Myeongnang and the Divine Seal School明朗神印

Myeongnang and the Divine Seal School.

Looking at the Basic Record of Geumgwangsa, it says this:

"The master was born outstanding in Silla and went into Tang to study the Way.

When he was about to return, at the request of the sea dragon he entered the dragon palace, passed on the secret teaching, and received a gift of a thousand nyang of gold.〔Some say a thousand geun.〕

He traveled secretly under the ground and rose up from the bottom of the well at the house where he had once lived.

Then he gave up the house to make it a temple, and with the gold the dragon king had given he adorned the pagoda and the images, so that their brightness was extraordinary. Because of this it was named Geumgwangsa (金光寺)."〔The Biographies of Monks calls it Geumusa (金羽寺), but that is wrong.〕

The master's name was Myeongnang (明朗) and his courtesy name Gugyuk (國育). He was the son of Jaeryang (才良), a Silla sagan.

His mother was called Lady Namgan, or by some Beopseungnang. She was Lady Kim, daughter of the sopan Murim, and so the sister of Jajang.

Of her three sons, the eldest was Gukgyo daedeok, the next was Uian daedeok, and the master was the youngest.

At the beginning, his mother dreamed that she swallowed a blue jewel, and conceived.

In the first year of Queen Seondeok he went into Tang, and in the ninth year of Zhenguan, the eulmi year, he returned.

In the first year of Zongzhang, the mujin year, the Tang general Li Ji (李勣) led a great army, joined with Silla, and destroyed Goguryeo. Afterward the remaining army stayed in Baekje and planned to attack and destroy Silla.

The people of Silla found this out, raised troops, and held them off. When Gaozong heard of it he was greatly angered, and he commanded Xue Bang (薛邦) to raise an army and attack.

King Munmu heard of it and was afraid. He asked the master to open the secret teaching and ward it off.〔This matter is in the Biography of King Munmu.〕

Because of this he became the founding patriarch of the Divine Seal School.

When Taejo founded the dynasty, sea pirates also came and caused trouble. So he called on the two daedeok Gwanghak and Daeyeon, descendants of Anhye and Nangyung, to perform the rite and ward them off and subdue them. All of these belong to the line that Myeongnang passed down.

Therefore, counting the master as well, going up as far as Nagarjuna (龍樹), they are made the nine patriarchs.〔The record of the home temple makes the three masters patriarchs of the Vinaya school, but this is not known in detail.〕

Also, Taejo built Hyeonseongsa for him and made it the root of the whole school.

Also, some twenty li southeast of the Silla capital there is Wonwonsa (遠源寺). By popular tradition it was built by the four daedeok, Anhye and the others, who made the vow together with Kim Yusin, Kim Uiwon, Kim Suljong, and others.

The remaining bones of the four daedeok were all laid away on the eastern peak of the temple, and because of this it is said to be called the Patriarchs' Rock of Saryeongsan. So the four daedeok were all eminent men of the Silla period.

Looking at what is recorded in a note on the pillar tablet of Dolbaeksa, it says this:

"The mother of Geocheon, hojang of Gyeongju, was Ajinyeo; Ajinyeo's mother was Myeongjunyeo; Myeongjunyeo's mother was Jeongninyeo; and her sons were Gwanghak daedeok and Daeyeon samjung.〔His old name was Seonhoe.〕 The two brothers both gave themselves to the Divine Seal School.

In the second year of Changxing, the sinmyo year, they followed Taejo up to the capital, attended the royal carriage, and tended the incense. To reward their labor, as funds for the memorial days of the two men's parents, so many gyeol of dry fields and paddies were granted to Dolbaeksa."

So Gwanghak and Daeyeon were the two who followed the sacred founder into the capital, and Anhye and the others were the ones who built Wonwonsa together with Kim Yusin and the others.

The bones of the two men Gwanghak and Daeyeon simply came to be enshrined here as well. It is not that all four daedeok built Wonwonsa and all followed the sacred founder. Look into this carefully.