조선시대 불교정책의 실제: 승정체제, 사찰, 승도에 대한 정책의 성격과 변천

Abstract

In accordance with its Confucian ideology, the state is known to have oppressed Buddhism during the Joseon Dynasty 朝鮮 王朝 (1392-1910). The narrative that Confucianism was elevated whereas Buddhism was suppressed has become general as the concept of “reverence for Confucianism and rejection of Buddhism” 崇儒 抑佛 (sung’yu eokbul), and this has come to be established as a statement explaining the period. Consequently, appreciation for and rejection of Buddhism has become an influential idea that is relied on when analyzing materials produced in this era and interpreting the politics and social reality of the age. However, positivistic studies on Buddhism-related policies and Buddhist circles during the dynasty have been deficient, and research on Buddhism-related clauses in legal codes from this epoch likewise was begun only recently. In order to understand the laws of a particular nation or period properly, contemporary sociopolitical reality, aims and nature of policies, and efficacy and limitations of laws must be taken into consideration in a multifaceted manner based on fundamental research on the nature of legal codes as well as the goals and objects of laws. Consequently, the understanding of Buddhism-related policies during the Joseon Dynasty cannot but affect the analysis of Buddhism-related laws from the same era. According to the fruits of recent research, previous studies on and understanding of Buddhism-related policies of the Joseon Dynasty are problematic in many ways. These problems include: a failure concretely to analyze the aims and objects of policies; the generalization of changes in policies instead of analyzing them per age; a failure carefully to take into consideration the nature of and changes in Korean politics and society during this period; both historical materials and contemporary reality have been interpreted in a fragmentary manner based on the dichotomous concept of “reverence for Confucianism and rejection of Buddhism.” Through diverse materials, it can be confirmed that the state’s policies on Buddhist, reality faced by Buddhist circles, and changes to both during this epoch were not so simple. Nevertheless, research hitherto has failed to free itself from the interpretive frameworks of the confrontation between Confucianism and Buddhism and the state’s oppression of Buddhism. However, Joseon’s Buddhism-related policies constitute a research topic that not only is linked closely to the nature of Korean politics and society at the time but also requires comparisons with other East Asian countries in the early modern era. The present study therefore criticized existing research tendencies and attempted to shed light on the reality of the aims of Buddhism-related policies during the Joseon Dynasty by discussing these policies in terms of their concrete objects: the abbot 僧政 (seungjeong) system, temples 寺刹 (sachal), and priests 僧徒 (seungdo). One of the major misunderstandings of Joseon’s policies on Buddhism is that the government’s abolishment and merger of Buddhist orders during the reigns of Kings Taejong 太宗 and Sejong 世宗, early in the history of the dynasty, have been generalized into and understood as state oppression of Buddhism and Buddhist circles overall. In fact, the abolishment and merger of Buddhist orders implemented under the reigns of these monarchs were reforms of the abbot system, which was a part of the state’s governing system. Indeed, the state and Buddhist circles were strongly tied through the implementation of state examinations for the selection of Buddhist priests 僧科 (seunggwa), conferment of government posts on Buddhist priests 僧職 (seungjik), and provision of lands to Buddhist temples 寺院田 (sawonjeon). The reform measure taken in the early stage of the dynasty aimed at greatly reducing Buddhism’s roles within the state’s ruling system and privileged position and support for the religion. Consequently, it is clear that the relationship between the state and Buddhist circles became lax and the latter fell in status. Nevertheless, it is also a clear fact that the abbot system was maintained as a part of the governing system until the abolishment of the two Buddhist denominations of the Zen School 禪宗 (Seonjong) and the Doctrinal or Textual School 敎宗 (Gyojong) due to reasons such as Prince Yeonsan’s 燕山君 despotic rule. However, measures taken during the early Joseon Dynasty such as the abolishment and merger of Buddhist orders hitherto have been commonly perceived as the state’s ideological persecution of Buddhism and Buddhist circles, and the fact that the two Buddhist denominations, state examinations for the selection of Buddhist priests, and government posts bestowed on Buddhist priests were maintained until the 15th century has been overlooked. Centering on the two denominations of Buddhism, this abbot system was completely abolished during the reign of King Jungjong 中宗, revived during the reign of King Myeongjong 明宗, and once again abolished after 15 years of implementation. However, Buddhist monks’ militias 僧軍 (seunggun) were mobilized due to the Japanese Invasions of Korea 壬辰 倭亂 (Imjin Waeran; 1592-1598). With this as the impetus, a kind of an abbot system, with supreme patriarchs 都摠攝 (dochongseop) at the top of the hierarchy, came to be implemented. This system was maintained despite some changes but seems to have been greatly weakened from the mid-18th century. Thus mediated by the abbot system, the relationship between the state and Buddhist circles lasted and changed during the bulk of the Joseon Dynasty. Consequently, closer reviews of this system in