Won Hyo (617 – April 28, 686) was one of the leading thinkers, writers and commentators of the

Korean Buddhist Korean Buddhism is distinguished from other forms of Buddhism by its attempt to resolve what its early practitioners saw as inconsistencies within the Mahayana Buddhist traditions that they received from foreign countries. To address this, th ...

tradition.

Essence-Function Essence-Function (體用, Chinese pinyin: ''tǐ yòng'', Korean: ''che-yong''), also called Substance and Function, is a key concept in Chinese philosophy and other Far-Eastern philosophies. ''Essence'' is Absolute Reality, the fundamental "cause" ...

(), a key concept in

East Asian Buddhism East Asian Buddhism or East Asian Mahayana is a collective term for the schools of Mahāyāna Buddhism that developed across East Asia which follow the Chinese Buddhist canon. These include the various forms of Chinese, Japanese, Korean, an ...

and particularly Korean Buddhism, was refined in the syncretic philosophy and

world view A worldview or world-view or ''Weltanschauung'' is the fundamental cognitive orientation of an individual or society encompassing the whole of the individual's or society's knowledge, culture, and point of view. A worldview can include natural ...

of Wonhyo. As one of the most eminent scholar-monks in Korean history, he was an influential figure in the development of the East Asian Buddhist intellectual and commentarial tradition. His extensive literary output runs to over 80 works in 240 fascicles, and some of his commentaries, such as those on the ''

Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra The ''Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra'' (Sanskrit; , ; Vietnamese: ''Kinh Đại Bát Niết Bàn'') or ''Nirvana Sutra'' is Mahāyāna Buddhist sutra of the Buddha-nature genre. Its precise date of origin is uncertain, but its early form ...

'' and the ''

Awakening of Faith in the Mahayana ''Awakening of Faith in the Mahāyāna'' (reconstructed Sanskrit title: ''Mahāyāna śraddhotpādaśāstra''; ) is a text of Mahayana Buddhism. Though attributed to the Indian master Aśvaghoṣa, no Sanskrit version of it exists and it is now ...

'', became classics revered throughout China and Japan as well as Korea. In fact, his commentary on the ''Awakening of Faith'' helped to make it one of the most influential and intensively studied texts in the East Asian Mahāyāna tradition. Chinese masters who were heavily influenced by Wonhyo include Fazang,

Li Tongxuan Li, li, or LI may refer to: Businesses and organizations * Landscape Institute, a British professional body for landscape architects * Leadership Institute, a non-profit organization located in Arlington, Virginia, US, that teaches "political tec ...

, and Chengguan. The Japanese monks

Gyōnen Gyōnen (凝然; 1240–1321) was a Japanese Buddhist monk of the Kegon school who resided at Tōdai-ji Temple in the late Kamakura period. He studied the history of Buddhism in India, China, and Japan, compiling documents on this subject in pursuit ...

, Zenshu and Joto of the

Kegon The Huayan or Flower Garland school of Buddhism (, from sa, अवतंसक, Avataṃsaka) is a tradition of Mahayana Buddhist philosophy that first flourished in China during the Tang dynasty (618-907). The Huayan worldview is based pri ...

school were also influenced by him. With his life spanning the end of the

Three Kingdoms of Korea Samhan or the Three Kingdoms of Korea () refers to the three kingdoms of Goguryeo (고구려, 高句麗), Baekje (백제, 百濟), and Silla (신라, 新羅). Goguryeo was later known as Goryeo (고려, 高麗), from which the modern name ''Kor ...

and the beginning of

Unified Silla Unified Silla, or Late Silla (, ), is the name often applied to the Korean kingdom of Silla, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, after 668 CE. In the 7th century, a Silla–Tang alliance conquered Baekje and the southern part of Goguryeo in the ...

, Wonhyo played a vital role in the reception and assimilation of the broad range of doctrinal Buddhist streams that flowed into the Korean peninsula at the time. Wonhyo was most interested in and affected by

Buddha-nature Buddha-nature refers to several related Mahayana Buddhist terms, including '' tathata'' ("suchness") but most notably ''tathāgatagarbha'' and ''buddhadhātu''. ''Tathāgatagarbha'' means "the womb" or "embryo" (''garbha'') of the "thus-gon ...

