試探討漢代考古遺跡中可能的「佛教成分」

An Exploration of the Possibilities of the Buddhist Components in the Archaeological Relics of the Han Dynasty

在西元紀元初年，佛教經由西域絲綢之路，翻山越嶺，不遠千里而來，初傳入中土漢地之時，正值兩漢之際。彼時朝廷統治階層採董仲舒之議「罷黜百家，獨尊儒術」，儒家當道；而在民間庶民階層，則是道家方術、符籙、長生術等神仙信仰大興。在此環境中，那些跟隨著商隊而來傳教之梵僧們，只能在商隊的中亞商人及移居漢地之僑民團體中傳教、活動。時至二世紀後半葉，隨著東漢王朝的覆滅，儒家信仰體系崩解，社會愈發動盪不安，人民在渴望生存與安定的強烈需求下，祈求諸方神靈之庇祐。此時佛以一外來之神靈，加入了此祜祐神靈之行列，「佛教成分」遂透過本土原有的儒、道思想，一點一滴慢慢滲透，而融入人們的信仰之中，滲入人們的生活裡。本文試著運用圖像學之方法，在現今所發掘出之漢代考古遺跡中，來探討其所蘊含的「佛教成分」。

In the beginning of the first century, along the silk-road, Buddhism was transmitted from India to Chine through central Asia. At that time, China was under the later Han dynasty. Chinese government adopted Confucian thought to rule the country. On the other hand, a form of Taoist mysticism was followed by the common people who practiced the casting of spells to attain mundane benefits such as longevity and others. Under such circumstances, Buddhist monks came to China and brought their doctrines along through the exchange routes while teaching the Buddhist doctrines to the merchants and the peoples of central Asia. In the end of the 2nd century, the Han dynasty had collapsed, and so had Confucian thought. So China became unstable. The people were in distress and strived to survive. They were looking for any sort of relief to their agony, even if it came from the hands of gods. At that time, Buddhism entered China and soon became one of the Chinese official religions. Buddhist doctrines were embedded in the lives of the Chinese people as shown in the archaeological traces and remains of the later Han dynasty. This paper aims to investigate those archaeological traces and remains from the approach of iconographic study, and to draw some points of view from it.