2006年12月3日，中國郵政發(fā)行了一套特種郵票：《神駿圖》。

《神駿圖》畫的是東晉高僧支遁愛馬的故事。圖中支遁袈裟零落，他與對坐的高冠士人視線集中于水面馳騁而來的童子和駿馬上，遠處那童子和駿馬仿佛也歸心似箭，踏著淺水而來。整幅作品用筆極為精練，施重彩卻不濃艷，人馬形神統(tǒng)一，樹石鉤而不皴，水紋浪花尤見精當。

該圖只因前隔水上有金書“韓干神駿圖”五字題簽，因此被定為唐代的《韓干神駿圖》，但行家認為，從主題、構(gòu)圖、技法諸方面考察、比較，此圖雖是唐人格局，唯技法精巧有余，樸實敦厚處略有異趣，因此又認為它是五代畫師摹唐人之作。不論此畫系唐代或是五代時作品已經(jīng)不太重要，關(guān)鍵是這套《神駿圖》郵票發(fā)行后，高僧支遁愛馬的故事已經(jīng)作為經(jīng)典文化留傳下來。

《滸墅關(guān)志》有關(guān)支遁的記載是這樣的：“支遁，字道林，本姓關(guān)，陳留人。或曰林慮人。年二十五釋形入道，居于余杭山，后住支硎山?！北彼斡反蠓蝈X儼曾在《碑銘》中寫道：“天下之名郡言姑蘇，古來之名僧言支遁?！备呱Ф菔俏覈鸾探缫晃怀鲱惏屋偷娜宋?，他的藝術(shù)造詣在佛教界居有很高的位置，他的佛學和莊學，一直為佛學人士津津樂道，加之《韓干神駿圖》又是我國不可多得的一幅名畫，故將此搬上郵票，這對集郵界、收藏界和佛學界，無疑是一件大事。

支遁自幼聰明，稟性穎悟。晉時從浙江越州初到京都建業(yè)，受到了諸多名士的賞識，唐代《高僧傳》載：“支遁幼有神理，聰明透徹。晉時初至京師，太原王濛甚重之，曰：造微之功不減輔嗣，陳郡殷融嘗與衛(wèi)玠交，謂其神情雋徹，后進莫有繼之者。及見遁嘆息，以為重見若人?！笨梢娭Ф蒿L度確實超凡出眾。

支遁的家庭世代奉佛，他25歲出家。他說佛講經(jīng)善于闡明和標舉內(nèi)在精神，而從不拘泥于個別旁句，他因此常常被據(jù)守文句的人所非議。謝安聽說之后倒非常喜歡他這種講法，他說：“乃比古人之相馬也，略其玄黃而取其駿也?！碑敃r謝安、殷浩等人都是一代名流，是遠離塵俗的名士，他們說這樣的話絕非功利所趨。

中年時支遁選擇蘇州楓橋支硎山作為自己的棲身地?！妒勒f新語》里記載著這么一個故事：有人曾贈給支遁一匹好馬，是白馬，支遁接納并飼養(yǎng)了起來。當時有人譏笑他：“或言道人畜馬不韻”，說是出家人養(yǎng)馬有失風雅。但支遁不加理會，他坦率承認：“貧道重其神駿耳！”因愛其神駿，故就養(yǎng)了起來。這正是支遁的超脫處，也只有對禪的理解到達了高境界，才會真正做到“免俗”，不在乎外在，不在乎世俗的眼光。

在支硎山，支遁整日靜坐山門游心于禪學。他以草木為食，寒泉為飲，放懷于塵寰之外。他以天然的巨石為桌子，研讀思考玄理，過著既閑散又深沉的生活。附近的花山蓮花峰下，亦有他的棲隱之所，支遁曾面壁3年，參悟禪機，他提出了“頓悟”的主張，發(fā)揚般學的“性空”思想，從而成為般學六大家之一。南齊劉虬在《無量義經(jīng)序》中論頓悟時說：“尋得旨之匠，起自支安。”

