ABSTRACT
The religions of Silla are cumulative rather than sequential, but it is quite likely that the elite and commoners had different beliefs and rituals. The earliest religion was animistic. Animism has come to mean the belief that all things, animate and inanimate, have spirits with which humans may interact for good or ill. The shamanism of Gyeongju probably arrived with some of the settlers from the forests of Manchuria or the Steppes north of China, where somewhat different types of shamanism were practiced. White horses were worshipped in the Steppes as part of shamanistic religion there. Buddhism came to the Korean peninsula through north-east China. Time and invasions have left only traces of many of the magnificent temples and schools that once existed in Gyeongju. Many Buddhist buildings were destroyed by fanatical Confucians in the Joseon dynasty, but many Korean museums have statues and other mementos of Buddhism on display.