relation to the nature of the kingdom’s national system are necessary. The direct objects of Joseon’s Buddhism-related policies were Buddhist temples and priests. However, government policies on temples and priests, too, have been greatly misunderstood due to misconceptions of the abolishment and merger of Buddhist orders during the reigns of Kings Taejong and Sejong. Although common knowledge is that all Buddhist temples except for 36 were demolished and many priests were made to return to secular life as a result of state policies on Buddhism during the early Joseon Dynasty, this, if fact, is erroneous. The state only limited the number of Buddhist temples belonging to the abbot system to 36 and did not grant financial privileges to other temples; it did not directly demolish temples. Temples thus excluded from the government’s financial support could still be maintained through other economic bases; only those unable to accomplish this fell behind. The temples belonging to the abbot system and the amount of land provided to them by the state during the 15th century can be confirmed in “Geography Section” in the Annals of King Sejong 世宗 實錄 地理志 (Sejong Sillok Jiriji). Representative temples in counties and prefectures 郡縣 (gunhyeon) across the nation that continued to exist even after the abolishment of the Zen and Doctrinal Schools can be ascertained in the Newly Revised Edition of the Augmented Survey of the Geography of Korea 新增 東國 輿地 勝覽 (Sinjeung Dongguk Yeoji Seungnam), with their number amounting to over 1,650. Because the maintenance of temples required considerable human and material resources, the Goryeo Dynasty 高麗 王朝 (918-1392), too, witnessed the dilapidation of temples for various reasons. In the early years of the Joseon Dynasty, many temples seem to have turned into ruins due to the state’s reduction of support. In most cases, however, temples dramatically became derelict due to wars. During the Joseon Dynasty, the Japanese Invasions of Korea likewise seem to have led to a great decrease in the number of temples and a considerable reduction in the scale of Buddhist circles. As with Buddhist temple, high-ranking priests belonging to the abbot system were hard hit by the state’s Buddhist-related policies in the early stage of the Joseon Dynasty. The reduction of the abbot system led to a significant decrease in the number of government posts endowed on Buddhist priests, and this clearly weakened priests’ privileged status to a considerable extent. Nevertheless, until the 15th century, not only did such government posts continue to be granted to priests but also the ordination certificate 度牒 (docheop) system was maintained officially. Ordination certificates were documents that not only demonstrated state recognition of Buddhist monks’ status but also guaranteed these men’s exemption from military service. In fact, the state sought to limit increase in the number of Buddhist priests through policies because this population group did not perform military service. In the early stage of the dynasty, there were a vast number of priests not issued with ordination certificates, and these men did not perform military service, either. Though the government strove to regulate such men’s performance of state-imposed obligations through the ordination certificate system, the measure does not seem to have been effective in reality. Many Buddhist priests seem to have existed even during the 16th century, after the abolishment of the ordination certificate system. It was during the reign of King Myeongjong that the state began to mobilize priests without issuing ordination certificates in return. Monks continued to be mobilized for the government’s construction projects, with the Japanese Invasions of Korea as the occasion. During the mid-17th century, Buddhist priests came to be recorded on household registers 戶籍 (hojeok) as priests. Nevertheless, state-imposed duties were lighter for priests than for ordinary commoners. The situation was reversed with the implementation of the Equalized Tax Law 均役法 (Gyunyeokbeop) during the mid-18th century, however, so that monks now had a greater burden than did the populace. This served as a cause of a great drop in the number of individuals renouncing secular for priesthood. Such a decrease in the number of priests ultimately seems to have been a major cause of a fall in the number of Buddhist temples due to dilapidation starting in the mid-18th century. As has been examined above, Buddhism-related policies during the Joseon Dynasty hitherto have been interpreted based on erroneous knowledge to a considerable extent. Policies on Buddhism were implemented according to practical goals and needs based on the kingdom’s ideological orientation and changed as a result of political and social shifts. However, previous research has substituted all policies with the orientation of “reverence for Confucianism and rejection of Buddhism,” interpreting them piecemeal. Such interpretation methods, in fact, do not seem free from the influence of the Western and modern/contemporary concept of “one religion per nation” or “one ideology per nation.” The interrelationships among ideologies such as Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism and the relationships between the state and these philosophies in early modern East Asian countries including Joseon are topics that demand more meticulous reviews and in-depth discussions. It is therefore necessary to deepen research on Joseon’s policies on Buddhism not from the perspective of how the state suppressed Buddhism but from that of how Buddhist circles actually existed in Korean society.