Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang Province, and the surrounding environs have one of the richest Buddhist cultures in Ch
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A Tale of Two Stūpas: Diverging Paths in the Revival of Buddhism in China Albert Welter https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780197606636.001.0001 Published: 2022
Online ISBN: 9780197606667
Print ISBN: 9780197606636
FRONT MATTER
Copyright Page Page iv
Subject: Buddhism
Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide. Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and certain other countries. Published in the United States of America by Oxford University Press 198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016, United States of America. © Oxford University Press 2022 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, by license, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reproduction rights organization. Inquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above. You must not circulate this work in any other form and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer. Library of Congress Control Number: 2022912824 ISBN 978–0–19–760663–6 DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780197606636.001.0001 135798642 Printed by Integrated Books International, United States of America
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https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780197606636.002.0003 Published: October 2022
My association with Hangzhou began as a graduate student, doing research for a dissertation on Yongming Yanshou 永明延壽 (904–975). Trained as a textual scholar with an eye toward the intricacies of doctrinal debates and scriptural subtleties, I paid less attention to the physical settings that Yanshou’s life and work were situated in, even as I was fascinated with the context that nurtured him. Besides, there was not much to see in the decade following the Cultural Revolution, a punctuation mark to the long decades of devastation and neglect that saddened the heart of anyone with a keen interest in the past. Like the proverbial phoenix, the presumably dead embers reignited from the ashes and Chinese Buddhism, however circumscribed by government directives, Hangzhou Buddhism represents one of the most vibrant Buddhist traditions in the world today. During my increasingly frequent trips to China, and especially to Hangzhou, in recent years, it occurred to me that the regional dimensions of Hangzhou Buddhism were worth exploring in their own right, not simply as episodes in a larger narrative of Chinese Buddhism. A Tale of Two Stūpas represents the fruition of my efforts to come to terms with Hangzhou Buddhism, the importance of its past and the vitality of its resurgence. The current work may be viewed as initial results of the Hangzhou Region and the Chinese Creation of an East Asian Buddhism, or more simply, the Hangzhou Buddhist Culture Project. My debts to this project are broad and wide-ranging. First and foremost, I would like to thank the Khyentse Foundation, which provided (and continues to provide) substantial support for the Hangzhou Buddhist Culture Project. In particular, I am grateful to Cangioli Che, executive director, who early on expressed keen interest in the project. Sydney Jay, research director, has also continued to enthusiastically support the project. The project originated in a seed grant sponsored by an International Research and Program Development grant from the Office of Research, Discovery & Innovation at the University of Arizona. The success of the project has also been incumbent upon the participation of our Chinese partners, Zhejiang University, particularly Feng Guodeng, and Zhongguo Jiliang University, particularly Qiu Gaoxing. In addition, we have been
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Preface
viii Preface
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exceptionally fortunate to receive the support and hospitality of Lingyin Monastery, whose abbot, Venerable Guangquan, also head of the Hangzhou Buddhist Association, has taken a keen interest in the project. Guangquan’s assistant, Venerable Hui Yang, has played an instrumental role in fostering the smooth execution of project activities. The research undertaken for this book, and for the Hangzhou Buddhist Culture Project more generally, would scarcely be possible without all their support, for which I am truly grateful. Closer to home, I am grateful to my colleague Jiang Wu, director of the Center for Buddhist Studies at the University of Arizona, for his enthusiastic support for the Hangzhou Buddhist Culture Project. Without his vision for and embrace of its aims and aspirations, the contours of the project would be far less ambitious. I am also grateful for the positive feedback from colleagues when learning of the project. In particular, I thank Steven Heine, Jin Y. Park, Daniel Stevenson, Daniel Getz, and Morten Schlütter. The list could be expanded, and I apologize to anyone I have inadvertently neglected to mention here. Many colleagues in China in addition to those already mentioned have expressed support along the way, as have Mitsuya Dake at Ryūkoku University in Kyoto and Thomas Kim at Dongguk University in Seoul. I look forward to future collaborations. The current manuscript benefited from the comments of outside reviewers who made suggestions for improvement. I have tried to incorporate most of these suggestions, and the finished product has been improved as a result. In addition, three graduate students in my seminar on Hangzhou Buddhism, Kai Sum Wong, Yi Liu, and Xinrui Zeng, read through an earlier draft of the manuscript and made useful suggestions for amending it. I am grateful for the close reading they gave it, which helped catch some infelicitous errors. Needless to say, any errors that remain are mine alone. Finally, I would like to thank the editorial staff at Oxford University Press. Executive Editor Cynthia Read and her staff are consummate professionals and always a pleasure to work with.
1 Buddhist Sites and Translocations, and the Transformation of the Hangzhou/ Jiangnan Region into an Indian Buddhist Homeland When the World- Honored One proceeded toward the stūpa, the top of the decaying stūpa radiated great beams of light in an awe-inspiring flourish. 爾時世尊徑往塔所。時朽塔上放大光明赫然熾盛。 —The Precious Chest Seal Dhārani Sūtra
A Tale of Two Stūpas: Diverging Paths in the Revival of Buddhism in Hangzhou China, as its title suggests, tells the story of Hangzhou Buddhism through the conceptions, erections, and resurrections of Yongming Stūpa, dedicated to the memory of one of Hangzhou’s leading Buddhist figures, and Leifeng Pagoda, built to house stūpas of the historical Buddha’s remains. While delving into the intricacies of these two sites, I have been particularly interested in their origins and their resurrections. What we find in both cases is a history marked by grandeur and tragedy, of expected and unexpected turns. Reconstructed, reactivated, and reasserted Yongming Stūpa and Leifeng Pagoda have resumed meaningful places in the contemporary Hangzhou landscape. Their contemporary resurgences are by no means the first. Both had suffered devastation before and endured long periods of neglect. Yet both were resurrected (and re-resurrected) during the course of their histories, a mark of the power of their endurance. How does A Tale of Two Stu¯pas. Albert Welter, Oxford University Press. © Oxford University Press 2022. DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780197606636.003.0001
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Introduction: Buddhist Relic Veneration,
2 A Tale of Two Stūpas
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this dynamic work, and what does it tell us about the nature of Hangzhou Buddhism, if not Chinese Buddhism more generally? One aspect of the current study that distinguishes it is its “vertical” analysis. By this I mean an examination of my subjects by way of something akin to geological core sampling. Normally, scholars of Buddhism, and religion more generally, tend to focus on particular figures and texts, and thus the frame of reference is circumscribed by the era that the figure and text operated in, to unravel the associated meanings and significance. Sometimes we also entertain the reception of the figure, text, or ideas in later periods to emphasize their enduring significance, but usually the main focus remains the provenance the subjects emanated from, a horizontal analysis that looks outward (and perhaps inward) to fix the meaning of the subject in a particular time and place. Even as we shift our attention beyond the “great man” and “great book” model and entertain a wider spectrum of phenomena, we rarely enlarge our scope beyond a particular temporal frame. And for good reason! Temporal frames provide the most meaningful analysis of how particular phenomena operated in specific contexts. As our attentions expand outward, we run the risk of losing the thread and getting lost in a mass of detail, trying, often futilely, to recover a meaningful theme. Already in the Chinese Buddhist context we have until recent decades struggled to get beyond grand national narratives that privilege capital elites. How can we capture the dynamics of Chinese Buddhist phenomena that avoid the stigma of elitism and still give us a comprehensiveness that goes beyond highly circumscribed periodization? I am not suggesting that the “core sampling” approach is the sole answer to questions far too complex to remedy with a single method. I am suggesting, however, that core sampling may be a useful tool in our box of methods to enhance our understanding of aspects of Chinese Buddhist dynamism, to taste the richness of a tradition through specific analysis of different eras of the extracted “core.” When we do a historically circumscribed investigation around a specific core site, we acquire data regarding when the site was active and the kind of activities that the site attracted. Limited as we are by what information our sources yield, the stories we tell are structured around this available data. Vertical investigation allows for exploration of different dynamics than horizontal ones. Vertical examinations invite discussions about resiliency and about periods of dynamism interspersed with repression and stagnancy. These discussions bring us closer to understanding the dynamics of Buddhism in China––perpetuated through cycles of stagnancy, repression, and resurgence.
Introduction 3
Buddhist Relic Veneration The endurance of Yongming Stūpa and Leifeng Pagoda is a testimony to a strong tradition of relic worship in Buddhism.2 The worship of relics is a well- established practice in the history of religions, documented across many traditions. Medieval Christianity, for example, shared many of the features of the polytheistic religions that prevailed for many centuries before Christ, including the creation of an altar or shrine over the body of a hero.3 Even though Muslims regard human bodies as impure, requiring cleansing rituals for those coming in contact with them, the bodies of the “special dead,” such as the Prophet Muhammad, martyrs, and righteous individuals, are deemed incorruptible and are worshiped in shrines, a practice that became normative throughout the Islamic world.4 Although relatively uncommon in the Hindu tradition, relics of deceased saints are viewed as truly living entities.5 The veneration of the Buddha’s physical remains is a common feature throughout the Buddhist world, even though it was long regarded as an aberration from a doctrinal perspective based on the Buddha’s teachings of “no-self ” and “nonattachment.” In spite of this, the Buddha’s relics (śarīra)
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Sites currently active and relevant tend to draw our attention, as is the case here. But it is possible to choose sites that are no longer functioning. This would have been the case with Leifeng Pagoda had this study been attempted in the previous century, when it lay in rubble beneath the overgrowth along West Lake, or in the case of the Zhaoqing Monastery 昭慶寺, historically one of the four prominent monasteries of Hangzhou (along with Lingyin 靈 隱, Jingci 淨慈, and Haichao 海潮 monasteries) and now subsumed within the Hangzhou Children’s Palace park along the shores of West Lake, its traces virtually undetectable but for historical sources. Because core sampling is restricted to a specific place, it is by definition regional. In fact, it is arguably even more specific as it pertains to a very spatially restricted geographical area within a region. The region that sites operate in, however, remains the meaningful context for analysis.1 In this volume, I look to apply this “core sampling” approach by looking at two specific sites in the Hangzhou region: the Yongming Stūpa and Leifeng Pagoda. In carrying out my analysis, I use three further methods of approach: Buddhist relic veneration, Buddhist sites and institutions, and regional approaches to Buddhism.
4 A Tale of Two Stūpas
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were gathered after his cremation and distributed among several kings, who built stūpa mounds to house them in. So valuable were these that a “war of the relics,” a competition for the most valuable portions of the cremated remains––typically teeth and intact bone fragments––was narrowly avoided at their dispersion.6 These stūpa mounds became important pilgrimage destinations for believers and a focus for lay and monastic piety, especially since physical replications of the Buddha’s body (i.e., statues or paintings) were not made in the early tradition. As Sem Vermeersch has noted, although relic cults in Buddhism have traditionally been interpreted as a concession to the needs of lay practitioners, an increasing number of studies reveal that relics have played an important role in the Buddhist religion and that practices regarding relics demonstrate great diversity, necessitating complex doctrinal explanations to serve as strategies for incorporating the relic cult into mainstream Buddhist practice.7 As the dispersion of the Buddha’s relics among eight kings following his cremation indicates, the possession of relics became especially important in establishing and maintaining political legitimacy. This association between “managing” the Buddha’s remains and political legitimacy gained further momentum when the Indian king of the Maurya dynasty, Aśoka, collected the dispersed relics and allegedly enshrined them in eighty-four thousand reliquaries and magically dispersed them throughout the world, including China, and established his claim as a cakravartin 轉輪聖王, literally a wheel-turning sage king, an ideal, universal, enlightened ruler, who ushers in a reign of justice and peace in the world.8 In the Indian tradition prior to Buddhism, the concept referred to a sage, benevolent, and just ruler, a mythical vision of the perfect king, who is able to rule by righteousness rather than by force. In Buddhism, not only is the ruler’s sagely acumen and magnanimity rooted in Buddhist teaching; it is also possessed of a Buddhaʼs wisdom and compassion. While the evidence for Aśoka’s dispersion of stūpas to China was allegedly destroyed in Qin Emperor Shihuangdi’s campaign to rid his empire of rival teachings,9 Daoxuan 道宣 (596–667) listed over twenty of King Aśoka stūpas in China in his Collection of Inspired Responses of the Three Treasures in Shenzhou (i.e., China) (Ji Shenzhou Sanbao gantong lu 集神州三寶感通 錄), or simply Record of Inspired Responses (Gantong lu 感通錄).10 One of the characteristics of stūpa relics is an ability to emit light, a symbolic affirmation of the enlightened nature of the Buddha that still resides in his remains. Through such emission, the stūpas are able to be rediscovered, even after
Introduction 5
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becoming buried and obscured over a long period of time. The first stūpa on Daoxuan’s list, the Kuaiji Mao County Stūpa 會稽鄮縣塔, a reference to the Precious Stūpa of (the Buddha’s) Remains at the King Aśoka Monastery on Mount Mao 鄮山阿育王寺舍利寶塔 (in Mingzhou, contemporary Ningbo), was rediscovered in this way. Daoxuan recounts the tale of a man named Liu Sahe 劉薩訶, active during the reign of Emperor Wu (r. 265–290) of the Jin dynasty.11 When instructed to repent his past misdeeds in front of Aśokan stūpas to avoid rebirth in hell, he eventually arrived at Kuaiji, where he heard the sound of a bell beneath the ground that made a deep impression on him. On the third day, the Precious Stūpa burst forth, radiating dazzling rays of light.12 The Mount Mao Aśoka Stūpa became an important Buddhist monument in the region, one that the Wuyue ruler Qian Chu 錢俶 (King Zhongyi 忠懿 王; r. 947–978), a main protagonist in our Tale of Two Stūpas, readily engaged with. In emulation of Aśoka, Qian Chu set out to frame his own territory as a Buddha-land (foguo 佛國) by creating and dispersing eighty-four thousand miniature stūpas throughout the realm. The Leifeng Pagoda was erected to house stūpas created by Qian Chu, to help realize this quest. Through the custom of manufacturing the Buddha’s śarīra as beads, crystals, precious stones, or other items, there was no danger posed by the otherwise finite nature of his material remains.13 In cases where the physicality of alleged bodily remains proved restrictive, Mahayana Buddhist tradition determined that Buddha’s relics could be constituted in ways other than rūpa-kāya (seshen 色身) physical remains to include dharma-kāya (fashen 法身) doctrinal remains, as captured in his recorded teachings. Dharma- kāya remains are even more infinite, limited only by the capacity to make copies of the Buddha’s teachings, and were greatly enhanced by advances in printing technology which allowed for quick and massive reproductions of manuscripts. In this context Qian Chu printed an alleged eighty-four thousand copies of an esoteric text, the Precious Chest Seal Dhāraṇī Sūtra, containing a formula for recitation, to be deposited in stūpas and pagodas throughout his realm. (A discussion of the Precious Chest Seal Dhāraṇī Sūtra, is included in Chapter 4 and a translation in Appendix 2.) The Yongming Stūpa also exhibits the adaptability and malleability of the tradition of relic veneration in Buddhism. Just as the Buddha was born into the world as a human being, Siddhartha Gautama, and achieved Buddhahood as Śākyamuni; just as Sudhana (Shancai 善財), the protagonist in the Gaṇḍavyūha, “Entering the Dharma Realm” section (Ru
6 A Tale of Two Stūpas
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fajie pin 入法界品) of the Flower Adornment Sūtra (Huayan jing 華嚴經, Avataṃsaka Sūtra), completed his heroic fifty-two-stage pilgrimage through various lands with various teachers, ending in his attainment of the ultimate truth; so did the Chinese Buddhist monk Yongming Yanshou represent the epic human struggle to achieve the pinnacle of realization. Indeed, both the lives of Śākyamuni, as represented through jataka tales, and depiction of Sudhana’s epic quest became regular features depicted in Hangzhou Buddhism. Scenes from Śākyamuni’s former lives were used by Qian Chu, for example, as subjects depicted on the four sides of the square-shaped platforms of the Aśoka-style stūpas he constructed.14 Sudhana’s story was also commonly represented in Hangzhou Buddhism, evident in both the remains unearthed from the Leifeng Pagoda excavation site and the Feilaifeng grottoes of Buddhist sculptures.15 The important difference between the depictions of the likes of Śākyamuni and Sudhana, on the one hand, and Yongming Yanshou, on the other, is that the former were examples from India and depicted in Indian Buddhist scriptures, while Yanshou came to represent a native-born Chinese Buddha who produced writings and was known through a growing body of legends in China. Yongming Yanshou became a vehicle for the “human being as Buddha” motif, a kind of Buddhist apotheosis, that became popular in Hangzhou. Through a model based in real life events, Yanshou became a subject of intense image-making, to emerge as an emissary for rebirth in Amitābha’s Pure Land, and eventually regarded as an emanation of Amitābha himself. In sum, a revered Buddhist teacher and practitioner became a Pure Land Patriarch, a bodhisattva or Buddhist saint, and ultimately the Buddha Amitābha himself. The lesson is clear: Buddha did not appear only in India––his manifestation also became a reality in Hangzhou. Moreover, Yanshou’s case is not unique in Hangzhou. The Hangzhou region was characterized by suggestive identifications of its residents with Buddhas and commanding Buddhist figures. Yanshou as manifestation of Amitābha was preceded by the legend of a local itinerant monk named Qici 契此 (late ninth to early tenth centuries) from Fenghua 奉化 (present-day Ningbo), who allegedly became known as a manifestation of Maitreya, as Budai (Sack-Cloth) Maitreya 布袋彌勒 (discussed in greater detail below).16 There is also the later example of Ji Gong 濟公, or Chan Master Daoji 道濟禪師 (1130–1209), who was declared an incarnate bodhisattva or one of the Eighteen Arhats famed in the region as Mahākāśyapa, the Xianglong (Subduing the Dragon) Arhat 降龍羅漢.17 This tendency compelled Qing Zhang to assert, “By the late Southern Song
Introduction 7
Buddhist Sites and Translocations In recent decades there has been a slow but steady evolution in Buddhist studies from ideological foci centered on textual and doctrinal studies to practical matters concerning what Buddhists actually did as opposed to what they said they did. Included in the latter is a shift toward Buddhist material culture, items retrieved through archaeological excavations, stele inscriptions, information revealed through frontispieces and postfaces, images produced in stone and other media, productions of objects and utensils used in rituals and monastic life, mechanisms associated with the printing and dissemination of texts, and so on. The sites around which this production of material objects occurred, not to mention the intellectual activities and practices conducted at them, have received less attention. Jinhua Chen notes that Buddhist sites and sacred places are connected with the Buddhas, bodhisattvas, and other deities, and with leading figures noted for their roles in the development of the religion, and I agree that it would be hard to exaggerate the special significance these have for a transcultural religion such as Buddhism, which originated in India and spread through the whole of East Asia via Central Asia.20 Hangzhou and its environs proved ripe territory for such translocations. As Chen further notes, “The spread of Buddhism in Asia may be viewed from one perspective as a protracted and complex process in which numerous sacred sites were created and recreated in different cultural settings. The story of Buddhism increasingly penetrating into all levels of society in Asia is mirrored by another narrative in which some of the most sacred sites––both historical and legendary––in India were reproduced in other parts of the world.”21 This
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period, people believed that many Buddhist deities had appeared in various incarnations in China and that many Chinese monks who lived in the Song or earlier periods had been incarnations of Buddhist deities.”18 The story of Yongming’s stūpa is as compelling as the legends associated with the man himself. After the development of the Yongming Stūpa cult in the Song dynasty, Yanshou’s memory was forgotten and his remains discarded, only to have them recovered and his stūpa resurrected in the late Ming dynasty, when his identity as Amitābha became pronounced.19 Without this remarkable resurgence, it is unlikely there would be any Yongming Stūpa or veneration of Yanshou today.
8 A Tale of Two Stūpas
The Transformation of the Hangzhou/Jiangnan Region into an Indian Buddhist Homeland Chinese Buddhism is usually surveyed in its entirety, in terms of a geographic unit labeled “China,” but is in fact a function of its regions.23 Even the contours of Chinese Buddhist regional designations have yet to be determined with certainty, especially as these may fluctuate over time and vary in terms of their geographical extent.24 Researchers apply discipline-specific criteria to mark their regions: geographical boundaries such as rivers and river basins, mountain ranges and seas; climatological patterns; linguistic usages and variations; spheres of cultural influences; and so on. A regional approach to Chinese Buddhism beyond provincial boundaries might include the following: northern (Chang’an, Luoyang, and Beijing in the later imperial period), southwest (Chengdu, Sichuan), northwest (Dunhuang and Gansu), southeast (Jiangnan), and south (Fujian and Guangdong). Perhaps the most stable of these unstable regions is Jiangnan 江南, literally “south of the [Yangzi/Yangtse] river,” and normally indicative of a large area in southeastern China including the areas south of the middle and lower reaches of the Yangzi River basin, the southern part of Jiangsu Province, the southeastern part of Anhui Province, the northern part of Jiangxi Province, and the northern part of Zhejiang Province. A term in use from ancient times, it was included among the nine provinces of China 九州 in the pre-Qin era and has been a constantly evolving designation for, at times, a more expanded area, typically veering farther to the south. For many centuries and at least since Wuyue established its territory in the late ninth century, Hangzhou (or
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process of forming and reformulating a Buddhist sacred geography was not simple, but one that entailed complex cultural adjustments, inventions, and reinventions. Moreover, as important as this process was, its dynamics have yet to be subjected to close analyses. Studies that have been undertaken have focused their attention on China’s four sacred Buddhist mountains (or marchmounts, sida mingshan 四大名山)––Wutai 五臺, Emei 峨眉, Putuo 普陀, and Jiuhua 九華––a nd others, like Mount Song 嵩山, home to the famed Shaolin Monastery 少林寺.22 My study, looking at stūpas as sacred sites, hopes to expand the narrative of Buddhist sacred geography, its cultural adjustments, inventions, and reinventions, and the dynamics involved in these processes.
Introduction 9
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.
Descent from Tuṣita heaven 降兜率 Entry into motherʼs womb 託胎 Birth from motherʼs side 降生 Leaving home to engage in spiritual training 出家 Subduing demons 降魔 Attaining enlightenment 成道 Turning the Dharma-wheel 轉法輪 Entering final nirvāna 入滅
Buddhist pilgrims frequented sites associated with these junctures (e.g., the Buddha’s birthplace at Lumbinī, the site of enlightenment at Bodh Gaya, the site of his first sermon at Sarnath, the site of his death at Kushinagar), to form a geographical area delimited by Śākyamuni’s life and career. The routes of these pilgrims delineated the sacred homeland of the Buddha and the initial idea of a Buddha-land, a land transformed by the presence of a Buddha. According to Chinese Buddhist records, as mentioned earlier, Aśoka dispersed his stūpas throughout the world, including China, and these formed a substratum of the Buddha’s sacred presence, residing in his relics, throughout the land. Following the actual arrival of Buddhism in China during the Han dynasty, evidence of Asoka’s dispersed stūpas in China began to be revealed. The Kuaiji Mao ta in Ningbo became an important center for the Aśoka cult in Wuyue. King Qian Chu emulated King Aśoka, vowing to create eighty-four thousand stūpas throughout his land, and printed copies of the dhāraṇī sutra, The Precious Chest Seal Dhāraṇī Sutra of the Whole Body Relics Concealed in All Buddhas’ Minds (Yiqie rulai xin mimi quanshen sheli baoqie yin tuoluoni jing 一切如来心秘密全身舍利宝篋印陀羅尼 經; Sarvatathāgatā dhiṣṭhāna hṛdayaguhya dhātukaraṇḍa mudra-nāma- dhāraṇī-sūtra) to serve as Dharma-body śarīra to place inside the stūpas.26 According to the inscriptions found on unearthed pagodas, King Qian Chu made two separate large-scale productions within a span of ten years. The first one was eighty-four thousand bronze Aśoka Pagodas created during the
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its former iterations as Qiantang 錢塘 and Lin’an 臨安) has served as the regional center of Jiangnan.25 The homeland of Buddhism was originally inspired by the geographical locations of important junctures that figured prominently in the life and career of Siddhartha Gautama, who became known as Śākyamuni Buddha. The junctures are conventionally listed as eight and include the following:
10 A Tale of Two Stūpas
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year yimao 乙卯 (the second year of the xiande era [955] of the Later Zhou dynasty), the same year, ironically, Emperor Shizong mounted a major persecution of Buddhism in the north (counted as one of four major persecutions of Buddhism in Chinese history). The second major effort was when eighty- four thousand iron Aśoka Pagodas were created in the year yichou 乙丑 (the third year of the qiande era [965], during the reign of Emperor Taizu of the Song dynasty).27 In sum, King Qian Chu evoked the Aśoka model to create a Buddha-land in Wuyue. This was part of a growing association of the region with India and the homeland of Buddhist culture. With this thriving association as a base, Buddhists in the region began to confidently reimagine key aspects of Buddhist culture that were adapted to its new homeland.28 The notion of the Buddha-land contained both geographical and ideational aspects. It combined notions of the sacred with an actual scape, be it a physical materialization on land or an imagined realm in the heavens. It could, at times, integrate both, as when the Buddhas Maitreya and Amitābha were believed to alight on earth, or when bodhisattvas like Avalokitêśvara and Samantabhadra were believed to take up residence in a particular area. Thus, the Buddha-land is tied to the idea of buddhakṣetra, a land or realm of a Buddha in the process of transformation, or already transformed. In China, the four sacred Buddhist mountains were designated as the abodes of famous bodhisattvas: Mañjuśri 文殊 on Wutai, Samantabhadra 普賢 on Emei, Avalokitêśvara 觀音 on Putuo, and Kṣitigarbha 地藏 on Jiuhua. The legacy of a Buddha-land had particular resonance in Wuyue. Buddhist sites and other translocations from India played a vital role in the reimagining of Hangzhou as the center of a Buddhist region, a new Buddhist homeland that replicated and rivaled similar regions in India itself. I have already touched upon one of the important elements in the translocation of Indian Buddhism to the greater Hangzhou region in my discussion of the Aśoka stūpa 阿育王塔 located at the Aśoka Monastery 阿育王寺 in Mingzhou 明州 (contemporary Ningbo). In sum, King Qian Chu evoked the Aśoka model to create a Buddha-land in Wuyue. Through the dissemination of miniature stūpas with the “relics” of Buddhist teaching, The Precious Chest Seal Dhāraṇī Sutra, housed inside, the king was able to animate his kingdom as a paradigmatic mesocosm and form a magical structural milieu to evoke the presence of the Buddha in nirvāna.29 The kingdom becomes essentially a kind of living stūpa, its territory marked by the resurrected remains of the Buddha’s body.30 This was part of a growing association of the region with
Introduction 11
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India and the homeland of Buddhist culture. With this thriving association as a base, Buddhists in the region began to confidently equate the Buddhist culture of the region with its Indian homeland. Another aspect of the translocation is the relocation of landscapes associated with sacred sites from India to Hangzhou. On the northern slope of Feilaifeng 飛來峰 (The Peak That Came Flying [from India]), in niche 58 of the Yixiantian 一線天 wall,31 there is the Foguo 佛國 (Buddha-land) inscription that adequately summarizes the Wuyue propensity to define itself.32 Legends of the origins of Feilaifeng draw upon its direct connection to India. The alleged “founder” was an Indian monk, known in China as Huili 慧理, who in 326 ce (during the Jin dynasty, 225–420 ce) visited Hangzhou and became convinced that Feilaifeng was actually Mount Gṛdhrakūṭa (Vulture’s Peak, Chn. Lingjiu feng 靈鷲峰). Mount Gṛdhrakūṭa is well- known in Buddhist lore as the site of many of the Buddha’s most famous sutras, including the Lotus Sūtra 法華經 and the “Flower Sermon” 世尊拈 花, where Śākyamuni held up a flower to the congregation in lieu of his usual oral presentation and resulted in granting the “true Dharma-eye and marvelous mind of nirvāna” 正法眼藏涅槃妙心 to his disciple Mahākāśyapa. The resemblance of Feilaifeng to Mount Gṛdhrakūṭa was affirmed by the Indian monkeys who accompanied Huili, who recognized it from their homeland and confirmed his suspicion. Although this legend persists and is often repeated, there are no records linking Huili and Feilaifeng in Buddhist historical texts prior to the Five Dynasties period.33 This suggests an attribution conceived in the context of the Wuyue promotion of Buddhism. For example, Qing Zhang points to the “Lingyin si beiji” 靈隱寺碑記 (Stele Inscription of Lingyin Monastery) written around 986 by Luo Chuyue 羅 處約 (960–992) as an early record asserting that Huili identified the mountain area in Hangzhou with Vulture Peak: “[This mountain is] a peak from Vulture Peak. In what period [did it] come flying here?” (靈鷲之峰耳, 何代 飛来乎).34 From this period on, the name Feilaifeng was increasingly associated with the area. This was but one of many of the associations made to India in Hangzhou. The area also includes a series of monasteries in the hills surrounding Feilaifeng, most prominently the Lingyin Monastery 靈隱寺, but also the three Tianzhu 三天竺 monasteries, Shang (Upper) Tianzhu 上天竺 or Faxi si 法喜寺 (Joy of the Dharma Monastery), Zhong (Middle) Tianzhu 中天 竺 or Fajing si 法靜寺 (Purity of the Dharma Monastery), and Xia (Lower) Tianzhu or Fajing si 法鏡寺 (Mirror of the Dharma Monastery). As an old
12 A Tale of Two Stūpas
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name in Chinese for India, “Tianzhu” affirms the intimate association of the area as a replica of (and substitute for) the Indian original. Even the name for the central monastery, lingyin, usually translated literally as “the Soul’s Retreat,” may be taken as an abbreviation for lingjiushan yinsi 靈鷲山隱寺, “the Hidden Monastery of Mount Gṛdhrakūṭa (Vulture Peak),” that is, the secret Indian homeland of the Buddha. Evidence for the association can be found in a former name for Lower Tianzhu Monastery as Lingshan 靈山, Mount Gṛdhrakūṭa (or Vulture Peak) Monastery.35 Another monastery in the Feilaifeng area reflects this association even more explicitly. The Lingjiu xingsheng si 靈鷲興聖寺 (Monastery of Flourishing Sages at Vulture Peak), erected during the reign of King Qian Zuo 錢佐 of Wuyue (r. 941–947), draws a direct connection to Mount Gridhrakuta/Vulture’s Peak.36 Antonio Mezcua Lopéz observes that the theme of the Foguo or “Buddha-land” in Hangzhou seems to unfold in three concentric movements: at a macro level, it was associated with greater Hangzhou; on an intermediate level, with the Lingyin and Tianzhu area; and at a micro level, restricted to Feilaifeng Mountain itself.37 The need for redefinition of the space on a symbolic, religious, and political level was channeled through the image of the land as a Foguo, extending throughout the whole city of Hangzhou, and arguably beyond, to the entire region. In addition, there is the tradition of relocated arhat disciples of the Buddha to the Hangzhou region. One of the distinctive features of Chan Buddhism in the Hangzhou region was admiration of the exemplary practices of arhat disciples of the Buddha Śākyamuni. On the surface, this admiration flies in the face of Mahayana denigration of arhats as practitioners of a “lesser vehicle,” indicative of their inferior wisdom and mistaking it as full attainment. As human practitioners, however, Chan monks in their daily practice identified readily with the imagined trials and tribulations that arhats experienced. Bodhisattvas, in comparison, were remote beings whose accomplishments allowed them to wander freely throughout Buddhist worlds freed from human toil, to perform miraculous interventions in response to human needs. One can add depictions of the story of Sudhana (Shancai 善財), mentioned earlier as a bodhisattva practitioner whose example was popular in the Hangzhou region. In addition, there was a tradition that four great arhats––Mahākāśyapa, Kundopdhānīya, Pindola, and Rāhula––postponed their nirvāna to stay in the world at the request of Śākyamuni, to protect the law until the appearance of the future Buddha Maitreya.38 This made them “arhats with bodhisattva characteristics” and positioned them as attractive
Introduction 13
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models in the Chinese Chan context. The task of protecting the Dharma until the arrival of Maitreya was assumed by all arhats as the cult developed further to extend to sixteen, eighteen, and ultimately five hundred practitioners. An area beyond the Stone Bridge (Shiqiao 石橋) on Mount Tiantai was believed to be the actual residence of the Five Hundred Arhats during the Song period, where they had miraculously decamped from India. According to Wen Fong, by the early ninth century it was assumed that the five hundred arhats lived there.39 The five-hundred-arhat tradition itself can be traced back to India. Xuanzang 玄奘 (602–664), in the Datang xiyu ji 大唐西域記 (Record on the Western Countries of the Great Tang), described an Indian tradition of five hundred arhats residing in the mountain Buddhavanagiri near Rajagrha. Prior to Xuanzang, the compiler of the Gaoseng zhuan 高僧 傳 (Biographies of Eminent Monks), Huijiao 慧皎 (ca. 530), related how the monk Tanyou 曇猷 (d. 390–396) visited Mount Tiantai and crossed the Stone Bridge to meet holy monks (as shen seng 神僧, not explicitly arhats). By the early ninth century, the identities of the monks took shape as arhats, when Xu Lingfu 徐靈府 (active first half of ninth century) wrote in the Tiantaishan ji 天臺山記 (Record of Mount Tiantai) about the arhats above the rock bridge on Mount Tiantai. As a result, people of the region came to believe that five hundred arhats lived on Mount Tiantai above the Stone Bridge. In the Song gaoseng zhuan 宋高僧傳 (Biographies of Eminent Monks Compiled in the Song) record of the Tiantai monk Pu’an 普安 (770– 843), Zanning 贊寧 mentions the existence of a cave on Mount Tiantai beyond the Stone Bridge where arhats secretly dwell. After Pu’an passed away, his remains were interred in a stūpa on the mountain and a Five Hundred Arhat Hall was erected. A Wuyue king, Qian Liu, frequently made offerings to it, and a monastery was restored there in the early Song dynasty.40 By the tenth century, the identity of the sacred monks as five hundred arhats was well established.41 The Feilaifeng grottoes also provide evidence for the ascension of the arhat cult in the Hangzhou region. Because both arhats and Chan patriarch-practitioners are essentially monks striving for attainment based on their own human efforts, there are many commonalities between them. This is reflected in depictions of them in artistic representations and accounts for their popularity among Chan practitioners.42 There is also the tradition of incarnations of Buddhas and bodhisattvas in Hangzhou. As reviewed earlier, these manifestations include the appearance of Maitreya as Budai Mile in Fenghua. As mentioned, great arhat disciples of the Buddha postponed their nirvāna to stay in the world at the request
14 A Tale of Two Stūpas
Hangzhou as Buddhist Homeland: The Experience of Myōan Eisai As Hangzhou established itself as a new homeland of an imagined India in China, it renewed itself as a center for Buddhism in East Asia. As a hub for the wider dissemination of Buddhism, Hangzhou was greatly aided by a vibrant maritime trade throughout the region, most notable at the seaport at
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of Śākyamuni, to protect the law until the appearance of the future Buddha Maitreya. Maitreya also figured prominently in providing the ultimate revelatory vision to Sudhana in the Gaṇḍavyūha Sutra, when Maitreya opens the door to his marvelous tower by snapping his fingers. Within the tower, Sudhana experiences the realms of dharmadhatu in a succession of fantastic visions.43 The only niche carved during the Southern Song (niche 68) at Feilaifeng is the one depicting the famous Budai (Cloth Sack) Maitreya 布袋彌勒 sculpture. It reveals Maitreya as an incarnation of a tenth-century figure from the Fenghua 奉化 district of the Mingzhou (Ningbo) region from the Wuyue Kingdom, an affable, plump, and eccentric Buddhist wanderer, surrounded by eighteen arhats. Budai is the epitaph for the Chan monk Qici 契此, mentioned in the Zongjing lu 宗鏡錄, with biographical records in the Song Gaoseng chuan 宋高僧傳 and Jingde Chuandeng lu 景德傳燈錄.44 Budai Maitreya also figured prominently in initiatives by leading Southern Song Chan figures Dahui Zonggao 大慧宗杲 (1089–1163) and Hongzhi Zhenghue 宏智正覺 (1091–1157), who sought to merge local legends with the Buddhist tradition in the hopes of attracting people to Chan through wider appeal to more popular characters.45 Bernard Faure points to Budai as an example of “one strategy in Chan for domesticating the occult [by] transforming thaumaturges into tricksters by playing down their occult powers and stressing their this-worldly aspect.”46 My interest here, however, is drawn to the retinue of eighteen arhats. Depicting the arrival of the future Buddha accompanied by Chan arhat practitioners suggests that the transformation of Feilaifeng and by extension the greater Hangzhou region (jiangnan 江南) into the Buddha-land of Maitreya has been realized––the arhats assigned to await the coming of the future Buddha and transmit the dharma to Maitreya have assembled around him––and the mission has been accomplished.
