Goryeo Buddhist Council (1120s)

Timeline

1. 1121Kaesong royal palace and nearby temples · KaesongYejong ordered famous monastic superintendents from across the country to come to the capital for an in-court conference on the long-standing Seon-Gyo disputes and abuses in temple management. This was both a religious deliberation and a display of direct royal intervention in Buddhist affairs.
2. 1121Kaesong · KaesongAt the conference, representatives of the Seon and Gyo schools debated stages of practice and scriptural interpretation; the court ultimately ruled a reconciliation requiring both schools to coexist and keep to their own roles. Measures such as auditing monastic registers and restricting privately built temples were also agreed, echoing contemporaneous fiscal reforms.
3. 1122–1125Korean Peninsula · Korean PeninsulaThe resolutions were gradually implemented in the mid-to-late 1120s, easing the intensity of the Seon-Gyo conflict and providing a religious-policy basis for King Injong's continued regulation of the temple economy. Goryeo Buddhism maintained a relatively stable order under royal leadership.