의상의 화엄사상과 통일기 신라사회

Uisang"s Hwaom Thought and the Period of Unifying Silla

&nbsp;&nbsp;Uisang, the founder of Hwaom School of Silla, spent his life leading the activities of a religious order and strictly pure self-discipline during the changing times in Unified Silla society.<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;Uisang&quot;s Hwaom thought that appears in il-seung-bob-gye-do(一乘法界圖) succeeded the new thought structure that Zhiyan had systemized. Uisang arranged the heart of Hwaom thought into symbolic diagrams in half-poem formats. Among Uisang&quot;s il-seung-bob-gye-do thought, the core is the text of dependent origination of dharmadhatu(法界緣起) of One Vehicle Round Doctrine(一乘圓敎), which is classified into 4 categories which are composed of the mutual penetration and the mutual identity(相入相卽) between the One and the All etc. Each individual holds an element of the All. It is because they exist upon the foundations of conditioned origination, and therefore the One and the All embrace each other with no obstacles in between. In a world that is formed upon conditioned origination, there cannot be a fixed individual with an independent identity. All individual objects exist according to a mutual organic relationship.<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;There were many active disciples who were of commoner origin among Uisang&quot;s pupils like Jinjong and Jitong, It is meaningful to see that pupils of commoner origin could play a central role in a central religious order of a time when strict social classes were emphasized.<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;Uisang succeeded in settling Avalokitesvara living in this world belief as the appropriate religion capable of accommodating the needs of the Silla people. And Uisang opened Busok-sa(浮石寺), the main temple of Hwaom School, with Amita belief. Uisang established Amita belief as the central religion of Hwaom School. The propagation of the Buddhist land religion of the belief of Avalokitesvara living in this world and reality-based Suhkavati belief that Uisang had propelled, contributed to the new social stability that the Silla society had been yearning for.<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;The role of Buddhism in the &quot;jungdae&quot; period Silla was to form a composite background with politics, which were heading for Confucian ideas. And Uisang formed an important axis of the sovereign powers along with the institutional role of Confucianism, through establishing a high degree of philosophy and uniting the consciousness of the people.