It was compiled by the monk Gakhun (각훈, 覺訓) (dates unknown) by order of the Goryeo king Gojong in 1215.
Though Gakhun was working in the tradition of Chinese Buddhist historiography (which had a long tradition of compiling lives of eminent monks), as was the case with the compilation of the Samguk Sagi and Samguk Yusa, the composing of the Haedong Goseungjeon was meant to promote native exemplars, in this case of Buddhist piety.
The monk Iryeon consulted the work some half a century later when compiling his Samguk Yusa.
It was long thought that the work was lost, until portions of it were rediscovered at a Buddhist temple in Seongju in the early twentieth century.
The extant volumes include biographies of eighteen famous and not–so–famous Buddhist monks from Goguryeo and Silla, as well as India and China.