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From the Imagination to the Reality: Historical Aspects of Rewriting Six Dynasties Buddhist Avadāna Stories |
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| Author |
Li, Wei (著)
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| Source |
Religions
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| Volume | v.14 n.4 |
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| Date | 2023.04 |
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| Pages | 27 |
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| Publisher | MDIP |
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| Publisher Url |
https://www.mdpi.com/
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| Location | Basel, Switzerland [巴塞爾, 瑞士] |
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| Content type | 期刊論文=Journal Article |
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| Language | 英文=English |
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| Note | 1. Author Affiliation: Henan University, China.
2. Religions 2023, 14(4), 545. |
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| Keyword | Avadāna literature; a brahmin throwing up a jug; the Foreign Master; the scholar from Yangxian; parrot putting out a fire |
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| Abstract | In at least two aspects, Buddhist Avadāna literature shares a strong affinity with Chinese literature. One type of stories can be seen as parallel tales that bear striking resemblances to Chinese tales, while the other type has been assimilated by Chinese writers and transformed into Chinese tales. Regarding the first kind, there are many parallels between Buddhist and Chinese stories throughout the Six Dynasties (222–589), and it was only later that these stories were somehow compiled into collections that brought these parallels to light. As an example of the second type, in linggui zhi 靈鬼志 (The Record of Magical Ghosts) of the Jin Dynasty (265–402), the story of waiguo daoren 外國道人 (“the Foreign Master”) adapts the magical plot in which a man throws up a jug from the story of fanzhi tuhu 梵志吐壺 (“a Brahmin Spits a jug”) in the Buddhist text, yet it changes certain objects of the story to items with Chinese characteristics and develops new meaning. In Xu qixiezhi 續齊諧志 (Further Records of Qixie [Supernatural tales]), the famous e’long shusheng 鵝籠書生 (“the Goose Cage Scholar”, also known as the yangxian shusheng 陽羨書生” (the Scholar from Yangxian)”), takes the same story to another level. The structure of the story is changed, and a number of literati aesthetic interests are added, improving the literary color, smoothing down the language, and making substitutions in the text’s specifics, thus, bolstering the sense of realism and history. Meanwhile, in Liu Yiqing’s 劉義慶 (403–444) Xuanyan ji 宣驗記 (Records Manifest Records of Manifest Miracles), the Avadāna tale yingwu jiuhuo 鸚鵡救火 (“the Parrot Putting Out the Fire”) that he collected is not only associated with Buddhism but can also be seen as a commentary on the turbulent times and a hint of literati optimism if we view it in the context of Liu Yiqing’s Youminglu 幽明錄 (Record of the Hidden and Visible Worlds). The literary elites of the Six Dynasties drew inspiration from Buddhist Avadāna sources and imaginatively mixed them with historical circumstances to create Chinese fiction with new intentions. The rich resources of Avadāna literature from India and the fable tradition in Chinese literature create cultural conditions for these two sources to combine and mutually develop, forming a world of literature with colorful and meaningful stories. |
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| Table of contents | Abstract 1
Keywords 1
1. Introduction 1
2. The Collection of Parable Fables: A Parallel Comparison of Buddhist Avadāna Literature and Chinese Tales 3
2.1. The Practice in the Country of the Sea (Haizhongguo Xiuxing Yu 海中国修行喻) 3
2.1.1. The Buddhist Text in Za piyu jing 3
2.1.2. Xuantou Cigu 懸頭刺股 (Hang the Head, Stab the Thigh) 5
2.1.3. The Collections of These Stories in Song Dynasty 5
2.2. Chengchuan Shiyu 乘船失釪 (Taking the Boat, Lost the Bowl) and Kezhou Qiujian 刻舟求劍 (Mark the Boat for the Sword) 6
2.2.1. Chengchuan Shiyu 6
2.2.2. Kezhou Qiujian 7
3. Focusing on Historical Truth: The Internal Logic of the e’long shusheng 鹅笼书生”Goose Cage Scholar” 8
3.1. Fanzhi Tuhu 梵志吐壺 (A Brahmin Spits Out a Jug) 8
3.1.1. The Original Text 8
3.1.2. The Narratives 8
3.1.3. The Magic Tricks from the Western Region 9
3.1.4. Hu 壺 in Taoist Story 9
3.2. Waiguodaoren in Lingguizhi 10
3.2.1. The Similar Plots in Waiguo daoren and Fanzhi tuhu 10
3.2.2. New Plot in Waiguo daoren 11
3.3. E’long Shusheng 鵝籠書生 12
3.3.1. The Story Line 12
3.3.2. Significant Shifts in Wu Jun’s Story 13
3.3.3. Taking Avadāna Stories into Historical Records 15
4. Fable of the Time: The Cultural Significance of Yingwu Jiuhuo 鸚鵡救火 “Parrot Putting Out Fire” 15
4.1. Yingwu Jiuhuo 鸚鵡救火 15
4.1.1. The Story in Jiu Zapiyu Jing 15
4.1.2. The Story Collected by Liu Yiqing 16
4.2. Fighting against the Demon in Youminglu 17
4.3. Parrot as the Self‑Image of the Writer 18
4.3.1. Parrot as a Boddhisattva 18
4.3.2. Parrot as the Buddha 18
4.3.3. Parrot as the Writer 19
5. Conclusions 20
Notes 21
References 25 |
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| ISSN | 20771444 (E) |
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| DOI | 10.3390/rel14040545 |
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| Hits | 241 |
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| Created date | 2023.10.04 |
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| Modified date | 2023.10.04 |
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