菩提達摩來華年代考及與梁武帝對話形式演變=Investigation of the time of Bodhidharma arrived in China and the evolution of the form of conversation between Bodhidharma and Emperor Wu of the Liang Dynasty
Bodhidharma traveled to China via the maritime Silk Road, and arrived in today’s Guangzhou. Though there are many different versions of historical accounts regarding the exact time of his arrival, Bodhidharma was no doubt a historical figure, who, arriving in ancient China through the sea route, became the First Patriarch of the Chinese Ch’an School of Buddhism. Bodhidharma’s arrival in China and the stories of his efforts to spread and transmit ch’an teaching have considerable value and significant meaning in the history of Buddhism. However, there have been different historical accounts regarding the exact time of his arrival in China throughout various Buddhist literary sources. This article investigates the content of available information in the literature, and tries to confirm and verify the possible year of his arrival and the likely itinerary of his travel in China, and discuss the evolutionary process of the form of conversation between Bodhidharma and Emperor Wu of the Liang dynasty. Most scholars cite from A Record of Buddhist Monasteries in Luoyang ( Luoyang-qielan-ji《洛陽伽藍記》) composed by Yang Hsuanchih in the Northern Wei and the Supplement to the Biographies of Eminent Monks (Xu-gaoseng-zhuan《續高僧傳》) composed by Tao Hsuan in the Tang dynasty, as the source of evidence to prove the year of Bodhisharma’s arrival in China, but there seem to be a difference between two key words in the Supplement to the Biographies of Eminent Monks included in the Gaoli Tripitaka and Taisho Tripitaka. This article carried out this discussion on the basis of this point. In addition, regarding the actual reference of the expression, “Nanyue in the territory of Liu Song of the Southern Dynasties”, and whether it is a description of “the era in addition to the time”. The author of this article has proposed a different view and argument. More than a gong’an to explore the meaning of Ch’an, the conversation of Emperor Wu and Bodhidharma also signified the formal starting point of the spread of Ch’an Buddhism into China, marking a significant historical moment in history. There are two main historical accounts related to the interview between Emperor Wu and Bodhidharma: the gong’an in which Emperor Wu and Bodhidharma discussed the essence of gongde (merit or virtue), and Bodhidharma’s Epitaph composed in the name of Emperor Wu after Bodhidharma’s passing. This article reviewed and analyzed the Buddhist texts in relation to their conversation, as a key point of discussion.
