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c. 4th century CEReputable source · 2 sourcesWell documented

Buddhism and Chinese Writing Reach the Three Kingdoms

A foreign religion and a foreign script both take root and never leave

On the timeline · around c. 4th century CE · Gojoseon and the Three KingdomsGojoseon and the Three KingdomsUnified Silla and GoryeoBuddhism and Chinese Writing Reach the Three Kingdoms500 BCE250 BCE1 CE250 CE500 CE750 CE

Quick facts

Buddhism adopted by Baekje
384 CE, under King Chimnyu
Buddhism's origin route
India to China to Korea
Writing system adopted
Classical Chinese, later modified into idu
Native script that eventually replaced idu
Hangul, 1443/1446

What happened

Buddhism, originally from India, arrived in the Korean kingdoms by way of China and became a permanent part of Korean religious life; Baekje adopted it as state religion in 384 CE under King Chimnyu, brought by the monk Marananta. Alongside Buddhism came the Chinese writing system, adopted by Goguryeo, Baekje, and Silla for official communication, much as Japan and Vietnam did in the same period. Because Korean is structurally unrelated to Chinese, scholars and scribes modified Chinese characters and invented new ones to fit Korean grammar, producing a mixed system called idu that ran alongside classical Chinese for centuries, until the invention of Hangul in the 15th century gave Korean its own native script.

Why it matters

Buddhism became the state religion across all Three Kingdoms and shaped centuries of Korean art, architecture, and politics, most visibly in Unified Silla's Buddhist monuments a few centuries later. The adoption of Chinese writing, meanwhile, gave Korea its first tool for administration and record-keeping, but it was a system built for a different language, a mismatch that King Sejong would later try to fix by inventing Hangul.

How we know

Baekje's adoption of Buddhism in 384 CE is recorded in the Samguk Sagi, and idu writing survives on Three Kingdoms-era inscriptions, wooden tablets, and later manuscripts, letting linguists trace how Chinese characters were adapted to Korean grammar over time.

Sources

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