{"title":"Forging sanctity: the way Laiguo became a saint","authors":"Yifeng Liu","doi":"10.1080/23729988.2020.1854593","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/23729988.2020.1854593","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This article uses the analytical framework of hermeneutic hagiography to analyze the autobiography of the eminent Chan monk, Laiguo 來果 (1881–1953), in Modern China, showing how a monk with charismatic characteristics constructed his sacred image step by step from his childhood, to his enlightenment in Chan and his mastery of deacons. Laiguo was a Buddhist leader who could turn the tide in a time of crisis. In him, the typical charismatic personality shows the individual’s rebellion against the legitimacy of the external world. The experiences Laiguo suffered are just as typical an aspect as charisma is in the processes of ‘dilemma’ and ‘passion.’ Those who experience suffering are trying to find a new beginning in the desperate situation of life and determine the fundamental principles of human social relations through their struggles and efforts when facing desperate situations.","PeriodicalId":36684,"journal":{"name":"Studies in Chinese Religions","volume":"6 1","pages":"386 - 406"},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2020-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/23729988.2020.1854593","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44348956","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Diplomatic relations of the Buddhist kingdom Northern Liang北涼: a research on the time of Juqu Mengxun’s 沮渠蒙遜 (368–433, r. 401–433) building stone Buddha for his Mother on Mount Tianti 天梯山","authors":"Ling Tong","doi":"10.1080/23729988.2020.1824401","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/23729988.2020.1824401","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Northern Liang (397–439), known for its patronage of Buddhist translation and statuary, is undoubtedly an exceptional ‘Buddhist kingdom’ in the medieval history. On 9 October 2018, Guangming Ribao 光明日報 (Guangming Daily) published an article claiming that a Buddhist statue recently discovered on Mount Tianti in Wuwei by the founder of Northern Liang (i.e., Juqu Mengxun 沮渠蒙遜 [r. 401–433]). Juqu’s mother Lady Che 車氏 was perhaps from the Western Regions; and his wife Lady Peng 彭氏 was perhaps a Qiang descendant – both were from ethnicities that, during the medieval time, were predominantly Buddhists. Mount Tianti Grotto 天梯山石窟, also known as the ‘stone grotto of Northern Liang,’ is referred to by the modern archaeologist Su Bai 宿白 (1922–2018) as the epitome of the stone grotto of the ‘Northern Liang Model.’ Is it certain that the female Buddhist statue in question is the Queen Dowager? In this author’s opinion, this attribution is an overinterpretation and is also the result of misunderstanding of a set phrase used in the inscriptions of the statues of the Northern Dynasties (386–577).","PeriodicalId":36684,"journal":{"name":"Studies in Chinese Religions","volume":"6 1","pages":"281 - 306"},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2020-07-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/23729988.2020.1824401","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42775657","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Biography and its social world: the ‘Stele of Lord Lu’","authors":"T. Swanger","doi":"10.1080/23729988.2020.1824399","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/23729988.2020.1824399","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Sinologists have traditionally read Chinese biographies as repositories of facts about their subjects, but their pedagogical function means biographies can tell us not just about their subjects, but also their intended audience(s) and the author’s ideological program. This article takes as its starting point a biography of the famous Daoist master Lu Xiujing 陸修靜 (406–77) written by the Tang poet Wu Yun 吳筠 (d. 778) and engraved on a stele that was erected in Lu’s honor in 761. Building on the work of Jan M. De Meyer, I show what Wu’s biography can tell us about its author and audience. Wu crafted a vitae-cum-morality tale with a twofold audience: Daoist priests and imperial officials. For the priests, he fashioned a model life that offered a superior alternative to the conventional literati career. Imperial officials learned that Daoist priests possessed the keys to imperial longevity and good governance.","PeriodicalId":36684,"journal":{"name":"Studies in Chinese Religions","volume":"6 1","pages":"259 - 280"},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2020-07-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/23729988.2020.1824399","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43135074","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The spread of foreign toxicology along the Silk Road during Medieval China","authors":"Ming Chen","doi":"10.1080/23729988.2020.1824389","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/23729988.2020.1824389","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Throughout the Middle Ages, antidotes and toxicological learning originating from foreign territories were conveyed along the Silk Road (via both land and maritime routes) – propelled by diplomacy, religious expansion, and trade – eventually into China. In this article, such threads of remnant text that have been discovered along the Silk Road are pieced together to reveal the story of foreign toxicology’s spread and use in China. Accounts aplenty of this trajectory fill the Dunhuang manuscripts and