阿育王式塔所具有的多种意义

The “King A oka” Type of Stupa and Its Multivalent Meanings

结合中国各地的阿育王式佛塔,探讨了这种单层、圆形覆钵顶、顶上四角通常有山花蕉叶造型的佛塔,并将其细分为舍利塔、阿育王塔、丧葬塔、纪念塔和瑞现塔。考察了敦煌莫高窟壁画中的窣堵婆式佛塔的起源、时代、特征及历史含义,并讨论了其潜在的原型。中国圆顶塔形并非起源于单一的原型,更有可能与不同文化综合作用下的思想及造像有关,是人类复杂的文化交流与丰富的想象力的产物。

This paper examines the Dunhuang material on a stupa type associated with King A^oka from a broader perspective and relates this information to stupas known in other parts of China that have a single story with a domed roof and typically also having protrusions standing at the four corners of the roof that resemble acroteria in Western architecture. This type can be subdivided into several categories, including reliquary stupas, King Agoka stupas, funerary stupas, commemorative stupas, and auspicious stupa manifestations. It concludes that these stupa forms in China are related to ideas and images from a wide variety of cultures and religions, and that it is difficult to assign them to any particular precedents on the Indian subcontinent or to any single point of ori- gin because of the complexity of cultural interaction. Instead, they can be understood as the products of different historical periods and groups of people over many centuries, and their meanings changed over time.