고려 말, 조선 초의 三聖信仰 연구

Abstract

This article examines the god/goddess called Sam-Sung, means Three Saints, which was believed in the late Koryeo and early Chosen Dynasty. For this, I accumulated the relevant historical materials on Samseong’s faith, and studied on acception, vicissitudes and the substance of Samseong’s identity. Samseong is a three-banded goddess, centering around Matzu whose faith was began in the Fújiàn coast province in Southern Sòng Dynasty in China. At first, the distribution of faith was limited to the region of the Fújiàn coast province, and the role of goddess was related to the survival of the locals, such as rain, disease, and recovery. However, due to the special nature of the coastal area, they had functions related to the sea. But when transportation of grains from south China to north China was very important in Yuan dynasty, the role of Matzu is greatly enhanced, and the worship of Matze was spread throughout the whole China. Furthermore, Matzu was not also received titles and rank of nobility, but also included in the national sacrifice systems. The Samseong faith centering on Mazhu was also spread to Koryeo dynasty during the reign of King Chunyeol in the 13th century. It was because of the passage of rice transport between Koryeo and Yuan dynasty. So Koryeo need god or goddess of navigation protection. In particular, King Chungyeol and the queen Jaekuk, a wife of King Chungyeol were actively engaged in the acceptance of Samseong faith, because they engaged in trade with China to pursue private interests. In results, the Samseong-dang Shrine was built in Pungduk County, mouth of Hangang River near to the Yellow Sea. Furthermore, the Samseong was included in the state sacrifice system as Yuan dynasty, and private rituals of royal family were held Samseong Shrine. However, due to the weakening of the maritime activities because of the Japanese raiders, Samseong loses its safty related functions, such as keeping the voyage. In result, Samseong, has been transformed into a deity responsible for rain, medicine, and recovery, and Samseong continues to survive the Chosen Dynasty. Not only did it form a part of the state sacrifice system, but it also became a subject for private rituals of royal family, and it addressed Samseong to all sorts of difficulties, including epidemics and droughts. As a result, the social demand of Samseong shamans were considerable, so they must paid coppers and horse to state, resulting in allocation of quotas equivalent to 3~4th rank of bureaucrats. However, Chosen dynasty was the Confucian kingdom. So the faith which had no basis on Confucianism and similar to shamanistic traditions, such as Samseong worship, it was impossible to continue to serve as a national ancestral shrine. As a result, Samseong becomes difficult to find in historical materials of the 16th century, However, it is difficult to find out when Samseong faith was excluded from the state sacrifice system, and when it was abolished, because of insufficiency of related documents.