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Concept
Wonhyo
Summary
Wŏnhyo (Chinese: 元曉; ; 617 – 686, meaning: "Dawnbreak") was one of the most important philosophers and commentators in East Asian Buddhism and the most prolific scholar in Korean Buddhism. As one of the most eminent scholar-monks in East Asian history, his extensive literary output runs to over 80 works in 240 fascicles. His most influential commentaries are those on buddha-nature texts like the *Vajrasamādhisūtra, the Awakening of Faith, and the Mahāparinivāṇasūtra. These works became classics widely respected throughout Korea, China and Japan.
Wonhyo's work was foundational for all of Korean Buddhism and also influenced Buddhism in other East Asian nations. Chinese masters who were heavily influenced by Wonhyo include Huayan masters like Fazang, Li Tongxuan, and Chengguan. The Japanese monks Gyōnen, Zenshu and Joto of the Kegon school were also influenced by him.
Wonhyo was born in Amnyang (押梁), (modern Gyeongsan, South Korea). Wonhyo spent the earlier part of his career as a monk studying under various Korean Buddhist teachers and living in Hwangnyongsa Temple.
One of the most famous episodes of Wonhyo's life, found in various hagiographical accounts, is the story of his aborted attempt to travel to Tang China to study the Yogācāra teachings of the school of Xuanzang (602–664). The hagiographies of Wohnyo explain that what kept him from leaving Korea was an enlightenment experience.
The story says that in 661 Wonhyo and a close friend called Uisang (625–702) were traveling to China, when, somewhere in the region of Baekje, the pair were caught in a heavy downpour and forced to take shelter in what they believed to be an earthen sanctuary. During the night Wonhyo was overcome with thirst, and reaching out grasped what he perceived to be a gourd, and drinking from it was refreshed with a draught of cool, refreshing water. Upon waking the next morning, however, the companions discovered much to their amazement that their shelter was in fact an ancient tomb littered with human skulls, and the vessel from which Wonhyo had drunk was a human skull full of brackish water.
Official source
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