《水浒传》与密教

The Water Margin and Esoteric Buddhism

元末明初,密教在中国民间广为流行。文学作品是社会生活的反映,宗教作为社会生活的一部分,自然也会以各种方式进入文学作品之中。成书于元末明初的“神魔小说”,如《西游记》《封神演义》等,在许多方面集中反映了密教的影响。《水浒传》等所谓“讲史小说”,同样也往往可见密教的影响。《水浒传》中不仅提到了很多密教神明,也描绘密教的坛场、法术、器物等,这些都是它受密教影响的证据。

Esoteric Buddhism was very popular among the Chinese people from the late Yuan Dynasty to the early Ming Dynasty,marking a developmental phase of Buddhism.Being a social phenomenon,it was definitely reflected in literary creation then.Novels written during that period,such as The Journey to the West and The Legend of Deification,which have been classified as“fiction on the fighting between gods and demons”,reflect intensively the influence of Esoteric Buddhism to a great extent,and novels like The Water Margin,so-called“fiction relating history”,also shows the effect of Esoteric Buddhism more often than not.In The Water Margin,the writer not only mentioned many a deity of Esoteric Buddhism,but also depicted the altars,magic arts and utensils of Esoteric Buddhism,which can be seen as evidence of a link between the novel and Esoteric Buddhism.