Chapter 2 foreword

Buddhism is a huge and complicated historical fact, and Chinese literature is also a huge and complicated historical fact. This little book uses the word "and" to connect the two. I just want to say that for nearly two thousand years, Buddhism has had a great influence on Chinese literature. What is the main impact.Call it "influence", which means: if there is no Buddhism, there will be no or no such and such content in Chinese literary works along this path; or on the other hand, because of Buddhism, Chinese literature There is such-and-such content in the work only or along such a path.

Before talking about the relationship between the two, it is necessary to explain what Buddhism refers to and what Chinese literature refers to. Buddhism is foreign and quite far away from China's native thought.To give a big example, for worldly life, China's native thinking is "shun" and Buddhism is "reverse" (at least in theory). "Shun" is an evaluation that recognizes common sense, such as life is better than death, happiness is better than suffering, the prosperity of this world is worth paying attention to, and so on.Buddhism, on the contrary, does not recognize the evaluation of common sense. The general spirit is to go out of the world, abandon the happiness and honor of the world, and pursue the so-called Nirvana state beyond the world.It stands to reason that it should be difficult for such pagan ideas to penetrate into the minds of the Chinese people, so that they can coexist peacefully with native ideas.The fact is otherwise.There are many reasons.First, the society is chaotic, people's safety is not guaranteed, and people are often suffering.No matter how difficult and out-of-the-ordinary the Buddhist practice method is, it is always a way to save suffering (although it is fantasy). As the saying goes, if you get sick, you go to the doctor. If the disease is serious and difficult to cure, of course some people will go to Buddhism for medical treatment.The second is that Buddhism's thought of transcending the world has something in common with China's native Taoism.As a result, many scholars and scholar-bureaucrats became sponsors of Buddhism.The third is that the teachings of Buddhism can give people greater benefits and satisfy more extravagant wishes. The story of He Cidao in "Shi Shuo Xin Yu · Pai Tiao" just illustrates this situation: "He Cidao went to Waguan Temple and worshiped very frequently. Ruan Sikuang said: 'Qing Zhi Da Universe, bravely marching through the ages. He said: "Why did you suddenly see push today?" Ruan said: "I can't get it from thousands of households, but Qing is trying to become a Buddha. Isn't it too big?" "It is better to become a Buddha than to be a high official. No wonder many upper-class people have also become believers.Fourth, Buddhism itself has a secular side. To be euphemistic, it is teaching according to the camera;For example, for so-called foolish men and women, it is advertised that chanting a few words of "Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva" can avoid disasters and gain blessings, and chanting a few words of "Namo Amitabha Buddha" can lead to rebirth in the Pure Land. It is advisable to say it, because the big fish was caught with a small hook and bad bait.In addition, there may be other reasons, regardless of this. In short, from the Eastern Han Dynasty to the Southern and Northern Dynasties, Buddhism penetrated into all aspects of Chinese society through various channels and in various forms, and became an important part of Chinese culture. component.

From the point of view of teachings, when Buddhism was introduced to China, it not only took root, but also flourished and produced many fruits that were not found in the original place. These are the ten or thirteen schools that are often mentioned in the history of Buddhism.In India, the teachings were not unified at first, such as whether there is a small or a large, and there is a free one; it was only in China, especially in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, that theories became more and more detailed, and the differences became more and more numerous.Speaking of differences, different sects have different methods of practice and different theoretical bases, not to mention; that is, the same sect, such as the Sanlun School, has different interpretations for a certain teaching, as for It is a fact that everyone is familiar with Zen Buddhism, which can be divided into south and north.In this way, the so-called Buddhism in this book refers to the Buddhism that contains what content?Obviously, when we call Buddhism in general, we can't pursue it in such a detailed way, and we don't need to pursue it in such a detailed way, because what most people believe in is the general idea of ​​Buddhism, that is, how to look at the world and life, and how to deal with the problems we see. ; In this regard, the views of various sects are basically the same.This basically consistent teaching is general and prevails in the secular world.Because it is popular in the world, it has a strong force to penetrate into Chinese culture and has a profound impact on all aspects of society.The so-called Buddhism in this book refers to this kind of Buddhism.

Next, let me explain what Chinese literature refers to.Let’s talk about literature first. Since the May Fourth Movement, some people have followed the Western habit and only recognized poetry, prose, novels, and dramas as literary works. The definition of literature is relatively narrow.According to this definition, "Mencius" and the like cannot be counted as literary works, because they are argumentative essays; "Zuo Zhuan" and "Historical Records" are also not counted, because they are essays that record people and events.However, when Chinese people write the history of literature, they also introduce "Lun", "Meng" and "Zuo Zhuan" and "Historical Records" as usual.In doing so, the definition is relatively broad.To be more lenient, can all the "collections" of the four parts be included in literature?If this is the case, we have to admit that Han Yu's "Original Dao" and Liu Zongyuan's "On Feudalism" are also literary works, which seems a little unaccustomed.The solution is to first have a principle or standard.It seems to be possible to specify:

If the content is lyrical, and the expression is beautiful, but the writing can be vivid and interesting, it will be counted; otherwise, it will not be counted.According to this standard, many articles other than poetry, prose, novels, and plays, which can empathize from the perspective of readers, will not be excluded.Naturally, there is still a problem of demarcation between yes and no, and it is inevitable that there will be dilemmas in individual chapters. We can adopt the principle of great virtue not exceeding leisure, and let it go. Let's talk about China.Buddhism is foreign, and when it was introduced into China, it brought along with it a lot of bits and pieces, some of which were literary works, such as Bianwen. Can this also be counted as "China"?This book also adopts a lenient attitude, and everything written in Chinese characters or expressed in Chinese is counted.

The meaning of Buddhism is determined, the meaning of Chinese literature is determined, and then we sort out the literary works influenced by Buddhism, classify them, arrange them in order, and introduce them.Regarding the classification, this book follows the conventions, and still calls some works "orthodox literature" and some "popular literature".Let me explain here that this is just for the sake of conciseness and convenience in reading, and it does not mean to belittle the various genres in so-called popular literature. In addition, the number of Chinese literary works is huge; the number of literary works influenced by Buddhism is also quite large.It is almost impossible to enumerate, and it seems unnecessary.For example, if Bai Juyi and Su Shi were to list all their Buddhist-inspired works, they would probably be printed into a not-so-thin book.Therefore, this book introduces a certain genre, just giving a few examples, hoping to get a glimpse of the leopard in a short space.

The author's academic ability is limited and his knowledge is not extensive, so there are inevitably many omissions and mistakes in the book, and readers are expected to correct them. Zhang Zhongxing February 1984 in Beijing