Il monte Odae e la diffusione del Buddhismo nella penisola coreana: un’indagine sul culto del Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī e le dinamiche esoteriche da Silla a Koryǒ

Mount Odae is one of the most significant sites for Chinese Buddhism and, due to the presence of numerous deities including Bodhisattvas Mañjuśrī, Avalokiteśvara, and Kṣitigarbha, as well as the constant presence of Korean pilgrim monks who traveled to China to study the doctrine, it has also become a place of worship for Korean Buddhism. In particular, much of its fame and importance is attributed to monks such as Master Chajang, one of the most eminent figures in the Korean religious landscape, who received apparitions of Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī there, and brought the cult back to Korea. This research aims to demonstrate how the pilgrimages of Korean monks influenced the cult of Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī within the religious context of the peninsula and to what extent there was an interconnection with the Esoteric doctrine present in the Silla kingdom, including some hypotheses of con nections to the Koryǒ period. In terms of methodology, this research is based on the study of ancient sources, particularly the Samguk Yusa, from which it cites passages to support the thesis of a consequential link between pilgrimages and the mountain cult. The work thus seeks to add a crucial piece to the studies of Ancient Korean Buddhism, particularly the esoteric branch, which remains underdeveloped in current scholarship.