It’s been over 1,700 years since Buddhism first reached Korea. It spread slowly but surely during the country’s Three Kingdoms’ Period (57 B.C. – A.D. 668), first winning over the Goguryeo Kingdom (37 B.C. - A.D. 668) in 372, then the Baekje Kingdom (18 B.C. – A.D. 660) to finally reach the Silla Kingdom (57 B.C. – A.D. 935), located at the far end of the Korean Peninsula, which it had entered from China.
The Goryeo Dynasty (918-1932) that came along later, continuing the traditions and partial territories of all three kingdoms above, made Buddhism a state religion. It was during this period that Korea showed the deepest dedication to the Buddhist teaching, making nationwide celebrations annually and carving woodblocks for many Buddhist scriptures. The Tripitaka Koreana, as this collection is called, is known to be the world’s oldest extant and most comprehensive Buddhist canon. The Haeinsa Temple in Gyeongsangnam-do (South Gyeongsang Province) that stores the woodblocks has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Because Buddhism has been around in Korea for so long, the monks are revered by her people and Buddhist sayings and teachings are commonly found in old proverbs and folk tales, it should be safe to say that the religion has become an indispensable part of Korean culture.
Buddhism can still be fun in the 21st century. The temple stay program run by many Buddhist temples across the nation has been doing quite well in attracting tourists from both home and abroad. Temple food is free of meat, onions, garlic, red pepper and artificial seasonings, and is lauded as a clean, healthy food.
Finally, there is Buddha’s birthday, celebrated annually with many Buddhist ceremonies, lantern parades and other fun events. It falls on the 8th day of the fourth lunar month. That’s Friday, May 21 in the year 2010.
Every year, beginning weeks before the actual birthday, some 100,000 colorful paper lanterns bearing caricatures of Buddha adorn the streets of Seoul. Traditional lanterns come in all shapes and colors: lotus lanterns, fruit lanterns, turtle lanterns, fish lanterns, drum lanterns, phoenix lanterns and even dragon lanterns designed to breathe real fire from their throats. The variety of lanterns continues to increase every year.
You can also find traditional percussion performances like samulnori or Buddhist dances like “seungmu” the butterfly dance and “bara-chum” the cymbal dance. Street festivals will also have programs for little children who want to learn how to make lanterns, a Buddhist rosary or build mini-Buddhist towers, among other activities. A flea market for Buddhist goods will be open to sell Buddhist items.
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