화과원의 역사와 성격

Abstract

This paper is to arrange the historical contents of Hwagwawon, which is located in Mt. Baekunsan, Hamyang, Gyeongnam, including its characteristics and identity. Hwagwawon is a historic site where we can find the traces of Baek Yong-seong (1864∼1940), of a priest of virtue in modern times, covering his attempt for renewing Buddhism, hardships and writings, Seonnong Buddhism and the racial movement. In the place where Baek Yong-seong established a branch of Deagakgyo to renovate the Buddhism, there were Gwasuwon and Seonwon. As a result, a number of ascetics and farmers lived together at this place. Before the Korean War, Gwasuwon and Seonwon were maintained, however, they were demolished during the war. From the 1970s, the descendents of Baek Yong-seong tried to restore Hwagwawon. Therefore, the function of temple was recovered as a sanctuary was completed. Nevertheless, there were not enough analysis on the existence and characteristics of Hwagwawon in the existing researches. Most of them were approaching from the microscopic point of view. However, it drew people’s attention as the materials of Hwagwawon were excavated, and Hamyang-gun was trying to designate it as a national historic site. Therefore, I tried to research on the facts about Hwagwawon based on Six Ws. Through this, I introduced the historicity and identity of Hwagwawon briefly. The ideas included in the history of Hwagwawon were People’s Buddhism, Innovative Buddhism and Productive Buddhism. Based on this premise, its identity includes that it was an object where Baek Yong-seong’s idea is concentrated, the place where Innovative Buddhism was realized, a base for the humanities, and a foundation for the national movement. I hope that this paper would help to make people understand the life and ideology of Baek Yong-seong and Hwagwawon.