無情説法誰人説－禪宗無情教義文本的作者、敘述者、讀者與解讀機制=Who Preaches the Dharma Preached by Insentient Beings?: Understanding the Author, Narrator, Reader, and Mechanisms within Texts Pertaining to the Doctrine of Insentient Beings According to Chan Buddhism
Since the finding of the Dunhuang 敦煌 Buddhist manuscripts, scholars have been enthusiastically attempting to discover the real ＂author＂ of the text, exemplified by philological questions concerning the Platform Sutra 壇經 and Huineng 慧能, regarded as the Sixth Patriarch of Chan lineage. Very few people, however, have tried to investigate the concept of ＂author＂ within the contexts of Chan Buddhist writings, such as why and/or how is the ＂author＂ important? Or, what is the relevance between ＂author,＂ text, and authority of knowledge? In fact, we are able to discover the role of the ＂author,＂ symbols of authority of knowledge, the production of textual meanings, mechanisms of reading and understanding, and other related matters as well as subtle shifts in the different stages of developments in Chan Buddhism by deciphering representative Chan Buddhist texts from the 8^(th) to 12^(th) century: the Record of the Masters and Disciples of the Lankāvatāra Sūtra 楞伽師資記, Treatise on the Transcendence of Cognition 絕觀論, Anthology of the Patriarchal Hall 祖堂集, Record of the Transmission of the Lamp [Compiled During the] Jingde [Period] 景德傳燈錄, and Blue-Cliff Record 碧巖錄. Moreover, these are not merely methodological issues, but are also directly related to the monasticism of Chan Buddhist practitioners and hermeneutics. They specifically concern how ancient Chan Buddhist disciples read these texts and derived significance or even enlightenment therefrom, as well as how researchers-namely ourselves-deal with the relationship between us as reader and the text. The above texts also reveal traces of the ＂doctrine of insentient beings,＂ a term which I use to refer to three specific notions: the possession of Buddha-nature by insentient beings, being able to reach Buddhahood, and being capable of preaching Dharma. Finally, the content, form, and manner of display or performance of the ＂doctrine of insentient beings＂ as well as Chan Buddhist texts provide the clues to better explore the above issues.
