虛應堂 普雨(1509-1565) 대사는 조선시대 불교가 맥이 끊길 위기에 처했을 때 그 중흥을 위해 목숨을 던진 高僧이었다. 그는 당시 불교계를 위험에 빠뜨린 집권세력인 儒家士大夫들에게 대응하기 위한 사상적 입장과 대응논리를 펼쳤다. 그런데 이렇게 펼친 그의 담론과 논리는 빼어난 솜씨의 시와 문장으로 그의 문집 속에 점철되어 있다. 이런 점에서 보우대사는 당대 불교계를 대표하는 ‘詩僧’이며 ‘문장가’라 할 수 있다. 대사는 자신의 뛰어난 시문 능력으로 尹春年 · 鄭萬鍾 · 尙震 등과 같은 고위직의 유가사대부들을 사귈 수 있었고 불교에 대한 그들의 이해를 끌어내려고 했다. 마침내 문정왕후의 뜻을 얻어 일시적이나마 불교중흥을 이룰 수 있었다. 따라서 이 글은 보우대사의 이러한 시문 능력에 바탕을 둔 그의 세계관적 기저와 시세계를 밝히는데 초점을 두었다. 보우대사가 가졌던 당시의 지배이념인 유교(성리학)에 대한 사상적 입장은 ‘儒 · 佛一理論’이다. 그의 ‘유 · 불일리론’은 道가 하나이기에 세상에 존재하는 모든 사물과 관념은 하나의 이치에서 시작되는 것처럼 유교와 불교 또한 그러하다는 논리이다. 나아가 유교와 불교는 손바닥과 주먹이 하나인 것과 같은 것이라고 했다. 그리고 유교와 불교는 한 수레바퀴를 함께 밀고 가는 것과 같은 관계라고 했다. 대사는 이치가 이러함에도 부당하게 탄압하는 것은 사람들이 겉으로 드러난 양태만을 보고 판단하여 한정하기 때문이라 하였다. 한편, 보우대사의 시문집인 『虛應堂集』 상 · 하 양 권에는 600여 수의 게송과 시가 실렸으며, 별도의 『懶庵雜著』에는 30여 제의 序 · 記 · 跋文 · 疏 등의 문장이 수록되어 있다. 이것들은 시문에 뛰어났던 대사의 ‘시승’과 ‘문장가’로서의 면모를 볼 수 있게 한다. 보우대사의 시세계는 (1) 禪의 경지를 드러낸 것, (2) 유가 지배층의 불교에 대한 탄압과 박해를 개탄한 것과 불가 승려들에 대한 訓戒와 自省을 읊은 것, (3) 유가 사대부들과의 交遊를 다룬 것, (4) 산수자연을 읊은 것 등으로 유별할 수 있다. 본고에서는 이 중 (2) · (3) · (4)를 중심으로 그 문학적 특질을 살펴보았다. 한편, 작시에 동원된 시체로는 絶句와 律詩 뿐만 아니라, 古詩 등 다양한 시체가 활용되었다. 작품 중엔 특히 시를 짓게 된 배경이나 정황 등을 서술한 것이 길어져 한 편이 논문이 된 서문을 붙인 시편이 있는 점도 이채롭다. 수사법상으로는 비유와 典故의 활용이 많은데 儒學을 공부한 學力이 받침 된 典故가 꽤 활용된 것이 한 특징이기도 하다. 이상에서 보우대사가 당시 지배층인 유가사대부층의 불교 탄압에 대응하고 일시적이나마 조선불교의 중흥을 이루어낼 수 있었던 것은 그의 문장 능력이 크게 받침이 되었음을 알 수 있다. 다시 말해 대사는 세련된 담론과 문학적 형상이 높은 시작품을 생산해 유가사대부들을 설득하거나 그들과 사귀어 그들의 호의를 입을 수 있었던 것이다.

