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[[Zen|Chan Buddhism]] (J: Zen) was another major form of Buddhism to develop in China, gaining a widespread following among elites in the 8th century. Like Pure Land Buddhism, it rejected religious texts, deities, and complex (Esoteric) rituals, and focused instead on the personal pursuit of enlightenment, through meditation and spiritual contemplation of essential questions and concepts. Where Pure Land Buddhism placed relatively little focus on monasticism, however, being a more popular form of religion, Chan embraced the monastic tradition; the truest devotees of Chan Buddhism became monks, and devoted themselves to meditation and spiritual pursuits within a Chan monastery.
[[Zen|Chan Buddhism]] (J: Zen) was another major form of Buddhism to develop in China, gaining a widespread following among elites in the 8th century. Like Pure Land Buddhism, it rejected religious texts, deities, and complex (Esoteric) rituals, and focused instead on the personal pursuit of enlightenment, through meditation and spiritual contemplation of essential questions and concepts. Where Pure Land Buddhism placed relatively little focus on monasticism, however, being a more popular form of religion, Chan embraced the monastic tradition; the truest devotees of Chan Buddhism became monks, and devoted themselves to meditation and spiritual pursuits within a Chan monastery.
===Introduction in Korea===
Buddhism is believed to have been introduced into the Korean kingdoms of [[Koguryo]] and [[Paekche]] in the 4th century, via the [[Northern Wei Dynasty]] ([[386]]-[[534]]), a dynasty of the [[Tuoba]] people, a Turkic people descended from the [[Xianbei]].<ref name=rawski123>Evelyn Rawski, ''Early Modern China and Northeast Asia: Cross-Border Perspectives'', Cambridge University Press (2015), 123-125.</ref>
[[Silla]] was the first of Korea's [[Three Kingdoms (Korea)|three kingdoms]] to name a Buddhist National Patriarch (国統), in the late 6th century. This position evolved into, or was replaced by, the State Preceptor 国師 in the late 7th century. [[King Munmu]] (r. [[661]]-[[681]]) was the first to request to be cremated rather than buried in a tumulus – his ashes were scattered in the [[Sea of Japan]].<ref name=rawski123/> Similar developments in royal/imperial burial practices took place in Japan around the same time, or at most a century later.
[[Koryo]] saw a peak in royal patronage of Buddhism – from the 11th to 14th centuries, the most frequently performed state ritual was a Buddhist ritual aimed at protecting the state from national disasters, foreign invasions, and other threats. This ritual, called ''sojae toryang'' in Korean (消在道場), was performed almost annually in the 13th century, and twice in [[1254]], the year Koryo fell to [[Mongol]] invasions The so-called "Humane Kings Assembly" (K: ''inwang toryang'', 仁王道場) was the second-most performed Buddhist state ritual. This was first performed in the Silla court in the mid-6th century. And was probably also performed in Koguryo.<ref name=rawski123/>
===Introduction in Japan===
===Introduction in Japan===