莫高窟前史新探——宕泉河流域汉晋遗迹的历史意义

A New Study on the Prehistory of the Mogao Grottoes——The Historical Meaning of the Han and Jin Dynasties Ruins at the Basin of the Dangquan River

敦煌莫高窟所在地宕泉河流域自汉代开发以来就有人类活动;西晋时建仙岩寺。作为敦煌最古老的佛教建筑,它见证了佛教从印度和中亚传入中国的历史;作为历史上敦煌菩萨竺法护从事大乘佛教经典翻译的场所,它称得上是中国大乘佛教的发祥地;同时作为中国最早的习禅场所,它也是敦煌高僧昙猷在竺法护译出禅经的前提下"依教修心,终成胜业"的历史见证。

People have been active at the basin of the Dangquan River, near which the Mogao Grottoes site is located, since the Han dynasty. In the Western Jin period the earliest Buddhist architecture of Dunhuang, the Xianyan Temple, was built there, which testifies to the route by which Buddhism was disseminated from India and Central Asia into China. As the place where Dharmaraksa translated Mahayana Buddhist scriptures, this river basin can be regarded as the cradle of Chinese Mahayana Buddhism, and as the earliest place for practicing Bud- dhist meditation in China, as it is recorded in ancient documents that Master Tan You ＂trained his mind and fi- nally achieved great accomplishments＂ with the dhyana sutras translated by Dharmaraksa.