신라 성덕대왕신종의 명문(銘文) 연구– ‘사상성(思想性)’ 탐색을 겸하여

Abstract

Seongdeokdaewang-Shinjong, the 29th National Treasure, is highly valuable as a study material in various aspects including the histories of ideology, Buddhism, politics, art-craft, Chinese character study, calligraphy, epigraphy and so on of the mid-time of Shinra. Compared with the people’s interest in the Shinjong, however, the studies on the words carved on it have not been yet deepened. Such studies have not been yet overcoming the phase of decoding and translation of the words. Today, it is required to analyze and study the words systematically. This article starts with such critical mind. That is why the subtitle of this article is Research on the Background of Thoughts considering that this study must be followed by its 2nd study. This study has totally reviewed the decoding and annotation works that have been done so far. Byeonryeomun (騈儷文: a writing style of Chinese character) has been also studied on its written patterns. As a result, approximately 20 problems have been found and corrected. Especially, such key phrases as ‘工匠畫模’ and ‘日月僣暉’ have been translated in a new way to spotlight the importance of translation of the carved words. The words carved on the Shinjong are highly valuable to study in the aspect of ideology history. The words fully show not only Buddhist thoughts, Confucian thoughts and Taoist thoughts but also Korea’s own unique thoughts, which are all melted in the words without any obstacle to each other. In general, they are highly philosophical words. The words are unique especially in the aspect: They give a meaning to the Shinjong based on the keyword Won-Gong (圓空: circle and empty) and suggest the key point of Buddhist thoughts and governing philosophy altogether. That is, they imply that King Seongdeok’s political ideology and governing principle are connected to Pungryudo (風流道), Korea’s own unique philosophy. This implication is key evidence that makes it possible to trace the context of transmission of Pungryudo. You should not miss also the phrases implying that there was a big argument between reform group based on Confucian thoughts and conservative group based on Korea’s own unique thoughts.