신라 중고기 僧職의 설치와 僧團

Establishment of the monk’s duty(僧職) and the monk’s order(僧團) in the Mid-Ancient Period of Silla

신라 중고기 僧團의 양상에 대한 그간의 연구에서는 僧官이 僧團뿐 만 아니라 왕실과 교단의 관계, 불교 弘通의 역할에 이르기까지 신라 불교계에서 주도적인 역할을 담당하였다고 보았다. 이에 『삼국사기』, 『삼국유사』에 보이는 일련의 僧官임명의 사례 이외에도 기록에 보이는 승직들을 승관으로 규정하고 논의를 전개하였다. 그러나 진흥왕대 승관 임명을 전후하여 보면, 실상 신라 불교계에서 非僧官승려 역시 두드러지는 활동양상을 보임을 알 수 있다. 非僧官 승려는 소지왕대 內殿焚修僧, 법흥왕·진흥왕대에 道人등이 대표적인데, 이들은 승관 설치를 전후하여 승관보다 중요한 위치에 있거나 활동상이 더욱 빈번히 찾아진다. 한편 非僧官승직 중 大德은 진평왕대 뛰어난 戒行을 인정받은 智明에게 처음 수여되었는데, 이후 華嚴, 瑜伽등 특정한 敎義에 탁월한 이해를 갖춘 승려에게 주어져 신라 말까지 존속하였다. 그들은 僧官과 달리 표면적으로 왕에 의해 임명되는 절차를 거치는 것으로 보이나 실상 僧團의 필요에 의해 임명된 승직임을 알 수 있었다. 한편 대덕은 慈藏의 활동시기에 이르면 그 직임이 僧官의 首位를 차지한 大國統에 부여됨으로써 국가의 입장에서는 계율에 따른 교단정비단행이라는 명분을 얻게 되었다. 이렇듯 非僧官승직은 僧團내에서 일정한 역할을 하면서 때로는 僧官에 임명되어 국가와 僧團을 조율하는 역할을 하는 성격으로 존속하였다.

In the previous studies regarding aspects of the monk’s order(僧團) in the Mid-Ancient Period of Silla, the monk’s government official(僧官) has been considered as playing a leading role in the Silla’s Buddhism not only engaging in the monk’s order, but also in relationship between the Royal Family and the buddhist order(敎團) as well as in the promulgation of Buddhism. In this sense, not only the serial cases of nominated the monk’s government official shown in the 『Samguksagi』(三國史記) or in the 『Samgukyusa』(三國遺事), but also the other recorded monk officials have been regarded as the monk’s government official for discussion. However, the nomination processes of the monk’s government official in the era of King Jinheung prove that in fact, not nominated as an official(非僧官) monks have performed conspicuous activities as well. Not nominated as an official(非僧官) are represented by Naejeonbunsuseung(內殿焚修僧) in the era of King Soji and by Doin(道人) in the era of King Beopheung and King Jinheung, whose positions became higher than those of the monk’s government official or whose activities appeared more frequent around the time when the monk’s government official was established. Meanwhile, Daedeok(大德), one of not nominated as an official(非僧官) monk, was granted for the first time to Jimyeong(智明) whose good understanding of religious precepts(戒行) was recognized as outstanding in the era of King Jinpyeong, and it existed until the end of the Silla era with being granted to the monks who have shown excellent understanding of specific teachings such as Hwaeom(華嚴) or Yuga(瑜伽). It is proven that differently from the monk’s government official, they seemed to be nominally appointed by the king while they were appointed actually by necessity of the monk’s order. In the meantime, the title Daedeok(大德), during the period of Jajang(慈藏), was granted to the rank Daeguktong(大國統) that was the highest rank among the monk’s government official, which was justified by the State as legitimate legitimacy of the buddhist order(敎團) restructuring based upon the religious precepts. In this way, not nominated as an official(非僧官) monk were playing crucial roles within the monk’s order and at times, were appointed as the monk’s government official, subsisting with coordinating function between the State and the monk’s order.