莫高窟B47窟所反映的葬俗与观念初探

A preliminary exploration of the burial customs and beliefs reflected in cave no.B47 of the Mogao Grottoes

敦煌莫高窟B47窟为瘗窟,死者独葬于窟内并随葬两件告身。根据告身可知葬者“□文楚”是唐代战死归乡的低级军官,死后由亲属承担丧葬事宜,因敦煌战死不入家族墓地习俗,亲属选择佛教丧葬观念与形式,将其送入莫高窟北区瘗埋安葬,以期为其除罪升天。佛教石窟寺允许世俗人单独开窟入葬并随葬世俗文书与纸钱,说明佛教葬俗逐渐受到世俗葬俗影响。

Cave no.B47 at the Mogao Grottoes of Dunhuang is a burial cave where the deceased was interred alone,accompanied by two‘gao shen(appointment)’documents.Based on these documents,it is revealed that the deceased,identified as"□Wen Chu,"was a low-ranking military officer who died in a battle during the Tang Dynasty and was returned to his hometown for burial.Due to the custom in Dunhuang that war dead should not be buried in family cemeteries,his relatives chose to embrace Buddhist funeral beliefs and practices and placed him in the northern section of the Mogao Grottoes for burial,hoping to help him achieve salvation and purification in the afterlife.The fact that Buddhist cave temples allowed secular individuals to create burial caves and inter the deceased alongside secular documents and paper money suggests the gradual influence of Buddhist burial customs by secular practices.