對于《般若經(jīng)》，支遁下功夫最深。他對這部典籍非常鐘愛，常常拿來辯論、講誦，并且還專門寫了論文《即色游玄論》《釋色本無義》《道行指歸集》等?！凹瓷摗笔侵Ф輰Π闳艨沼^的一種理解，是他佛教哲學思想的基礎(chǔ)。他認為，一切物質(zhì)想象都是依靠其他條件而存在的，沒有自性，沒有實體，所以是空的，這就是“色即是空”。

魏晉時代正是老莊玄學盛行的時代，許多佛教僧侶加入了清談行列。支遁性善交往，又好研究，成了這種風氣的代表人物。王贊美他的玄學思辨所達到的精微程度，不減于王弼；孫綽的《道玄論》將他比為玄學家向秀；謝安、王羲之也非常推崇他的佛學、莊學的造詣。在以記載清談家言行為主的《世說新語》里，關(guān)于支遁的記載就有40多條。

支遁的才學足可輔佐朝廷，故晉哀帝接位(36年)因仰慕支遁的道行，曾數(shù)次派人來吳地請賢，盛情難卻下，支遁終于又一次到建康，在京城停留了將近3年，可是他無法排遣對支硎山的眷念，總是上書請求回山，終于得到了哀帝的特許。哀帝因他回山，給了他優(yōu)厚的饋贈和照顧，當時的許多名流也都到征虜亭為他餞行。

晚年，支遁去剡地。支遁既“收跡于剡山”，便將“畢其命于林澤”。有人很不理解：出家人四海為家，何求葉落歸根、堅持回去？支遁說：從前幾次與謝安在吳地相見，謝安在吳地一住就是10多天，如今見物生情，能不勾起往事的懷念。下面的話支遁沒有說，但意思是很明白了：相見幾次也便如此眷戀，何況家鄉(xiāng)之于一個游子呢？一個出家人如此重感情，這就是支遁的境界了。

而彼時，另一位名士王羲之也在會稽。王羲之素聞支遁之名，但不相信一個僧人真的會有多大才學，他曾對別人說：“一狂僧耳，何足言。”及至支遁到了剡地，并直接去會稽游覽，“王故迓遁，觀其風力?！蓖豸酥畣栔Ф荩骸板羞b篇可聞乎？”支遁毫不世故，當即“作數(shù)千言，揭新理，才藻警絕?！蓖豸酥械秸痼@，“遂披襟解帶，留連不能去。”并且，還請支遁住在靈嘉寺，以此與支遁親近。于是，支遁很快就投跡到剡山，在一片水豐土沃的小山嶺上立寺行道，自此有僧眾一百多人跟他學習佛法，支遁的晚年，似乎依然是“逍遙”的布施。

后來支遁病重，遷回了家鄉(xiāng)余姚塢，并于晉太和元年(366年)4月4日在他的住處去世，享年53歲，他的遺體就埋葬在余姚塢中。

審視這套郵票上，看支遁形體動作與神情，看馬蹄濺起的浪花，但是讓人神往的是讓人看到了人物的內(nèi)心。這幅畫作歷經(jīng)宋、元、明、清各代鑒藏，后來被末代皇帝溥儀帶出宮外流落市井，最終被遼寧省博物館收藏。然而此畫經(jīng)過了1300多年后，又被印制成了郵票，這蘊含其中的追求與審美，何嘗不與千百年前的先人心神共鳴？

Zhidun the Accomplished Monk

By Xu Zhuoren

On December 3rd， 2006， China Post issued a set of stamps entitled “Magic Stallion?in memory of an accomplished monk named Zhidun in the Eastern Jin Dynasty (317-420). The stamps feature an ancient painting presumably created in the Tang Dynasty (618-907)， in which Zhidun and a scholar sat watching a youngster riding a stallion and striding toward them across the shallow water.

