佛名經典的思想背景，主要是隨著大乘佛教的發展，以及功德思想的盛行，對於佛陀的觀點也逐漸從三世佛（現在、過去、未來）的思想拓展到十方三世佛，從而有了日益繁多的佛名產生。根據佛名經典的宗旨，可以藉由禮唱佛名的功德，祈求達到驅邪護身、除障滅罪、增進禪觀念誦之力、速得往生淨土或究竟成佛的目的。因此自魏晉以來，中土即有許多佛名經典的盛行與流傳，也有許多佛教信徒相信諷誦佛名、禮拜佛名或是對佛名懺悔，便可以獲得佛名經典所說的各種功德，並且可以完成現實生活中趨吉避凶的美好願望。因此，佛名經典的流傳，也可以說是伴隨著佛名信仰的普及而廣泛流行。在《大正藏．經集部》中共收錄了24 部佛名經典，多以羅列佛名及其功德為主要範圍。其中「稱揚功德」的經典計有15 部，以解說佛名功德為主；「稱禮佛名」的經典計有9 部，以宣唱、禮拜佛名為主。佛名經典與禮懺儀式的結合，宣唱佛名，禮拜懺悔，可說奠立了禮懺文類發展的基礎。這些佛名經典的成立，不但對於中古佛教的發展起了重大的影響，對於中古時期的宗教、歷史、政治、社會、藝術、文化，也具有一定的研究價值。本論文主要是以《大正藏》中的佛名經典作為研究材料，並結合敦煌寫本、石窟壁畫、史傳碑銘等資料，希望能夠站在前賢成果的基礎上，進一步探討現存的佛名經典之類別與流傳情形，藉以明瞭佛名經典與佛教禮懺的關係，及其對中國佛教懺儀的影響。 The doctrinal background of Buddha-name texts largely follows the development of Mahāyāna Buddhism and the flourishing of the concept of merit. The conception of the Buddha also gradually expanded from one of the three Buddhas of past, present, and future, to one of Buddhas in the ten directions and three periods. From this, an increasing number of Buddha names have emerged. According to the ideas in Buddha-name texts, it is possible to achieve exorcism, protection, eradication of bad karma, improvement of one’s meditational abilities, guarantee of one’s rebirth in the Pure Land, and even Buddhahood through the merit of ritual chanting of Buddha names. As a result, beginning in the Wei–Jin (220–589), Buddha-name texts became popular in China. Many Buddhists also believed that chanting and worshipping Buddha names, as well as repentance directed at Buddha names could secure the merits promised in those sūtras, and could help them attain what they wished for and avoid the undesirable in their daily life. As a result, the broad circulation of Buddha-name texts may be said to follow the popularization of Buddha-name cults. In the Jingji section of the Taishō canon, there are 24 Buddha-name texts. Most are limited to enumerating names of Buddhas and listing their merits. Among them, there are 15 texts that explain the merit of Buddha names, and 9 that promote chanting and worship. The combining of Buddha-name texts with repentance ritual may be said to create a new development within the genre of repentance texts. The formation of these Buddha-name texts not only had an important influence on medieval Buddhism, it also played a role in medieval religion, history, politics, society, art, and culture that merits further study. The current article relies on texts in the Taishō canon for its source materials. It also includes materials from Dunhuang manuscripts, frescoes, histories, and steles, in hopes of further exploring the relationship between Buddha-name texts and repentance rituals, as well as the impact of the former on the latter.
