湖南佛教造像记十例

Ten Cases of Hunan Province Buddhist Statue of Prayers

佛教造像记,就是为了造作佛像而表述这些功利目的和愿望诉求的文字,它们依附于造像而存在。不过,限于传统金石学厚古薄今的一贯态度,学者们更重视一些宋以前的造像记,却忽视宋以后特别是清代的造像记。本文的所辑录的十例湖南地区的明清两代造像记,系作者数十年田野考察所得。我们对明清佛教造像记应当予以相应的重视,使中国佛教文化的研究不至于出现"断层"和"死角"。

Buddha statue epigraphs are the words written by the sculptor upon completion of the statue that describe his intent for the Buddha＇s function and express his personal wishes for how the Buddha will bless him. The inscriptions exist only in conjunction with the statue. Regrettably, restricted by the attitude prevalent in traditional epigraphy, which favors the anicent over the more recent, scholars have been more concerned with Buddha statue epigraphs from before the Song dynasty at the cost of ignoring research into later periods, especially the Qing. The study of ten Hunan Ming and Qing era Buddha statue epigraphs, as compiled here, is the result of the author＇s some ten years of field research. We must give an appropriate amount of attention to Ming and Qing Buddha statue epigraphs so as to avoid historical disconnect and an unearned sense of completion in the research of Chinese Buddhist culture.