北魏佛教对洛阳都城景观的时空控制
作者简介:李智君,厦门大学人文学院历史系教授(福建厦门 361005)
摘要: 佛教进入中国城市后,对城市景观产生了重大影响,尤其在景观的高度和时间节律方面,金刹与灵台比高,金铎与钟鼓竞鸣,改变了中国城市原有的景观特征。这一现象在北魏首都洛阳表现得尤为突出。灵太后胡充华将佛教建筑景观,尤其是将佛塔高度的象征意义完全政治化−佛塔的高度即是权力的高度,因此,洛阳城内最高的永宁寺塔,作为转轮圣王的象征,其供养者非灵太后莫属。其次,无论城里城外,佛塔的高低,都按供养人的政治权力等级,从高到低排列。其三,拥有最高权力的灵太后,其供养所立的佛塔,占据洛阳最具象征性的城内、城南和城东空间。儒家特别看重的洛阳中轴线,更是灵太后精心规划设计的空间,塔刹林立,圣像庄严,完全是一派佛国气象。北魏将首都从盛乐,迁至平城,再迁至洛阳,原本的目的是想由塞外入驻中原,完成汉化,成为中原正统,然而,始料未及的是,虽然在政治制度上他们选择了中央集权制,在信仰层面却选择了佛教。究其原因,北魏放弃祭天传统后,统治阶层佞佛,尤其是掌握皇权的后妃佞佛,是汉化道路发生突变的政治推手。北魏从塞外南下中原汉化过程的二元性,并没有随着北魏的亡国而消失,相反却成为隋唐帝国的共同特色。可见,北魏在政教关系方面,也担当了开启北朝,孕育隋唐的角色。
Buddhist Manipulation of Luoyang’s Spatial and Temporal Landscape in the Northern Wei Dynasty
- Available Online:
2020-07-20
Abstract: Buddhism had a compelling impact on the urban landscape after being introduced into China’s cities. The impact was most distinct on the height of the landscape and the rhythm of time, since Buddhist temples and bells competed in height and sonority with ancestral biers and traditional drums. This phenomenon was especially striking in the city of Luoyang in Northern Wei Dynasty. Hu Chonghua, namely, Empress Dowager Ling, politicized the height of temples and embedded symbolic meanings in it. The height of temples became equated with the strength of power. In other words, the temples in and outside the city differed in height in agreement with the strength of power of those who patronized them. Since the highest temple, Yongning Temple, was symbolic of chakravartin, it was supplied solely by Empress Dowager Ling. With the biggest power in hand, she also patronized temples located within the city, the southern and eastern part of the city, spaces that were inundated with symbolic meanings. She also had the central axis of the city, a space valued by Confucianists, redesigned and re-planned so that on it were lavished temples and sculptured images that made it very Buddhist. The Northern Wei intended to be truly assimilated into the Han and for this purpose, when they migrated from beyond the Great Wall, they moved their capital from Shengle first to Pingcheng and then to Luoyang. However, in this process, a split occurred. On the one hand, they adopted a centralized political system. On the other, they converted themselves into the religion of Buddhism. Part of the reason was that their ruling class, especially the empresses and empress dowagers, worshipped Buddhism. Yet, this political-religious dualism didn’t disappear as they migrated southward and when the Dynasty came to an end. Instead, it was picked up by the Sui and Tang Dynasties. In this sense, the Northern Wei Dynasty played a mediating role helping to spawn and define the political and religious qualities of Sui and Tang Dynasties.