北朝石窟中弟子像法服初探

A Study of the Disciples’ Dress in the Cave-temples of the Northern Dynasties

倘若我们粗略扫视北朝石窟中的佛弟子像法服,我们可能轻易地把它们看成褒衣博带式,与中国同一时期造型艺术中常见的文人服饰相同。但假如我们仔细观察,就会发现并不都是如此;北朝晚期的弟子像'大袖'别样,弟子并非穿着宽博大衣,而是一种未经缝制的衣片式法服。根据笔者在中原北方典型佛教石窟寺,如大同云冈石窟和洛阳龙门石窟的调查,佛弟子在北魏时期皆穿宽博法服,这应是受到了汉族传统的褒衣博带式大衣影响,系北魏孝文帝汉化改革之结果。邯郸响堂山石窟中东魏北齐时期雕造的弟子像,似乎遵循传统的上座部沙门法服。依据汉译律典和西行求法高僧的记载,我们认为北朝晚期石窟中的弟子法服多转奉天竺旧俗,以传统的三衣为主。所谓三衣,即下衣、上衣、大衣,皆为长方形衣片,既没有缝制,也不具领口,既无衣袖,也无裤腿。石窟中的弟子法服通常包括三衣及僧祗支,其中,大衣主要作右袒式披覆。这应是东魏北齐王朝崇尚西域文化,即北齐'西胡化'的结果。至于二弟子身份,迄今学界习惯称之为迦叶与阿难。依据若干新近检出的佛教碑铭和吉迦夜与昙曜共译《付法藏因缘传》,可以把他们定为释迦牟尼佛的两大弟子——迦叶和阿难,即付法藏第一祖和第二祖。

If we glance at the dress of the Buddha’s disciples in the rock-cut caves of the Northern Dynasties,we might easily take it to be a sleeved gown,in fact very much the same sort of garment as literati so often wore in traditional Chinese art.But if we look more closely,we shall find that the disciples"sleeves’in the rock-cut caves of the later Northern Dynasties prove to be something else,and that they are not wearing a gown at all,but a freely-draped untailored costume.According to my reconnaissance to the famous sites of the rock-cut temples in north China,such as the cave-temple complexes at Yungang and Longmen,the dress of the Buddha’s disciples is a sleeved robe,which was much influenced by the loosely sleeved gown with wide girdle of the Han nationality in south China.It was the result of the political and cultural reformation of Emperor Xiaowen(471~499A.D.)of the Northern Wei Dynasty.The dress of the Buddha’s disciples in the cave-temple complex at Xiangtangshan,however,seems to be traditional garments of the Theravadin monks.On the basis of the Chinese version of Buddhist vinaya as well as records by the Chinese pilgrims,we find that the dress of the Buddha’s disciples in the cave-temples of the later Northern Dynasties basically followed the Three Garments(tricTvara)of Hinduka,i.e.,an under-cloth(antarvasaka),an upper garment(uttarasanga)and a big robe or garment(samghati),which are oblongs of cloth without any tailoring,neck-holes,sleeves or trouser-legs,in addition to an accessory vest(samkaksika).This change of the disciples’dress should be a result of the"Western Hunization"of the Northern Qi Dynasty(550~577 A.D.),which upheld and advocated the cultures of non-Han nationalities of the Chinese Central Asia.As to the identification of the two disciples,they are confirmed to be Mahakasyapa and Ananda,who are twos of Sakyamuni’s ten disciples and the first two successors of the Buddha in the light of some inscriptions of the Buddhist artifacts and Fufazang yinyuan zhuan(A History of the Buddha’s Successors)translated by Kinkara and Tanyao in 472 A.D.,though they are commonly called the same.