근대불교학과 한국 근대불교

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to criticize some methodological problems of Buddhist scholarship concerning three aspects of modern Korean Buddhism. First, the term 'modern Buddhism' has been misused, if not abused. Many scholars in this field use the term 'modern Buddhism' for every kind of Buddhism that appeared in Korea during the period from the late 19th to the early 20th centuries. However, the term 'modern Buddhism' must be distinguished from ‘Buddhism of the modern period.’ Secondly, I would like to criticize the monolithic approach to modern Korean Buddhism that categorizes Buddhism as either "anti-Japanese" or "collaboration’. Although this view of "anti-Japanese" or "collaboration" could be valid for the purposes of understanding Korean Buddhism in a limited sense, we need to admit that this approach could be the very obstacle preventing us from looking at the whole picture of modern Korean Buddhism. Even worse, as an extension of this paradigm of "anti-Japanese" vs. "collaboration,"scholars often assume that Japanese Buddhism during the early modern period represents a "deteriorated" form, or an evil Buddhism, while Korean Buddhism is "pure" and "good." Lastly, I would like to point out that the influence of modern Buddhist scholarship should not be overlooked in the understanding of modern Korean Buddhism. Since modern European Buddhist scholarship was introduced through Japan, it has had an instrumental and pivotal role in influencing Korean Buddhist intellectuals to implement reform programs for Buddhism, and it continues to have a lasting, extensive influence on the current Korean Buddhism.