에밀레종 전설의 근원과 전래

Abstract

This study aims at exploring where the legend of the Emille Bell, also called "The Bell of Sungduk the Great," came from. I argue that the origin of this legend is based on that of the Bell of Daewoon Temple(大云寺), which is located in Muwü City(武威市), Gamsuk province in China, and I elucidate the reason, historical background and motives for that. To do this, first, I examine the history and characteristics of Daewoon Temple. The Bell of Daewoon Temple was constructed during the era of Empress Mucheokcheon(武則天) of the Tang Dynasty. Considering its historical importance, this bell was constructed by combining high technology bell casting techniques and artistic elaboration. Because of these factors, this bell generated a mystique and a unique legend. Furthermore, I confirmed that this legend has a similar central structure as that of the Korean Emille Bell. And I note that local diversity could be found in many versions of this legend. The formation of the legend of the Bell of Daewoon Temple is not solely original. Based on old cultural custom ssuch as sacrificing a human body for the community or Hunjong (釁鐘：the ceremony of putting animal blood into the new bell), the early legends on the mysterious bells were composed. The partial story of the legend of the Bell of the Daewoon Temple embraces the prototypical one. And the specific historical situations and circumstances of the Tang Dynasty were added to this type of a legend, which eventually generated the legend of the Bell of the Daewoon Temple. Furthermore, I divide and examine the three processes and factors on how the legend of the Bell of Daewoon Temple was formed. Because the Bell of the Daewoon Temple showed artistic elaboration and higher metallurgical technology, it was considered as "the thing that a god made." Accordingly, it stimulated people's curiosity and imagination on how it was made. The process to make the bell was excessive, and there was in fact a child sent to the temple. This story was exaggerated by the influence of the existing legend, which led to the secret legend that the child was forcibly put into the furnace. Next, I present the following factors that can support the grounds that the legend of the Bell of Daewoon Temple influenced the Silla Dynasty on the Korean Peninsula. First, the sound of the bell is matched to "Nyang~" rather than "Emille~." Second, the Bell of the Daewoon Temple was constructed eighty years earlier than the Emille Bell. Third, around the eighth century, monks from the Silla Dynasty, who studied Buddhism and disciplined themselves according to it, frequented China. Since Muwü City of the Tang Dynasty was one of the cities most frequented by Bulgong(不空) who was a mentor as well as a fellow student of monk Hecho(혜초), and helped "Miljong" flourish, it is very possible that monks from Silla heard the legend directly. Meanwhile, along with the above, I examine three aspects for the internal factors on how the Silla Dynasty adapted this legend. First, considering that around the early eighth century, the Silla Dynasty was very interested in importing cultures and institutions from China, this kind of legend was possibly considered as a kind of information and attracted people's interests. Second, because of King Kyungduk of the Silla Dynasty the bell making industry was performed on alarge scale, various technological and also humanistic advances in bell making were transferred from China and adopted by Silla, Because of this background, it is possible that the Bell of the Daewoon Temple and its legend could have been easily accepted by people in Silla. Third, The Silla society of the eighth century had faced serious situations so that people felt isolated and alienated from the government and the dominant class, and thus, the legend of the Bell of Daewoon Temple that challenged the dominant class could easily appeal people in Silla. Judging from the above, the legend of Emille Bell is not a by-product of a beautiful imagination that originated from The Bell of Sungduk the Great, which is considered as a world masterpiece. It has been assumed that the artistic elaboration of Emille Bell and its legend were not matched. From my study, one can find the reason. However, this legend was once accepted by Korean people and it was indigenized as a Korean legend with different types and formats from the Chinese ones. It is the purpose of this study to confirm the basis to understand this point. To explore this issue is the future study topic. The fact that the legend of Emille Bell originated from that of the Bell of Daewoon Temple has more meanings in terms of the history of narrative. In a broader sense, it has an important meaning for Buddhist history as well. And also, it has more significance in the exchange history of Silk Road, which I emphasize in the last.