[KS] Koreanstudies Digest, Vol 60, Issue 5

Fri Jun 6 03:36:04 EDT 2008

Korea and King Ashoka,

This is pertinent question to investigate the historical roots of Buddhist penetration on the Korean peninsula during the Ashoka period. As Donald Baker said that it is impossible to answer the question, partially i am agree with him.
But Korean mythology records that king Ayuk (Muwa) identified with Ashoka of India, had sent iron and gold to Korea to cast the image of Buddha. Furthermore, Korean people utilized this material to build Hwangnyoun Monastery. However, the historical scrutiny reveals that Ashoka period lies in chronology, much earlier than the construction of Hwangnyong Monastery. Perhaps, there is no other Korean sources which records the political or religious interaction between two countries in 3rd century BCE. 
This is historical fact that Ashoka send several mission to neighbor countries, but there is no reference that whether he send such missionary to Korea and China. Since we know Ashoka's inscriptions are found from Kandhar, and Laghnaj of Afganistan in North-western frontier. But there is no such archeological inscription are found from near by Chinese territory. In my knowladge, earliest reference, the word 'Chinansuk', which is identifies as a Chinese silk, is first appeared in the famous book Arthsastra written by Kautiliya, a famous scholar of Maurya period. This issue needs to be more scholarly mooring. Two prominent scholar of Korean study, Pankaj N. Mohan, and Kwangsu Lee has tried to interpret the issue of Indo-Korea relation. 
I would like to recomend some further readings which might help you to understand this issue.

1-Kwangsu Lee, Buddhist Ideas and Rituals in Early India and Korea, Manohar, 1998.
2-The Korean Buddhist Research Institute,ed., The History and Culture of Buddhism in Korea, Dongguk University Press, 1993
3- N M Pankaj, Indo-Korean Cultural relation: A Survey, Korea Journal, vol-28, 1988.
3- The Committee for Commemoration of the 30th Anniversary of Korea-India Diplomatic Relation, ed., 30 Years of Korea-India relation, Shingu Publication, 2003.
4- PC. Bagchi, India and China, Bombay: Hind Kitab,1944.
5- E, Zurcher, The Buddhist Conquest of China, Leiden, 1959.
6-Kanai Las Hazra, Buddhism in India as Described by the Chinese Pilgrimage, New Delhi, 1983.
7-Santosh K Gupta, Cultural interaction Between China and KOrea in Persepective of Buddhism, M.Phil dissertation, University of Delhi, 2004.
8-S. Radhakrishanan, India and China, Madras, 1954.

Best,
Santosh K Gupta
Research Student,
The Academy of Korean Studies,
South Korea

