本文的主題是討論南北朝佛教中所見到的外典與內典等詞語，並通過考察它們在南北朝佛教漢譯經典以及中國撰述中的意義及其歷史變化，來看唐代著名佛教律師道宣為何在《大唐內典錄》一書中使用內典一詞作為佛典總集名稱。本文通過細緻的文獻、人物以及他們之間的相互聯繫和影響的考察，主張外典主要來自北朝的漢譯佛經，特別是入華胡僧鳩摩羅什以及曇無讖的譯作，而內典則來自南朝在俗士人特別是沈約和梁武帝、虞孝敬等人的撰述，進而考察了道宣的南朝家世與學術背景及其對南北朝佛教的不同認識，得出結論是道宣使用內典作為佛教典籍總集名稱可能有其南朝文化背景。

In tracing the history of many terms appearing in early medieval Chinese Buddhist texts, this study attempts to contextualize two of the most important terms in Chinese Buddhist history: Inner Classics and Outer Classics. It examines how Inner Classics became canonized from a term referring to Buddhist texts in general. This paper suggests that Daoxuan道宣 was the first to use this term to refer to the Buddhist canon in the title of his catalogue of the canon in the early Tang dynasty, Da Tang neidian lu大唐內典錄, which was because of his connections with the southern tradition of Chinese Buddhism. By carefully documenting the textual history of many terms in particular Inner Classics, this paper argues that the Buddhist lay followers in the Southern Dynasties invented the term Inner Classics and used it more often than lay followers in the Northern Dynasties. Daoxuan incorporated Inner Classics into the title of his work because his family and cultural background were in South China, and he therefore had awareness of Southern Chinese Buddhism.