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《佛學概要》

 

INTRODUCTION TO BUDDHISM

佛教的梗概
GENERAL OUTLINE OF BUDDHISM

岳興華     文     By Yue Xinhua

前期提示:三國時期佛教

南北朝時期的佛教:南朝宋、 齊、梁、陳各代帝王大都崇信佛 教。梁武帝篤信佛教,自稱三寶 奴,四次捨身入寺,皆由國家出 資贖,他建立大批寺院、親自講 經說法,舉行盛大齋會,梁朝有 寺二九四六座,僧民八萬二千七 百人,在建康(江蘇南京)就有 大寺七百餘所,僧尼信眾常有萬人。 北朝雖然北魏世主太武帝時發生過禁 佛事件,但總的來說,歷代帝王都扶 植石窟,孝文帝遷都洛陽後,為紀念 母后,開始營造龍門石窟,北魏末流 通佛經共計四一五部,一九一九卷, 有寺院約三萬餘座,僧尼約二百餘萬 人。北齊僧官管轄下的僧民四百餘萬 人,寺廟四萬餘座,在南北朝時有大 批外國僧人到中國弘法,其中著名的 有求那跋摩、求那跋陀羅、真諦、菩 提流友、勤拿摩提等。中國也有一批 信徒去印度遊學,著名的有法顯、智 福、宋云、惠生等,曾去北印度巡禮 ,攜回大批佛經。

法顯和尚(約公元三三七至四二二 年),東晉僧人俗姓龔,平陽郡武陽 (山西襄丘)人,三歲時父母送到寺 院出家。二十歲受大戒。東晉隆安三年(公元三九九年)六十五歲,偕同學慧景 、道整、惠生、慧應四人,自長安出發,經 河西走廊,出玉門關,越蔥嶺入北印度境內 ,南向渡新頭河,經烏萇國到弗樓沙(白沙 瓦)。此時惠生凍死,其餘返國。法顯在多 摩梨帝國(加爾各達)繼續學習,抄寫和畫 像。義熙五年又渡泊到師子國(今斯里蘭卡 )。兩年中求得《沙彌塞律》和《雜藏經》 等梵本。法顯法師在師子國修學二年,大多 時間住無位山寺。一個虔誠佛教徒法顯,自 然要去朝拜釋迦佛的印跡。當時他長途跋涉 ,來到寶石城附近時,曾在一個山洞裡停留 休息,這一帶的人民為了紀念外國來的高僧 ,便把這山稱為「法顯山」,山洞稱為「法 顯洞」。山腳下村莊稱為「法顯村」,村中 的廟,稱為「法顯廟」。法顯這個名字到現 在,斯里蘭卡仍然家喻戶曉,人人皆知。

隋唐以後的佛教:隋唐時期中國的佛教, 經魏晉南北朝的發展,無論在思想上和經濟 上,都有為隋唐時期創立有中國特色的佛教 宗派創造了條件。隋文帝統一了南北朝後, 即下詔在五嶽勝地修建寺院各一座,並恢復 了在北周禁佛時期所破壞的寺院佛像,在首 都大興城(長安東南)建立了執行佛教政策 的國家寺院「大興善寺」。仁壽年間(六○ 一至六○四年)在全國建立了一百一十一座 舍利塔,並廣置譯場,羅致中外譯師名僧, 進行翻譯,疏解佛教經典。煬帝繼文帝的保 護佛教政策,建立了著名的慧日道場,作為 傳播佛教的據點,繼續發展前代的譯經事業 ,佛教十分興盛。仁壽年間全國有重要寺院 三千七百九十二所,剃度僧二十三萬人,寫 經四十六藏,一百三十二萬六千六百一十六 卷,修理舊經三千八百五十三部,營造大小 石像十萬六千五百八十尊,修復舊像一百五 十萬八千九百四十尊。