Introduction 15
My concerns mounted unabated for twenty years, until the time when I longed to make a pilgrimage to the eight sacred sites of the Buddha in India.52 In the third month, the Spring of the third year of bunji (1187), I bade farewell to my homeland, and carrying lineage records of the various Buddhist schools and works containing gazetteers [with geographical information] on the western regions,53 arrived in Song China. At first, I went to Lin’an (the Southern Song capital Hangzhou) and visited the Military
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Mingzhou 明州 (Ningbo), through which frequent contacts were maintained with Japan and Korea.47 Japanese monks, particularly of the Tendai 天台 and, later, Zen 禪 schools, frequently participated in trade missions that brought them to the Hangzhou region to renew or refresh their understanding of Buddhism. The experience of Myōan Eisai (or Yōsai) 明庵榮西 (1141–1215) is both representative of this tendency and instructive for illustrating transformations in Buddhism in the Hangzhou region.48 Like many Tendai monks before him, including the Tendai founder Saichō 最澄 (767–822) and his successors Ennin 圓仁 (794–864) and Enchin 円 珍 (814–891),49 and those closer in time to Eisai, Chōnen 奝然 (938–1016), Genshin 源信 (942–1017), Jōjin 成尋 (1011–1081), Kaikaku 戒覚 (d.u.; mission to China in 1082), and Chōgen 重源 (1121–1206; mission to China in 1167), Eisai embarked on a journey to China to seek answers to the dilemma of Buddhist decline (mappō 末法) in Japan, a preoccupation shared by many of his age. His desire to partake in the continental culture of Buddhism that had nurtured and sustained Japanese Buddhists since the inception of Buddhism in Japan was part of a well-established pattern of Sino-Japanese Buddhist cultural exchange. In spite of the remembrances of his motives some thirty years later in a treatise arguing for Zen’s merits against entrenched political and religious forces in the Japanese context, the Kōzen gokokuron 興 禪護國論,50 there is no suggestion that Zen figured in any of his aspirations on this first trip. Contrary to his claims, Eisai was actively engaged in propagating esoteric Buddhist teachings in northern Kyushu, in keeping with his Tendai taimitsu 台密 heritage, after his return, and expressed no interest in establishing a Zen school.51 Even on his second journey to China in 1187, Eisai’s expressed purpose was focused not on Zen but on continuing to India to make a pilgrimage to sacred Buddhist sites, a plan reminiscent of the earlier Indo-centric model of Chinese pilgrims Faxian 法顯, Yijing 義淨, and Xuanzang 玄奘:
16 A Tale of Two Stūpas
Alluding to phraseology used to describe Xuanzhao 玄照 in the Great Tang Biographies of Eminent Monks in Search of the Dharma in the Regions of the West (Da tang xiyu qiufa gaoseng zhuan 大唐西域求法高僧傳),56 Eisai highlights the contrast between the pilgrim’s treacherous journey and the flat (and untreacherous), unobstructed “golden land” where the Buddha’s enlightenment was attained, a perfect expression for someone suffering from a borderland complex. From this account by Eisai’s own hand, his expressed intention was not to acquire Chan/Zen transmission but to follow in the footsteps of Chinese pilgrims to the land of the historical Buddha. The implicit meaning behind this intention is to acquire the authentic teaching of Buddhism, which Eisai assumes is still viable there. He does not realize that Buddhism is but a fading memory in India at that point and, even if successful, would have yielded few if any of his intended results. In spite of his efforts and intentions, Eisai’s plan was thwarted. The circumstances that prevailed in Song China at this time inhibited the feasibility of travel between China and India. The Jurchen Jin 金 invaded China in 1127, forming a dynasty that lasted until 1234, forcing the Chinese government to cede control of the north and establish the Southern Song capital at Hangzhou. The Xixia 西夏 (Tanguts, 1038–1227), moreover, had control over the northwest frontier region, making the overland route to India impassable. When pilgrimages were made by Buddhist monks previously, China controlled these regions and was able to help ensure passage through them. As a result, the Chinese commissioner did not grant him a travel permit for India, but only a permit to remain in China.57 With his ambitions for pilgrimage to the “western regions,” the golden land of the Buddha and the arena of “true” Buddhism, blocked, Eisai was forced to retreat to the land of the “new” Buddhism that had developed in the Hangzhou region simultaneous to the decline of Buddhism in India. When he encountered the obstruction to his plan for passage to India, Eisai turned his intent to Chinese Chan practice, returning to the monastery on Mount Tiantai he had visited on his first trip. One source in particular
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Commissioner,54 officially requesting permission to travel to India. The official petition stated: Pulling my half-finished visage across suspended walkways spanning treacherous mountains, I am fully dedicated to becoming a complete person in the flat “golden land” [of the Buddha].55
Introduction 17 lays bare Eisai’s motives in this regard, attributing them to environmental circumstances (i.e., unfavorable winds) rather than being predetermined:
By his own account, Eisai acknowledges his attention on the monastic precepts of the four divisions of the monastic assembly (sifen jie 四分戒) and the bodhisattva precepts (pusa jie 菩薩戒), in addition to his participation in chan practice (can chan 參禪). This marked an association of Zen (chan) with strict precept practice that would come to define Eisai’s eventual Zen teaching. All in all, this was a momentous turn of events, and one with lasting consequences for the history of Buddhism in East Asia. Eisai turned his defeat into success by acknowledging and accepting how the greater Hangzhou region (Jiangnan 江南) had been transformed into a “stand-in” for India, a virtual replica of the Buddha’s homeland that both played on the past Buddhist tradition and effectively anticipated its future. In the centuries before Eisai’s arrival, the Hangzhou region had successfully transformed itself through a combination of borderland complex and translocation into an authentic Buddhist homeland, a new center for East Asian Buddhism. The rationale behind Eisai’s transformation from Tendai pilgrim to Zen advocate has often been explained in doctrinal terms associated with the advent of “mind to mind transmission” 以心傳心 and Chan as a “separate transmission outside the teachings” 教外別傳. This was indeed an important pretext for legitimizing Chan as an (the?) authentic transmission of Buddhist teaching. As Jinhua Chen has indicated, lineage is one of the strategies marginalized Buddhist communities employed in overcoming their borderland complex.59 It was extremely important in validating an allegedly authentic transmission in the Chan/Zen tradition and was instrumental in Eisai’s claims over rival factions (i.e., the Daruma School of Dainichi Nōnin 大日能 忍) to establish his credibility. But it was one factor among many, and not the major factor in Eisai’s transformation. While the mind-to-mind transmission motif is heralded by Eisai,60 as is his assertion of Zen as a separate transmission outside,61 it was the spatial relocation and physical transformation
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The ship master announced the return [to Japan]. They set off into the ocean and on the third day a headwind suddenly arose, pushing them back to Ruian prefecture in Wenzhou. Eisai said to himself, “Because the wind and waves have thwarted me, I haven’t finished my investigations [here] after all.” He then took leave of the chief merchant and went directly to Wannian Monastery on Tiantai to visit Xu’an.58
18 A Tale of Two Stūpas
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of the Hangzhou/Jiangnan region into an “Indian” Buddhist homeland that made Eisai’s acceptance of this motif and assertion possible. Without this relocation and transformation, Eisai’s discovery of authentic Buddhism in the Hangzhou/Jiangnan region would not have been possible. Two theoretical models, “borderland complex” and “translocation,” explain how the Hangzhou region (Jiangnan) became a new Buddhist homeland in East Asia. “Borderland complex” and “center versus periphery” models have been used in the study of Asian history.62 Jinhua Chen has written how a “borderland complex” obsessed Chinese, Japanese, and Korean monks when they related to India, and how India, the birthplace of the Buddha, was recognized as the center of the “dharma world,” and all the places located outside the Indian subcontinent were taken to be on the periphery.63 As Chen notes, the perception of inhabiting a peripheral borderland removed from the center posed a gap that was not merely geographical but also cultural, and caused an acute sense of marginality, instilling in Buddhist followers outside India a potential anxiety bordering on despair. At the same time, the sense of distance inspired admiration toward India as the center and cultural homeland of Buddhism, an admiration that fostered a desire to follow the patterns established in Indian Buddhism, a confidence to emulate these, and eventually presumptions that the periphery is not different from the center, and is even the center itself. The patterns and presumptions fostered by the borderland complex led to the formation of unique characteristics of Buddhism in China that spread throughout East Asia. These include how sacred sites were constructed and reimagined in East Asia from Indian Buddhist inspirations and how sacred lineages were envisaged and developed as an effective way to combat this borderland complex. If “borderland complex” supplies the answer as to why the unique Chinese and East Asian imaginaire, the creative impulse born of a combination of anxiety and admiration, developed, “translocation” suggests an answer to the question of how it was actualized and put into effect. Translocation, the movement of something from one place to another, is a more recent concept in the social sciences, and is currently used with wide application from a number of scholars concerned with the dynamics of mobility, migration, and sociospatial interconnectedness.64 Recently, Reinhold Glei and Nikolas Jaspert applied the concept of translocation to the study of religions, noting that the subject of religious translocation is set within a wider semantic framework heavily indebted to the spatial turn within the humanities, where the term has been applied mostly to phenomena related to migration.65 In
Introduction 19
Chapter Outlines In the examples focused on in this volume, I look at how the borderland complex and translocation functioned in the case of two prominent Hangzhou landmarks: Leifeng Pagoda and Yongming Stūpa. Relics are central to both. Leifeng Pagoda involves the imagined transplantation to China of Aśoka stūpas housing the Buddha’s relics, a reimagined repurposing of the Aśoka model by the Wuyue king Qian Chu, and the dispersion of relics throughout his realm. The Yongming Stūpa involves the ascent of a local monk, Yongming Yanshou, to bodhisattva-like status, eventually regarded as
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cultural studies, the spatial dimension has been applied beyond notions of physical space to incorporate “a wide array of spaces––imagined, ascribed, mental, textual, corporeal, literary spaces, and many more.”66 As Glei and Jaspert explain, translocality also draws attention to hubs of religious contact, nodes of interaction integral to the transmission and transformation processes in the spread of religious phenomena. The concept of nodes and hubs is useful in examining the concrete dynamics of religious transfer, in determining not only where such processes occurred but also the way the processes were brought about and who and what (the individuals, groups, texts, or ideas) were instrumental in bringing them about. Observations across religious traditions reveal how beliefs dis-or translocate a cultic epicenter when moving beyond geographic borders. Processes of religious diffusion are closely tied to the translocation of sacred spaces, enabling the creation of new sites or transference of sites into new regions. Religious diffusion is not necessarily predicated on the effacement of former (or original) centers but may in fact be multi-or polylocal in character. Multi-or polylocality occurs when space, whether physical or mental, is transgressed and an original site and its associations made to serve the assertions of new locations. In this way translocality may give way to multilocality. When the foci of religious devotion associated with a concrete physical place are distanced from believers, new places replicating the original physical place are conceived and constructed to serve as replicas of the original. Owing to diffusion and expansion, a religious tradition was capable of developing multiple centers, creating differing and competing imageries.67 As outlined earlier, the Hangzhou region has a rich Buddhist cultural heritage from which to examine how this process was imagined and enacted in concrete terms.
20 A Tale of Two Stūpas
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an incarnation of Amitābha Buddha himself, and the cult associated with the worship of his relics aimed at rebirth in the Pure Land. The vicissitudes endured by these two monuments provide a glimpse into the history of Buddhism in Hangzhou and the rebirth of Hangzhou Buddhism in contemporary China. Chapter 2, “Hangzhou Buddhism in Historical Perspective,” introduces the innovative aspects of Buddhism developed through the textual production emanating from masters associated with the Wuyue Kingdom, namely, the Zongjing lu 宗鏡錄 (Record of the Source-Mirror) by Yongming Yanshou 永明延壽 (904–975), the Seng shilüe 大宋僧史略 (Topical Compendium of the Buddhist Clergy) by Zanning 贊寧 (919–1001), and the Jingde Chuandeng lu 景德傳燈錄 (Record of the Transmission of the Lamp Compiled in the Jingde Era) by Daoyuan 道原 (d.u.). I propose that the tripartite-pillar structure of the Buddhist Eightfold Path—śila (moral training), samādhi (mental training), and prajñā (training in wisdom)—as a method by which to address the issue of Buddhist transition, and that the three texts produced by masters from Wuyue, each suggests supplements to this structure that influenced subsequent developments in East Asian Buddhism. Chapter 3, “The Origins and Development of the Yongming Stūpa,” reviews the life and legend of the Wuyue monk Yongming Yanshou, the circumstances around the creation of the Yongming Stūpa and its resurrection in the Ming dynasty, and the contemporary revival of the Yongming Stūpa cult, which focuses on the worship of Yongming Yanshou as an incarnation of Amitābha Buddha. Chapter 4, “The Origins and Development of Leifeng Pagoda,” describes the origins of the Leifeng Pagoda at the bequest of King Qian Chu, the insertion of Aśoka relics and The Precious Chest Seal Dhārani Sūtra, the connection between Leifeng Pagoda and the legend of the white snake, and the destruction and resurrection of Leifeng Pagoda in the modern period. Chapter 5, “A Tale of Two Stūpas: The Parameters of Buddhist Revival in China,” looks at the stories of creation, destruction, and revival of Yongming Stūpa and Leifeng Pagoda within the larger context of Chinese Buddhism, and also examines them specifically in terms of the revival of Buddhism in contemporary China. I conclude with some reflections on the future of China’s Buddhist past, given the dynamics we have observed and their persistence down to the present day. Appendix 1 includes translations of relevant documents contained in the Chijian Jingci Monastery Gazetteer pertaining to the Ming period
Introduction 21
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resurrection of the Yongming Stūpa: Short Inscription Contained at the Stūpa of Wisdom-Enlightened, Note on the Reconstruction of the Stūpa Pavilion of Chan Master Yongming [Yan]shou, An Appraisal of the Sudubo (Stūpa) of Chan Master Shouning, and Poem and Preface on the Transfer of the Stūpa. Appendix 2 contains translations of The Precious Chest Seal Dhārani Sūtra and documents included in the Chijian Jingci Monastery Gazetteer. The ambiguity of the Buddhist presence in China is on full display here. Perennially, since its inception on Chinese soil, Buddhism has frequently been subjected to criticisms, sometimes extremely harsh criticisms, for its Indian origins, as un-Chinese, as anathema to Chinese native values, and so on. As noted by Robert Sharf, “Chinese Buddhism was rendered . . . the offspring of a . . . marriage whose progeny was never granted full citizenship in China.”68 Attempts to exterminate the Buddhist presence in China are not restricted to the socialist pogroms that reached a zenith fifty years ago aimed at purifying modern China of its feudal past. The Buddhist presence in China has long evoked mixed emotions. To some, Buddhism is integral to Chinese identity, and any definition of Chinese culture would seem lacking without its contributions. To others, Buddhism remains tainted by its foreign origins and alien value system, and true Chinese culture is possible only when Buddhist teachings are omitted. I hope, in some small way, that my reclaiming the history of these two monuments, the Yongming Stūpa and Leifeng Pagoda, will help to shed light on this enduring ambiguity.
2 in Historical Perspective Hence, it comes to pass that when they return home and say they have been to Kinsay (Hangzhou), the City of Heaven, their only desire is to get back thither as soon as possible. . . . [T]he city is beyond dispute the finest and noblest in the world. —Il Milione (The Travels of Marco Polo) Above are the Halls of Heaven, below are Suzhou and Hangzhou. 上有天堂,下有苏杭。 —Chinese proverb
Introduction The Tang-Song transition of the tenth century is regarded as one of three epochal transformations in Chinese history along with the formation of empire in the Qin/Han dynasties in the third century bce and the modern transformation following the demise of the Qing dynasty in the early twentieth century. The patterns implemented in the wake of the Tang-Song transformation defined the Chinese empire for a millennium, and everyone agrees that it was a monumental transition, regardless of the meaning ascribed to it. According to the Naitō hypothesis, the Tang-Song transition heralded the beginning of an indigenous East Asian modernity independent of and prior to contact with Europe.1 While Naitō’s claims are not unproblematic,2 few would contest the impact of the epic transition from Tang to Song. Following Naitō, Nicholas Tackett regards the transformation from Tang to Song as the locus of monumental changes in China’s society and economy. These include a considerable expansion of population, a relocation of much of the Chinese population from North China to South China, and a process of urbanization. A Tale of Two St u¯pas. Albert Welter, Oxford University Press. © Oxford University Press 2022. DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780197606636.003.0002
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Hangzhou Buddhism
Hangzhou Buddhism in Historical Perspective 23
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This, in turn, spurred a “medieval economic revolution” involving the monetization of the economy, an expansion of market networks, and the emergence of long-distance trade in luxury goods. These changes were facilitated by advances in agriculture and technological innovations, such as the rise of printing. Social changes, too, accompanied these transformations, namely, the demise of the aristocracy and the rise of an urban elite. Politically, the new era was characterized by a new and broader base of constituents for admission to the administrative bureaucracy, enhanced by imperially sponsored exams that awarded success on the basis of merit. It was also characterized by an autocratic monarchy which, in conjunction with the new administrative elite, displaced the old aristocracy as purveyors of culture.3 The Tang-Song transformation also had a significant impact on Buddhism in China (and subsequently throughout East Asia), but the way it affected Buddhism has not been adequately addressed. Older narratives considered the Tang dynasty of the apogee of Chinese Buddhist achievement and the Song dynasty Buddhism as the beginning of eras of decline.4 Gratefully, the assumption of Buddhist decline in China following the Tang dynasty has been laid to rest. More recent narratives focusing on Chan Buddhism underscore the important role it played in the Song dynasty, suggesting an underlying continuity with Tang traditions.5 Others assume consistency between Song Chan and Tang Chan narratives, without adequately taking into account the Song dynasty revisionist nature of these narratives.6 Sandwiched between the Tang and Song dynasties, the Five Dynasties period is largely forgotten. Following the suggestion of Valerie Hansen,7 the most innovative periods in Chinese history are often those removed from the strictures of central government control, chaotic periods when innovation and experimentation are prized over the status quo that prevails in more stable dynastic periods. While this analogy can be overstated, it does serve to frame important innovations that were conceived in the times “in between” major dynasties in China. I am particularly drawn to innovative ideas conceived during the Five Dynasties that were formative for the “new Buddhism” of the Song dynasty. When I invoke a model like “new Buddhism,” I am suggesting not displacement but, rather, enhancement in the sense of fulfillment or completion. It would be wrong to suggest that the “old” Buddhism of the Tang was jettisoned and something “new” was installed in its place. Better to consider that Tang Buddhist traditions were repurposed, for the most part, and served as a base for the new, added components. In this sense, it is better to regard Song Buddhism as
24 A Tale of Two Stūpas
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“Buddhism-plus,” a veneer of traditions that were absorbed, and not necessarily a negation of what had come before. The contemporary observer Zanning also affirmed the character of the “new” Buddhism when he asserted its tripartite division: (1) exoteric teachings 顯教 (the canon of scriptures including sūtras, vinaya, and treatises); (2) esoteric teachings 密教 (techniques of yoga,8 abhiṣeka investiture ceremonies, five- part esoteric ceremonies, the three mystic modes of activity, and maṇḍalas); and (3) mind teachings 心教 (Chan teaching of directly pointing to the human mind, seeing nature, and becoming buddha).9 For Zanning, the new innovation was the mind teaching developed in the Chan school predicated on mind- to-mind 以心傳心 transmission of the enlightenment experience. This is an assumption that has also led large swaths of modern scholarship and has privileged the Chan tradition, sometimes to the exclusion of the larger Buddhist context. In particular, it was driven by Japanese Buddhist scholarship, whose investigations often had a strong sectarian context that looked almost exclusively toward Chan antecedents for their own traditions. In this chapter, I expand beyond innovative aspects of Chan, though these are also included, to address some key aspects of a reimagined Buddhism that proved formative for the new Buddhism of the Song dynasty. My suggestion of a “reimagined Dharma” takes its inspiration from three works associated with monks from the Buddhist kingdom of Wuyue (897–979) during the Five Dynasties period: the Zongjing lu 宗鏡錄 (Record of the Source- Mirror) by Yongming Yanshou 永明延壽 (904–975), the Da Song Seng shilüe 大宋僧史略 (Topical Compendium of the Buddhist Clergy) by Zanning 贊 寧 (919–1001), and the Jingde Chuandeng lu 景德傳燈錄 (Record of the Transmission of the Lamp Compiled in the Jingde Era) by Daoyuan 道原 (d.u.). As I will argue below, these may be viewed as critical supplements that enhance the three pillars of classical Buddhism––morality (śila 戒), meditation (samādhi 定), and wisdom (prajñā 慧)––impetuses inherent in Buddhism’s origins and paradigmatic models for all of Buddhism. However conscious the authors were of remaking these pillars, their reformulations reflected Chinese Buddhism’s new frames for success in a post-Tang environment. I am not suggesting these are the only frames for Song Buddhist enhancement. Another, more conventional frame would include qinggui 清 規 (pure rules, indicating the supplementary rules instituted at Chan monasteries), denglu 燈錄 (lamp records, of which the Jingde Chuandeng lu is usually considered the prototype for Chan-style transmission), and yulu 語錄 (dialogue records of enlightened Chan masters). Yet when we look at regional
Hangzhou Buddhism in Historical Perspective 25
The Wuyue Kingdom and the Creation of an East Asian Buddhism As Tang authority deteriorated, the southern principality of Wuyue was able to carve out a quasi-independent, politically stable, and economically vibrant regime centered in the regional capital of Qiantang (which later became the Southern Song capital of Hangzhou). Like other southern-based regimes of the late Tang and Five Dynasties periods (e.g., Southern Tang, Min, and Southern Han), Wuyue was built on a plan for revising the glories of the Tang dynasty, predicated on a revival of Tang Buddhist culture, based on a Buddhist vision of society and culture.11 The founder of an independent Wuyue, Qian Liu 錢鏐 (King Wusu 武 肅王, r. 893–932), was granted an imperial posthumous title, Taizu 太祖 (Great Ancestor), revealing the pretensions of the Wuyue regime. While Qian Liu was early on attracted to Daoism under the influence of Luo Yin 羅隱,12 Buddhism became the hallmark of his regime. Qian Liu supported Buddhism with a campaign to construct monasteries throughout the region, including the Taiping Cloister 太平院 (for housing the famous Tiantai prelate Zhiyi’s 智顗 remains), the Huiri Monastery 慧日寺, and the Jiuming Monastery 九明寺 on Mount Tiantai 天台山.13 Monks from various regions sought refuge under the protection of the Buddhist monasteries that Qian Liu supported, including representatives of Northern and Southern factions of Chan. Mount Tiantai, the cradle of the Tiantai School initiated by Zhiyi (538– 597), was a key spiritual center of the Wuyue region. After the death of Zhiyi and his disciple Guanding 灌頂 (561–632), Tiantai was absorbed into the Buddhism of the capital, Chang’an, and lost its independent status and vitality. It was revived for a time in the eighth century by the sixth patriarch of the school, Zhanran 湛然 (711–782), but fell into decline after his death.14 With the support of Wuyue rulers, the school was revived. Zanning (919– 1001) claimed Haorui 皓端 (889–961), honored by the Wuyue ruler Qian
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adaptations of this model, the texts compiled by masters from Wuyue point to another influential model. The creation and reception of these works would not have been possible without government support, both in Wuyue and at the early Song dynasty court, and especially the Wuyue aspiration to reframe its territory as a Buddhist homeland.10
26 A Tale of Two Stūpas
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Chu 錢俶 (King Zhongyi 忠懿王) with a purple robe and named “Great Virtuous Exalter of Dharma” (dade songfa 大德崇法), was the successor of the tenth Tiantai patriarch, Xuanzhu 玄燭.15 The campaign to revive Buddhism in Wuyue culminated in the personal connections and political fortunes of Tiantai Deshao 天台德紹 (891–972) and Qian Chu (King Zhongyi, r. 948–978).16 Nearly forty years his junior, Qian Chu naturally relied on Deshao for advice, practicing Buddhism under him in a manner more akin to a master-disciple relationship than the natural pattern pertaining between a ruler and his spiritual advisor. Deshao’s stature in the region was such that he was praised as the reembodiment of Zhiyi.17 His influence over Qian Chu resulted in favored treatment for Deshao’s students in Wuyue, many of whom studied alongside Qian Chu in Deshao’s congregation.18 Most prominent among them were Zanning, who succeeded Deshao in the role of Wuyue’s political advisor, and Yongming Yanshou, who assumed the role of spiritual leader in Wuyue after Deshao. Yanshou’s career culminated with the role of abbot at the Yongming Monastery 永明寺 (contemporary Jingci si 淨慈寺), a newly established institution in the Wuyue capital that symbolized the central role of Buddhism in the region. Through the promotion of Buddhism, Wuyue rulers envisioned a revival of the old glory of the Tang, when Buddhism served as a central feature in the definition of civilization and culture. Of all the regions in the South during this period, Wuyue was economically and politically the strongest. Among the southern states, Wuyue also provided the strongest support for Buddhism, and Buddhism served as the strongest cornerstone of Wuyue cultural policy. It is noteworthy, however, that in spite of changes in society and culture that demanded new responses from Buddhism, Wuyue support was driven by conservative forces seeking through Buddhism the recovery of a former glory. While Wuyue Buddhism was embodied largely in support for Chan masters and institutions, it sought to weld these to precedents founded in the doctrinal traditions of Buddhist scholasticism. The style of Chan promoted in Wuyue fostered such arrangements. As a result, although the Wuyue Buddhist revival was carried out largely under the Chan banner, Chan in Wuyue had its own distinct character that identified Chan with former Tang Buddhist traditions, and this identification with the larger Buddhist tradition became a defining feature of Wuyue Chan. The major protagonist of Wuyue Chan was Yanshou, whose Chan syncretism redefined the contributions of the doctrinal schools of Buddhism and their textual traditions in terms of Chan principles. Yanshou’s notion of zong 宗 is articulated extensively in his
Hangzhou Buddhism in Historical Perspective 27
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major work on Chan scholasticism, the Zongjing lu 宗鏡錄 (Records of the Source-Mirror).19 Yanshou’s writings reflect prevailing assumptions regarding orthodox Buddhism inherited in Wuyue. Although Yanshou identifies himself in his writings as a Chan master, his brand of Chan should not be confused with Linji faction teachings that assumed dominance after the Song dynasty consolidation.20 Yanshou is quite critical of the tenets associated with Hangzhou nd Linji Chan teaching, whether it be the rejection of Buddhist scriptures as a meaningful guide or the dismissal of Buddhist piety, seated meditation, and other conventional Buddhist practices as impediments to direct apprehension and sudden awakening (wu 悟). Yanshou’s Chan, true to the orientation toward Buddhism prevalent in Wuyue, reflects broad assumptions in Chinese Mahāyāna teaching and incorporates the full range of practices that this teaching offers. While Yanshou agrees that these teachings are preparatory, in some sense, and do not reflect the complete awakening experience that Chan affords, these teachings are also part and parcel of true bodhisattva practice, and no true Buddhist would reject them. The myriad good deeds (wanshan 萬善) that Yanshou advocates in his Wanshan tonggui ji 萬善同 歸集 (Collected Writings on the Common End of Myriad Good Deeds) are thus a reflection of the pan-Mahāyāna universalism promoted by Wuyue policy.21 The architects of Wuyue policy were the ruler Qian Chu (King Zhongyi) and his spiritual and political advisor, the Buddhist monk Tiantai Deshao 天台德紹. Qian Chu was a self-proclaimed cakravartin. Although the revival of Mount Tiantai as a spiritual center in Wuyue was a strong priority at Deshao’s urging, as a ruler Qian Chu identified with the stūpa reliquary on Mount Ayuwang 阿育王山 (King Aśoka). According to Buddhist traditions in China, when the famed pro-Buddhist Indian monarch dictated that stūpas containing relics of Śākyamuni be erected throughout his kingdom, some– –like the one on Mount Ayuwang in Wuyue––were erected in China.22 The presumption that Aśoka’s stūpas were erected in China symbolically represents the inclusion of China in the larger Asian Buddhist world. The Aśokan model in Wuyue was more than symbolic. In imitation of Aśoka’s pro-Buddhist program, Qian Chu mounted a massive construction campaign aimed at physically imprinting Buddhism on the Wuyue landscape. The number and scale of construction activities carried out by Wuyue monarchs has been well documented.23 Indicative of this activity was the reconstruction of Mount Tiantai––including its numerous monasteries and
28 A Tale of Two Stūpas
There are three teachings within the boundaries of our territory. To rectify [behavior between] rulers and ministers, for affection between fathers and sons, and for cordial human relations. Confucianism—my teacher. In moments of quiet and solitude, look and listen for the unobtainable. From the infinitesimally subtle, one soars to vacuous non-existence. How one rides the wind, directing the world as if it were a play. If the ruler obtains this [kind of understanding], what is well established will not end in ruin. If the people obtain it, they will be granted gifts beyond measure. Daoism––the teacher of Confucianism. The four noble truths, twelve-linked chain of causation, the three miraculous powers, and the eight liberations—practice these regularly without neglect. Cultivate daily in order to obtain them. As soon as you realize nirvāṇa, you will forever understand what is true and eternal. Buddhism— the source (zong) of Daoism.
