In Shilla, it was the common people who were first attracted to Buddhism. Among some of the aristocrats, there was considerable resistance to the new culture. It was only after the martyrdom of Ich'adon, in the reign of King Pophung (r. 514-540) in 527 CE, that Buddhism gradually became the national religion of Shilla.

a) Stories about the arrival of Buddhism in Shilla

Firstly, "the Koguryo monk, Ado, came to Shilla in the 2nd year (263) of the reign of the 13th King Mich'u (r. 262-284)." This information comes from a record quoted in Samguk-yusa. Master Ado's father was an envoy to Koguryo and his moth-er, a Koguryo woman, was called Kodonyong. Ado went to Wei to meet his father at the age of 16 and then he studied under Master Hsuan-chang. He returned to Koguryo when he was 19 and went to Shilla to teach Buddhism, following his mother's advice. This was in 263, the 2nd year of King Mich'u. Before journeying to Shilla, Master Ado heard from his mother that there were seven temple sites in Shilla where the past seven Buddhas had been. But when he tried to teach Buddhism to the Shilla people, they tried to kill him. Ado hid himself at the house of Morye at Ilsson and stayed there until he cured a daughter of King Mich'u of a terrible sickness. Only then, was he able to build a temple in Ch'on-gyong forest and teach Buddhism. As soon as King Mich'u died, the people tried once more to harm him. And so he returned to Morye's house and lived there till he died.

Secondly, we have another record concerning a different monk. "Master Mukhoja stayed at the house of Morye at Ilsson in the reign of the 19th King Nulji (r. 417-458)." This is quoted in the Samguk-yusa. Mukhoja se-cretly lived in the cellar inside Morye's house and then left. Before he left, he taught the people about the use of incense, and he cured another princess.

Thirdly, we have another reference to Master Ado. "Master Ado came to Morye's house with three attendants and stayed there, in the reign of King Pich'o (r. 479-500)." There we read that Master Ado stayed at Morye's house for a num-ber of years with his three attendants and then he returned healthy to Koguryo. He left his three attendants in Shilla to teach sutras and the Vinaya and they made many followers. This record adds that Ado looked like Master Mukhoja.

Fourthly, Master Ado came to Morye's house on the 11th of the 3rd month, 527, the 14th year of King Pophung. Morye, on seeing Ado, was surprised and frightened. He hid Master Ado in a secret place inside his house, explaining that two Koguryo monks, Chongbang and Myolguch'e who had come before him had been killed. And so Morye cared for and served Master Ado. Just at that time, Ado found out that a foreign envoy had brought incense to King Pophung. And so Master Ado went to the palace. The foreign envoy showed Master Ado respect and "this showed the king, for the first time, that Buddhist monks should be respected. The king then allowed Buddhism to be accepted."

This record is of particu-lar value as it introduces a new aspect of the beginning of Buddhism in the Shilla Kingdom. At first the two monks were martyred. Then the king accepted Buddhism after seeing the foreign envoy show respect to Master Ado. Here the martyrdom of Ich'adon is not mentioned, unlike other records.

According to the four above records, there are three differ-ent Master Ados who introduced Buddhism to Shilla. Though the con-tents are very similar, the chronology of events is unreli-able. We must therefore conclude that we can neither know who introduced Buddhism to Shilla nor when it was introduced precise-ly. The above records are all legends which were handed down among the people and it seems that the transmission was not achieved on the level of a national exchange but rather as a continuous series of missions of monks. Legends tell us that a few Koguryo monks secretly introduced Buddhism again and again, and that the area they worked in was around Ilsson and especially Morye's house. The missionary monks were not just one or two, they were many. Also they had to work secretly without revealing their proper names or identity.

In addition, the names, Mukhoja and Ado (or Adu), might not be the specific names of individual monks, but words used to indicate monks in general. For we are told that "... when the name of a monk is not known, he was called `Adu-samma.'" This is the long form of "Adu" or "Ado," a common name for a monk.

Since Buddhism was introduced to Shilla in that way, we can guess that the next king, Chinhung (r. 540-576), wanted to make Buddhism official as soon as he acceded to the throne. However, this was not to be. Stubborn, conservative ministers and offi-cials of the court objected to Buddhism. King Chinhung, who was deeply convinced that Buddhism would bring good fortune to the people and help his kingdom, was greatly troubled by the resist-ance of his ministers. It was under these circumstances that a young minister, Ich'adon, knowing the king`s problems, died a martyr for the kingdom, the king, and Buddhism.

