初窥五轮塔:一个有关起源、传播与形上基础的跨学科研究  

A Preliminary Inquiry into the Five-ringed Tower: A Cross-disciplinary Study on Its Sources, Transmissions and Metaphysical Basis

作　　者：刘钝[1,2] LIU Dun(Department of the History of Science,Tsinghua University,Beijing 100084,China;Institute for the History of Natural Sciences,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Beijing 100190,China)

机构地区：[1]清华大学科学史系,北京100084 [2]中国科学院自然科学史研究所,北京100190

出　　处：《中国科技史杂志》2020年第3期260-297,共38页The Chinese Journal for the History of Science and Technology

摘　　要：五轮塔的外观、次序及其形上意义与柏拉图《蒂迈欧篇》中描述的宇宙图景高度相似;换言之,柏拉图借助几何化的元素学说描绘宇宙构成与变化的思想,在日本的五轮塔中被物化和具象地表现出来了,很难设想二者之间没有任何联系。一方面,日本的佛教虽然传自中国与朝鲜,但是这两个国家乃至日本之外的亚洲其他地区,都找不到中古时代五轮塔的踪迹。可以断言,作为佛教寺庙建筑的石造五轮塔始于日本。另一方面,源于印度的密宗在公元7—8世纪兴盛于唐代中国,随遣唐使来华的僧人将汉译佛经及相关图籍带回日本。晚唐武宗之后,佛教在中国遭到沉重打击,东方密宗的中心逐渐转移到日本。经过历代来华僧人及其弟子门生的整理,形成具有特色的和系佛教经典宝库。在和系《大藏经》中,存在许多关于五轮塔形制的文字和图形,它们的母本是汉译或梵文的佛经。这些手抄经文中的线图先被摹画或镌刻在纸、布、陶器、金属等材料上,逐渐演变成不同材质的立体五轮塔,包括墓塔、供养塔和各类小型的五轮塔状器物。至于佛教密宗有关世界"五大"的观念与古希腊元素学说的关系,则是世界范围文明交流史上一个富有挑战性的大问题,通过五轮塔的起源与传播可以吸引更多的学者深入探索。Built as memorial pagodas and sometimes serving as sacrificial offerings containing ■ arīra or sutras, Five-ringed Towers(Gorintō)are landmark buildings in Japanese Buddhist temples. First appearing in the mid-12th century, Five-ringed Towers were popular in pre-modern Japan. Their looks, structures, and metaphysical significance are comparable to Plato’s imagery of the universe in his Timaeus. In other words, Platonists used geometrical elements to decipher the composition of and changes in the universe;while in Japan the idea was concretely represented through the Gorintō. It is difficult to imagine a disconnect between the Gorintō and Timaeus. Although Buddhism was introduced to Japan through Korea and China, apart from Japan, the Gorintō could not be found in any other Asian countries in medieval time. It can then be concluded that it was in Japan that the Gorintō first appeared as Buddhist temple buildings. On the other hand, originated in India, Esoteric Buddhism thrived in early and middle Tang dynasty in 7-8th century China, and Buddhist sutras written in Chinese and relevant drawings were brought back to Japan by monks that visited China with Japanese envoys. Due to Emperor Wuzong’s extermination of Buddhism(842-846 AD), the religion began to decline in China, and the center of Oriental Tantrism gradually moved to Japan. With successive editing and complication by monks and their followers visiting China, a Japanese treasure trove of Buddhist scriptures was built. There are numerous texts and pictures about Gorintō in Japanese Tripitaka, which might have been copied from Chinese, Tibetan, and even Sanskrit sutras. The diagrams in hand-written scriptures had been first copied or engraved in such materials/objects as paper, cloth, pottery and metals, before evolving into solids of Gorintō including miniature ones made by various materials. As for the connection between the panca-dhatavah concept in Esoteric Buddhism and the ancient Greek theory of elements, it remains a daunting challenge for

关 键 词：五轮塔 蒂迈欧篇 元素说 佛教密宗 

分 类 号：N09[自然科学总论—科学技术哲学]