Buddhism introduced the concept of hell to East Asia, and many tales of hell were circulated. The narrative “Sŏnyul comes back to life” accompanied the dissemination of the concept of hell in the Unified Silla period. This story describes suffering in hell as retribution for the unwholesome act of stealing monastery possessions. However, the punishment in hell is not eternal in this story, and one can be saved through performing a memorial service for the dead. Memorial services for the dead are done by making offerings to the Three Jewels—the Buddha, Dharma, and Saṃgha—by giving one’s possessions to monasteries. The story “Sŏnyul comes back to life” seems to have been written by monks and been circulated as a karma tale of a Buddhist ceremony for the production of sutras and for appreciating the teachings of the sutras. Buddhist ceremonies were constructed and performed for the purpose of amassing meritorious virtues and expelling calamities through such things as reading sutras and understanding their content. Among these, dramatic preaching of the dharma was performed to communicate to ordinary people in a more lively and interesting manner than the teaching of the sutras. Animated stories of hell about actual people who could have been the listeners’ own neighbors were performed, and the story of “Sŏnyul comes back to life” seems to have been told at such a ceremony. In a story performed in a lifelike manner, sympathetic people willingly contributed their hearts and possessions to the Buddha, monks, and monasteries for the sake of their own futures.
목차
Abstract I. THE DATING OF THE “SŎNYUL COMES BACK TO LIFE” NARRATIVE IN MEMORABILIA OF THE THREE KINGDOMS II. THE KARMIC RETRIBUTION OF FALLING INTO HELL AND THE BURDEN OF RETRIBUTION III. SALVATION FROM HELL AND BUDDHIST MEMORIAL SERVICES FOR THE DEAD IV. BUDDHIST CEREMONIES AND NARRATIVE PERFORMANCE V. CONCLUSION REFERENCES
키워드
“Sŏnyul comes back to life” (Sŏnyul hwansaeng 善律還生)Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms (Samguk yusa 三國遺事)Buddhist hellTales of HellBuddhist Ceremony
저자
NA HEE LA [ A professor in the Department of Liberal Arts, Gyeongnam National University of Science and Technology, Korea. ]
한국연구원은 1970년 5월 한국 민속의 각 분야에 걸친 자료의 수집과 학술적 연구를 목적으로 '한국민속연구소'로 출발하였다. 그 후 1973년 5월 연구 분야를 확대하며 민속뿐만 아니라 한국학 전반에 걸친 연구를 위해 '한국학연구소'로 개편하였고, 다시 1989년 3월 한국의 국제적 위상의 부상과 함께 한국학 연구의 중요성이 높아짐에 따라 '한국학연구원'으로 확대, 개편하였다. 한국학연구원은 한국학 전반에 걸친 연구를 통해 지역과 민족문화 발전에 기여하며 한국학의 세계화를 위해서 학술활동을 강화하고 나아가 내·외국인에 대한 한국문화 교육을 담당하고자 한다.