Ultimately, Wuyue left a defining imprint on Song Buddhism, which was disseminated beyond China to Japan and Korea. Its legacy of cultural production included major works that left a lasting impact. These include major
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shrines––as a spiritual center, affirmation of the Śākyamuni stūpa on Mount Ayuwang as a leading symbol, and the prominent construction of Aśoka- inspired stūpas throughout the realm. In addition, countless Buddhist monasteries and shrines were either constructed or refurbished throughout the Wuyue region during this period. This was particularly true in the capital, Qiantang 錢塘. Yanshou, for example, received his first posting, at the request of Qian Chu, as abbot of the newly refurbished Lingyin Chan Monastery 靈 隱禪寺, located on the outskirts of the capital. After a brief tenure there, Yanshou was asked by Qian Chu to assume the abbotship of the large, newly constructed Yongming Monastery 永明寺 on the southern shores of the famed West Lake. Yongming Monastery functioned as a leading Buddhist institution in Wuyue, the beacon from which Wuyue’s leading spiritual advisor, Yanshou, disseminated state-authorized Buddhist teachings throughout the region. A number of Aśoka-inspired pagodas (ta 塔) erected by Qian Chu survived into the modern period. Qian Chu’s own writing, a preface penned for Yanshou’s Zongjing lu, leaves no doubt regarding the supreme role accorded Buddhism in Wuyue. Qian Chu makes clear the relative status granted to each of China’s “three teachings” (san jiao 三教):24
Hangzhou Buddhism in Historical Perspective 29
Chan Teaching as the Culmination of Mahāyāna Buddhism Yongming Yanshou was a leading figure in the articulation of post-Tang Buddhism. His Zongjing lu advances an understanding of Chan truth as represented in the term zong 宗. In contrast to the way zong was understood as lineage transmission, an essential component of Chan identity in many Chan factions, such as in the Jingde Chuandeng lu (considered below), Yanshou’s use of the term was as an underlying or implicit truth permeating all of Chinese Mahāyāna Buddhism.28 Yanshou’s use of the term zong implies that the principles and teachings of Chan are in harmony with those of the entire Buddhist tradition, dating from the teachings of Śākyamuni. Furthermore, the scriptures say: The Buddha said: “In these forty-nine years I have not added one word to the Dharma which all the buddhas of the past, present, and future preach. Therefore, know that you can arrive at the truth (dao) through the gate of universal mind. When those with superior abilities enter it directly, they will never rely on other methods. For those of average and inferior abilities who have not entered [the gate of universal mind], I have devised various paths as expedients.” Consequently, the patriarchs and buddhas together point to the profound ultimate of worthies and sages. Even though the names [by which they refer to it] differ, the essence is the same. In other words, circumstances
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Buddhist printed works: Zongjing lu (Records of the Source-Mirror),25 a defining work that influenced Buddhist doctrine/teaching; the Jingde Chuandeng lu (Record of the Transmission of the Lamp Compiled in the Jingde Era),26 the classical text of the Chan school’s redefinition of chan; and an unprecedented work on vinaya administration, the Seng shilüe (Topical Compendium of the Buddhist Clergy).27 Wuyue Buddhism thus provided a template for post-Tang Buddhism that extended over the three major areas of Buddhism: teaching/doctrine (jiao 教), meditation (chan 禪), and vinaya (lü 律). It may not be too much to suggest that these Wuyue developments be viewed as “supplements” to the three pillars—śila, samādhi, and prajñā—of the Eightfold Path, with jiao paired with prajñā, chan with samādhi, and lü with śila.
30 A Tale of Two Stūpas
There are several aspects to Yanshou’s understanding of the term zong inherited from the scholastic traditions that preceded him.32 According to Yanshou, the principle of unity within apparent diversity is sanctioned by none other than the Buddha himself, who posited “universal mind” (yixin 一心) as the orchestrating principle of all Buddhist teaching. Allowing for expedient means to lead those of lesser ability, “universal mind” appears in different guises according to circumstances. In spite of the apparent diversity, the essence (ti 體) is the same, invoking a common pattern in Chinese thought for explaining the relationship between a principle’s noumenal essence (li 理/ti) and its phenomenal functionality (shi 事/yong 用). Yanshou goes on to give specific examples demonstrating how this is evident in different representations of Buddhist teaching, using a conventional shorthand pairing well-known scriptures, schools, and masters with their commonly designated teachings. In this way, the Lotus Sūtra is paired with the teaching of the “one- vehicle,” the Prajñā scriptures with the teaching of “non- duality,” and so on. Tiantai teaching is designated by its focus on the “three contemplations,” a reference to the emphasis in Tiantai meditation practice on regarding phenomena in each of three ways, as “empty” or devoid
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distinguish [their teachings], but they are harmonious by nature. The Prajñā scriptures simply speak of non-duality. The Lotus sūtra only talks of the one-vehicle. According to the Vimalakīrti sūtra, there is no place where one does not practice. In the Nirvāna sūtra everything ends in the secret storehouse. Tiantai teaching focuses exclusively on the three contemplations. Jiangxi proposes the essence as the truth in its entirety. For Mazu, mind is Buddha. Heze directly pointed to knowing and seeing. Moreover, the teaching is explained in two kinds of ways. The first is through explicit explanations. The second is through implicit explanations. Explicit explanations are sutras like the Lankavatāra and Secret Adornment Scripture,29 and treatises like the Awakening of Faith and Consciousness-Only.30 Implicit explanations establish their unique character according to the implicit truth (zong) taught in individual scriptures. For example, the Vimalakīrti sūtra regards miraculousness as the implicit truth. The Diamond sūtra regards non-abiding as the implicit truth. The Huayan sūtra regards the dharma-realm as the implicit truth. The Nirvāna sūtra regards Buddha-nature as the implicit truth. By relying on these one establishes a thousand pathways. All of them are different aspects of universal mind.31
Hangzhou Buddhism in Historical Perspective 31
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of reality (kong 空), as nonsubstantial but existing provisionally as temporal phenomena (jia 假), and as “existing” in their true state between these two alternatives (zhong 中).33 The teachings of Chan master Jiangxi, Mazu Daoyi 馬祖道一, and Heze Shenhui 荷澤神會 are similarly rendered according to the principal teachings associated with them: proposing the essence as the entire truth (Jiangxi), maintaining that mind itself is Buddha (Mazu), and directly pointing to knowing and seeing (Shenhui).34 All of the above cases point to examples in their respective areas (scriptures, schools, and masters) that can be extended throughout the entire corpus of Buddhist teaching, embracing all Buddhist discourse within a comprehensive framework delineated from the notion of “universal mind.” Extending his methodology still further, Yanshou introduces the distinction between explicit and implicit explanations of Buddhist teaching. Explicit explanations, according to Yanshou, are the literal teachings contained in the countless scriptures and treatises of the Buddhist tradition. Implicit explanations, by contrast, are based on the unique character of individual teachings, which Yanshou terms their zong, their basic or implicit message. As examples, Yanshou gives the zong (or implicit message) of the Vimalakīrti Sūtra as “miraculousness,” a reference to the miraculous activities of Vimalakīrti described therein. The zong of the Diamond Sūtra is given as its teaching on “non-abiding.” The zong of the Huayan Sūtra is its teaching on “the dharma-realm,” and the zong of the Nirvāṇa Sūtra is its teaching on “Buddha-nature.” For Yanshou, the concept zong indicates an exegetical method through which the implicit, underlying message of a teaching, its fundamental meaning as opposed to its explicit depiction, is determined. The method parallels the essence-function (ti/yong), principle-phenomenon (li/ shi) dichotomy introduced earlier to explain the inherent unity of Buddhist teaching amid its apparent diversity (even contradiction). At this stage, however, we are still left with an apparent diversity. The sundry teachings of a particular scripture or school may be reduced to a common underlying message, but an array of different messages, the zong of individual scriptures or schools, remains. Yanshou refers to these as the “thousand pathways,” the expedients for approaching the truth. For the truth itself, Yanshou posits a supraordinating zong, universal or all-encompassing mind (yixin). The individual zong of the various scriptural teachings are but different aspects of this overriding unifying principle. Universal mind as the “great zong,” the grand progenitor, represents the source of all truth, articulated through the individual zong of scriptures, schools, and teachings.
32 A Tale of Two Stūpas
[The mind] in fact refers to the spiritual abode of living beings and the true source of the myriad dharmas (i.e., phenomena). It is constantly changing in unpredictable ways, expanding and contracting with unimpeded spontaneity. It manifests traces as conditions warrant, and names are formed according to the things [manifested]. When Buddhas realize the [mind-] essence, it is called complete enlightenment. When bodhisattvas cultivate it, it is known as the practice of the six perfections. Transformed by “ocean- wisdom,” it becomes water. Offered by dragon maidens, it becomes a pearl. Scattered by heavenly maidens, it becomes petals which do not stick to one. Sought after by good friends, it becomes a treasure which is granted as one pleases. Awakened to by pratyeka-buddhas, it becomes the twelve-links of causal arising. Attained by śrāvaka-buddhas, it becomes the four noble truths and the emptiness of self-nature. Apprehended on non-Buddhist paths, it becomes a river of erroneous views. Grasped by common people, it becomes the sea of birth and death. Discussed in terms of its essence, it is
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For Yanshou the ultimate meaning of zong is the underlying or implicit truth of universal mind, the fundamental principle of all truth, however depicted in different renditions of Buddhist teaching. This principle is all-encompassing and transcends sectarian bounds. Through it, the doctrinal differences of Buddhist schools are all resolved. Even non-Buddhist teachings like Confucianism and Daoism may be incorporated within this framework, as partial representations of truth implicit in the principle of universal mind.35 As a result of what I call the “deep structure” of Yanshou’s concept of mind––understanding truth as implicit in the principle of universal mind– –Yanshou refers to mind alternately as “the deep abode (yuanfu 淵府) of myriad good deeds,” “the profound source (xuanyuan 玄源) of all wisdom,” “the precious ruler (baowang 寶王) of all existence,” or “the primordial ancestor of the multitude of spiritual beings.”36 The “precious ruler” here is the Treasure King, or Buddha. In Yanshou’s interpretation, the deep structure of mind resolves apparent contradictions in Buddhist teaching, including the much-heralded division in Chan circles between the gradual and sudden teachings of the Northern and Southern school factions. It is the abode of myriad good deeds and the source of all wisdom, a shorthand reference to practitioners bound for enlightenment through the accumulation of merit and those whose awakening is based on discerning insight. It functions as the ruler over existence and the progenitor of spiritual beings.
Hangzhou Buddhism in Historical Perspective 33
Following the Buddhist principle of expedient methods, Buddhist teaching is understood differently according to the capacities of the hearer. The “mind,” understood here as the malleable essence of existence, assumes different guises as it is variously applied. This accounts for the variations that occur in different renditions of Buddhist teaching and the varied nature of phenomenal existence. As the “deep structure” of existence, mind accounts for the diversity encountered in both the abstract realm of mental constructs and the concrete realm of physical objects. One way to appreciate Yanshou’s approach is to view it in the context of the extent of Chinese Buddhist traditions. The massive size of the canon of scriptures inherited necessitated creative strategies and solutions to deal with it. One such means was to select and rally around a certain body of philosophically and doctrinally consistent scriptures such as was done with the Sanlun (Madhyamaka) school 三論宗 and the Weishi (Yogacārā) school 唯 識宗. Another strategy for dealing with the massive corpus of the Buddhist canon evolved into the well-known panjiao 判教 system of classification that effectively dissected the canon into a hierarchical doctrinal taxonomy, providing a sectarian guide to the most elevated (and thus most important) teachings, as, for example, in the Tiantai 天台 and Huayan 華嚴 schools.38 Yanshou’s approach epitomizes one of two responses (the other one is treated below, in the next section) that characterizes post-Tang Buddhism. Upon surveying the massive output represented in the canon, Yanshou constructed an abridged version that aspired to digest the contents of the entire corpus into a manageable size (i.e., Zongjing lu as an abridged canon). Yanshou’s Chan teaching, its notion of zong as the implicit truth revealed through universal mind, was a key component of the “reimagined Dharma” in the Song dynasty environment. Yanshou’s methodology did not entail displacement of the corpus of Buddhist teachings, but rather a distillation and appropriation of it, coupled with the veneer provided by the notion of “universal mind” as the source or essence animating the entire accumulated tradition. In this way, it may be viewed as an addendum to the prajñā pillar of classical Buddhism, augmenting and fulfilling the teachings that preceded it, culminating in a new frame for understanding the role of Buddhist teaching in the attainment of wisdom.
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in subtle harmony with principle (li). Considered in terms of phenomena (shi), it is in tacit agreement with the conditioned nature of existence as properly understood [according to Buddhist teaching].37
34 A Tale of Two Stūpas
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In conventional Buddhism, chanding 禪定 refers to a technique to enable the development of insight, a meditative concentration practice, the mind in silent meditation or introspection. In Eric Greene’s assessment, rather than “calming the mind and gaining knowledge of abstruse Buddhist truths,” meditators before the ascent of the Chan school “often devot[ed] their attention to an unrelenting slideshow of elaborate and often enigmatic visions” that validate their identities as meditators.39 It is usually, but not always, fostered by a sitting meditation posture, zuochan 坐禪, that grounds the body in an inactive state where the conditions for uninterrupted and undistracted concentration are present. The Chan tradition famously flipped this approach on its head when it turned Chan practice from meditation mastery, as conventionally understood, to direct experience of enlightenment itself, “a new semiotic ideology of meditative attainment.”40 The master’s main task was not primarily to instruct on the intricacies of meditation technique (chanding) but to awaken enlightenment to the “true Dharma eye” (zheng fayan 正法眼), the insight that Śākyamuni revealed and transmitted in a series of personal attestations, referred to as mind-to-mind transmission (yixin chuanxin 以心傳心). The Jingde Chuandeng lu is the prototypical Chan transmission record, after which Chan later consolidated its identity around lineage claims rather than conventional meditation mastery. It goes without saying that conventional chanding-type practices continued at Chan monasteries, and the claim of a “special transmission” was largely to substantiate Chan claims as a unique (and superior) tradition. It also bears noting that the “mind-to-mind” transmission motif had its own methodology inscribed in yulu 語錄-type interactions and involving gong’an 公案 practices.41 The “mind-to-mind” motif provided an overlay and supplement to existing meditation practices rather than a substitution for or displacement of them. Daoyuan, the compiler of the Jingde Chuandeng lu, was a Fayan-lineage monk who hailed from Wuyue. There are no surviving records of his life, and he is otherwise little known.42 The Jingde Chuandeng lu itself was a major landmark for the Chan movement, marking Chan’s ascendancy to official recognition in the early Song dynasty. Prior Chan transmission records were primarily regional documents compiled under the auspices of local authorities and bear the unmistakable imprint of local conditions. Even the Zutang ji (Patriarch’s Hall Anthology), the first known record to account for the broad spectrum of lineages that characterized Chan in the ninth and tenth
Hangzhou Buddhism in Historical Perspective 35
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centuries, in the end amounted to a limited document promoting the regionally based lineage of Zhaoqing Wendeng. The Jingde Chuandeng lu, compiled some fifty years after the Zutang ji, represents the new Chan consensus as validated by Song dynasty officials. Even as capacious as the Jingde Chuandeng lu was in incorporating the disparate strands of the Chan movement into a coherent whole, it was not compiled without regional sympathies. The Jingde Chuandeng lu possessed a legacy from the revival of Buddhism in the Wuyue region mounted under the Chan banner.43 The Wuyue legacy is detectable in two ways: in the placement of the Fayan faction, dominant in Wuyue and the Jiangnan region, at the pinnacle among Chan lineages, and in the Song official Yang Yi’s depiction of Chan in his original preface. Daoyuan’s original title for the work was not Jingde Chuandeng lu. We know this because Emperor Zhenzong (r. 997–1022) enlisted Yang Yi 楊億 (974–1020), a leading literatus at the Song court, to edit the work and prepare it for publication.44 Yang Yi wrote two prefaces, the first for the work as Daoyuan originally conceived it, with the title Fozu tongcan ji 佛祖同參集 (Anthology of the Common Practice of Buddhas and Patriarchs), the second for the revised version, the Jingde Chuandeng lu. Our best window into Daoyuan’s understanding of Chan may be Yang Yi’s preface to the Fozu tongcan ji. The extent to which it may be considered a reflection of Daoyuan’s original intent is the subject of speculation given the lack of supporting documentation, but as explained below, there is reason to assume that Yang Yi’s understanding of the Fozu tongcan ji was consistent with Daoyuan’s. One thing we know from Daoyuan’s original title is that he imagined a different conception for Chan as part of the common heritage of the Buddhist tradition than was eventually designated for the Jingde Chuandeng lu. This conception of Chan in harmony with Buddhist teaching was a legacy of the Wuyue-based Fayan faction, from which Daoyuan derived it.45 The “Buddhas and Patriarchs” 佛祖 represent Buddhist and Chan teaching, respectively, while the “Common Practice” 同參 signifies the harmony that exists between them. In this way, Daoyuan conceived his compilation after the fashion of Zongmi’s 宗 密 interpretation of Chan in his Chan Preface 禪源諸詮集都序. In Zongmi’s interpretation of Chan, “one has to use the words of the Buddha to show the meaning and advantages of each faction, and thus to classify these teachings into three divisions according to the three teachings [of Buddhism]” (若不以佛語各示其意各收其長。統為三宗對於三教), with the three teachings referred to here as the three doctrinal systems of Buddhist scholasticism, understood by Zongmi as Hīnayāna, Yogacārā,
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and Śūnyatāvāda, doctrinal frameworks that grounded and legitimized the various teachings of Chan factions.46 Regardless of how faithful the Fozu tongcan ji was to Zongmi’s precise application of Buddhist doctrine to classify Chan factions, Yang Yi clearly concurred with Zongmi in principle. Such agreement coincides with the influence of the Wuyue Chan heritage over Daoyuan, exhibited in the teachings attributed to Tiantai Deshao 天台德 紹, and the writings of Yongming Yanshou and Zanning. The Fayan Chan faction teaching that dominated the region was indebted to Zongmi’s formulation of Chan as harmonious with Mahāyāna scriptural and doctrinal traditions. The aim of the Fozu tongcan ji as the “common practice of buddhas and patriarchs” (佛祖同參)47 stands in marked contrast to Yang Yi’s purpose for the Jingde Chuandeng lu. According to Yang Yi’s reinterpretation, the record compiled by Daoyuan went beyond the ordinary recounting of interactions and dealings of individual masters associated with monks’ histories 僧史 (like the Biographies of Eminent Monks collections) and Zongmi’s Chanyuan zhuquan ji 禪詮 that have been collected elsewhere.48 It “revealed the miraculously brilliant true mind, and the patriarchs’ explanations of the profound principle of suffering and emptiness” (開示妙明之眞心。祖述苦空 之深理。). By analogy, Yang Yi refers to it as being in tacit agreement with the “transmission of the lamp” (即何以契傳燈之喩).49 With this designation, Yang Yi marked the novel character of the work as not merely a “collection” or “anthology” of common or shared practices (or interactions) 同 參集 but as a chuandeng lu 傳燈錄 (record of the transmission of the lamp), “revealing the miraculously brilliant true mind” that distinguishes it from its more prosaic predecessors. It is important to acknowledge that the way this unique Chan literary genre came to be defined as chuandeng lu is the result of Yang Yi’s new designation, and that the designation, so famous in Chan, Seon, and Zen lore, was initiated by a secular official (albeit a faithful Chan patron),50 and not by a regular member of the Chan clergy. In the process, Yang Yi was not merely championing Chan as the new style of Buddhism for the Song establishment but celebrating its break from conventional Buddhist approaches. In the Jingde Chuandeng lu preface, Yang Yi presented Chan as a “a separate practice outside the teaching” (教外別行), claiming this as Chan’s unique heritage and one that distinguished it from other Buddhist schools, validated by Śākyamuni himself, the Way propagated by the true Dharma- eye. This representation of Chan contrasts sharply with his statements in the
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Fozu tongcan ji preface considered above. In the Fozu tongcan ji preface, Yang Yi conceived Chan practice as being consistent with the way Chan was practiced in Wuyue, emphasizing myriad practices (wanxing 萬行) as means to instruct people toward the realization of nirvāna. By looking closely at the variant wording in the two prefaces we are afforded a glimpse at the new way Yang Yi reinterpreted Daoyuan’s compilation. In the Fozu tongcan ji preface, he characterized Chan as a teaching wherein “myriad practices are employed according to the differences among practitioners” (萬行以之差別), an interpretation compatible with Wuyue-style Chan. In the Jingde Chuandeng lu preface, Yang Yi reinterpreted Daoyuan’s record in terms of “a separate practice outside the teaching” (教外別行). In the former, Yang Yi viewed Chan through the lens of wanxing 萬行, “myriad practices”; in the latter he viewed Chan through the lens of biexing 別行, a “separate practice” distinct from the “myriad practices” sanctioned by conventional Buddhist teaching. In this way, Yang Yi came to endorse Linji-faction Chan interpretation that promoted Chan exclusivity and implicitly undermined the pluralistic approach of Wuyue-based, Fayan-faction Chan. Yang Yi’s attraction to Chan was driven by personal motivation and his promotion of a style of wen 文in the Song dynasty. His advocacy of Chan as “a separate practice outside the teaching” in the Chuandeng lu coincided with a literary model that distinguished Song civilization. Yang Yi’s strategy for the Chuandeng lu may be highlighted with the compilation strategies of the Song emperors. Emperor Taizong sponsored great Song encyclopedic works,51 and according to Johannes L. Kurz, one of the aims of the compilation projects promoted under Taizong was to link the Song with the Tang by imitating the latter’s accomplishments in the literary field.52 The Buddhist works sponsored by Taizong, like Zanning’s Song gaoseng zhuan 宋高僧傳, also clearly fit this model of validating Song authority through imitation of established literary conventions. In contrast to Taizong, Zhenzong was persuaded, at least in part, to seek models of literary uniqueness to distinguish Song from Tang culture. Chan offered an attractive model of literary uniqueness. Yang Yi was especially enthralled with Linji Chan and its celebrated unique rhetorical style that offered a contrast to the traditionalist-style Chan as compatible with Buddhist scriptures, advocated by Fayan-faction masters in Wuyue.53 The success of the new designation of Chan as “a special transmission outside the scriptures” (jiaowai biechuan 教外別傳) cannot be overestimated. Beyond sectarian and scholastic restrictions and abridgements to the
38 A Tale of Two Stūpas
Controlling the Saṃgha through Buddhist Administration Of all the figures considered in this chapter, none exhibits the transition between Wuyue and Song to the same extent as Zanning. Born and raised in Wuyue, Zanning rose to become a leading public figure in the Buddhist kingdom, serving as Buddhist controller (sengtong 僧統).54 When King Qian Chu abdicated to the Song, Zanning accompanied him to the capital to negotiate a treaty to resolve a tense truce in 978. The Song emperor, Taizong (r. 976–997), was impressed with Zanning’s knowledge and erudition and
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Buddhist canon, mentioned above, the Linji Chan school dispensed with the traditional canon altogether, criticizing it as a derivative representation of Buddhist teachings, and posited the yulu 語錄 dialogue records of Chan masters as a new and more authentic canon in place of the traditional body of scriptures. This trend came to fruition in the Song, manifesting textually in interrelated textual forms stemming from Lamp Records (denglu 燈錄), records of the activities and teachings of illustrious Chan masters in a biographical form following a lineage framework, which formed the bases for Dialogue Records (yulu 語錄), expanded records of the activities and teachings of individual Chan masters, and Gong’an 公案 Collections, excerpted events/episodes from the lives of individual Chan masters, raised for discussion and consideration as heuristic teaching devices. As records of the alleged words and activities of living Buddhas in China, Chan records served as an “alternate canon,” representative of a presumably more authentic canon based on “mind-to-mind transmission” of the enlightenment experience of the Buddha than the one inherited from India and translated into Chinese. The “reimagined Dharma,” Chan as an interactive method involving the experience of living Chinese masters, literally remakes the experience of Chan as a Chinese experience. It sublimates the notion of meditation in the samādhi pillar in classical Buddhism in favor of a new sinified style predicated on mind-to-mind transmission. While the practice of sitting meditation (zuochan 坐禪) continued at Chan monasteries, it was augmented by the emulation of Chan masters as depicted in denglu transmission records and yulu dialogue records, and inculcated through gong’an practice under the direction of an authorized Chan master.
