Intangible Culture ISSN:2799-3868(Print) 무형문화연구

The basic ideology of Buddhism is that there is no distinction between women and men, and there is no discrimination between the birth and the death, but there has been a big gap between the ideology and its practical application. Buddhism broke down the caste system and emerged claiming egalitarianism, but the patriarchal view of women in society at the time was maintained. Nevertheless, early Buddhism saw men and women not as separate dualistic beings, but as existentially mutually convertible beings that transmigrated together with other living beings. Since Buddhism values the mutual equality and connection of all beings, it would have recognized gender equality by applying the same to men and women. However, unlike this, the perception of gender discrimination has been clearly passed down in the history of Buddhism. ‘Theory of Decrease in Five Hundred Years of Unlawful Behavior’, ‘Theory that Female Buddhahood is impossible’(女性不成佛說), ‘Theory of Transformation of Buddha’(變成成佛說), ‘Theory of Female Five Obstacles’(女性五障說), ‘The Eight Special Rules for Bhikkhuni (比丘尼八敬戒法)’ are typical examples. Although Buddhism was accepted and developed through the period of Three Kingdoms, Goryeo Dynasty, and Joseon Dynasty, gender discrimination rather than equality has been fixed in Korean Buddhism. Even in modern times, Jogye Order was institutionalized as a bhikkhu-centered religious order, fixing the inequality between men and women and the status hierarchy centered on monks as religious laws. Despite the teachings of the Buddha who advocated human equality and liberation, negative and inferior views on women are still passed down in the sutras, and as a result, cultural lag is seen without following the trend of gender equality. Under the premise that “there is neither woman nor man in the teachings of the Buddha,” unequal ideologies or systems that block the equal truth of Buddhism, such as The Eight Special Rules for Bhikkhuni, must be improved.