慧遠像論對中土象論的超越

慧遠的“像論”以“神道無方，觸像而寄”爲核心，强調本體（神）通過具體形象（像）顯現，並成爲宗教修行與美學實踐的中介。本文從三方面探討其理論：其一，對比佛教東傳前中國傳统的“未形之象”（見於《楚辭》《老子》《莊子》）與《易經》的“卦畫之象”，指出慧遠像論突破中土的象論，賦予有物質形態的造像和山水以終極本體義；其二，分析其思想來源，包括小乘有部“法體恒有”説（神不滅論）、大乘化身説（佛像即法身顯現）及中觀思想（真俗相即），構建了“體―觀―像”的理論框架；其三，揭示其影響，如推動佛教觀想念佛的“感通”實踐，並催生謝靈運“山水佛教”等創作審美實踐。慧遠像論融合多元的佛教觀念，爲日後佛教文藝理論的發展奠定了基礎。

Huiyuan’s (334—416) theory of the image posits that the noumenon (the divine) becomes perceptible through specific forms, which in turn serve as a medium for both religious cultivation and aesthetic practice. This paper examines his theory from three perspectives.

First, it contrasts the pre-Buddhist Chinese concepts of the “imageless image” (未形之象) — found in texts such as the Songs of Chu, Laozi, and Zhuangzi — and the “hexagrammatic images” (卦畫之象) of the I Ching (Book of Changes). In doing so, it argues that Huiyuan’s theory transcended these native conceptions of the image by endowing physical forms, such as Buddha icons and natural landscapes, with the significance of the ultimate noumenon.

Second, the paper analyzes the intellectual origins of Huiyuan’s thought. These include the Sarvāstivāda school’s doctrine of the eternal substance of dharmas (法體恆有), which informed his theory of the immortality of the spirit; the Mahāyāna concept of the transformation body (nirmāṇakāya), wherein a Buddha image is a manifestation of the ultimate Dharma body (dharmakāya); and Madhyamaka philosophy, particularly the principle of the identity of ultimate and conventional truths (真俗相即). From these, Huiyuan constructed a theoretical framework of “noumenon-contemplation-image” (體—觀—像).

Third, this study reveals the influence of his theory, such as its role in promoting the practice of gantong (感通), or sympathetic resonance, in Buddhist visualization and Buddha-invocation. Furthermore, it spurred creative and aesthetic endeavors like the “landscape Buddhism” of Xie Lingyun. By synthesizing diverse Buddhist concepts, Huiyuan’s theory of the image laid a foundational basis for the subsequent development of Buddhist theories of literature and art in China.