한국·중국·대만 전승 「금우태자전(金牛太子傳)」 비교 연구

Abstract

Seokgayeoraeshipjisuhaenggi has attracted attention in that it shows both the patterns of a Buddhist scripture turning into a literary work and the achievements of Buddhist speak-sing literature's evolution into Bianwen novels. In particular, its seventh Ji Geumwootaejajeon has been considered to boast the highest level of achievement as a novel. However, its researches have been in stalemate as its origin scripture or original work has not been discovered. This study set out to introduce Bulseohyosunjasuhaengseongbulgyeong of China and Geumwootaejagwonbuwangguiui of Taiwan, two literature materials with the same type as Geumwootaejajeon, and compared it with them in terms of narration and style characteristics. As a result, the Korean material had closer similarity to the Chinese one than the Taiwanese one. The Korean material was a high-grade Bianwen work with an organic interface between verse and prose as well as proper harmony among narration, conversation, and depiction. The Taiwanese one did not show a high level of literary achievement, focusing on brief narrations. The Chinese one was a Wigyeong work with strong speak-sing elements in that its narrative progressed around conversations and lines. In addition, the study estimated based on the publication year, the content and nature of the collection, and the excavation area that Bulseohyosunjasuhaengseongbulgyeong of China was created first and that the Korean and Taiwanese ones were published later under the direct and indirect influence of the Chinese one. The study will trigger more researches on the original work or origin scripture of Geumwootaejajeon and more advanced works on the creation and writing process of Seokgayeoraeshipjisuhaenggi. Such research efforts will build a foundation for figuring out influential relations among the Buddhist scriptures, speak-sing literature, Bianwen, and early novels in the history of Korean narrative literature.