《大唐西域記》之佛傳書寫研究

Research of the Buddha's Biographies Writing of“Great Tang Records on the Western Regions”

本文梳理玄奘《大唐西域記》佛傳書寫之內容，知其書寫集中於卷六佛陀故鄉，卷七、卷八則進一步刻畫成道至涅槃諸事，其書寫的具體地理位置，與將佛傳文學作為傳法之用的馬鳴菩薩活動區域、敘述初轉法輪最詳之婆羅痆斯國，同樣位居中印度，玄奘集中書寫於此，應有標誌佛法傳播起點之意義。又由書中對佛陀歷史時間之重視，可見帶有為佛陀寫史的心理，將之視為歷史人物而非虛構，書寫時當有相當深厚的佛傳知識背景。此外，地理行記的特點乃落實佛陀一生活動空間，以遺跡為座標，說明其真實性，亦追述遺跡背後之佛傳傳說，以宗教家眼光賦予頹圮荒城宗教意義。而書寫手法上則有參差反覆之特色，加深讀者印象，益於佛傳之宣傳，書中除了詳載太宗所欲了解的西域地理知識，藉由佛傳書寫，令西域諸國縈繞佛影，並傳達簡而易行之布施、誠敬之法，或有引領晚年太宗向佛之心等作用。

This paper aims to organize the Buddha's Biographies content of“Great Tang Records on the Western Regions”. The writing focuses on volume VI, the hometown of Buddha, while volume VII and VIII details the divine realization to nirvana. The geographical location of the writing is at the center of India, the same as Ma Ming Remains from Buddhist literature and the Benares State, where the first disseminate the dharma is described; thus, this may connote the starting point of the spread of Buddhism. Also, this shows the attention to the historical time to Buddha, reflecting the psychology of history writing for Buddha, whom is considered as a historical figure rather than an imaginary person. It is known that there were a quite amount of Buddhist literary classics of the background. Additionally, the features of the geographical travel notes spots mark Buddha's activity area for the entire lifetime, showing its authenticity. The Buddha's Biographies literature also conveys the religious meaning of decadent destruction of barren cities, focusing on the creation of the Buddhist world. With the various writing techniques, the readers may be repeatedly impressed which is good for the promotion of Buddha's Biographies literature. Lastly, in addition to the geographical knowledge of the Western Regions known by Tang Taizong, the lingering of Buddha's shadows within the various states in the Western Region is also achieved through Buddha's Biographies literary writing, transmitting the easy ways of giving and worshiping, or else, it may have the effect for the devouted heart of Emperor Tan at the latest state.