화엄대회를 통해 본 조선불교사 재고

Abstract

The Hwaeom rallies prevalent around middle and late Chosun originated after the nirvana of Seosan, whose pupils respected his dying wishes and moved their dwelling from Mt. Myohyang to Daedun Buddhist Temple. Cheongryeon held grand Buddhist ceremonies from the winter of 1607 to January 23, 1608 and a huge Buddhist service for the deceased on the last anniversary of his death. Since then, grand Buddhist ceremonies were held at Daedun Buddhist Temple and expanded to other Buddhist temples around such as Songgwang and Seonam Buddhist Temple. Daedunsaji recorded "Of Seosan's pupils, Soyo and Pyeonyang most prospered. As a result, the Munho made huge development for the following couple of hundreds of years...The 12 Jongsas all graduated from Seosan's teaching and continued Hwaeom rallies in succession."There were Hwaeom rallies of particularly large size such as Hwanseong's Hwaeom rally held at Geumsan Buddhist Temple of Gimje in 1725 and Sangwol's Hwaeom rally held at Seonam Buddhist Temple in 1754, both of which attracted more than 1,000participants. During Chosun, the Buddhist community was faced with three tasks; first, the issues of Seon and Gyo, which used to be separate during Goryeo, were forced into reconciliation during Chosun when Buddhist sects were integrated by force; secondly, the qualifications of those who entered Buddhist priesthood were problematic; and finally, the Buddhist community needed to reconcile with Confucianism to protect Buddha's teaching from exclusion. Hwaeom rallies were held to solve those problems and continued through more than 30 occasions. Hwaeom rallies functioned as an irregular training session and took a special form of current auditorium. They are in fact the origin of Hwaeom Sanrim, which is often held at many Buddhist temples these days. Hwaeom rallies contributed to the greater substance of Seon and Gyohak, which were deteriorated those days. Then the Shimseong controversy between Mukam and Yeondam followed along with the Sagi era of Inak and Yeondam, which was proven by the Sammun instructions that appeared later. Likened to the blind, Seon and Gyohak managed to be established right, which contributed to the atmosphere of the Sammun instructions along with Buddhist prayers. Those findings raise a need to consider Buddhism during Chosun in terms of the 'period to guard Buddha's teachings' instead of Sanseung Buddhism. Specifically, 219 years from 1607 to 1826 when Hwaeom rallies were held was defined as the period when both 'Seon and Gyo' were cultivated with the period right before and after the period defined as the period of transition and decline,respectively. Being held consistently, Hwaeom rallies helped Buddhism maintain its subjecthood and inherit the life of Buddha during middle and late Chosun despite the hardship caused by the policies to suppress Buddhism.