실록 편찬 보존과 오대산 사고본의 특징 ― 守護寺刹의 守直僧徒와 守護軍 운영 및 구본 校正刷本과 신본 완성본의 공존 = Compilation and Preservation of Annals of Dynasties and Special Features of the Archive of the Historical Records of Mount Odae ― Preservation Work of Guard Monks and National Guards and the Coexistence of Old and New Edition ―

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

The present paper examines an archive of the historical records of Mount Odae and the special features of its records. Koreans have cherished the value of historical records and successfully preserved royal protocols and annals of dynasties over time. Despite difficult times, such as wars and risk of fire, the maintenance of these records has helped elevate national pride and preserve national culture. For example, the Annals of the Korean Dynasty and Annals of the Chosun Dynasty were preserved in Buddhist temple archives because they were guarded by the monks who lived there.
Similar to the archive of Mt. Odae, we can observe the case of Gojong of the Koryo Dynasty, who established a national archive in the temple of Haein, in addition to Sejong and Sunjo of the Chosun Dynasty, who each established a national archive within or in the vicinity of Buddhist temples. These important records were protected and successfully preserved by monks.
After the Japanese invasion of Korea, there were four newly established national archives that were closely linked with Buddhist temples in their respective areas. Considering the government policy that promoted Confucianism values in the early Chosun Dynasty, this was a significant change in policy. It is because those archives that were established before the Japanese invasion, that is, the Choonchoogwon, Choongjoo, Sungjoo, and Junjoo archives were set up without having any relation with Buddhist temples.
Furthermore, the government placed the responsibility of building and guarding fortresses, such as the Namhansanseong and Bukhansanseong Fortresses, on monks after the Japanese invasion. At the same time, they gave them the responsibility of guarding and preserving records in the archives. Monks were expected to serve the nation in this regard instead of serving in the military, which was mandatory for every man.
This change in policy implies that the Confucian government partially recognized Buddhist monks, which is perhaps the first step in the eventual drastic change of the policy toward Buddhism in the 17th century.
As the Annals of Chosun Dynasty were recorded from a perspective slanted toward Confucianism, many parts were written without keeping the basic virtue of objective recording, especially in regard to the distortion and intentional omission of historical facts.
However, many interesting points are found in the records of the Mt. Odae archive. Firstly, the Mt. Odae archive had both new and old versions of the annals. The old-version annals were printed before the Japanese invasion, although a newly edited version of the old text is also available. Secondly, a manuscript of King Gwanghae’s Diary was preserved; other archives such as those at Mt. Jungjok in Ganghwa and Mt. Juksang in Moojoo preserved a print of the first edition and that at Mt. Taebaek in Bonghwa preserved a print of the second edition. Thirdly, the records were taken to Japan and returned, which did not happen with the other archives. This shows that the records and culture of recordkeeping at Mt. Odae were so excellent that other countries like Japan admired and wanted to have them, enhancing national prestige.
The records, especially the newly edited annals, have important academic value because they became the basis for figuring out the formation process of annals and finding errors in the JunJoo print, which is considered standard. It is noteworthy that these records were safeguarded due to the efforts of the guard monks and national guard to preserve the national archives that were placed within or in the vicinity of Buddhist temples.