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immediately conferred honors on him and set out to employ his services at the Song court. As a scholar, Zanning compiled numerous works, most of which have not survived. His surviving Buddhist compilations, the Song Gaoseng zhuan 宋高僧傳 and Da Song Seng shilüe 大宋僧史略, are our best sources for his understanding of Buddhism. The latter, in particular, offers a window into Zanning’s strategies for the administration of Buddhism, to “ensure . . . the lasting presence of the True Dharma” (令正法久住).55 It is for this secular aim that Zanning dedicates his focus on the role of the Buddhist clergy and the institutional structures and administrative positions supporting it. For Zanning, erecting residences for Buddhist monks is associated not with establishing their Buddhist institutional independence, as one might expect, but with subordinating Buddhism to the administrative structure of Chinese bureaucracy. The Chinese logograph si 寺, translated as “court” in the Court for Dependencies (honglu si) and “monastery” in the case of the White Horse Monastery (baima si), is the same in each case. As Zanning notes, si 寺 was originally the name for a government office (si 司), and when monks first arrived in China they were housed in public (i.e., government) offices (gongsi 公司) under the jurisdiction of the Court for Dependencies (honglu si 鴻臚寺). Even after they were transferred to lodgings specially constructed for them, the new lodging retained the designation si 寺 as an indication of their foreign origins.56 According to Zanning, even though the Buddhist monastery adopts the name for a government agency, this does not diminish the Buddhist work carried out inside it.57 In other words, in spite of the fact that Buddhism is legitimized through subordination within the Chinese imperial bureaucratic structure, the integrity of its activities as a Buddhist institution remains intact. This lies at the heart of Zanning’s dual system of Buddhist administration: external government oversight coupled with internal monastic administration. Chinese administrative practices do not impede (but rather, enhance) Buddhist institutional functions. Accordingly, the internal administration of the monastery was a Buddhist matter, carried out by a monk in charge of monastery administration, the saṃgha administrator (zhishi seng 知事僧), or karmadāna, translated into Chinese either as zhishi 知事, “administrator,” or yuezhong 悅眾, “[the one who] Brings Joy to the Assembly” (as he delighted the assembly by administering its affairs).58 The term zhishi 知事 was also used for appointments to the imperial bureaucracy. Hucker translates the term as “Administrative
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Clerk,”59 referring to a low-ranking official found throughout many agencies. It is also sometimes rendered as chargé d’affaires. While the appointment and selection of saṃgha administrators was an internal matter for the Buddhist order in India, the case was different in China, where the emperor, rather than the Buddha or any Buddhist representative, initiated (at least officially) the appointment of saṃgha officials. Zanning sees no problem with imperial control over Buddhism. It is the imperial prerogative of an emperor, after consolidating power over the empire, to make reforms in what influences affect the people; some emperors reform the rites and music (liyue 禮樂) of the empire;60 some make changes in the official bureaucracy (guansi 官司).61 Each emperor has the right to establish the parameters of his rule, including the organization of his administration.62 While saṃgha officials were ordained monks, they were appointed to their positions and awarded ranks and salaries by the emperor, like any other member of the civil bureaucracy. From the outset, saṃgha monk- administrators were incorporated into the structure of the imperial bureaucracy as civil servants. Among the various administrative positions held by Buddhists, two stand out in terms of their importance for administrating the saṃgha in the Chinese context, Buddhist rectors (sengzheng 僧正) and Buddhist registrars (senglu 僧錄). The rationale for implementing the position of Buddhist rector is outlined by Zanning: “After a Buddhist Section (sengcao 僧曹) [of the government bureaucracy] was established, the ‘pure assembly’ (jingzhong 淨眾; i.e., Buddhist clergy)63 was said to be regulated. The administrative methods (guanfang 官 方)64 that were instituted ultimately made [members of the Buddhist clergy] comply with Buddhist teaching.”65 In China, the Buddhist clergy was often criticized by the government for its illegal or idiosyncratic practices, as a means to escape taxation, military service, criminal punishment, or simply as a somewhat legitimate escape for idlers. Institutionalization meant regulation, serving to rid the clergy of excesses, real or perceived, and make its members follow Buddhist teaching more devoutly.66 The Buddhist registrar (senglu) was the leading Buddhist administrative position in the Chinese Empire. The full title held by Buddhist registrars was “Buddhist registrar for [monasteries situated in] the left (or right) precincts [of the capital]” (zuojie senglu 左街僧錄 or youjie senglu 右街僧錄). In some cases, the same person held responsibility for both the left and right precincts and was so designated (zuoyoujie senglu 左右街僧錄). This was a title held by Zanning himself. The duties of the registrar were to officially register the
Hangzhou Buddhism in Historical Perspective 41
1. “Clergy Appointment” (sengxuan 僧選):69 one meets the required standards for scripture recitation (songjing 誦經) and obtains a passing grade in the administered test. 2. “Removing Ordinary Clothing [to assume official duties]” (shihe 釋 褐);70 one is tonsured and dons the kasâya.71 3. “Official Rank” (guanwei 官位): one is granted the formal and formless precepts by official decree.72 4. “Tathâgata Representative” (rulai shi 如來使): one lectures on the teachings of the tripitaka. 5. “Instructor of the People” (limin 理民): one instructs people at both Buddhist and non-Buddhist assemblies. Elite Buddhists form a special category of Buddhist nobility, whose designation in Chinese as Buddhist junzi (famen junzi 法門君子) reveals their association with the Confucian model of gentlemanly nobility, the junzi 君 子, and moral exemplar. As in the case of Confucian officials and nobility, Buddhists are unwavering in their support for “king and country” and are resolved in carrying out the imperial will. The imperatives of the Buddhist clergy are to practice the Way for the sake of the country, to protect the people, and to alleviate disasters,73 and in these ways to contribute to the execution of the imperial mandate. Officially ordained monks, as Buddhist “bureaucrats” at officially designated monasteries (i.e., government institutions), were
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members of the clergy throughout the empire, in other words to oversee the entire Buddhist clergy.67 One consequence of the successful embedding of Buddhism within Chinese bureaucratic structures was tighter administrative control. As Buddhist institutions and the Buddhist clergy became arms of the administrative system, they were compelled to abide by the bureaucratic rules and structures determined by that system. And as membership in the Buddhist clergy acquired prestige, procuring ordination certificates that legitimized one’s status as an officially sanctioned monk (or nun) became increasingly desirable. As clergy bore the responsibilities and privileges of civil servants, they were administered in similar ways. In the Song dynasty, the examination system became firmly entrenched as the primary means to admission into the ranks of officialdom, and the means to entrance into the Buddhist clergy mimicked this system. The Buddhist system entailed moving through five ranks (wupin 五品):68
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charged with fulfilling these tasks, and government monasteries carried out routines that were determined by the imperial agenda. As Buddhism faced its greatest period of crises in the early Song dynasty (960–1278), Zanning’s proposals epitomize the strategy for survival in the face of mounting criticisms from a confident, resurgent Confucianism. While some Buddhists were wary of the degree to which official Buddhist monks and institutions were co-opted into the Confucian system of imperial protocols, Zanning vindicated imperial control over Buddhist affairs, believing that increased imperial oversight was beneficial to the Buddhist clergy as well.74 In terms of the wen 文 (literary/cultural) revival, which the Song dynasty staked its mandate on, Zanning argued against the exclusion of Buddhism from the category of Chinese wen. As a Chinese tradition, China’s Buddhist literature deserved to be included. In the early Song, aided by the strong charismatic authority of Song emperors, support for wen was more uniform, and it was feasible to argue for the expansion of wen categories to include Buddhist wen. As views on wen became polarized, promoters of guwen 古 文 (classical wen, i.e., Confucianism) defined wen in highly exclusive terms and restricted it to the Confucian literary tradition of antiquity predating the arrival of Buddhism in China and the development of Buddhist literary traditions. In this new climate, Zanning’s views seemed anachronistic and fell out of fashion with the strident anti-Buddhism of the guwen faction. As the dynasty progressed, officials advocating guwen made significant inroads at the Song court. Allies headed by Fan Zhongyan 范仲淹 (989–1052) succeeded in promoting active (youwei 有為) governing based on guwen policies, denouncing Buddhist and Daoist sanction of quietist, nonactive (wuwei 無為) governing. They refused to accept Buddhism or Daoism as ethical teachings and strove to reform the examination system to promote those whose ethical behavior and political idealism conforming to guwen principles. Shi Jie 石介 (1005–1045) set out to combat the pernicious effect of Buddhism and Daoism on “true” morality. Ouyang Xiu 歐陽修 (1007– 1072) made guwen criteria the pretext for passing the imperial exams when he was appointed director of examinations in 1057. To the extent that the guwen agenda gripped official opinion, Buddhism was excluded from positive consideration. In spite of the advancing guwen Confucian agenda, Zanning’s influence was felt in Buddhist literati circles. Qisong 契嵩 (1007–1072), who resided at Lingyin si 靈隱寺, spoke of the compatibility of Buddhist and Confucian
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teachings in a way reminiscent of Zanning: “Confucianism and Buddhism are the teachings of sages. Although what they produced was not the same, yet they both revert to governing. For Confucians, the greatness of the sage was in action; for Buddhists, the greatness of the sage was in non-action. Action is for governing the world, non-action is for governing the mind.”75 Qisong highlights the usefulness of Buddhism in a Confucian context, how they are both the teaching of sages and both about the Confucian concern for governing (zhi 治). While Confucian governing is directed at “action” (youwei 有為) or governing the world, Buddhist governing is directed at “nonaction” (wuwei 無為) or governing the mind. In this effort, Confucianism and Buddhism are united in a common aim: “What Confucians call humaneness, righteousness, ritual, wisdom, and trust are what we Buddhists call compassion, charity, reverence, lack of self-pride, wisdom, no false talk or ornate speech. Although these designations are not the same, they were established to promote sincere practice. How do they differ in [their aim] to teach people to improve the world?”76 Like Zanning, Qisong’s concern was to unite Buddhist teaching to Confucianism’s secular aim of governing, insisting that Buddhist training could aid in this effort. In a manner not dissimilar to Zanning’s, Qisong advocated tethering Buddhist thought to the norms of Confucianism. Echoing Zanning, Qisong advised the emperor that the fortunes of Buddhist teaching depend on the sagely wisdom of the emperor and, as a result, maintains that Buddhists make the teaching of engagement their stated purpose and do not “abandon themselves to grasses and thickets,” the eremitic life, instead of relying on the emperor.77 A secularized Dharma, in short, is the best way to ensure the longevity and prosperity of Buddhism.78 In a more indirect but nonetheless instrumental way, Zanning’s call for strict administrative coherence may also be connected to the development of qinggui 清規 (Rules for Purification) prevalent in Song Chan monasteries. These were supplements to the formal monastic rules stipulated in the Four Part Vinaya 四分律, or Dharmaguptaka Vinaya,79 and the Brahmajāla Sūtra 梵網經,80 necessitated by the secularized culture of Song Buddhism. The Chanyuan qinggui 禪苑清規 (Rules for Purification at Chan Monasteries) stipulated numerous addenda to accommodate actual practices at Chan institutions in the Song, and therefore legitimize them.81 Just as Zanning’s Seng shilüe described the protocols to administer Buddhism at a macro level, the Chanyuan qinggui advised on how to administer the Chan monastery internally, at a micro level. One theme that unites both is the secularized aspect
44 A Tale of Two Stūpas
Concluding Remarks: Song Dynasty Buddhism In this chapter, I have attempted to address some key aspects of a reimagined Buddhism that proved formative for the new Buddhism of the Song dynasty. I have tried to move beyond assumptions of an underlying continuity with Tang traditions or assumptions of consistency between Song Chan narratives and Tang Chan realities. I have not, however, gone to the other extreme, to assert that the reimagined Buddhism of the Song dynasty is one of complete innovation without continuity or consistency with traditions that came before it.82 While the Dharma was “reimagined,” it was done with ample references to Indian prototypes, concepts, and inspirations. The whole notion of Wuyue as a Buddhist kingdom, with its Peak That Came Flying in (from India), the famed Vulture Peak, its Tianzhu (India) monasteries, King Qian Chu’s emulation of Aśoka to create eighty-four thousand stūpas, and so on, underscores the importance of the Indian imaginaire to the new developments in Wuyue. The “reimagined Dharma” that I suggest took its inspiration from three works associated with monks from the region: the Zongjing lu 宗鏡錄 by Yongming Yanshou 永明延壽, the Da Song Seng shilüe 大宋僧史略 by Zanning 贊寧, and the Jingde Chuandeng lu 景德傳燈錄 by Daoyuan 道 原. To underscore their provenance within the greater Buddhist tradition and to discuss their deviation from it in the burgeoning Buddhist world of tenth-century China and beyond, I looked at each of these as addenda to the three pillars of the Eightfold Noble Path of classical Buddhism: śila (moral
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of Buddhist administrative protocols. Viewed together, the Seng shilüe and Chanyuan qinggui are bookends for the administration Buddhism during the Song period. To summarize Zanning’s impact in terms of the current discussion, he imagined an administrative Buddhist model that incentivized its secularizing momentum, to provide a rationale for the presence of Buddhist institutions in the Chinese bureaucratic imagination. Embedded in the institutional structures of the Chinese state, Buddhism could exercise effective and positive benefits to Chinese culture and assume a valid and valued presence in Chinese society. The Chan institution in the Song dynasty inherited and built upon this rationale to form an indispensable network at the heart of Song culture and society. These developments contributed to a reimagined role for the saṃgha and the traditional role of the śila pillar in classical Buddhism.
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training), samādhi (mental training), and prajñā (training in wisdom). Without casting aside the previous tradition, I view these addenda as foundational to the formulations that remade Chinese Buddhism with new frames for success in the Song environment. I call this remade Chinese Buddhism “Neo-Buddhism,” a term that admittedly finds no expression in the Chinese language of the period, but like its counterpart, “Neo-Confucianism,” is an apt description of the transformations that characterized its redefinition. Beyond the narratives of decline, of underlying continuity and consistency, or of innovation as invoked to explain Tang-Song Buddhist transitions, there is the issue of Buddhist transitions more generally. While this is hardly an unknown phenomenon, is there a methodology we might invoke to approach these transitions more systematically? And if so, what understandings might this yield regarding the consistency, adaptability, and innovation of Buddhist traditions more generally? What I have proposed here is using the tripartite pillar structure of the Buddhist Eightfold Path––ś ila, samādhi, and prajñā– –as a method by which to address the issue of Buddhist transition. The three pillars are the core of Buddhist training; they define what Buddhism is and how it is applied in actual historical situations. By investigating the circumstances and the details of actual applications, we can determine the nature and character of the interpretation of Buddhism being proffered. Transitional moments in history, like the dynastic change in the background of my study here, force upon religious traditions like Buddhism challenges and opportunities to reframe and reinterpret their message. Indeed, such reframing and reinterpretation are essential to a tradition’s survival. Yet, like any organism undergoing stress, a tradition must come to terms with its past (who and what it is) while assessing its future prospects (who and what it might be). A tradition’s survival depends on how the community adapts to these pressures in the immediate lives of its members. There is no doubt that the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period of Chinese history, situated between the decline of the Tang and the Song resurgence, represented immediate challenges and opportunities to members of Buddhist communities. Faced with the collapse of civilizational norms around them and a wholesale transformation of society, Buddhist communities in Wuyue responded to the challengers of the era in the ways that I have described above. King Qian Chu, Yongming Yanshou, Daoyuan, and Zanning were all leading figures in a reimagined Buddhism that went on to thrive and prosper in the new Song environment. As such, they belong among the luminaries of the Hangzhou Buddhist tradition.
3 Yongming Stūpa As its image faded, [the stūpa] fell into a deep chasm for seven- hundred years. How many transmitted the flickering lamp through the long dark night? I do not begrudge wielding the power of the sword to lift the darkness, Wisdom-Sun (i.e., Yanshou) shines once more, illuminating the great chiliocosm. 影昃虞淵七百年, 一燈長夜幾人傳, 魯陽莫惜揮戈力, 慧日重光照大千. —Shi Dahuo 釋大壑, Jingci Monastery Gazetteer 淨慈寺志 11.789
The Life and Legend of Yongming Yanshou The origins of the Yongming Stūpa 永明塔 are rooted in the life and legend of Yongming Yanshou 永明延壽 (904–975), a celebrated Buddhist monk who was born and raised in the vicinity of Hangzhou and spent his career in the region. During his lifetime the area, roughly equivalent to today’s Zhejiang Province, was controlled by the Kingdom of Wuyue, and his association with the rulers and Buddhist leaders in Wuyue determined the course of his life. I have written in detail elsewhere about Yanshou’s life and the evolution of events associated with him in various biographical projections, and what I present here is a summary of my previous findings.1 The earliest records of Yanshou’s life were compiled by fellow Wuyue monks who presumably had access to local sources of information and knew Yanshou’s associates. Zanning’s 贊寧 record in the Song Gaoseng zhuan 宋高僧傳 (Biographies of Eminent Monks Compiled in the Song Dynasty) was issued in 988, a mere twelve years A Tale of Two St u¯pas. Albert Welter, Oxford University Press. © Oxford University Press 2022. DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780197606636.003.0003
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The Origins and Development of the
The Origins and Development of the Yongming Stūpa 47
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after Yanshou’s passing.2 Following a pan-Buddhist template established in the gaoseng zhuan 高僧傳 (Biographies of Eminent Monks) genre, with slight variation, Zanning categorized eminent monks according to ten types: (1) translators of scripture 譯經 (yijing); (2) expounders of righteousness, or exegetes 義解 (yijie); (3) practitioners of meditation 習禪 (xichan); (4) experts in vinaya 明律 (minglu); (5) protectors of Dharma 護法 (hufa); (6) miraculous responses 感通 (gantong); (7) those who give up their bodies 遺身 (yishen); (8) chanters of scripture 讀誦 (dusong); (9) promoters of blessings 興福 (xingfu); and (10) miscellaneous professionals 雜科 (zake). Within this context, Zanning categorized Yanshou as a “promoter of blessings” (xingfu 興 福) and not a “practitioner of Chan (or meditation)” (xichan 習禪). Zanning’s alleged “negligence” was a foreshadowing of the vicissitudes that the image of Yanshou would be subjected to. Later hagiographers would struggle to identify Yanshou as an assiduous Chan practitioner and exemplar of one of Chan’s leading lineages, on the one hand, or an advocate of the practice of myriad good deeds (wanshan 萬善) in pursuit of the common destination (tonggui 同歸) that all Buddhist endeavors, without exception, propel one toward. In contrast to Zanning’s pan-Buddhist categorization, Daoyuan 道原 compiled the Jingde Chuandeng lu 景德傳燈錄 (Record of the Transmission of the Lamp Compiled in the Jingde Era), devoted to documenting various regional Chan factions into a comprehensive whole. The Record was completed in 1004, edited by literati at the Song court, and issued in 1011. It marked a major milestone for Buddhism in China, particularly the Chan school. It was the first imperially sanctioned Buddhist work, and the first Chan work to be entered into the Chinese Buddhist canon. Promoted by Emperor Zhenzong and leading Chinese literati like Yang Yi 楊億, it served two vital functions for the Song dynasty. Politically, it envisioned a consolidation of regional and diverse Chan Buddhist movements into one comprehensive system in an attempt to mirror the same harmony that Song dynastic authority brought to regionally diverse and separate, independent regimes formed throughout China in the wake of the decline and collapse of the Tang dynasty. Culturally, the Chan of the Jingde Chuandeng lu was promoted as an example of a new and unique, Song-style wen 文 culture that exemplified an open and spontaneous approach to literary expression. As reviewed in the previous chapter, in Yang Yi’s vision, Chan became a “special practice outside the teachings” (jiaowai biexiu 教外別修), an early formulation of the codification of Chan as a “special transmission outside the teaching” (jiaowai biechuan 教外別傳), that became its distinctive feature. On a larger scale,
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Chan came to exemplify the spontaneous, natural expression of the human spirit that Yang Yi sought to establish as an inspiration for Song’s distinctive literary culture.3 Following Daoyuan’s Chan sectarian-inspired criterion, Yanshou’s life took on a distinctly Chan persona, evidenced by enigmatic dialogues and poetic utterances representative of an alleged enlightened state that transcended reliance on rational or doctrinal formulations.4 In spite of the different ways in which Yanshou’s life was portrayed, there was consistency about some aspects. Both works concur that Yanshou was fond of reciting the Lotus Sūtra 法華經 and was a devoted practitioner of meditation (xiding 習定), cultivating samādhi on Tianzhu Peak in the Tiantai Mountains for a period of ninety days, where quail-like birds allegedly nested in the folds of his robes (and in one source, a flock of sheep knelt around him). The dual emphases on Lotus Sūtra–based Buddhist practice and devotion to meditation underscore the two interpretations of Yanshou drawn in the Song Gaoseng zhuan and Jingde Chuandeng lu. Both records also concur that although Yanshou was a devoted Buddhist early on, he began his career in a more conventional role, as a civil servant, either a surveillance officer in charge of procuring military provisions or a military officer of the Huating Commandery.5 We also know that he left this post at the age of twenty-eight in order to join the Buddhist clergy. The circumstances associated with this transition are obscure, but it came to represent a key element in the legends that developed around Yanshou’s life. The Song Gaoseng zhuan simply claims, without regard to a specific context, that King Qian regarded Yanshou with the utmost esteem and requested he perform the vast remorse repentance ritual, one of Tiantaiʼs methods of inducing samādhi,6 to redeem living beings and set animals free in an all-embracing show of love and compassion. He sometimes intervened improperly in this regard, we are told, but the remark that his facial expression remained unperturbed is left dangling without explanation. The Jingde Chuandeng lu claims that when Yanshou was stationed at Huating Commandery, he moved to Longce Monastery 龍冊寺 to join Chan Master Cuiyan 翠巖 and experienced a profound transformation. At the time, King Wenmu 文穆王 (Qian Yuanguan 錢元瓘) of Wuyue understood Yanshou’s yearnings toward Buddhism and subsequently accommodated his desire to release animals and allowed him to leave home to become a monk. The circumstances precipitating Yanshou’s transmission from secular military official to Buddhist monk remained enigmatic. What is alluded to is filled out in future accounts.
The Origins and Development of the Yongming Stūpa 49
Table 3.1 Brief Chronology of Yanshou’s Life 1. Pre-monastic period: birth, youth, officialdom (904–932) • Born in Yuhang 餘杭 district of Qiantang 錢塘 (Hangzhou) • Culminating with position in the Wuyue civil administration as surveillance officer in charge of procuring military provisions or a military officer of the Huating Commandery 2. Study under Cuiyan 翠巖; move with Cuiyan to Longce Monastery 龍冊寺 (932–?) • Transition from civil official to Buddhist monk with permission granted by Wuyue King Wenmu. 3. Study under Deshao 德韶: tenure on Mount Tiantai 天台山 (?–952) • Later designated third-generation descendant in Chan lineage of Fayan Wenyi 法眼文益 4. Period as abbot at Mount Xuedou 雪竇山 (952–960) • First abbotship; traditional dating of the Zongjing lu dates from the end of this period 5. Period as abbot of Lingyin Monastery 靈隱寺 (960–961) • Invitation to head one of the leading Chan monasteries in Qiantang (Hangzhou) 6. Period as abbot of Yongming Monastery 永明寺 (961–975) • Invitation to head the newly built Yongming Monastery and become leading Buddhist master of the Wuyue Kingdom; Wanshan tonggui ji compiled during this period 7. Death on Mount Tiantai (975) • Stūpa erected on Mount Daci, located southwest of West Lake in Hangzhou Source: Adapted and enhanced from Albert Welter, The Meaning of Myriad Good Deeds: A Study of Yung-ming Yen-shou, 44–49.
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The basic trajectory of Yanshou’s career is outlined in these two early sources (see Table 3.1). After renouncing his career as a military officer and becoming a monk at age twenty-eight,7 studying under Cuiyan at Longce Monastery, Yanshou eventually received certification of his status from the national preceptor 國師 of Wuyue, Tiantai Deshao 天台德韶, who also issued a prediction: “You are fated to be brought together with our military leader. Be assured that at another time [in future], you will make Buddhism flourish greatly.”8 This prediction motif was an important aspect of how Buddhism developed in Wuyue, according to recorded remembrances. Deshao was a key initiator. Prince Zhongyi, the future King Qian Chu, owed his success as Wuyue monarch to the support he received from Deshao. Deshao reputedly encouraged the young local commander to mount his bid for the throne from his position in Taizhou 台州, where Deshao was installed as abbot on Mount Tiantai. When the rulership faced a crisis with the death of Zhongxian 忠獻 (r. 941–947), followed quickly by the passing of Zhongxun
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忠遜 (r. 947–948), Deshao reportedly predicted of Zhongyi, “In future you will become ruler. Do not forget the gratitude [you owe] to Buddhism.”9 Soon after Zhongyi’s successful ascent to the throne, he summoned Deshao, some forty years his senior, to the capital and appointed him national preceptor of Wuyue, where he served as senior spiritual advisor to the young, newly crowned ruler. According to Yanshou’s biography, Deshao predicted the future ascent of Yanshou to a similar role under a Wuyue kingdom ruled by Deshao’s protégé, Qian Chu. Following his experience with Deshao on Mount Tiantai, Yanshou moved to Mount Xuedou 雪竇山 in Mingzhou 明州, where he served as abbot for many years. In the first year of the jianlong era (960), Zhongyi (Qian Chu) requested that Yanshou take up residence as founding abbot of the newly rebuilt Lingyin Monastery 靈隱寺 in Hangzhou. The following year, he invited Yanshou to take up residence as the second abbot of the newly built Yongming Great Practice Hall 永明大道場 (a.k.a. Yongming Monastery 永明寺), the most important Buddhist institution in Hangzhou, where Yanshou propagated official Buddhist teaching until his death in 975.10 Two records compiled in the Southern Song dynasty (1127–1279) contributed to dramatic shifts in how Yanshou’s life story was told. The Longshu Jingtu wen 龍舒淨土文 (Writings from Longshu on the Pure Land), compiled in 1160, begins almost immediately with the discussion of Yanshou’s transition from lay to Buddhist life.11 It notes that he started out as a district military officer and often handled government funds. When he was investigated, it was found that he spent money to buy and release animals as an act of Buddhist compassion. The punishment for this crime was death. While the sentence may seem harsh, insubordination by military officers in times of war could easily be deemed a threat to national security. When he was led to the public square to be sentenced, the king of Wuyue, Qian Yuanguan, sent a representative to gauge his reaction. If Yanshou’s countenance changed (i.e., showed apprehension and fear), then the order was to execute him. If it did not change, the man was to return and report this. At the prospect of execution, Yanshou’s countenance remained unchanged. As a result, he was pardoned and subsequently became a monk. The Lebang Wenlei 樂邦文 類 (Topical Anthology of the Land of Bliss), compiled in 1200, provides an equally dramatic and detailed account.12 The dramatic story surrounding Yanshou’s change of career provides affirmation of the sincerity of his Buddhist character, of course, but it is also a significant comment on the nature of rule in Wuyue. That the king of Wuyue,
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Qian Yuanguan, pardoned Yanshou’s seditious behavior stands in marked contrast to the militaristic tenor of the times outside of Wuyue, especially in the North. In the prevailing climate of hostility, warlord emperors, rulers of the so-called Five Dynasties (907–959), embarked on punitive campaigns to assure their dominance. Their hostility was also reflected in harsh measures against Buddhism, culminating in Later Zhou dynasty Emperor Shizong’s anti- Buddhist campaign in 955, frequently counted among the major Buddhist persecutions in Chinese history. By fostering a regime based on the Buddhist principles of peace and compassion, Wuyue rulers attempted to provide an alternative model for rulership in turbulent times. It was a culture of wen that prized literary refinement in an era when others prided themselves on having the martial spirit of wu. It was further distinguished in the Chinese context in that the type of wen culture espoused was decisively Buddhist. In the Southern Song dynasty records, the Longshu Jingtu wen and Lebang Wenlei, Yanshou’s life acquired new events designed to show him as divinely appointed. While practicing the Lotus Sūtra repentance ritual at Guoqing Monastery 國清寺, the main monastery of the Tiantai School on Mount Tiantai, Yanshou circumambulated an image of Puxian (Samantabhadra) Bodhisattva during the night as part of the ritual. While doing so, a lotus flower offered to Puxian suddenly appeared in his hand. This caused Yanshou to consider two long-held vows he had made about his Buddhist career: (1) to constantly chant the Lotus Sūtra throughout his life and (2) to devote his life to providing benefits to all living beings. While he recollected these two vows, he also admitted to the joy he found in quiet meditation (chanji 禪寂). Perplexed and full of doubt, not being able to decide for himself on which of the paths to proceed––the two vows or quiet meditation––he proceeded to the Meditation Hall of Zhiyi 智顗, the founder of the Tiantai School, and wrote down two choices on two pieces of paper. The first choice stipulated that he wholeheartedly practice silent meditation (chanding 禪 定), the second that he devote himself to chanting the Lotus Sūtra, performing myriad good deeds (wanshan 萬善), and adorning the Pure Land. To assure himself beyond all doubt that the path was the correct one, he resolved that the lot must be selected seven times in succession. After fervent prayers to the Buddhas and Patriarchs, he drew the second choice–– chanting the Lotus Sūtra, performing myriad good deeds, and cultivating the Pure Land––t he required seven times. As a result, Yanshou became completely devoted to activities that lead to birth in the Pure Land. Moreover,
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while engaged in meditative contemplation (changuan 禪觀), he had a vision that Guanyin (Avalokiteśvara) Bodhisattva sprinkled his mouth with sweet dew. Consequently, he acquired the rhetorical skill of Guanyin and went on to fill several hundred rolls of scrolls with his writings, including his two most famous works, the Wanshan tonggui ji 萬善同歸集 (Anthology on the Common Destiny of Myriad Good Deeds) and Zongjing lu 宗鏡錄 (Records of the Source-Mirror).13 In this way, the Longshu Jingtu wen and Lebang Wenlei propose that divine interventions by two leading bodhisattvas, Puxian and Guanyin, were the key inspirations for Yanshou’s life and career. The Chan seeker of the Jingde Chuandeng lu had been replaced by the Pure Land advocate dedicated to saving living beings. Two records compiled at the end of the Southern Song, the Shimen Zhengtong 釋門正統 (Orthodox Transmission of Buddhism),14 compiled in 1237, and the Fozu Tongji 佛祖統紀 (Complete Chronicle of the Buddhas and Patriarchs),15 compiled in 1269, represent a culmination of Tiantai historiographical attempts to forge Yanshou’s image as a Pure Land master. In the Shimen Zhengtong, Yanshou is placed under the category of “Dharma protectors” (hufa 護法) and his Pure Land credentials enhanced. When the list of his works is tallied (as a result of being anointed by Guanyin), they include five works of verses of praise (fu 賦), in addition to the Wanshan tonggui ji.16 The Zongjing lu is not listed by name, specifying only that Yanshou completed several hundred fascicles of miscellaneous works. In addition, Yanshou’s career on Mount Xuedou and at Jingci Monastery was reconceived to accentuate his dedication to Pure Land practices.17 In the Fozu Tongji, Yanshou is elevated to the status of Pure Land Patriarch. Over time, Yanshou’s association with the Pure Land grew, and, as documented as early as the Southern Song dynasty in the Longshu Jingtu wen, a cult developed to worship at his stūpa (see the next section). In the Ming dynasty, Yanshou’s status in the Buddhist community is enhanced even further, as a manifestation of Amitābha Buddha. Yu Chunxi 虞淳 熙 (1553–1621), writing around the time of the rededication of Yanshou’s stūpa in the early seventeenth century, claimed, “Yanshou was affirmed by the long-eared monk (i.e., Maitreya) to be the response body of Amitābha.”18 Huang Ruheng 黃汝亨 (1558–1626) on the same occasion commented, “Chan Master Yongming [Yan]Shou was born in the first year of the tianyou era (904) of Tang Dynasty Emperor Zhaozong. He was affirmed by the long- eared monk to be the response body of Amitābha. Tiantai refers to him as Ajita.”19 Ajita is one of sixteen arhats who vowed to stay in this world to
The Origins and Development of the Yongming Stūpa 53
The Yongming Stūpa After Yanshou’s death, the Song Gaoseng zhuan and Jingde Chuandeng lu note that a stūpa was erected on Mount Daci 大慈山, a mountain in Qiantang County, located to the southwest of West Lake, Hangzhou. As legends surrounding Yanshou grew, his stūpa became a pilgrimage destination. The Jingci Monastery Gazetteer 淨慈寺志 (formerly Yongming Monastery 永明 寺), issued in the fourteenth year of the guangxu era of the Qing dynasty (1888; originally dated from the tenth hear of jiaqing, 1805),21 includes two fascicles dedicated to “stūpa pavilions” (tayuan 塔院), the first of which is entirely devoted to the Yongming Stūpa 永明塔, and includes twenty-one memorials, remembrances, tributes, poems, etc., by fourteen literati, all dating from the Ming dynasty save for the first one and the last one from the Qing.22 Most are written around the time of the reconsecration of the stūpa
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ensure the transmission of the correct dharma to Maitreya 彌勒 (and sometimes regarded as an epitaph for Maitreya). In either case, Yanshou was connected to an enlightened future, either in the present world in the age of Maitreya, or in the Pure Land of Amitābha. Regardless of the Tiantai attribution, it was the identification of Yanshou as an incarnation of Amitābha that became important. The apotheosis of Yanshou, his elevation to divine status, is an adaptation that fuses an Indian Buddhist deity with Chinese ideas regarding the incarnation of divine beings. Confucian thought discusses how humans (ren 人) are generated by Heaven (tian 天), how ren 仁 (benevolence or virtue) is inscribed in human nature (xing 性) as a heavenly endowment, and how humanity, in a sense, is an incarnation of Heaven endowed with this virtue. Huangdi, the legendary Yellow Emperor and sage-ruler of antiquity, is an example of the incarnation of Heaven who exhibits this virtue to an exemplary degree. The Confucian apogees of this model, the junzi 君子 and the sage (shengren 聖人), represent the attainment of virtue endowed by Heaven, sometimes culminating in deification, as with Confucius himself. Although the rationale may change according to religion, the apotheotic tendency is consistent among Chinese traditions. In Daoism, numerous mortals have been deified, such as the Eight Immortals, and military generals like Fan Kuai, Guan Yu, and Yue Fei.20 Following a Buddhist model of apotheosis in China, Yanshou was deified as an incarnation of Amitãbha.
