고려시대 원(院)에 대한 연구

A Study on ‘WON’, the Buddhist Hospitality Facility, in the Koryo Dynasty Era: A Study on the Origin of Korean Hospitality

‘Won’ is a name for buildings attached to buddhist temples in the north-eastern Asian countries including China, Japan and South Korea. “Won’s’ had special functions of hospitality facility; particularly those in Korea which differed from those in China and Japan, in that they more actively participated in economic activities such as trade and finance. In fact, during the era of the Koryo Dynasty, Won’s functioned not only as a place of religious hospitality but also the center for both transportation and business. Its origin starts from around 8th century AD, and it had flourished in the era of Koryo dynasty, between 10th and 14th century AD. Although it was a part of a temple facilty, its hospitality characteristics and functions were different from that of European monastic hospitality, more closely resembling functions of Caravanserais of the Silk Road. Concurrently, however, with the fall of Koryo Dynasty and the rise of Chosun dynasty, Won lost not only its religious character but also the function of business functions and lost its dynamism and became a part of ‘totalitarian station system’(驛傳制), called as ‘Yok-Won-Je’(驛院制). However ‘Won’ was a peculiar hospitality system of Korea, which experimented business complex hotels or accommodations 1000 years ago.