earticle

영어

In the Koryo period the Buddhist temple obtained the financial income and used it for various purposes. The reasonable and harmonious adjustment of income and outgo is indispensible to maintenance of the Buddhist temple. The Buddhist temple did not attain self-sufficiency and attained the economic aid of the secular society. The financial resources of the Buddhist temple were manifold. The land constituted the essential part. And the Buddhist temple practiced the usury. Also commerce, mendicancy(緣化), almsgiving, and royal grant were the resources of the Buddhist temple. Among them the land and the usury were the resources of most importance. In the aspect of the income scale, income of usury was frequently superior to one of land. The financial income was used for the maintenance of the Buddhist temple. Living expenses of the Buddhist monks, mending cost of the Buddhist buildings, and expenses of the Buddhist mass were represntative of the outgo of the Buddhist temple. The use for social welfare was one of the important expenses. The Buddhist monks were wholly responsible for the financial management, and the laymen did not take part in it. In the late period of Koryo dynasty, the head priest(住持) of the Buddhist temple played the important role in the financial management. The book accounting income and outgo was likely to be made out. The outgo was not determined by the income, and income was adjusted considerin the outgo. Monetary offerings of the believers were not constant and not regular. In the later period of Koryo dynasty, the financial condition of the Buddhist temple was to be inferior. The financial problem, to sum up, was the decreasing of income and the increasing of outgo. Many Buddhist temples went to ruin, and the main reason for it was the financial difficulty. On account of financial difficulty, the Buddhist temple was engaged in the increasing of income. Enlargement of land, compulsory usury of high rate, engaging in mendicancy,and frequent disputes between temples were connected with financial insufficiency. The Buddhist temple was devoted to the increasing of income, and as a necessary consequence it was to be in discord with the national economy. Also the discord between the the Buddhist temple and the secular society was to be increased.