조선 중기 호국불교와 의승군 결사운동 - 서산과 사명을 중심으로 -

초록

This study examines patriotic Buddhism and the Buddhist monk-soldier solidarity movement in the mid-Joseon period, focusing on Seosan Hyujeong and Samyeong Yujeong, and aims to investigate both its historical significance and its limitations. Even under the Joseon dynasty’s policy of suppressing Buddhism, the Buddhist tradition survived through mountain monasteries, dharma lineage transmission, and communities of practice. During the national crisis of the Imjin War, this continuity took concrete form in the monk-soldier solidarity movement. Hyujeong played a central role in organizing monks nationwide and establishing the structural framework of the monk army, while Yujeong became the leading practical agent who directed military action, provision supply, fortress construction, intelligence gathering, and diplomatic negotiation. However, these activities cannot be understood simply as a narrative of patriotism. They also involved deep tensions between Buddhist compassion and the precept against killing, as well as between the monastic vocation and the demands of national crisis. After the war, Yujeong was increasingly reconstructed as a symbolic figure of the “patriotic monk” and the “commander of monk-soldiers,” and the discourse of posthumous veneration centered on Pyochungsa institutionalized this memory. Therefore, the monk-soldier solidarity movement should be understood not only as an event that revealed the public role and practical capacity of Joseon Buddhism, but also as a historical case showing how Buddhist autonomy and monastic identity were reshaped in relation to state power.

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