The Balhae state was one of the largest medieval states of the Far East. In its development, this state has borrowed much from Chinese civilization in the political, cultural and religious fields. Under the strong influence of the culture of the Tang dynasty, various aspects of Buddhist culture became widespread in the territory of Balhae. One of the important evidence of the presence of Buddhism in the culture of Balhae are temples. Currently, Chinese, Russian, North Korean and South Korean archaeologists have discovered a significant number of temples belonging to Balhae. According to incomplete statistics, archaeologists have discovered and studied more than 40 Balhae Buddhist temples. Many of these temples were located in the capitals of the Balhae state. The rich archaeological collections collected during the excavation of temples reflect the wide spread of Buddhism in Balhae.
Key words: Buddhism, Balhae, China, temple, capital, archeology.
DOI: 10.22250/2072-8662.2018.4.37-44
About the author
Wang Junzheng, 王俊铮, Master of Historical sciences, Department of Study of Religion and History, Amur State University, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |