敦煌文獻的發現震鑠古今，變文公諸於世，立即引起中外學者的矚目，近百年來，變文研究更成為中國文學研究的重要課題。變文的名義、起源、體制及其與佛教關係等議題的探究，成果可說最為豐碩，根據拙《1909-2010 敦煌學論著目錄》（初稿）統計，有關研究論著，總計已逾有1500 篇。其中除了敘錄、校錄等文獻整理與研究，或利用變文作為語料進行語詞考釋、語法研究等語言學研究之篇章外，主要是針對變文名義、起源、體制及其與佛教關係等探究。這些都是中國文學史上的重要課題，尤其關涉中國俗文學中講唱文學之源流與發展，因此，自鄭振鐸以來，各種新編的《中國文學史》大都於唐代文學中立有篇章來討論敦煌變文，唯對變文的認知分歧，故提法不同。因此，儘管變文研究迅速，然發展歷程爭議論辯不斷，舉凡名義、範疇、源流、分類…爭論熱烈，其程度可說是敦煌學中之最。本計畫，有鑑於「敦煌學」此一新興學科之發展已逾百年，從「學術史」的立場而論，實有必要將歷來變文研究之論爭進行全面梳理，總結出主要的論辯議題及其代表主張，進而從「問題史」的視角逐一解析，歸納其論辯之焦點、檢視所據之理論與觀點，評估採用之證據，展開客觀之述評與客觀之平議，藉以釐清敦煌變文研究既有的已解決、未解決、及待解決等問題，希冀提供未來變文研究發展之參考。
In more than one century, Dunhuang manuscripts have shaped the development of many fields. One of the most significant groups of manuscripts is the collection of transformation texts. The meaning, origin, format, and its religious implication of the transformation texts have been studied since the discovery of these manuscripts. As far as I know, there are more than 1500 articles published in the field. Scholars have focused on the linguistic features of these transformation texts, besides the subjects as I just listed above. Many subjects have to a large extent advanced our understanding the history of Chinese literature, especially the development of the vernacular literature. Numerous textbooks on the history of Chinese literature such as Zheng Zhenduo’s textbook as well as others remained a chapter for the transformation texts especially when they discussed literature in the Tang dynasty. Nevertheless, scholars could not reach agreement about the nature of these texts.
My project will attempt to offer a comprehensive investigation on the transformation texts by focusing on some controversial issues. This project will lay out the main arguments by scholars in the field, analyze their strengths and weaknesses, evaluate the sources these studies used, and eventually present some findings to set a foundation for future research.
