Il-yeon

Il-yeon (Korean: 일연; 1206–1289), also spelled Iryeon, was a Korean Buddhist monk and All-Enlightened National Preceptor (보각국사; 普覺國師) during the Goryeo Dynasty of Korea. His birth name was either Kim Gyeong-myeong (金景明) or Jeon Gyeon-myeong (全見明), and his courtesy name was Hoe-yeon (晦然).[1]

Il-yeon
Korean name
Hangul
일연
Hanja
一然
Revised RomanizationIryeon
McCune–ReischauerIryŏn

He became a monk at the temple Muryangsa at the age of nine, and passed the Seon national examination at 22. At 54, he was given the rank of Great Teacher. When he was 78, King Chungnyeol offered him a position of rank and tried to make him National Preceptor, but Iryeon declined. The king again appointed him National Preceptor, and Iryeon came down to the capital Kaesong (then Gaegyeong), but soon returned to the mountains on the pretext that his aged mother was sick. On the eighth day of the seventh month in 1289, he held an interview with various monks, and then died.

Iryeon is known as a prolific writer, and according to the inscription on his tombstone he wrote some 80 volumes on Buddhist topics. But today only one book of his survives: the Samguk Yusa, which is not mentioned in the inscription at all. [2]

See also

References
  1. "Il Yeon, the Author of [Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms]". world.kbs.co.kr. Retrieved 2023-09-04.
  2. Cartwright, Mark (26 October 2016). "Samguk Yusa". World History. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
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