Dongguk University () is a private, coeducational university in Jung District, Seoul, South Korea. It is one of the few Buddhist-affiliated universities in the world, and is a member of the International Association of Buddhist Universities.
Established in 1906 as Myeongjin School () by Buddhist pioneers of the Association of Buddhism Research (), the university gained full university status with its current name in 1953. The university's symbol animal is an elephant, which stemmed from Queen Māyā of Sakya's precognitive dream of a white elephant about the birth of The Buddha, and the symbol flower is a lotus blossom which reflects the Buddhist truth.
Dongguk University Seoul campus is organised into 127 undergraduate and graduate schools, which enrolled 13,701 undergraduate students and 1,801 graduate students and granted 3,140 bachelor's, 470 master's and 172 doctorate degrees in 2017. Its comprehensive academic programme offers 53 undergraduate majors, together with 59 graduate programmes.
The university also operates campuses in Peckham, Gyeongju, and Los Angeles, United States. The university operates two affiliated hospitals of Western medicine, and four of Oriental medicine, a generic term which includes traditional Korean medicine studies.
History
Origins of Dongguk University
The university began as Myeongjin School on May 8, 1906. It was established by the Association of Buddhism Research to provide Buddhist education.
In 1910, Myeongjin School was renamed Buddhist Normal School (불교사범학교; 佛敎師範學校), and later renamed Buddhist Higher Education Institution (불교고등강숙; 佛敎高等講塾) in 1914. It became the Central Education Institution (중앙학림; 中央學林) in 1915, but was closed by the Japanese Occupation Government from 1922 to 1928 for its connection to the Samil Undong uprising.
In 1928, the foundation of the Buddhist Specialised School (불교전수학교; 佛敎專修學校) was permitted after Buddhist temples all across colonial Korea donated 601,425 yen and established the Central Administrative Headquarters of the Joseon Buddhism Foundation (조선불교중앙교무원; 朝鮮佛敎中央敎務院) in 1924.
In 1930 it became the Central Buddhist Professional School (중앙불교전문학교; 中央佛敎專門學校) and in 1940 the school was renamed Hyehwa Professional School (혜화전문학교; 惠化專門學校).
On May 30, 1944, Hyehwa Professional School was again closed by Empire of Japan following the mobilization. After the World War II the school was reopened on October 27, 1945, and was expanded into Dongguk College (동국대학; 東國大學) on September 20, 1946.
Expansion
In 1951 after the Third Battle of Seoul, the college withdrew from Seoul, and provisional lectures were held in Jung District, Busan until the college got back to the original place September 1953 after the Korean War. Dongguk College was one of the first institutions in the South Korea to gain university status in the western sense, being designated the present-day Dongguk University in 1953. The postgraduate school opened simultaneously.
From 1950s to 1980s, the university underwent a major vitalisation. Construction of Myeongjin Hall which is the oldest building in the university now began on March, 1956, and finished on December 30. In 1959, the Dongguk University Broadcasting system was initiated. The university took over Eunseok Elementary School in 1965, Heunguk Middle–High School in 1966, and Keumsan Middle–Commercial High school and Myeongseong Girls' Middle–High School in 1967. The College of Education was launched in 1968 with four courses, adding Physical Education major a year later. The Graduate School of Public Administration was founded in 1967, and In 1978 the Gyeongju Campus was established and opened in 1979. Also during the 1960s students of the university participated in the democratic uprisings of South Korea, which caused the deaths of students of the university. Students participated in the April Revolution against the autocratic government in 1960, and the June 3 Resistance in opposition to the negotiation for the Treaty on Basic Relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea in 1964.