梁武舍道事佛与唐代三教论衡

On Emperor Liang Wu abandoning Taoism to Buddhism Three-religions Debate in the Tang Dynasty

梁武帝舍道事佛是中古思想文化史上的一大疑案,但此一说法真正被关注是在唐代。与其斤斤计较此说的真伪,不如从唐代宗教文化环境中考察其发生与功能。从现存文献来看,唐代帝王史臣在反思南北朝政教关系的潮流中,将梁武帝崇奉佛教与萧梁亡国联系起来,道教徒也乘势将此提升为佛教亡国论,但梁武帝舍道事佛并未被儒、道二教关注。唐初佛徒对儒家、道教的批判采取了不同的回应方式,梁武帝舍道事佛主要承担起了抨击道教的使命,但受儒、道联合批评佛教惯例的影响,此事同时具有了扬佛、抑儒、贬道的宗教功能。唐代佛徒对梁武帝舍道事佛的叙事突出了宗教对抗关系,这是对傅奕等道教信徒攻击佛教的响应。

It is a great mystery in the history of medieval culture that Emperor Liang Wu adandoned Taoism, which,however, became a special concern in early Tang Dynasty. The article proposes that, rather than commenting onwhether the event was true or false, a better way of working out the mystery is to investigate its happenings andfunctions in the religious and cultural context of Tang Dynasty. Judging from the existing literature, emperors andministers connected Liang Wu’s Buddhism worship with the national subjugation, which was taken advantage byTaoists who propagated that Buddhism resulted in the subjugation. However, the event itself of Liang Wu’s abandoningTaoism to Buddhism has not been paid any attention to by either Confucianists or Taoists. In early Tang Dynasty,Buddhists responded in a different way to both Confucianist and Taoist criticisms, believing that the event itself wasundertaking the mission of attacking Taoism. But influenced by the practice that Confucianism and Taoism collaboratedin criticizing Buddhism, the event also functioned in glorifying Buddhism, suppressing Confucianism and diminishingTaoism. The Buddhists’ narration of the event in Tang Dynasty highlighted the adversial relations among the threereligions at the time, and the event was a response from Taoists like Fuyi.