재회에서 시왕의 기능과 의미

Abstract

Jaehoe is mainly composed of three parts, the top, medium, and bottom. Among them, Siwang on the medium plays central roles conforming to the purpose of Jaehoe. This is because with the function to judge good or evil and realize retributive justice, either the living or the dead repent of Sipbulseoneup (十不善業) and actualize the Land of Perfect Bliss (淨土世界) being freed from the pain of samsara. The purpose of this study is to examine the functions and meanings of Siwang having central roles in Jaehoe. First of all, based on the process that the ritual of Siwang was formed, this author investigated the origin of performing Jaehoe. According to 『Jebanmun』 published in the 16th century, the ritual of Siwang is found to be an independent Jaecha. We can see that the origin of performing Yesujae, Yeongsanjae, Gakbaejae, and Sasipgujae having this Jaecha as the ritual of Jungdan came after the publication of 『Jebanmun』. About the origin of performance, Goryeo is generally supported, but it is impossible to find any ground of literatures or ritual documents for that. In Jaehoe, Siwang commonly has roles as a judge to decide Samse’s good or evil. The name of Jaehoe is decided by the functions and meanings of Siwang’s roles. When Siwang is for the living, it is referred to as Yesujae, and when it is done for the dead, it falls into Yeongsanjae, Gakbaejae, or Sasipgujae. Here, we can find the difference in functions and meanings that Siwang is equipped with by the types of Jaehoe. In Yesujae, it functions as the acceptance of Myeongbujeon (冥府錢) that the living offer to pay the debt of the past life and has a meaning of proving the practice of Subok (修福). Making a premise that Siwang has functions as a judge in Jaehoe for the dead about the repentance of Sipak (十惡), we can also find the difference in functions and meanings according to the types of Jaehoe. Sasipgujae has a selective function to allow the dead staying in Jungeumgye (中陰界) to be judged by the proper Daewang about the sin and repent. Gakbaejae has its selective function to console the dead being freed from Jungeum specifically like Baekiljae, Sosangjae, or Daesangjae, a universal function to target a small group of Yujeong as in Cheondojae, and also a universal function to comfort many and unspecified dead people like Yeongsanjae. With these functions, we can see that the dead gain peace after death while Siju obtains personal and family’s well-being.