古典文学中的“舍身弃子”——以孝顺与舍身的映射意义为中心

The Idea of“Sacrificing One’s Life and Forsaking One’s Child”in Classical Literature——With a Focus on the Connotative Meanings of Filial Piety and Self⁃Sacrifice

《今昔物语集》中的忠明跳落谷底不死的故事、佛典中萨埵王子舍身饲虎的故事和波罗国的须太那太子布施等的故事,呈现出东亚世界独特的佛典传播与接受史。佛教在印度形成时,“孝”的思想是不存在的,而传播到中国后,在中国的思想里,“孝”与“恩”的思想深深扎根,佛教思想在中国传播和接受的过程中,因此带上孝顺与报恩的思想。从儒教的伦理来看,萨埵王子的舍身饲虎是“不孝”的。《三宝绘》须太那太子的故事强调了须太那太子出于对母亲的依恋才回国,传播了孝顺的观念。日本通过各种孝子故事接受中国的孝顺和报恩的思想,通过对《源氏物语》古注如《紫明抄》与《河海抄》等相关资料的分析,可知日本在接受从中国传来的佛教思想时,试图协调孝顺、报恩与印度佛理的冲突,在这一思想背景下,出现了为父母牺牲的孩子不会真的死去,还会得到意外的祝福这样的孝子故事,这一孝子故事融入了日本的文化。

The story of Tadaakira jumping into the valley but having survived as recorded in the Japanese Tales from Times Past,the story of Prince Mahāsattva sacrificing his life to feed a hungry tigress in Buddhist scriptures and the story of Vessantara Jātaka,the compassionate and generous prince of Pala Empire all present unique histories of the dissemination and reception of Buddhist ideas in East Asia.When Buddhism initially took shape in India,there was no concept known as filial piety.Given that filial piety had been deeply rooted in traditional Chinese thoughts,Buddhism absorbed the notions of filial piety and gratitude when it spread to China.Mahāsattva may not be a filial son from the Confucian perspective because he abandoned his body from his parents to feed a starving tigress and her seven cubs.The story of Prince Vessantara Jātaka emphasizes that he returned to his country only because he missed his mother too much,which promotes the ethic of filial piety.Japan accepted the ideas of filial piety and gratitude through various stories of filial piety.By analyzing ancient annotations to Genji Monogatari,such as Shimeishou and Kakaishou,one will find that Japan made many endeavors to reconcile the conflict between Buddhism and Confucianism when accepting Buddhism from China.It is no surprise that against such ideological background,the filial sons in the aforesaid narratives would not actually die but would instead receive unexpected blessings.These stories of filial devotion were eventually integrated into Japanese culture.