사명유정(四溟惟政)의 선시(禪詩) 연구

Abstract

This paper presents an investigation into the life and poems of Samyeong Yujeong(1544-1610), who served the country as a commander of monk soldiers during Imjinwaeran, by examining his collection of poetry and prose Samyeongdangdaesajip. Samyeong led the van for Buddhism to protect the nation, serving the nation and people after the war broke out as one of the representative members of national defense Buddhism. During his time, he was assessed in two ways: first, he was regarded as a "Confucian scholar in heart and Buddhist monk in appearance," and secondly, he was depicted as a "Buddhist priest embodying Daebisim based on exemplary administration and wisdom." The former reflected the position of Confucian scholars very much. That is, he presented himself as a true Confucian scholar by serving the king, saving the nation, and working for the people. The latter believed that all these activities of his derived thoroughly from his position as a Buddhist priest, trying to understanding his achievements within the big framework of salvation for all people. These contrasting evaluations of his life indicate that he represented an aspect of Buddhist monks reacting to a national crisis during Imjinwaeran when the government implemented policies to suppress Buddhism. Most of his poetry and prose was created during the war, having something to do with his participation in the war. His poems, however, offer some clues about the way that he reflected on his life as a man that entered Buddhist priesthood and Zen priest that did not forget his status as a Buddhist priest. In his response poems to Confucian scholars, he talked about Buddhist teachings to his duty as a Buddhist monk thinking of returning to the Buddhist community even though he was currently leading a life on the battlefield. His poems especially reflected his wish to implement Yeombulgyeolsa and Hwadu Suhaeng along with the Confucian scholars that he exchanged letters with. In his poems depicting the level of his realization and Uidandokro as a method to achieve realization, he showed the Zen world by using Zen sayings in the works. These poems well depicted his family tradition of Gibong Junyeol and further exhibited his character to fit his service as a commander of monk soldiers. In other words, his poems showed that both his life as a Buddhist priest and a commander of monk soldiers moved toward the convergence of Imjegapung based on "Gibong Junyeol." These are some of characteristics of his poetry different from other poems by Buddhist monks those days that described Buddhist teachings in secret expressions. His faithful attitude toward poetry writing based on Gibong Junyeol, which allowed him to talk about Buddhist teachings confidently in his poems as a Buddhist monk, had influences on the poetry writing attitudes of Buddhist monks following him and contributed to the maintenance and inheritance of the Zen poetry form, thus holding its significance. The present study examined the two aspects of Samyeong's life and the developmental patterns of his poetry and demonstrated clearly with his poetry and prose that he was faithful to the most basic aspects of his life as a Buddhist priest unlike previous studies, which focused on his activities as a monk soldier, Confucian ideas, and poetry and prose to depict his agony as a Buddhist priest and part of the people, thus claiming its significance.