| In the more than 300 years since Buddhism was introduced into the Han area,the eminent monks took the initiative to absorb the practice of attaching preface to the collection of poems in the Han area,and formed the preface of Chinese Buddhist scriptures.During the Wei Jin,northern and Southern Dynasties,the emperor wrote "imperial Scripture preface" for the topic of Buddhist scriptures,although his influence was also limited.However,it has become an attempt of the emperor to use Buddhism through secular authority,which has played an important exemplary role.In the early Tang Dynasty,under the social and cultural background of the prevalence of Buddhism,the five emperors,entrusted by the eminent monks of sutra translation,wrote 9 "imperial Sutra preface" for the newly translated Sutra out of the consideration of balancing the relationship between politics and religion and maintaining rule.In addition,it is also found in Dunhuang documents that Wu Zetian wrote two "imperial Scripture preface" in memory of her parents Between 670 and 679.Although there is no record in handed down documents,from the perspective of writing time and text content,it is closely related to the "imperial Scripture preface" written by Wu Zetian for the newly translated Buddhist scriptures.Therefore,based on the political needs of the emperors in the early Tang Dynasty to balance the relationship between politics and religion,this paper studies the above 11 "imperial Scripture preface" :The first chapter,by analyzing the historical background of the "imperial Scripture preface" in the early Tang Dynasty,obtains the necessity for the emperors of the early Tang Dynasty to coordinate the relationship between politics and religion by inscribing the "imperial Scripture preface".Firstly,the development of Buddhist sutra preface and the emergence of "imperial Sutra preface" created a formal foundation for the "imperial Sutra preface" to exert influence on Buddhism through secular rights in the early Tang Dynasty.Secondly,in the early Tang Dynasty,the cultural pattern of the coexistence of Confucianism,Buddhism and Taoism and the development of Buddhism made the emperors have the political need to coordinate the relationship between politics and religion and balance the forces of the three religions.The translation activities of Buddhist scriptures in the early Tang Dynasty and the social culture under the influence of Chinese Buddhism provided the objective condition basis and subjective will ability for the emperors to inscribe the "imperial Scripture preface".The second chapter focuses on the development context and text content of "imperial Scripture preface" in the early Tang Dynasty under the specific relationship between emperors and Buddhism.According to the specific inscription process of the "imperial Scripture preface" in the early Tang Dynasty,its development context is vertically divided into three historical stages: foundation laying,maturity and inheritance.In terms of time and content,Wu Zetian’s two "imperial Scripture preface" in Dunhuang documents is the basis for Wu Zetian to write Scripture preface for the new translation of Buddhist scriptures.The text content of "imperial Scripture preface" in the early Tang Dynasty includes four aspects: the development of Buddhism,the content of Buddhist scriptures,the reasons for inscription and the eminent monks of sutra translation.Some of the contents are influenced by the fashion of the times,the specific inscription background,personal writing habits and other factors,resulting in a different trend consistent with the development context of the "imperial Scripture preface" in the early Tang Dynasty.The third chapter,based on the analysis of the characteristics and significance of the "imperial Scripture preface" in the early Tang Dynasty,finally returns to the political needs of the emperors to inscribe the "imperial Scripture preface".Therefore,the "imperial Scripture preface" in the early Tang Dynasty reflects the characteristics of the combination of inheritance,ideology and authority.In terms of significance and influence,the "imperial Scripture order" objectively promoted the development of Buddhism in the early Tang Dynasty,making Buddhism an important force to maintain social stability.As a means of coordinating the forces of all parties and consolidating the rule of the regime,the "imperial Scripture order" inscribed by various emperors in the early Tang Dynasty was intended to meet their political demands.It also played an important guiding significance for the emperors to deal with the relationship with Buddhism,which led to the later emperors to follow suit. |
