从谢灵运《答范特进书》看佛教赞体创作与南朝社会风尚

A Glimpse of the Creation of Literary Works in the Form of Buddhist Stotras and the Social Custom in the Southern Dynasties through Xie Lingyun’s Answer to Fan Tai’s Letter

本文从创作时间、创作缘由、文体来源及体制特点等方面,对谢灵运《答范特进书送佛赞》及相关问题进行了考察,本文认为:这篇作品产生于元嘉二年(425),是谢灵运写给范泰的一封书信,它全面真实反映了刘宋元嘉初年名士阶层的佛教活动以及佛教赞颂文体对他们文学创作的影响,是一封极为珍贵的历史文献。它表明,南朝刘宋的元嘉之世前后,以范泰、谢灵运、谢惠连等为代表的名士阶层的日常生活都深受佛教影响,这种影响表现在两方面:一是东晋以來,私人立寺造像蔚成风气,二是文人对新出的大乘教理所表现出的极大研讨兴趣。而这两方面都刺激了佛教赞颂文体创作在元嘉之世的兴盛。

This article gives an inspection on Xie Lingyun’s Answer to Fan Tai’s Letter and relevant issues from such aspects as the time and origin of this literary work,the origin of literary form and the characteristics of the then system.It holds that this piece of work was written in the 2 nd Year of the Reign of Yuanjia(425 B.C.),also a letter by Xie Lingyun to Fan Tai,which has fully and truly reflected the Buddhist activities by the celebrities in the beginning of the Reign of Yuanjia in the Liu Song Dynasty,as well as the impact of Buddhist Stotras on their literary creation,thus regarded as a valuable historical document.It implies that before and after the Reign of Yuanjia of the Liu Song Dynasty in the Southern Dynasties the celebrities represented by Fan Tai,Xie Lingyun and Xie Huilian were deeply influenced by Buddhism in their daily lives.On the one hand,a trend prevailed since the founding of the Eastern Jin Dynasty that individuals were indulged in erecting temples and statues;on the other hand,the literati showed a great interest in discussions the newly-introduced Mahayana doctrines.They have both stimulated the creation of literary works in the form of Buddhist Stotras in the Reign of Yuanjia.