明代伏牛山鍊磨法門考論

Chan Practice on Mt. Funiu during the Ming Dynasty

河南嵩縣的伏牛山，於有明一代與五臺、少室諸山齊名，為僧人參學必至之聖地，「鍊磨場」的稱號名聞遐邇。伏牛山鍊磨場，始創於明初臨濟宗禪僧獨空智通，他採取參究念佛的修行方法，並藉由集眾苦修、剋期取證，幫助學人祛除昏散、精勤辦道，從而達到入定、開悟的目標。這應是明清以來禪林中所盛行的「打七」之較早型態。此種鍊磨法門流傳甚廣，如晚明蘇州的護法居士管東溟，即曾參考伏牛規制，於天池山另闢鍊磨場，一時頗負盛名。然而學界關於伏牛山佛教的探討，至今尚寥若晨星，與它在歷史上所曾發生的深廣影響不成正比。本文匯集相關史料，針對鍊磨場的來龍去脈加以考察，分析其起源、內涵、特色與影響，期能為明代佛教史的研究，略獻拾遺補闕之功。

Mt. Funiu 伏牛山 is situated in Song County, Henan Province. During the Ming dynasty, Mt. Funiu was a Buddhist monastic pilgrimage site on a par with Mt. Wutai 五臺山 and Mt. Shaoshi 少室山. Also known as the Lianmochang 鍊磨場, it was a place for intense spiritual practice. The site was established in the early Ming by Linji Chan Buddhist master Dukong Zhitong 獨空智通, who devised an intensive course to help adherents attain Samādhi and Enlightenment through the practice of chanting the Buddha’s name contemplatively. The course was purposely time limited to encourage practitioners to work hard on their own spiritual advancement, and was probably an early form of the “Seven-day Retreat” or daqi 打七, which became a common Chan Buddhist practice during the Ming-Qing period. Such forms of practice were well received and quickly became widespread. For example, Guan Dongming 管東溟, a late Ming lay practitioner, established a Lianmochang of his own on Mt. Tianchi 天池山 in Suzhou 蘇州modeled on the center at Mt. Funiu. This essay is a study of Chan Buddhist practice on Mt. Funiu, presenting a historic account of the development of the Lianmochang by exploring its origins, characteristics, and influence. It is hoped that this will contribute to the understanding of Mt. Funiu’s role in Ming dynasty Buddhist history, which is in my opinion underrepresented in the academic literature.