唐代舍利瘗埋制度之“金棺银椁”探析

Study on the Rite of Coffined Buddhist Relics of the Tang Dynasty

舍利本意为佛陀精神的象征,是超越世俗寻求解脱的智慧所在,而棺椁作为葬礼器物是世俗礼法的象征,它内涵尘世情感和社会秩序,不在同一范畴的两者机缘之下在唐代被组合到了一起,唐朝成就了舍利的棺椁瘗埋制度。这一奇妙的组合方式并不偶然与单薄,而是时代与思潮驱使下的必然结果,在唐朝佛教中国化与创新性包容性佛学氛围的相互成就,自上而下的崇佛风潮将崇佛的世俗化推向极致,“金棺银椁”的瘗埋制度便是在中国化、世俗化、创新性、包容性等共同作用下所形成的。每一种佛教物质文化的背后都承载着丰富的思想,他们是对各个时期佛教气象的彰显,通过对佛教物质文化的解读,发现它完全可以作为一条审视佛教发展与特点的新路径。

Buddha’s relics represent the spirit of Buddha,which means the wisdom that transcends the world and seeks relief.As funeral artifacts,the coffin is a symbol of secular etiquette,its connotation is earthly emotion and social order.However,these two things of different categories were combined together in the Tang dynasty,contributing to the coffined Buddha’s relics.This unusual combination was not all accidental or alone,but was the inevitable outcome,driven by the contemporary trends,the Buddhism atmosphere of the sinicization of Buddhism and innovative inclusion emerged,the top-down worship for Buddha pushed its secularity to the extreme,as a result,the coffined Buddhist relics were established under the joint effort of the Sinicization,secularity,innovativeness and inclusiveness.Every kind of Buddhist material culture carried profound thought,which manifested the Buddhism atmosphere at each period.By interpreting the Buddhist material culture,it’s very easy to find that it can be a new approach to exploring the Buddhist development and characteristics.