道教傳經神話的建立與轉化：以天真皇人為核心

The Myth of Scriptural Transmission in Daoism: The Origin and Transformation of the August Emperor of Celestial Perfection

本文所探討的是天真皇人形象的淵源與轉變，以及以天真皇人為核心所建立的敘事架構，並從中闡釋道教經典神聖性的建構。其中關注的是道教經典的作者們在塑造這一形象並傳達某種宗教意旨時所採用的敘事框架，以及運用這種敘事框架來建構聖典的策略。本文希望透過天真皇人這個形象，來對道教聖典進行經典結構的解讀，通過對敘事框架的考察，來研究道教典籍作者是如何透過某種模式來選擇運用古老的神話素材，以達到建構神聖經典的目的。從本文所揭示的資料與分析中可以推斷，天真皇人最早與三皇文的傳統有關，而黃帝問道於天真皇人的神話隨即流傳於四世紀初南方，並與「三一」或「真一」的修行傳統有密切的關係。這個主題出現在《抱朴子．地真篇》以及《太上靈寶五符序》卷下所引的《太上太一真一之經》之中，這也是目前天真皇人最早出現的文獻，而與黃帝問道於天真皇人相關的母題亦散見於各種與「三一」或「真一」的修行傳統有密切關係的引文之中，足見這是一個流傳廣泛的傳經母題。此外，《太上太一真一之經》的作者將天真皇人塑造成一位天文的解讀與轉譯者，這形成了「天書」與「秘篆」的神聖典籍系統，與一個翻譯中介者天真皇人的角色與傳經模式的基礎。這種傳經模式是部份靈寶經建立其聖典權威的關鍵，其後部分的靈寶經的作者就循著這個傳經模式與敘事框架來造構其聖典神話。以《度人經》為核心的一群古靈寶經將天真皇人塑造成為神聖經典的詮釋者及撰述者，也是將諸天的「梵音」轉為「正音」的轉譯者，而《太上靈寶諾天內音自然玉字》就是天真皇人將「大梵隱語、無量之音」轉譯為「正音」的內容，其中包含了對大梵隱語的解釋與說明，這種轉譯天文的傳經模式在在顯示了對中亞佛教典籍翻譯模式的模擬。從現存道經中，我們還可以發現有以黃帝問道於天真皇人以及元始天尊與天真皇入答問等兩種敘事框架為模式的經典。在這兩種模式當中，雖然天真皇人的位階不同，但是同樣都是被形塑成為一位中介者的角色，透過對答的形式將經典呈現出來，因此在這些典籍中天真皇人更接近一位傳經的神真。

This paper analyzes the roles and functions of the August Emperor of Celestial Perfection in Medieval Daoism. Taking the August Emperor of Celestial Perfection as an example, we investigate people's use of ancient legends to construct new genres of sacred scriptures. The legend of the Yellow Emperor and the August Emperor of Celestial Perfection, which includes the practices of the 'three-one' or the 'perfect one,' was widespread in South China during the medieval period. This legend is preserved in Baopuzi and the Wufuxu, which are two of the earliest sources concerning the August Emperor of Celestial Perfection. This story is also preserved in various citations in the Daoist canon. In the Wujixu, the August Emperor of Celestial Perfection is characterized as a transmitter and translator. In addition, the pattern of translation of celestial writing becomes a basic structure of the Lingbao Scriptures. The August Emperor of Celestial Perfection was created to be a translator and interpreter in scriptures relating to the Durenjing. The Scripture of Inner Sounds of the Several Heavens includes the translations and interpretations of the Great Brahma. The inspiration for celestial script lies not only in traditional Chinese notions of writing; the idea that celestial script needed transcription and translation into a human language was strongly reinforced by the introduction of Buddhism. There are two types of scriptures relating to the August Emperor of Celestial Perfection in the Daoist canon. One is based on the framework of the Yellow Emperor asking the August Emperor of Celestial Perfection about Dao; the other is based on the pattern of the conversation between the Celestial Worthy and the August Emperor of Celestial Perfection. Although the status of the August Emperor of Celestial Perfection is quite different in these two types of texts, the August Emperor of Celestial Perfection was created as an agent who transmits and reveals scriptures through consultation and conversation.