54 A Tale of Two Stūpas in the Ming dynasty in the early seventeenth century. Here are the authors and titles of their memorials are listed below: Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/book/44471/chapter/376421277 by Cairns Library, University of Oxford user on 16 May 2023
1. Jixiang Zhuyun 際祥主雲, abbot, compiler of fascicle 1123 • The Stupa of Patriarch Yongming 永明祖塔 2. Wu Yongxian 吳用先 (1558–1626)24 • Preface to the Epitaph for the Stūpa Remains of Chan Master Yongming Wisdom-Enlightened in the Five Dynasties 五代永明智覺禪師舍利塔名並序 3. Yu Chunxi 虞淳熙 (1553–1621)25 • Record of the Worship Kiosk for the Stūpa Erected for Wisdom-Enlightened 智覺塔樹亭崇報誌 • Short Inscription Contained at the Stūpa of Wisdom-Enlightened26 智覺塔藏碣小銘 4. Huang Ruheng 黃汝亨 (1558–1626)27 • Note on the Reconstruction of the Stūpa Pavilion of Chan Master Yongming [Yan]shou28 重建永明壽禪師塔院記 5. Nie Xintang 聶心湯 (d.u.)29 • Hidden Stele on the Topic of the Stūpa Remains of Yongming 題永明舍利塔碑陰 6. Yu Chunxi 虞淳熙 (see 3) • An Appraisal of the Sudubo (Stūpa) of Chan Master Shouning30 壽寧禪師窣堵波辧 • Commentary on Solicitations for the Yongming Stūpa Pavilion 永明塔院募田疏 7. Cao Xuequan 曹學佺 (1574–1646) • Commentary on Stūpa Pavilion for the Remains of Chan Master Yongming [Yan]shou 永明壽禪師舍利塔院疏 8. Huang Ruheng 黃汝亨 (see 4) • Commentary on Solicitations to All the People for Building the Yongming Stūpa Pavilion 募建永明塔院萬人緣疏 • Commentary on Solicitations for the Yongming Stūpa Pavilion 永明塔院募田疏
The Origins and Development of the Yongming Stūpa 55
Many of the contributors listed here belong to what Jennifer Eichman refers to as the Chinese Buddhist Fellowship of the late sixteenth century,
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9. Wang Zhideng 王穉登 (1535–1636)31 • Commentary on Solicitation for the Yongming Stūpa 永明塔募田疏 10. Ge Yinliang 葛寅亮 (1570–1646)32 • Record on Solicitations for the Yongming Stūpa Pavilion 永明塔院田記33 11. Wang Zhideng 王穉登 (see 9) • Poem [Congratulating] Honorable He on the Completion of Reconstruction of the Stūpa of Patriarch Yongming 壑公重建永明祖塔成詩 12. Shi Ruxiao 釋如曉 (d.u.) • Poem on the Yongming Stūpa 永明塔詩 13. Chen Jichou 陳繼疇 (d.u., jinshi 1583) • Poem on the Yongming Stūpa 永明塔詩 14. Xu Guangzuo 許光祚 (fl. ca. 1619) • Poem on the Yongming Stūpa 永明塔詩 15. Shi Dahuo 釋大壑 (1576–1627)34 • Poem and Preface on the Transfer of the Stūpa35 遷塔詩并序 16. Yu Chunxi 虞淳熙 (see 3 and 6) • Poem for Vinaya Master Heyuan on the Transfer of the Stūpa 和元律法師遷塔詩36 17. Yu Chunzhen 虞淳貞 (d.u., brother of Yu Chunxi)37 • Untitled poem 18. Huang Shugu 黃樹糓 (1701–1751) • The Recitations of Thirty Rhymed Poems on the Transfer of the Stūpa by Descendants of Yongming, Residing in the Myriad Peaks Lodge at Jingci [Monastery] on the Eve before the Winter Solstice in the Guichou Year of Yongzheng [1736], for the Honorable [Da]huo 雍正癸丑冬夜宿淨慈萬峰房,示永明後人三十首,用壑公遷 塔詩韻
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formed around Yunqi Zhuhong 雲棲祩宏 (Lianchi Zhuhong 蓮池祩宏, 1535–1615).38 He was the leader of an active Buddhist lay movement that included many of the leading literati of his day.39 Zhuhong is credited with the renewal of Buddhism in the late Ming dynasty40 and regarded as one of four eminent Buddhist masters of the period, along with Hanshan Deqing 憨山德清 (1546–1623), Daguan Zhenke 達觀真可 (Zibo Zhenke 紫栢真 可, 1543–1603), and Ouyi Zhixu 蕅益智旭 (1599–1655). Along with Deqing and Zhenke, Zhuhong intended to revive Chan by advocating Chan and Pure Land joint practice.41 Of the four, Zhuhong was situated at Yunqi Monastery near West Lake, and from this perch, exercised considerable influence throughout the Jiangnan region.42 Yongming Yanshou emerged as a leading candidate for promotion in this endeavor. Yu Chunxi was the most prominent secular official on the list. Not only was he prominent in contemporary Buddhist circles; he was also among the most active literati in the Jiangnan region where Zhuhong was situated. He was a native of Qiantang, and after achieving the jinshi degree, he served as director of the Ministry of Military Affairs (bingbu 兵部) and as an official in the Ministry of Rites (libu 禮部). Yu Chunxi organized Hangzhou’s Luxurious Lotus Society under Zhuhong’s direction43 and was instrumental in the local Buddhist Fellowship. One enterprise that the Fellowship promoted was the formation of Releasing Life Societies (fangsheng hui 放生會), the Buddhist practice of freeing living things––typically fish, turtles, or birds. This aspiration was realized through the reconstruction of Wangong Pond 萬 工池 at Jingci (Pure Compassion) Monastery. The image of Yongming Yanshou loomed large over the proceedings for forming Releasing Life Societies. Yanshou was the first abbot of Yongming (later renamed) Jingci Monastery. Pardoned from his death sentence, as described earlier, Yanshou proceeded to become a monk and leading representative of the Wuyue Buddhist community. As a result, as Eichman states, Yanshou “became an inspirational symbol of this lost tradition” of releasing life.44 The loss and recovery of Yanshou’s relics, described below, became something of a cause célèbre for Yu Chunxi and the local community network, involving the current abbot of Jingci Monastery (and Yanshou’s heir), Yuanjin Dahuo 元津⼤ 壑, including Tao Wangling 陶望齡,45 Huang Ruheng,46 District Manager Nie Xintang, and Irrigation Circuit Intendant Wang Daoxian. Together they undertook to build a new stūpa for Yanshou connected with Jingci Monastery.47 Yuanjin Dahuo (Shi Dahuo) was an active leader in the local Buddhist community. He was the compiler of both the Nanping Jingci si zhi 南屏淨慈
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寺志 (Gazetteer of Jingci Monastery on [Mount] Nanping) during the wanli period (1573–1619) of the Ming dynasty and, most important in this context, the Yongming Daoji 永明道蹟 (Traces of the Path of Yongming).48 This text, edited by Yu Chunxi and Huang Ruheng with a preface by Tao Wangling, did much to enhance Yanshou’s profile among contemporary observers. Moreover, Dahuo was the first to claim Yanshou to be an incarnation of Amitābha. The incursion by the Jesuits around this time also factored into the background of the Yanhsou stūpa revival. The Jesuit presence was particularly acute in the Hangzhou region; as Jacques Gernet observed, “The early years of the seventeenth century were thus quite exceptional ones for the missionaries. They had as yet attracted few critics, and many members of the literate elite were won over by the ‘Western man of letters.’ ”49 Zhuhong and Yu Chunxi were both anxious to counter this trend, especially as one of its explicit aims was to “complement Confucianism and replace Buddhism (buru yifo 補儒易佛),”50 and “in the early days of their mission, it was Jesuits’ approval of Confucius and rejection of Buddhism that won them considerable sympathy in literate circles.”51 Zhuhong countered Matteo Ricci’s teachings with the tandem Buddhist teachings of “nonkilling” (jiesha 戒殺) and “releasing life” (fangsheng 放 生).52 Upon Zhuhong’s death in 1615, Yu Chunxi assumed the mantle of his master and engaged Ricci in letters, attempting to repudiate his “heresies” (poxie 破邪). Yu reiterated Zhuhong’s teachings on nonkilling and releasing life.53 This background is significant in explaining the motivations associated with the promotion of Yanshou as a prototypical model of the compassionate Buddhist and releaser of life. Catholic Christianity is well-known for its relic veneration, even though Catholic theology insists that sacred relics must not be worshiped. In the words of Saint Jerome: “We do not worship, we do not adore, for fear that we should bow down to the creature rather than to the Creator, but we venerate the relics of the martyrs in order the better to adore Him whose martyrs they are.”54 Regardless, Catholic relic veneration soon became a feature of the Jesuit mission. When Father Etienne Faber passed away in 1657 after more than twenty years preaching in China, he was honored as a local earth god (fang tudi 方土地) and his relics became the objects of pilgrimage.55 While this postdates the recovery, reestablishment, and worship of Yanshou’s relics, it points to shared dimensions in the rivalry between Buddhism and Christianity that went beyond the theoretical and doctrinal and extended into the realm of everyday worship. In this sense, the revival of
58 A Tale of Two Stūpas
There was a monk who daily circumambulated Yanshou’s stūpa and worshipped at it. When someone asked him why he did so, the monk replied: “I am a monk from Fuzhou 撫州 (Jiangxi). Owing to my malady, I ended up in hell. Before my fate there was resolved and I was released, I saw a hanging-scroll with a portrait of a monk in an alcove of the palace. King Yama himself came to prostrate before it. When I asked who it was, the official in charge told me, ‘This is Chan master [Yan]shou of Yongming Monastery in Hangzhou. When ordinary people die, they all pass through this place. This is the only person who did not do so. He is already in the highest of the highest stages of the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss. King [Yama] reveres him. That is why he worships at his portrait.’ When I heard this, I made a special vow to come here to circumambulate the stūpa and worship at it.” Because of this we know that
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the Yanshou stūpa bore a heavy responsibility in countering the thrust of the Jesuit mission to introduce Christianity in China, aimed primarily at the literate elite, and displace Buddhism as the preferred religion and complement to Confucianism. According to the Lingyin Monastery Gazetteer 靈隱寺誌, the stūpa was moved to the Zongjing Hall 宗鏡堂 at Jingci Monastery in the Ming dynasty.56 In spite of the recognition and adulation of Yanshou in the late Ming period by the illustrious literati patrons evidenced in the Lingyin Monastery Gazetteer, not everyone agreed that he was deserving of such praise. Yuan Hongdao 袁宏道 (1568–1610), in correspondence with Tao Wangling, argued that Yanshou was not fully awakened, as was evident from his extensive reliance on explanations in the Record of the Source-Mirror (Zongjing lu 宗鏡錄).57 Assessments such as these point to larger issues in the Chinese Buddhist community, particularly with regard to the status accorded Linji- faction Chan-style awakening that precluded and occluded the necessity for doctrinal discourse and verbose explanations. We know that preoccupation with the Yanshou stūpa predated the Ming dynasty and was evident in the Southern Song. Yanshou’s ability to “cheat death,” to escape a death sentence for crimes committed out of sincere Buddhist altruism, resonated through generations of practitioners, who projected upon Yanshou the attributes of a bodhisattva whose compassion for the living made him an intermediary for those seeking rebirth in the Pure Land. Nowhere is this more apparent than in an episode recorded in the Southern Song compilation the Longshu Jingtu wen:
The Origins and Development of the Yongming Stūpa 59 intensive cultivation for rebirth in the Pure Land is something respected even by those in hell.58
The stūpa of Patriarch Yongming was initially situated on Mt. Daci. The Patriarch passed away in the eighth year of the kaibao era (975), and his cremated remains were placed in a stūpa erected on the north-facing slope of the mountain the year following his death. King [Qian] Chu of Wuyue built a kiosk with a stele inscription inside. Song Emperor Taizong conferred an official plaque as “Shouning Chan Cloister” 壽寧禪院, and Chen Guan60 had an inscription carved on a tablet for it, written seven-hundred and forty years prior.61 Due to the periodic turbulence of the ground around the tomb, some of Chen Guan’s inscription became indecipherable. In the dingwei year of the wanli era [of the Ming dynasty] (1607), Dahuo62 moved it to the Zongjing Hall 宗鏡堂.
The postscript comment by Jixiang Zhuyun tells a slightly different story and provides updates regarding the repositioning of the stūpa in the Qing dynasty:63 The Stūpa Pavilion was initially moved from Mt. Daci and erected at the back of the Monastery, now behind the site of the Zongjing Hall. In the fifth year of the kangxi era (1665), it was again moved to the east of the monastery, its current location. A [stone] plaque at the entrance of the Hall reads: “Stūpa of Chan Master Wisdom-Enlightened, the Illuminator of Truth from Huiri Yongming [Monastery] in the Tang dynasty.” Later on,
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We have no evidence suggesting how widespread this worship of the Yanshou stūpa was. The elaborate explanation associated with the anonymous monk’s practice suggests it was a widely shared rationale and not an isolated occurrence. If so, the practice of worshiping at Yanshou’s stūpa has been more or less continuous from the middle of the twelfth century, a period of over 850 years. We can also infer that a hiatus occurred sometime prior to the reconsecration of the stūpa in the late Ming dynasty, discussed below, when the whereabouts of the stūpa became unknown and had to be rediscovered. In the Jingci Monastery Gazetteer, the abbot of Jingci Monastery and compiler of the Jingci Monastery Gazetteer, Jixiang Zhuyun 際祥主雲, wrote The Stupa of Patriarch Yongming 永明祖塔, citing from the Former Gazetteer of Jingci Monastery 淨慈寺舊志 to explain its history:59
60 A Tale of Two Stūpas
The abbot of Jingci Monastery responsible for transferring the stūpa, Dahuo, also provided information regarding the disposition of Yanshou’s relics in his Poem and Preface on the Transfer of the Stūpa 遷塔詩并序.65 He states that in the thirtieth (guise) year of the wanli era (1602), when the stūpa was destroyed by Mara’s evildoings, the relics were placed in a special box to the right of a stone crevice. Acknowledging that his own position at Jingci Monastery was a legacy from the Great Master Yanshou, Dahuo was grievously pained at what had become of Yanshou’s remains. Carrying a shovel, he climbed up the crags and dislodged it from the overgrown thicket that covered its resting place. He moved it to a stūpa he erected at the back of the monastery, near Lotus Flower Cave 蓮花洞. At its base was placed the calligraphy of the title of Yanshou’s most famous work, “Zongjing lu” 宗鏡錄, written for the Huiri Pavilion Library 慧日閣藏 by former Song Emperor Xiaozong (r. 1162–1189). Prior to this, Huang Ruheng 黃汝亨 noted that a doctor of the region put the coffin of his mother in the same grave with Yanshou’s remains, contaminating the site, in the twenty-first year (guisi) of the wanli era (1593).66 There are, however, discrepancies in the memories of how Yanshou’s remains were recovered. Yu Chunxi left two accounts of the recovery. In the first account, he speaks of how Dahuo learned of the existence of Yanshou’s remains from the current abbot of Jingci Monastery and Dahuo’s predecessor, Yunquan Xinglian. Indignant, Dahuo bribed the guard of the cemetery and privately gathered eleven fragments of remains. A couple of years later, in 1607, Chunxi went together with Dahuo and opened up the natural stone pit and retrieved a small, three-foot-long coffin.67 Huang Ruheng concurs with Yu Chunxi’s account, except that he claims Yanshou’s remains were detectable by the smoke they emitted.68 Yu Chunxi claims they were evidenced by a fragrant aroma. Fuller details are provided in An Appraisal of the Sudubo (Stūpa) of Chan Master Shouning by Yu Chunxi, who claims to have initiated the inquiry
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a postscript added: “This Stūpa was originally situated on Mt. Daci. The Jingci Monastery Dharma-heir Dahuo transferred it and erected it behind the Zongjing Hall. The Stūpa was completed on the day of the Buddha’s enlightenment, in the winter in the jiyou year of the wanli era (1609). These words are recorded by Official Historian, Dong Qichang.”64 Consequently, [the stūpa] behind the Zongjing Hall related to the former stūpa, and the stūpa that was transferred to the current hall still retains this stone [stele].
The Origins and Development of the Yongming Stūpa 61
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into Yanshou’s stūpa whereabouts when he went to Jingci Monastery to hear Zhuhong’s lecture on Yanshou’s composition the Mind Verse 心賦69 in the spring of the jiawu year of the wanli era (1594). It was at this time that he sought out Yanshou’s gravesite and found it on Mount Daci, “a dark chiseled out hole on the emerald-green mountain, a trace of where the image of the Honorable Compassionate One had descended on the world.”70 After further investigation, he found nothing of Yanshou’s remains. When he planned to construct a pure abode (i.e., meditation hut) nearby to commemorate the site, he was informed it belonged to a Mr. Si, who had arranged for a tomb to be placed there. (Other sources indicate the tomb was for Si’s mother.) Upon further investigation, he discovered some writing on the cover of a monk’s tomb, indicating the existence of a depository and stele buried in a box among the things in the crevice to the right. Hoping that these were the remains of Chan Master Yanshou, he informed Yunquan Xinglian.71 For reasons left unexplained, it wasn’t until twelve years later, according to Yu’s account, that Dahuo went in search of Yanshou’s remains, following the instructions of Zhuhong, accompanied by a man referred to as Honorable Lan 瀾公. After strenuous exertions, they found Yanshou’s discarded physical remains,72 and Dahuo wept as he gathered them up. After washing them with water from a stream, “the śarīra (remains) glittered like pearls, eleven beads of them.” One among them was said to be slightly larger, like “a particle of gold from the river running through the groves of the jambu trees.”73 Even with repeated efforts, however, the stone stele inscription was never recovered.74 Critics will naturally question the discovery of Yanshou’s highly perishable cremated remains even when the highly durable stele was not recovered. These concerns were unlikely to deter the faithful, however, intent on recovering the memory of their lauded predecessor and making the most of their bounty. Using these recovered beads, they reconsecrated Yanshou’s memory. Hsueh-Man Shen notes that in addition to printing sūtras to serve as a type of Buddhist remains, beads made of precious stones, like crystal and amber, or even sand or stone, were taken as substitutes for real śarīra, showing that the authenticity of śarīra is irrelevant in the relic cult.75 Around the same time, a Buddhist Fellowship led by Dahuo, Yu Chunxi, and Huang Ruheng solicited funds for rebuilding the hall to enshrine Yanshou’s newly recovered remains. In this, they were highly successful. To bring attention to Yanshou’s legacy, Dahuo compiled Traces of the Path of Yongming (Yongming daoji 永明道蹟),76 edited by Yu Chunxi and Huang Ruheng with a preface by Tao Wangling, emphasizing events in Yanshou’s life
62 A Tale of Two Stūpas
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inspired by miraculous Buddhist interventions. The five-story stūpa, begun in 1607, was completed in two years. Following the stūpa’s completion, Huang Ruheng organized an Incense Adornment Society 香嚴社, which met at the complex constructed around the stūpa. Taking the hagiographical descriptions in the accounts of Yanshou’s life literally, a hall for worship of the Bodhisattva Guanyin was erected in the hills behind Jingci Monastery, as was an Amitābha Repentance Hall and rooms for quiet contemplation to encourage practices that Yanshou had become famous for. Recitation of the name of Amitābha Buddha and of sūtra texts were two primary activities associated with this complex. In one instance, Yongming reputedly recited the Lotus Sūtra so diligently that the four guardian kings rained flowers upon him, and one of the nearby peaks was named Peak That Rains Flowers 雨花 巖. As caretaker monk of the site, Dahuo had a Merit Generating Hall 德生 堂 built for the purpose of restoring releasing-life rituals at the monastery.77 Yu Chunxi does acknowledge inconsistencies in accounts of Yanshou’s remains: some assert that his cremated remains formed fish-like scales on his body (apparently in recognition of his practice of setting fish free as a demonstration of his Buddhist compassion); others insist that his intact body was placed in his stūpa on Mount Daci; and then there is the account of a mere eleven pieces of remains being recovered, cited above. Yu concedes that the events of several hundred years earlier are difficult to verify but places his trust in what he was told by an elder at Nanping, the location of Jingci Monastery, who tells a story affirming Yanshou’s true identity as Amitābha Buddha. As a result of the words spoken by the elder of Yanshou’s own heritage, Yu asserts that “the legacy of Patriarch Yanshou has continued to be handed down to the present, no less than [that recorded in] thick historical tomes––Amitābha is Master Yanshou. Believe it! The nourishing one perched securely outside the main cloister hall is the Lord born of the highest, ninth level [of the Pure Land].”78 Dahuo and Yu Chunxi enlisted an impressive cadre of literati to support the endeavor to recover and resurrect Yanshou’s image and project it as a beacon for the revival of Buddhism in the Hangzhou region. As noted earlier, Yunqi Zhuhong was the Buddhist leader in Hangzhou who sought to revive Chan by advocating Chan and Pure Land joint practice, and the whole enterprise to reconstruct Yanshou’s stūpa must be viewed in this light. Yu Chunxi functioned as Zhuhong’s leading emissary, who helped rally local literati sympathetic to Buddhism to the reconstruction project. Among those who contributed were the senior member of government Tao Wangling, Ministry of Rites official Huang Ruheng, Salt Control Censor Zuo Zongying, Deputy
The Origins and Development of the Yongming Stūpa 63
Jingci Monastery map (from Jingci Monastery Gazetteer 淨慈寺志, 31–32), with location of Yongming Stūpa Pavilion 永明塔院.
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Officer of Water Conservancy Wang Daoxian, Commander of Qiantang Nie Xintang, and Local Governor Wu Yongxian. This list is a kind of “who’s who” of leading Buddhist literati in the Hangzhou region, representative of the Buddhist Fellowship that formed around Zhuhong. As alluded to earlier, this Fellowship constituted a Buddhist counterpart, even response, to the growing interest among literati regarding the Jesuit teachings which were gaining popularity around the same time. Zhuhong’s and Yu Chunxi’s critiques of Ricci relied heavily on the Buddhist teachings of nonkilling and releasing life, for which Yanshou became a potent symbol. Later on, the hall that housed Yongming’s stūpa became known as Yongming Stūpa Pavilion 永明塔院. According to the Continued Gazetteer of Jingci Monastery 淨慈寺續志,79 the Yongming Stūpa Pavilion was situated northeast of the main hall 大殿 of the monastery, erected by imperial order in the eleventh year of the yongzheng era (1733), and contained a stone memorial arch with the additional title of the Wondrously Perfect Chan Master Wisdom-Enlightened of Correct Cultivation (Miaoyuan zhengxiu zhijue chanshi 妙圓正修智覺禪師). It is depicted in the map section included in the preface to the Gazetteer, at the same place where it is currently located.
64 A Tale of Two Stūpas
1. Yanshou passes away in the eighth year of the kaibao era (975). 2. Stūpa erected on Mount Daci 大慈山 in the month following Yanshou’s death (976). Wuyue King Qian Chu builds a pavilion with an inscription inside. 3. Song Emperor Taizong (r. 976– 997) confers an official plaque, “Shouning Chan Cloister” 壽寧禪院, and an official title, “Great Master, Illuminator of Truth” 宗照大師. 4. An account of Yanshou’s stūpa worship is recorded in the Longshu Jingtu wen 龍舒淨土文, compiled in 1160. 5. A doctor in the region puts the coffin of his mother in Yanshou’s grave, contaminating the site, in either the twenty-first (guisi) or twenty- second (jiawu) year of the wanli era (1593). 6. Yu Chunxi discovers the location of Yanshou’s stūpa, but not the remains, in jiawu year of the wanli era (1594), and informs the leader of the Society, Yunquan Lian (Yunquan Xinglian). 7. The stūpa is destroyed in the thirtieth (guise) year of the wanli era (1602), and the relics placed in a box in a stone crevice. 8. On the twelfth day of the six month of the thirty-fifth (dingwei) year (1607), Yu Chunxi 虞淳熙 and Abbot Dahuo 大壑 excavate the pit and collect bone fragments. According to Yu’s account, Dahuo went in
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This was not the initial location of the Yongming Stūpa erected and reconsecrated in 1609. In his Note on the Reconstruction of the Stūpa Pavilion of Chan Master Yongming [Yan]shou, Huang Ruheng claims leading literati officials––Salt Director Zuo Zongying, Deputy Officer of Water Conservancy Wang Daoxian, and Commander of Qiantang Nie Xintang––took the lead in offering gold, inspiring the faithful to erect a stūpa behind the Zongjing Hall, with a height of five stories, encircled by three walls. He also states that Local Governor Wu Yongxian and others erected a kiosk to cover the stūpa.80 The proximity of the Zongjing Hall to the Yongming Stūpa Pavilion is unclear, and the three-walled structure encircling the five-story stūpa with a kiosk covering it is presumably different from the structure erected in 1665. From this evidence, the history of the Yongming Stūpa is associated with the following events. While sources are in general agreement, some minor discrepancies remain (events not discussed above are included in appended translations):
The Origins and Development of the Yongming Stūpa 65
This record of events associated with the Yanshou stūpa does not include the most recent occurrences, the destruction of the stūpa during the Cultural Revolution (ca. 1966–1976) and the more recent rebuilding of the stūpa in the 1990s, which we now turn now to.
The Contemporary Revival of Yanshou’s Stūpa Worship Like many Buddhist monuments in China, the Yongming Stūpa was destroyed during the Cultural Revolution (ca. 1966–1976). A new stūpa was constructed, fashioned out of concrete, and installed inside the Yongming Stūpa Pavilion in the 1990s. I have been unable to ascertain a record of the circumstances that led to the decision to rebuild it, but, generally speaking, as interest in Buddhism reemerged and found expression in the postreform period initiated by Deng Xiaoping, the curators of Yanshou stūpa worship reorganized and initiated the construction of the new stūpa. The hall that houses it dates from the Republican Period (1912–1949). It was refurbished in 1936 under the direction of Master Taixu 太虛大師 (1890–1947), when both Buddhist clergy and social elites celebrated its revival.81 With the renovation in 1936, the external pillars of the hall were engraved by famous monks with connections in the region, such as Taixu, Yinguang 印光, and Yingci 应慈, and a current generation of nationally prominent local literati such as Ma Yifu 马一浮 and Xia Chengtao 夏承焘.82 Verses
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search of Yanshou’s remains, following the instructions of Zhuhong, accompanied by a man referred to as the Honorable Lan. 9. Work begins on a new Zongjing Hall 宗鏡堂 at Jingci Monastery in 1607 at the instigation of Dahuo, with the support of leading government officials; the building is completed in 1609 and the stūpa erected behind the hall, with a height of five stories, encircled by three walls, and a kiosk erected to cover it. 10. The stūpa is moved to the east of the monastery in the fifth year of the kangxi era (1665). A stone plaque at the entrance of the Hall reads, “Stūpa of Chan Master Wisdom-Enlightened, the Illuminator of Truth from Huiri Yongming [Monastery] in the Tang Dynasty.” 11. Yongming Stūpa Pavilion 永明塔院 is erected in 1733 to the northeast of the main hall of Jingci Monastery, its current location.
66 A Tale of Two Stūpas associated with Yanshou, tributes to his legacy, also adorn the pillars. For example, the following tribute was offered by Taixu:
即佛即心,大雲忽雨翼龍降。有禪有淨,古塔重光角虎來.
“Both Chan and Pure Land” refers to the first of the four perspectives regarding combined Chan and Pure Land practice attributed to Yanshou: (1) “Both Chan and Pure Land” 有禪有淨, (2) “Pure Land without Chan” 無 禪有淨, (3) “Chan without Pure Land” 有禪無淨, and (4) “Neither Chan nor Pure Land” 無禪無淨. The association of Yanshou with the synthesis of Chan and Pure Land teaching was instigated in the Song dynasty, long after Yanshou had passed away, but was alleged as the primary feature of his teaching, referred to in Taixu’s verse. While this is perceived as Yanshou’s digest of the principles embedded in the Buddhist canon and taken as an uncontestable representation of Yanshou’s thought, I have been unable to find any textual source in Yanshou’s own writings to verify attribution to the four perspectives. Ma Yifu offered this tribute: I can find the Spring water of Zongyi Lake everywhere, Although nothing exists outside my mind, the green mountains fill my eyes. 隨處得宗一湖春水,心外無法滿目青山。
A tribute by Master Daxing 大醒:83 Even while the Pure Land flourishes, the Chan school is not vanquished; When you break through the gate, [you find] a single tree in the courtyard; His teaching style depends on the four verses about the horned tiger. After Xuanzang, but before the lotus root thickened,
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“Mind is Buddha”; sudden rainfall from a massive cloud precipitates the appearance of the dragon. There are “both Chan and Pure Land”; the ancient stūpa again shines and the horned tiger arrives.
