契嵩認為「佛非出於諸夏」,又明言「佛之所出非夷」,他逕稱孔子為「儒童聖人」,且是今存文獻中,首位上書皇帝時指出孔子提及「西方聖人」的人。本文以契嵩作個案研究,延展討論北宋華夷之辨的承傳與創新,指出:1.契嵩以文化辨華夷,並從「天人關係」說明儒釋聖者都是「可感天地鬼神」的聖人,以佛之「聖」消解其為「夷」;2.契嵩同時代儒者未反對契嵩以佛為「西方聖人」、以孔子為「儒童聖人」,反映當時政教關係中對華夷之辨可各言其志的寬鬆文化氛圍;3.契嵩對夷狄不褒不貶,按佛教理念,將其視為「含靈者」,是聖人教化的對象,但對侵犯華夏的夷狄明確否定。這些觀點拓寬了傳統以地域、文化、種族區分華夷之說,深化了相關觀念的多元內涵。
Qi Song deemed that Buddhism "did not originate from 'Zhuxia'(諸夏)", and he also stated that "whatever Buddhism originated from was not barbarian". Moreover, he was the first person in existing literature who wrote to the emperor and declared that Confucius referred to "the existence of western sages" and called Confucius as "Ru Tong Sheng Ren" (儒童聖人). Taking Qi Song and his writings as a case study, this paper discusses the inheritance and innovation of the distinction between "Hua" and "Yi" in the Northern Song Dynasty. The findings are as follows. 1. Qi Song distinguished "Hua" and "Yi" by culture. He also used the concept of "the relationship between heaven and human" to explain that Confucius and Buddhist sages were both "able to sense the spirits of Heaven, Earth, ghosts, and God". 2. Scholars who were contemporary with Qi Song did not object to his point of view. This fact reflects that there was a relaxed cultural atmosphere and it existed the possibility of different interpretations over the debate of "Hua" and "Yi" cultures in the context of politics and religion. 3. Qi Song has a neutral attitude towards "Yi Di" (夷狄). According to the Buddhist concept, Qi Song regards "Yi Di" as "beings with spirits". Therefore, sages should educate them. On the other hand, he explicitly opposed the invasion of "Yi Di" into "Huaxia" (華夏). The above findings broadens the traditional theory of distinguishing "Hua Yi"(華夷) by regions, cultures and races, which hence deepens the diversity of relevant concepts.