天竺与中土:何为天地之中央——唐代僧人运用佛教空间结构系统整合中土空间的方法研究

India or Tang:Which Was the Center of Universe——Research on Methods of Integrating Tang as Part of Buddhism Spatial Structure by Indigenous Monks

不同宗教的空间观念不同。当佛教传入儒教信仰为主的中土时,天竺与中土,何为天地中心,就成了中土高僧必须解决的问题,因为事关是礼佛还是忠君的道路选择问题。道宣是系统地解决这个问题的唐代高僧,他用佛教的空间结构系统整合中土空间,从而使印度成为天地之中心,而中土大唐则成为佛所王土的边地。道宣所采用的空间整合的核心方法,早在汉晋时期已经出现,即将苏迷卢山等同于昆仑山,使阿耨达池成为黄河的发源地,从而让天竺与中土山水相连。这一观念之所以流传开来,并一度坐实为中国的地理知识,在于僧侣巧妙地运用了传统中国河出昆仑的传说。道宣等的空间整合方式,使中土成为佛所王土的一部分,弥补了佛教典籍在早期结集时对印度域外地理知识的不足,完善了或补充了佛教空间结构系统,也在很大程度上昌明了中土佛教的正统性。

Before the encounter of Buddhism and Confucianism, both of these two religions explained their birth land as the center of universe, whilst the former was held to be faith center of Buddhism world and the latter to be orthodox political center obeying mandate of heaven. It was inescapable for monks to expound which was the indeed genuine when they intended to introduce Buddhism to Tang. Tao Hsüan was the one who solved this issue systematically by integrating Tang＇s land into the Buddhism spatial interpretive scheme as borderland and approving India as the real center. By making use of a legend that Yellow River traced origin from Kunlun Mountains, Tao Hsiian drew support from the scheme emerged in Han that took Mount Meru as Kunlun Mountains and lotus ponds of anuttara as source of Yellow River, and successfully linked India and Tang together geographically.