백제 위덕왕의 불교적 치세관 형성과 6세기 중국의 정세 변화

The Buddhist Ruling Ideology of King Uideok of Baekje and the Political Changes in the Sixth Century China

이 논문은 백제 위덕왕 연간에 제작된 부여 능산리사지와 왕흥사지의 목탑지에서 출토된 사리장엄구의 명문과 기존의 문헌사료 중 대외관계 기사들의 상관관계를 종합적으로 고찰하여, 위덕왕 연간의 불교적 치세관의 형성 배경을 살펴본 것이다. 崇佛王朝인 北齊가 廢佛王朝인 北周에 의해서 멸망한 577년 초에 위덕왕은 부여 왕흥사의 목탑을 세우면서 佛舍利의 神異를 경험했고, 스스로 붓다로부터 인정받은 轉輪聖王으로 인식했던 것으로 보인다. 기존의 문헌 사료에서는 위덕왕 연간의 불교적 치세관이나 통치 행위에 대해서 완전히 침묵하고 있지만, 위덕왕 스스로 만들어 놓은 왕흥사지 사리장엄구의 명문에는 바로 그 사실에 대해서 상징적으로 기록해 놓았다. 舍利의 神異 顯現을 근거로 제왕의 불교적 위상을 높이는 행위는 梁 武帝 이후 동아시아에서 널리 퍼진 阿育王 傳承 구현 활동과 관련된 것이다. 위덕왕은 남조 불교의 영향을 받으면서도, 동시대 북제 및 북주와 교류하면서 자신의 불교적 치세관을 서서히, 그리고 독자적으로 실천해나갔던 것으로 보인다. 여기에서는 그의 불교적 치세관의 형성 배경을 고찰하고, 그의 불교적 통치 행위 중의 하나가 바로 다양한 국제 교류 및 일본으로의 불교 전래였다고 해석하였다.

In this paper, I survey the cultural background of the development of the Buddhist ruling ideology of King Uideok of Baekje. Recent archaeological excavations of Buddhist temple sites at Neungsanri and Wangheungsa in Buyeo have uncovered two important inscriptions on Buddhist reliquaries that reveal a forgotten but important Buddhist historical event duting King Uideok’s reign. According to the inscription on the Buddhist reliquary found at the Wangheungsa temple site, King Uideok experienced a religious miracle of the Buddha’s relic in February 577, when he built a new pagoda for his dead son. At that time, Northern Qi, the famous Buddhist dynasty of Northern China, was defeated by Emperor Wu of the Northern Zhou, who strictly banned both Buddhism and Taoism. This political change in China could have affected the Buddhist reign of King Uideok in Baekje. In the fall of 577, he sent envoys to Chen, Northern Zhou, and Japan. There are no Korean historical records on the Buddhist affairs of those international envoys of King Uideok. However, according to Japanese historical records, King Uideok’s envoy to Japan in 577 was a Buddhist missionary. The sending of the Buddhist envoy means that King Uideok might have developed his Buddhisr ruling ideology as a Buddhist Cakravartin following the famous Emperor Wu in Liang of the Southern China, who had developed the Aśokan revivalism in East Asia for the first time. King Uideok’s Buddhist ruling ideology was slowly but distinctively formed with a self-identity as a new Cakravartin of East Asia, and with credit to the miracle of the Buddha’s relic in 577. The Buddhist reigns of Emperor of Wu in Liang, and the other contemporary emperors in Northern Qi and Zhou might have also influenced and stimulated King Uideok’s Buddhist ruling ideology and political practices. One of the most important Buddhist ruling acts of King Uideok was the transmission of Buddhism and the Buddha’s relic cult to Japan during the late sixth century.