Re-purposing the Portrayal of Eminent Monks in Memorial Steles: Strategies of Identity Legitimation in 17th Century Korean Buddhism

Abstract

Steles are the ultimate medium for touting the illustrious life of eminent monks. The engraved biographies of these monks on these steles are a record of the most prestigious monks and are thus representations of ideal images held at the highest esteem. In the case of Korean Buddhism, steles played an important, if not central, role in forming ideal images and identities. However, the method of constructing ideal images was by way of secular claims such as highlighting the official titles bestowed by the monarch or the great deeds in service of the state. The images of these monks were also the result of adopting the then current ideal Confucian images and virtues. Expressed differently, the claims etched on the steles of eminent monks while advancing idealistic notions were an amalgamation with situational conditions. It is clear that the secular claims were integral as a form of buttressing the claims of ideals- a tight balance of idealism and realism during the tumultuous times of enormous sociopolitical change. The conditions were such that while it was important that uniquely ideal Buddhist images were claimed, it also had to adopt images from the dominant ideology at the time, Confucianism. This paper is an attempt to bridge the ideal and pragmatic facets in the establishment of the Buddhist identity at a time of turbulent change which will provided a nuanced understanding of Buddhism set within the socio-historical setting of the late-Choson period (1600-1910). While this paper focuses on epigraphical texts for the espoused images of eminent monks, it is an attempt to explain the aim of the steles and the rhetorical narratives that are contained in these texts.