설화에 반영된 원효사상과 민중의식 - 를 중심으로-

This paper examines the Buddhist ideology and popular consciousness reflected in tales, in particular tales concerning the famous Silla era monk Wonhyo(617~686). The figure of Wonhyo that appears in tales is quite varied; the important ideologies of Buddhism are incorporated into those tales recorded in written literature, but recently recorded oral tales bring to the fore an image of Wonhyo as a monk who wields divine powers. Written tales are handed down in such books as Samguk Yusa (Legends of the Three Kingdoms) and Songgoseungjeon(Stories of Great Monks), and within these tales are found various Buddhist ideologies: the ideology that all things and phenomenon in this world can be changed by the mind and nothing exists outside of the mind, the ideology that denies the distinction between high and low rank, ignorance and enlightenment, and the ideology that ignores worldly laws and ethics. The tale of the time Wonhyo was on a trip to Tang China seeking the truth, but he drank water form a skull, came to a realization and gave up his trip, is a good example of Wonhyo`s ideology that everything depends on the mind. The birth tale of Seolchong, which tells how Wonhyo slept with Princess Yoseok, who later gave birth to Seolchong, can be interpreted as a story of Wonhyo experimenting for himself in order to understand the nature of sexual desire. It can also be seen as a tale which appropriates the motif of a national founding myth, as the general populace thought of Wonhyo as divine. A similarity in the character of the male and female protagonists and the content of the tale can be found between the shamanic tale "Dangeum Child", which is told around the country, and the birth tale of Seolchong, in that both tell of a monk and a woman of a noble house who unite and give birth to a son. I believe this is a variation of the national ancestor myth, which tells of the male heaven-god uniting with the female earth-goddess and producing a royal ruler. The tale of Wonhyo`s meeting with Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva(the bodhisattva of mercy) at Naksan Temple in corporates a denial of the world`s erroneous attachment to the distinction between high and low, clean and unclean. In the Sabok tale, the fact that an unknown, lowly person is greater than a famous person is emphasized through a comparison of Wonhyo and Sabok. On the other hand, the image of Wonhyo appearing in oral tales is that of a magician who solves difficult problems and saves people`s lives as an omnipotent and omniscient monk with superhuman powers. The Cheokpanam legend, which tells of how Wonhyo threw a wooden board from Silla to Tang China and saved a thousand monks who were at-tending a Buddhist mass on Odesan from an avalanche is a straightforward example of Wonhyo`s divine powers and wisdom. He also appears as a figure who guides a thousand monks visiting from China and helps them all become saints, a figure who makes rich people donate to the temple by causing bags of rice to disappear by themselves, and a figure who casts water to the north from a sieve and quells a fire in Bulguk Temple. In this way, rather than incorporating the profound ideologies of Buddhism, oral tales depict Wonhyo as a superhuman being who displays mysterious powers.