政局‧法席‧法脈——唐末至宋初曹洞宗的興衰

Politics, the Dharma Seat and Dharma Transmission: The Rise and Decline of the Caodong Lineage from the Late Tang Dynasty through the Early Song

曹洞宗被認為是禪宗五家宗派之一。唐宋之際，曹洞僧團傳法經歷了由盛到衰的變化。對於這一現象的解釋，以往的佛教史學者大多歸咎於曹洞禪法的弊端。然而仔細推敲這種觀點，其實未切中問題要害。另一些佛教史學者則注意到曹洞僧團在唐末五代的興盛與當政者護持下專宗寺院的建立存在重要關係。可惜這些研究一般於此點到即止。曹洞僧團因何興衰，至今沒有完整答案。本文將曹洞僧團法脈傳佈置於具體的時空背景下加以考察，發現曹洞僧團興衰與政局變化存在著密切的關聯。

From the late Tang dynasty through the early Song, the Caodong lineage, one of the five schools of Chan (Zen) Buddhism, went through a process of rise and decline. Most scholars of Buddhism have attributed this to the disadvantage of Caodong doctrines. However, when deliberating this viewpoint carefully, we will see this answer is not to the point. Other scholars have taken notice of the relationship between the prosperity of the Caodong lineage and the establishment of Caodong monasteries under the support of political rulers. Unfortunately, these studies have not explored this relationship thoroughly. This article examines the dharma transmission of the Caodong lineage in its spatial and temporal context, finding that its rise and decline was closely related to changes in the political situation.