Traditional Chinese Medicine records handed down to posterity. These documents perhaps evince the willingness of Chinese physicians to accept foreign toxicological direction even while engaged upon their own course of development in the field and may even indicate their endorsement of certain imported concepts. What resulted was a broader, multifaceted approach to toxicology by practitioners of Traditional Chinese Medicine. The hope is to better understand Chinese medicine culture’s richness and diversity.","PeriodicalId":36684,"journal":{"name":"Studies in Chinese Religions","volume":"6 1","pages":"221 - 258"},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2020-07-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/23729988.2020.1824389","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47839460","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Renewal revisited: a new study of the late-Ming Buddhism","authors":"Rostislav Berezkin","doi":"10.1080/23729988.2020.1854594","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/23729988.2020.1854594","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This piece discusses the new study of the renewal of Buddhism in China in the late-sixteenth and early-seventeenth centuries: Thriving in Crisis: Buddhism and Political Disruption in China, 1522–1620 by Dewei Zhang. The book under review approaches this historical phenomenon from the religio-political perspective with the use of modern Western methodology and revises some conclusions of previous studies on this topic. The book represents the most detailed and in-depth research on the late-Ming revival of Buddhism in Western languages. This review underlines major contributions of this study in the fields of Chinese history, religion, and cultural studies, and demonstrates its special features in comparison with the preceding research works (both in English and Chinese). Zhang’s book uncovers complex relations between state authorities, different social groups, and Buddhist institutions in China in the late-Ming period.","PeriodicalId":36684,"journal":{"name":"Studies in Chinese Religions","volume":"6 1","pages":"320 - 326"},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2020-07-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/23729988.2020.1854594","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49452229","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"From Western Lands: Dharma lineages of Ximing 西明 Monastery and Jingshan 徑山 Monastery","authors":"Ru Zhan","doi":"10.1080/23729988.2020.1824402","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/23729988.2020.1824402","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Ximing 西明 Monastery was a famous imperial monastery during the Tang Dynasty. Its abundant collection of books and rich inheritance of Vajra Studies attracted many monks who went there to study. During the mid to late period of the Tang Dynasty, Chan Buddhism was extremely popular, and numerous interactions between Ximing Monastery and Chan monks also occurred. This article investigates that period of the Tang Dynasty; specifically, it discusses figures with a Chan Buddhism inheritance who stayed at Ximing Monastery, such as Ruhai 如海 and Dabei 大悲, as well as the monks who lived at Ximing Monastery, such as Gaoxian and Niaoke 鳥窠. A concise examination of the lives of these figures is provided, and the origins of their relationship with Dharma – along with those of their disciples – are neatly arranged. The study revealed that some monks spread Dharma far and wide after leaving Chang’an. Among them, several were related to the two generations of Jingshan 徑山 Monastery founders, and these figures were important witnesses to the course of monastic cultural propagation at Ximing Monastery and Jingshan Monastery.","PeriodicalId":36684,"journal":{"name":"Studies in Chinese Religions","volume":"6 1","pages":"307 - 319"},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2020-07-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/23729988.2020.1824402","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47047699","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Narratives on a portrait of Japanese Prince Shōtoku (c.573–622): East Asian Buddhist networks in the royal painting","authors":"Pei-Ying Lin","doi":"10.1080/23729988.2020.1763681","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/23729988.2020.1763681","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT The painting Tōhon miei 唐本御影 is allegedly the earliest portrait of Japanese Prince Shōtoku (c.573–622), traditionally regarded as the first royal patron of Buddhism. This article will discuss this particular portrait from three viewpoints: questions concerning the identity of its artist, the painting style, and its socio-historical background. Each of these three facets demonstrates cultural interaction between ancient Korea and Japan. In this light, this article begins from an examination of whose brush actually painted it, followed by an analysis of its style and the Buddhist elements of this painting. These then lead to the third part of the research, which discusses its historical context in ancient East Asia. The conclusion sheds light on the complexity of cultural interactions in East Asian art through this case of the symbolic figure of Prince Shōtoku. The processes of conception, mutual learning, and reinterpretation between the two cultures are crystallised in this artistic product of royal portraiture.","PeriodicalId":36684,"journal":{"name":"Studies in Chinese Religions","volume":"6 1","pages":"141 - 