→待續

From last issue: Buddhism of the Three Kingdoms period

Buddhism during the Era of Division Between North and South: Most of the emperors of the Song, Qi, Liang, and Chen Dynasties during the Era of Division between the North and South were of the Buddhist faith. Emperor Wu of Liang was a fervent Buddhist who called himself the slave of the Triple Jewel. He renounced his throne for the monastic life four times, and each time he was ransomed with funds paid by the national treasury. He built great numbers of monasteries, spoke the Dharma personally, and sponsored lavish vegetarian feasts. In the Liang Dynasty, there were 2,946 temples and a total of 82,700 monks and nuns. In Jian Kang (present-day Nanjing of Jiangsu Province) alone, there were over 700 large monasteries; and monks, nuns, and lay Buddhists numbered in the tens of thousands. Although Emperor Tai Wu of the Northern Wei Dynasty prohibited Buddhism, in general, most emperors supported Buddhism. In the Northern Wei Dynasty, Emperor Wen Cheng excavated the famous Yun Gang rock cave. After Emperor Xiao Wen moved the capital to Loyang, he commenced the chiseling of the rock cave called Dragon Door to commemorate his mother. Near the end of the Northern Wei, a total of 415 Sutras were published in 1919 rolls. There were around 30,000 monasteries and over two million Sangha members in the country. In the Northern Qi Dynasty, the Sangha official had over four million monks and nuns and over 40,000 monasteries under his jurisdiction. During the Era of Division between the North and South, a great number of foreign Sangha members came to China to propagate the Dharma. The most well-known among them were: Dharma Masters Gunavarman, Gunabhadra, Paramartha, Bodhiruchi, and Ratnamati. A group of Chinese Buddhists also went to India to study Buddhism. The famous ones were: Fa Xian, Zhi Fu, Song Yun, Hui Sheng, and so on. They visited northern India and brought back with them a great quantity of Buddhist Sutras.

Dharma Master Fa Xian (A.D. 337-422) was a monk from the Eastern Jin Dynasty. His lay surname was Gong, and he was a native of Wu Yang of Pin Yang County (present-day Xiangqiu of Shanxi province). His parents sent him to the monastery to leave the home-life at the age of three, and he was fully ordained at the age of twenty. In the third year of the Long An reign in the Eastern Jin Dynasty (A.D. 399), at sixty-five, Master Fa Xian set out on a long journey to the west. He and four fellow cultivators, Dharma Masters Hui Jing, Dao Zheng, Hui Sheng, and Hui Ying, passed through the He Xi Corridor, exited at the Jade Gate Pass, climbed over the Belaturgh Ridge, and crossed the border of northern India. Then they headed south and crossed the Indus River, passing through the kingdom of Udyana and arriving at Fuluosha (Baishawa). At this time, Master Hui Sheng froze to death and the others returned to China, while Master Fa Xian remained in the kingdom of Mali (Calcutta) and continued studying, copying out Sutras, and painting Buddha images. In the fifth year of the Yi Xi reign, Master Fa Xian crossed a strait and went to Simhala (now Sri Lanka). In two years, he obtained the Sanskrit versions of The Shramanera Vinaya, The Miscellaneous Treasury Sutra, and so on. Dharma Master Fa Xian cultivated and studied in Lion country for two years, staying mostly in Wu Wei Shan Monastery. Being a sincere Buddhist, Master Fa Xian naturally wanted to pay respects to traces left by Shakyamuni Buddha. Then he traveled a long distance and came to the neighborhood of Gem City, where he stayed in a cave for some time. To commemorate this lofty foreign monk, people in the neighborhood named the mountain "Fa Xian Mountain," the cave "Fa Xian Cave," the village at the foot of mountain "Fa Xian Village," the temple in the village "Fa Xian Temple." Today, the name "Fa Xian" is still a household name in Sri Lanka.

Buddhism during the Sui and Tang Dynasties: The development of Buddhism, whether philosophically or economically, during the Wei and Jin Dynasties in the Era of Division between the North and South, laid the foundation for the formation of characteristically Chinese Buddhist sects in the Sui and Tang Dynasties. After Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty united the dynasties of the Era of Division between the North and South, he gave orders to build a monastery at each of the five famous mountains, to refurbish the Buddha images damaged during Northern Zhou period when Buddhism was banned, and to establish the national monastery, Da Xing Shan (Great Prosperity and Goodness) Monastery, to carry out Buddhist policies in the capital, Da Xing City (southeast of Changan). During the Ren Shou reign (A.D. 601-604), Emperor Wen built 111 stupas throughout the country, widely established facilities for translation, and sought renowned translators and eminent monks to translate and expound the Buddhist Sutras. Following Emperor Wen's policy of protecting Buddhism, Emperor Yang established the well-known Wisdom Sun Way-place as the base for propagating Buddhism. The work of Sutra translation was continued, and Buddhism thus flourished. During the Ren Shou reign, there were 3792 monasteries and 230,000 Sangha members; 46 collections of Sutras were written, consisting of 1,326,616 rolls; 3,583 old Sutras were repaired; 16,580 large and small stone Buddha images were built, 1,508,940 old images were repaired.

→To be continued

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