The Mythological Archetypal Research Of Buddhism In Tibetan Version From Dunhuang

Many ancient Tibetan scriptures of Buddhism in Dunhuang relate vivid and beautiful stories of edutainment with strange fancy and poetic connotation, which bring us into an artistic and aesthetic world. And Karma Scriptures about Wisdom and Foolishness is the most typical classics of Buddhist stories which exert the biggest influence on the following generations and is the stressed research and focus of comments of Buddhism scholars at home and abroad. This paper does an integral and systematic research on the art phenomena in this book, in the perspective of Archetypal Criticism Theory of Art and Literature. Meanwhile, it does research on the life of the Tibetan translator of this scriptures book and the different versions of it that prevails in Tibetan areas, etc.The first part introduces the research status of Buddhism stories at home and abroad, which were recorded in Dunhuang Tibetan scriptures with archetypal research significance or were relatively typical. It also deals with the archetypal research significance of these stories while researching on Karma Scriptures about Wisdom and foolishness. The second part confirms and relates the life of Guan Facheng—the translator with reference to Dunhuang scriptures. It argues that the great translation master lived in Tubo dynasty and was the descendent of Guan family, denying the viewpoint—He was the offspring of a Han nationality family, which was held by the French scholar Damiwei and Japanese scholar Shangshan Dajun, and confirming that his birth place was in the middle and latter half of the current Tibet. It also examines the period when he lived in Dunhuang, and his writings during this period. The third part explores the dissemination state of the Tibetan Karma Scriptures translated by Facheng and its various versions, questioning the statement that this book was from both sanskrit and Chinese versions, and making a brief comparison of the Tibetan and Chinese versions as well. In the perspective of Fulai's Archetypal Criticism Theory, the fourth part makes an analysis on the archetypal mode, original images and the motif symbols, finding that it embodies the features of mythic traditional thinking pattern and the color of religious mystery. The Buddha and other Buddhist characters are described in it to occur in different space and time, and the Buddhism images are produced in several plots as well. It is characterized with four typical archetypal modes—legendary, comic, tragic and ironic, which are independent, yet united to some extent. This paper connects these phenomena profoundly with the outer world, so as to disclose the intimate relations of these stories and the ancient myths, belief, religious rites and folk customs.