- 著者
-
新川 登亀男
- 出版者
- 国立歴史民俗博物館
- 雑誌
- 国立歴史民俗博物館研究報告 = Bulletin of the National Museum of Japanese History (ISSN:02867400)
- 巻号頁・発行日
- vol.194, pp.277-327, 2015-03
本稿は,法隆寺金堂釈迦三尊像光背銘が日本列島史上における初期の仏教受容のあり方を物語る長文の稀有な情報源であるとの問題意識に立つ。そして,この光背銘をいかに読み,解釈するかということに終始するのではなく,この光背銘がどのように成り立ったのか,そこにいかなる歴史文化が投映されているのかを重要視する。そのためには,銘文中の不可解な用語を単語として切り出し論じることの閉塞性を反省し,人々の行為や心情ないし思考を言い表わしていると思われる表現用法や文に注目する。そこで注目したのが,「深懷愁毒」と「當造釋像尺寸王身」の2か所である。この2か所の表現とその文脈に沿う先例は,けっして多くはない。しかし,そのなかにあって極めて注目すべき先例が,『賢愚經』巻1第1品と『大方便佛報恩經』巻1・2・3に見出せる。それは,釈尊本生の捨身(施身)供養譚や,その他の死病譚,そして優塡王像譚(仏像起源譚)などの譬喩物語に含まれている。この二経は,ともに中国南北朝期に定着し,易しい仏教入門書として流布した。光背銘文の作者は,この二経の譬喩譚を承知しており,そこで語られている王や釈尊の激烈な死(擬死)や不在(喪失)の様と,それに遭遇した人々のこれまた壮絶な哀しみや恐れの様を,現実の「上宮法皇」らの病や死とそれへの反応とに当てはめて事態を認識し,受け止めようとしたものと考えられる。加えて,そこには,自傷行為や馬祭祀などをともなう汎アジア的な葬儀習俗も作用していた。そして,このような作文を可能にするのは「司馬鞍首止利佛師」であるとみる。なぜなら,「尺寸」単位や仏像起源譚に関心をもつ「秀工」,また「司馬」でもある「止利」だからである。This article considers the inscription on the halo of the Shaka Triad enshrined in the Kondo (Main Hall) of Horyu-ji Temple as a long script containing rare information about the early stages of acceptance of Buddhism in the Japanese Islands. Based on this acknowledgement, this article emphasizes the circumstances to create the halo inscription and the historical and cultural background behind it rather than its reading or interpretation. Therefore, instead of being trapped in arguments over the meaning of each term in the inscription, this study focuses on the expression styles and sentences considered to describe people's actions, feelings, and thoughts. Specifically, our attention is aimed at two phrases " 深懷愁毒" (deeply worry, lament, and agonize) and " 當造釋像尺寸 王身" (commit to create a statue of Shaka in the same size as the King) .There are not many precedents of these two phrases or contexts. Among such examples, Xianyu jing (the Sutra of the Wise and the Foolish) Vol.1, Book 1 and Da fangbian fo baoen jing (the Sutra of the Great Skillful Means of the Buddha to Reciprocate [His Parents'] Kindness) Vol. 1 to 3 are worth investigating. The related concepts can be found in the figurative stories of the sutras, such as the tales of self-sacrifice in the former lives of Buddha, the tales of death and illness, and the tale of King Udayana image (the first Buddha image) . These two sutras were established in the Nan-Bei Chao period and spread as an easy guide to Buddhism. The creator of the halo inscription is considered to have known the figurative stories in these sutras and compared the tragic deaths (feigning deaths) and absence (loss) of kings and Buddha, as well as the sadness and fear of the bereaved, described in the stories with the disease and deaths of the retired Emperor Jogu and others and the reaction of surrounding people in order to realize and accept the actual situation. He was also influenced by the funeral customs common across Asian cultures, such as practices including self-injurious behaviors and horse sacrifices. This study attributes the inscription to Shibano-Kuratsukurino-Obitotori, Buddhist Sculptor, since he was Tori from the Shiba clan and a craftsman interested in the tale of the first Buddha image and life-size statues.