> From: koreanstudies-request at koreaweb.ws> Subject: Koreanstudies Digest, Vol 60, Issue 5> To: koreanstudies at koreaweb.ws> Date: Thu, 5 Jun 2008 12:00:39 -0400> > Send Koreanstudies mailing list submissions to> koreanstudies at koreaweb.ws> > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit> http://koreaweb.ws/mailman/listinfo/koreanstudies_koreaweb.ws> or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to> koreanstudies-request at koreaweb.ws> > You can reach the person managing the list at> koreanstudies-owner at koreaweb.ws> > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific> than "Re: Contents of Koreanstudies digest..."> > > <<------------ KoreanStudies mailing list DIGEST ------------>>> > > Today's Topics:> > 1. King Ashoka and Korea? (Kenneth G. Corwin)> 2. Re: King Ashoka and Korea? (Donald Baker)> 3. Griffin Poetry Prize Lifetime Recognition Award for Ko Un> (Brother Anthony)> > > ----------------------------------------------------------------------> > Message: 1> Date: Wed, 4 Jun 2008 06:40:05 -0700 (PDT)> From: "Kenneth G. Corwin" <kenestacio at rocketmail.com>> Subject: [KS] King Ashoka and Korea?> To: koreanstudies at koreaweb.ws> Message-ID: <369625.86838.qm at web33106.mail.mud.yahoo.com>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"> > Dear colleagues,>  > Would anyone happen to be aware of diplomatic or religious contacts or exchanges between the Ashokan empire and the Gojoseon kingdom, specifically, to what extent, if any, such contacts or exchanges existed, and their nature?  Or know of a particular paper or text that might describe or touch on such contacts?>  > I would imagine that King Ashoka, or at least his foreign and trade ministers, would have been well aware of Gojoseon, and it was Ashokan policy to spread Buddhim throughout the known world.>  > Respectfully,> Kenneth G. Corwin>  >  >  > -------------- next part --------------> An HTML attachment was scrubbed...> URL: http://koreaweb.ws/pipermail/koreanstudies_koreaweb.ws/attachments/20080604/0bfe5a8d/attachment-0001.html > > ------------------------------> > Message: 2> Date: Wed, 04 Jun 2008 09:46:30 -0700> From: Donald Baker <dbaker at interchange.ubc.ca>> Subject: Re: [KS] King Ashoka and Korea?> To: kenestacio at rocketmail.com, Korean Studies Discussion List> <koreanstudies at koreaweb.ws>> Message-ID: <968A6519-A69B-4E4B-A6AB-142156DACE5A at interchange.ubc.ca>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"> > This question is impossible to answer, since there is no documentary > or archaeological evidence that the Gojoseon kingdom actually existed, > at least in the form of a state that had diplomatic relations with > other states. If "Gojoseon" actually existed, it was most likely a > tribe or a tribal federation and therefore would not have come to the > attention of Ashoka. We don't even have any evidence for diplomatic > contact between "Gojoseon" and any of the states in China that existed > before the Qin unified China. (There is also no reliable evidence > that King Ashoka knew anything about the various states in China in > the 3rd century B.C.E., when he was on the throne. If he and his court > didn't know about the existence of the various states of China, it is > highly unlikely he would have heard of tribal federations farther > east. )> > Don Baker> > > On 4-Jun-08, at 6:40 AM, Kenneth G. Corwin wrote:> > > Dear colleagues,> >> >> > Would anyone happen to be aware of diplomatic or religious contacts > > or exchanges between the Ashokan empire and the Gojoseon kingdom, > > specifically, to what extent, if any, such contacts or exchanges > > existed, and their nature? Or know of a particular paper or text > > that might describe or touch on such contacts?> >> >> > I would imagine that King Ashoka, or at least his foreign and trade > > ministers, would have been well aware of Gojoseon, and it was > > Ashokan policy to spread Buddhim throughout the known world.> >> >> > Respectfully,> >> > Kenneth G. Corwin> >> >> >> >> > Donald Baker> Department of Asian Studies> University of British Columbia> Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z2 Canada> dbaker at interchange.ubc.ca> > > > -------------- next part --------------> An HTML attachment was scrubbed...> URL: http://koreaweb.ws/pipermail/koreanstudies_koreaweb.ws/attachments/20080604/2dca4637/attachment-0001.html > > ------------------------------> > Message: 3> Date: Thu, 5 Jun 2008 13:49:09 +0900 (KST)> From: Brother Anthony <ansonjae at sogang.ac.kr>> Subject: [KS] Griffin Poetry Prize Lifetime Recognition Award for Ko> Un> To: travism at parallax.org> Cc: "dmccann at fas.harvard.edu" <dmccann at fas.harvard.edu>,> fultonb at interchange.ubc.ca> Message-ID: <32929483.1212641349716.JavaMail.root at mail>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="euc-kr"> > > .Bold { font-weight: bold; }> .Title { font-weight: bold; font-size: 18px; color: #cc3300; }> .Code { border: #8b4513 1px solid; padding-right: 5px; padding-left: 5px;color: #000066; font-family: 'Courier New' , Monospace;background-color: #ff9933; }> > The Griffin Trust for Excellence in Poetry has awarded the> > Griffin Poetry Prize Lifetime Recognition Award to Ko Un. > >  > > > Instituted in 2006, the Griffin Trustees present the Lifetime Recognition Award on a periodic basis to pay tribute to the work and achievements of international artists working in poetry. See the press realease at:> http://www.griffinpoetryprize.com/lifetime-recognition.php?t=4>  > The winners of the 2008 Griffin Poetry Prize, awarded at the same ceremony held in Toronto (Canada) yesterday, were John Ashbery (international) and Robin Blaser (Canadian). The C$100,000 Griffin Poetry Prize, the richest poetry prize in the world for a single volume of poetry, is divided between the two winners. The prize is for first edition books of poetry published in 2007, and submitted from anywhere in the world.> Brother Anthony> Sogang University, Seoul> http://hompi.sogang.ac.kr/anthony/> > -------------- next part --------------> An HTML attachment was scrubbed...> URL: http://koreaweb.ws/pipermail/koreanstudies_koreaweb.ws/attachments/20080605/90032a58/attachment-0001.html > > End of Koreanstudies Digest, Vol 60, Issue 5> ********************************************
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