재단법인 朝鮮佛敎中央敎務院의 자산 운영과 한계

Abstract

This study elucidates how Korean Buddhism coped with constitutional changes in the modern period by analyzing the financial structure and management of the Central Administrative Headquarters of the Joseon Buddhism Foundation established in 1922. In the early 1920s, Buddhist society was divided into two groups: the reformist Chongmuwon(總務院) and conservative Kyomuwon(敎務院). After experiencing a serious feud between those two groups, Buddhist society established a united foundation of the Central Administrative Headquarters of the Joseon Buddhism Foundation in 1924 and begun to perform a centralized project. The basic property of the Joseon Buddhism Foundation consisted of first class assets and second-class assets(land and money donated by head temples were first class assets) and an interest income from the first class assets was the second-class assets. It was important to secure as much funds as possible since the Joseon Buddhism Foundation used the interest income to execute its projects. However, it had to use a bank loan since the Joseon Buddhism Foundation failed to raise enough money. Even in such economic difficulty, the Joseon Buddhism Foundation constantly focused on school management. To develop and popularize Buddhism, it was necessary to have better Buddhist human resources. However, the capacity to train enough Buddhist human resources was limited since most of the teachers and students of the Boseong Middle School(普成高等普通學校)(taken over from the Cheondo-gyo religion) were not Buddhist. In addition, raising the Buddhist School(佛敎專修學校) to the status of a special school needed significant finances and the Foundation experienced financial difficulties. The Joseon Buddhism Foundation is different from old Buddhist organizations. The fact that it accepted the legislative management system of a foundation and collected funds from head temples to execute its project shows that the Joseon Buddhism Foundation led a meaningful change. The Joseon Buddhism Foundation has modernized the management of Buddhist society and has important historical significance.