When the monk's certificate(do-cheop) system, the national approval system for the Buddhist monk, was first recorded to be enforced in the end of Goryeo dynasty(in the 12th year of the reign of king Chung-suk), the purpose of the system was to manage ...
When the monk's certificate(do-cheop) system, the national approval system for the Buddhist monk, was first recorded to be enforced in the end of Goryeo dynasty(in the 12th year of the reign of king Chung-suk), the purpose of the system was to manage the terminal officials of the nation. As the monk's certificate became to be expandedly issued to the common people and the cost for it(정전, 丁錢, jeong-jeon) was formulated in the reign of king Gong-min, the function and the character of the monk's certificate was changed as the reasonable requirement of the nation for giving up the right of collecting taxes from the people that would be a monk because the monks were exempted from taxation in the period. Joseon dynasty, succeeding Goryeo in many fields of system and institution, issued the monk's certificate to all the people from yang-ban(양반, 兩班, the upper classes of Joseon) to the lowly at the time of the foundation of the country, but immediately the issue was restricted only to yang-ban again when Gyeong-je-yuk-jeon(『경제육전(經濟六典)』), the first code of laws of Joseon, was published in the 6th year of the reign of the king Tae-jo(1397), who was the founder and the 1st king of Joseon. The change was related to the fact that Joseon had decided to control Buddhist saṅgha with the official monks approved by the national power(공도승, 公度僧, gong-do-seung) as the central figure.
In the reign of king Tae-jong(the 3rd king of Joseon and the son of the king Tae-jo), when the monk's certificate system under the control of Gyeong-je-yuk-jeon was run in full-scale, the national power concentrated on the management and the favorable treatment of the existing Buddhist Order through the relief for the monks without the monk's certificate. It was related with the policy for Tae-jong to concentrate on the control of Buddhist economy and the management of the legitimate Buddhist Order, which was for the strong alliance of the nation and the Buddhist Order with a small number of official monks as the central figure. In the reign of king Se-jong(the 4th king of Joseon and the son of Tae-jong), the monk's certificate system under the control of Gyeong-je-yuk-jeon was being put in good order through abundant discussions in the Court and the last provisions of the code were finally completed. Se-jong controlled the legitimate Buddhist Order according to the more stronger way of selecting and focusing the monks and the temples proper to the national usage than his father, while he decided for only yang-ban class to become the official monks(gong-do-seung) by charging 100 rolls of cloth as the cost for the monk's certificate(jeong-jeon). But he neglected nonofficial temples, so those temples surviving economic difficulties would act as centers of illegitimate folk religious powers in existing among the lower people afterward. Meanwhile Se-jong tried to make, manage and deposit the register of Buddhist monks(승적, 僧籍, seung-jeok) in the local temples and the government agencies for the purpose of the control and the restriction of monks' movements, although the monastic register system carried out by the nation-leading activity in Goryeo dynasty had not been succeeded to Joseon dynasty. But sooner or later the decision of Se-jong was canceled and another monastic register system was retried in the reign of king Se-jo(the 7th king of Joseon and the son of Se-jong) under the cloak of the census registration or the identity tag system for monks(승인호패, 僧人號牌, seung-in-ho-pae).
In th reign of Se-jo, the monk's certificate system was changed from under the control of Gyeong-je-yuk-jeon to under that of Gyeong-guk-dae-jeon(『경국대전(經國大典)』), the second code of laws of Joseon. The most important points of the monk's certificate system in those days were the next two. One was the expansion of the target class in the issue of the certificate from yang-ban to all the classes. The other was the inevitable recognition of nonofficial monks not having been approved by the national power(사도승, 私度僧, sa-do-seung), which was occurred because monks wanting the certificates became to have to apply within 3 months~1 year after entering the priesthood. King Ye-jong(the 8th king of Joseon and the son of Se-jo) made the condition and process of issuing the monk's certificate more difficult, but king Seong-jong(the 9th king of Joseon and the grandson of Se-jo) made that easier again like in the reign of Se-jo. On the other hand, the census registration or the identity tag system for monks(seung-in-ho-pae), which was one of the most important peculiarities in the reign of Se-jo, should be considered as the transfiguration of the register system for buddhist monks(seung-jeok) carried out in the reign of Se-jong. The monastic identity tag system seemed to be tried for grasping the whole number of monks in the country and controling all the monks by the national power. During the reign of Seong-jong, the monk's certificate system was gradually being perfected through three times of revision of Gyeong-guk-dae-jeon. In the end, as Gyeong-guk-dae-jeon was finally confirmed in the 16th year of the reign of Seong-jong(1485), the monk's certificate system was also settled on the clause ‘becoming Buddhist priest’ in Gyeong-guk-dae-jeon like the next. One, the applicant for the official monk had to pass the test(시취, 試取, shi-chui) of 3 kinds of Buddhist canon(Vajracchedika Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra 『금강경(金剛經)』, Prajñāpāramitā hridaya-Sūtra 『반야심경(般若心經)』, spells of Shūrangama-Sūtra 『살달타(薩怛陀)』). Two, the one who had passed the test had to pay 20 rolls of cloth as the cost for the monk's certificate(jeong-jeon). Three, all the classes were open to the issue of the monk's certificate from yang-ban to the servants(노비, 奴婢, no-bi). Four, the one wanting the monk's certificate had to apply for the issue(obtaining the certificate) within 3 months after entering the priesthood, which made the national power inevitably recognize the existance of the nonofficial, precisely pre-official, monks. The former two articles succeeded the customs under the control of Gyeong-je-yuk-jeon, while the latter two reflected the new trends and policies during the reign of Se-jo.
