《起信論》傳承說

The Transmission Discourse of Qixinlun

"This paper studies the transmission discourse (rather than the transmission itself) of a 6th-century Buddhist treatise entitled the Awakening of Faith in Mahāyāna, or Qixinlun in its popular Chinese abbreviation. While the study of a transmission looks at its historical facts, the study of a transmission discourse looks, instead, at the perceptions of such a transmission, perceptions that are continued, elaborated and systematically formulated in the hands of interpreters. The transmission of Qixinlun has been extensively and almost exhaustively studied since the famous debate over the authenticity of the treatise in the last century, but the transmission discourse of the treatise has remained virtually neglected. Such a study, however, is equally important, for, to Buddhist believers (or, perhaps, to all human beings), what is perceived is what matters and, in that sense, the perceptions are in themselves facts, and our understanding of Qixinlun would not be complete without such 'facts' of its transmission. This paper is thus designed to treat this unexplored subject, and, with the basic framework of writing, translation and interpretation, seeks to present what the Qixinlun tradition perceives to be the transmission of the treatise.本文旨在探討《起信論》之傳承說，而非其傳承自身。傳承之研究，在於揭示傳承之歷史真相，而傳承說之研究，則在於考察信仰者對於傳承之認知，非關歷史真相也。不過，對傳承之認知，在信仰者眼中，即是歷史真相，故此認知有延續、集結與優化之必然，並能漸而形成體系，構成所謂之傳承說。《起信》傳承之研究，在上世紀中日學界關於其真偽之大討論中已臻極致，而其傳承說之研究卻從未有人涉及。然則此說之基本結構為何？這一結構承載何等之基本內容？這些內容又如何產生、演變與發展？種種圍繞《起信論》傳承認知之問題，在《起信》研究中，尚屬空白。本文之作，即試圖回答這些問題，以期填補這一空白。文章將從《起信論》之創作、翻譯及解釋三個方面著手，依據《起信論》之古今注疏、僧傳、經錄等各種原始資料，來試圖勾勒出《起信》傳統在其發展中對《起信論》之傳承所形成的大致認知。"