북한의 불교 고문헌과 그 특성

Abstract

Since the Korean War, the information network of the premodern Buddhist documents in North Korea has been completely blocked, and therefore, nobody knew what kind of documents were kept in the country. But the present author recently discovered the List of Valuable Property of the Buddhist Temples in Joseon Korea (26 books in total, published in 1940 or thereabouts) and the Library Catalog of the Library of Kim Il-sung University (published in 1958) from the Central Library of Dongkuk University. The List of Valuable Property of the Buddhist Temples in Joseon Korea contains an inventory of property of 24 temples in the Japanese colonial period and 8 temples among them were located in today's North Korean territory. This study sorts out the premodern Buddhist documents from the list and analyzes the list of relevant documents of Kim Il-sung University to elucidate the significance and characteristics those documents have. The 8 temples in North Korean territory are temples of Yujeom, Payeop, Seongbul, Yeongmyeong, Beopheung, Bohyeon, Seokwang, and Gwiju. The documents kept in these temples and other temples annexed to them can be classified into three categories: Buddhist writings, wooden blocks, and temple histories. Most of the Buddhist writings in the list are the ones that are available in South Korea, but since the wooden blocks and temple histories are the only copies in existence, there are needs for a spot investigation in North Korea. Especially the royal writings by Kings of Joseon Korea, governmental documents, and temple history books have an important cultural significance. By securing the list of North Korean premodern Buddhist documents, this study also aims to construct a firm base of researches on the said documents, in case it became available to conduct such studies when the international political geography shifts. One day, two Koreas will have a better relationship and it would enable academic relations between them as well. Researchers from two Koreas will conduct a joint research on the premodern Buddhist documents in North Korea, and then this study could be a little help for them.