Execution of Ichadon, Heungnyeungsa Temple

If you visit enough Buddhist temples here in Korea, you might come across some pretty gnarly scenes painted on the sides of these hollowed halls, such as the gothic  tortures of the Hell Realms or the gruesome image of the 2^nd Patriarch of Zen, or Seon (선) Buddhism, chopping off his left arm (but more on that fun stuff later).

Every so often you might see the macabre tableaux of the execution of the Korean Buddhist martyr Ichadon (이차돈).   Although he wasn’t the first Buddhist to lose his head during the Shilla Dynasty, it was the legendary miracle of his execution that finally led to Buddhism’s official acceptance by the Shilla Kingdom.

Execution of Ichadon, Heungnyeungsa Temple

Buddhism was introduced to the Shilla Dynasty as far back as the 3rd cen. C.E.  As the official state religion of the time was Shamanism, anyone caught preaching or supporting Buddhism in public was liable to get their head cut off and usually did.  In spite of this, Buddhism continued to grow underground in the Shilla Kingdom for several centuries.

Fast forward to the 527 C.E.  King Beopheung (법흥왕) had a deep desire to change the state religion to Buddhism, but he knew the aristocracy saw it as a threat to their power.  As legend has it, the king’s nephew Ichadon (who was secretly a devout Buddhist), approached the King with a dramatic plan to demonstrate the power of Buddhism to the royal court.  As the plan went, Ichadon chose to sacrifice himself and so the King arranged to have him arrested. As was the law, he was condemned to death for his beliefs.

Execution of Ichadon (photo by Hye-jin Shin)

At Ichadon’s execution, moments before his death, he made two predictions.  If they came to pass, Ichadon claimed they would show Buddhism to be true.  As his head was severed from his body, the blood that shot from his neck was as white as milk.  Meanwhile, his head flew out of the courtyard, all the way across Gyeongju and landed on Mt. Geumgangsan (금강산), all as Ichadon had predicted (legends will be legends after all).

This miracle so amazed the Shilla nobles that they granted Buddhism official sanction.  King Beopheung began constructing the first Buddhist temples of the Shilla Dynasty and passed a law prohibiting the killing of all living things (much to the dismay of the butchers and fishermen, I imagine).  13 years after the martyrdom of Ichadon, King Beopheung abdicated the throne, shaved his head and joined to a Buddhism monastery for the rest of his days.

Baegyulsa Temple, Gyeongju

Baegyulsa Temple (배귤사) was built on the west slope on Mt. Geumgansan (금강산), to commemorate the site where Ichadon’s head landed and it is just an easy 10 minute hike up the mountain from the ancient 4-sided Buddha of Gulbulsa  (굴불사).  King Beopheung’s tomb is on the far west side of Mt. Seondonsan (선도산), just around the corner from Gyeongju University and it makes nice stop over when cycling out to the Tombs of Geumcheok-ri (금척리).

King Beopheung's Tomb, Gyeongju