论武昌莲溪寺东吴永安五年佛像的莲花座渊源

A Study on the Origin of the Lotus Throne of Buddhist Sculptures in Wuchang Lianxi Temple in the Fifth Year of the Eastern Wu Yong’an Period

长江中下游的汉晋佛教造像中,极为明显的特征之一是佛像的莲花座,这是与长江上游四川地区的汉晋佛像截然不同的一个持点。武昌莲溪寺的东吴永安五年(公元262年)纪年佛像,足踏莲台,莲茎左右各分出一根细枝,枝端有莲花。这是很可能中国纪年造像中出现的首例莲花座,而且是古印度"舍卫城大神变"系列造像的雏形。莲花座,在古印度首先出现于拉克希米和梵天造像,与佛教无关。直到公元三世纪中后期才与佛像造像发生联系,而且,仅限于"舍卫城大神变"系列造像。由此出发,并参照中国古籍文献,可以判断,中国汉晋时期独立出现的莲花图像与佛教的关系无关,不能作为早期佛教传播的证据,当时与佛教有关的仅有长江中下游的莲花座一种。

In Buddhist sculptures produced in the Han Dynasty and Western Jin Dynasty at the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, the Buddhist lotus-throne was one of the most obvious characters. It was absolutely different from those Buddhist sculptures’ in the area of Sichuan area, upper reaches of the Yangtze River during the same period. The Buddha sculpture made at Wuchang Lianxi Temple in A.D.262 (the fifth year of the Eastern Wu Yong’an period), was standing on a lotus-throne. It was most likely to be the first lotus-throne found in Chinese Buddhist sculptures, and also an embryonic form of the image of the Great Miracle at Shravasti in ancient India. The lotus-throne was firstly shown in some images of Gaja-Lakshmi and Brahma in India, and nothing to do with Buddhism. Therefore, the isolated lotus image found in the Han and Jin dynasties was nothing to do with Buddhism, and it could not be taken as evidence for the spread of early Buddhism in China.