치초(郗超)의 봉법요(奉法要)를 통해 본사대부의 불교 수용

The Acceptance of Buddhism of Scholar-officials through Fengfa yao by Xi Chao

육조시대의 불교에 대해서는 승려에 의해서만 전개된 것이 아니라 전통사상의 교양에 있어서 중국인 승려와 거의 같은 정도의 지평에 선사대부가 맡은 역할도 중요하게 살펴보아야 한다. 이를 위하여 봉법요 (奉法要)를 저술한 치초(郗超)라는 동진시대의 사대부를 통하여 당시의 사대부가 어떠한 종교적 관심을 가지고서 불교를 수용하였는가 고찰 하였다. 사대부는 문화를 추진하는 역할을 담당한 동시에 정치가라는 일면도 가지고 있어서 현실의 문제를 적극적으로 해결해야 했다. 치초도 사대부로서 조정에 나아가 직무를 수행하였으며, 이상의 추구를 포기하지 않고 불교를 신앙하여 왔다. 그는 왕도(王導)와 유량(庾亮)의 영향을 받아, 진리와 본질을 추구하는 영위와 현실문제에 대처하는 것은 모순이 아니라는 사고를 계승하고 있다. 그리고 당시의 사조대로 현학으로부터 깊이 진리를 탐구할 수 있는 가르침으로서 불교를 수용한 것은 현실문제와 어긋나는 것이 아니라고 인식하였던 것으로 생각된다. 치초는 불교적 세계관에 유가의 가르 침을 넣은 유불일치론(儒佛一致論)에 의해서 현실과 이상을 통합하였던 것으로 보인다. 즉 불교의 관념론적 측면에서 이상을 추구한 것만이 아니라, 현실면에서도 이상을 실현해야 한다는 강한 의지를 가지고 있었던 것으로 보인다. 불교적 세계관의 면에 있어서 종교적 관심에 의하여 유가를 포섭하고, 불교의 바탕 아래에서 현학적 탐구와 현실적 문제의 양립을 가능하게 하였다고 할 수 있다. 치초는 중국전통사상에서 사상적인 불철저함, 방법론의 불충분함을 인식하고서 이것을 해결하기 위하여 불교의 필요성을 느끼며 유불일치 론을 원용하여 관념론과 현실론을 통합하여 이상의 현실을 목표로 하고 있었던 것으로 보인다. 정치적인 실천에서는 불교의 행동규범 자체가 표출되지는 않았지만, 치초의 세계관에서는 불교를 본(本)으로 하고 유가를 말(末)로 두고서 행동의 원칙을 불교에서 구하고 있고, 현실면에서도 이상에 가까운 것으로 생각한 것이었다.

This paper examines the nature of the religious interests that led to the adoption of Buddhism during the Eastern Jin Dynasty(東晉) by looking at Xi Chao(郗超), who was one of the most prominent Buddhist scholar-officials(奉佛士大夫 feng fo shì dàfū) of the era. In addition to being tasked with overseeing culture, scholar-officials(士 大夫) were also politicians. As such, they were not allowed to be negligent of real-world problems. As a scholar-official, Xi Chao served within the royal court while observing his Buddhist faith in pursuit of utopia. Xi Chao was influenced by Wang Dao(王導 276-339) and Yu Liang (庚亮 289-340), who had contributed to the founding of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, in that he carried on the belief that there was no contradiction between conduct - the pursuit of fundamental truth - and tending to real-world issues. He also appears to have believed that adopting Buddhism as a path for the pursuit of profound truths, via the study of xuanxue(玄學), did not lead one astray from matters of reality. Xi Chao is regarded as having integrated idealism(觀念論) and realism(現實論) in this theory of identification of Confucianism with Buddhism(儒佛一致論), wherein he inserted Confucian(儒家) teachings into a Buddhist worldview. Not only did he pursue utopia along with the idealistic aspects of Buddhism, but he also had a strong conviction that utopia had to be realized in actuality. From the perspective of the religious interests among the Buddhist scholar-officials of the Six Dynasties era(六朝時代), Confucianism was embraced via religious interests from a Buddhist worldview, such that the matters of pursuing deep truths and tending to real-world matters were seen to be compatible. The scholar-officials of the Six Dynasties era are characterized by the fact that they took the teachings of Confucian sages(聖人) to be truths, while requiring consistency between the detailed words of the Buddhist and Confucian sages. Ever since the theory of identification of Confucianism with Buddhism was propounded, there was a need to assert that Buddhist teachings could also help secure order within the state, and that it merited a movement no lesser than Confucianism in terms of practical considerations. Buddhist scholar-officials, such as Xi Chao, appear to have believed that Buddhism and the exposition of its vast worldview had the ability to bring peace to the real world. The thoughts and actions of Xi Chao may also serve to explain the history of Buddhism during the Eastern Jin Dynasty. That is, Xi Chao observed that there was a lack of ideological and methodological sufficiency in traditional Chinese thought, and felt the need for Buddhism in order to address this issue. In view of this, it appears that he sought to pursue an actual utopia by combining idealism and realism by appealing to the theory of identification of Confucianism with Buddhism. While the Buddhist code of conduct itself was not manifested in the sphere of political practice, Xi Chao’s worldview sought principles of conduct in Buddhism, in that he regarded it as the base(本) and Confucianism as the branch (末), thus deeming it to be closer to the ideal even in the realm of reality.