Jinul (1158 to 1210) is the reformer of Goryeo Buddhism: he asks monks to give up politics and wealth, to join calm (samadhi) with insight (prajna) and to unite Seon and Gyo (the meditation and doctrinal schools).
His society was formed in 1190 at Geodongsa on Palgongsan and moved to Mount Jiri (Sangmuju hermitage) in 1197; on the likely course he moves it later in 1200 to Songgwangsan, where he has the old Gilsangsa rebuilt; Huijong renames the mountain Jogyesan and the temple Suseonsa in 1205 (Chinese Wikipedia). On 1 January 1200 we place him at Jirisan, not on the road: the campaign board's 'still on the road' is not confirmed, and the exact month of the move in 1200 is not known. His society draws on gentry and clerks; he refuses court office.
His sermons are against the wealthy temples of the capital (Heungwangsa, Gukcheongsa), which Choe also attacks, but for different reasons. He dies in 1210.
Who he is
- Name
- Jinul (Bojo, 'Illuminating-the-Light'; the title Bojo is posthumous)
- Title
- Seon master, head of the Samadhi and Prajna Society (Jeonghyesa)
- Since
- Society founded in 1190 at Geodongsa on Palgongsan [not yet checked against the source]
- Born
- 1158
- Family
- Ordained in 1173 under Master Jonghwi of the Sagulsan school (English Wikipedia); his heir is Hyesim (1178 to 1234)
- Confidence
- medium
English and Chinese Wikipedia; his place on 1 January is recollection
What it holds
- The society's hermitage on Jirisan, then Songgwangsan and its rebuilding fund
How things stand that morning
On Jirisan, deciding to move.
What the year holds
What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.
In 1200
- Spring 1200, month not pinnedMoves to Songgwangsan (Gilsangsa).Depends on: The abbot's invitation and a patron Stopped by: Illness or a rising on the road
Later, on the likely course
- 1205Songgwangsan renamed Jogyesan, temple renamed Suseonsa.Depends on: Huijong's grant Stopped by: None
Where the sources disagree
- The campaign board entry gilsangsa-songgwangsan says the community is on the road from Jirisan on 1 January: not confirmed.
- English Songgwangsa page gives 1190 for the re-founding and a nine-year rebuilding 'in the 1190s'; we treat the building as 1197 to 1205.
Evidence: Years from English and Chinese Wikipedia; the English Songgwangsa page says 1190 for the temple's re-founding, which conflicts with the 1197 to 1205 rebuilding we recall; the place of Sangmuju hermitage is not pinned.
"The campaign board" is OMNIA's working map. These notes record where its earlier claims were checked against the sources.
On the map: The place of the hermitage is a guess on the mountain.
Primary sources for Goryeo
Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.
- Essentials of the History of Goryeo, Kim Jong-seo (金宗瑞) and the Joseon history office (1452). The chronological companion to the Goryeosa, finished a year after it and drawing on the same lost records, sometimes with entries the Goryeosa omits. Read online
- Continuation of the Comprehensive Mirror for Aid in Government, Bi Yuan (畢沅), completed by Feng Jiwu after his death (late eighteenth century, finished after 1801, from Song and Yuan sources). A Qing scholar's continuous month-by-month chronicle of the Song and Yuan centuries, compiled from the Song shi, the Liao, Jin and Yuan histories, Li Tao, Li Xinchuan and other Song sources. Read online
- History of Goryeo, Jeong Inji (鄭麟趾), Kim Jong-seo (金宗瑞) and the Joseon history office (completed 1451, from the Goryeo veritable records and earlier drafts). The official history of Goryeo, compiled by the Joseon state from the lost Goryeo veritable records. Read online
- History of the Jin, Toqto'a (脫脫) and the Yuan history office, with Ouyang Xuan among the chief compilers (1343 to 1344, from the Jin veritable records and the Jin national history). The official history of the Jurchen empire that ruled north China and Manchuria in 1200. Read online
- History of the Song, the chapters on Xia and on foreign states, Toqto'a (脫脫) and the Yuan history office (1343 to 1345). The Song court's accounts of its neighbours, each arranged as an annal of embassies and wars. Read online
- Draft Compilation of the Collected Statutes of the Song, Various; the Song huiyao were compiled by the Song state, the surviving draft reassembled by Xu Song from the Yongle dadian in the nineteenth century (the original Song compilations date from the eleventh to the thirteenth century; the surviving extracts were recovered in 1809 to 1820 and printed in 1936). Dated extracts from the Song government's own statute collections, arranged by office. Read online
- Description of the Foreign Peoples (Chau Ju-kua), Zhao Rukuo (趙汝适) (about 1225, while superintendent of maritime trade at Quanzhou). The Song customs officer's survey of the overseas world, compiled from merchants and from Zhou Qufei, a generation after 1200 but describing trade routes that were the same in 1200. Read online
- Collected Works of Minister Yi of the Eastern Country (Yi Gyu-bo), Yi Gyu-bo (李奎報) (poems and prose from the 1190s to 1241; collected and printed by his son in 1241, with a supplement in 1242). The collected poems, letters, memorials and essays of a Goryeo scholar who was thirty-two and still seeking office in 1200. Read online
2 more in the sources library for Korea and Japan.
Sources and studies
- Jinul (English Wikipedia)
- Jinul 知訥 (Chinese Wikipedia)
- Songgwangsa (English Wikipedia)
- Goryeosa, Goryeosa jeoryo, Samguk yusa, Lee Ki-baik, Shultz: not opened in this run (Wikisource could not be reached); facts marked recollection come from these as remembered
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.