{"id":4376,"date":"2016-02-11T07:00:31","date_gmt":"2016-02-11T07:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/crcc\/traditional-and-innovative-how-korean-buddhism-stays-relevant\/"},"modified":"2024-08-07T23:18:14","modified_gmt":"2024-08-07T23:18:14","slug":"traditional-and-innovative-how-korean-buddhism-stays-relevant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/crcc\/traditional-and-innovative-how-korean-buddhism-stays-relevant\/","title":{"rendered":"Traditional and Innovative – How Korean Buddhism Stays Relevant"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n\n \n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
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Traditional and Innovative – How Korean Buddhism Stays Relevant<\/h1>\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n
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\n\n \n Commentary\n\n\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n By<\/span>Nalika Gajaweera<\/a><\/strong>\n \n February 11, 2016<\/span>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n <\/div><\/div>\n\n \n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
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South Korea has become most widely known for its rapidly growing Christian population<\/a> in the recent past, but nearly a quarter of the country’s population identify as Buddhist. (A majority of the entire country’s population—47 percent—identifies as religiously unaffiliated.) When we went to Seoul last fall, it was thus only appropriate for our research team to get a glimpse of the diversity of Buddhist religious expression in the country and its potential innovations.<\/p>\n

Buddhist temples in South Korea are traditionally confined to the mountainous regions of the country. In fact, Buddhist monks were forbidden to enter the capital during the Joseon Dynasty when Confucianism became the sole official religion of the state. There are, however, a few exceptions. Jogyesa temple, the headquarters of the Jogye order of Korean Seon (Zen) Buddhism, is centrally located in the busting metropolis of Seoul. Although the temple was first established in the 14th century, the modern temple structure was founded in 1910 during the period of Japanese rule of the country.<\/p>\n

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A photo posted by USC Religion & Civic Culture (@usccrcc)<\/a> on