When one looks at the full range of East Asian Buddhism during the late Koryo and the following Choson period, it is difficult to accept the narrative of the Korean Confucians. Buddhism had the support of the courts of Japan and China. Monasteries abounded and monks and nuns were numerous in those lands. Japan never rejected Buddhism in the way that the Choson officials did, and yet it not only survived, it gained in power. It is important to understand that the antagonism of the officials of the new dynasty was a political statement, not just a moral judgment.
Stereotypes are always destructive to a reasoned and balanced approach to religions.
Buddhism has faced many problems in its history with regard to religious leaders and resources. On the other hand, the study of Buddhism in the late Koryo and early Choson dynasties is usually lacking in researched reports. The quotations from Choson historians cannot be used as unbiased accounts for aspects of culture, religion, and society. Those historians were swayed by their own position, which required the destruction of the older forms of kingship and the religion that it had supported. We have tried in this volume to give some view of the Choson times and the results of sinification on Buddhism.