Priest Heoeungdang Bowoo (1509~1565) was a great holy priest who sacrificed his life during the early Chosun Dynasty when Korean Buddhism was on the critical verge of elimination of its flow and strived hard for its revival. At that time, he challenged against the ruling class called Yugasadeboo, who put the Buddhist community into danger, and he responded to their prosecution with his firm ideological standpoint and challenging discourse. His great discourse and logic are hinted in his collection of essays and poems composed with his refined style in writing sentences and poetic words. From this perspective, Priest Bowoo can be called a ‘poetic Buddhist’ and a great ‘essayist’. Through his great ability to compose poetry, he was able to build friendship with the people in Yugasadeboo the ruling class such as Yoon Choon Nyun, Jung Man Jong and Sang Jin. Bowoo tried to make them understand Buddhism. Finally, obtaining the agreement of Queen Moonjung, he could, though temporarily, achieve the revival of Buddhism in Chosun Dynasty. This article is focused on illuminating his ideological standpoint and his poetic world based on the poem-writing ability of Priest Bowoo. The ideological standpoint of Priest Bowoo toward Confucianism, the ruling ideology of Chosun dynasty, is called Yobooliliron. His idea of Yobooliliron follows the logic that since there is only one Tao in the world, everything and every concept in the world starts from one origin, and so do Confucianism and Buddhism. Moreover, he went on to say that Confucianism and Buddhism are one just as the ice and water are essentially the same and the palm and fist are essentially one. Also, he said that Confucianism and Buddhism are like pushing one wheel forward together. Ultimately, Bowoo’s idea of Yobooliliron can be described as Yobool-ilijuk-ilcheron. The priest believed that even though the truth and the principle is as such, the reason why the ruling class prosecutes Buddhism so much is that people only judge from what is exposed outside. On the other hand, Heoeungdang-jib, which is the poetry collection of Priest Bowoo, contain 600 ge-songs and poems total in volume one and volume two, and Na-ahm-jabjeo, a separate essay collection, contains 30 types of sentences called seo, ki, bal, and sou. These writings are clear evidence of his great ability as a ‘‘poetic Buddhist’ and ‘essayist.’ The poetry world of Priest Bowoo is that (1) it shows his high level of Tao, (2) it criticizes the prosecution of Confucian ruling class on the Buddhists and offers some words of advice and admonition for the contemporary Buddhist priests, (3) it describes the interaction with the Confucian scholars, (4) it depicts the natural world for achieving high Tao, etc. In this study, based on (2), (3), and (4), the literary characteristics of his work was examined. In short, Priest Bowoo was able to challenge the contemporary Buddhist prosecution of the Confucian ruling class and to lead the temporary revival of Chosun Buddhism on account of the firm support of his writing skills. In other words, his writing skills enabled him to come up with challenging discourses against the ruling ideology of Yugasadeboo, persuade them, and even build friendship with them to obtain their favor.

Priest Heoeungdang Bowoo (1509~1565) was a great holy priest who sacrificed his life during the early Chosun Dynasty when Korean Buddhism was on the critical verge of elimination of its flow and strived hard for its revival. At that time, he challenged against the ruling class called Yugasadeboo, who put the Buddhist community into danger, and he responded to their prosecution with his firm ideological standpoint and challenging discourse. His great discourse and logic are hinted in his collection of essays and poems composed with his refined style in writing sentences and poetic words. From this perspective, Priest Bowoo can be called a ‘poetic Buddhist’ and a great ‘essayist’. Through his great ability to compose poetry, he was able to build friendship with the people in Yugasadeboo the ruling class such as Yoon Choon Nyun, Jung Man Jong and Sang Jin. Bowoo tried to make them understand Buddhism. Finally, obtaining the agreement of Queen Moonjung, he could, though temporarily, achieve the revival of Buddhism in Chosun Dynasty. This article is focused on illuminating his ideological standpoint and his poetic world based on the poem-writing ability of Priest Bowoo. The ideological standpoint of Priest Bowoo toward Confucianism, the ruling ideology of Chosun dynasty, is called Yobooliliron. His idea of Yobooliliron follows the logic that since there is only one Tao in the world, everything and every concept in the world starts from one origin, and so do Confucianism and Buddhism. Moreover, he went on to say that Confucianism and Buddhism are one just as the ice and water are essentially the same and the palm and fist are essentially one. Also, he said that Confucianism and Buddhism are like pushing one wheel forward together. Ultimately, Bowoo’s idea of Yobooliliron can be described as Yobool-ilijuk-ilcheron. The priest believed that even though the truth and the principle is as such, the reason why the ruling class prosecutes Buddhism so much is that people only judge from what is exposed outside. On the other hand, Heoeungdang-jib, which is the poetry collection of Priest Bowoo, contain 600 ge-songs and poems total in volume one and volume two, and Na-ahm-jabjeo, a separate essay collection, contains 30 types of sentences called seo, ki, bal, and sou. These writings are clear evidence of his great ability as a ‘‘poetic Buddhist’ and ‘essayist.’ The poetry world of Priest Bowoo is that (1) it shows his high level of Tao, (2) it criticizes the prosecution of Confucian ruling class on the Buddhists and offers some words of advice and admonition for the contemporary Buddhist priests, (3) it describes the interaction with the Confucian scholars, (4) it depicts the natural world for achieving high Tao, etc. In this study, based on (2), (3), and (4), the literary characteristics of his work was examined. In short, Priest Bowoo was able to challenge the contemporary Buddhist prosecution of the Confucian ruling class and to lead the temporary revival of Chosun Buddhism on account of the firm support of his writing skills. In other words, his writing skills enabled him to come up with challenging discourses against the ruling ideology of Yugasadeboo, persuade them, and even build friendship with them to obtain their favor.

Bowoo(普雨), Buddhism, Neo-Confucian-Oriented Buddhism Theory: Yobooliliron(儒佛一理論), Confucian ruling class:Yugasadeboo(儒家士大夫), Poetic Buddhist(詩僧)