论汉传佛教史学意识的自觉及中国佛教史学的兴起

On Historical Self-consciousness of the Buddhism Established in the Han Dynasty and Rise of Chinese History of Buddhism

汉传佛教史学是中国发达的史学领域中一个独具特色的门类,是随着佛教传入汉地而逐步形成的。佛教史学家出现于两晋南北朝时期,但佛教学者们很早就具有明确而自觉的史学意识,注意搜集佛陀传记、印度佛教史和佛教传入汉地的相关史料,并为所翻译的佛典撰写序跋,保留了相当数量的佛教史学素材。有的学者对佛教传入汉地后所译经典目录进行整理,对所建寺院及相关史实进行实地考察,还有一些僧人前去西域、印度等地求学求法,实地考察印度佛教,写出了重要见闻游记,极大地拓宽了佛教史学的视野。在此基础上,汉传佛教史学家们则以更为自觉的史学意识和更为成熟的史学素养,搜讨资料,创制体例,编撰了大量的史学典籍,促成了佛教史学门类的兴起,为汉传佛教史学在发达的中国史学领域争得了一席之地。

Buddhist history established in the Han Dynasty is a distinct area of advanced Chinese history, which was gradually shaped with the spread in the territory of the Han Dynasty. Although Buddhist historians didn＇ t appear till times of the Wei Kingdom and the Jing and Northern and Southern Dynasties, Buddhist scholars of clear and self-conscious sense of history kept large quantities of materials of Buddhist history by collecting biographies of Buddhas and related Indian Buddhist history and history of Buddhism spread in China, and writing the forewords for their translated Buddhist classics. Some scholars indexed the contents of translated Buddhist classics and personally investigated the related historical materials of the founded Buddhist temples. Some monks travelled to the western regions and India to study Buddhism, contributing significant impressions and travel accounts by personally investigating Indian Buddhism, which greatly extended the vision of Buddhist history. With all this done, Buddhist historians in the Hart Dynasty, who were equipped with more self-conscious sense of history and more mature historical accomplishment, collected materials, establishing stylistic rules and layout and compiled a great number of historical classics, helping establish the scholarship of Buddhist history and win a place for the scholarship in the world of advanced Chinese history.