The 1，300-year-old painting portrays the famous monk vividly. It was in the royal collection from the Song Dynasty (960-1279) up to the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). It disappeared after the last emperor of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) took it away when he was evicted from the Forbidden City in Beijing. It is now in the collection of the Liaoning Provincial Museum.

Although there has been debate on whether the painting was created in the Tang Dynasty or the Five Dynasties (907-960)， the issuing recognizes the monk Zhidun and his legendary passion for a stallion.

Monk Zhidun counts as an important figure in the history of Buddhism and culture in China. As accounts of his talents abound in history， the issuing of the stamps represents an important event not only for philatelists but also for art collectors and Buddhist scholars across the country.

Even as a child， Zhidun was highly appreciated for his outstanding talents by scholars of his time. Following his family’s tradition， the youngster devoted himself to religion in an early age and became a monk at the age of 25. He first practiced Buddhism in Yuhang before moving north to Suzhou in the neighboring Jiangsu Province. His academic lectures reinterpreted the essences of important Buddhist scriptures， which invited criticism from some sticklers of verbatim interpretations. But some celebrated scholars befriended Zhidun for his inspirational insights into Buddhism and works of Master Zhuangzi. Experts of today explain that the ancient scholars preferred Zhidun’s studies out of academic reasons， not driven selfishly by fame and fortune.

It was in Mount Zhixing in a suburb of Suzhou that the middle-aged Zhidun came into possession of a white stallion， a gift from a friend. Zhidun accepted the gift because the horse displayed a rare pizzazz. However， someone ridiculed the monk for his unusual obsession with a worldly creature. Zhidun defended his keeping of the horse， saying that he loved the stallion for its magnificent appearance and that he did not need any other excuse. The monk’s unconventional way of practicing Buddhism and disregarding some trivial commandments pointed to the fact that he had a profound understanding of Buddhism and that he could avoid befuddling himself with rigid conventions. He could not have cared less for how other people judged him on the basis of religious conventions.

Zhidun once spent three years living in seclusion and contemplating Zen doctrines. Of all the Buddhism classics， “Heart Sutra?was the one he took greatest pains to study and master. The knowledgeable monk focused on the sutra so much that it was a favorite topic for his lectures and debates. He even wrote three lengthy dissertations on its essential concepts and proposed some original philosophical thoughts.

Zhidun was so prominent a scholar that the emperor of the Jin Dynasty invited the monk to help run the government. The monk spent about three years in the capital before he could no longer endure the life away from the mount. He appealed to the emperor and obtained the permission of the emperor to go back to live as a reclusive. The emperor made sure that the monk led a comfortable life.

In his evening years， Zhidun came back to Zhejiang Province， in attempt to tidy up all the loose ends of his life and retire peacefully into nature. Some people questioned his idea of homecoming to Shaoxing in Zhejiang， asking why a monk， who should regard anywhere as his home， was so picky about where to retire. Zhidun replied that Xie An had come all the way from Zhejiang to visit him in Suzhou and stayed with him for more than ten days. Now the monk missed the place where Xie came from.

When Zhidun came to Shaoxing， Wang Xizhi， a famous calligrapher and retired high-ranking official， also lived in Shaoxing. Before they met， Wang Xizhi had never believed that the monk could be that knowledgeable. Then they met and Wang took Zhidun around on a sightseeing tour. It was on this tour that Wang asked Zhidun about a masterpiece essay by Master Zhuangzi over 2，000 years ago. Zhidun addressed the topic in a discussion of several thousand words. Wang was so amazed that he asked Zhidun to stay at the Jialing Temple so as to be close to him. Pretty soon， Zhidun set up a small temple to practice his way of Buddhism and attracted more than 100 disciples.

Sick in his last days， the monk went back to his hometown in Yuyao and passed away at the age of 53 on April 4， 366 AD.

(Translated by David)