晉唐時期寧波阿育王寺的創建與發展

The Erection and Development of the Aśoka Temple in Ningbo from the Jin through the Tang

浙江寧波阿育王寺是中國著名的東南古剎之一，然有關其早期歷史的說明，猶存在許多自相矛盾的錯誤。目前對晉唐時期寧波阿育王寺的認識，多源自贊寧（919-1001）撰成於開寶五年（972）的〈寶塔傳〉，這是份相對晚出的材料，若不加批判地援引，許多存在此文本中的問題就會被層層相因地承襲下來，是以本文盡可能利用五代以前的史料，重構寧波阿育王寺的早期歷史。本文以為，寧波阿育王寺之創建當在四、五世紀之交，其後斷斷續續地獲得南朝政府支持，後在極端崇拜阿育王的梁武帝時期，正式獲得「阿育王寺」之名。寧波阿育王塔的發現時間，在唐初道宣（596-667）筆下被提前至西晉，反映此寺在隋唐之際的某種發展折射。從相關史料看來，儘管隋及唐初政權皆不曾直接予以寧波阿育王寺支助，然此寺仍舊得以憑藉深厚的信眾基礎，不假外求地挺立過朝代更迭。隨著時間流逝，寧波阿育王寺逐漸進入崇佛君王的視野，進而獲得官方各種實質資助。八世紀以降，阿育王寺大抵奠定其東南聖地的地位，並通過陸路及海上交通，將其名聲傳播至京城及域外。

Although the Aśoka Temple in Ningbo is one of the most ancient temples in Southeastern China, our understanding about its early development is still uncertain. Our basic knowledge about the development of the temple during between the Jin and the Tang comes from the “Memoir of the Precious Stupa”, written by Zan Ning 贊寧 (919-1001) in 972. But as this article shows, there are some contradictory narratives in this memoir. So if we want to reconstruct a more reliable history of the Aśoka Temple, we should rely more on earlier sources. In fact, the erection of the Aśoka Temple is closely related to the popularization of the Aśoka legend, which was introduced into China in the third century. In order to accumulate merits by worshipping the sacred relics and to prove that Buddhism had spread into China during Aśoka’s period, Buddhists of the Northern and Southern Dynasties enthusiastically searched for Aśoka relics. The Aśoka stupa in Ningbo is a product of this search. According to early sources, the stupa in Ningbo, together with another stupa in Nanjing, was founded by Liu Sahe劉薩河 at the end of the fourth century, reflecting the most plausible time of its origin. Surrounding the stupa, a small scale religious settlement appeared. The members built up the monastery in the early fifth century and then started to receive the political support intermittently. In the sixth century, Emperor Wu of Liang, who greatly admired Aśoka, formally bestowed the monastery the name ‘Aśoka Temple.’ However, for uncertain reasons, the Tang monk Dao Xuan道宣 (596-667) moved the time of erection back to the third century, while he still attributed the founding to Liu Sahe, which caused a contradiction in the chronology of the origin story. Considering the clues provided by other sources, this article argues that the revision of Dao Xuan was due to the fact that the Aśoka Temple in Ningbo had become the most famous Aśoka relic in Southern China during the Sui and Tang, especially compared to the rapid decline of the Aśoka Temple in Nanjing. After the eighth century, the Aśoka Temple in Ningbo’s “sacred-place” status was established, and through land and maritime traffic its fame further spread to the capital and to foreign states in the ninth century.