Wŏnhyŏ Daesa
Founder of Korean Buddhism
(617 - 686)

An eminent Buddhist monk of the Unified Silla Period, Wonhyo is known in Korea as much for his scandalous life as a monk as for his prolific contributions to Buddhist philosophy and scriptural exegesis. For the period he was one of the most prolific commentators on the Buddhist scriptural tradition, he wrote commentaries on most of the known Mahayana scripture s of his day, summaries of the scriptural sects, the vinaya texts, philosophical treatises of China, and assorted synthetic works. early student of the lotus and nirvana sutras, The most noted tradition about him concerns his enlightenment. Having joined and older contemporary, Uisang, on a trip to China in search of Buddhist teaching, noted story of his enlightenment on the way to study in China where when he discovered that that the vessel that he had drunk from the night before while sleeping is a cave w as a skull. from this he learned the relativity of all things and refused to be a part of doctrinal sects His writings on Mahayana Buddhism at this early date are grouped together under the hermeneutical title of comprehensive Buddhism or single vehicle b u ddhism since he wished to show each text though part of a single school in China was also part of a single vehicle of Buddhism. Followed pure land buddhism Within the context of Korea he sought to eliminate competition between the five major doctrinal sects of the period (Nirvana, Vinaya, Buddha Nature Sect, Huayen, and Dharmalakshana Sects) Wrote commentaries on the Diamond, Wisdom, Lotus, Nirvana, Amitabha canons to show that all doctrines must be viewed from a higher perspective. After breaking his vow, he wandered about Silla popularizing Buddhism by singing to the accompaniment of a zither, frequented wine shops and composed and sang songs, eschewed cloister life of monks preached the salvation of Amitabha Buddha in the pure land, though revered as a saint he fathered a child by a Silla princess, the confucian scholar Sol Ch'ong ( 7th century) founder of the haedongjong or sect of Silla sometime known as the Popsong Jong or School of dharma Nature related to the sanlun school in China at Punhwangsa in Kyongju which was based on the Avatamsaka sutra, a scripture that Wonhyo thought was the greatest of scriptures, salvation could of course come through other scriptures properly understood.

A name given by 19th and 20th century Korean Buddhist scholars to describe any native formulation that sought to unite all forms of Buddhist doctrine and practice into a single teaching and all institutions based on the piecemeal adherence to those doctrines and practices into a unified cult. The term is most often giv e n to the work of the Buddhist monk Wonhyo of the Unified Silla period (7th century) who attempted, in such writings as The Harmony of Disputes of the Ten Gates (simmun hwajaengnon) and the Essentials of the Lotus Sutra (pŏphwagyong chongyo) to spread the v iew that all the teachings and vehicles of Buddhist practice and their separate institutions, if properly understood, form a single vehicle of Buddhism (ilsung pulgyo) leading to enlightenment. This view was in large part a product of Wonhyo's own enlightenment experience. Like many of his contemporaries, Wonhyo traveled to China to study Buddhism in the belief that China was the repository of an orthodox, comprehensive understanding of Buddhism that had yet to be brought back to Korea. While traveling he experienced enlightenment and realized that there was no need to seek abroad what was already obtainable at home. Though Wonhyo established a sect of Buddhism which he call the Korean Sect (Haedongjŏng) it never succeeded in replacing the multiple sects of his own and later days.