한·중 속담에 나타난 ‘중’의 형상 비교 연구 (1)

Abstract

This manuscript is a comparative study of ‘Monk’ images that appear commonly in Korean and Chinese proverbs. There are many images of ‘monks’ such as ‘those living an idle life’․‘disciplinants’ ․‘those who are not worldly and yet are not monks’ and while there are differences in the amount they appear, they are all in proverbs of Korea and China. There are hardly any Korean proverbs that have a positive perspective towards ‘monks’ and most are mainly proverbs which reflect a negative perspective. This is because proverbs which reflect a positive perspective towards ‘monks’ either disappeared through the 500 year tunnel of the Joseon Dynasty where policies of Buddhism oppression were continuously enforced or because they were acculturated by contemporary reality. On the other hand, there are many Chinese proverbs that show a positive perspective regarding ‘monks’ and this refers to the power of Buddha which lies behind that positive perspective towards ‘monks’ rather than the perspective itself and there is a great possibility that it originates from the realistic thinking of Chinese people that Buddha will hear their wishes and bring them happiness. However, generally, there are many more proverbs which display a negative perspective regarding ‘monks’, whether they are Korean proverbs or Chinese proverbs. This is because the policies of Buddhism oppression that continued on for 500 years during the Joseon Dynasty in Korea, the Buddhism regulation of Myung(明), and the Buddhism control policies of Chung(淸) greatly influenced the formation and acculturation and circulation of proverbs. However, as much as national policy, there is great fault in those who have been with the people a long time as people who are not worldly and yet are not monks who are not worthy as ‘monk’ disciplinants. Moreover, of monks of the pre-modern period, the number of pseudo-monks who could be considered to be unworldly and yet not monks outnumbered those monks who truly devoted themselves to Buddhism. The coarse image of those pseudo-monks who were not worthy to be considered monks slowly spread the negative perspective of ‘monks’ and numerous proverbs that talked of such figures were created and spread.