Antipathy, Ambivalence, and Acceptance: Chan Attitudes toward Ritual from the Eighth to the Eleventh Century

Abstract

This article, with a focus on early Chan texts that predate received Chan texts, explores how Chan attitudes toward merit-making rituals developed from the eighth to the eleventh century. First, utilizing polemic texts composed by both Chan figures and their critics, this article details the articulation of ritual-related rhetoric in early Chan. Second, by focusing on a specific type of lineage-building ritual, this article examines the ambivalence toward the practice of hosting a memorial feast for a deceased Chan master. Third, this article demonstrates that aversion to ritual is deemphasized after Chan became mainstream in the Song and certain types of ritual are explicitly promoted in Chan materials.