论清代马来亚之汉传佛教

On the Buddhism from China in Malaya at the Qing Dynasty

自明末清初以来,最早在马六甲生活的汉传佛教僧众,都是冒着海禁之险,投身在化外之民斩荆辟棘的异域,照料开荒民众的生死大事。他们一代接一代,经历两百余年艰苦变迁,确保了汉传佛教在南洋华人垦荒的地区继续流传。今日回顾清代在马来亚弘法的汉传佛教僧侣,他们多数人默默无名,这些法师为了随顺文盲众多的垦荒社会,从赶经忏到提出开办佛教公司兴办实业,甚至有耍杂技和开动物园的,无所不为,俱是为了能深入民间广说妙法、建立汉传佛教在地方上的经济实力和社会影响,其贡献实不能以成败评价。后人可以为他们结论:"菩萨心肠是不能以著作等身评价的。"

Since the early Qing Dynasty,the pioneer monks of Buddhism from China living in Malacca settled down a strange land among the foreigners and hacked a way through all difficulties and attended to the birth and death of pioneers running the risks of banning on maritime trade with foreign countries,generation by generation,experienced about 200-year hardships and perils and made the Buddhism from China retain its popularity among the Southeast-Asia Chinese people at Malacca. Reviewing what they have done at Malaya during the Qing Dynasty,we know that most of them worked in anonymity for spreading the Buddhism. They went all lengths to adapt the underdeveloped society with many illiterates from chanting Buddhist scriptures to opening Buddhist companies,setting up business,even performing acrobatics and running zoos. They went among the masses to spread the Buddhism widely in order to establish an economic strength and social influence of Buddhism from china at the place. Their contributions can not be evaluated in success and failure. A conclusion we can get from their work is ＂the heart of a Budhisattva can not be evaluated with numerous works＂.