求法高僧法顯及其《佛國記》研究 ──宗教志向、文學感性與文化選擇=Quest for Dharma: Faxian and his Records of Buddhistic Kingdoms ── Religious Aspiration, Literary Aesthetics and Cultural Choices
This thesis discusses the Chinese Monk Faxian法顯 (ca.342-423) and his pilgrimage writing The Records of Buddhistic Kingdoms (Foguo Ji《佛國記》). Departing from Chan-an (長安) in A. D. 399, Faxian swore to search and bring back from India (天竺) the authentic and complete scriptures of Buddhist monastic disciplines (Vinaya 律藏). It took Faxian 6 years to reach Central India, 6 years to abide and study Sanskrit, and then 3 years on sea-journey returning China. In A. D. 412, after several ordeals on the sea, Faxian, with Sanskrit Canons unknown to China, landed on the shore of Laosan in China (青州牢山).
Based on 4 kinds of biographies, we could construct the vivid historical images of Faxian, the subject of the travel and the author of the travelogue. The importance of Faxian and the value of his travelogue will then be discussed in three aspects. Firstly, the religious dimension. The importance of the Buddhist Tripiṭaka (Sūtra, Vinaya, and Abhidharma) brought back by Faxian will be discussed. In addition to 40-fascicle Mahāsāṃghika (《摩訶僧祇律》) and 1-fascicle Saṃyuktapiṭaka (《雜藏》), the six-fascicle Mahāparinirvāṇa (《大般泥洹經》) have played a crucial role in the development of Chinese Mahāyana Buddhism. Secondly, the literary dimension. The aesthetic elements of the Record of Buddhist Kingdoms will be unfolded through detailed textual analysis. Plenty of delicate arrangements, such as narrative, non-narrative, and lyrical writing, combined with terse-style in writing, contribute to the main body of this travelogue. The literary aesthetics as discussed will reveal the literary value of the work within its religious context. And it will answer why Foguo Ji has surpassed many of the later travel writings. Thirdly, the cultural dimension. This 5th-Century travelogue was received and translated into western world in the 19th-Century. Why the work attracted so much attention from different Sinologists, Buddhologists, and even Christians? This part will try to look into how the Sinologists in Europe chose and translated this medieval Chinese Buddhist travelogue into different western languages. The concerns and emphasis as revealed in translations of and scholarly research on this travelogue opened new horizons for Chinese scholars and initiate cultural dialogues between East and West Buddhistic studies.
