從「剎」見五、六世紀中國佛塔的南北差異

Abstract

塔，這種因佛教的傳播而導入中國的建築，向來是建築史學者感興趣的主題之一，不過由於現今留存的早期中國佛塔不多，而且仍有許多面向尚待研究，以致實際上我們對於塔的掌握不夠深入。例如，在前人的研究成果中，還沒有人注意到「剎」對於認識中國古代佛塔的重要性，不過儘管如此，由於「剎」在五、六世紀時開始普遍被使用，而且幾乎都是指佛塔的某一部分構造，所以本文特別以「剎」爲主來分析文獻；又因為過去的研究偏重北方佛塔而較忽略南方佛塔，因此本研究從地域性的角度切入，以重新認識五、六世紀的中國佛塔。 本文分成兩大部分，第一部分先全面性地分析文獻裡的「剎」，證實了當時在南方和北方「剎」的意思並不一樣，即南方的「剎」指的是心柱，而北方的「剎」指塔頂構造。「剎」在南北的用法不同，此現象反映出當時南北方的塔有不同的結構。文章的第二部分試圖推測造成此現象的原因。本研究認為中國在佛教傳入以前自身的建築背景，是影響初期佛塔發展的重要條件之一，而且中國建築本身具地域性，即在北方以臺榭建築為主，在南方以木構造建築為主，此地域性便造成南北方塔的差異。 總而言之，在接受外來文化時，中國原本地域性的建築體系與觀念，是促使塔在南北發展不同的條件之一，也就是說，在思考中國初期佛塔時，必須考慮地域性的建築條件。Pagodas, introduced to China along with the spread of Buddhism, have been one of the most interesting subjects for the historians of architecture. However, it remains a fact that our understanding on the subject is limited , it is mostly because of the poor preservation of ancient pagodas as well as the lack of research focusing on the different aspects and their relations contributing to the history of ancient pagodas. For instance, the Chinese character “ch’a” was widely used in the texts during the 5th and the 6th centuries to describe a specific part of pagoda. Therefore, this paper intents to focus on the significance of “ch’a” and its regional aspect to the evolution of ancient pagodas in the 5th and 6th centuries. The thesis is divided into two parts. The first part is to analyze the usage of “ch’a” in texts, and argues that in the South “Ch’a” meant central pillars of pagodas, while in the North “Ch’a” referred pagoda spires. The different usage of the same word indicates that the pagodas from the North and the South structurally different. The second part is to look into the cause of the differences, and discusses that traditional Chinese architecture is one of the essential factors which influenced Chinese pagodas in its early stage of development. One of the regional difference of traditional Chinese architecture, t’ai hsieh in the North and timber framed structure in the South, is the reason for the differences of pagodas between North and South China. The paper concludes that when Chinese adopted Buddhism, the local architectural system contributed to distinct developments of Chinese pagodas. In other words, the regional architectural conditions have to be considered when speaking of ancient pagodas in China.