East Asian Yogācāra East Asian Yogācāra (, "'Consciousness Only' school" or , "'Dharma Characteristics' school") refers to the traditions in East Asia which developed out of the Indian Buddhist Yogachara systems. The 4th-century Gandharan brothers, Asaṅga and ...

and Hwaeom thought. However, in his extensive scholarly works, composed as commentaries and essays, he embraced the whole spectrum of the Buddhist teachings which were received in Korea, including such schools as

Pure Land Buddhism Pure Land Buddhism (; ja, 浄土仏教, translit=Jōdo bukkyō; , also referred to as Amidism in English,) is a broad branch of Mahayana Buddhism focused on achieving rebirth in a Buddha's Buddha-field or Pure Land. It is one of the most wid ...

East Asian Mādhyamaka East Asian Madhyamaka refers to the Buddhist tradition in East Asia which represents the Indian Madhyamaka (''Chung-kuan'') system of thought. In Chinese Buddhism, these are often referred to as the ''Sānlùn'' ( Ch. 三論宗, Jp. ''Sanron' ...

and the

Tiantai Tiantai or T'ien-t'ai () is an East Asian Buddhist school of Mahāyāna Buddhism that developed in 6th-century China. The school emphasizes the '' Lotus Sutra's'' doctrine of the "One Vehicle" (''Ekayāna'') as well as Mādhyamaka philosophy ...

Biography

Korea-Gyeongju-Bunhwangsa-Bogwangjeon hall-01

Wonhyo was born in Amnyang (押梁), nowadays the city of

Gyeongsan Gyeongsan () is a city in North Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. Its western border abuts the metropolitan city of Daegu, and much of Gyeongsan lies within the Daegu metropolitan area. Numerous universities are located in Gyeongsan, such as Ye ...

North Gyeongsang Province North Gyeongsang Province ( ko, 경상북도, translit=Gyeongsangbuk-do, ) is a province in eastern South Korea. The province was formed in 1896 from the northern half of the former Gyeongsang province, and remained a province of Korea until the ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

. He had a son,

Seol Chong Seol Chong (650 - 730 AD) was a leading scholar of the Unified Silla period from the Gyeongju Seol clan. He studied Confucian writings and the related Chinese classics. He is also known by the courtesy name Chongji and the pen name Bingwoldang. ...

, who is considered to be one of the great Confucian scholars of

Silla Silla or Shilla (57 BCE – 935 CE) ( , Old Korean: Syera, Old Japanese: Siraki2) was a Korean kingdom located on the southern and central parts of the Korean Peninsula. Silla, along with Baekje and Goguryeo, formed the Three Kingdoms o ...

. Wonhyo was famous for singing and dancing in the streets. While the Buddha discouraged such behaviors, his songs and dances were seen as upaya, or skillful means, meant to help save all sentient beings. He is thought to have founded Korea's lone riverside temple, Silleuksa, in the late 600s. While Wonhyo was in

Bunhwangsa Bunhwangsa ("Fragrant Imperial Temple") is a temple complex from the Old Silla era of Korea. It is located in Gyeongju. The temple is recorded to have been built in 634 under the auspices of Queen Seondeok. Today the temple is still used by a ...

(in modern Guhwang-dong,

Gyeongju Gyeongju ( ko, 경주, ), historically known as ''Seorabeol'' ( ko, 서라벌, ), is a coastal city in the far southeastern corner of North Gyeongsang Province in South Korea. It is the second largest city by area in the province after Andong, ...

), he wrote a number of books. For such strong association with Wonhyo, a research center and a shrine named Bogwangjeon hall dedicated to Wonhyo's legacy are located in Bunhwangsa.

Contribution to commentarial tradition

He wrote commentaries on virtually all of the most influential Mahayana scriptures, altogether including over eighty works in over two hundred fascicles. Among his most influential works were the commentaries he wrote on the '' Awakening of Faith'', ''Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra'' and '' Vajrasamādhi sūtra'', along with his exposition on the meaning of the two hindrances, the '' ijangui''. These were treated with utmost respect by leading Buddhist scholars in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

and

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 served to help in placing the ''Awakening of Faith'' as the most influential text in the Korean tradition.

Philosophy

One mind theory

He expounded his "one mind theory" or yixinshixiang(一心思想,일심사상) on his works of "Treatise on the sutra of the diamond samadhi" and "treatise on the awakening of faith in the Mahayhana". The theory set the return to an original enlightenment by gaining insight about the human mind as an ultimate goal and emphasized the act of practising the six paramitas.

