The Recognition of Ninth to Tenth Century Zen History in Thirteenth Century and Sunji’s Biography of 『JodangJip』

This thesis attempts to investigate the meaning of the existence of Sunji’s biography at the time of publishing 『JodangJip』 by considering the recognition of ninth to tenth century in thirteenth centry. 『JodangJip』 is a book containing the genealogy of Zen, written in the Tang Dynasty in the tenth century, and includes 10 monks from Silla and Goreyeo in the ninth to tenth centuries when published in the 13th century. In ninth to tenth centuries, monks who studied in Tang returned to Silla and delivered Zen. They brought about a change in the existing Buddhist world, which centering on Hwaeom. Zen Buddhism continued to Goryeo, and Goryeo people recognized the activities of monks in the ninth to tenth centuries as important. Therefore, in the mid-Goreyeo period, people organized the ideas of the monks of ninth to tenth centuries into nine order, “Nine Mountain Zen Sect”. Previous studies explained that the reason why 『JodangJip』 included Silla and Goreyeo monks when the literature was published was because nine of the ten monks were the founders of nine buddhist orders; this nine orders were valued at that time. However, the number of monks who had an important status was more than nine, and even after the nine buddhist orders was organized, the Goryeo people remembered the various ideas of ninth to tenth centuries. And Sunji’s biography of 『JodangJip』 clearly shows this recognition. Jigyeom who was royal master of Goreyo did not belong to any order, and he have written 『Jongmun-wonsangjip』, which included Sunji’s idea. After twenty seven years of publishing 『Jongmun-wonsangjip』, idea of Sunji reappeared as 『JodangJip』 in 1245, proving that the idea had lasted and existed. From the perspective of the Goryeo people, the monks of ninth to tenth centuries were important figures who started and continued Zen in Goryeo. When Zen buddhist literature were published in the thirteenth century, 『JodangJip』 was adopted among many historical books. This shows that when the Goryeo people recognized the origin of Goryeo Zen, they valued not only nine orders but also the fact, the fact that monks who came back from Tang changed the buddhism. Therefore, Sunji’s biography of 『JodangJip』 is valuable as a real material that shows the historical perception of ninth to tenth centuries in thirteenth century.