임진전쟁기 명군 참전에 의한 관우 신앙의 유입과 민속종교화 과정 －16~18세기를 중심으로－

Abstract

In this article, it is believed that the belief in Guan Yu was introduced with the participation of the Ming troops during the Imjin War in the Joseon Dynasty, and the background, the process of accepting the national ritual system, and furthermore, the process of maintaining control beliefs in the private sector are to be identified. Since the period focuses on the mid-to-late 16th century and the 18th century before and after the Imjin War, the process of the pre-generalization of the Guan Yu's faith as a folk religion in the private sector is mainly discussed. In China, Guan Yu is talked about as a representative sacred being along with Confucius. Guan Yu has been deified as a person with various legal powers, such as overseeing fate and restoration and taking charge of the list as well as being a god of war. During the Imjin War, a total of four places were established in the Ming Dynasty alone due to demands for the construction of a Guanwangmyo. At that time, it seems that King Seonjo was well aware of Guan Yu's heroic story and interested in the military aspect of Guan Yu in that he read 『Romance of the Three Kingdoms』 before the Imjin War. In addition, it cannot be ruled out that King Seonjo did not view the Guan Yu's faith only with a completely negative view because he was interested in human good fortune or fate at the time. Above all, it is presumed that King Seonjo used the Guan Yu's faith as a policy as part of his public policy during the crisis of the Imjin War. Even before the establishment of the Guanwangmyo, Guan Yu's loyalty was widely known in Joseon due to the popularity of 『Romance of the Three Kingdoms』. With the establishment of a royal tomb in a social background, such as the news of Guan Yu's victory with the help of a spiritual soldier, Guan Yu's deification took place in the private sector. It is presumed that Guan Yu-related tales as heroes spread to the private sector during the war, transforming from a character in the novel into a god of folk religion. After King Seonjo's reign, from King Sukjong to Yeongjo to Jeongjo, the Guanwangmyo‘s rites are elevated from a small-scale national ritual to a medium-scale national ritual. This was intended to link Guan Yu's loyalty to the strengthening of royal authority. Following King Sukjong's efforts to reorganize the king-centered political order by increasing loyalty, it is understood that it was not irrelevant to the trend of King Yeongjo and Jeongjo seeking a king-centered political order for political stability in the early days of his accession. In that context, it seems that it was after King Sukjong that the Guan Yu faith penetrated deeper into the private sector. The more sacred the state established the Guanwangmyo as a sacred place, the more sacred folk religion presidents and believers would have considered it to be to preach the king or perform religious rituals there. The significance of this study is that, unlike the previous tendency to recognize Guan Yu only as a folk religion, it focuses on the social issue of the Imjin War and the background of being naturally accepted by folk religions as it was revered as a national ritual after the construction of the sacred religious space called the Guanwangmyo.