論敦煌佛傳經典之再造──從《佛本行集經》到《太子成道經》=On the Reinvention of the Dunhuang Buddhist Sutras From The Sutra of the Collection of the Past Activities of the Buddha to The Sutra of the Prince's Enlightenment
From the title of the existing Dunhuang BianWen of The Sutra of the Prince's Enlightenment, this literary work, which was transformed from The Sutra of the Collection of the Past Activities of the Buddha, was regarded as a "classic" by Dunhuang people in the Tang Dynasty, and this article attempts to explore the creation process of this "Pseudepigraphos." It is argued that the 60-volume Buddhist Sutras were transformed into a 6,000-word "summary" by means of "abstracts" and "commentaries," which could be easily adapted into the BianWen. When the Buddhist Sutras were transformed into Buddhist BianWen, the Dunhuang people in Tang Dynasty tried to elevate the status of the BianWen and called them "Sutras." There were also monks who considered themselves to be "preaching sutras" when recounting The Destruction of Mara Transformation, the sutra also based on the biography of the Buddha. In addition, The Sutra on the Eight Phases of the Buddha's Path to Enlightenment was created when people recounted the BianWen. This situation reflects the attempts to re-create the classics. In the Song Dynasty, the BianWen about Mulian, the Buddha's Senior Disciple, became a new classic of The Sutra of Mulian Saves His Mother From Hell. Therefore, this paper attempts to outline the development process of the BianWen of The Sutra of the Prince's Enlightenment from a Buddhist Sutras to a Pseudepigraphos as follows: The Sutra of the Collection of the Past Activities of the Buddha develops into abstract of "The Sutra," and then into Buddhist BianWen such as The Eight Phases of the Buddha's Path to Enlightenment and other works, and then into The Sutra of the Prince's Enlightenment. After the re-creation, the classic may become popular and by the culture of scripture-writing. It has led to the situation that The Sutra of the Prince's Enlightenment is regarded as one of the most admired sutras that has been copied and spread repeatedly, making it the most written work among all Buddhist BianWen in existence.
