北宋天台宗的放生实践——以慈云遵式、四明知礼为中心的考察

放生是佛教慈悲济世精神与和谐共生理念的集中体现。中国佛教的放生实践与天台宗僧的推动密切相关,北宋初年天台宗代表人物慈云遵式、四明知礼利用与精英士大夫的交游,先后促成了将杭州西湖、四明南湖立为放生池的善举,开启了佛诞日放生为皇帝祝寿的先河,使放生活动逐渐扩展为一种政治传统与地方民俗。此外,遵式《放生慈济法门》、知礼《放生文》所制定的放生仪轨,也为后世的放生实践提供了较为规范的范本。

The Practice of Freeing Captive Animals on Tiantai Sect of Northern Song Dynasty as Centered on Ciyun Zunshi and Siming Zhili

Compassion spirit and harmonious idea of Buddhism is embodied in the thought of freeing captive animals. The practice of freeing captive animals in Buddhism of China is closely related to the promotion of the monks of Tiantai Sect. In the early years of Northern Song Dynasty, Ciyun Zunshi and Siming Zhili made friends with scholar-bureaucrats and promoted the good deeds of setting West Lake of Hangzhou and South Lake of Ningbo as the pools of freeing captive animals. And it opened the beginning of freeing captive animals in Buddha’s birthday as the celebration for emperor’s birthday and expanded the movement of freeing captive animals into the political tradition and local folklore gradually. In addition, the Ritual of Freeing Captive Animals formulated by the Zunshi’s The Approach of Freeing Captive Animals and Zhili’s The Essay of Freeing Captive Animals became a standardized ritual model for the practice of freeing captive animals, and its influence has lasted until now.