b) The Story of Ich'adon

In the Samguk-sagi and the Samguk-yusa, Ich'adon is said to have been a nephew of King Pophung. The Samguk-yusa adds that Ich'adon`s grandfather, Ajinjong, was a son of Suppogalmun. According to the Samguk-sagi, Suppogalmun was the father of the 22nd king, Chijung (r. 500-514) whose son was King Pophung. Therefore King Pophung was Ich'adon®s uncle. According to the story, Ich'adon decided to help the king and so he and the king developed a plan which would finally convince the ministers. At that time, anyone who claimed they were a Buddhist was beheaded. And so, according to the plan, one day Ich'adon proclaimed his belief and the king ordered him to be beheaded. Ich'adon an-nounced, "If Buddhism is good then, when my his head is cut, the blood that flows will be white." True to his belief, as soon as his head was severed from his body, white blood poured out. Seeing the greatness of Ich'adon's sacrifice, the ministers no longer objected to Buddhism and it was accepted from then on.

One year later, in 528, King Pophung ordered that the people cease from killing any living things. In 535, King Pophung started to build Hungnyun-sa in Ch'on-gyong forest which was east of Kumkyo, the bridge over the river So-ch'on in Kyongju. When some parts of the temple had been completed, the king went to live in the temple and ordained as a monk; he took the Buddhist name of Popkong, meaning "Dharma Emptiness." The queen followed her husband's example and, when Yonghung-sa had been built, she was ordained and took the Buddhist name of Myobop, meaning "Marvelous Dharma."

Thus Buddhism was established in Shilla during the reign of King Pophung. Apart from the few legends mentioned, we know nothing of the policy and achievements of Buddhism in the reign of King Pophung.

c) The Patronage of Buddhism by King Chinhung

Shilla Buddhism did not take on its own specific character until the reign of King Chinhung (r. 540-576), the 24th king of the Shilla Kingdom. He, through his policies, was responsible for the unique nature of Shilla Buddhism and the immense impact which it had on the culture of Korea. In 540, King Chinhung ascended the throne when he was still young and so his mother ruled Shilla as regent. King Chinhung was a devoted Buddhist throughout his life and his achievements as a Buddhist have been carefully recorded, here are some:

* In 544, Hungnyun-sa was completed and in the 3rd month of that year many men and women were ordained as bhik-kus and bhikkunis.

* In spring 549, an envoy from Liang brought the Shilla monk, Master Kaktok, who had been studying in Liang, back with a Buddha relic. At that time the king told all his ministers to go and bow out of respect in front of the temple.

* In 550, the king appointed Master Anjang to an important government post.

* In 551, the king nominated Master Hyeryang from Koguryo to be the leader of the monks and entrusted him with all sorts of plans to make Buddhism grow and prosper. Hyeryang held large Buddhist assemblies for the first time.

* In 565, an envoy, Liu-ssu from Ch'en, and Master Ming-kuan brought about 1,700 volumes of sutras and sastras to Shilla.

* In 566, the temples Hwangnyong-sa, (which had been commenced 13 years earlier), Kiwon-sa, and Shilje-sa were complet-ed.

* On the 20th day of the 10th month, 572, a huge ceremony was held for the war dead at Oe-sa for seven days.

* In 574, the king made three Buddha statues at Hwangnyong-sa.

* In 576, Master Anhong came back from China and he offered the Lankavatara-sutra, the Srimala-sutra, and Buddha relics to the king.

All of these records show that King Chinhung promoted Bud-dhism very enthusiastically. Not only did he believe in Buddhism fervently, building temples, ordaining bhikkus and bhikkunis, and doing other Buddhist work, but he also applied Buddhist princi-ples to his way of governing the people. He was always delighted to receive sutras and the relics of the Buddha from any monk returning from China. Due to his enthusiasm, Buddhism was firmly established as a national religion. Towards the end of his life, King Chinhung became a monk. named Popun, "Dharma Cloud" in his old age and his wife became a nun at Yonghung-sa. (Several Shilla kings were ordained and their queens and families often followed the example and entered monasteries.)

d) The Arts

The arts flourished during the Shilla Period. A huge temple, Hwangnyong-sa, was built and it became the center of Buddhism for Shilla.
There is a record which clearly demonstrates the position and excellency achieved by such a great king as Chinhung. It is the story of the three Buddha statues of Hwangnyong-sa:
The three statues were made in the 35th year of the reign of King Chinhung. They were cast from of 34,200 kilos of iron ore and gold which had been sent in a big vessel by the Indian King Asoka (r. 270-235 BCE) who, during his reign, unified most of India for the first time. There is a story about him which concerns the origin of the gold and iron.
One day, lamenting that he could not be born at the time of the Buddha, he tried to make a Buddha statue triad out of gold and iron. Three times he tried and each time he failed. So, thinking that the failure must be due to his bad karma, he decid-ed to put all the gold and iron in a vessel with a letter, say-ing, "We hope that this metal can be used to make a triad in a country which has good karma." He sent the vessel carrying the gold, the iron, and the letter away. It went from country to country but the triad could not be made until the ship arrived in Shilla.
This story shows the strong connection between Shilla and Buddhism. It also suggests that King Chinhung was very powerful as he was able to make the triad that Asoka could not make.

