印度佛教向东而非向西传播的原因——东西方文化差异的一个案例

Why Indian Buddhism Disseminated Eastward But Not Westward: a Case of Cultural Difference between the East and the West

佛教之所以向东而非向西传播,原因之一是兼通梵汉语文的罽宾、大夏、大月支的一些佛教徒、商人是佛教东传的首批传播者,罽宾、大夏、大月、安息、康居及我国西域的龟兹、温宿、疏勒等国,早被佛教,这一地区成为印度佛教东渐的过渡地带,商路、婚姻和语言的沟通,为佛教东传提供了西传所没有的媒介。更为重要的是因为佛教与中国传统儒、佛思想有文化上的"类同"因素,能够和儒、道思想"通解"。而西方的基督教,则与佛教有着更为本质和明显的文化差异,佛教西传至小亚细亚,遂受阻于基督教。

One reason for Buddhism to disseminate eastward but not westward was that some Buddhists and merchants from Kasmira,Balkh,and the Great Yüeh-chin with concurrent mastery of both Sanskrit and Chinese were the first batch of Buddhist disseminators processing eastward.Buddhism had already spread over the terrain from Kasmira,Balkh,the Great Yüeh-chin,the Parthian Empire,and Kangqu,to Qiuci,Wensu,and Shule in the Western Region,which acted as a buffer zone for Indian Buddhism disseminating eastward.The communication in commerce,marriage,and language provided media for Buddhism disseminating eastward but not westward.More importantly,many cultural factors of Buddhism resembled the Confucian and Taoist thoughts in traditional China,while there were more essential and obvious cultural differences between Western Christianity and Buddhism.Buddhism disseminated westward to Asia Minor,and then was blocked by Christianity.