法顯研究中譯:德國胡海燕博士〈法顯的觀世音祈求及 286 年譯本的《正法華經》=Chinese Translation of Study on Faxian by German Sinologist Haiyan Hu-von Hinüber : Faxian’s (法顯) Worship of Guanshiyin (觀世音) and the Lotus Sūtra of 286《正法華經》
法顯=Faxian; 《佛國記》=A Record of Buddhist Kingdoms Foguoji; 觀世音=Guanshiyin(Avalokiteśvara); 竺法護=Dharmarakṣa; 《正法華經》=Lotus Sūtra (Saddharmapuṇḍarīkasūtra)
摘要
這份翻譯是德國漢學家胡海燕教授( Prof. Haiyan Hu-von Hinüber)新近的法顯研究。題為〈法顯的觀世音祈求及286年譯本的《正法華經》〉,收錄於2015年日本創價大學《國際佛教學高等研究所年報》第18期。本論文的問題意識為:法顯求法歸程遭逢兩次九死一生的海難,皆祈求觀世音護祐,其依據的佛教經典為何?胡海燕教授取《佛國記》兩次海難敘述,進行文本分析;確認法顯其時祈求觀世音乃依據竺法護265年《正法華經》譯本;從而將《佛國記》與《正法華經》並置,進行段落及用語對照;最後對五世紀天竺與漢地觀世音信仰稍作評論。本文篇幅不長而論證凝鍊,引述德、日學者相關研究成果時亦具洞見性的關鍵評析。中文學界的法顯研究與觀音信仰研究,或皆能從中得到重要參照。
This translation is the new article on Faxian by Prof. Haiyan Huvon Hinüber (胡海燕), German sinologist in Freiburg University. In this short paper, Dr. Hu focuses on Faxien‟s accounts of two distresses, on his home-sea-journey between Ceylon and China. During the moments of death threats, Faxian both prayed to Guanshiyin (Avalokiteśvara) asking for protection and blessing. Dr. Hu attempts to analyze which canonical scriptures provided the foundation for Faxian‟s prayers, through these four elements: (a) Faxian‟s description of his first and second incident of distress at sea (二): text analysis and translation; (b) On the two translations of the Lotus Sūtra (三): the version by Dharmarakṣa known as 《 正 法 華 經 》 and the version by Kumārajīva known as 《妙法蓮華經》; (c) Comparative text analysis of the Foguoji with the Lotus Sūtra of 286 (四): comparison of the phrases and of the wording; (d) Remarks on the Guanshiyin worship of the early 5th century in India and China (五) This article is short yet condensed, carrying considerabl relevant German and Japanese philology, which might be valuable for the researches of Chinese on both Faxian and Lotus Sūtra.