Ilyeon

A Goryeo Seon monk who in his later years compiled the Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms, preserving a wealth of oral historical material from ancient Korea.

Life

Became a Monk in Turbulent Times

Ilyeon, whose lay surname was Kim, came from the Gyeongsang region of Goryeo. He became a Buddhist monk at the age of nine and traveled to monasteries in many places to study Seon (Zen) practice. At that time Goryeo was suffering from repeated Mongol invasions and prolonged warfare; the capital was for a time moved to Ganghwa Island for refuge, and the Buddhist community struggled amid the turmoil to maintain its social standing and its transmission of scriptures.

National Elder and the Memorabilia

Over his life he served as abbot of several monasteries, and in his later years he was honored as National Preceptor by the Goryeo royal family, enjoying very high religious standing. Around 1281 he began compiling the Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms, which collected historical legends of the Three Kingdoms of Silla, Baekje and Goguryeo and of the even earlier Gojoseon of Dangun, along with Buddhist miracle tales, hyangga songs and material on folk beliefs. Unlike the officially compiled History of the Three Kingdoms (Samguk sagi), which strictly followed the conventions of standard histories, it preserved a large body of myth and folklore with a strong oral character.

Myth and Credible History

The Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms is one of the most important primary sources for the study of ancient myth, Buddhist history and folklore on the Korean Peninsula, and its account of Dangun's founding of the state came to be regarded as the core basis of the Korean national origin narrative. However, much of its content consists of miraculous legends rather than strict historical fact, and Ilyeon himself may not have regarded it as reliable history when compiling it. The later practice of citing these mythical materials as if they were reliable history has long been a point of contention among historians.

Legacy

Ilyeon's Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms and Kim Busik's officially commissioned History of the Three Kingdoms are the two earliest surviving histories of ancient Korea on the Korean Peninsula. It preserves a wealth of myths, Buddhist legends, hyangga songs and folk material absent from the official histories, and its account of Dangun is the earliest surviving systematic narrative of him. Its contents mix fact and fiction, and historians have long debated how to use it as a historical source.

Major works & achievements

• Compiled Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms
• Recorded the Dangun founding myth
• Preserved 14 Silla hyangga songs

Key dates

• 1206Born in Gyeongsang Province
• 1214Became a Buddhist monk
• 1249Became abbot of a temple in Namhae
• 1259Received the title of Chan master
• 1277Honored as National Preceptor by the Goryeo Royal family
• 1281Began compiling the Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms
• 1289Died