明代帝王與觀音信仰－－以永樂與萬曆朝編纂的兩本觀音經典為例

Ming Emperors and the Faith of Guanyin - A Case Study of Two Guanyin Scriptures Compiled in Yongle and Wanli Periods

對於明代帝王而言，觀音信仰是他們「君權神授」的來源。如明成祖因為發動靖難篡位，即時常欲合法化自己的政權，故想到利用佛教流行的觀音信仰，編造一部《大明仁孝皇后夢感佛說第一希有大功德經》，宣說他的政權乃經菩薩授記，亦獲得觀音保護。因此，觀音信仰對明成祖來說，祂為政權的保護者，為其政權神授的來源。及至明神宗時期，神宗編撰《佛說大慈至聖九蓮菩薩化身度世尊經》等偽經，用來宣稱他的母親即為觀音化身——九蓮菩薩，與嫡母仁聖太后做區別，抬高生母慈聖太后的地位。然而，神化了慈聖，亦等於神化了自己，進而滅除庶出繼承大統的不確定感。他們編造觀音經典，為了讓人們相信經典所說的內容為真，皆會把佛教教義融入其間，像是《大明仁孝皇后夢感佛說第一希有大功德經》宣說中觀、如來藏、緣起和唯識等思想，而《佛說大慈至聖九蓮菩薩化身度世尊經》則傳揚十二因緣和往生淨土之教義，據此，則開展出豐富的觀音信仰內涵，可窺見觀音信仰於明朝帝王間，祂的地位轉變。

Most descriptions of foreign relations between the Liao and Song dynasties could be found in the Liao Shi (History of Liao). However, these valuable descriptions were too brief to contain the practice of Liao's foreign ministers and their achievements on the Liao-Song foreign relations. Therefore, the author attempts to have a further study of Liao-Song foreign affairs by exploring and analyzing the epitaph of the Liao Dynasty which were recorded in the Liao Dai Shi Ke Wen Bian and the Liao Dai Shi Ke Wen Xu Bian.