Buddhas and Ancestors

"[A] work of impressive scholarship."—IIAS Newsletter (International Institute for Asian Studies)

"Injects some fresh air into the debate on the transition from the Koryo to the Choson dynasty, one of the most hotly argued topics in Korean history."—Sem Vermeersch, author of The Power of the Buddhas: The Politics of Buddhism during the Koryo Dynasty (918-1392)

"This is not just a book about Buddhism, but also about the contours of social and political change in Koryo. Ahn successfully challenges many of the accepted notions about Buddhism and the rise of the Choson kingdom."—Edward J. Shultz, professor emeritus, University of Hawai'i at Manoa

"Juhn Ahn's Buddhas and Ancestors is astonishing in its ambition and scope. Bringing together insights drawn from Korean religion, Buddhism, social and intellectual history, and economics, Ahn offers a completely original argument for the reason behind the Korean elite's abandonment of Buddhism and embrace of Confucianism during the transition from the Koryo to the Choson dynasty."—Robert E. Buswell, Jr., Irving and Jean Stone Endowed Chair in Humanities, Distinguished Professor of Buddhist Studies, UCLA

"A finely nuanced treatment of the changing relationship between social elites and Buddhism throughout the Koryo period. Ahn provides us with a new understanding of how certain Neo-Confucian values found favor among the late Koryŏ elite and how Buddhism became separated from the state during the transition from Koryo to Choson."—John B. Duncan, author of The Origins of the Choson Dynasty