The Study About Funeral Oration Of Dunhuang Manuscripts

The funeral oration of DunHuang refers to the articles which are copied from the documents in the DunHuang Tibetan Sutra Cave and used in rituals such as offering sacrifices to gods,offering sacrifices to the deceased.And which have the traditional funeral oration form or named by it and express the intention of sacrifice.Including the Zhaiwen used in Buddhist and Taoist sacrificial rites.DunHuang funeral oration manuscripts is a kind of documents that copied funeral oration from DunHuang relics.Comparing with standard engraved books,the transcription of manuscript is more arbitrary,so the contents of the funeral oration are also relatively miscellaneous.According to the characteristics of the manuscripts and the content that transcription together,the funeral oration in DunHuang can be divided into three types: model funeral oration,practical funeral oration and other funeral oration.According to their sacrificial objects,they can be divided into four kinds: the articles of sacrificial gods,sacrificial sage,sacrificial animal and sacrificial humanity.The writers of these funeral orations are usually monks、nuns and common people in DunHuang,and their cultural level is generally not high.However,as the original archives of people’s lives in the Mogao Grottoes,there are many real and specific sacrificial ritual information in these sacrificial manuscriptures,which is an important supplement to the handed down classics such as "Etiquette" and "Kaiyuan Rite of the Tang Dynasty".There are three values in DunHuang funeral oration manuscript.First of all,as far as literature is concerned,DunHuang funeral oration is an important part of DunHuang literature,reflecting the level of literary creation in DunHuang;secondly,as far as folk culture is concerned,DunHuang funeral oration not only contains many sacrificial rituals,but also reflects the social relationship of DunHuang people,which has a certain value for understanding the local conditions and customs of ancient DunHuang;lastly,it reflects the social prose of In terms of cultural integration,the integration of Confucianism,Taoism and Buddhism in etiquette and literature embodied in DunHuang funeral oration confirms the development and integration of the three schools of thought and culture in the Tang Dynasty,which is of great significance.This paper can divide in four parts.First chapter gives a general account of the origin of funeral oration,and summarizes the characteristics of DunHuang funeral oration,that is,close combination with rituals,literary level is weak,have religious color.The second chapter first introduces the form and content of the funeral oration manuscript,then classifies the manuscript from two aspects: the situation of the manuscript and the objects.The third chapter explores the literary characteristics of DunHuang funeral oration.Firstly,from the aspect of style,it reflects the richness of DunHuang’s funeral oration and its breakthrough in the function of funeral oration.Then it shows the characteristics of DunHuang funeral oration in terms of language,rhetoric,allusions and other aspects from the artistic techniques of funeral oration creation,and illustrates the level of DunHuang funeral oration creation and the popularity and practicability of the funeral oration.Chapter IV,from the perspective of ritual and literature,combs the official ritual law of Tang Dynasty and the ritual retained in DunHuang funeral oration.By comparing the folk sacrificial activities represented by DunHuang with the official rites and laws,this paper shows that the folk customs eventually formed through the simplified acceptance of the official rites and laws,as well as the absorption of religious rites and the concept of life and death.