over ''fangshu'' texts related to the likes of

geomancy Geomancy ( Greek: γεωμαντεία, "earth divination") is a method of divination that interprets markings on the ground or the patterns formed by tossed handfuls of soil, rocks, or sand. The most prevalent form of divinatory geomancy in ...

and ''

onmyōdō is a system of natural science, astronomy, almanac, divination and magic that developed independently in Japan based on the Chinese philosophies of yin and yang and wuxing (five elements). The philosophy of yin and yang and wu xing was intro ...

'' ( yinyang-based

sorcery Sorcery may refer to: * Magic (supernatural), the application of beliefs, rituals or actions employed to subdue or manipulate natural or supernatural beings and forces ** Witchcraft, the practice of magical skills and abilities * Magic in fiction, ...

and

divination Divination (from Latin ''divinare'', 'to foresee, to foretell, to predict, to prophesy') is the attempt to gain insight into a question or situation by way of an occultic, standardized process or ritual. Used in various forms throughout history ...

), as well as a

calendar A calendar is a system of organizing days. This is done by giving names to periods of time, typically days, weeks, months and years. A date is the designation of a single and specific day within such a system. A calendar is also a phy ...

, according to the Nihon Shoki. In 624, he was made a high priest (僧正 ''sōjō''), possibly of

Gangō-ji is an ancient Buddhist temple, that was once one of the powerful Seven Great Temples, in Nara, Japan. History The original foundation of the temple was by Soga no Umako in Asuka, as Asuka-dera. The temple was moved to Nara in 718, followin ...

, for the rest of his life. He is mentioned several times in Buddhist records in Japan, where he was known as ''Kanroku'', the Japanese reading of his name.

Kōjien is a single-volume Japanese dictionary first published by Iwanami Shoten in 1955. It is widely regarded as the most authoritative dictionary of Japanese, and newspaper editorials frequently cite its definitions. As of 2007, it had sold 11 mil ...

entry for ''Kanroku'' (觀勒)

Asteroid

The asteroid 4963 Kanroku discovered on 18 February 1977 by Hiroki Kosai and

Kiichirō Furukawa 『新訂現代日本人名録94 4. ひろ - わ』、247頁 was a Japanese astronomer and discoverer of minor planets at the Tokyo Astronomical Observatory. Furukawa was also associated with Nagoya University Department of Astrophysics. Awa ...

of the Tokyo Astronomical Observatory was named after him.

Asteroid

References

See also