Buddhist monks had been forced to keep a low profile since General Yi Seonggye had been forced to eject Buddhism from its state of total permeation of government in order to gain the support of Neo-Confucian scholar-officials to consolidate his position against his Buddhist political opponents when he overthrew Gongyang of Goryeo in 1392 to become King Taejo of Joseon.

He soon resigned from this responsibility, though, returning to the itinerant life, advancing his Seon studies and teaching at monasteries all around Korea.

At the beginning of the 1590s, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, after stabilising Sengoku-era Japan under his rule, made preparations for a large-scale invasion of Joseon.

At the beginning of the first invasion, Seonjo of Joseon fled the capital, leaving a weak, poorly trained army to defend the country.

The presence of Hyujeong's monk army, operating out of the Heungguksa deep in the mountain of Yeongchwisan, was a critical factor in the eventual expulsion of the Japanese invaders in 1593 and again in 1598.