My paper focuses on three apocalyptic scriptures discovered at Dunhuang. The texts are the Scripture of the Bhikṣu Shouluo 首羅比丘經 (T. no. 2873), the Scripture Expounded for the Bodhisattva Samantabhadra on Attesting Illumination 普賢菩薩説證明經 (T. no. 2879), and the Wondrous Scripture of the Supreme Lingbao Dealing with the Conversion of the Barbarians by Laozi 太上靈寶老子化胡妙經 (Stein no. 2081). Despite claims to differing religious affiliations, I argue that the three texts can be grouped together because they were probably composed sometime during the sixth century and they share similar cosmologies. In the paper, I detail the scriptures’ cosmological frameworks by examining three thematic categories: descriptions of chaos and destruction, saviors and their terrestrial paradises; and practices encouraged to achieve salvation. All three of the texts describe the destruction of the world through earthquakes, floods, famine, and plagues. The texts all have Maitreya Buddha 彌勒佛 and/or Prince Moonlight 月光 童子 as savior figures. In addition to shared savior figures, the terrestrial paradises described in the scriptures have significant commonalities including conceptions of gender and social hierarchies. The texts strongly encourage practices, such as maintaining the Three Refuges, the Five Precepts, the Ten Wholesome Acts, zhai 齋 ritual observances, and recitation of scriptures. All of these acts were fundamental medieval religious practices that were widely known among monastics and laypeople alike. In contrast to previous scholarship, which asserted that the texts were solely associated with peasant insurrectionists, I argue instead that the apocalyptic texts present images of Maitreya and Prince Moonlight that were later taken up by rebels. However, the texts themselves are not anti-clerical nor are they pro-peasant. Additionally, by examining the scriptures together we can see how the texts understand gender roles in the afterlife, imagine ideal societies, and conceptualize time-cycles.
我的論文側重于在敦煌發現的三篇世界末日的經文：首羅比丘經 (T. no. 2873), 普賢菩薩説證明經 (T. no. 2879), 還有太上靈寶老子化胡妙經 (Stein no. 2081)。儘管這三種文本分別宣稱不同的宗教信仰，我認為，它們可以在一起解讀，因為它們很可能都是在第六世紀的某個時期編纂成，並反映了相似的宇宙觀。在論文中，我從三個共有的主題來探討它們反映的宇宙觀：混亂和破壞，拯救者和人間天堂，鼓勵修行以實現救贖。這三個文本都描述了地震，洪水，饑荒，瘟疫造成的世界的毀滅。文本都把彌勒佛和月光童子描述為救世主。除了共同的救世主形象，在這些經文中描述的人間天堂還有顯著的共同點，包括反映出來的性別觀念和社會階層。它們都大力鼓勵修行，如維持三皈，五戒，十善行，持齋，和誦經。所有這些行為是中世紀時期為出家人和在家人所熟知並廣泛奉行的宗教習俗。相較於以前的研究，其中聲稱，文本主要是與農民叛亂有關，我反而認為，這些描述世界末日的文本所呈現的彌勒和月光王子的形象，是後來才被反政府武裝吸收的。不過，就文字本身而言，它們並不是反僧侶也不是支持農民。此外，通過探討經文我們可以看到這些文 本是如何理解在來世的性別角色，對理想社會的想像，和週期性的時間概念。
