A Study On The Story-telling And Singing Literature On Filial Piety In Dunhuang

The story-telling and singing literature on filial piety in Dunhuang refers to those Chinese story-telling and singing documents which preach the theme of filial piety in Dunhuang manuscripts.According to the motifs,they can be divided into four categories:repaying kindness,saving relatives,encouraging filial piety and seeking revenge.Among them,the first three categories reflect the telling and singing and secularization of Confucian classics such as Sutra on the Profound Kindness of Parents,The Ullambana Sutra and The Filial Piety Sutra,as well as the collision and integration of Buddhist filial piety concept and traditional Confucian filial piety ethics.The fourth category,represented by Wu Zixu Bian wen, reflects the concept of blood revenge under the Confucian patriarchal concept.A systematic review of the first three categories of the literature can be used to explore the collision and integration of Buddhist filial piety and traditional Confucian filial piety ethics,and enrich the current Dunhuang studies and Buddhist studies.It can also be used to explore the experience of the Buddhist concept of filial piety in the secular transmission and inheritance so as to provide a useful reference for the live transmission of the current excellent Chinese filial piety culture.The introduction of the dissertation briefly describes the motif types,research status,research methods and innovative points of the study on the story-telling and singing literature on filial piety in Dunhuang.The first chapter,based on the Dunhuang version of The Sutra on the Profound Kindness of Parents,sorts out the derivative manuscripts and texts such as Sutra Preaching Texts on the Sutra on the Profound Kindness of Parents,and the lyrics of Ten Kindnesses,and analyzes the motif of gratitude in the Buddhist concept of filial piety.The second chapter,based on the Dunhuang version of The Ullambana Sutra and The Ullambana Sutra of the Pure Land,sorts out the derivative scripts and texts of filial piety literature such as Sutra Preaching Texts on the Ullambana Sutra and Karma,Story of Mulian and Mulian Rescues His Mother,and analyzes the motif of saving parents in the Buddhist concept of filial piety.The third chapter,based on the Dunhuang version of The Book of Filial Piety and The Biography of Filial Sons,sorts out the derivative scripts and texts of the story-telling and singing literature such as works extolling The Book of Filial Piety,Dong Yong Bian Wen,and essays of The twenty-four Filial Piety Stories,analyzes the motif of encouraging filial piety in the Buddhist view of filial love.The fourth chapter makes a case study of the Buddhist filial sons based on the four versions of The Filial Shan Zi,the Dunhuang version of The Biography of Filial Sons and the portrait of Shan Zi in the Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang,and explores the multi-dimensional transmission path of the sinicization of Buddhist characters.The conclusion summarizes the Buddhist concept of filial piety represented by the Dunhuang filial piety literature and its relationship with traditional Confucian ethics of filial piety,and explores the practical value of the secular transmission path of the Buddhist concept of filial piety.This dissertation boasts two main breakthroughs.Firstly,relying on electronic documents such as IDP database and photocopy series such as Dunhuang Manuscripts collected by the National Library of China,it exhaustively combs the story-telling and singing documents on filial piety in Dunhuang manuscripts by using the methods of statistics and comparison,text collation and manuscript description,unearthed documents and handed-down documents.By making 32 tables,searching and copying 114 high-definition plates,describing 85 key manuscripts,and collating more than 20 typical texts,the dissertation describes the situation of story-telling and singing literature on filial piety in Dunhuang with the help of pictures and texts.Secondly,it puts forward some unique personal opinions on Dunhuang story-telling and singing literature on filial piety and the Buddhist filial piety concept.For example,the first chapter points out that the Buddhist concept of filial piety,by absorbing the Confucian ethics of filial piety,which regards filial piety as the greatest sutra of the world,and the practice of "turning filial duty to loyalty",successfully turns filial duty to parents to piety to Buddha and turning "grief over mother" to devotion to Buddha,and forms a relatively perfect theoretical system:filial piety will be rewarded,parents’ kindness is difficult to repay,and "filial piety and precepts are united as one and enlightenment is reward".In the second chapter,it is pointed out that the Dunhuang The Ullambana Sutra literature can be divided into three types according to the nature and content of the manuscripts:the sutra preaching text with only one manuscript of San1608(Taitu 32),Mulian Yuanqi series including three manuscripts of Beidun 02496,Bo 2193 and Si 4564,and Mulian Bianwen series represented by Beidun 04108 and Si 2614 manuscripts.The three types reflect the evolution process of the Buddhist concept of filial piety from catering to the Confucian ethics of filial piety,to the collision and integration with the Confucian ethics of filial Piety,and then to sticking to its own concept of "filial piety and precepts are united as one and enlightenment is reward".In summary,the Chinese story-telling and singing documents with three motifs of gratitude,saving parents and encouraging filial piety stored in Dunhuang today reflect the dissemination process of Buddhist scriptures and the secularization of the concept of filial piety.The Buddhist concept of filial piety is not only the acceptance and integration of the traditional Confucian ethics of filial piety,but also the adherence to the concept of self-gratitude and enlightenment.This practice of realizing its own dissemination and inheritance through folk story-telling and singing art is of great practical value.