中韓水陸法會之考察 -- 以召請對象之「踵事增華」為主=Comparing the Liberation Rite of Water and Land in China and Korea with the Focus on the Transmission and Expansion of the Spirits Invoked
The surviving Chinese liturgy books of the Water-land Liberation Rite can be roughly classified into three types: 1) Tiandi Mingyang Shuilu Yiwen, 2) Shuilu Wuzhe Dazhaiyi, enlarged by Zujue (1087-1150) in the Song dynasty, and 3) Fajie Shengfan Shuilu Shenghui Xiuzhai Yigui, revised by Zhipan (n.d.), a monk of Southern Song, and elaborated by the Pure Land master Zhuhong (1535–1615). They are commonly known as "North Shuilu", "Meishan Shuilu" and "South Shuilu" respectively. The texts prevalent in Korea are Shuilu Wuzhe Pingdeng Zhaiyi and Tiandi Mingyang Shuilu Zhaiyi. They are basically similar to Tiandi Mingyang Shuilu Yiwen but there are still differences. According to the liturgical texts, the spirits invoked in the ritual in China are divided into two groups according to their seats in different halls, namely the "high-ranking hall" and the "low-ranking hall", or in some texts into three groups in "high-ranking seats", "intermediate seats", and "low-ranking seats" respectively. In Korea there are also three groups in the order of their ranks. It seems that both in Chinese and Korean texts the seats are classifies as high, intermediate and low. In fact, they are not the same. One noticeable difference is the spirits in the intermediate seats. In Korean texts, both heavenly beings and earthly deities are given the intermediate seats, but this arrangement is not found in existing Chinese liturgy books. Therefore, this might be a distinctive feature of the Korean texts. In the Korean liturgy heavenly beings and earthly deities are regarded as the same group and seated in the intermediate section, whether they are ad hoc manifestations or existing as the result of their past merits. By contrast, heavenly beings and earthly deities are seated separately in Chinese texts. In the case of the division into high-ranking and low-ranking halls, those heavenly or earthly deities as the manifestations of buddhas and bodhisattvas take the seat in the former, while those as the reward existence of their past merits take the seat in the latter. In the case of the division into high, intermediate and low seats, heavenly beings belong to the intermediate section and earthly deities, to the low section. The cause of this difference is worth our attention. It is thus clear that there are different arrangements for spirits invoked in the ritual. Therefore, the present paper is meant to examine the invoked spirits in the Chinese and Korean liturgy books of the Water-land Liberation Rite and explore the changes of the text as it is used in different times, places and countries in order to show that transmission and expansion is common to all times.
