한․중 속담에 나타난 불보살(佛菩薩)에 대한인식 비교 고찰

Abstract

This study aims to compare the awareness of Fopusa(佛菩薩), or the Buddha and the Bodhisattva through Korean and Chinese proverbs. Fopusa(佛菩薩) refers to both the Buddha and the Bodhisattva, and proverbs used as the subject of this study that included the Buddha and the Bodhisattva were over 50 Korean proverbs and over 170 Chinese proverbs. First, it looked into what kind of the Buddha and the Bodhisattva were there appeared in Korean and Chinese proverbs, focusing on titles used in proverbs. Since Buddhism came to Korea via China, most of Buddhist terminologies used in Korea was either borrowed or translated from the Chinese language, thus sharing almost the same meanings. The difference lied in the fact that the Chinese word referring to the Buddha, or “佛陀’(Fótuó)” became a uniquely Korean word, “부처(Bucheo)” in Korea, while the word referring to the Bodhisattva had different meanings in Korea and China. Next is to compare the awareness of the Buddha and the Bodhisattva. The awareness of the term “Bodhisattv” were different in Korea and China, therefore such difference was reflected in proverbs. In Korea, a Bodhisattva can also mean a faithful female Buddhist, or at times a female shaman, but there’s no such thing in China. In China, on the contrary, the Bodhisattva means the Buddha in a broader sense and the Buddha is often referred as the Bodhisattva. In Korea such meanings are rare. Also in Korea, to call a person with a good and generous heart the term Buddha is used as a figure of speech but in China it is the Bodhisattva that is used in a similar way. In addition, this study confirmed the difference between the awareness of the Korean Buddha and the Bodhisattva and the Chinese Buddha and the Bodhisattva, through proverbs featuring the Korea’s stone Buddha and the China's gold Buddha, attitude toward the Buddha and the Bodhisattva, incense prayers(燒香) and attaining Buddhahood(成佛).