填还阴债与预寄珍财——古代“受生”“寄库”观念考辨

Paying Debt and Depositing “Paper Money”to the Underworld—A Study on the Ancient Concepts of Shousheng and Jiku

受生信仰是从宋代开始盛行的一种民间信仰,民间在烧醮受生钱之时,往往还同时烧醮寄库钱,故而学者大多认为受生即是寄库。但是,寄库钱是向地府冥司预存钱财,以备死后支用,而受生钱则是填还冥司受生阴债,含义并不相同,两者应是并列关系,非等同关系。同时,烧醮寄库钱应是演变自丧葬习俗中"事死如事生"观念与佛教预修观念的结合;而受生钱信仰的出现则与唐代再生故事的广泛传播密切相关。可以说,佛教受生说对民间信仰有所吸收的同时,又反过来对民间习俗产生了极大的影响。

The belief of shousheng refers to a prevailing folk custom of communing with the underworld characterized by ＂burning paper money.＂ Many scholars believe that shousheng and jiku refer to the same folk custom, but actually they are entirely different practices： shousheng means taking a loan from the underworld, whilejiku is depositing savings in the underworld for use after death. Burning the money ofjiku is a combination of the funeral custom of ＂serving the dead as one would serve the living＂ and the Buddhist concept of practice in advance of an event. The appearance of shousheng was closely related to stories about rebirth that spread extensively during the Tang dynasty, proving that Buddhist ideas greatly affected actual folk customs as it assimilated secular beliefi.