言蜀者不可不知禅,言禅者尤不可不知蜀——以《蜀中高僧记》为例略探唐宋巴蜀佛教兴盛之因

The Close Relationship between Buddhism and Ancient Sichuan——Why Buddhism flourished in as Revealed in The Book about Famous Monks in Ancient Sichuan

曹学佺《蜀中高僧记》,可谓蜀川"第一佛传"。考述《蜀中高僧记》中众多僧师的生卒行迹,可略知自晋至明1300年间巴蜀佛教的发展概况。巴蜀得天独厚的地理优势,获得了近八百年的安定局面,使得经济相对发达,再加上统治阶级的扶持,所有这些因素促成了唐宋巴蜀佛教的兴盛。

The Book about Famous Monks in Ancient Sichuan, written by Cao Xuequan, is believed to be the fist collection of such stories. The lives of so many monks recorded in this book provides a panorama on the general development of Buddhism in ancient Sichuan from the Jin dynasty to the Ming dynasty. The flourishing of Buddhism is ascribed to the relatively well - off in this region, resulted from the advantageous geological position and the approximate 800 - years stable social develop- ment. Another factor contributing to the flourishing of Buddhism is the support from the ruling classes