佛敎의 東進이후 民間故事 중 龍의 기능 변화 양상 고찰

Abstract

Before Buddhism was introduced in China, dragons were already imprinted on the public mind with multiple images of God's character and animal character, worship and fear. Dragons, which are divine beings formed from totem and have animal characteristics, stayed around people's lives. Therefore, the dragon was suitable to replace the Nāga of the Indian Buddhist scriptures and was translated into the dragon during the translation process. Based on this background, the dragon was anthropomorphized, and the domain of activity was extended. The anthropomorphized dragon penetrated into the minds of the general public through the story as Yongawng(龍王) and Yongnyeo(龍女). If they had a special relationship, they could enter the palace. When humans enter the Yonggung, wishes that were not fulfilled in reality were solved. The Yonggung was a place full of all kinds of treasures that resolved the deficiencies of the human world. It was also a fantasy world in the water where all kinds of injustice, corruption, and irrationality in the human world do not exist. The story of Yonggung and Yongnyeo influenced by Buddhism is based on the universal life of mankind. Stories performed cultural functions that influenced human’s personality by revealing various types of good and bad life. Therefore, the story basically unfolds in a space of extremely ordinary human beings' daily activities. The crisis set up here and the process of overcoming reflected the aesthetic and life views of people in crisis. Folktale are essentially characterized by variability because they reflect the real-life environment of the public. These features were also applied to The Yonggung and Yongnyeo stories. Therefore, they influenced the diversification of the story distance and the multipolarization of the story space in the Folktale. In addition, it was positioned as the center of the Folktale and performed a cultural function that exerts influence.