雪峰慧空禪師「入世間」偈頌析論

An Analytical Discussion of Chan Master Xuefeng Huikong's 'This-Worldly' Gāthā

本文探討雪峰慧空禪師（1096-1158）所作的「入世間」偈頌，將慧空在其《雪峰慧空禪師語錄》和《雪峰空和尚外集》的「入世間」偈頌分成四類析論，證明這些偈頌因書寫對象、物事、和主題之不同，其內容或涉及或不涉及佛禪，反詰偈頌必言佛、禪之說法。慧空禪師的「入世間」偈頌如此，其他許多禪師之「入世間」偈頌亦如此。慧空禪師之《語錄》僅含四十餘首偈頌，數量不多。而其《外集》則含四百餘首，遠多於一般禪師「外集」所含的偈頌數量。兩書內的偈頌，有若干針對教外非出世間的士人、居士或庶民所寫的，是本文所稱的「入世間」偈頌。這些偈頌多以古、近體詩的形式書寫，大致來說，有表達出世間法者，亦有表達入世間法者，不宜說兩者不可分，亦不宜毫無分別的將其通則化。本文首開宋代禪師「入世間」偈頌研究之先例，對目前以「言佛禪」來分別偈頌與古、近體詩之不同的流行說法提出質疑，並借探討慧空「入世間」偈頌內容之現實性，說明此類偈頌為禪師與教外人士建立交流網絡之特殊途徑，及此種文學形式在禪宗歷史、文化上的重要意義。

This article is a study of Chan Master Xuefeng Huikong's (1096-1158) 'this-worldly' gāthā. By dividing these gāthā, or jisong, taken from the Huikong's Xufeng Huikong chanshi yulu and the Xuefeng Kong heshang waiji, into four categories, I analyze and discuss them to prove that they do not necessarily have any bearing on Buddhism or Chan, given that they were addressed to different people, events, and themes. Pointing out that they may or may not be concerned with Buddhism or Chan, I argue against the notion that jisong must always be concerned with Buddhism or Chan. Like Chan Master Huikong's 'this-worldly' jisong, many pieces of other Chan masters' jisong were also composed in similar fashion. Whereas Master Huikong's 'yulu,' or 'recorded sayings,' consist of merely some forty pieces of jisong, which is relatively small in number, his “waiji,” or “outer collected works,” consist of some 400 pieces of jisong, much more than the number of jisong composed by other Chan masters in their “outer collected works.” The jisong in both Huikong's “yulu” and “waiji,” comprises pieces that were addressed to non-Buddhist and secular scholars, lay persons, and common folks. This type of jisong is what is called “this-wordly” jisong in this article. As a type of verse similar to ancient style poetry and regulated poetry in form, it expresses both “other-worldly” and “this-worldly” views with the focus on the latter and cannot be considered inseparable, nor can it be indiscriminately generalized. This article sets the first example of exploring Song Chan masters' “this-worldly” gāthā. It questions the validity of defining jisong and poetry in ancient style poetry and regulated poetry on the basis of common perception that jisong should be embedded with Buddhist or Chan elements. By discussing the realistic nature of Huikong's “this-worldly” gāthā, I also want to shed some light on the special approach adopted by Chan masters to build a communication network with non-church people and the significance of this literary form in Chan history and culture of the Song Dynasty.