莫高窟第365窟七佛榜题录释

Transcription and Interpretation of the Inscriptions Regarding the Seven Buddhas in Mogao Cave 365

敦煌文书P.4640《大蕃沙州释门教授和尚洪修功德碑》记载吐蕃占领时期高僧洪曾在莫高窟"开七佛药师之堂",一般认为即今莫高窟第365窟。此窟西壁设佛坛,上塑禅定七佛,浮塑背屏,七佛右肩后的背屏上各存一方榜题,文字存大部,可知为"过去七佛"相关内容,主要出自元魏菩提流支译《佛说佛名经》。本文认为第365窟七佛塑像为初建时原作,榜题系宋代重修此窟时题写,其内容与初建时期所表现的药师七佛信仰完全不同,是研究宋代过去七佛信仰的重要资料。

According to P.4640,Stele Recording the Deeds of the Buddhist Official Monk Hong Bian in Building the Buddhist Caves at Shazhou,the monk Hong Bian built a cave at Mogao during the Tibetan occupation to worship the Seven Medicine Buddhas,it is generally believed that this cave is Mogao cave 365.In this cave,there is a Buddhist altar against the west wall on which stand the statues of Seven Buddhas in meditation.Behind these statues is a molded screen bearing inscriptions positioned beside the heads of the Buddha statues,the text of these inscriptions is mainly about the past Seven Buddhas and can be traced to a translation of the Buddhanama-sūtra by Bodhiruci from the Northern Wei dynasty.In addition,the top layer of the wall paintings was repainted in the early Song dynasty.This paper comes to the conclusion that,while the statues of the Seven Buddhas were contemporary with the construction of the caves,the inscriptions were most likely written in the Song dynasty during renovation.This is evident from differences in the belief in the Seven Buddhas of the Northern Wei and Song dynasties;the ideas expressed in the inscriptions clearly resemble the philosophy of the Song dynasty rather than the original belief in the Seven Medicine Buddhas popular when the cave was first built.These statues and inscriptions are important written and visual evidence for studying the history and philosophy of the Buddhist belief in the Seven Buddhas.