Sān guó yí shì 三國遺事
Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms (Korean: Samguk yusa)
compiled by 一然 (Iryeon / Yīrán, 1206–1289, 撰), Korean Sŏn 禪 master, ca. 1281–1283
About the work
A foundational work of premodern Korean historiography, in five juan, compiled by the late-Goryeo Sŏn master 一然 (Iryeon, 1206–1289). Together with the Sāmguk sagi 三國史記 of 金富軾 (Kim Pusik, 1145), the Samguk yusa constitutes the principal source for the early history of the three Korean kingdoms — Goguryeo 高句麗, Baekje 百濟, and Silla 新羅 — and for the legendary antiquity of Korea, including the myth of 檀君 (Dangun). Where Kim Pusik’s Sāmguk sagi follows the orthodox Confucian dynastic-history form, Iryeon’s Samguk yusa is a Buddhist supplement that preserves myth, hagiography, native folklore, and Buddhist miracle-tales — much of it unavailable elsewhere. It is for this reason that the work is treated within the Buddhist canon as a Shǐchuánbù text.
Abstract
一然 (Korean: Iryeon) was tonsured at age nine and rose through the Goryeo Sŏn establishment to be appointed Royal Preceptor (王師) under King Chungyŏl 忠烈王 in 1283. The compilation of the Samguk yusa is conventionally dated to ca. 1281–1283, late in his life. The text was finalised and possibly edited by his disciple Mugŭk 無極 (1250–1322).
The structure of the work:
- Juan 1, Wánglì 王曆 (“Royal Chronologies”): a chronological table of the rulers of the Three Kingdoms.
- Juan 1–2, Jì yì 紀異 (“Records of Marvels”): legendary and miraculous accounts of the three kingdoms, including the foundation myths of Goguryeo, Baekje, and Silla, and the 檀君 myth of Korean origins.
- Juan 3, Xīng fǎ 興法 (“Promulgation of the Dharma”): the introduction of Buddhism to the Three Kingdoms.
- Juan 3, Tǎxiàng 塔像 (“Stūpas and Images”): records of famous Buddhist images and pagodas.
- Juan 4, Yì jiě 義解 (“Doctrinal Exegetes”): biographies of major Korean Buddhist scholar-monks (Wŏnhyo 元曉, Ŭisang 義湘, etc.).
- Juan 5, Shénzhòu 神咒 (“Divine Incantations”): records of esoteric Buddhist practitioners.
- Juan 5, Gǎn tōng 感通 (“Miraculous Sympathy”): miracle stories.
- Juan 5, Bì yǐn 避隱 (“Withdrawal and Reclusion”): biographies of recluse monks.
- Juan 5, Xiào shàn 孝善 (“Filial Piety and Goodness”): tales of Buddhist filial piety.
The text preserves the Dangun foundation myth in its earliest extant Korean form. It is also unique in preserving fourteen Hyangga 鄉歌, the earliest extant vernacular Korean poems, written in the Idu script. For these reasons the Samguk yusa is treated as a national-historical work in modern Korea (designated National Treasure no. 306) as well as a Buddhist text.
Translations and research
- Tae-Hung Ha & Grafton K. Mintz, Samguk yusa: Legends and History of the Three Kingdoms of Ancient Korea (Seoul: Yonsei University Press, 1972) — the first complete English translation, dated but still cited.
- Richard McBride II, Domesticating the Dharma: Buddhist Cults and the Hwaŏm Synthesis in Silla Korea (Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 2008) — extensive use of Samguk yusa as primary source.
- Robert Buswell (ed.), Currents and Countercurrents: Korean Influences on the East Asian Buddhist Traditions (Honolulu: UH Press, 2005) — multiple chapters use the Samguk yusa as principal source.
- Kim Sang-Hyun 金相鉉, Samguk yusa yeon’gu 三國遺事 研究 (Seoul, 1987) — modern Korean critical study.
Other points of interest
The Samguk yusa is the earliest extant attestation of the 檀君 foundation myth — the central national-origin myth of Korea — and as such has had an enormous influence on modern Korean cultural identity beyond its strictly Buddhist value. The fourteen Hyangga it preserves are the principal corpus of early vernacular Korean poetry.
Links
- CBETA: T49n2039
- Wikipedia: Samguk yusa