丝路文化传播中的“猫”叙事伦理研究——以日本佛教说话集为中心

A Study on the“Cat”Narrative Ethics in the Transmission of Silk Road Culture-Centered on the Japanese Buddhist Story Collections

据传家猫沿丝绸之路从印度传入中国,又随佛经在奈良时代传至日本。不仅传播路线与佛教相同,猫叙事伦理与佛教也颇有渊源。在印度佛教中猫食鼠的天性被作为伦理教化的反面典型,传入中国后受原始自然信仰的影响猫变身为具有灵性的神鬼符号。在融合中印功能化叙事的基础上,猫叙事在日本佛教说话集中呈现出“贵族化”的人文情怀与“妖魔化”的时代表征。本文通过追溯印度、中国、日本三国佛教文学中的猫叙事文本,探寻猫叙事在佛教伦理纵向的历史变迁与横向的地域空间中的传播、演变和发展,探讨其文化成因和叙事建构。

It is said that domestic cats were introduced to China from India along the Silk Road,and then to Japan with Buddhist scriptures in the Nara Age.Not only is the transmission route the same as Buddhism,the narrative ethics of cats is also relevant to Buddhism.In Indian Buddhism,Cats’natural tendency to eat rats is regarded as a negative example for moral discipline,while in China,under the influence of primitive natural beliefs the cats become intelligent mysterious symbols related with the immortal.On the basis of integrating the functional narratives in both China and India,the cat narrative in Japanese Buddhist story collections is featured with the humanitarian tendency of“aristocracy”and the periodic characteristic of“demonization”.By tracing the cat narrative texts in Buddhist literature in India,China and Japan,this paper attempts to illuminate the spread,evolution and development in the vertical history and horizontal space for Buddhist ethics,and explore the relevant cultural origin and narrative construction.