. early esoteric buddhism in korea 583
associated with these twelve spirit generals can be found in the com-
mentary, as well as a discussion of protection from various kinds of
evil, including black magic. Interestingly, the text specifically mentions
of the use of vetāla demons for raising corpses to harm others.^25
In addition to this material we know that there were a considerable
number of Buddhist works, now lost, that are believed to have con-
tained Esoteric Buddhist teachings and ritual methods. They include
the Kwanjong kyŏngsŏ (Commentary on the Guanding Jing);
three works on the Suvarṇaprabhāsa, all ascribed to Kyŏnghŭng
(fl. seventh century); two commentaries on the Ekādaśamukha sūtra,
one by Chi’in (fl. late seventh century) and one by Toryun
(fl. early eighth century; HPIS 70a.); a commentary, also on the
Suvarṇaprabhāsa sūtra, attributed to Wŏnhyo (617–686); and
the Panja nich’wi pun kyŏngsŏ (Commentary on
the Prajñā-naya sūtra [?]) by T’aehyŏn (see U Chŏngsang and Kim
Yŏngt’ae 1970, 57–59).
Korean monks affiliated with the Chinese Tiantai school
have been documented in the Chinese sources of the early Tang, and
it is not unlikely that some of these monks brought Esoteric Buddhist
scriptures and practices of the Tiantai brand with them back to Silla
in the course of the seventh century.^26 It is even possible that it was
through these monks that the Koreans first came into contact with the
Renwang jing.^27
symbolism and belief behind placing these zodiac figures on stūpas and pagodas can
be found in Chang 1987, 166–169. 25
Cf. HPC vol. 3, 417c. According to traditional Esoteric Buddhist (and Hindu)
lore vetāla demons are invoked in order for a practitioner of the arcane arts to raise
a corpse and use it in the manner of a zombie to cause the death of an enemy. For
additional information, see Sørensen, “Esoteric Buddhism and Magic in China,” in
this volume.
(^26) Esoteric Buddhist practices within the Tiantai School occur already in the de
facto founder Zhiyi’s (538–597) teachings. See for example his Fangdeng sanmei
xingfa (Method of the Constant Samādhi), T. 1940.46:945a. This work
in turn is based on the Esoteric Buddhist sūtra, the Pratyutpanna-buddhasammukhā-
vasthita-samādhi sūtra, T. 1339. For an illuminating study on this type of practice, see
Stevenson 1986. A list of the early Korean monks who went to China to study Tiantai
Buddhism can be found in Sørensen 1986. 27
The Renwang jing is known to have been used extensively by Zhiyi (538–
597), the de facto founder of the Chinese Tiantai tradition. Also the Sanlun
specialist Jizang (549–623) was interested in this apocryphon and wrote one
commentary on it. See Orzech 1998, 121–125.