292 pol vanden broucke and sem vermeersch
- Milbon, Hyet’ong and MyÖngnang
The legendary stories of Milbon contained in the Samguk yusa are
our only source of information on this monk.^108 The text contains no
information on his descent, his Buddhist career, and so forth. Milbon
is represented here as a renowned master skilled in healing diseases by
reciting Buddhist texts. This story explicitly mentions the Yaksagyöng,
the Bhaiajyagurustra (Medicine Buddha Scripture).^109 In both stories,
Milbon is summoned after the fruitless efforts of another monk. By
reciting he succeeds in healing illness. He is also more successful than
the non-Buddhist exorcists in driving away demons. The old fox prob-
ably represents an indigenous spirit.^110 This story tells us that Milbon’s
skills exceed those of other monks relied on by the queen or by high
Silla of cials and that he was more successful in subduing native spirits
than the local shamans.^111 Although it is dif cult to regard Milbon as
a historical gure, he is considered by Korean scholars as one of the
founders of Korean esoteric Buddhism (milgyo).^112
Hyet’ong is not mentioned in any other Korean or Chinese source.^113
Apart from the fact that his house was near a stream along the west-
ern side of Mt. Namsan near Kyöngju , the Samguk yusa contains
no further biographical data on Hyet’ong as a layman. Hyet’ong is
said to have studied under Wuwei Sanzang. Wuwei Sanzang is the
abbreviated name of Shanwuwei Sanzang, the esoteric Buddhist
Tang master ubhakarasiha (637–735). But Hyet’ong’s discipleship
is chronologically impossible. It is said that Hyet’ong returned to Silla
in the second year of Linde (665), but at that time ubhkarasiha
was not yet active in China. He reached the Tang capital Chang’an
(^108) See Sørensen 1993, p. 80; Yi 1993, p. 97 s.v. Milbon.
(^109) Several Chinese translations. Most popular version is the translation by Xuanzang
(602–664, famous for his pilgrimage to India and as a translator), T.450.14. For more
on the versions and the contents of this text, see Birnbaum 1979, pp. 52–61. The
Medicine Buddha is a manifestation of the Buddha based on the metaphor of healing:
the Buddha’s teaching is often compared to a medicine for the deluded. However, the
Medicine Buddha was also thought to have the ability to cure actual diseases. 110
For an example of a Chinese monk exorcising a fox out of the body of an ill
woman, see the story quoted from the Liang gaoseng zhuan in Kieschnick
1997, p. 84.
(^111) See also Inoue 1989, pp. 67–68; Suh 1994, pp. 265–266.
(^112) See Sørensen 1993, p. 79; Suh 1994, p. 264.
(^113) See Sørensen 1993, p. 80; Yi 1993, p. 352 s.v. Hyet’ong.