聖典與傳譯－－六朝道教經典中的「翻譯」

Sacred Scriptures and Transmissions: The Notion of 'Translation' in Six Dynasties Daoist Scriptures

道教的天書觀與聖典傳譯概念實際上是一個複雜的觀念，其中複合了許多不同的傳統，包含漢代以來藉由符瑞與天授文書的天命觀以及佛教譯經傳統。在讖緯傳統中，「天」被塑造成一個有主體性、能主動傳遞「符命」、「天命」予受命聖王的最高權威。這類天命文書常被描述為古老字體或是無法解析的圖象紋路，似乎都是無法被一般人所解讀，因此需要透過聖者經過一定程序的解釋或翻譯，然後天的意志才可以被世俗之人所理解。這種經典傳譯觀念又與佛教的譯經傳統有很深的關聯性，當佛典傳入漢地後，記錄佛典的梵書及佉樓書被視為是天界語言，因此佛典翻譯不是單純的異國文字轉譯，而是幸涉到神聖語言傳譯為世俗語言的傳譯轉化問題。當道教面臨這種為勢而具宗教權威的神聖文字與經典大批翻譯傳入中國時，開始意識到道教經典的神聖性，並宣稱其經典文字並非世俗文字，而是源自於天界的文字，這種神秘的天書起源於宇宙生成之時，是先天之氣與道的化現，經過漫長的時間，才由諸神仙真轉寫，層層轉譯傳授，最後翻譯成世俗文字而成為經書。在建構天界文字系譜時，甚至將梵文給納入這神聖的天界文字系譜中，將之視為天書之一；或者將印度梵的觀念轉為道教宇宙生成時先天之氣的概念，而稱之為梵氣，而其凝成的天文稱為「大梵隱語」。這些神秘的隱語並採用了佛教翻譯中所使用的晉譯文字，使得看來大梵隱語具有如佛教咒語般的神秘力量。其中印度文化裹將梵文作為神聖語言的觀念與道教的天書觀被巧妙地揉合，而形成一種帶有神秘符碼性質的天界文字系譜。在道教天書神學的系統之下，道教的經典擁有一個根源性的神聖基礎，一切的經典都是由這個神聖根源輾轉翻譯而來的。The notion of Daoist Celestial Writing was a synthesis of a variety of practices, including the Mandate of Heaven, as well as Buddhist practices and scriptural traditions. Expanding on the mythology of the auspicious celestial writs, and other portents whose mysterious appearance was proof of the ruler's authority, the Weft texts were described as ancient scripts or patterns, which needed translation in order to understand the will of Heaven. In addition, Buddhism had some impact on the notion of 'translation' in Daoist scriptural tradition, especially the idea of taking Sanskrit as a type of Celestial language. In the Shangqing tradition, the theory of writing not only relates to cosmology, but also already includes Sanskrit. The inspiration for celestial script lies not only in traditional Chinese notions of writing; the idea that celestial script needed transcription and translation into a human language was strongly reinforced by the introduction of Buddhism. In certain Lingbao scriptures, the characters of the Celestial Script are based on transliterations of Sanskrit syllables. Furthermore, they are grouped into strings of pseudo-Sanskrit words. The Celestial Script is also called 'the hidden language of the Great Brahman.' When this Celestial Script was translated into human script, it is written with standard Buddhist transcription characters. According to the Lingbao tradition, 'Brahman' refers to the 'primal pneuma' which swirled in undifferentiation before the separation of Yin and Yang. This article investigates the idea of Daoist revelation as a chain of transmissions and translation that stretches across vast distances from Celestial Script to mundane language.