불교음악의 기원과 전개

Abstract

It is important to combine the methodology of Buddhist studies and musical studies in order to make substantial academic contribution in the field of Buddhist ceremonial music. However, scholars of Korean music tend to confine their research mostly to musical scale and musical mode and key of Buddhist chants. Scholars of Korean Buddhism, on the other hand, do not attempt to integrate music within their research. Study of Korean Buddhist music, therefore, remains a well-kept secret. In this paper the author begins with the question "What is Buddhist music?", and proceed to explain the process of its origin in India, development in the Mahayanic world of China and its further growth in Korea. The ancient Sanskrit text of Rigveda constitutes recited hymns (richa) which used Sanskrit metric pattern. The aryans regarded "sound' as a spatial element amongst five great elements of the universe. They also believed that sound served as a means to unite self with the universe or cosmosand was central to the quest for the spirit of atma. Such an understanding of sound led to the development of sabda vidya, one of the essential courses that a brahman took during the course of his study in traditional India. Unlike the Brahman's emphasis on Sabdavidya which recognized the power of sound, the Buddhist monastic community which collectively recited Buddhist scriptures on the basis of the thought of the Middle Path and the Vinaya, made a substantial modification in the existing Sanskrit-based prototype. The world of Mahayana Buddhism in China developed elaborate rituals. The lay followers received Buddhist precepts through rituals which also gave them a sense of Belonging and cohesion. Music played a very important role in this process. Ennin 圓仁, a Japanese monks has left behind his diary of travel in Tang 唐 dynasty China in which we find an interesting record about the Buddhist rituals of the immigrant Silla 新羅 community in tang China. In the Silla community's temple Pŏphwa Temple 法花院 of Shandong province 山東省, monks and laymen and women sang Buddhist chants together. It is the same as Buddhiust chants today in China and Taiwan. However, due to the persecution of Buddhism during the Chosŏn 朝鮮 dynasty, Temple ordinance issued during the colonial period and temple disputes that arose after Korea's liberation in 1945, common lay followers became cut off from the tradition of Buddhist chants. Buddhist chants was now confined solely to specialized Buddhist monks who sang them during rituals. The government designated Buddhist chant as an intangible national property in 1970 in order to revive this dying tradition, and as a result the cultural world of Korea was awakened to its significance. Nonetheless, this restorationist campaign is causing the loss of the religious character of Buddhist chants. Buddhist chants have become like an antique of the museum, and common people do not understand its essence or true significance. In other words, Buddhist chant is not playing the role of a living ritual music. Buddhist chant is not identiacal with popular songs, because unlike the latter which gives joy of the senses, the former (Buddhist chants) uses music as an instrument to effectively perform the task of disseminating the words of the Buddha or praying to the Buddha. it is obvious that the contemporary Buddhist rituals of Yŏngsanjae 靈山齋, a kind of memorial rite and Koje 古制 in which lay followers do not participate, do not truly uphold the original ideal and objective of Buddhism and is far-removed from the original spirit of the "salvation of the sentient beings" which underpinned them.