中古时期三夷教的消亡与外来宗教中国化的路径选择

The Extinction of Three Foreign Religions in the Mediaeval Times and the Path Choice in the Sinicization of Foreign Religions

关于外来宗教中国化的主题,学界对于四个现存的宗教(佛教、伊斯兰教、天主教和基督教新教)都有正面经验的总结与研究。这里拟从另一视角出发,取中古史上已经消失的三夷教——祆教、景教和摩尼教为例,分析它们在内地传播过程中遭遇失败的原因,并与佛、道教的实践行为进行比较,从反面说明外来宗教中国化,必须坚持"有利于国家的长治久安与增进人民的福祉"两个基本原则。否则,外来宗教在中国就不可能有长久的生命力。

As for the sinicization of foreign religions,the academic circle has summarized and studied the positive experience of the four existing religions:Buddhism,Islam,Catholicism and Protestantism.From a new perspective,this paper studies the three foreign religions disappeared during the mediaeval times,that is,Zoroastrianism,Manichaeism and Nestorianism.By analyzing why they failed to spread in China and comparing the practices of Buddhism and Taoism,this paper also illustrates that it is necessary to adhere to two basic principles of“maintaining the country's stability and improving people's welfare”in the sinicization of foreign religions.Otherwise,foreign religions cannot exist in China for long.