“戏场”:从印度到中国——兼说汉译佛经中的梵剧史料

The Term "Xichang" (Theatre):From India to China Historical Materials of Buddhist Plays Contained in Chinese Translations of Buddhist Scriptures

“戏场”是汉语中的一个复合词 ,却最早出现在建安初的汉译佛经中 ,并在晋、唐之际的佛经中多次被使用 ,指印度的歌舞、百戏、戏剧演出场所 ;隋唐时期汉族文人的著述中多用以指与佛教有关的场所 ,宋代始用以指优戏演出场所 ,完成了它“出口转内销”的过程。汉译佛经中保存了一些梵剧史料 ,对于研究早期梵剧及其与中国戏剧的关系 ,弥足珍贵。梵剧中的“引线匠”与南宋杂剧中的“引戏”、安徽贵池傩戏中的“报台先生”酷似 ,说明梵剧对南戏进程已构成实质性影响。

Xichang' is a compound term in Chinese language formed with two Chinese characters, but it first appeared in the Chinese translation of Buddhist scriptures in the early Jian'an ages of China's Han Dynasty. It had been used many times in Buddhist scriptures during China's Jing and Tang Dynasties, referring to the places of India where signing, dancing, and different kinds of plays were performed. In the writings of the scholars of Han Nationality in China's Shui and Tang Dynasties, the two words were mostly used to refer to the places related to Buddhism. They were only first used in Song Dynasty to refer to the places where good plays were staged, thus completing its process of 'exports turned to domestic consumption'. Some historic materials were preserved in the translations of Buddhist scriptures of Han Dynasty. These translations are very precious for researching into early Buddhist plays and their relation with China's plays. The 'string-drawing man' in Buddhist plays are very similar to the 'play drawer' in the sundry plays of Southern Song Dynasty and to the 'Mr. Stage-Announcer' of the Nuo Play of Guichi City of Anhui Province. These facts show that Buddhist plays already exerted susbstantial influence on the progress of the plays of China's Southern Song Dynasty.