從馮夢龍《笑府》僧尼形象看見明人的反佛心理

Exploring the Anti-buddhist Sentiment among the Ming People Through the Image of Monks and Nuns in Feng Menglong’s Xiaofu

明代佛教深入到中國基層百姓的日常生活，這種「生活化」和「世俗化」，意味著佛教在中國接受史上的重大進展。然而，佛教廣傳的同時，社會上也存在著批評的聲音，特別是那些對佛教持懷疑甚至反感情緒的人群。這些基層雖不擅長書面表達，卻藉著口傳笑話，留下了關於佛教的幽默諷刺。古代笑話集正是探究這部分民眾真實想法的重要視窗。本文探索馮夢龍《笑府》的僧尼笑話，看見民間幽默與宗教偏見交織為一幅鮮活的時代畫卷，揭示了明代基層百姓對佛教的負面觀察和荒唐臆想，也折射出「宗教」與「性」在「禁忌」與「權力」結構中的深層聯繫。文末總結及聚焦於《笑府》的〈序〉所提及的「布袋和尚」意象，藉以說明馮夢龍刊行《笑府》對讀者的期待。

During the Ming Dynasty, Buddhism deeply integrated into the daily lives of ordinary people, marking a significant step in its“integration into daily life”and“secularization”within Chinese history. Alongside its widespread acceptance, voices of criticism and skepticism also emerged, particularly among those harboring doubts or antagonism towards Buddhism. While these grassroots communities lacked formal written expression, their sentiments were preserved in humorous oral traditions. This study examines monk and nun jokes from Feng Menglong’s Xiaofu, which reflect the intertwining of folk humor and religious prejudice. These jokes reveal the public’s critical views of Buddhism, including doubts about karmic cycles and meditation, while highlighting the sexualized perception of monks. The jokes expose deeper connections between religion, sex, taboos, and power structures. The analysis concludes by focusing on the Xiaofu preface’s mention of the“Budai Monk”to illustrate Feng Menglong’s expectations for his readership, offering new insights into the collective psyche and religious attitudes of Ming Dynasty grassroots society.