轉輪藏和轉書輪：17世紀西方天主教與東方佛教交流的實例之一=The Wheel Turner of Buddhist Canons and the Revolving Circular Book Cases: An Example of the Exchange between Catholicism in the West and Buddhism of the East in the Sixteenth Century
轉輪藏=Wheel Turner of Buddhist Canons; 轉書輪=Revolving Circular Book Cases; 天主教=Catholicism; Deng Yuhan鄧玉函=Johann Schreck; 佛教=Buddhism; 文化交流=culture exchanges
摘要
神聖羅馬帝國（Heiliges Römisches Reich deutscher Nation / Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation）時期（962–1806）來華的天主教耶穌教會傳教士鄧玉函（Johann Schreck，1576–1630），於明天啓七年丁卯（1627）完成了由其口授、教徒王徵譯繪的《遠西奇器圖說錄最》。書中圖文並茂地介紹了一種“轉書輪”，即旋轉書架。早在六世紀中葉左右的梁陳之際，“雙林樹下當來解脫善慧大士”傅翕（497–569）即始創了類似的設置轉輪藏。本文對二者的源頭、結構、功用和影響等略作考證和比較，認為轉書輪為轉輪藏的衍生物，實乃東方佛教和西方天主教兩種宗教之間交流的產物。
Johann Schreck (1576–1630), whose Chinese name is DENG Yuhan鄧玉函, lived in Heiliges Römisches Reich Dutscher Nation (Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation [962–1806]). He came to the Ming Dynasty as a missionary of the Catholic Jesus Church. The Yuanxi qiqi tushuo luzui 遠西奇器圖說錄最 [The Essence of Modern Mechanical Devices in the Far West], dictated by Johann Schreck and translated by a Catholic named WANG Zheng王徵 (1571–1644), was finished in 1627. The book contains an illustrated description of a device called ‘zhuanshulun’ 轉書輪, which means a revolving circular bookcase. As early as the sixth century, a Chinese layman FU Xi傅翕 (497–569) had created a similar piece of equipment known as zhuanlunzang轉輪藏, a wheel turner for Buddhist canons. This article presents a comparative study of these devices, and argues that the Revolving Circular Bookcases in the West is a derivative of the Wheel Turner for Buddhist Canons originating from Buddhist temples in China, and may be studied as a product of communication between Catholicism in the West and Buddhism in the East.
