Volume 6: 諸敎學 Doctrinal Treatises: Selected Works

From the time of the ascent of King Muyeol 武烈 to the Silla throne during the middle Silla period (654–780), the Silla rulership began to exercise firmer systematic control over the provinces and worked progressively toward strengthening the power of the ruling house through a centralized system of administration. After the assimilation of Baekje and Goguryeo in 668, the Silla royal house had attempted to reorganize the social structure. As a part of that process, established monasteries came to take charge of creating a system modeled on their image of a Buddhist world. It was a time of dramatic political and administrative changes. Confucianism had established itself as a growing force, especially in connection with establishing government policies. At the same time, efforts had to be made to synthesize the Buddhisms of the Three Kingdoms while keeping a close eye on the rapidly developing new trends in Chinese Buddhism.