The Study On The Popular Belief Of The Diamond Sutra In Dunhuang During The Tang And Five Dynasties Period

The Vajracchedika Prajnaparamita Sutra (also named Diamond Sutra), which produced in an early time and subsequently occupied a high position in both religious and profane society, influenced and shaped the later Chinese Buddhism and philosophy profoundly. In consideration of its prevalence and historical status for a long time, the topic on the popular belief of the Vajracchedika Prajnaparamita Sutra in Dunhuang will bring a general significance in related researches on a large scale.Dunhuang is located in an oasis, the west border of china. The unique features such as geographical condition, production, lifestyle, ethnical diverse determine its distinctiveness in Chinese history study.In the Tang and Five Dynasties period, Dunhuang experienced the governing of the Tang dynasty, Tibetan empire and gui-yi-jun regime, and presented a brief stability under the general turbulence. By coincidence, there preserved plenty of Dunhuang manuscripts related to the Vajracchedika Prajnaparamita Sutra during this period. So, the study on the popular belief of the Vajracchedika Prajnaparamita Sutra in Dunhuang during the Tang and Five Dynasties period provides special significance.The number of known Dunhuang Vajracchedika Prajnaparamita Sutra manuscripts is more than two thousand, including a large quantity of sutras, a part of the commentaries and miracle stories. Because of that there is no fundamental difference between the manuscript and sutra, it is unnecessary to be constrained in every manuscript’s details and nonessentials. So, this thesis does not contain such discussions. Plus, the painting time of the mural of the Vajracchedika Prajnaparamita Sutra of the Mogao Cave focused on the Tang dynasty. Therefore, this paper tries to face the subjective materials related to the Vajracchedika Prajnaparamita Sutra and the Dunhuang people in Tang and Five dynasties, mainly about the commentary, miracle stories, inscriptions and illustrations, and to investigate the situation of the Vajracchedika Prajnaparamita Sutra belief in Dunhuang area. Considering the decrease of the Vajracchedika Prajnaparamita Sutra manuscripts and it is not an emphasis, thus, the influence of the Vajracchedika Prajnaparamita Sutra would be referred to in the part of the inclination of the belief.The thesis is tentative to be divided into three parts. The first part is the spread of the Vajracchedika Prajnaparamita Sutra in Dunhuang area, including the introduction, prevalence and inclination. The second part is the situation of the Vajracchedika Prajnaparamita Sutra in Dunhuang area, including social effects such as politics, education and humanity, and personal effects such as problems solving and religious ideal pursuing. The third part is an analysis and deliberation of the popular belief of the Vajracchedika Prajnaparamita Sutra, including the status and the essence of the popular belief.The construction of this thesis is on the basis of the historical philology, so the theory and method play the most important role. The historical value of the folk profane lifestyle has not been completely aware in Chinese traditional historical philology. Dunhuang manuscripts preserved plenty of contents which almost cannot be seen in traditional historical materials. Besides, it maintained the original documents and historical appearance relatively successfully, rather than disguising like the other traditional historical philology. As a result, Dunhuang manuscripts simultaneously possesses the value of the historical literature, the archaeological relics and the art appreciation. Although philology research is the most important part of history study the philology never equals to history. We ought to treat philology as a sort of research materials and learn about history through them. This is what history study exactly is.In addition, this thesis also uses the interdisciplinary research methods. All human history related to mental activities and spiritual culture is actually a history of communication. Therefore, we can analyze the dynamic human nature by using the communication theory under the macro-static history background. The subject of Sociology is diverse, which methodology can be borrowed to help us better grasp the comprehensive structure of the social operation and coordination development of the society under certain historical conditions. The content of this article concentrates on the related to religious matters, mainly analyzes the development and evolution of the popular belief, and investigates the believers’psychology and their religious experiences. So the utilization of religious and psychological methods to conduct the certain topic research is compulsory.