Hwajaeng theory

Wonhyo viewed that all sutras from different buddhist sects are based on one truth and seek to unite them based on the single truth principle in a much higher level. The theory was called hwa jaeng theory and was summarized in his work "The treatise to harmonize the different conflicts into ten sentences(十門和諍論, 십문화쟁론)". Wonhyo traced the origin of such conflicts from obsession to say things that are different to be the same and things that are same to be different and claims they are neither the same nor different.

Teaching story

Wonhyo spent the earlier part of his career as a monk. In 661 he and a close friend - Uisang (625–702, founder of the Hwaeom) - were traveling to China where they hoped to study Buddhism further. Somewhere in the region 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 ...

, the pair were caught in a heavy downpour and forced to take shelter in what they believed to be an earthen sanctuary. During the night Wonhyo was overcome with thirst, and reaching out grasped what he perceived to be a

gourd Gourds include the fruits of some flowering plant species in the family Cucurbitaceae, particularly ''Cucurbita'' and '' Lagenaria''. The term refers to a number of species and subspecies, many with hard shells, and some without. One of the ear ...

, and drinking from it was refreshed with a draught of cool, refreshing water. Upon waking the next morning, however, the companions discovered much to their amazement that their shelter was in fact an ancient tomb littered with human skulls, and the vessel from which Wonhyo had drunk was a human skull full of brackish water. Upon seeing this, Wonhyo vomited. Startled by the experience of believing that a gruesome liquid was a refreshing treat, Wonhyo was astonished at the power of the human mind to transform reality. After this "One Mind" enlightenment experience, he abandoned his plan to go to China. He left the priesthood and turned to the spreading of the ''Buddhadharma'' as a layman. Because of this aspect of his character, Wonhyo ended up becoming a popular folk hero in Korea. An important result of his combined work with Uisang was the establishment of Hwaeom as the dominant stream of doctrinal thought on the

Korean Peninsula Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic ...

English translation project

Wonhyo's twenty-three extant works are currently in the process of being translated into English as a joint project between

Dongguk University Dongguk University (Korean: 동국대학교, Hanja: 東國大學校) is a private, coeducational university in South Korea, fundamentally based on Buddhism. Established in 1906 as Myeongjin School (명진학교; 明進學校) by Buddhist pioneers ...

and

Stony Brook University Stony Brook University (SBU), officially the State University of New York at Stony Brook, is a public research university in Stony Brook, New York. Along with the University at Buffalo, it is one of the State University of New York system' ...

. The

University of Hawaii Press A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...

is publishing them in five volumes.

Wonhyo Pilgrimage Project

In 2011, retired Canadian journalist Tony MacGregor walked across the Korean Peninsula in an attempt to understand the awakening experience of Wonhyo. Legend says that Wonhyo walked across the peninsula in the 7th century and found enlightenment in a cave on the western side of the peninsula. MacGregor's journey, which involved staying at mountain monasteries and talking to monks, was the first in over 1,000 years to honor Wonhyo's accomplishment. A documentary film of the walk was completed and a project to establish a permanent pilgrimage trail is currently being developed.

Legacy

The International Taekwon-Do Federation

pattern A pattern is a regularity in the world, in human-made design, or in abstract ideas. As such, the elements of a pattern repeat in a predictable manner. A geometric pattern is a kind of pattern formed of geometric shapes and typically repeated li ...

"Won-Hyo" is named in Wonhyo's honor. This pattern consists of 28 movements. The

World Taekwondo Federation World Taekwondo, called the World Taekwondo Federation until June 2017, is an international federation governing the sport of taekwondo and is a member of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF). The ''World Taekwo ...

has a

Hyeong The Korean terms hyeong, pumsae, poomsae and teul (meaning "form" or "pattern") are all used to refer to martial arts forms that are typically used in Korean martial arts such as Taekwondo and Tang Soo Do. * Hyeong is often romanized as ''hy ...

or pattern named Ilyeo for 9th Dan black belt which means the thought of the Buddhist priest of Silla Dynasty, Wonhyo.WTF Poomsae
/ref> Wonhyo Bridge across the Han River in Seoul is named after him.