일제강점기 마산지역 일본불교의 활동과 마산포교당의 대응에 관한 고찰

Abstract

This essay focuses on the period of between 1910 and 1920, when Korea opened its ports, and uses historical documents to analyze the entrance of Japanese Buddhist into the Masan area, the establishment of the Masan Buddhist Missionary Center at Tongdosa Temple in response, and the education, cultural enrichment, and missionary activities targeting Masan area residents. This paper includes a comprehensive discussion of the composition of the Masan Buddhist Missionary Center, including Buddhist missionaries, devotees of the center, the operators of the Baedal School and Baedal Kindergarten as well as instructors and supporters, and the Masan Buddhist Committee, which forms the core of the Masan Buddhist Missionary Center. Following the opening of Korea’s ports in 1876, Japanese Buddhist practitioners began entering into Korea in significant numbers, in response to this change, mission centers were also established at Korean Buddhist temples, and they pushed forward modernizing practices such as education and missionary outreach. With the Pure Land Sect at the head at Masan Harbor, the True Pure Land Buddhism Sect, the School of Nichiren, the Orthodox School of Nichiren, the School of Shingon Buddhism, the Soto School, as well as new religions such as the Konkokyo Sect and Tenrikyo Religion all established missionary centers in the New Masan Region. Kim Gyeong-bong was invited and appointed as the main monk at the Masan Buddhist Missionary Center at Tongdosa Temple. This is where it appears Kim Gyeong-bong and Jang Ji-yeon met and shared their feelings and opinions on contemporary issues with Buddhist figures in the surrounding area. Many members of the Association for Promoting Masan Buddhism, which had collaborated with Jang Ji-yeon from early on, were active in the Shingan Association that anti-Japanese groups. Moreover, through the cooperation of the Association for Promoting Masan Buddhism, the Baedal School and Baedal Kindergarten were established at the Masan Buddhist Missionary Center, and it served as a cultural center that oversaw education and missionary activities as well as cultural projects in the area. Although the scale of the missionary center was limited, the educational and social initiatives accomplished by the missionaries and believers as well as the deeds of independence activists were not inconsequential.