Considering the political and social reality of 16th century Joseon, this study examined Buddhist policies and the Buddhist circle of the time from the three perspectives－Seungjeong(僧政) system, temples, and Buddhist monks. The reform of Seungjeong system has been understood as oppression on the overall Buddhist circle but it was a policy to organize national system and secure national finance, and its influence on the Buddhist circle was limited. In the 16th century, there were different opinions on abolishment and reform of Seungjeong system. Overall, Sarim(士林) power pursued the policy that the country should repeal Buddhist system and should not intervene in the Buddhist circle directly, while Hungu(勳舊) power inherited the policy of the 15th century and pursued the policy of intervening in the Buddhist circle through Seungjeong system. It has been understood that due to the reform of the Seungjeong system in the early Joseon era, temples other than the 36 temples of the National Buddhist Organization were removed or had trouble of maintaining. However, the reform of Seungjeong system affected temples that belong to the system and it reduced Sawonjeon(寺院田), the duty-free land and retrieved temple slaves so other temples could subsist with private financial basis such as Shinapjeon(施納田), Sajeon (私田), and Shiju(施主). There were more than 1,650 temples in the 16th century and it is hard to estimate how many temples there were exactly. Temples were the organizations that were spread evenly in the society of Joseon and they were the main agents of rural society that served certain roles in the rural community. Unlike the general understanding that Buddhist monks were oppressed by the country, there were various types of monks in Joseon era and the national policy was different for different monks. The major reason that the nation discouraged people from becoming monks was not because they were followers of Buddhism but they were the class that did not engage in agriculture and were free from military service. So the country tried to regulate this by introducing Docheopje(度牒制), whose way of operation had little effect. It was during the rule of Myungjong that there was a big change in the policy on Buddhists. As the country mobilized monks without paying them, Docheopje became practically invalid and monks started getting absorbed in the national system maintaining their status as monks. The Buddhist circle of this time published a large number of books on Buddhism based on human and material resources, inherited the tradition of the late Goryo era and the early Joseon era, and was forming a new tradition.