Protecting the Dharma through Calligraphy in Tang China: A Study of the Ji Wang shengjiao xu 集王聖教序, The Preface to the Buddhist Scriptures Engraved on Stone in Wang Xizhi’s Collated Characters
Pietro De Laurentis was born in southern Italy and studied Sinology at the University of Naples “L’Orientale,” where he received his Ph.D. in East Asian Studies in 2007. He was trained in Chinese philology and Chinese calligraphy, theoretical and practical, in Hangzhou, Tianjin, and Shanghai. From 2010 to 2016 he was Research Fellow at the University of Naples “L’Orientale,” where he taught Literary Chinese and Modern Chinese. He is currently chair professor at the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts.
摘要
This is a study of the earliest and finest collated inscription in the history of Chinese calligraphy, the Ji Wang shengjiao xu 集王聖教序 (Preface to the Sacred Teaching Scriptures Translated by Xuanzang in Wang Xizhi’s Collated Characters), which was erected on January 1, 673. The stele records the two texts written by the Tang emperors Taizong (599–649) and Gaozong (628–683) in honor of the monk Xuanzang (d. 664) and the Buddhist scripture Xin jing (Heart Sutra), collated in the semi-cursive characters of the great master of Chinese calligraphy, Wang Xizhi (303–361). It is thus a Buddhist inscription that combines Buddhist authority, political power, and artistic charm in one single monument. The present book reconstructs the multifaceted context in which the stele was devised, aiming at highlighting the specific role calligraphy played in the propagation and protection of Buddhism in medieval China.
目次
Acknowledgement xi Abbreviation xiii Conventions xv Map: Tang Dynasty Chang'an INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER ONE Buddhism and Calligraphy in Medieval China 29 CHAPTER TWO Wang Xizhi’s Calligraphy and the Semi-cursive Script (Xingshu 行書) 59 CHAPTER THREE The Ji Wang shengjiao xu and Its Texts 79 CHAPTER FOUR The Context of the Erection of the Ji Wang shengjiao xu 117 CHAPTER FIVE A History of the Location of the Ji Wang shengjiao xu 145 CHAPTER SIX The Collation of Wang Xizhi’s Characters for the Ji Wang shengjiao xu 161 CHAPTER SEVEN The Carving of the Ji Wang shengjiao xu 183 CHAPTER EIGHT The Shape and the Calligraphy of the Ji Wang shengjiao xu 195 CONCLUSION 241 APPENDICES 243 Appendix I: Transcription and Translation of the Ji Wang shengjiao xu 243 Appendix II: A Survey of Collated Inscriptions in Wang Xizhi’s Characters 267 TABLES 275 FACSIMILE 371 Complete Reproduction of Mitsui Ji Wang 1 (Folios 1-36) 371 BIBLIOGRAPHY, GLOSSARY, AND INDEX 409 Bibliography 409 Glossary of Calligraphic Terms 435 General Index 439
