so-called schools were rather nebulous, as it seems that most Korean scholar monks tended to be influenced by a wide variety of Buddhist doctrines.

Development of the Korean Seon school

A new epoch in Korean Buddhism began during the latter Silla with the birth of schools of Seon in Korea. On the Chinese mainland, the movement toward a meditation-based view of practice which came to be known as chan (?, meaning “meditation,” widely known in the West through its Japanese variant zen), had begun during the sixth and seventh centuries. Since Koreans were in continuous close contact with developments in Chinese Buddhism, it was not long before the influence of the new meditational school reached Korea, where it was known as Seon. It is from this time that a dipolaroriginally students of Hwaeom and/or Yog?c?ra doctrine, began to study Chan in the mainland. Returning to Korea, they, together with their leading disciples, established their own schools at various mountain monasteries. The number of these schools during the early Goryeo was set at nine, and thus, Korean Seon, during the Goryeo would be termed the “nine mountains (gusan ??) ” school. The predominant influence that was brought back to Korea in terms of the style of Chinese Chan was that of the lineage of Mazu Daoyi (????; 709-788), as eight of the nine lineages that were established were through connection with either Mazu or one of his eminent disciples. The one exception was the Sumi san school (???) founded by Ieom (??; 869-936), which had developed from the