Modern Narratives of Linji and the Linji lu A Methodological Investigation* He Yansheng** Translated by Joseph C. Williams* (original) (raw)
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Studies in Chinese Religions, 2020
Juefan Huihong’s覺範惠洪(1071–1128) Linji zongzhi shows that eminent statesmen and contemporary Chan monastics during the twelfth century in China interpreted the core teaching strategies of several Linji Chan patriarchs – especially Linji Yixuan臨濟義玄(d. 866) and Fenyang Shanzhao汾陽善昭(980–1024) – through the Buddhāvataṃsaka-sūtra (Huayan jing 華嚴經, T nos. 278–279), and with special consideration for Mañjuśrī and ṛs_ i (seera) in the Gaṇḍavyūha (Ru fajie pin 入法界品) chapter, Bhīs_ môttaranirghos _ a 毗目仙人. Huihong was certainly influenced by the writings of the highly admired ‘Two Shuis’ – Changshui Zixuan 長水子璿(964–1038) and Jinshui Jingyuan 晉水淨源(1011– 1088) – and by his close confidant, Zhang Shangying 張商英(1043– 1122), who visited Mount Wutai circa 1088 and recorded his journey in Xu Qingliang zhuan 續清涼傳(Further Record of Mt. ‘Chill Clarity,’ T. 2100). In this article I reconsider the central role the Huayan jing and the cult of Mañjuśrī play in the core teachings of the Linji Chan lineagewith particular attention to how current Song dynasty, rather than late Tang (618–907) era, readings and uses of the Huayan jing underscore the enduring significance of this seminal Mahāyāna Buddhist scripture and Mount Wutai as a sacred space in the history of Chinese Chan Buddhism.
Japanese Journal of Religious Studies, 2016
The narrative set forth in Leaving for the Rising Sun is ambitious and comprehensive with a breadth of methodological analysis and a depth derived from meticulous archival research. It cover events leading up to the arrival of Chinese Chan master Yinyuan Longqi 隠元隆琦 (Jp. Ingen Ryūki, 1592-1673) in Japan in 1645; the establishment of Manpukuji 萬福寺, in Uji, as the head monastery of a new, Japanese Zen tradition, Ōbakushū 黄檗宗, via temples in Nagasaki serving Chinese immigrants, many from Fuqing county 福清縣, in Fujian province 福建省, in 1661; and the influence eleven Chinese abbots exerted in Edo-era (1603-1868) Japan until 1740 or 1768. In several respects, Leaving for the Rising Sun is a follow-up volume to Wu (2008), and the research in both monographs is derived from Jiang Wu's 2002 PhD dissertation. The title, Leaving for the Rising Sun, is somewhat misleading because, strictly speaking, only two chapters out of seven, plus a dynamic introduction and thoughtprovoking conclusion, concern the life, times, and impact of Yinyuan Longqi in China before he left to embark upon a legendary career in Japan. The main goals of this book are: 1. to investigate Yinyuan "and delineate the contour of his Zen mission in the context of early modern Sino-Japanese history"; 2. to place Yinyuan's Zen mission "within multiple religious, political, and cultural contexts as spiritual leader, political representative, and writer of belles lettres" (243); and 3. to demonstrate that "a complete subversion of a China-centered world-view only happened after both countries were challenged by the intrusion of Western powers, " even if "the seed of the changes was already planted in the early modern time" (266-76). What separates Leaving for the Rising Sun from Japanese secondary studies of the history of Zen Buddhism (for example, Ibuki 2001) and Helen Baroni's two excellent books (2000; 2006) on the subject of Ōbaku Zen Buddhism and Tetsugen Dōkō 鉄眼道光 (1630-1682) is expressed in the subtitle: Chinese Zen Master Yinyuan
Linji Lu and Chinese Orthodoxy
2013
Albert Welter’s new monograph, e Linji lu and the Creation of Chan Orthodoxy, is a welcome addition to the growing body of scholarship on Chinese Chan Buddhism during the Song dynasty (960-1279). Continuing along the lines of Welter’s earlier work on the formation of Chan identity through the so-called lamp-record (denglu 燈錄) genealogies (Monks, Rulers and Literati: e Political Ascendancy of Chan Buddhism [2006]), the present book situates Song-era “records of sayings” (yulu 語錄) and other writings pertaining to Linji Yixuan臨濟義玄 (d. 866) within the context of Song religious, cultural, political, and literary movements. Linji was regarded as the preeminent patriarch of the leading branch of Chan Buddhism during the Song, as members of the lineage bearing his name headed influential state-sponsored monasteries and authored works commissioned by imperial edict. From that time, Linji himself became seen as the primary exemplar of the iconoclastic, antinomian spirit for which Chan and Z...
Translating the Ta: Pagoda, Tumulus, and Ritualized Mahāyāna in Seventh-Century China
Tang Studies, 2018
This essay examines the relationship between pagodas and tombs in Medieval China through a close reading of the "Preface to the Sutra on the Merits of Constructing a ta, as Spoken by the Buddha" (Foshuo zaota gongde jingxu 佛說造塔功德經序), written by the Silla monk Woncheuk 圓測 (613-696), and an investigation into the cultural environment of the monk himself. Working in and around the cosmopolitan world of court-sponsored Buddhism in both Chang'an and Luoyang, Woncheuk was strongly influenced by Tathaḡatagarbha thought, and his interpretation of Yogacara Buddhism ultimately became very influential in Tibet and Korea. By placing the pagoda in the context of Woncheuk's thought, as well as recent research on amulets, architecture, and other thaumaturgical devices in the early medieval ritual praxis of South Asia and North China, I argue that Woncheuk's equation of ta to fen suggests the monuments had more than a memorial or symbolic function. Rather his "Preface" reflects a belief that the two types of architecture were operating on the same technological principles-they were both designed as tools to channel natural, even cosmic, energies through "mountains" and into powerful remains in order to aid in personal and societal salvation.