也說唐宋之際的曹洞宗興衰——葛洲子先生文章讀後

Revisiting the Rise and Fall of Caodong Lineage between the Tang and Song Dynasty: Some Notes on Ge Zhouzi’s Article

曹洞宗在近世東亞的佛教世界裡，是除臨濟宗外傳承最久且影響最大的禪宗宗系。但從發展史角度看，自唐末崛起的曹洞宗雖曾在五代初昌盛一時，然隨即就在五代中後期漸次消沉，至11世紀中葉甚至遭遇法脈短暫中絕的窘境，直到11世紀末才又復興，重新成為主要禪宗宗系。可見曹洞宗在初期發展階段──亦即由唐入宋之際──實歷經過極為劇烈的興衰升降。曹洞宗的這段曲折歷史，早已為禪史學者所留心，《早期中國史研究》第8卷第2期刊布的葛洲子先生文章〈政局．法席．法脈──唐末至宋初曹洞宗的興衰〉，則在充分吸收既有成果後，對唐宋之際曹洞發展和政治變化的互動關係作出了詳整討論，係關於此課題的較新力作。惟在拜讀過程中，筆者發現其中似乎猶有若干可再覆案的部分，是以不揣淺陋地提供一點拙見，盼能進一步完善唐宋之際的曹洞發展圖景。

 

From the early twelfth century on, the Caodong lineage 曹洞宗 has always been a prominent force in the East Asian Buddhism, not only as one of the two longest-transmission and most influential Chan sects along with the Linji lineage 臨濟宗, but also became an important component of Japanese Buddhism after spreading to the East in the late Southern Song Dynasty. Nevertheless, from the perspective of development history, although the Cao Dong lineage, which emerged at the end of the Tang Dynasty, had a period of glory in the early Five Dynasties, it soon declined in the latter Five Dynasties and persisted this awkward situation to the early Song dynasty, even temporarily confronting transmission interruption in the middle of the eleventh century. Compared to its long activity from the twelfth century onward, the Caodong lineage actually underwent a dramatic ups and downs in its early stages, that is, from the Tang to the Song dynasties. Chan scholars have paid long attention to the twisted development of the Caodong lineage. Recently, based on the profound achievements of predecessors, Ge Zhouzi’s article “Politics, the Dharma Seat and Dharma Transmission: The Rise and Decline of the Caodong Lineage from the Late Tang Dynasty through the Early Song,” in Early and Medieval Chinese History 8:2 (2016), provides a detailed exploration about how the development of the Caodong lineage be influenced and directed by political changes during the Tang and Song dynasties. However, in the process of reading, the author found that there seems to be some arguments deserved further consideration. Therefore, the author hope to offer some personal opinions through this article in order that further completing the understanding about the early development of the Caodong lineage.