“心猿意馬”的語源和流變

心猿意馬源於漢譯佛經。在魏晉南北朝時期以來的漢譯佛經中，"心如猿猴"、"心如馬"、"心如醉象"、"心馬"、"意馬"、"識馬"、"根馬"、"欲馬"、"愛馬"、"心猿"、"心象"、"意象"等詞語，把心、意識比作跳躍不止的猿猴、馬、象等。在梵文佛典中亦有"心如馬"、"心象"的説法。後來,由於"心猿"與"意馬"出現在同一個語言環境之中，成對使用，晚唐五代形成了"心猿意馬"、"意馬心猿"。
XINYUANYIMA(心猿意馬) originated from the Chinese Buddhist Sutra. During the Weijin and Southen-Northen Dynasties, some words, such as XINRUYUANHOU(心如猿猴)、XINRUMA(心如馬)、XINRUZUIXIANG(心如醉象)、XINMA(心馬)、YIMA(意馬)、SHIMA(識馬)、GENMA(根馬)、YUMA(欲馬)、AIMA(愛馬)、XINYUAN(心猿)、XINXIANG(心象)、YIXIANG(意象) etc. appeared in the Chinese Buddhist Sutra. They are figures of speech. The mind or consciousness as jumping ape or galloping horse or elephant. In the Sanskrit Buddhist Sutra,there are some phenomenons, such as XINRUMA(心如馬)、XINXIANG(心象) etc. Then, XINYUAN(心猿) and YIMA(意馬) appeared in the same environment. The idiom, such as XINYUANYIMA(心猿意馬) and YIMAXINYUAN(意馬心猿) appeared in the late Tang and the Five-Dynasties. Copyright © 2013 浙江大學漢語史研究中心.