Chih-is System of Sign Interpretation

本文是以智者大師之《妙法蓮華經玄義》為藍本，從符號學的角度對智者大師詮釋《妙法蓮華經》的方法作初步的探索。大師以靈活多樣的手法，不僅通過詮釋符號的方法，對《法華經》作出解釋，而且在解釋的同時，也闡述了自己的理論思想。更確切地說，這一符號詮釋的過程，就是大師自身佛學思想的具體展現。並且，由於大師創造性的才能，而使佛教中國化臻於爐火純青的地步。本文將大師詮釋符號的方法分為八大類，意在從中窺見大師是如何創造性地解釋《法華經》的，又是如何揮灑自如地將其圓融哲學具體地展現在詮釋過程中的。

關鍵字

符號詮釋；《法華經》；玄義；圓融哲學；中道實相

並列摘要

As the founder of the first Buddhist school - T'ien-t'ai Buddhism in China, master Chih-i's indispensable contribution toward the establishment of Chinese Buddhism is reflected mainly in his ingenious interpretation of one of the most important Buddhist scriptures - the Lotus Sutra (Saddharmapundrikasutra). This is because such an interpretation is not simply the interpretation of the scripture, but more significantly, through his systematic exposition of the Lotus Sutra, Chih-i expresses his own philosophical thought. Precisely speaking, the interpretation itself is a concrete demonstration of Chih-i's own philosophical system of understanding Buddhism. In this paper, I will deal with Chih-i's system of sign interpretation, which is discussed under eight categories. The source work of this study is based on Chih-i's gigantic work The Abstruse Meaning of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Fine Dharma (Taisho vol. 33, no. 1716). This study reveals how Chih-i creatively interprets the Lotus Sutra, and how his perfect harmonization philosophy is at work through his system of sign interpretation.