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汉代画像中,常见有“驯象图”与“骑象图”。对于这些画面中的驯象与骑象,曾有不同的解释,有的学者认为此类画面同北方早期佛像有关。其实中国自古就是产象之地,早在商周时期的黄河流域和长江流域就有象群活动。两汉时期中原与蜀地仍然有象,因而汉代画像上常见有对象的描绘。汉代有着非常强烈的辟邪求吉、崇尚祥瑞的传统,所以汉代画像中常常有对众多祥禽瑞兽的描绘,如四灵、凤鸟、仙鹿、天马、吉羊、驯象等。显而易见,很多汉代画像中描绘驯象的画面,被赋予的主要是祥瑞的寓意。而以驯象与骑象来比喻或宣扬佛教的含义,则是比较模糊的。东汉之后,随着佛教传播日益广泛,此类含义才逐渐清晰起来。
In the Han Dynasty portraits, there are often “tame figure ” and “ride the elephant figure ”. There have been different interpretations of the images of elephants and riders in these paintings, and some scholars think that such drawings are related to the early northern statues of Buddha. As a matter of fact, China has always been a land of image. As early as the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, the Yellow River and the Yangtze River Valley had elephant herd activities. During the Han Dynasty, the Central Plains and the Shu still had elephants, so the portraits of the Han dynasty portraits were common. The Han Dynasty had a very strong tradition of pretending to be evil, advocating auspiciousness and auspiciousness. Therefore, portraits of many auspicious beasts and beings, such as the four spirits, the phoenixes, the celestial deer, the Pegasus, the auspicious sheep and the mastiffs, are often portrayed in Han Dynasty portraits. Obviously, many portraits depicting the image of the tamer in the Han Dynasty portraits were mainly given the auspicious meaning. It is rather ambiguous to compare or promote the meaning of Buddhism by means of imagery and riding. After the Eastern Han Dynasty, as Buddhism spread more widely, such meaning gradually became clear.