盛唐佛教造像所蘊含的法華思想 -- 以敦煌莫高窟45窟為中心的探討=The Lotus Philosophy Implied in the Image-Making at the Peak of the Tang Dynasty -- with Focus on No. 45 of the Mo-gao Caves in Dun-huang
The Lotus School philosophy has had profound influence on Chinese Buddhism, as manifested in the existing images made from the North and South Dynasties to the Sui and Tang Dynasties. In the ideological development of the Buddhist community in Dun-huang, the various schools such as Lotus, Nirvana, Hua-yen, Fa-xiang, Zen, and Pure-land vied with one another for primacy, but also learned from one another. The emergence of the Tien-tai philosophy especially helped to raise the doctrinal level of the Avalokitesvara faith. All these traces of philosophical development are solidly reflected in the local rock-cave images. The sponsor of No. 45 of the Mo-gao Caves is unknown, but judging from the superb craftsmanship which was typical of the artistic achievements at the peak of the Tang Dynasty, it is not unreasonable to assume that it was chiseled by someone hired by a prominent family or high official in Tun-huang. The images of No. 45 cave has three structural features: (1) the assembly at the Vulture Peak and the assembly in the sky in the Lotus Sutra, (2) the internal link between the Avalokitesvara sutra and the Lotus samadhi, and (3) the relationship between the Amitabha Pure Land and the Lotus Sutra. These three items are the focus of discussion in this paper. The discourse in the Vulture Peak assembly emphasizes the integration of the Three Vehicles into the One Vehicle and the explanation of the expedient means to reveal the ultimate truth. The assembly in the sky emerges to reveal a remote story through the present event. The two scenes reinforce each other in the revelation of the ultimate truth of all things. The contents of the discourses in the two assemblies sufficiently cover all the doctrinal matters of the Lotus Sutra and constitute the core meanings of the images at No. 45 cave. Since the time when Ju Dao-shen, from both self-benefiting and altruistic points of view, regarded the “samadhi of universally manifested body” of Wonder Sound and Avalokitesvara Bodhisattvas as a realization of the great universal wisdom stated in the Lotus Sutra, the teachings about Avalokitesvara have been deepening. He can be an attendant to Amitabha Buddha helping sentient beings go to the Western Paradise. He can be a representative of those who have really entered the Lotus Samadhi, thus showing the profundity of his religious cultivation. He can be a symbol of the compassion of all Buddhas. He is also considered an embodiment of the kindness and compassion of all gods of the world. The grouping of the sculptural subjects in the main shrine and on the southern wall displays the ideas of substance and function expressed in the Lotus Sutra. Ji-zang thinks that the Lotus Sutra was taught with “an intention to reveal bodhisattvas’ samadhi of remembering the Buddha,” so that one may reach the ultimate state of worshiping and remembering the Buddha by totally dissolving the subject and the object. This is the idea shown in the image structure of No. 45 cave, in which the main
