云在青天水在瓶——禅宗思维在中国设计中的借鉴

The Truth is Out There:Enlightenment of the Zen Thought on the China Design

禅宗是在深受中国文化(特别是道家)的影响下很大程度上完成的向佛教原始教义的一种复归。“禅”本身也是一个梵语词汇,禅宗初祖达摩“一苇渡江”从外国入华,但禅宗主要是在中国人即“六祖”慧能及其弟子手中发展成为一种原创性的哲学思想的。慧能本人的不识字恰好促生了“不立文字”的禅宗佛学——尽管后学还是将慧能言论整理成《六祖坛经》。禅宗对于日常生活的重视,很难说不是主要受到道家哲学的影响,而“解构经典”进而“呵佛骂祖”的信仰实践,则未尝不可看作是对原始佛教的一种复归。尽管在唐武宗灭佛之后,禅宗思想仍然得到了保存,晚唐五代时期还分化出“五家七宗”。但总的说来,禅宗的创造性高峰已经过去。直到今天,虽有很多人(包括艺术家)热衷于谈“禅”,也还有许多寺庙被称为“禅院”、“禅寺”,但今日名副其实的“禅宗”精神,只能存在于文献之中。本文对于禅宗的分析,即是就其体现出的一些对于艺术和设计创作有启发的中国思维方式进行讨论。

Zen is a return to the primitive Buddhist doctrine largely under the influence of Chinese culture(especially Taoism).“Zen”itself is also a Sanskrit word.Dharma,the first ancestor of Zen,"crossed the river with a reed"from a foreign country,but Zen mainly developed into an original philosophical thought by Huineng,the sixth patriarch,,and his disciples.The illiteracy of Huineng himself promoted the Zen Buddhism of"no writing",although later scholars still arranged Huineng's remarks into the Altar sutra of Six Ancestors.It is hard to say that Zen's emphasis on daily life is not mainly influenced by Taoist philosophy,and the belief practice of"deconstructing the classics"and"yawning Buddha and cursing ancestors"can be regarded as a return to primitive Buddhism.Zen thought was still preserved after the destruction of Buddhism by Emperor Wu of the Tang Dynasty,there were still five school and seven division in the five Dynasties of the late Tang Dynasty.But overall,creation of Zen’s peak is over.Even today,although many people(including artists)are keen on Zen,and there are still many temples called Zen courtyards and temples,the true spirit of Zen can only exist in the literature.The analysis of Zen Buddhism in this paper is to discuss some Chinese ways of thinking that can inspire art and design.