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10 Facts About Yongseong

1.

Baek Yongseong Jinjong was a Korean Buddhist master who helped propagate Buddhism in Korea.

2.

Yongseong was one of thirty-three national representatives present at the March 1 Movement of 1919, the representative of the Korean Buddhist community.

3.

Yongseong was born Baek Sanggyu in Namwon, Jeolla-do, Korea on May 8 of the Lunar calendar in 1864.

4.

Yongseong entered his first monastery in 1877 at Deokmil-am, but was withdrawn by his parents not long after entering.

5.

Yongseong then traveled to see Venerable Suwol, who instructed Yongseong on the practice of dharani.

6.

In 1884, at age twenty, Yongseong received the Vinaya and Bodhisattva Precepts under the Vinaya master Seongok at Tongdosa, becoming a fully ordained sunim.

7.

Yongseong spent the coming years practicing Seon meditation and studying the Korean Tripitaka at monasteries and temples throughout Korea, engaging many masters in Dharma combat.

8.

Yongseong managed a mining company to help fund some of his Buddhist missionary work.

9.

Yongseong was arrested by the Japanese during this event and detained until 1921.

10.

Yongseong spent the remainder of his life spreading Buddhism, and died in 1940 at age 76.