臺灣東亞文明研究學刊 - 東亞經典與文化研究計畫 - 國立臺灣大學

蔡 源 林 劉邟 智醳 《 天 方尣 性 理 》 對 宗 教 「 他 者 」 的 建匔 構庂 57
Abstract
The main theme of this article arises from a critical reflection on Rudolf
Otto's discourse of God as the "wholly Other." Otto's idea, instead of
developing a theoretical framework of bridging the gap between the Western
and Eastern religions, illuminates the uniqueness of the Abrahamic
monotheism. It requires a more dialectical way of thinking to develop such a
comparative framework. This reflection leads the author to investigate the
Chinese Muslim tradition in order to open another possibility to compare
between the Western and Eastern ideas of divinity. Liu Zhi (1660?-1730?),
the most prolific Chinese Muslim scholar in the Ming-Qing era, is an
unprecedented cross-traditional thinker. His works provide the rich sources
to search for the new ground of both the study of comparative religion and
inter-faith dialogue.
The first section quotes from the Qur‘ān to illustrate Otto's "wholly
Other" and to base Liu Zhi's philosophy upon the Islamic tradition; the
second describes Liu's life and intellectual background, in which the
Jingtang education and Sufism are emphasized; the third elaborates the
"True One" in Liu's Tianfang Xingli (The Islamic Philosophy of Nature and
Principle) and traces the two views of divinity in Liu's work, dualism and
holism, toward the two intellectual traditions of Islam, Sunni theology and
Sufi mysticism; the latter plays a significant role for Liu to develop a
theoretical framework of comparing Islam and the three Chinese teachings;
the last discusses the metaphysical implication of prophethood in Tianfang
Xingli and how the Prophet Muhammad owns the "Ultimate Sainthood"
which stands at the intermediate position between the sacred and the secular,
the Creator and the created world, and would be the perfect model for
humankind to achieve redemption.
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