敦煌講史變文的佛教敘事及其講唱者的身分

Dunhuang Buddhist Narratives: Narrating Bianwen and the Storytellers’ Identities

本文以敦煌講史變文中可見佛教敘事的作品為對象，先就講史作品中的佛教敘事之情節由來、敘事特色及作用進行論述，另也關注其抄寫情形及生成文化語境，進而討論這些作品的講唱者身分。總括而言，這些融入有佛教敘事的講史變文，大抵有二種情形：一是像出自五代僧人雲辯的〈故圓鑒大師二十四孝押座文〉，或者〈舜子變〉、〈韓擒虎話本〉、〈董永詞文〉，其中的佛教敘事對人物正面形象的型塑、主題要旨的定調，大有影響，加上抄寫這些作品的寫本，也往往同時寫錄有與佛教相關的文書，又約八世紀上半葉開始，時可見中土世俗故事為佛教講經吸收及名為「戲僧」、「遊僧」的和尚活躍於世俗活動或儀式的記載，故從內、外緣條件來看，這些作品應是僧人或對佛教有深刻了解的人士所為；二是像〈唐太宗入冥記〉、〈葉淨能詩〉的佛教敘事，還雜揉有仙道方術，對人物形象則起了負面作用，主題要旨也因而模糊，佛、道人物成了講唱者嘲弄的對象，故這些講史作品應出自民間藝人。另外，過去未被注意的如〈韓擒虎話本〉的開頭以法華和尚為核心之敘事，它雜揉了《隋書•高祖上》中的河東女尼，《續高僧傳》、《法華經玄贊要集》所記南朝梁法雲講疏《法華經》的傳說，以及移植P.3570V、P.3727、P.2680 的〈隋淨影寺沙門慧遠和尚因緣記〉的部分內容。

This article analyzes Buddhist narratives in Dunhuang's historynarrating bianwen. First, it discusses the origin, features and functions of the Buddhist narratives in bianwen that concern historical topics. It investigates the copying and cultural context of the manuscripts, and discusses the status of the speakers of these texts. In general, there are two types of history-narrating bianwen that incorporate Buddhist narratives. The first type is exemplified by Yunbian’s “Ershisi Xiao Yazuowen by Master Yuan-jian” 故圓鑒大師二十四孝押座文, the “Shunzi bian” 舜 子變, the “Han Qin-hu huaben” 韓擒虎話本, and the “Dong Yong ciwen” 董永詞文. In these texts, the Buddhist narratives shape the positive image of the characters and set the keynote of the theme. Futhermore, the manuscripts that copy these works are often recorded together with Buddhist-related documents. In addition, since the first half of the 8th century, there were secular stories on China that were absorbed into the sermons of the Buddha as well as and records of the secular activities and rituals of so-called drama monks and roaming monks. Therefore, internal and external conditions reveal that these works were most likely created by monks or by people who had a deep understanding of Buddhism. The second type can be seen in the Buddhist narratives “Tang Taizong ruming ji” 唐太宗入冥記 and “Ye Jing-neng shi” 葉淨能詩, which contain elements related to Daoist immortals and Chinese occult arts. However, the inclusion of these elements had a negative effect on the image of the characters in the works, and the main theme was thus blurred, with the Buddhist and Daoist characters becoming the subjects of mockery. Therefore, these bianwen were most likely composed by folk artists. On top of that, there are some narratives that were neglected in the past. For example, at the beginning of “Han Qin-hu huaben” 韓擒虎話本, the narrative of the monk Fa-hua was combined with the story of the Hedong nun from the Suishu’s 隋書“Gaozu benji” 高祖本紀, the legendary deeds concerning the Fahua jing 法華經 recorded in the Continued Biographies of Eminent Monks (Xu gaoseng zhuan 續高僧傳) and the Fahua jing xuanzan yaoji 法華經玄贊要集, and the content of the Sui Jingyingsi shamen Huiyuan heshang yinyuan ji 隋淨影寺沙門慧遠和尚 因緣記 of P.3570V, P.3727, and P.2680.