Yongseong was born Baek Sanggyu in
Namwon,
Jeolla-do,
Korea on May 8 of the
Lunar calendar in 1864. As a boy he was very quiet and was educated from a young age, writing his first
classical Chinese lyric poem by age nine. He entered his first
monastery in 1877 at Deokmil-am, but was withdrawn by his parents not long after entering. In 1879, at age fifteen, he was ordained a
sunim by the Venerable Hwanwol at
Haeinsa in
Hapcheon in
South Gyeongsang and was given the ordination name Jinjong. In 1884, at age twenty, Yongseong received the
Vinaya and
Bodhisattva Precepts under the Vinaya master Seongok at
Tongdosa, becoming a fully ordained
sunim. Yongseong attained
enlightenment during this period at
Songgwangsa. He spent the coming years practicing Seon meditation and studying the Korean
Tripitaka at monasteries and temples throughout Korea, engaging many masters in
Dharma combat. Beginning in 1903 he began leading discussions on
Seon and
Pure Land Buddhism with various students, and also set about building
meditation halls for temples and repaired the
Tripitaka woodblocks housed at
Haeinsa. From 1907 to 1908 he traveled through parts of
China, where he visited various temples and masters. According to the
Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism's website, "To a Chinese monk who arrogantly praised the superiority of Chinese Buddhism and disparaged Korean Buddhism, he replied, 'Is the Sun and the Moon in the sky your country's alone? Buddhist dharma is a public truth of the world, so how can the public truth of the world be limited to China?' In this way, he defended the legitimacy of Korean Buddhism." In 1910 he became Master of Chilburam Meditation Hall on
Jirisan mountain, and his congregation asked him to critique others religions from a Buddhist standpoint. This resulted in his writing of a
treatise known as
Gwiwon Jeongjong, a work which focused primarily on the flaws of
Christianity. In 1911 he left for
Seoul, where he found himself dismayed by the situation of
Korean Buddhism when contrasted with other religions. So he began teaching Buddhism to others while there, and established Daegaksa and other temples while there. He also managed a
mining company to help fund some of his Buddhist missionary work. In 1919 he became involved in the
Korean Independence Movement, and was named one of thirty-three national representatives for the
March 1 Movement—the designated representative of the Buddhist community. He was arrested by the
Japanese during this event and detained until 1921. Following his release, Yongseong doubled his efforts to propagate Buddhism in Korea, and in 1925 he established the "Supreme Enlightenment Foundation"—an organization which sought to establish Buddhist educational movements. He spent the remainder of his life spreading Buddhism, and died in 1940 at age 76. ==See also==