620 henrik h. sørensen
the course of the dynasty a number of canonical scriptures, including a
significant number of apocrypha, underwent modification, becoming
Esoteric Buddhist books with added ritual parts and sometimes even
containing illustrations or charts.^6
The second kind of literature included doctrinal tracts and other
writing composed by Chosŏn monks. Although very small and highly
diverse, this material is sufficiently important to merit our attention.
Moreover, much of it was written in order to encompass Esoteric Bud-
dhist beliefs and ritual within traditional, exoteric Buddhist practices.
In the course of the Chosŏn dynasty the Korean practitioners of Eso-
teric Buddhism compiled a number of spell collections and manuals. As
far as we can tell the materials they contain consist mainly of dhāraṇīs
and mantras lifted from the canonical literature (i.e., from scriptures in
the Korean Tripiṭaka). In the course of the Chosŏn, Buddhists also pro-
duced more than twenty books of spells, including many reprintings of
dhāraṇī sūtras and abbreviated versions of these. Their popularity was
extensive, something that can be deduced from the many times they
were reprinted or their blocks re-carved. The most important of these
spell-manuals include the Chinŏn chip (Collection of Mantras)
(cf. Hŏng 1986, 417–454; and Sørensen 1991–1992a, 169–170), the
Pi milgyo chip (Collection of the Secret, Esoteric Teaching),^7
and the Chinŏn kwŏn’gong (Instructions on Making Offer-
ings [with] Mantras) (Sørensen 1991–1992a, 170–171). Common to
most of these manuals is that their contents have been lifted from
canonical, Esoteric Buddhist scriptures. Moreover, many of them have
been rendered trilingually in Chinese, Han’gŭl, and Sanskrit. While
the majority of these compilations of spells have very little or no com-
mentary in the way of practical instructions, a few, such as the Chinŏn
chip and the ritual compendium Chakpŏp kugam, feature lengthy doc-
trinal explanations as well as instructions on ritual usage.
Finally, the Chosŏn literature contains ritual texts and manuals. On
the basis of an extraordinarily large amount of primary sources that
still survive, we know not only that Buddhist rituals were highly popu-
lar during the Chosŏn (and therefore frequently performed), but also
what they may have looked like and how they were performed, even
(^6) For a relatively comprehensive list of this material, see Pulgyo munhwa yŏn’guwŏn
1986, 637–43. 7
The copy at my disposal is #289006 in the classical book library of Seoul National
University, an edition from Ssangye Temple dated 1784.