The Research Of Miraculous Story

On the basis of a survey made about the Buddhist miraculous stories from the Northern and Southern Dynasties to Qing Dynasty, this doctorial dissertation is engaged in the reinterpretation of the Buddhist literature collected about miraculous stories especially from the Northern and Southern Dynasties to Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties. This dissertation therefore is divided into four parts including the Preface. Part One: the Extensive Exposition, Part Two: the Comprehensive Study, and Conclusion.In the Preface, by identifying the respective usages of the term "Ling Yan"(miracle) in the literature of Qin Dynasty and later on in both the Buddhism sutras and the Taoism scriptures, the definition to it is presented, which bears a common meaning of miraculous effect referring especially to the supernatural effect performed on the faithful religious adherents or the miracles accomplished by the supernatural force. As far as Buddhism is concerned, miraculous story mainly involves showing the respect to or disdaining Buddha Buddhist doctrine and Buddhist monks. Apart from some monographs, Buddhist miraculous stories scattered in various Buddhism sutras and many other literary sketches and novels. With the widespread of some Buddhism sutras, some miraculous stories appeared correspondingly, for example, Avalokesvara Sutra and the Miraculous Stories of Avalokesvara, Saddharmapundarika Sutra and the Legends to Advocate Saddharmapundarika, etc. As the manuscripts unearthed in Dunhuang indicate, some miraculous stories are the attachments to the Buddhist sutras. Many other miraculous stories are located in various great monks' biographies, literary sketches, encyclopedic works and manuscripts unearthed in Dunhuang. Many contemporary scholars as Lu Xun, Chen Yingke, Zheng Acai, Li Jianguo andE p a K o B M. contributed a lot to sorting out and studying the miraculous stories, whose effort is surely worth paying great attention to.Part One: the Extensive ExpositionChapter One : Sarira. The miraculous story that Kang Senghui presented the sarira with great respect to the king Sun Quan during the period of Three Kingdoms marked the new era that Kingdom Wu was converted to Buddhism. The Miraculous Stories of Enshrining Sarira in the period of Emperor Sui Wen creates a myth that it is the God who award an emperor the throne. It's a typical misunderstanding about Buddhism to compare the cloud to sarira. Compared with witchery, the therapeutic function of sarira is studied.Chapter Two: Buddhism Image, in which talks about the important role the Buddhist image plays on the early stage of the introduction of Buddhism into China with the support of some stories such as Emperor Han Ming's dream of a gold image and in the Northern and Southern Dynasties the emperors issuing the order to construct Buddhism images in large scale. Dreaming of gold image serves as a ceremony for an individual to serve Buddha. Buddhism image performed such miracles as saving the mankind, telling fortunes and so on. Since for the monks. Buddhism image is an incarnation of Buddha's, to worship the Buddhism image in this way is asubstitute for idolizing their ancestors. Buddhism image was also served at the ceremony to pray for rain.Chapter Three: the Hell points out the very resources of those miraculous stories about the hell in which the Buddhism believers were rewarded to return to the man's world or lengthen their life time and reinterprets a Dunhuang story of traveling in the hell. Those who intend to diminish or brought about extermination to the Buddhism are due to be punished in the Hell. The comparison between the Chinese concept of the hell and the description about the hell in ancient Babylon. Greece. Rome as well as that in Europe in the Middle Ages is carried out.Chapter Four: the Pure Land (Sukhavati) studies the resources of the miraculous stories of Sukhavati first. The methods to practice Sukhavati consist of sitting cross-legged while facing the west, burning oneself, feeding the tiger with one's own body. etc. wh...