[KS] Is the Haedong goseung jeon a forgery?

[Richard McBride]

Dear Korean Studies colleagues,

Many years ago, I remember a discussion on this list regarding the Haedong goseung jeon. I seem to remember that Gari Ledyard gave a paper in Korea in which he argued that there was a good possibility that this text is a forgery perpetrated by Yi Hoegwang (1862-1933), an influential monk during the pre-colonial and early colonial period. The primary reasons were: (1) the text was "discovered" by Yi Hoegwang in the early 20th century; (2) the work is primarily derivative from Chinese Buddhist sources and Korean sources, such as the Samguk yusa; and (3) there is no real information unique to the Haedong goseung jeon.

I seem to remember that Ledyard was trying to get it published, but I never did learn any more about this. Does anyone know of anything in print in Korean or English on the possibility of the Haedong goseung jeon's being a forgery?

Best,
Rick McBride

Richard D. McBride II
Professor and Chair, Asian and Near Eastern Languages
Brigham Young University
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