敦煌维摩诘经变之研究进程与方法

Research Approach and Methodology of Images of Vimalakīrti-Nirdesa-Sūtra

《维摩诘经》的研究,日本学者在20世纪前半叶已展开,特别是松本荣一先生对敦煌维摩诘经变图像的辨识,是一大跨度的进程。本文拟就前贤的研究发展分为三阶段评述,借此提出接下来进一步研究的可能向度。

It had been nearly a century since the first research on the relative texts and images of the VimalakirtiNirdesa-Sutra in 1924.This paper focuses on all the researches on this topic done by previous scholars.I categorized all researches into three sections:1.the early stage,pre-2000:There are three major areas in texts—the sutra itself,commentary,and the sutra-lecturing texts while images are mostly at the stage of identification and deciphering.2.the developing stage,2000-2010:In addition to the previous three major areas n textual study,the new area is inscriptions to the text.In terms of the studies of the images,other than the research are more focused,the new aspect is the "templates" of this sutra.3.the stage more focused on images,from 2011 onward:A significant reduction of amount of research on the text in this period with only sutra itself was being studied.On the other hand,a larger amount of papers are dedicated to the images of this sutra in more detailed,how one single theme evolves along different times,and interpretations of the images in the context of space and time.