2. Author Affiliation: University of Sydney, Australia.
摘要
In my study of parasutraic narratives of the Tang period (618–907), I have noticed that there are a quite number of them that speak of the incorruptibility of the tongues of devotees. Mostly biographies of monks, these narratives typically end with the passing of these monks and the wonder of their tongues surviving cremation or remaining intact after burial. Of greater interest is that these narratives are almost always associated with the Lotus Sutra. In my survey of Tang parasutraic compilations, this motif is never found in Diamond Sutra narratives and only once found in a narrative related to the Garland Sutra. The rest of the accounts are found in the two principal parasutraic texts of the Lotus Sutra, the Hongzan fahua zhuan 弘贊法華傳 (A Chronicle for Widely Extolling the Lotus Sutra) and the Fahua chuanji 法華傳記 (A Record of the Transmission of the Lotus Sutra).2 What accounts for this? How does this motif come to be associated with the tradition of the Lotus Sutra? What can it tell us about how the Lotus Sutra was conceived in medieval China? These are the questions that this article sheds some light on.
目次
The Incorruptible Tongue in Chinese Buddhism: Suwa Gijun’s Study 182 The Wonder in Parasutraic Narratives 184 The Lotus Sutra and the Incorruptible Tongue 188 Symbolism of the Tongue 191 Kumārajīva: Discipline and Truth 193 The Highest Truth and Its Reception 195 Parasutraic Literature and the Metaphor of the Incorruptible Tongue 199 Notes 204 Bibliography 207 Primary Sources 207 Secondary Sources 207 About the Author 208
