584 henrik h. sørensen
Myŏnghyo and the Amoghapāśakalparāja
The Chinese sources contain references to a Silla monk by the name of
Myŏnghyo (fl. second half of the seventh century)^28 and his link
with the rise of Esoteric Buddhism (milgyo ) in Korea. The chief
source on Myŏnghyo is the Chinese canonical catalogue, the Kaiyuan
shijiao lu (Catalogue of the Buddhist Teaching from the
Kaiyuan [Reign Period]; hereafter KYL; T. 2154), which dates from
730 C.E. (T. 2154.55:566b). The account of the Korean monk is found
embedded in the short biography of the Indian translator-monk Li
Wuchan (fl. seventh century), where we read:
There was a Silla monk by the name of Myŏnghyo who beheld Tang cul-
ture from afar and wanted to journey there. [Having arrived], it was the
gate of dhāraṇīs (chŏngjimun )^29 to which he first paid attention.
Consequently, he diligently and persistently implored for a translation
of the mantra [i.e., the mantra of the Amoghapāśakalparāja]^30 so as to
cause those on the other side^31 to also hear the secret teaching (bijiao
). Thereupon in the cloister of the Foshouji Temple he [Li
Wuchan] translated for him the Amoghapāśakalparāja in one section.^32
The śramaṇa Polun [fl. late seventh to early eighth centuries]^33
wrote it down. In the eighth month in the first year of the Jiushi reign
period [700 C.E.] they took the translated sūtra to Kubhā [in modern
Kashmir].... (T. 2154.55:566b)^On the basis of this brief account we are given the following infor-
mation on Myŏnghyo: (1) he lived during the late seventh century;
(2) he was a native of Silla; (3) as a Buddhist practitioner he was
(^28) Myŏnghyo is not unknown to Korean scholarship and is actually included in
the HPIS 87a.
(^29) Meaning the methods of using dhāraṇīs and mantras. This is another way of say-
ing Esoteric Buddhism. Later, during the Koryŏ, the term ch’ongji was used as a
name for one of the Esoteric Buddhist traditions active then. See Sørensen 2005. 30
Although the text only reads “zhenyan ” here, we should read in the mean-
ing of “the entire scripture.” 31
I.e., Myŏnghyo’s fellow countrymen in Silla.
(^32) This refers to the version of the Amoghapāśakalparāja as represented in
T. 1096.
(^33) Polun was a scholar-monk and active on various translation teams during the
reign of Empress Wu (r. 685–704). He appears to have had considerable knowledge of
Esoteric Buddhism and is also known to have authored a preface to the Nīlakaṇṭhaka
sūtra (see T. 1057.20: 83bc). He figures prominently in the KYL. Cf. T. 2154.55:566ab–
567a, 568a, etc. See also the Song gaoseng zhuan, T. 2061.50:710c. He also wrote
the text for the dedication of a niche with Buddhist images in the Longmen Caves
.