. esoteric buddhism under the kory (–) 605
As mentioned above, worship of the constellations and planets
played an important role in the ritual complex at the Koryŏ court.
Almost yearly the court arranged ceremonies for the worship of the
heavenly bodies, that is, the nine planets and the twenty-eight lunar
mansions. Although the degree of Buddhist influence in these rites is
not always clear, the KS offers sufficient information to establish with
certainty that at least several of them were directly connected with
Esoteric Buddhism.
The worship of the nine luminaries, actually the seven major heav-
enly bodies and two lunar nodes (i.e., Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn,
Mercury, the Sun, and the Moon, plus Rāhu and Ketu, the gods of
eclipses), formed a central part of Buddhist rituals held at the Koryŏ
court. In accordance with ancient Chinese beliefs—which the Koreans
probably inherited as early as the founding of Han dynasty colo-
nies in the northern part of the Korean Peninsula—the planets and
the constellations were the seats of divinities or spirits that were not
always disposed to friendliness towards humans. In actual fact, by the
time of the Koryŏ it appears that the planetary and astral divinities
were mainly seen as malevolent or at least as potentially dangerous.
Hence, the chief purpose of worship or of having rituals dedicated
to these heavenly bodies was to avert the eventual danger that their
movements heralded.^25
For the year 1212 C.E., the KS informs us that a ritual based on
the Yansheng jing (Scripture on Longevity)^26 was held over a
period of three days in the Inner Palace (KS I, ch. 21, 435a). Rituals of
this type are likely to have been based on the Sumuk-hanāma-dhāraṇī
(^25) Sacrifices to the planets and astral powers occurred frequently as part of a cluster
of rituals. Thus we find that on a ch’ŭksa day (twenty-third year of Uijong, i.e., 1169
C.E.) sacrifices were made to the (gods) of the twenty-eight constellations and to the
Northern Dipper. In the second month sacrifices were again made to the eleven plan-
ets and the twenty-eight constellations, this time in the Inner Palace. Shortly after,
the same ritual was repeated in the Sumun Hall. This time sacrifices were made to the
eleven planets, the Southern Dipper, the Northern Dipper, the twenty-eight constella-
tions, and the twelve spirits of the zodiac (cf. KS I, ch. 19, 383ab). In relation to these
rituals it is interesting to note that there was a special Nine Planets Hall in the royal
palace as early as under the reign of the first Koryŏ king (cf. KS I, ch. 1, 42a). For
evidence of this hall from the middle of the dynasty, cf. KS I, ch. 23, 476b (x 2), 477b,
and 478a. It is also known that sacrifices to the Northern Dipper were sometimes
performed by the king himself. Cf. KS I, ch. 24, 484b (x 2).
(^26) Most likely this refers to T. 1307. However, this could indicate a ritual based
on the Yanshou jing (Scripture on Longevity), another apocryphal work (cf.
T. 2888).