수륙재의 과거와 현재, 그리고 미래

Abstract

This paper considers the past, present, and future of Suryukjae (水陸齋, The offering ritual for land and water). It has two kinds of perspectives on the establishment and development of Suryukjae. The first is to explain the establishment focusing on its semantic aspects, and the second revolves around the establishment and transformation of its ritual orations handed down to the present Suryukjae has a strong character as a national ritual concerning its status in the past. The state and the royal court mainly held Suryukjae, such as those held by Emperor Wu of Liang known as the origin of Suryukjae and so on. But the common people also held Suryukjae to build merit. Its nature as a royal ritual is found in Siryeon(侍輦, the rite of serving a sedan chair) for the immortal and the divine spirits(仙靈). The current Suryukjae shows that it has few aspects of its offering ritual ceremony due to the generalization of rituals with its setup reduced, and its ritual orations have not been published since the 19th century. Currently, except for National Important Intangible Cultural Property, Suryukjae is performed in a variety of forms, such as we name the general ritual ceremony as Suryukjae, dualizing ceremony organizers, and setting up the altar-setting as if the interior of Dharma Hall is moved to the outdoors. For the future of Suryukjae, we should revive the meaning of the ritual banquet for both living beings and the spirits of the deceased, allow monks and disciples from inside and outside to participate in the ritual, and make participants understand its contents. At the same time as pursuing the achievement of its original purpose, we should keep in mind so that its traditional cultural elements may not disappear.