少林寺那罗延神的失落:佛教文化在中国的植入和变迁

Narayana's Disappearance in the Shaolin Temple:Indian Buddhism's Transmission and Transformation in China

本文涉及少林寺著名的护法伽蓝那罗延神的失落问题,以期深入讨论印度佛教文化在中国的植入和变迁。嵩山少林寺是中国功夫的代表性寺庙,其功夫与寺内长期存在的护法伽蓝神有密切关系,成为少林功夫的精神象征和文化符号。但是,源于毗湿奴大神的早期金刚那罗延神不知何时失落,近世以来演变成紧那罗王并进入民间神话和历史文献,而那罗延神则以语言化石的形式保存了千年前的传统,活在当地人民的口述历史中。本文以寺庙文献、碑铭、图像、佛典和作者实地调查的佛教汉语方言语料等为研究对象,力图寻找并还原少林寺护法伽蓝应是那罗延神的本来历史面貌。

Focusing on the disappearance of Narayana, bodhisattva of Samgharama in the Shaolin Temple, this paper attempts to discuss Indian Bud-dhism＇ s transmission and transformation in China. Built in A. D. 496 for Buddhabhadra from Northern India, the Shaolin Tem-ple is a typical one well-known for its Chinese kung fu with a history as long as 1,500 years, and also one which maintained a significant link with India. After Buddhabhadra, several Indian monks came to the temple in succession and en-gaged themselves in translating Buddhism sutras into Chinese. In fact, the Shaolin Kung Fu is closely related to the belief in Narayana, a symbol of the Shaolin spirit and culture. Around the Yuan Dynasty （A. D. 1206-A. D. 1368） , however, the statue of Narayana started to disappear. Kimnara coincidently took his place to be worshipped in Samgharama and went into folklore and historical documents. Nev-ertheless, Narayana has still remained alive in local people＇ s oral history in the form of language fossil. In brief, this paper endeavors to seek and restore the orig-inal truth that Narayana was and should be the genuine dharma - protecting bodhi-sattva in the Shaolin Temple by studying relevant documents, tablet inscriptions, pictures, and Buddhist sutras, in combination with an on - the - spot investigation into some oral Buddhist terms in the dialect spoken in the vicinity of the temple.