Entering the academy as a youth, he was able to memorize more than a thousand phrases daily. As time passed, he deeply penetrated the universality of the single thread, clarifying the meanings of the classics and expounding their content. His reputation was unmatched. Grasping the subtlety of the transmitted teachings, he disclosed all their profundities in his explanations. He was possessed of a sonorous voice and graceful beauty, like flowers laid upon silk brocade—even such metaphor falls short of description. People said that he would become the minister truly capable of transmitting the heavenly mandate, extending upward to the ruler and bringing blessings down to the people. In his grasp of the correct principles of society he had no need to be ashamed even if he were to appear before the likes of Zhou and Shao.2

Gihwa is said to have abandoned his Confucian studies in favor of Buddhism at the age of twenty-one, after the tragic death of a close friend.3 Acknowledging the obvious hyperbole that is invariably seen in the hagiographical sketches written by disciples of eminent Buddhist teachers, there is not, in the entire corpus of Korean Buddhist hagiographies an appraisal of scholarly (Confucian) acumen comparable in scope to this, and this strong assessment of Gihwaʼs early abilities is corroborated in the degree to which he, later in his Buddhist career, took such a strong interest in and showed such outstanding ability in literary/philosophical/exegetical pursuits. Furthermore, a reading of his later works shows an unusual degree of citation from the Five Classics, Four Books, and Daoist classics, such as the Daode jing and Zhuangzi.

After turning to the Buddhist path, Gihwa entered into a short period of wandering and study. He subsequently became a disciple of the national preceptor Muhak 無學 (1327–1405), a master of the Imje Seon 臨濟禪 (Ch. Linji Chan) gong-an 公案 (J. kōan) tradition. Gihwa spent the rest of his days immersed in meditation, travel, teaching and an extensive literary pursuit that included commentarial work, essay writing, and poetry. Despite the diminished influence of Buddhism, toward the end of his career he served as preceptor to the royal family. After this stint, he retired once again to the mountain monasteries, where he taught and wrote until his passing in 1433. During his life, Gihwa wrote several important and influential treatises and commentaries on Buddhist works that established him as one of the leading exegetes in the Korean Buddhist tradition.4

Gihwaʼs Buddhist writings show a distinctive mixture between iconoclastic/suddenistic Chan language, and a strong appreciation for the scriptural tradition. Thus, he took up from Jinul 智訥 the approach of the balanced appreciation of the meditative and scholastic approaches to the study of Buddhism. Among his writings, there are four works in particular that made a deep impact on the subsequent Seon tradition in Korea. These are: (1) his commentary on the Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment, the Wongakgyeong seorui 圓覺經說誼; (2) his subcommentary to five famous earlier commentaries on the Diamond Sutra, the Geumgang banyabaramilgyeong ogahae seorui 金剛般若波羅蜜經五家解說誼; (3) his subcommentary on the Anthology of Yongjia, the Yonggajip gwaju seorui 永嘉集科註說誼.

Gihwa lived during an era when Buddhism was coming under considerable ideological and political pressure from an energetic Neo-Confucian polemic movement, which had found its fullest expression in the essays by the Confucian scholar-statesman Jeong Dojeon 鄭道傳 (pen name Sambong 三峰; 1342–1398). Being in the position of leading representative of the Buddhist saṃgha at a time when it was coming under great pressure, Gihwa felt obliged to offer a due response to the Neo-Confucian charges. Respond he did, in the form of a philosophical treatise that has become a landmark in Korean intellectual history—the Hyeonjeong non 顯正論 ( 'Clarification of Orthodoxy' ). In this essay, Gihwa attempted to answer the full range of criticisms made by the Neo-Confucians that had been organized and articulated in Jeongʼs Simgiri pyeon 心氣理篇 and Pulssi chappyŏn 佛氏雜辨.

Giwha passed away while residing at Jeongsusa 淨水寺, located at the southern tip of Ganghwa Island 江華嶋, where his tomb can still be visited.

References

Muller, A. Charles. 1993. “Hamhŏ Kihwa: A Study of his Major Works.” Stony Brook. SUNY.

----. 1999. The Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment: Korean Buddhismʼs Guide to Meditation (with the commentary by the Sŏn monk Kihwa). Albany, New York:  SUNY Press.

----. 2015. Koreaʼs Great Buddhist-Confucian Debate: The Treatises of Chŏng Tojŏn (Sambong) and Hamhŏ Tŭkt'ong (Kihwa). Honolulu:  University of Hawai`i Press.