A study of early buddhist scriptural calligraphy from Dunhuang and Turfan manuscripts

Abstract

印刷術發明以前，古代典籍與佛經都是經由專業寫經生所書寫。佛教傳入中國初期，來自印度與西域的外國僧人在佛經譯寫與傳播上扮演重要的角色。現存史上紀年最早僧人書寫的漢文佛經《諸佛要集經》，是西晉高僧竺法護的弟子竺法首在公元296 年所書寫。本文從《諸佛要集經》殘片考證歷史與佛教文獻，探討初期佛教寫經與漢晉書法演變的關係； 並以考古出土有紀年的佛經寫本、石刻、簡牘等書法材料輔證，分析敦煌吐魯番出土殘片的早期佛教寫經書法，證實竺法首於公元二九六年所採用的佛教寫經書體「晉書正寫」，以鍾繇傳統為主的「正書」（亦即現代的「楷書」），在公元一七六年東漢時期已是官方和民間共同使用的一種書體。 Before invention of printing technology, the ancient books or Buddhist texts were all relied on copying by scribes. During the period when Buddhism was initially transmitted into China, foreign Buddhist monks played an important role in translation teams to translate, write down, or copy Buddhist texts. The earliest extant Buddhist manuscript in Chinese is the 諸佛要集經, it was written by Dharmarakśa 竺法護s disciple Zhu Fashou 竺法首in 296 CE of the Western Jin, using the Standard Script “zhengshu (正書)” in the Zhong You’s 鍾繇tradition. On the basis of a comprehensive review of both literary resources and archaeological findings, this research explores the identity of some early foreign Buddhist scribes. Examining the calligraphic styles of dated Buddhist manuscripts and then comparing them with bamboo slips, tomb bricks and stone inscriptions, the paper argues that the Buddhist scriptural calligraphy in the Zhong You tradition “Standard Script” can be traced back to 176 CE of the Eastern Han. By the time the Zhong You tradition “Standard Script” had already been writing script of both official and general public documents.