안락국전의 통속성 연구

Abstract

This study is to discuss the vulgarity of Anrakgukjun(안락국전) known as the later version of Anrakguktaejagyung(안락국태자경), one of the earliest Buddhist narratives. Until now, those texts were only used as the cases exemplified the evolution from the Buddhist folktales to the classical novels. But, I think, the evolution is not a reasonable term to explain the relationship between the two narratives. From this point of view, I supposed that the differences between the two narratives should be regarded as the vulgarization. In Anrakgukjun, it appears certain changes to make common readers, not only the Buddhist, understandable. I examined the changes, the secularization, the intensification of conflict between the good and the evil, the inducement of emotic reaction, in chapter 2. As the result of those changes, it happened the weakning or extinction of Transmigrationism, the most important thought of Anrakguktaejagyung. I asserted that the two narratives have another function to encourage good and punish evil, there is a difficulty to sure what is the good and what is the evil as the weakning or extinction of Transmigrationism. The vulgarization of Anrakgukjun enabled common people to read novels, imaginarily idendifying the good with themselves. The vulgar novels relieved common people from fear of reality indirectly, not like the religious novel directly.