The Origins and Development of the Yongming Stūpa 67
淨土突興,禪宗不敗,打破門庭獨樹,家風賴角虎四偈。玄奘以 後,蕅益之前,融通性相支維, 慧命得大師一人。
The following was penned by Tiantai Master Xingci 兴慈:84 [He compiled the Records of the] Source-Mirror, the great seat of enlightenment, And collected the Common End of Myriad Good Deeds;85 Both Lord Yama and King Qian Esteemed him as an exemplary master. Shouning [Cloister] was newly initiated as the stūpa of the patriarch, Facing the Lake, sharing in its purifying waters. Buddhist monastics and the faithful among the [secular] elite all came, To plant deeply the seeds of bodhi. 宗鏡大道場,集萬善同歸,冥主錢王咸嘗,奉為師表。壽寧新祖 塔,對一湖共澈, 緇流士信齊來,深種菩提。
The current reconstruction of the Yanshou stūpa around the year 2000 has a dramatically different form from its previous known incarnation. A photo of the Yanshou stūpa dated to the early twentieth century (see Figure 3.1), an image revealing the form of the stūpa dated to 1918, reveals an Aśoka-style monument, a square structure with a platform and four raised corners. The inscription in the photo is partially blocked from view by one of the triad figures (with Amitābha Buddha in the center) that are in front, between the stūpa and an altar. The main title written in large letters says, “Stūpa of Tang Chan Master Wisdom-Enlightened, Illuminator of Truth, Huiri Yongming” (Tang Huiri Yongming Zongzhao Zhijue Chanshi [zhi] ta 唐慧日永明宗照智 覺禪師[之]塔).86 The remainder of the inscription, written in smaller letters covering four vertical lines, is not legible. From atop the square platform, the front panel of which the inscription is written on, rises the stūpa spire, which the photo does not allow us to see much of. A description of the original prototype for Aśoka stūpas in the
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[Our understanding] was supported through the interpenetration of unconditioned nature and conditioned characteristics; The life-power of wisdom was obtained by the great Master alone.
68 A Tale of Two Stūpas
region contained in the Mingzhou Mount King Aśoka Monastery Gazetteer (Mingzhou Ayuwang Shan sizhi 明州阿育王山寺志), which this Yanshou stūpa seems inspired by, claims the Mount Ayuwang stūpa had a spire of five circular discs.87 After the destruction of the Yanshou stūpa during the Cultural Revolution, a new stūpa was erected in the 1990s. The new stūpa structure has a very different appearance, following a hexagonal design with eaves at two levels inspired by traditional Chinese temple roofs.
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Figure 3.1 Yongming Stūpa in 1918. Photo by Sidney D. Gamble. Identified as “Tomb O-Mi-Do-Va.” Duke University Libraries Repository Collections & Archives, Sidney D. Gamble Photographs Collection. https://repository.duke. edu/dc/gamble/gamble_166A_929.
The Origins and Development of the Yongming Stūpa 69
Although the material is concrete, the style imitates that of a wooden structure, with traditional interlocking wooden eaves (see Figure 3.2). The style is very reminiscent of the current stūpa housed in the Zhiyi Stūpa Pavilion (zhizhe tayuan 智者塔院) near Gaoming Monastery 高明寺 on Mount Tiantai. The spire at the top is no longer of a spherical disc design but is a replica of a scaled-down pagoda, with its own, additional spire at the top. Between the two levels of temple-style tile roofs is a series of six panels with scenes depicted on them. The panels are too high up to be observable in detail, but presumably depict scenes inspired by Yanshou’s life. At the front of the stūpa,
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Figure 3.2 Yongming Stūpa at present. Photo by author, May 2018.
70 A Tale of Two Stūpas
at eye level, is a depiction of Yanshou himself. While it is impossible to ascertain, the fragment relics of Yanshou described in Ming sources have presumably vanished. The three-dimensional torso of Yanshou in the stūpa is probably intended as a replacement. This marks a major innovation in the contemporary Yanshou stūpa, whereby the stūpa as container housing the receptacle with Yanshou’s remains is replaced with a concrete cast image of Yanshou imitating the full body relics of mummified Chinese Buddhist saints (see Figure 3.3).88 The Yongming Stūpa Pavilion has reemerged as a central focus of a cult dedicated to the worship of Yanshou. The location of the Stūpa Pavilion is adjacent to Jingci Monastery but is separated by public security offices and dormitories. Visitors to the monastery are not cognizant of the Stūpa Pavilion’s existence and are prohibited by posted signs from wandering through the public security property. For all intents and purposes, it does not currently function as a regular part of Jingci Monastery, but as an independent entity. Still, it is quite active. On my numerous visits to the site over the past several years, there have always been fifty or so worshipers actively chanting, praying, and circumambulating Yanshou’s stūpa. The worshipers are principally elderly women, but not exclusively so. The daily worshipers are drawn from a larger membership of around one thousand who belong to an association dedicated to the worship of Yanshou as Amitābha.
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Figure 3.3 Image of Yanshou in the Yongming Stūpa. Photo by author, January 2016.
The Origins and Development of the Yongming Stūpa 71
Concluding Remarks
1. Stūpa erected on Mount Daci 大慈山, located to the southwest of West Lake; King Qian Chu of Wuyue erects a kiosk with a stele inscription inside; Song Emperor Taizong confers an official plaque, “Shouning Chan Cloister” 壽寧禪院 (976). 2. Reconsecrated stūpa built after recovering Yanshou’s remains, placed behind a newly built Zongjing Hall 宗鏡堂 at Jingci Monastery 淨慈寺 by Yuanjin Dahuo 元津⼤壑 and others in the dingwei year of the wanli era (1607). 3. Renamed Stūpa of Chan Master Wisdom-Enlightened, the Illuminator of Truth from Huiri Yongming [Monastery] in the Tang Dynasty 唐慧 日永明宗照智覺禪師之塔 (i.e., Yongming Stūpa 永明塔) and moved to the east of the monastery in the fifth year of the kangxi era (1665); Yongming Stūpa Pavilion 永明塔院 erected in 1733. 4. Refurbishment in 1936 under the direction of Master Taixu 太虛大師 (1890–1947), when both Buddhist clergy and social elites celebrated its revival; celebratory commemorative verses added to the external pillars of the hall. 5. New stūpa constructed in the 1990s with an image of Yanshou inside, fashioned out of concrete, and installed inside the Yongming Stūpa
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As reviewed above, Yongming Yanshou was a prominent Buddhist figure and associate of King Qian Chu, who played an important role as the leading spokesperson for Buddhism in the Wuyue Kingdom. He was appointed by King Qian Chu as abbot of the refurbished Lingyin Monastery in 960 and installed as abbot of the newly constructed Yongming Monastery a year later. The latter served as the leading monastery in the Wuyue Kingdom, the platform from which official Wuyue Buddhist teachings were disseminated. Because of the eclectic nature of his teaching, Yanshou enjoyed an evolving legacy in the Buddhist community, as promoter of blessings, patriarch in the Chan School, and Pure Land Patriarch. Eventually, Yanshou was regarded as a bodhisattva-like figure, receiver of petitions from those seeking rebirth in the Pure Land, and even as an incarnation of Amitābha Buddha, who is believed to preside over the Pure Land of the West in Buddhist cosmology. A special hall was constructed to house the Yongming Stūpa, which served as a focal point for the formation of a cult of worshipers dedicated to seeking Pure Land via petitions for Yanshou’s assistance. The history of the Yongming Stūpa may be divided into five periods:
72 A Tale of Two Stūpas
The current Yongming Stūpa, private and secluded, represents a response by contemporary Buddhist faithful who wish to preserve the traditions of the past and ensure its continuation into the future. The fact that the Yongming Stūpa Worship Society reconstituted itself after decades of inactivity is a testament to the strength and dedication of these devout Buddhist believers. The site itself is controlled and managed by the Buddhist establishment, under the auspices of (in descending order) the Hangzhou Buddhist Association, Jingci Temple, and the Yongming Stūpa Worship Society, with ultimate oversight by the Chinese Buddhist Association and Chinese Communist Party. The patrons who participate in cultic activities at the site are elderly and largely female. They represent a model of Buddhist revival predicated on reconstructing the past. My examination of the Yongming Stūpa reveals that the modern incarnation was not the first time that faithful patrons revived the site. In the late Ming dynasty, the Yongming Stūpa had fallen into disuse, ignored and discarded in a box in a crevice. Through the efforts of the Jingci Monastery abbot, Dahuo, and leading government officials and patrons Yu Chunxi, Huang Ruheng, and others, a campaign was initiated to restore the Yongming Stūpa. With financial support and physical labor donated by the community, a new stūpa and stūpa pavilion were erected. The cult of Yanshou was revived and the worship of Yanshou as an incarnation of Amitābha Buddha was affirmed. The reforms that followed the Cultural Revolution included greater tolerance for religious expression, and in the context of this tolerance, societal forces for the promotion of Buddhism reemerged and monuments, temples, monasteries, etc., that had been destroyed and neglected began to be reconstructed. The Yanshou stūpa erected in the 1990s is a product of these initiatives, and the Yanshou cult that persists today is a result of this revival and the opportunities provided to devotional Buddhist communities. In the context of the greater history of the Yanshou stūpa it can be regarded as the second great revival, after the reconstruction of the stūpa in the late Ming dynasty, in the first decade of the seventeenth century. It attests to the enduring power that Yanshou’s legacy has over the local Chinese Buddhist community, whose dedication remains emblematic of perseverance in the face of sometimes great adversity.
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Pavilion; it serves as the focal point for the current Yanshou Stūpa Association that maintains an active membership dedicated to the ritual worship of Yanshou’s image.
4 of Leifeng Pagoda Meandering to the west of Mount [Nan]ping, On the stone wall I see the drippings of moisture. Sitting facing it, I quietly investigate the stone inscription, Unaware that the sun has disappeared to the west. 迤邐屏山西,石壁看垂露。坐對索靖碑,不覺日西去。 —From Xihe 西河 (West River), a pseudonym of Mao Qiling 毛奇齡 (1623–1716), Xihe shihua 西河詩話, Notes on Poetry
The Hidden History of Leifeng Pagoda The Leifeng Pagoda has been an enduring monument in Hangzhou, heralded as one of the “Ten Views of West Lake” 西湖十景, a prominent fixture on its southern shores. It is today the most visited among Hangzhou’s landmarks, with a rich and extensive history that few sites in China rival. A study of Leifeng Pagoda by Eugene Wang aptly asserts, “The pagoda site, which began innocently as no more than a circumstantially rooted monument, ends up becoming an enduring signpost in the Chinese mental universe and a topos that generated an ever-increasing body of writing for centuries.”1 I begin with the origins of Leifeng Pagoda to suggest that, even though circumscribed by its historical circumstances, its beginnings are far from innocent. I do not, however, wish to go to the other extreme. The study of origins as revealing some kind of immutable essence, the property or set of properties that make an entity or object what it is, has rightly been subjected to criticism in modern thought since Jean-Paul Sartre’s pronouncement that “existence precedes essence.”2 I do not intend to reverse this appraisal. A teleological determinism, a grand design imposed at inception and following a A Tale of Two Stu¯pas. Albert Welter, Oxford University Press. © Oxford University Press 2022. DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780197606636.003.0004
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The Origins and Development
74 A Tale of Two Stūpas
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logical trajectory, cannot be invoked and would not serve to illuminate the history of Leifeng Pagoda. The Pagoda has endured too many machinations, far removed from its origins, to be reduced conveniently to them. Still, the origins are not without consequence that impinges upon its contemporary revival. The origins, or “hidden history” of the Leifeng Pagoda involve the excavation of stūpas bearing the remains of Śākyamuni Buddha that speak to a trajectory for the site different from the one it eventually became known for.3 When speaking of the Pagoda and its stūpas, we must be mindful that the Chinese word ta 塔 is ambiguous: it may refer to either a pagoda, a monumental edifice or tower, or a stūpa containing relics of the Buddha. In the current study, “pagoda” is reserved for the architectural edifice and “stūpa” for a miniature container used to house the artifact. If Leifeng Pagoda’s origins are insufficient for explaining its eventual course, they are revelatory regarding the immediate circumstances associated with its origins. The Pagoda was originally built in the tense, final years of the Wuyue Kingdom (893–978), when the forces of a recently formed Song dynasty (960–1278), aimed at consolidating control over unincorporated regions, were threatening to usurp control. Wuyue was the most successful of the southern regimes during the period known as the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, and one of the last holdouts standing in the way of Song unification of the empire (see Figure 4.1).4 The origins of Leifeng Pagoda were obscured by later developments ascribed to it. Archaeological discoveries from the site revealed heretofore unknown aspects. Not only was its name a later ascription, but the function and purpose of the site had a secret history, embedded in both the circumstances of its conception and the motivations of its creator. The Leifeng Pagoda was originally initiated in 975 as Huangfei (Consort Huang) Pagoda 黃妃塔at the order of King Qian Chu 錢俶 of Wuyue and erected at the south end of West Lake in Hangzhou (then known as Qiantang), at the top of Xizhao (Sunset) 夕照 Hill.5 But even this ascription is not unproblematic, as we shall see. With the completion of the Pagoda, Qian Chu explained the circumstances surrounding its construction in Postscript to the Huayan (Avataṃsaka) Sūtra, the scripture inscribed in bricks at its base. As the king’s official account, the Postscript reveals several points about the construction of the Pagoda (a translation of the Postscript included in the Jingci Monastery Gazetteer淨慈寺志is included in Appendix 2):6
The Origins and Development of Leifeng Pagoda 75
• The pagoda’s original name was Huangfei 黃妃 (Consort Huang). Huangfei is not identified here but was alleged in later sources to be a consort of King Qian Chu who gave birth to his son; the Pagoda is commonly believed to have been named after her in honor of his birth. • Qian Chu was an avid supporter of Buddhism, and the Pagoda is an instance of the legacy of Wuyue rulers’ support that he aspired to continue.
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Figure 4.1 The Conquest of Song Dynasty from 960 to 979 which ended the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. Created by Seasoninthesun, October 5, 2017 (Creative Commons).
76 A Tale of Two Stūpas
According to Qian Shouyou 潛說友, the compiler of the Xianchun Lin’an zhi 咸淳臨安志 (Lin’an Gazetteer Compiled in the Xianchun Era), however, the name Lei came from the man who lived there, a Mr. Lei 雷氏,10 and was renamed by King Qian Chu when he constructed the Pagoda for his consort, Huangfei 黃妃, or “Lady Huang.” It was commonly called Huangpi Pagoda 黃皮塔 as a result of a mispronunciation, and also because Huangpi (known as Chinese Wampi or Clausena lansium), a yellow-skinned (huangpi 黃皮) fruit of an evergreen shrub, is a regional specialty.11 An “Addendum” (Buyi 補遺) to the Wuyue beishi 吳越備史 (Complete History of Wuyue), compiled by Qian Yan 錢儼 (937–1003), younger brother of Qian Chu, contends that in the eleventh month of the ninth year of the kaibao era (same as the first year of the taiping xingguo era, 976), the consort of the king of Wuyue (Qian Chu), Lady Sun 孫氏, died. In the spring, the second month of the following year (977), by official order she was awarded a plume signifying a mid-ranking position with a gift for the bereaved family of the royal consort (wang fei 王妃) and the posthumous title of “Imperial Consort” (huang fei 皇 妃).12 Huangfei 皇妃, “Imperial Consort,” is often regarded as a mistake for huangfei 黃妃, “Lady (or Consort) Huang.” Wang, following others, contests this accepted version. He suggests that “[f] rom the very outset, the pagoda was a breeding ground for
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Implied but not stated, Huangfei Pagoda was but the latest of construction projects in Wuyue aimed at making his kingdom a Foguo 佛國, or “Buddha Land.”7 • The Pagoda, specifically the stūpas it houses, was built to contain relics of the historical Buddha, including a tuft of the Buddha’s hair, so that it may be publicly venerated (and not just for private worship in the palace). • The original plan called for a pagoda of thirteen stories. Owing to financial constraints, the final building was seven stories high (more probably five, as indicated below). Still, the completion of the Pagoda is deemed an outstanding accomplishment when compared to another important stūpa in the region, the Yingtian Pagoda 應天塔 in Kuaiji 會 稽 (Shaoxing).8 • Copies of Buddhist scriptures, especially the Huayan Sūtra, were inscribed on the sides around the perimeter of the octagonal structure, ostensibly to augment the cultivation of inconceivable merit, but also as a protective talisman for the contents inside.9
The Origins and Development of Leifeng Pagoda 77
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fictionalization. Tradition has it that the pagoda was built for Qian’s consort, Lady Huang 黃妃, and texts often refer to it as Consort Huang’s Pagoda (Huangfei Ta 黃妃塔). In truth, there never was a Lady Huang.”13 He notes that the standard history records that Qian had two consorts (one of them named Sun, the other named Yu), neither of them named Huang, and that the “Consort Huang” mentioned in the transcribed version of the inscription may well have resulted from a confusion between wangfei 王妃 (royal consort, or consort of the king) and huangfei 黃妃 (Consort Huang), which in southern pronunciation are nearly identical, perhaps resulting in a transcription or typesetting error. The other piece of evidence revealing Qian Chu’s motive is contained in the frontispiece and scripture he had printed and placed inside bricks from which the Pagoda was constructed. The bricks were hollowed out inside, specially made to store a sūtra scroll. The bricks were ample enough to hold the scripture, 1.08 inches long, 5.2 inches wide, and 1.8 inches thick. The diameter of the hole is 0.8 inches, and the hole is 2.5 inches deep. The scripture inserted in some of the brick holes was a Dhāraṇī Sūtra wrapped in yellow silk and tied with an adhesive, and the brick holes were sealed with mud. From their placement in the rubble, it is believed that the bricks holding copies of the sūtra were reserved for the top floor of the Pagoda.14 Many miniature stūpas like the two recovered from Leifeng Pagoda were constructed to house copies of this Dhāraṇī Sūtra instead of the Buddha’s physical relics. The fact that the Dhāraṇī Sūtra was not mentioned in the Huayan Sūtra postscript above, and came to light only upon the collapse of the site and the exposure of its bricks, speaks to a private, interior Buddhist motive for Qian Chu’s act. The scripture included was a translation by Amoghavajra (Bukong 不空) of the Sarvatathāgatā-adhiṣṭhāna-hṛdaya guhyadhatu karaṇḍa- mudra-dhāraṇī-sūtra, abbreviated as the Sarvatathāgatā-adhiṣṭhāna-hṛdaya or Karaṇḍa-mudra-dhāraṇī-sūtra (C. Yiqie rulai xin mimi quanshen sheli baoqie yin tuoluoni jing 一切如来心秘密全身舍利寶篋印陀羅尼経), or The Precious Chest Seal Dhāraṇī Sūtra of the Whole-Body Relics Concealed in the Minds of All Tahtāgatas (The Precious Chest Seal Dhāraṇī Sūtra).15 I will discuss how the content of this scripture reveals important implications regarding Qian Chu’s motives, but before doing so, I would like to comment on the significance of Amoghavajra’s translation in the context of the history of Buddhism. Following Norihisa Baba’s discussion of the transmission of the Sarvatathāgatā-adhiṣṭhāna-hṛdaya (i.e., Karaṇḍa-mudra-dhāraṇī-sūtra),16
78 A Tale of Two Stūpas
Generalissimo of Military Forces in the Empire, King Qian of Wuyue has printed 84,000 copies of this sūtra, placed in the Xiguan (West Gate) Brick
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Xuanzang 玄奘 reported on the existence of two groups of Theravādans in Sri Lanka when he traveled there in the early seventh century: “[O]ne, the Mahāvihāra group, rejects Mahāyāna and practices Hinayāna; the other, the Abhayagirivihāra group, includes the study of both vehicles (Mahāyāna and Hinayāna), and preaches extensively from the three baskets (i.e., Tripiṭaka).”17 Moreover, according to Baba, inscriptions and manuscripts from the eighth and ninth centuries note the circulation of at least four Mahāyāna scriptures in Sri Lanka, including the Sarvatathāgatā-adhiṣṭhāna-hṛdaya (The Precious Chest Seal Dhāraṇī Sūtra). Stone inscriptions that cite this dhāraṇi have also been found near a stūpa at the Abhayagiri Temple in Sri Lanka,18 the temple Xuanzang described as studying both Mahāyāna and Hinayāna. Amoghavajra is also known to have studied in Sri Lanka. According to the inscription erected after Amoghavajra’s death, the Daguangzhi sanzang heshang zhi bei 大広智三蔵和上之碑,19 in 741 he traveled with his disciples to Sri Lanka, where he studied under Samantabhadra Ācārya (Puxian Azheli 普賢阿遮梨) and received over five hundred Tantric texts before he returned to China in 747.20 According to the Kaiyuan shijiao lu 開元釋 教録, a Chinese catalogue of Buddhist scriptures compiled by Zhisheng 智昇, the Sarvatathāgatā-adhiṣṭhāna-hṛdaya was archived in 730.21 Both Chandawimala and Hayashidera have pointed out that the dhāraṇī of the Sarvatathāgatā-adhiṣṭhāna-hṛdaya on the Abhayagiri plaques is identical with its translation by Amoghavajra.22 The circumstances are compelling–– the Sarvatathāgatā-adhiṣṭhāna-hṛdaya existed at Abhavagiri Temple at this time, Amoghavajra studied at the temple and brought back manuscripts he collected there, and the Sarvatathāgatā-adhiṣṭhāna-hṛdaya (as the Baoqie jing 寶篋經, full title: Yiqie rulai xin mimi quanshen sheli baoqie yin tuoluoni jing 一切如來心祕密全身舍利寶篋印陀羅尼經) appeared in an eighth-century Chinese catalogue. All this evidence suggests that it was Amoghavajra who procured the The Precious Chest Seal Dhāraṇi Sūtra in Sri Lanka and brought it back to China, where he translated it. The Precious Chest Seal Dhāraṇi Sūtra itself is relatively short, one fascicle with a little over four thousand characters, suitable for printing and installing in small stūpas (see Figure 4.2; for a translation, see Appendix 2). The contents speak to Qian Chu’s private motives for erecting the Pagoda. A frontispiece to the translation of the sūtra reveals his intent:
The Origins and Development of Leifeng Pagoda 79
Pagoda as an eternal offering. Recorded in the eighth month of the year yihai (975). 天下兵馬大元帥。吳越國錢王。併造此經。八万四千卷。捨入西関 塼塔。永充供養。乙亥八月日紀。
The structure is identified as the Xiguan (West Gate) Brick Pagoda, according to its location outside the western entrance to the city, and this becomes one of the names it was known by. The frontispiece also reveals that the copy of the sūtra placed in some of the bricks from which the Pagoda was constructed was far from unique, but one of an alleged eighty-four thousand that were printed for the purpose of placing inside stūpas.23 The Fozu tongji 佛祖統記 verifies that Qian Chu esteemed Aśoka by erecting an alleged eighty-four thousand stūpas with copies of Precious Chest Seal Dhāraṇī Sūtra inside.24 Moreover, the origin of box-shaped receptacles for keeping Buddhist scriptures was recorded in the Hōkyōinkyō-ki 宝篋印経記 (Record of the Precious Chest Seat Sūtra), written by a Japanese monk, Dōki道喜, in 965, describing Qian Chu’s placement of paper-printed copies of the Precious
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Figure 4.2 Frontispiece, illustration, and beginning lines of The Precious Chest Seal Dhāraṇī Sūtra一切如來心祕密全身舍利寶篋印陀羅尼經, Zhejiang Provincial Museum 浙江博物館省, Hangzhou 杭州.
80 A Tale of Two Stūpas
[The miniature stūpa] is over nine cun [inches] in height, and its four sides have cast and carved images of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Protruding from the four corners at the top are niches shaped like horse ears. Inside, there are additional images of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas as large as jujube fruit. When I held it up to look at it, a small case fell out from inside the stūpa. When I opened it, I saw it was a sūtra; its frontispiece noted: “Generalissimo of Military Forces in the Entire Empire, Qian Hong Chu, King of Wuyue, has rolled 84,000 copies of the Precious Chest-Seal [Dhāraṇī] Sūtra and deposited them inside the Precious Stūpa as an offering, having transferred the merit [to all sentient beings]. Recorded in the third, bingchen year of the xiande era (956).”26
Dōki’s description tallies with the distinctive features of miniature stūpas that have been recovered (see Figure 4.3): a square body, carved images of Buddhas and bodhisattvas on each outward face (typically depicting scenes of self-sacrifice drawn from the tales of Buddha’s previous lives), and four protruding elements at each of the corners. Moreover, Dōki attributes the reason Qian Chu was moved to create eighty-four thousand stūpas and print eighty-four thousand copies of the Precious Chest Seal Dhāraṇī Sūtra to a serious fever contracted from an unstable mental condition following the violence committed during the defeat of a rebellion by Yellow Turbans in 954:27 Hongchu, who had committed the crime of slaughtering the innocent on numerous occasions, became gravely ill for several months. He often raved madly: “Knives and swords are piercing my chest; a raging fever infects my body!” He tossed and turned in his sleep and raised his hands to confess his crimes. One of his beloved monks said: “You [should] aspire to build stūpas and copy the Precious Chest Seal Dhāraṇī Sutra to deposit in [the stūpas], and to venerate them with incense and flowers.” Hongchu gulped out this aspiration, placing his palms together to pay homage in gratitude two or three times. He instantly attained the mind intent on enlightenment (bodhicitta). He joyfully and poignantly proclaimed: “The strength of aspiration is boundless and abruptly, some change [has taken place] in my
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Chest Seal Dhāraṇī Sūtra in eighty-four thousand stūpas.25 Dōki’s description conforms to items unearthed at the Pagoda and includes a version of the statement recorded in the frontispiece above:
The Origins and Development of Leifeng Pagoda 81
grave ailment.” At that time, thinking of King Aśoka’s past deed, Hongchu had 84,000 stūpas engraved and [copies of] this sūtra folded and deposited into each stūpa.28
In this account, Qian Chu was moved by remorse for his cruel slaughter of innocents in battle, reminiscent of Aśoka’s transformation from a cruel ruler to “Dharma Aśoka” (Aśoka the Good) and promoter of Buddhist teaching throughout his land. One legend recounting how Aśoka was persuaded to repent his evil ways, to build eighty-four thousand stūpas and to work to enlighten all beings, came through the intercessions of a Buddhist monk named Samudra.29 Dōki’s account suggests that Qian Chu’s conversion was similarly inspired. In Mahayana Buddhist tradition, the Buddha’s relics could be constituted in one of two ways: as rūpa-kāya (seshen 色身) or as dharma-kāya (fashen
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Figure 4.3 Silver stūpa recovered from Leifeng Pagoda. Zhejiang Provincial Museum 浙江博物館省, Hangzhou 杭州. Photo by author, June 2019.
82 A Tale of Two Stūpas
It is the custom in India to make little stūpas (sudubo 窣堵波) with mud made from ground incense, five or six inches in height, and place the text of a copied scripture inside. They refer to it as a Dharma relic (fa sheli 法舍利). After a large number of these are accumulated, they construct a great stūpa (sudubo) and collect all of [the little stūpas] inside it, and regularly make offerings to it.31
Xuanzang observed the practice from Jayasena, the Yogacārā master he studied with. In Xuanzang’s account, Jayasena engaged in two kinds of Buddhist practices, one aimed at spreading the Dharma, the other to engage the Dharma through practice. According to Xuanzang: [Jayasena] explained the wondrous dharma with his mouth, guiding and encouraging students, on the one hand, while acquiring supreme merit from his ritual veneration of these little stūpas, created with his own hands, on the other. In the evening, he performed walking meditation and ritual chanting, sitting meditation and thoughtful contemplation, with no time
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法身). Rūpa-kāya represent the physical remains of the Buddha, the relics obtained through cremation after his death. Dharma-kāya represent the doctrinal body of the Buddha as captured in his recorded teachings (not to be confused with the Dharma-kāya as the Essence Body of the Buddha in Trikāya, three bodies of the Buddha doctrine). While rūpa-kāya are hypothetically finite, limited to the physical remains of the cremated body of the Buddha, they are augmented by an alleged recovery of countless fragments throughout the known Buddhist world, which seem to multiply ad infinitum to meet the demands of the Buddhist faithful. Indeed, as Hsueh-Man Shen suggests, it was not necessary that the Buddha’s physical remains be authentic. Substitions were common, and beads comprised of precious stones and even common sand grains or stone pebbles often served as substitutes.30 Dharma-kāya remains are even more infinite, limited only by the capacity to make copies of the Buddha’s teachings. This is the context in which Qian Chu constructed his stūpas and selected the Precious Chest Seal Dhāraṇī Sūtra for copying. The Buddhist practice of creating miniature stūpas and placing the sūtras inside originated in India. Xuanzang 玄奘, in the Da Tang Xiyu ji 大唐西域 記 (Records of the Western Region Compiled in the Great Tang), speaks of the custom:
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口則宣說妙法,導誘學人,手乃作窣堵波,式崇勝福,夜又經行禮 誦,宴坐思惟,寢食不遑,晝夜無怠。年百歲矣,志業不衰。三十 年間,凡作七拘胝法舍利窣堵波。每滿一拘胝,建大窣堵波,而總 置中,盛修供養,請諸僧眾,法會稱慶,其時神光燭曜,靈異昭 彰,自茲厥後,時放光明。33
Qian Chu engaged in stūpa construction and sūtra copying on three occasions during his reign, in roughly ten-year intervals dating from the mid- 950s through the 970s; the Precious Chest Seal Dhāraṇī Sūtra was printed on three occasions, in 956, 965, and 975. Bronze stūpas were constructed in 955, iron stūpas in 965, and silver stūpas in the 970s.34 Excavations have revealed the extent to which Qian Chu’s stūpas were disseminated in China: as far north as Hebei, as far south as Fujian, and also in Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Shanghai, Anhui, and Henan.35 They also had great impact on Japan.36 Two of the recovered Qian Chu stūpas are from Leifeng Pagoda. They are both made of silver and allegedly contained strands of the Buddha’s hair, as suggested in Qian Chu’s Postface above. It was not uncommon for more than one miniature stūpa to be placed inside a pagoda. As many as fifteen were found underneath the foundation of Wanfo Pagoda 萬佛塔 in Jinhua (Zhejiang), several of them inscribed and dated.37 King Qian Chu commissioned two silver stūpas especially for Leifeng Pagoda (for an example, see Figure 4.3). One was enshrined at the top level of the stūpa, a space called the Heavenly Palace (tiangong 天宮), and was unearthed in the ruins of the Pagoda that were left when it collapsed. The other one was unearthed at the Underground Palace (digong 地宮), the cellar beneath the ruins, when it was excavated in 2001. Neither stūpa contained a copy of the Precious Chest Seal Dhāraṇī Sūtra. The gilt silver stūpa unearthed at the Underground Palace held a gold coffin in its interior, containing a gold
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for sleeping or eating; he did not refrain from his practice day or night. Even after a hundred years in age, his devotion to his work did not waver. During a thirty-year period, he created a total of seven kotis of these Dharma relic stūpas.32 After each koti was completed, he constructed a great stūpa and placed all of them inside. He enthusiastically made offerings to it and invited the assembly of monks to hold Dharma assemblies in praise and celebration. On these occasions, a divine light illuminated brightly, accompanied by the manifestation of marvelous wonders. From then on, it periodically radiated bright light.