161"},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2020-04-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/23729988.2020.1763681","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47489702","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Ritual refashioned: Buddhism, Lingbao and the adaptation of vows (yuan 願)","authors":"Lucas A. Wolf","doi":"10.1080/23729988.2020.1763683","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/23729988.2020.1763683","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This article examines the influence of the early third century ce Foshuo pusa benye jing 佛說菩薩本業經 (T no. 281), translated by Zhi Qian 支謙 (fl. 222–252), on a formative scripture in the Daoist Lingbao 靈寶 (Numinous Treasure) tradition in the early fifth century ce, Taishang dongxuan xiaomo zhihui benyuan dajie shangpin jing 太上洞玄消魔智慧本願大戒上品經 (DZ no. 343). It does so by exploring the adaptation of a series of ‘vows’ (Ch. 願 yuan, Sk. praṇidhāna) from this Buddhist text and their reformulation to meet the needs of a growing Daoist community. The Daoist adaptation of these praṇidhāna demonstrates a deliberate refashioning of Buddhist practice to meet communal Daoist concerns, including conceptions of family; social and ritual praxis; the expansion of the Lingbao movement, as well as relations between Lingbao practitioners and contemporary secular authorities. Rather than a clumsy corruption of a Buddhist text, this article argues that this Lingbao scripture adeptly inserts Daoist concepts into a competing religious framework, and cleverly utilizes them to provide guidance to a growing community network of practitioners.","PeriodicalId":36684,"journal":{"name":"Studies in Chinese Religions","volume":"6 1","pages":"182 - 200"},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2020-04-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/23729988.2020.1763683","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45104995","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Rethinking Yang Wenhui’s identity as a ‘Chinese’ Pure Land Buddhist in his polemics against Jōdo-Shinshū","authors":"Jakub Zamorski","doi":"10.1080/23729988.2020.1763684","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/23729988.2020.1763684","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT In this article I would like to re-examine the doctrinal debate that ensued between the Chinese Buddhist layman and scholar Yang Wenhui (1837–1911) and Japanese priests of the Jōdo-Shinshū 淨土真宗 school – notably Ogurusu Kōchō (1831–1905) and Naiki Ryūsen (1861–1922) – between 1899 and 1901. The debate in question has been most often portrayed as a clash between two divergent understandings of Pure Land Buddhism that developed independently of each other in China and Japan. Yang’s arguments have been taken to illustrate larger exegetical and doctrinal tendencies characteristic of the ‘Chinese’ approach to the Pure Land, regarded as quite foreign to Japanese readers. However, as will be argued below, Yang did not participate in this debate merely as a spokesman for a putative generalized ‘Chinese’ Pure Land Buddhism; he was also an apologist who weighed in the ongoing domestic Chinese debates on the Pure Land, and a reformist who played a pivotal role in the process of negotiating a modern orthodoxy for the so-called ‘Pure Land tradition’ of China.","PeriodicalId":36684,"journal":{"name":"Studies in Chinese Religions","volume":"6 1","pages":"201 - 219"},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2020-04-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/23729988.2020.1763684","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44609701","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The portrayal of women in the poetry of Jing’an Eight-Fingers","authors":"M. Bingenheimer, T. Shen","doi":"10.1080/23729988.2020.1763680","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/23729988.2020.1763680","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT The last three decades have seen the emergence of a rich literature on the role of gender and sexuality in Buddhism. Compared to the lively debates surrounding the ordination of nuns, and the role of lay women in different Buddhist traditions, the attitudes of male monastics toward their female devotees have attracted little attention. In late imperial China, the discourse on monks and their women lay-supporters emphasized transgression. It was often dominated by the anti-clerical polemics of concerned Confucians, who worried that deviant monks might compromise the chastity of their wives and daughters. Very little attention has been paid to the actual exchanges and the modes of communication between monks and their female supporters. In this article, we discuss how the renowned Qing dynasty poet monk Jing’an Eight-Fingers (1851–1912) communicated with and about women. Jing’an’s poems show him as an intellectually astute monastic, who cared deeply about his supporters and their relatives. Although he was not involved in what today would be considered social activism, his views on gender (in)equality were moderately progressive. How are the roles of women in late imperial China reflected in the writings of this elite monk, poet, and administrator?","PeriodicalId":36684,"journal":{"name":"Studies in Chinese Religions","volume":"6 1","pages":"119 - 140"},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2020-04-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/23729988.2020.1763680","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48485693","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}