KJCKorea
Journal Central

This thesis focused on the accession and activities of King Jijeung as the political and social background that allowed King Beopheung to recognize Buddhism. According to <Stone monument of Naengsu-ri>, King Jijeung was referred to as King Galmun until four years after his accession, so it was understood that succession to the throne would not have been smooth. However, after King Soji’s death, there was no son to inherit the throne, so his closest relative, King Jijeung, took the throne, and he was able to succeed to the throne as the son of ‘King Nulji’s daughter’. After the treatment of the princess during the reign of King Nulji, Buddhism was accepted into the royal family, and King Jijeung’s mother was the daughter of King Nulji, who experienced the royal worship of Buddhism. It was possible that King Jijeung was also friendly to Buddhism under the influence of such a mother. Furthermore, King Jijeung welcomed the Queen of the Moryang-bu Park clan, and the Moryang-bu Park clan was a pro-Buddhist force. Their son, King Beopheung, was influenced by these parents and insisted on the official recognition of Buddhism. King Jijeung’s pro-Buddhist tendencies also influenced the abolition of burial of the living with the dead. In addition, King Jijeung inherited the Singung established during the reign of King Soji, and the Singung was the subject of ancestral rites to the founder of Silla, Hyukgeose. Since King Jijeung was married to the Park clan, he was able to solidify his bond with the queen through the Singung rites and gain the legitimacy of succession to the throne. By unifying the ancestral rites centering on the royal family through the Singung, ideological unity could be achieved, and King Beopheung proposed Buddhism as a new ideology of unification of Silla. On the other hand, clashes with Goguryeo were frequent until the time of King Soji, but not at all during the reigns of King Jijeung and Beopheung. This was the result of King Jijeung’s improved relationship with Goguryeo, and it is believed that the king’s pro-Buddhist tendencies had an effect. This would have contributed to changing the perception of Goguryeo and Buddhism in Silla society. With this change of perception, King Beopheung was able to claim the recognition of Buddhism. King Beopheung’s public recognition of Buddhism and the new period of the Middle Ages began with the accession of King Jijeung, who had a pro-Buddhist tendency. In view of this continuity, it is possible to establish lineage of King Jijeung.

King Jijeung, King Beopheung, the Queen of Park clan, King Nulji’s daughter, official recognition of Buddhism, lineage of King Jijeung