The text I have used in translating Lives of Eminent Korean Monks is that in the Taishŏ Tripitaka, not because it is a basic text, for it is marred by wrong punctuation and by textual errors, but because it is readily available in major libraries. The earliest available edition in block prints is said to have existed until the outbreak of the Korean War (some say even the blocks themselves existed in Suwŏn, at the Yongju monastery, before 1950); it is now lost. In view of the absence of such an authentic text, I have collated all the versions available to me: among them the manuscript copy of the late Asami Rintarō and the texts in the Pulgyo, Dainihon bukkyŏ zensho, and Chosŏn pulgyo t‘ongsa. Such collating, together with necessary emendations for puzzling passages, is indicated in footnotes. Ideally, however, a correct text, with all errors eliminated but with collation and emendations, should accompany the translation; but owing to technical difficulties such a text must await another occasion.
This study was completed under a grant from the American Philosophical Society and the University of Hawaii Research Council, and I am grateful to both institutions for their assistance. I am also indebted to Professors Fang Chao-ying, Richard B. Mather, Joseph Needham, and Johannes Rahder for answering my queries; and to Professors Chow Tse-tsung, Masatoshi Nagatomi, Richard H. Robinson, Edward W. Wagner, and Arthur F. Wright for reading the translation and offering constructive criticism. To Professor Leon Hurvitz go my deep thanks for going over with me the moot points in the texts. However, I alone am responsible for any errors which may remain.
The substance of the Introduction was first presented as a paper before the eighteenth annual meeting of the Association for Asian Studies on April 5, 1966.
Honolulu, Hawaii
September 1968
Peter H. Lee