However, no sooner was the monk's certificate system settled than it underwent the process of abolishment. As a party of young new-come officials of Sa-rim origins(사림, 士林, gentry class that appeared from provinces in the middle period of Joseon) insisted severely the abolishment of the monk's certificate system, Seong-jong agreed partially with them and decided the temporary interruption of issuing the monk's certificate in the 23rd year of his reign(1492). But the decision was just a temporary interruption to any extent, not the eventual abolishment, and it was because of the shortage of military soldiers in the frontier provoked by the invasion of northern race called Yeo-jin. The actual abolishment of the monk's certificate system in Joseon dynasty was in the 11th year of the reign of king Jung-jong(the 11th king of Joseon and the son of Seong-jong)(1516), in which year Jung-jong decided to delete the clause ‘becoming Buddhist priest’ from Gyeong-guk-dae-jeon. The decision seemed to be related to the tendency of abolishment of several Buddhist-moded ceremonies in the royal family. Especially the serial abolishments of some royal funeral ceremonies of Buddhist style in the reign of Yeon-san-gun(the 10th king of Joseon and the 1st son of Seong-jong) and Jung-jong made the technical monks for the ceremonies unnecessary, and then the situation seemed to lead to the easy decision of the abolishment of the monk's certificate system. In the reign of king Myeong-jong(the 13th king of Joseon and the son of Jung-jong), the monk's certificate system was revived by queen regent Mun-jeong who was the mother of Myeong-jong and a faithful buddhist laywoman. In spite of the strong opposition of officials the revived monk's certificate system was forcefully promoted by the king and his mother queen, for that was the necessary project to manage many temples around the country which was related to royal family. When the queen died, however, the monk's certificate system was again abolished with other policies related to Buddhist, which would never be revived once again by the time of the fall of Joseon.
The debates and the efforts for setting the monk's certificate system in good condition and fixing it were generally the most active in the reign of king Se-jong and king Se-jo. As a result of that, the monk's certificate system under the control of Gyeong-je-yuk-jeon was completed during the reign of Se-jong, while the system under the control of Gyeong-guk-dae-jeon was proposed in basic ideas during the reign of Se-jo. Anything of the two was planned for the official monks formally approved by the national power, and was intended to control and make use of Buddhist Order. Nevertheless, new religious atmosphere appeared unexpectedly, which is through issuing the monk's certificate instead of the national requisition for the monks' labor(승역급첩, 僧役給牒, seung-yeok-geup-cheop).
The first example of issuing the monk's certificate at the cost of his labor was applied to the repair of a Buddhist temple Heung-cheon-sa in the 11th year of the reign of Se-jong(1429), which was requested by the Buddhist Order itself, not the national power. Se-jong accepted the request, for he intended to guarantee the enough monks necessary to the Buddhist Order and to manage and control the Order smoothly by that. But as the nation used the labor of monks for other repair of official buildings with issuing the monk's certificate, monks gaining the certificates increased, and it caused the common awareness that the recruit of monks for the labor by national power was rather customary. The tendency like that became so more general in the reign of Se-jo that the monk's certificate got to spread to nonofficial monks and even pseudo monks(위람승, 僞濫僧, wi-ram-seung). As a result of that, a new religious crowd called Sa-jang(사장, 社長), which was also called Geo-sa(거사, 居士) later, showed up in the lower class of people. They grew larger and more powerful through the reign of Ye-jong and Seong-jong, so the national power became to recognize them obviously as a newly-rising religious power in the folk. Under the influence of the growth of Sa-jang, the Buddhism and Buddhist monks began to have more popular and familiar character and image in the reign of Seong-jong to Jung-jong, and the matter of monks having their own wives became an important agenda in the Court. It was the result of influence that the new religious charisma in the common people had caused to existing Buddhist Order. On the other hand, in spite of the official abolishment of the monk's certificate system, the labors of monks were put into the national work with large scale in the reign of Jung-jong at the cost of issuing the monastic identity tag(seung-in-ho-pae), not the monk's certificate. In the 10th year of the reign of Myeong-jong(1555), the troops of buddhist monks had a rather military roles in the battles with Japanese pirates(을묘왜변, 乙卯倭變, eul-myo-oe-byeon), and this experience made the opportunity that the labors of monks finally began to be organized and constantly established for military function, which was named the military monks(승군, 僧軍, seung-gun).