e) Political Organization

At the time of King Chinhung, Shilla was a politically and geophysically weak kingdom surrounded by the stronger kingdoms of Paekje and Koguryo.
During the years of King Chinhung's reign, Shilla gained in territory and made political and religious re-forms. Therefore, King Chinhung is considered to have been one of the greatest kings in Korean history.
We are also told that King Chinhung established the P'ungwoltto which was an organization for training young men. It was founded on Buddhist ideas and contributed to the settling of national thought. According to a stone monument, which is still standing today, the king was always accompanied by monks. Also the names of monks were written before the names of all government offi-cials.

---i) P'ungwoltto, Youth Organization
The P'ungwoltto was a system or organization established on a national level by King Chinhung. It provided much of the moral and military leadership necessary for Shilla in her drive to unify the peninsula. We find the story of the creation of this organization in the Samguk-sagi and Samguk-yusa.

---ii) Wonhwa
"King Chinhung chose beautiful girls and made the "Wonhwa," a record states. This was an organization to educate young girls in order to develop their talents; it was very important to the adminis-tration of the affairs of state. The king began with two girls, Nammo and Kyojong (or Chunjong) and soon each one had 300 fol-lowers. But Kyojong was jealous of Nammo and killed her. And when this murder was discovered, Nammo was put to death and the institution of "Wonhwa" was abolished.

---iii) Hwarang
"A few years after this event, King Chinhung again thought about the education of the young. This gave rise to the forma-tion of the 'P'ungwoltto' for the prosperity of the nation. He ordered virtuous, superior and refined boys from good, aristo-cratic families to be chosen, and he made them 'hwarang,' or 'Flower Boys,' a name probably derived from the fact that the boys were beautifully decorated. Among these young men, Solwon was chosen to be the head of the group, or kuksson. This was the beginning of the hwarang, the members of the organization, and creation of the kuksson, the leader."
This P'ungwoltto has been wrongly called "hwarangdo" by many scholars who very carelessly misunderstood hwarang to be the center of the organization. However, the so-called hwarangdo did not have any authority: It is clearly recorded that this organ-ization of young men formed by King Chinhung was called P'ung-woltto in the history books. Furthermore, some scholars have long considered the organization as consisting of warriors or soldiers. This, too, is wrong. It was an organization formed to train the youth purely in self- improvement and so that the nation might prosper. The organization consisted of a head, the kuks-son, hwarang, and his followers, the nangdo, consisting of monks and laymen. The young men were usually from about 14-15 to 17-18 years of age. There were also monks who were much older than the boys called nangdo monks.
The kuksson was chosen from among the hwarang and he held a position of national authority, being the head of the organiza-tion, and was even respected by the king. He was considered as a symbol of Maitreya Buddha, the Future Buddha, and was treated as the little Buddha of the nation.

It is recorded that the boys were beautifully decorated with flowers and other ornaments. We can imagine that the reason for this came from the relationship between the hwarang and Maitreya who is always depicted wearing rich clothes and jewels. The monks, the nangdo, in the organization were under the kuksson and their prime function was to give guidance. The hwarang lived according to Buddhist principles but, as they were warriors, they had slightly different precepts. (The adjustment of the precepts is very indicative of the effort Buddhism has always made to adapt to circumstances.)

-----1. Serve the king with loyalty.
-----2. Serve and tend parents with filial devotion.
-----3. Treat friends with sincerity.
-----4. Do not retreat from battle fields.
-----5. Be discriminating about the taking of life.

There were two main influences on P'ungwoltto. One was the idea of the Chakravatin, the universal monarch and the other was the belief in Maitreya, the Future Buddha. These beliefs were very important to King Chinhung and so he named his two sons, Tongnyun, or "bronze wheel," and Kumnyun, or "gold wheel," proof of the influence of the concept of Chakravatin on the king. The hwarang were also known as the yonghwa-hyangdo, "Incense Group of the Dragon Flower," the followers of Maitreya. The Maitreya-sutra and the sutras mentioning the Chakravatin show that the Maitreya Buddha and the idea of Chakravatin were intimately intercon-nected.
It is interesting to note that incense was introduced from China during this period. The people, not knowing its use, thought it magical and so employed it for curing disease!