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box which, based on Qian Chu’s dedicatory prefaces, is suspected of housing the remains of the Buddha’s hair. The silver stūpa from the Heavenly Palace evidently contained a pure gold vase encasing eleven grains of relics. While copies of the Precious Chest Seal Dhāraṇī Sūtra were absent from the two unearthed stūpas at the Leifeng Pagoda site, several copies of the printed sūtra were recovered from among the numerous brick artifacts, and copies have been found in other excavated stūpas connected to Qiang Chu.38 The printing of the sūtra is also noteworthy in the context of developing printing technologies in China around this time. Dhāraṇī texts transliterated into Chinese found in Buddhist stūpas are the oldest surviving printed texts in the world.39 The Chinese text of the Dunhuang manuscript of the Diamond Sūtra (Jingang Borepoluomiduo Jing 金剛般若波羅蜜多經) in the possession of the British Museum, dated 868, is currently the oldest known printed book in the world.40 During the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (907–959), Confucian and Buddhist texts were printed as governmental projects. Noteworthy in this regard is Feng Dao 馮道, who in 932 ordered the printing of the Confucian Classics using movable wood blocks. The project was completed in 953, when the printing blocks were presented to Emperor Taizu of the Later Zhou dynasty.41 Qian Chu’s printing of the Precious Chest Seal Dhāraṇī Sūtra in 956, 965, and 975 marks a noteworthy contribution to the use of printed texts emerging around this time. It preceded the Northern Song printing of various works, including copies of the whole Buddhist canon known as the Kaibao zang 開宝蔵, completed in 983. Subsequent Song dynasty editions of the Buddhist canon are the Dengjue chanyuan 等覚禅院 version (1075–1112), Dongchan si東禅寺 version (1080–1103, and Kaiyuan si 開元寺 version (1112–1151). These three canons were all published in Fuzhou 福州, a territory previously under Wuyue control.42 The printing industry thrived during the Song dynasty, with both central and local governments engaging in printing activities. As the industry expanded, private printing houses developed throughout the country. All types of texts were printed, including Confucian classics, history, philosophy, and belles-lettres, and the scale of Buddhist publications was considerably larger than before. Apart from the printing of books, new printed items appeared, including the printing of paper money and trademarks for commercial advertising. An important revolution in printing technology was the invention of movable type. Movable-type blocks for printing appeared during the qingli era (1041–1048) of the Northern Song dynasty, ushering in a new era in print technology. As Shih-Shan Susan Huang attests, during the Northern Song
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• The setting for the Sūtra, the kingdom of Magadha, situates the events in the region inhabited by the historical Buddha, with a typical assembly,
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period, Hangzhou publishing firms attained such a reputation for quality that they were commissioned to publish books for both the central government and even for international patrons like the Korean government.43 Qian Chu’s aspirations were not unique but had a specific Buddhist context. He was inspired by the Indian monarch Aśoka, who, in an attempt to spread Buddhism, allegedly dispersed eighty- four thousand stūpa reli44 quaries throughout the land. The number eighty-four thousand is figurative, suggesting “many” or “a great number.”45 The number is of symbolic importance in Buddhism as it represents the traditional number of atoms believed to comprise the body,46 suggesting that Aśoka and those emulating him were, through their acts, reconstituting the sacred body of the Buddha, resurrecting it throughout the inhabited world. In effect, the Buddha’s remains serve to transform the substratum of our world into the sacred realm of the Buddha, a “Buddha-land,” demarcated literally as the “body of the Buddha” dispersed in stūpas containing his constituent parts. Aśoka allegedly accomplished this throughout the known world of his time. Qian Chu demarcated the transformation of his own land, Wuyue, as a Buddha-land and through the export of his products and emulation of his model to Japan and Korea, as well as other parts of China. Qian Chu’s attraction to the Precious Chest Seal Dhāraṇī Sūtra is understandable given his intention to create stūpas for dissemination throughout his realm. The Precious Chest Seal Dhāraṇī Sūtra details the benefits accruing from the creation of stūpas like these, particularly those with copies of the sūtra installed inside. Following the example of Aśoka and the promise of Buddhist teachings, Qian Chu’s construction of stūpas and the pagodas housing them is an instance of forming, in the words of Paul Mus, a “mesocosm” or “magical structural milieu” for a cultic operation that “can evoke or make real the absent Buddha in Nirvāna.”47 It was, for Qian Chu, part of a larger project to reconstitute the sacred body of the Buddha, to resurrect it throughout his realm, to transform the substratum of the world into the sacred realm of the Buddha, to turn his kingdom into a kind of “living stūpa,” with the remains of the Buddha as a substratum sacralizing the Wuyue region. The contents of the Precious Chest Seal Dhāraṇī Sūtra, as noted above, reveal internal motivations for Qian Chu’s activities. A brief outline of the Sūtra’s contents is as follows (the Sūtra is translated in its entirety in Appendix 2):
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a great retinue of innumerable hundreds of thousands, including bodhisattvas, great voice-hearers (disciples), celestials and dragons, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kiṃnaras, mahoragas (i.e., mythological creatures that often form members of the assembly in Mahāyāna sutras), humans, and nonhumans. • One in the assembly, identified as a great Brahmin named Undefiled Varaprabha (Wondrous Radiance) 無垢妙光, approached the Buddha with a request that the Word-Honored One, along with his great assembly, come to his home to receive his offerings. The Buddha agrees to his request. • On the way to the Brahmin’s house, the Buddha passes a park called “Abundant Wealth.” In the park, there is an old, rotten stūpa pagoda, ravaged and broken, collapsing, with thorny undergrowth covering it and climbing plants sealing its door shut. The rubble has buried the stūpa under a pile of earth. When the World-Honored One proceeded toward the stūpa, great beams of light were emitted from the top of the stūpa, vividly illuminating the area. • When the World-Honored One paid respects to the rotten stūpa by circumambulating it three times to the right, he began to weep and blood flowed from his nose. When the Buddhas of the ten directions observed this, they each emitted light that illuminated the stūpa. The members of the assembly were shocked and amazed at this and wished for someone to explain what was happening. • When Vajrapāṇi Bodhisattva 金剛手菩薩 asked on behalf of the assembly for an explanation, the Buddha told him, “This is the Precious Stūpa of the Tathāgatas, in which his whole-body relics have been gathered. The essential form of the Dharma, the immeasurable tens of millions mind dhāraṇī mudrā of all the tathāgatas, are currently contained in it. . . . The collection of whole-body relics of one-hundred billion tathāgatas amounting to the eighty-four thousand teachings credited to the Buddha [as a cure for all sufferings] is also contained in it. . . . Because these wondrous aspects are situated in the stūpa located here, it possesses discernibly extraordinary and majestic power, able to fulfill the auspicious blessings [of everyone] throughout all the worlds.” • As a result, the members of the assembly were removed far from the dust and defilements of the world, eliminated all their afflictions, and obtained the pure Dharma-eye, presented with opportunity for full realization of a stream-enterer, as abider in the fruit of a once-returner, for
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Other details regarding the nature and extent of rewards promised for veneration of the stūpa, recitation of the dhāraṇī, and copying or recitation of the Sūtra are included. Those familiar with Mahayana sūtras will be familiar with these types of rewards promised to anyone who promotes the sūtra in question. The rewards recounted here, though specific to the context of this sūtra, are by no means unique. That the Leifeng Pagoda would become ravaged and broken, set upon by vines and brush, collapsing and reduced to rubble and buried under a mound of earth, is perhaps ironic, even prescient, given the description of similar circumstances plaguing the stūpa located in the park “Abundant Wealth” in the Precious Chest Seal Dhāraṇī Sūtra. The frontispiece of the Sūtra includes a graphic image of this scene described, depicting the Buddha and his entourage present at the decaying stūpa, under rays of light being emitted from it. Behind it is a depiction of the stūpa in its original, undeteriorated state (see Figure 4.2 and the close-up image in Appendix 2).48 Ultimately, the Huayan Sūtra, carved into the base of the Pagoda tower and visible to all, and the Precious Chest Seal Dhāraṇī Sūtra, installed inside one of the silver minted stūpas placed inside the Pagoda (the other containing the tuft of the Buddha’s hair), may be regarded as the public and private dimensions
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realization of a nonreturner, for the full realization of an arhat, or for the enlightenment of a pratyekabuddha, as well as for the Bodhisattva path, an avaivartika bodhisattva (at the stage of nonregression), or prajñā- wisdom, and so on. • Promises of various great rewards are made for future members of the Buddhist community who worship the stūpa, copy the Sūtra, and so on. • If a copy of the Sūtra is placed inside a statue of the Buddha or inside a stūpa, this statue becomes as spiritually efficacious as if constructed from the seven treasures, where every aspiration of the mind is fulfilled. • The supernatural dhāraṇī spell is revealed, as are the great rewards for any who copy or recite it. • In conclusion, the Buddha entrusts the secret supernatural dhāraṇī spell scripture to the assembly (represented by Vajrapāṇi), to revere and maintain and to disseminate it throughout the world, with the instruction to not let it be discontinued. Vajrapāṇi, on behalf of the assembly, promises to guard and protect it constantly, and not neglect it for even a moment. The Buddha is assured that the Dharma will thus be maintained and not be discontinued.
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of Qian Chu’s Buddhist faith and thus a reflection of an important aspect of Wuyue Buddhism. The combination of exoteric and esoteric (kenmitsu 顕 密) Buddhism has been regarded as a leading feature of medieval Japanese Buddhism.49 The influence of esoteric Buddhism in premodern China has until recently been underestimated, and recent works have greatly enhanced our understanding of the esoteric tradition in China.50 Qian Chu’s approach may well be indicative of a broader appreciation of combined exoteric and esoteric teachings in the Chinese context. This is not to suggest that anything like an esoteric Buddhist school like Shingon 真言 in Japan existed in China at this time, but rather esoteric practices, following Henrik Sørensen’s suggestion that “Esoteric Buddhism is a form of Mahāyāna—not a separate school but a movement centering on attaining its spiritual and worldly goals through ritual practices.”51 If Yongming Yanshou’s record of 108 self-practices in the Zixing lu 自行錄 (Records of Personal Practices) can be trusted as an accurate account of his activities, there is ample evidence that dhāraṇī rituals were an integral part of his regular routine.52 In an unpublished paper, Zhaohua Yang suggests how dhāranī practices in Yanshou’s Records may serve as a window to look at the esoteric Buddhism in Wuyue as well as in the larger Chinese world of the Five Dynasties period.53 Even though famed as a leading exponent of exoteric teaching, Yanshou exhibited a tendency toward dhāraṇī practice in his private worship. This suggests a broad appreciation of dhāraṇī practice in Wuyue and an accepted delineation between exoteric teachings and esoteric practices that Qian Chu availed himself of when constructing Leifeng Pagoda. Yanshou’s Wuyue colleague Zanning’s tripartite division of Buddhism included esoteric techniques as a major aspect (also reviewed in chapter 2), which included (1) exoteric teachings 顯教 (the canon of scriptures including sūtras, vinaya, and treatises); (2) esoteric teachings 密教 (techniques of yoga,54 abhiṣeka investiture ceremonies, five-part esoteric ceremonies, the three mystic modes of activity, and maṇḍalas); and (3) mind teachings 心教 (Chan teaching of directly pointing to the human mind, seeing nature and becoming buddha).55 The full title of the Sūtra inserted in bricks at Leifeng Pagoda is The Precious Chest Seal Dhāraṇī Sūtra of the Whole-Body Relics Concealed in the Minds of All Tahtāgatas. It emphasizes that the entire physical body of the Buddha is “concealed in the minds of all tathāgatas” (yiqie rulai xin mimi 一 切如来心秘密). The mind teaching of the tathāgata was especially prevalent in Wuyue given the emphasis placed on “mind” in Qian Chu’s leading exponent of exoteric Buddhist teaching. Yanshou compiled the encyclopedic Zongjing lu 宗鏡錄 (Record of the Source-Mirror), alternately referred to as
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the Xinjing lu 心鏡錄 (Record of the Mind-Mirror), as a testimony to the central teaching of mind 心 in Buddhism: “In this Record, I inquire exhaustively into the meaning of mind and investigate the explanations for consciousness. Generally speaking, there are an abundance of interpretations revealing a depth of style, substance, and reasoning. These [interpretations] lift away the barrier of uncertainty to the door of correct wisdom and chop off the weeds of falsehood in the field of true enlightenment.”56 While the connection between Yanshou’s Buddhist mind teaching in the Zongjing lu and the mind of the tathāgatas in Qian Chu’s Precious Chest Seal Dhāraṇī Sūtra is circumstantial, it may further reflect the combined approach to exoteric and esoteric Buddhist teaching mentioned above. While Yanshou famously drew from a plethora of sources to construct his model of Buddhist teaching, making a strict sectarian designation difficult, Huayan played a major role in his efforts, especially the writings of the Huayan master Chengguan.57 The question of Qian Chu’s motive for constructing the Pagoda is complicated by the political circumstances of the time. While ostensibly Buddhist, his motives are also inevitably intertwined with the delicate political situation Wuyue faced. Wuyue rulers habitually capitulated to the authority of northern dynasties when circumstances dictated, as indicated above. The pattern was established when the founding ruler of Wuyue, King Qian Liu 錢 鏐, pledged his allegiance to the Later Liang dynasty (907–923), newly established after the fall of the Tang, against the urgings of his advisor, Luo Yin 羅 隱, to join with other military governors in opposition.58 As a result, Wuyue was granted vassal status, with Qian Liu made king of Wuyue and titular military governor of Huainan as well as the areas of Zhenhai and Zhendong.59 In spite of this, Qian Liu adopted his own era name, tianbao 天寶, in place of Later Liang Emperor Taizu’s kaiping 開平 designation.60 After the Later Tang dynasty (923–927) succeeded the Later Liang, Qian Liu offered tribute to Emperor Zhuangzong, and in response the emperor conferred on him all of the titles that Later Liang had previously granted him. Qian Liu also submitted a large tribute and gave many gifts to powerful Later Tang politicians and requested that Emperor Zhuangzong grant him a golden seal, a certificate written on jade, and the continued use of the title of king, requests that Emperor Zhuangzong granted.61 Wuyue’s allegiance stood in marked contrast to other southern kingdoms whose rulers adopted the title “emperor” for themselves, harboring aspirations of future domination. Qian Chu followed his ancestor’s policy of nominally submitting to successive northern regimes in return for regional autonomy and high honors, like the title used
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in his frontispiece to the Precious Chest Seal Dhāraṇī Sūtra, “King Qian Chu of Wuyue, Generalissimo of Military Forces in the Empire” (Tianxia bingma dayuanshuai 天下兵馬大元帥), granted by the Song emperor. In spite of quasi-independence, Wuyue rulers publicly expressed deference toward dynastic emperors through generous tribute and military assistance, when requested. This distinguished Wuyue from the so-called Ten Kingdoms of the period, which adopted more confrontational postures toward the ruling warlord emperors in the North. In return, dynastic rulers awarded Wuyue rulers official titles as loyal servants of the empire, like the one noted here, as a pretense that Wuyue was not independent but in sympathy with imperial motives. In particular, Qian Chu gave support to the Song dynasty assault on the Southern Tang kingdom, even though its downfall in 975 (and formal capitulation in 976) removed an important buffer territory separating Wuyue from Song encroachments and hastened their own demise. Qian Chu’s Pagoda construction also complemented his political motives. Wuyue rulers, including Qian Chu, were avid devotees of Buddhism, and support for Buddhism figured prominently in their programs to build a stable culture. To complement his political appeasement of the Song, Qian Chu turned to the power of Buddhist teachings, both exoteric and esoteric forces, to create an aura of spiritual protection for Wuyue. Rather than invest more heavily in armaments and military resources, Qian Chu invested in the erection of Buddhist monuments: monasteries, pagodas, and stūpas. While Wuyue also had a military and engaged in periodic clashes along its borders, Wuyue “power” was also exercised through its Buddhist clergy, the rites and ceremonies they practiced and observed, and the institutions that supported them. It was the cultural aura created by the support for Buddhism, what today we might refer to as a kind of “soft power,” that the regime relied on– –the public transformation and “marking” of the landscape with Buddhist institutions coupled with an internal transformation enacted through the secret repository of what The Precious Chest Seal Dhāraṇī Sūtra refers to as Buddhism’s “extraordinary and majestic power” (shushing weide 殊勝威德). Yet not all observers concurred with the Wuyue ruler’s strategy. Witness Ouyang Xiu’s 歐陽修 dismissive judgment, hardly surprising given his staunch defense of Confucianism, but instructive nonetheless: “Having grown accustomed to decadent consumption, they devoted their lives to the clever and the crafty” and bankrupted their kingdom, heavily taxing their citizens in their pursuits.62 Buddhist aggrandizement, in this estimation, came at the expense of the citizenry who bore the expense for Qian Chu’s vision.
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The Leifeng Pagoda as “Leifeng Pagoda” and the Legend of the White Snake Although the Pagoda became famous with the name Leifeng (Thunder Peak), this was not, as seen above, its original name and did not appear until
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Qian Chu and the Wuyue strategy were novel and proved successful over the course of the Five Dynasties period (907–960). In just over fifty years, five warlords, in quick succession, took control of the North and declared themselves emperors and initiators of new dynasties: Later Liang (907–923), Tang (923–937), Jin (936–947), Han (947–951), and Zhou (951–960). The reality was an era marked by warfare and the constant threat of military insurrection. The term “Five Dynasties” was coined by Song dynasty historians and reflects the view that dynastic succession must be continuous and unbroken, based on the doctrine of the Mandate of Heaven.63 The so-called Ten Kingdoms were located mostly in the South and were a legacy of the formation of independent states that devolved from the increasing autonomy granted warlords (jiedu shi 節度使) as Tang authority receded. Conventionally set at ten, these kingdoms were Wu (907–937), Wuyue (907–978), Min (909–945), Chu (907–951), Southern Han (917–971), Former Shu (907–925), Later Shu (934–965), Jingnan (924–963), Southern Tang (937–976), and Northern Han (951–979). Unlike the dynasties to the north, many southern regimes were relatively stable and prosperous. All of them, it is interesting to note, lasted longer than their northern counterparts. And in terms of prosperity, none exceeded Wuyue. The contrasting styles of governing between Wuyue and the North is nowhere more evident than in the policies of Emperor Shizong of the Later Zhou dynasty. In 955, at the same time Qian Chu initiated his first attempt to cast metal stūpas to contain copies of The Precious Chest Seal Dhāraṇī Sūtra, Shizong implemented anti-Buddhist policies, including the confiscation and melting down of bronze statues to forge coins. The stark contrast throws into relief the differences between wen 文, civil culture based on literary arts, and wu 武, military prowess, as animating principles for ruling strategies. What further distinguished Qian Chu and Wuyue rule was its version of wen based in Buddhist principles, a definition that proved problematic as Wuyue was drawn into the spectrum of Song control, where Buddhism was not necessarily regarded as an unequivocal force for good.64
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a considerable time after its construction. The Pagoda was reduced to ashes during the military conflagration of the xuanhe era (1119–1125) at the end of the Northern Song dynasty, during the final years of the reign of Emperor Huizong.65 In the early years of the Southern Song dynasty, some people wanted to destroy the stūpa in the hope of repurposing the pagoda materials to fortify the city walls of Hangzhou against northern Jurchen invaders. The plan was allegedly halted when the spiritual vestige (lingji 靈蹟) of the site manifested in the form a huge python encircling the foundation. This curious development presages the important role that snake imagery was destined to play in the Pagoda’s future. It also reminds us of similar indecisions about rebuilding it following the collapse in 1924 (discussed below). The plan to rebuild the Pagoda was initiated some years later, during the reign of Southern Song Emperor Xiaozong, in the seventh year of the gandao era (1171), by the vows of monks and intellectuals and with alms donated by lay patrons. More than twenty years later, the reconstruction was finally completed in the first year of the qingyuan era (1195). While the reconstructed Leifeng Pagoda did not survive, the Liuhe Pagoda 六和塔 (Pagoda of Six Harmonies) has an early history not dissimilar to Leifeng Pagoda’s that is instructive. It was built in 970 by the Wuyue king Qian Chu to quell the tidal bore of the Qiantang River and as a navigational aid for boats plying the river. It was destroyed during warfare in 1121 and reconstructed in 1165, during the Southern Song dynasty. Wooden eaves were added to the wood and brick structure in the Ming and Qing dynasties. Although its outward appearance shows thirteen stories, internally it is comprised of seven stories. Because it was constructed and reconstructed around the same time and remains intact, it is a useful guide to how Leifeng Pagoda had been constructed prior to its collapse. The Qingyuan Record of Reconstruction 慶元修創記, compiled in the fifth year of qingyuan (1199), documents the reconstruction of the Pagoda and advances the name Leifeng (Thunder Peak) for the first time.66 According to the entry for “Leifeng” 雷峰 in the Lin’an Gazetteer Compiled in the Chunyou Era (1241–1252) 淳祐臨安志, the name Lei was attributable to a local resident of the same name, who built a hut there to live in. It was also known by the sobriquet “Central Peak” (zhongfeng 中峰): “In front of Jingci Monastery, the Xianyan (Clear Adornment) Cloister has a five-story precious stūpa that preserves a famous site on West Lake. It is said that formerly a resident of the district named Lei had a dwelling there and [it] was therefore known as Leifeng hut. Because the world knows of
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Figure 4.4 Leifeng Pagoda and Jingci Monastery Detail from scroll: Scenic Attractions of West Lake 西湖清趣图, attributed to Li Song 李嵩. Freer Gallery of Art, https://asia.si.edu/object/F1911.209/.
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Leifeng as being encircled by many mountains, it is called Central Peak (zhongfeng).”67 The Lin’an Gazetteer Compiled in the Xianchun Era 咸淳臨 安志 confirms that the site was named after a man named Lei who had a residence there.68 According to the Former Gazetteer of Jingci Monastery 淨 慈寺舊志, a Daoist named Xu 徐 resided at the site in the Song dynasty, studying the Laozi and living as a complete recluse. He was referred to as the Gentleman of the Surrounded Peak (Huifeng Xiansheng 迴峰先生). It also acknowledges the claim that the site was named after one by the name of Lei and because of this was called Leifeng.69 With its perch overlooking West Lake, Leifeng Pagoda assumed a commanding presence and became an important symbol of the Buddhist culture that flourished when Hangzhou became the capital in the Southern Song dynasty (1127–1279) [Figure 4.4]. It became one of the vaunted memorials that dotted the West Lake panorama and may be counted among the reasons the Venetian traveler Marco Polo described Hangzhou in the thirteenth century as “beyond dispute the finest and the noblest in the world.”70 As domineering as Leifeng Pagoda is over the West Lake scenic landscape, it attracted little attention in the centuries after its completion. Wang notes that major luminaries of the Chinese literary pantheon who were favorably disposed toward Buddhism and spent lengthy periods in Hangzhou failed to mention Leifeng Pagoda in their writings. Su Shi 蘇 軾 (1036–1101) twice held official posts in Hangzhou and wrote profusely and enthusiastically about West Lake scenery. But while he noted visits to nearby Jingci Monastery 淨慈寺, he made no mention of Leifeng Pagoda. Lu You 陸游 (1125–1210), a prominent Southern Song dynasty poet, also
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The trees of the mountain form a canopy and its rocks form a screen. . . . Whether Layman or monk, when they see and listen to the dust, desires, and filth, they cannot wash them away. But once you look at these scenes, then it all goes away. At the mere sight of this scenery, they disappear without the need for washing; how can their latent benefits and hidden advantages be fully expressed?72
Wang provides insight as to why such prominent structures as Leifeng Pagoda were ignored. To the literati writer in traditional China, architectural sites do not unto themselves constitute noteworthy topics. The grandeur of a structure has little bearing on making it noteworthy. Typically, landmarks that rise to prominence are towers, terraces, kiosks, and pavilions (lou 樓, tai 臺, ting 亭, ge 閣) because of their “nostalgic associations with imperial palaces or the vanished glories of remote or bygone eras” or “for their open views of distant landscapes, which prompt transcendent aspirations.” Landmarks and monuments are deemed remarkable “only when they accommodate two major topoi: contemplation of the vanished past (huaigu 懷古) and journey to the lands of the immortals (youxian 遊仙),” what Wang describes as “immanent Confucian sentiment and transcendent Daoist yearning.”73 Buddhist monuments remain unremarkable given these criteria. Wang’s assessment provides a poignant reminder that what is “seen” is a function of what comes into focus, and what comes into focus is culturally determined as deserving of attention.
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surveyed the area around Nanping Mountain that included Leifeng Pagoda, but it failed to fall under his purview. Qisong 契嵩 (?–1071), the eminent monk of Lingyin Monastery 靈隱寺, left a detailed description of his ascent of Nanping Mountain, including the panorama that contained a number of pavilions, but completely ignored Leifeng Pagoda.71 The reasons Leifeng Pagoda failed to register as an important landmark speak to the Chinese literati imagination of the time. In the Tang dynasty, Bai Juyi 白居易 (722–846), while serving as governor of Hangzhou, reveled in the natural beauty and majestic grandeur of nature rather than human- created structures. Writing of the area around Lingyin Monastery and the Feilaifeng 飛來峰 hillside, he opines:
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The backdrop of the sky, the color of the water—the splendor of West Lake. The clouds and things of nature all vivid. Gulls and egrets idly doze, I follow my normal routine, listening to pipes and strings. The wind is fresh, the moon is bright, a nearly perfect evening. What an exquisite terrain. Who wishes to be a steed or phoenix? A man in his boat is already an immortal.75
The Pagoda became a household name in China thanks to the popular folk tale “The Legend of the White Snake” 白蛇傳, a touching story about a girl who changed into a snake and about her relations with her lover, a young man. The earliest attempt to fictionalize the story in printed form appears to be “The White Maiden Locked for Eternity in Leifeng Pagoda” (白娘子 永鎭雷峰塔) in Feng Menglong’s 馮夢龍 (1574–1646) Stories to Awaken the World 喻世明言 (or Stories Old and New 古今小說), published in 1624, during the Ming dynasty.76 The story is counted as one of China’s four great folk tales, along with “Lady Meng Jiang” 孟姜女, “Butterfly Lovers” 梁山伯 與祝英臺, and “The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl” 牛郎織女, and has been the subject of numerous Chinese operas and, in the modern era, films and television series. As a romantic tale about lovers who persevere against adversity and prevail in the end, it has proven especially attractive to audiences, such that the fame of Leifeng Pagoda over the centuries became largely attributable to its association with the story. “The Legend of the White Snake” is the culmination of a body of snake- inspired lore, and stories of young men becoming involved with snake- women have a long tradition in Chinese literature.
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Even though Ouyang Xiu 歐陽修 (1007–1072) wrote his famous series of ten “Splendor of West Lake” (Xihu hao 西湖好) poems for a different West Lake in Fuyang, Anhui Province, his writing is indicative of a Chinese poetic style wherein the author is immersed in the poignancy of nature and human revelry, framed by scenic beauty rather than monumental edifices. Antonio Mezcua López describes a similar tendency among literati observations associated with Feilaifeng, who prized its sublime beauty punctuated with exquisitely formed rocks. To this sensibility, the carving of Buddhist sculptures into the rock face represented a desecration rather than an enhancement of the natural beauty of the area.74 Ouyang’s poem “The Backdrop of the Sky, the Color of the Water” as part of his “Splendor of West Lake” series (Xihu hao 西湖好, often translated more literally as “West Lake Is Good”) offers an example of this sensibility:
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The Taiping guangji 太平廣記 (Extensive Records Compiled in the Taiping Era), a major collection of literary tales compiled at the beginning of the Song dynasty, devotes a full four of its five hundred fascicles to narratives of human encounters with snakes.77 One of the stories, involving a young man’s erotic encounter with a white snake who turns into a beautiful woman, ends in his horrible death. Another relates how a group of visitors to Mount Song gather under a pagoda and kill a long snake wrapped around the inner pillar and who are eventually struck down by thunder.78 More pertinent to the location of West Lake is “The Story of the Three Pagodas,” from a collection of tales drawn largely from oral storytelling, Stories by Sixty Authors (Liuxhi jia xiaoshuo 六十家小說), published before 1547 by Hong Pian 洪楩. The story involves a young man of the region who, after rescuing a young girl, meets the girl’s mother, dressed in white, and grandmother, dressed in black. The young man falls in love with the mother, a serial monogamist who kills her lovers when she takes a new one, but he escapes this fate through the intervention of the young girl. A Daoist exorcist exposes the identities of the three women—the young girl as a black chicken, the mother as a white snake, and the grandmother as an otter—and raises funds to construct three stone pagodas on West Lake to subjugate the three women-monsters beneath them.79 “The Story of the Three Pagodas” was not the only association of the white- snake demon with West Lake. Wang notes that quite a few pagodas in the West Lake area were associated with snake lore. He specifically mentions how the pagoda on the Southern Peak, also built by Qian Chu in the tenth century, stood close to Bowl Pond (Boyu tan 鉢盂潭), a name that prompts an association with the bowl used by the monk Fahai 法海 to contain the White Snake, as described in Feng Menglong’s story. In addition, the Baoshu Pagoda 保叔塔 on the Northern Mountain across the lake from Leifeng Pagoda, also built in the tenth century, was struck by lightning toward the end of fifteenth century, killing three monks inside the pagoda together with a huge snake weighing fifty pounds and harboring ten or so white embryos in its belly.80 Leifeng Pagoda’s association with the White Snake legend inserted itself into the history of the site, providing a new explanation of how and why it was erected, its meaning and purpose. In the new version, Leifeng Pagoda is erected by the scheming monk Fahai, who captures Lady White Snake and imprisons her inside. No longer a story about the triumph of Buddhist culture, a culture of wen inspired in Buddhist principles in the face of the
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The Destruction and Resurrection of Leifeng Pagoda In the Ming dynasty, during the period 1522–1566, invading Japanese pirates seeking booty set fire to the Pagoda and burned the coves, balconies, balustrades, and steeple to ashes, leaving only a brick skeleton. Later, people often took bricks from the Pagoda in the belief that the abrasive powder of the bricks was a magic remedy that could cure diseases and keep a fetus from aborting. Others stole Buddhist scriptures from the Pagoda to sell. A contemporary account written by the compiler of the Chijian Jingci Monastery Gazetteer 敕建淨慈寺志 in the nineteenth century speaks to the decrepit state to which the Pagoda had fallen: At present, [Leifeng Pagoda] is made remote, covered in dense vegetation. The ochre-colored bricks are in a state of disrepair, submerged in weeds under a net of undergrowth. The bottom level pavilions are framed in mold, interspersed with inhabited nests. Inside it is dark and dusky; outside it hangs high [in the sky]. The ascent of the stone steps to access it mistakenly refers to it as the “Honorable Jug’s Cave.” Indeed! The ceramic glaze covering it has peeled off. Even if one gets lost in the commanding spectacle of the setting sun (xizhao) and with agile nimbleness pushes oneself inside, it is like enduring the days of summer to prolong the cold (i.e., not worth the effort).81
Writing during the Qianlong period of the Qing dynasty, Zhao Hao 翟灝and Zhao Han 翟瀚 in A Brief Introduction to the Scenic Spots on West Lake state that during the reign of Emperor Jiajing of the Ming dynasty (1521–1567), the Pagoda was set afire. The plume of smoke was ascribed to the poison vomited up by the two seductresses, the White Snake and Black Carp, who were believed to be imprisoned beneath the Pagoda. The Pagoda, they assert, formerly had layers of eaves suspended by rafters, with window openings to peer out of, but after the devastation caused by the fire only the skeletal edifice, high and mighty, survived.82
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overwhelming threat of military (wu) dominance, Leifeng Pagoda’s story took on the dimensions of broader literary themes that informed the national Chinese consciousness and continue to do so through numerous permutations.
