佛教譬喻影响中国文学举例

Examples of the Influence of Buddhist Metaphors on Chinese Literature

佛陀的教法因为过于深奥及听讲人根性的差别,往往不容易被理解。为了使听讲人通晓深奥的佛理,佛陀采用一些容易让人理解的方式来阐说佛理,目的是"更明此义","诸有智者以譬喻得解",这就是譬喻。譬喻经和譬喻故事对中国文学的各个方面都产生了极其重要的影响,一方面故事的内容、所要表达的义理进入中国的文学作品,一方面影响到中国文学的表达方式。

The Buddha's teachings are often too difficult to understand due to their profoundness and the different conditions of the audiences.To make people undersand the esoteric Buddhist doctrines,Buddha adopts some easier way of explaining Buddhist texts with the purposes of"better understanding the meaning"and"helping the wise men understanding with metaphors",namely apadāna.Apadāna and relevant stories have produced significant influence on all aspects of Chinese literature.On the one hand,the content of the stories and the doctrines they convey have been absorbed by Chinese literature,and on the other,influenced the form of expression of Chinese literature.