敦煌本《父子互托》刍议

A Preliminary Study on the Dunhuang Version of A Con Played By Father and Son

敦煌草书写本《杂缘起抄》中有一段内容讲述父子在集市相互做“托”,从而盈利的故事。被父子欺骗的顾客并不知情,还因从购物中得到方便就“心生欢喜”;佛与菩萨得知后也装为顾客,以此宣扬佛法教化众人。故事用日常生活中的事例来宣传佛教教义,内容体现佛教“缘起”的法则,认为世间因缘和合、万事万物都存在着关联。此外还蕴含“方便之门”的思想,反映着佛教在中国传教过程中的本土化特点。

There is a section in the Dunhuang version of Za Yuanqi Chao杂缘起抄(Transcriptions of Various Pratityasamutpada)in cursive writing which tells a story about a father and his son"running a con together"in the market in order to make money.The customers are cheated by the father and son without knowing it,and even they"feel joy"because their shopping experience is so convenient.Buddhas and Bodhisattvas also pretended to be customers so as to spread Buddhism and enlighten lay people.Such stories publicize Buddhist doctrine by using examples from daily life,while the contents of the stories reflect the Buddhist principle of"pratitya-samutpada,"which believes that karma and harmony exist together in the world,and that all things are related.Finally,the stories can be seen as relating to the idea of the"way of convenience,"and reflects the localization characteristics that Buddhism underwent while being spread in China.