汉画所见存思术考——兼论《老子中经》对汉画的文本化继承

Depictions of Meditative Visualization in Han Funerary Art: The Textual Inheritance of Central Scripture of Laozi in Han Pictorial Art

存思是后世道教中长期流传不衰的修仙术,然其早期渊源形态如何向为一疑。基于汉墓画像资料与道经所存相关文本资料的交叉研究,可以证明"历藏内视"的存思术在东汉社会之流行及其表现形态。汉墓画像中的某些歌舞图及"四灵在旁"类图像,正是同时代《王子乔碑》、《帝尧碑》及《老子铭》所记当时社会中流行的"弦琴以歌太一"、"覃思以历丹田"之类存思修炼活动的图像表达;"歌舞"之目的在于"以歌太一"、"以乐却灾","四灵在旁"则表示存思"坐忘"以复归浑沌不死。从《老子中经》则可发现对应于武氏祠左石室"雷公出行图"的文本依据,由此进一步确证部分汉画所蕴涵的内炼属性,并揭示《老子中经》对汉画所代表东汉宗教思想的文本化继承。通过汉墓图像与今存原始道教文献的准确对接,不仅可以明确判断汉画的宗教实质,更可具体呈现曾经盛行于世而沉淀于墓中的炼仙之术,再现隐藏于汉画背后的历史信息,打开观察、理解汉代精神世界的新视野。

Though its origins are obscure, meditative visualization （cunsi 存思）has a long history as a technique of self-cultivation in Daoist tradition. Based on the interdisciplinary study of visual materials from Han pictorial funerary art and related early Daoist scriptures, we can now determine a series of techniques of visualization that developed in the Eastern Han called ＂inner contemplation by passing through the viscera. ＂ Some Han tomb depictions of song and dance ＂surrounded by the four numina＂ are pictorial expressions of the techniques of inner cultivation known as ＂musical praise of the Grand Unity＂ and ＂visualizing cinnabar fields. ＂ Contemporary corroborating textual records can be found on the ＂Stele to Emperor Yao,＂ ＂Stele to Wangzi Qiao,＂ and the ＂Inscription for Laozi. ＂ Song and dance are aimed to ＂use song to joy the Grand Unity＂ or ＂utilizing music to repulse misfortune＂ ; while ＂being surrounded by the four numina＂ means ＂to sit in obliviousness,＂ to forgetting all and returning to a primordial huntun （the original chaos） state of deathlessness. In the Central Scripture of Laozi one can find the textual counterpart to images of ＂the Thunder Lord Travels Abroad＂ from the Wu family shrine in Shandong. Once again, pictorial art both inherits and projects Eastern Han religious attributes of inner cultivation from texts like the Central Scripture of Laozi. Depictions in tomb art do not only represent religious characteristics of Han beliefs, but also reveal further insights into technical aspects of immortal cultivation, providing a key new contextual window to the understanding of Han spirituality.