南朝士大夫的佛教信仰与文学书写——以江淹为考察中心

The Buddhist Faith of Southern Dynasties Scholars and Their Literary Writing——A General Survey of Jiang Yan

南朝士大夫的佛教信仰与文学创作关系密切,江淹就颇具代表性。江淹一生历仕宋、齐、梁三朝,以文章诗赋见重于世,其中有相当数量的作品与佛教相关,仔细考察这些作品中所表现出的佛教思想及其生存背景可以发现:江淹对佛教的尊崇主要表现在玄理和宗教信仰两方面。在玄理层面,江淹受到当时流行的大乘佛教学说的影响,具体表现为其对《法华》《涅槃》"法身常住"学说、《般若》"离着"思想的爱乐,并以之构建《无为论》中的"大人"境界,处理仕隐实践;在宗教信仰层面,因历仕南朝宋、齐诸王的特殊经历,江淹接触到当时盛行于荆州地区的禅法,有坐禅与诵经的修习。这种玄理与信仰相结合的特点,代表了中古时期中国士大夫的一种文化风尚。

Jiang Yan serves official positions in the Song, Qi and Liang dynasties, and is known for his poetical writings, of which a considerable part is related to Buddhism. A careful examination of his life and literary career reveals that Jiang ' s Buddhist reverence is shown in metaphysical and religious aspects.Metaphysically, Jiang is influenced by the popular Mahayana Buddhist scriptures and doctrine of his time, as embodied in his love of 'dharmakāya eternal' concept in Lotus Sūtra(《法华经》) and Nirvāna Sūtra(《涅槃经》),and of 'getting rid of the persistent' thought in Wisdom Sūtra(《般若经》),which he uses to build the realm of 'a great man ' in Wuweilun(《无为论 》),handling the relationship between official life and seclusion. At the religious level, due to the special official experiences in the Song and Qi Dynasties, Jiang is exposed to the popular Zen in Jingzhou area, where he practices meditation and reads Buddhist scriptures.This feature of combining Metaphysics with Buddhist faith represents a cultural pursuit of a Chinese scholar in the Mediaeval Period.