中國中古早期動植物形象的修辭作用

The Rhetoric of Animal and Plant Images in Early Medieval China

本研究探討形象意義如何被創造的議題，實超越了一般的認識論分析。本文聚焦於中國中古早期宗教辯論裡動植物形象如何創造意義，以及思考這些形象與記憶的關聯。具體而言，本研究試圖回答以下問題：博物學的概念和形象如何受到傳統思想和宗教教理的影響？這些影響如何改變、影響到博物形象的再現？想像的創造及其關聯，不僅涉及世界觀的形成與演變，同時也蘊含著知識體系的建構和分類體系的建立。此外，更重要的是，這個過程顯示著想像在知識建構上的關鍵角色。博物學為探究世界觀的形成，提供了絕佳視角，因為博物學的知識體現了對文化特徵的深刻理解以及形象詮釋的關懷。本研究通過分析中國本土文獻和佛教文本，分別從分類知識和宗教論述兩重脈絡，展開討論。

The question of the construction of meaning in texts through images goes beyond mere cognitive studies investigation. This article explores the images of animals and plants and their role in the construction of meaning through their relation to memory, considering in particular the rhetorical use of these images within the historical context of religious debate in early medieval China. In what ways and to what degrees can concepts and images of the natural world change as a result of intellectual and religious influences, and how is this related to the ways they are represented? Questions of image creation and imagination are related to structuring and re-structuring worldviews, which designates dynamics simultaneously connected to both systems of knowledge and ways of classification, and the place of imagination in it. The construction of this worldview seen through the lens of the history of concepts offers a very specific perspective in its relation to questions of cultural specifics and the practice of image articulation during the early medieval period. This article will pursue the answer to these questions from two perspectives: traditional Chinese culture and in Buddhist texts.