| Abstract |
When mordern scholars stated the theory of Buddhism as developed in ancient China, many of them would discuss subjects as “格義” (Ke-Yi) and “六家七宗” (Six Schools and Seven Sects) with regard to the Buddhist thikning from 220 to 580AD. Particularly, there were many statements of “格義”, especially for its interpretation, its original meaning, its created age and and its dispersing area. In this paper, I would clarify those suspicions left by scholars of the past, and examine the usage of “格義”. Further, I will explore the concerns on the related terms as “格義” in modern usage. This paper concludes the following points: ．The term of “格義” was originated from about 220 AD during Three Kingdoms of Wei Dynasty (漢末魏初). Its method was “配說” (Pei-Shuo), which was not created by ancient Indian monk 法雅 (Fa-Ya). ．The original content of “格義” as comparative to “配說” could be slightly different from Fa-Ya’s (法雅) description as " to compare matters in the sutra to other writing as examples for “interpretation” when based on historical development. ．It would be more appropriate to use term of “格義佛學 " (study of Buddhism about “格義”) rather than “格義佛教”(Buddhist school of “格義”) ．“連類” (Lien-Lei) is similar to “格義” while taking examples as comparison. However, the former is not restricted to apply matters in sutra to compare to other writings, of which usage seems to be more flexible than that of “格義”. ．The Six Schools were intentionally to employ the theories of Buddhism as their own doctrines, which seemed to rather create new clans than simply to interpret to theories of Buddhism, and they could not be demmed to “格義”. ．“合本” (Ho-Pen) should be focused on the management of sutra and data, for the convenience of readers’ index, which didn’t involve the thinking of “格義”.
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