唐末五代變革期 선종의 흥기배경

Abstract

In the late Tang and the Five Dynasties periods, China faced large-scale transitions throughout the entire area including politics, economy, and society. As for Buddhism, even persecution came during the reign of Emperor Wuzong in the Tang Dynasty. As a result, various Buddhist sects declined while Zen developed many schools and became prosperous. Throughout the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period and even after the Song Dynasty, Chinese people considered Zen as Buddhism itself even though there were other numerous Buddhist sects. A significant change in quality, thus, had occurred from dogmatic and aristocratic to practical and popular Buddhism. Among various schools of Zen, the Linji school which emphasized Patriarchal Zen became mainstream. This was possible through the efforts of Linji Yixuan, the founder of the Linji School. In the late Tang, he went to Hebei, north of Yellow River, to avoid severe persecution by Emperor Wuzong. At that time, the area voiced opposition against the Tang Dynasty. It had sufficient economic bases and its main products came from agriculture. Based on its economic power, Hebei area became more and more independent from the central government, so it didn't mind central orders. Warriors and powerful clans acted as authorities, and it was they who offered protection for Linji Yixuan to establish the Linji school. Due to the persecution, monks should face the reality of daily life as lay persons while dealing with the challenge to revive Buddhism. To make a breakthrough in resolving this dilemma, not only Linji but other Zen teachers made every possible effort based on positive acknowledgement of the reality they faced, and through their efforts as follows, Zen was able to become the most popular Buddhism in China. The words of the classical masters were collected in the texts to play a role as Sutras and the books of Zen monastic regulations were made to provide strict practices to monks who lived a life which didn't differentiate them from lay persons. Also, the development of a temple in which monks all performed mundane tasks made it possible for Zen teachers to deepen their thought and establish their own schools. This kind of self-sufficient temples acted as a stronghold for Zen at the beginning until it found strong financial supports from the authorities. Likewise, Zen was established by eliminating the difference between monks and lay persons, abolishing the prohibition against mundane activities, and by accepting Chinese cultural thoughts as well as everyday life of Chinese people. In other words, Zen was not the denial of Indian Buddhism, but the result of natural adaptation of Indian Buddhism to Chinese life, which in return, led to the blooming prosperity of Zen in China.