A Preliminary Study Of Early Buddhist Scribal Workshop

Abstract

Before the invention of printing technology, Buddhist texts were copied by scribes during the early stages when Buddhism was introduced to China. This period of time is called the “Pure Written Manuscripts Phase.” The development of the publication of Buddhist sutras went from a small group or team type of project to a large-scale project to produce and circulate Buddhist sutras. This formed a step-by-step foundation for the publication of the Tripitaka in the later phase. Thus, the early Buddhist publisher played an important role in the dissemination of Buddhism and Buddhist culture. How was the early scribal team organized? In the early twentieth century, the discovery of Dunhuang and Turfan manuscripts provides us with a clue to examine the formation of the Buddhist scribal workshop in history. Based on the inscriptions on many Buddhist manuscripts, we found that there was a very well organized scribal team in the Tang Dynasty. Japanese scholar Ito Shin observed that the early development of a well-organized scribal workshop can be traced back to Northern Wei in Dunhuang. It was marked as a milestone in Buddhist publication and cultural transmission. In this paper, we will examine the formation of the early Buddhist scribal workshop based on the archaeological discovery of Buddhist manuscripts and the stone inscription from Dunhuang, Turfan and other related regions.

佛教傳入中國到印刷術發明以前，歷經數百年的佛經「純寫本時期」，此時期全賴經生抄寫，從小規模到有組織的運作，為後來編輯大藏經的形成奠定基礎。而這組織是如何形成的？由於它等同早期的文化出版社，在推動佛教文化宣傳上具有舉足輕重的角色。從 20 世紀敦煌與吐魯番出土的大量文獻中，由唐代官方寫經題記，觀察到唐代已具很完備的寫經制度。現存敦煌佛教寫經中，日本學者藤枝晃研究早在北魏敦煌已有「寫經所」的設置，寫經所的設置無疑在推動文化宣傳是一個重要的里程碑。但對於「寫經所」的起源與形成 , 藤枝晃並未深入研究。本文將利用敦煌與西域出土的漢文佛經寫本，及其時代相關石刻碑銘與其他相關的書寫材料為基礎，探討漢傳佛教早期寫經所於北涼時期形成的可能性。