1920년대 불교계의 사회사업의 동향과 사회문제 인식

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to examine the trends and perceptions of social work in modern Korean Buddhist circles, focusing on the 1920s. The understanding of Buddhist social work was only to discover the activities of each temple and to reveal that Buddhism carried out social work during the Japanese colonial period. In addition to this understanding, this article sheds light on the factors that influenced the implementation of Buddhist social work and the perception of Buddhist social work. Korean Buddhism, which promoted socialization and popularization for civilization and reformation, insisted on social work in the 1920s, based on the rise of society and the implementation of social work of Japanese Empire, Japanese Buddhism, and Christianity. The Buddhist community insisted that religion should intervene in worldly economic difficulties and poverty. Although Christianity and Japanese Buddhism promoted the project at the denomination level, Korean Buddhism is limited to the work of individual temples. On the other hand, in order for Buddhism to proactively respond to social problems, it was necessary to break through the doctrinal level. Kim Tae-Ab(金泰洽) studied at Toyo University(東洋大學), Japan, with a focus on social work. He explored the relationship between modern society and religion through social work. He provided the basis for Korean Buddhism’s social participation, saying that salvation, which is the essence of religion, is not in the world of peon, but in realizing the ideal in reality. In addition, the theory of social solidarity, which is the theoretical basis of social work, was accepted within Buddhism’s doctrine.