The Founder of the Taego Order
The Buddha is manifested in the world because he gave cultivation and civilization to the people of the mundane world. Since the intentions and characters of people are very different, Shakyamuni Buddha taught many different paths for people to reach the Dharma. Gotama Siddhartha would change his teaching style every time so that it was in a form equal to the person he was speaking with, and together all of his teachings are called the 84,000 Dharma gates.
Buddhism entered Korea 1,600 years ago. Korea is geologically, historically, ethnically, and culturally different from other Buddhist nations. The history of Korean Buddhism is a history of sectarian Buddhism.
According to Korean history, Master Taego Bowoo (태고보우) ushered in a new era for Buddhism in his country. Before Master Taego Bowoo, Korean Buddhism had five teaching schools and nine Zen schools (Oh-Kyo-Ku-San / 오교구산). Many Korean scholars still study the development and characteristics of the schools in the Oh-Kyo-Ku-San, and they will continue to study Korean Buddhism’s foundations long into the future.
During Korea’s three Dynasties (Kogurye, Baekche, and Silla) and through the unified Korye Dynasty there was strong development of sectarian schools. While some might call such sectarian fragmentation negative, it was initially a great benefit to Korean Buddhism, as it gave many different routes to the Dharma that were aimed at many different types of people. Late in the Korye Dynasty, however, there were indications of conflict amongst the schools, and soon the schools began to compete aggressively with one another for egoistic reasons. This hurt the mundane people and led to a lack of support for the Buddha-Sangha. Master Taego Bowoo was born during this period of great conflict, and that is why he became so important for Korean Buddhism.
Master Bowoo truly understood the conflict between the schools and he put much effort into smoothing over their differences and integrating the teaching schools and Zen schools into one homogenous entity. The king of the Korye Dynasty appointed Master Taego Bowoo as the Supreme Patriarch for the entire Dynasty, and the newly appointed Patriarch founded a governmental department to integrate Korea’s two main schools of Buddhism. Each step he took was part of his method to rescue Korean Buddhism from further self-destruction. His method, however, wound up becoming the main tenet for Korean Buddhism - mainly, the combination of the teaching school and the Zen school.
This goal was slightly diluted under the Cho Sun Dynasty. Founded by a Confucian, the Cho Sun Dynasty hoped to better control Buddhism by collapsing it into two large schools, thus allowing it to establish the country based on Confucian ideals. King Tae Jong ordered the schools combined leaving only one teaching school and one Zen school, and this mandate stood until the Cho Sun Dynasty’s fall to the Japanese Empire in 1910. Prior to Master Taego Bowoo, Korean Buddhism had established many different schools with their own Patriarchs, Sanghas, and teachings.
As a result of his efforts and those of the Cho Sun Dynasty, however, Korean Buddhism became unified, and the different sects died out and no longer exist in present day. Before Master Bowoo’s time, there were five teaching schools and nine Zen schools that each strongly developed their own teachings and Sanghas. Under his guidance, however, all of the sectarian schools were unified and so nowadays all Korean Buddhists consider themselves descendants of Master Taego Bowoo.
