Monks, Medicine, and Miracles: Health and Healing in the History of Korean Buddhism

Throughout Korean history, religion has gained much of its appeal from the sense of control and the modicum of hope that it has been able to provide the afflicted. In early Korea, before Koryŏ times, any religion had to show that healing was one of its powers if it wished to be taken seriously as a religion. Early Korean, Chinese, and Japanese sources indicate that the role of monks in fighting illness and death were a factor in the spread of Buddhism throughout the Korean peninsula.