만해 한용운의 『님의 침묵』에 나타난 기독교적 요소 -하나의 시론

Abstract

Han Young Un(1879-1944) was a Korean Buddhist monk, a patriot, and a political activist who was deeply involved in the struggle against Japanese imperialism. Has was also a very signigicant man of letters in Twentieth century Korean history and Korean Literature. The objective of this essay is to consider what new meanings and ramifications emerge when we apply a Christian framework to Han's only book of poetry, Meditations of the Lover which was conventionally read within a Buddhist context. While the undercurrent of Buddhist thought has been a fixed critical evaluation about Han's poetry until now, I diverge from this critique and propose a different way of reading Han's Meditations of the Lover and contend that Han's poems seemingly invite a Christian reading. The title poem of Meditations of the Lover functions as the mainstay to the rest of the poems in terms of structure and theme. The final part of the title poem manifests four stages of human salvation from parting through sadness and hope to reunion. The four stages in the first poem demonstrate a structural similarity to those of the Christian pilgrimage from Jesus's death(departure) to his second coming(reunion). The four words such as "parting", "heartbreak(tears)", "hope", and "meeting again" correspond to these four stages of separation, sorrow, hope, and joy(reunion) in Christian terms. At the end of the first poem, we can also find three key words, such as "faith", "hope", and "love" which often appears in the Bible. Many of Han's poems seem to "meditate" on Christian themes. I have read Han's poems from the Christian perspective and examined how Han deals with such "Christian" themes as suffering, love, paradise, etc with the aim of opening the meaning of Meditations of the Lover to various possibilities of interpretation in the Christian context. In so doing, I hope to move Han's poetry beyond the limits of Buddhism and foreground its universality into the World Literature. In this essay, I have tried to elucidate the doctrinal relationship between Buddhism and Christianity in terms of comparative religion. What needs to follow is a comparative research on the Western influence on Han Young Un's poetry using a comparative methodology: for example, one could make comparisons between Tagore and Han Yong Un or with T. S. Eliot, etc. A concerted effort is necessary to bring much deserved and belated attention to Han's writings.