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Figure 4.5 Old Leifeng Pagoda in 1910 (anonymous).
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People stole the gold-colored foundation bricks, believing they would bring them wealth. Also, owing to the legend of Madam White Snake, the Pagoda was believed to have the power to repel snakes; thus in Hangzhou, where the silk industry has long flourished, many stole the foundation bricks in the belief that these would protect their silkworms from snakes. Finally, in September 1924, the Pagoda collapsed from the treatment it had endured (see Figure 4.5).
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Two reports from those who were near the scene when Leifeng Pagoda collapsed suggest it occurred around or just before 2:00 p.m. on September 25 (the twenty-seventh day of the eighth month on the lunar calendar). In a clipping from a local newspaper, a man referred to as Du Yun 渡云 reported, “After lunch, I heard the sound of a loud rumble, like a landmine exploding. Shortly after, there was a rumor that Leifeng Pagoda had fallen.” In the other report, Yu Pingbo 俞平伯, a noted essayist, poet, historian, and literary critic and a prominent student of Hu Shih 胡適, was at his residence on West Lake at the time and wrote of the event, “Looking out over the Lake from our residence, we saw yellow dust rising straight up. The Pagoda had been in a decrepit state for a while. Because of a headwind, the sound was not loud.”83 The reverberations of the Pagoda’s collapse extended far beyond the changes to the physical landscape at West Lake, to become a symbol for the opposing factions in the cultural wars of the new China. In the context of 1920s China, when the New Culture Movement had captured the imagination of modernizing youth, the collapse of Leifeng Pagoda was laden with symbolic value. The New Culture Movement sprang from disillusionment with traditional Chinese culture following the failure of the Chinese Republic, which had been initiated in 1912 after the demise of the last imperial dynasty, the Qing. It called for the creation of a new Chinese culture based on global and Western standards, especially democracy and science. Its leading proposals included the advancement of vernacular literature (baihua 白話), an end to the patriarchal system in favor of individual freedom and the liberation of women, a renunciation of Confucian culture, the implementation of modern textual and critical methods, democratic and egalitarian values, and an orientation to the future rather than the past. As a leading proponent of the New Culture Movement, the writer Lu Xun 鲁迅 wrote an essay about the collapse of the Leifeng Pagoda.84 In the essay, he recalls visiting the Pagoda in his youth and admits to not being much impressed. He recounts the legend of Lady White Snake as told to him by his grandmother on the occasion of their visit, and attributes the origin of the Pagoda to the Buddhist monk Fahai, who traps Lady White Snake and puts her in a small alms bowl, erecting the Pagoda over top to prevent her escape. Lu’s only wish was for Leifeng Pagoda to collapse, and now that it had, he writes, everyone in the country should be happy. For Lu Xun, like the crusaders of the New Culture Movement, the collapse of Leifeng Pagoda represented a major symbolic blow to the feudal social order that had ruled China for thousands of years, the destruction of the old culture in order to
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make way for the rise of the new. The essay was later included in textbooks for Chinese students, to convey this very theme. Chinese experts had long debated whether Leifeng Pagoda should be rebuilt. A strong argument for rebuilding was that it had great archaeological value and was an ancient architectural masterpiece. But any immediate hopes for rebuilding were quickly dashed by the Japanese invasion of China in the 1930s and the subsequent civil war between Republicans and Communists following the defeat of Japan. The adoption of New Culture rhetoric by the Communists following their victory in 1949 called for all aspects of traditional Chinese culture that smacked of “old values” to be eliminated. Any prospect for rebuilding Leifeng Pagoda in this climate was out of the question. In the wake of Deng Xiaoping’s reforms in the 1980s, Communist Party policy moved away from political aspirations aimed at cleansing society of its feudal past and toward an emphasis on economic development to build a prosperous future. In this new context, interested parties began to look at the Leifeng Pagoda site for the great potential it possessed as a major tourist attraction. In March 2000, the restoration of Leifeng Pagoda officially began. A team of archaeologists went to the site of the ruins and started the process of unearthing and discovering. They determined that Leifeng Pagoda was an octagonal, five-story structure built of brick and wood. The body was made of brick, but the eaves, balconies, inside landings, and balustrades were made of wood (not unlike Liuhe Pagoda). Stones with the Huayan Sūtra inscribed on them were found, inlaid on the inner walls. There used to be sixteen sculptures of arhats at the foot of the Pagoda, but they were later moved to Jingci Monastery 淨慈寺 (formerly Yongming Monastery 永明寺), a short distance to the south. In November 2000, the Hangzhou Municipal People’s Government declared that it was going to rebuild Leifeng Pagoda. In March 2001, a number of ancient Buddhist relics were unearthed from the underground chamber, including gilded bronze statues of the Buddha, bronze mirrors, bronze coins, jade figures, and the silver Aśoka-style stūpa created by Qian Chu inside an iron box of Buddhist relics. On April 28, 2001, an exhibition was held at Zhejiang Provincial Museum showcasing the unearthed cultural artifacts from the Leifeng Pagoda site. Dozens of valuable pieces were on display, and people marveled at the superb level of skill shown in the recovered objects, wondering how such craftsmanship was possible at the time of their creation. When asked to contribute ideas for refurbishing the site, local people responded with over five hundred
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Figure 4.6 Aerial shot of Leifeng Pagoda at the West Lake scenic area. Photo by Xinhua News Agency, July 2014.
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suggestions, on topics that included Buddhism, folk traditions, its romantic legacy, Wuyue culture, poetry, architecture, local operas, printing technology, traditional Chinese medicine, and famous figures associated with the site. While some suggested that the underground cache be restored to the state in which it was found before excavation, others wanted stone inscriptions of sūtras erected to restore the Buddhist character of the site. Ten blueprint designs for the new Pagoda were contributed by Qinghua University, Zhejiang University, Tongji University, Southeast University, Zhejiang Architectural Design Institute, and Hangzhou Gardening Design Institute, and these were displayed publicly to invite comments and suggestions. On the basis of the feedback received, a design was decided on that preserved the base of original Pagoda ruins, while serving as a monument to the local people’s affections for the site. Unanimous agreement among experts concurred that the new pagoda should not be an antique replica. The result is the Leifeng Pagoda monument that stands on West Lake today.85 The five-story structure was completed in October 2002 (see Figure 4.6), accessed via escalator (Figure 4.7) and elevator. It features archaeological exhibits and preservation and dedications on each floor of themes associated with Leifeng Pagoda: the legend of the White Snake, calligraphic
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writings of famous figures associated with the site, Wuyue-period events associated with the Pagoda’s original construction, reproductions of the famous scenes from West Lake, and a top floor dedicated to scenes from the life of the Buddha. The association of the Pagoda with the romantic story of the White Snake, coupled with its cultural heritage and commanding views over West Lake, make it a most popular tourist attraction in Hangzhou. A museum housing cultural artifacts, including two Aśoka-style stūpas created by King Qian Chu as part of his dispersion of the Buddha’s remains, is situated at a short distance to the side of the main Pagoda. It is rarely visited in comparison.
Concluding Remarks The history of the Pagoda situated on the southern shore of West Lake, at Sunset Peak 夕照峰, may be divided into three periods: 1. Huangfei Pagoda 黃妃塔 period; constructed in 975–97686 allegedly for a Consort Huang who gave birth to King Qian Chu’s son; the pagoda is commonly believed to have been named after her in honor of the son’s birth.
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Figure 4.7 Escalator leading to Leifeng Pagoda. Photo by author, June 2018.
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This history reveals that the structure that became known as the Leifeng Pagoda had components that were concealed or became hidden from view. Its origins were far removed from the structure heralded in the secular story “The Legend of the White Snake.” It was conceived as a monument to celebrate the Buddhist culture of the Wuyue Kingdom. The Huayan jing inscribed at its base represented an outward expression of this Buddhist culture; the Buddha’s relics—his hair and a copy of The Precious Chest Seal Dhāraṇī Sūtra—contained in specially forged Aśoka-style stūpas and specially designed bricks symbolized the Buddha’s essence. Taken together, these represent exoteric (xian 顯) and esoteric (mi 密) dimensions of Wuyue Buddhism, or its functional (yong 用) and essential (ti 體) aspects.
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→ Destroyed during the xuanhe era (1119–1125) at the end of the Northern Song dynasty, during the final years of the reign of Emperor Huizong. 2. Leifeng Pagoda 雷峰塔 period; plan to rebuild the Pagoda in the seventh year of the gandao era (1171), initiated during the reign of Southern Song Emperor Xiaozong. Reconstruction completed in the first year of the qingyuan era (1195). First documented use of the name Leifeng in the fifth year of qingyuan (1199). → Development of association with “The Legend of the White Snake” 白蛇傳. → During the period 1522–1566, invading Japanese pirates seeking booty set fire to the Pagoda and burned the coves, balconies, balustrades, and steeple to ashes, leaving only a brick skeleton; suffered further deprivations from locals stealing bricks from the base of the Pagoda for various reasons. → Pagoda collapses in August 1924; collapse is celebrated in essay by noted writer Lu Xun. 3. Reconstructed Leifeng Pagoda 新雷峰塔; site excavated in 2001 and a new, five-story structure completed in October 2002. → Excavations revealed the “hidden” history of the site and its origins as Huangfei Pagoda constructed by King Qian Chu of Wuyue in 975: two Aśoka-style stūpas containing relics of the Buddha, one with a strand of hair, the other with fragments of Buddha’s remains; copies of The Precious Chest Seal Dhāraṇī Sūtra concealed in bricks used to construct the upper stories of the Pagoda.
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The history also reveals that the secularization of the site occurred prior to the modern reconstruction, as the legend of the White Snake became associated with Leifeng Pagoda. The Buddhist content faded in favor of a context in which Buddhism was drastically reimagined and relegated to the backdrop for a fantasy tale. The reconstructed Leifeng Pagoda that currently graces West Lake incorporates aspects of both its original intent as a Buddhist site and its reimagined literary legacy. The two subfloors preserve the archaeological excavations of the base of the fallen structure, allowing viewers to peer out at the bricks that comprised the structure first called Leifeng Pagoda in 1199. The first floor is dedicated to the legend of the White Snake, the second floor to paintings of scenes from the Wuyue period when the Pagoda was first conceived, the third floor to poetry and calligraphy of famous literati relating to the Pagoda; the fourth floor contains depictions of famous scenes of the surrounding West Lake area, and the top floor is dedicated to important scenes from the life of Śākyamuni Buddha. The outer faces of King Qian Chu’s Aśoka-style stūpas also depicted scenes from the Buddha’s life, so that the fifth-floor depictions may be regarded as a tribute to this aspect of Qian Chu’s motivations. The dual heritage––its Buddhist religious inspirations and its secular literary persona––are incorporated into the current reconstructed Leifeng Pagoda, as are the modern archaeological contributions to its recovery and restoration. Nevertheless, it represents a radically different model of Buddhist revival in contemporary China than the nearby Yongming Stūpa. While Leifeng Pagoda’s origins are unequivocally tied to Buddhism, the history of the site and its associations with popular culture diluted and obscured this Buddhist heritage. The tussle between Buddhist sanctuary and tourist destination that the site represents seems to fall heavily in favor of tourism and commercial interests. Even though Buddhism is acknowledged at the site, especially in its top-floor display and affiliated museum, the masses of people who visit have less interest in Leifeng Pagoda as a Buddhist monument than as a cultural heritage site that includes scenic vistas of the famed West Lake. Displays of Buddhist piety are neither encouraged nor evident. In Leifeng Pagoda’s case, the Buddhist revival, if it can even be said to be Buddhist, is predicated on contemporary realities that marginalize Buddhist practice and have little to do with Buddhism as a religion. Even so, the impact of Buddhism as a cultural force in Hangzhou is well recognized, and one need not be too constrained by traditional views of piety as circumscribing
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Executive
Hangzhou municipal government Zhejiang Archaelogical Association West Lake Scenic Area
Tourism Leifeng Cultural Park
Local community
Residents of Hangzhou
Economic growth based on Heritage management
Monetary profit Investment opportunity Growth of private business
Employment opportunities
Local believers
Buddhists
No direct involvement
Increased awareness and appreciation of Buddhist contributions to HZ culture
Tourists Visitors Pilgrims
Opportunity for ritual participation?
Diverse stakeholders promoted Leifeng Pagoda’s revival and are vested in its prosperity. These include government executives in the Hangzhou municipal government for whom the West Lake Scenic Area and Leifeng Cultural Park are pivotal tourist destinations. Admission to the park alone is a considerable source of revenue for municipal government coffers. The Zhejiang Archaeological Association played a leading role in excavating and managing the development of the site, including the services of architects and artisans for erecting the new pagoda and creating the displays contained within it.
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legitimate religious function. We should not expect the Leifeng Pagoda, given its strong associations with secular literature, especially “The Legend of the White Snake,” to be denied its rich secular history. The Leifeng Pagoda model is quite complicated owing to various stakeholders with multiple interests.87 Figure 4.8 charts the variety of vested interests.88
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Taken in its entirety, the project may be considered part of a plan for economic growth based on heritage management and is an example of the kind of project one sees with regularity in local areas and municipalities throughout China as its economy moves from a production-to a consumer- based model. The promotion of local heritage, as a result, is not driven by historical, cultural, or religious motivations but uses these in the service of stimulating economic activity, investment opportunity, and the growth of private ancillary businesses (e.g., the hospitality industry). These in turn provide employment opportunities to the local community. The local community of Buddhist believers, not an inconsiderable group in a region like Hangzhou, also derives benefits from the celebration of their heritage and, in some cases, like the Yongming Stūpa, provides actual access to sites important to their ritual activities. Even though Leifeng Pagoda provides no opportunities for ritual activities to members of the Buddhist community, it does increase general awareness and appreciation of Buddhist contributions to Hangzhou culture. But having said this, the difference between the two sites is clear when considering the ways in which they have been repurposed. If reinvented in the Yongming Stūpa model to serve the interests of Buddhist practitioners, the Leifeng Pagoda reconstruction would have reestablished the primacy of King Qing Chu’s Aśoka-style stūpas recovered in the archaeological excavations, and placed them as objects of worship at the apex and nadir of the Pagoda, in proximity to where they were originally installed. This was suggested by some of the local comments solicited by officials. For reasons suggested above, however, the popularity, commercial, and cultural potential of the site were too diverse to be reduced to the narrower interests of the Buddhist faithful. For this reason, the recovered Aśoka-style stūpas are displayed (either as originals or replicas) as cultural rather than religious objects in the Leifeng and Zhejiang Provincial Museums. The distinction between the Buddhist stūpa as cultural or religious object underscores the difference between how the two sites are treated today. This is not to suggest that the current uses to which the Leifeng Pagoda has been put is inappropriate. Such judgments are subjective, and a decision to emphasize exclusively the religious nature of the site would deny the iconic literary and cultural symbolism that the Pagoda acquired. The balance between the various forces––religious, secular, cultural, literary, artistic, historical, scientific (archaeological), etc.––that the current construction maintains is orchestrated, in the final analysis, by the commercial potential
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the site holds as one of the major tourist sites (if not the major site) in the West Lake area and greater Hangzhou region. These are not decisions unique to Hangzhou, or even China, but represent the general tension that managers of religious and cultural sites face when dealing with the secular forces of any society. One need only scan the sites of Japan and Europe to find similar examples of religious sites that have been turned into tourist sites and museums for educational and commercial purposes. In the case of Leifeng Pagoda, although the tension has a modern context, it is not new. Leifeng Pagoda has always been renowned as a scenic attraction, drawing sightseers of varying persuasions for cultural or religious edification or simply as a pleasurable diversion. This is not a new phenomenon in China. Marcus Bingenheimer, in his examination of gazetteers relating to Mount Putuo 普 陀山, noted a similar array of interests in pilgrims who visited that site, some of them decidedly secular.89 The Leifeng Pagoda site is currently managed in such a way as to highlight its rich heritage, so that visitors have ample opportunity to explore its cultural, historical, and religious dimensions.
5 The Parameters of Buddhist Revival in China
The colors of Spring have returned to West Lake, The Spring waters are more vivid than if painted. The multitudes of fragrant flowers unrestrained, With the blowing east wind blossoms fall like rice grains. 西湖春色歸,春水綠於染。群芳爛不收 ,東風落如糝。 —Ouyang Xiu 歐陽修, From “Spring Day on West Lake”
Introduction The ascension of Deng Xiaoping as paramount leader of the Chinese Communist Party ushered in an era of reforms that included the relaxation of control on religious activities.1 In 1982, the Party issued Document no. 19, which established the legality of certain religious practices and the restoration of religious sites damaged during the Cultural Revolution.2 This policy change, nurtured and expanded by Hu Jintao and Xi Jinping, brought about a slow but steady revival of religious activities, especially relating to but not limited to Buddhism, that increased to a rapid rate. Old religious sites were restored or reimagined and new sites were conceived. A Buddhist clergy that was nearly obliterated in the Maoist era, culminating with the Cultural Revolution, was replenished with a spate of younger recruits who populated, revived, and rebuilt monasteries in great numbers. This has led to a robust resurgence of Buddhism on a scale quite unimaginable a few decades ago.3 The scale of the contemporary Buddhist revival in China is difficult to encapsulate.4 In the greater Hangzhou region, including Ningbo and much of Zhejiang Province, the revival has been intense in an effort to reconstitute something of Buddhism’s former glory in the region. When I first visited Hangzhou in the spring of 1985, many of the monastic compounds A Tale of Two Stu¯pas. Albert Welter, Oxford University Press. © Oxford University Press 2022. DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780197606636.003.0005
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were either closed or repurposed for more “productive” purposes. Lingyin (Soul’s Retreat) Monastery 灵隐寺,5 protected by Zhou Enlai, was the only functioning institution in Hangzhou that I observed. The three Tianzhu 天 竺 monasteries, Shang (Upper) Tianzhu 上天竺 (Fajing si 法镜寺), Zhong (Middle) Tianzhu 中天竺 (Faxi si 法喜寺), and Xia (Lower) Tianzhu 下天 竺 (Fajing si 法净寺), located along a path leading from Lingyin, were all closed. One had been turned into a factory, another converted to residences for locals (see Figure 5.1). One had stenciled Mao slogans on the wall denouncing “erroneous ideas” and “noxious weeds” that served as a backdrop to the devastated and charred remains of the main hall of the monastery, such as the one depicted in Figure 5.2: “All erroneous ideas, all noxious weeds, all ghosts and monsters, must be subjected to criticism; in no circumstance should they be allowed to spread unchecked.” Across West Lake to the south, the main hall at Jingci (Pure Compassion) Monastery 净慈寺 had been converted to a storehouse for the Public Security Bureau; many of the other buildings were also used for the Bureau’s purposes. Only a small building toward the back of the compound showed signs of a meager resurgence. An elderly monk had set up a makeshift altar (Figure 5.3) facing the mountain rather than oriented toward the lake as
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Figure 5.1 Devastation and “restoration” at Tianzhu Monastery. Photo by author, spring 1985.
Figure 5.3 Makeshift altar at the back of Jingci Monastery. Photo by author, spring 1985.
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Figure 5.2 Maoist caption stenciled on the wall of Tianzhu Monastery. Photo by author, spring 1985.
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Figure 5.4 Pagoda of the Six Harmonies. Photo by author, spring 1985.
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the other principal monastic buildings were. When I visited, the only other person present was a fellow graduate student who accompanied me. Yongming Stūpa was inaccessible, separated (as it is now) by Public Security offices and dormitories. According to reports, the Stūpa had been destroyed during the Cultural Revolution. The Pagoda of the Six Harmonies (liuhe ta 六和塔), an exception, stood majestically over the Qiantang River (Figure 5.4). Leifeng (Thunder Peak) Pagoda 雷峰塔, the most famous of Hangzhou sites for its associations with the legend of the White Snake (baishe zhuan 白蛇傳), was in rubble on the shores of West Lake, having collapsed in 1924, with no plan for rebuilding. The destruction, neglect, and reassignment that characterized Buddhist establishments well into the 1980s would surprise anyone who visits the same sites today. Lingyin Monastery has been transformed into an active monastery of 130 or so monks, under the direction of Abbot Guangquan 光 泉, who also directs activities at the nearby Hangzhou Buddhist Academy, the main institution for Buddhist education in Hangzhou, aimed primarily at
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educating the clergy, with over one hundred students enrolled. From his position at Lingyin Monastery, Master Guangquan not only leads the Hangzhou and Zhejiang Buddhist communities but also has leadership roles in the Chinese Buddhist hierarchy, with positions as vice secretary general of the Buddhist Association of China, vice chairman of the Buddhist Association of Zhejiang, and chairman of the Buddhist Association of Hangzhou. Situated within Feilai Peak Scenic Area, Lingyin Monastery is one of the most popular destinations among the numerous attractions of Hangzhou, visited by throngs of pilgrims and tourists every day. The three Tianzhu monasteries have also become functioning Buddhist sites. Upper Tianzhu, an important Tiantai monastery during the Song dynasty, is the center of Buddhist piety for Hangzhou residents, even as its activity seems subdued in comparison to its more touristy neighbor, Lingyin Monastery. Middle Tianzhu is also functioning again, with plans to expand the monastic compound. Lower Tianzhu has reestablished itself as a nunnery and a wing of the Chinese Buddhist Academy dedicated to the training of its inhabitants. Across the lake, Jingci Monastery has been largely restored, with plans in place to return it to a state of even greater grandeur. The subjects of this book, Yongming Stūpa and Leifeng Pagoda, are historically connected to Jingci Monastery. Both have been restored. In this study, we saw that during the tenth century, the interregnum between the Tang and Song dynasties, the period known as the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, Wuyue became a prominent haven for Buddhist monks and developed a vibrant Buddhist culture that marks the region down to the present-day revival. Like many devoted Buddhist rulers before him, King Qian Chu strove to emulate the model of Aśoka by dispersing an alleged eighty-four thousand urns containing the Buddha’s relics throughout his kingdom, thus marking it as his Buddha-land. By this time, the Buddha’s remains comprised corporeal or physical remains (rupa-kāya) and the sūtras preached by the Buddha (dharma-kāya), deemed to be the essence of the Buddha himself. The most prominent of Qian Chu’s stūpas were housed in Leifeng (Thunder Peak) Pagoda, overlooking West Lake. As reviewed previously, it was constructed between 975 and 977 at the order of Qian Chu and was originally known as Huangfei Pagoda, allegedly to celebrate the birth of a son by one of his favorite concubines. The Pagoda was constructed with Buddhist sūtras, principally the Huayan Sūtra, written on the foundation bricks to protect the Buddhist relics buried within the structure from evil. The upper tier of the Pagoda contained the Heavenly Palace
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(tiangong 天宮), including a miniature stūpa with a relic of the Buddha’s physical body (shen sheli 身舍利). Some of the specially designed bricks for this tier also contained printed copies of a dhārani sūtra attributed to the Buddha, The Precious Chest Seal Dhārani Sūtra as his dharma relic (fa sheli 法舍利). Both types of stūpa remains speak to the private, interior Buddhist motive of Qian Chu in erecting Leifeng Pagoda, a monument to and beacon for the Buddha’s divine and innermost profound essence and esoteric teaching, surrounded by the exoteric teaching of the Huayan Sūtra at its base. The Pagoda became a household name in China thanks to the enduring popular folk tale “The Legend of the White Snake,” told in a variety of iterations. The story involves a potent mix of romance, gendered machinations, supernatural maneuverings, and treachery, involving humans and magical creatures (primarily snakes). Although the tale involves a Buddhist monk, Fahai 法海, the Buddhist content of and context for the tale are reduced to a backdrop to the action that unfolds. As a consequence, Leifeng Pagoda received very little attention as a Buddhist site and suffered from a lack of maintenance and upkeep. As reviewed in chapter 4, locals took bricks from the pagoda to make a powder believed to cure diseases and keep fetuses from aborting, and also in the belief that the gold-colored bricks would bring them wealth. The legend of Madam White Snake caused them to believe it had the power to repel snakes, a critical aspect of the silk industry in Hangzhou. Japanese pirates ravaged it in the Ming dynasty (1368–1644). The pagoda finally collapsed in August 1924 and, after much debate over several decades, was reconstructed in the early years of the twenty-first century. The other monument in Hangzhou that I discussed is the stūpa containing the relics of Yongming Yanshou (904–975). The Yongming Stūpa Hall is located in a private area off of Jingci (Pure Mercy) Monastery, invisible to those who are unaware of its existence. Yanshou was a prominent Buddhist figure and associate of King Qian Chu, who was the leading spokesperson for Buddhism in the Wuyue Kingdom. He was appointed by King Qian Chu as abbot of the newly constructed Yongming Monastery in 960, which became the leading monastery in the kingdom. Because of the ongoing legacies that Yanshou’s teachings and examples inspired, Yanshou came to be regarded as a bodhisattva-like figure and as an incarnation of Amitābha Buddha himself. A Yongming Stūpa hall was constructed to serve as a focal point for worshippers seeking rebirth in the Pure Land through Yanshou’s assistance.
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The Dynamic of Suppression and Revival in Chinese Buddhism Since its inception in the first centuries of the Common Era, the legitimacy of Buddhism’s presence in China has been questioned. At least since the Buddhist monk Huiyuan 慧遠 (334–417) defended the rights of the Buddhist clergy from opposition based on alleged violations of Chinese customs, loyalty, and filial piety, there have been reservations about the presence of Buddhism on Chinese soil, its value to society, its threat to economic and political stability, and more.6 Periodically, these questions have risen to a level of vitriol that threatens to demolish the Buddhist infrastructure, the monasteries, cloisters, pagodas, stūpas, and other monuments the institution is founded upon. It is useful to recall, in this context, how essential this infrastructure is to the Buddhist presence in Chinese, or for religion in any society. Of the “triple gems” or “three treasures” that Buddhist adherents take refuge in––t he Buddha, the Dharma, and the saṃgha––the saṃgha is foundational to this presence in the world. Without the saṃgha, the memory of the Buddha and the model he inspires would vanish, as would his teaching, the Dharma. The saṃgha itself could not exist without the edifices that comprise its institutional footprint in human society, a presence that is allowed by dispensation of social rules and political regulations and those who adjudicate them. These material sites constitute the physical frames for Buddhist religious life. Jiang Wu has observed that the cycle of Buddhist revival and decline is better gauged against expansion beyond and retreat behind the boundaries set by society rather than the intensity of Buddhist activities.7 These social boundaries establish the parameters within which the Buddhist saṃgha operates. Stability results when those who apply social rules and political regulations are tolerant of Buddhism. Suppression results when those who apply these rules and regulations are intolerant. Revival follows suppression, with increased
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Like most Buddhist monuments, the Yongming Stūpa was destroyed during Cultural Revolution. It was rebuilt in the 1990s and placed in the hall constructed for it in the Republican period (1912–1949). It has reemerged as a central focus for a Yanshou cult whose members chant while circumambulating the stūpa daily, drawing from a membership of around one thousand (around fifty or so participate daily).
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1. Cultural: points to the alien nature of Buddhism as a foreign religion that is counter to “true” Chinese values. 2. Social: by leaving home to join the Buddhist clergy, Chinese are diverted from filial obligations incumbent on sons and daughters. 3. Moral: Buddhist values promote selfish and individualistic spiritual pursuits over the communal values of society. 4. Political: Buddhists’ allegiance to the Buddha interferes with their loyalty to the emperor. 5. Economic: Buddhist monasteries become repositories of tax-exempt wealth; members of the Buddhist clergy are unproductive members of society and do not fulfill military or corvée labor duties to the state. As a result, detractors have characterized Buddhism as a disease contracted by the Chinese body-politic that infects and weakens Chinese society. To those of such persuasion, government policy was designed to attack and eradicate the disease through closures of monasteries, destruction of monuments, and forced return of Buddhist clergy to lay life. In general, there were two approaches to counter the Buddhist threat: eradication and self-strengthening. Eradication sought to eliminate the Buddhist threat through wholesale destruction of Buddhist institutions and the clergy.9 Self- strengthening sought not so much to destroy Buddhism as to overpower it, to make Chinese Confucian institutions strong so as to render Buddhism weak and ineffective in comparison.10 How Chinese governments dealt with Buddhism varied according to regime. Throughout Chinese history, there were pro-and anti-Buddhist emperors and literati, with varying grades of difference in approach in between. As political head of state, the emperor administered the government through bureaucratic agencies. But the Chinese emperor was also a quasi-religious figure, the Son of Heaven, who ruled in accordance with
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levels of activity to recover what has been lost and to forge ahead into new territory.8 The current cycle of suppression and decline followed by revival is not unique but is part of a larger pattern in the long history of Buddhism in China, which I characterize as punctuated by periods of suppression followed by revival, with periods of stability in between. The reasons for Buddhist suppression in China are multiple but follow a consistent pattern, including the following aspects:
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1. Buddhists may exhibit aloofness from society and secular affairs, but only to the extent the emperor tolerates such aloofness. 2. The emperor may regard himself as the Buddha, usually proclaiming himself an incarnation of Maitreya, the future Buddha. 3. The emperor could acknowledge the Buddha’s spiritual superiority and pay homage to the Buddha, albeit as a high-level practitioner, a kind of bodhisattva-in-waiting, or a cakravartin charged with initiating the rule of Buddhist righteousness on earth, after the model of Aśoka. 4. The emperor could regard the Buddha in his own right while making no claims regarding his own superiority or inferiority, in a kind of “separate but equal” fashion, acknowledging the existence of two cooperative spheres of influence: the secular realm of the emperor and the spiritual realm of the Buddha. 5. The emperor could stand aloof from the Buddha, tolerating the presence of Buddhist teaching but subjugating it to his own secular aims, i.e., using Buddhism as a pragmatic tool in the imperial arsenal. 6. The emperor could regard the Buddha as a masquerading imposter who had no business on Chinese soil, a figment of some foreign fantasy that had a debilitating effect on the national spirit and native (i.e., Confucian or Daoist) values. In a word, imperial policy could be pro-Buddhist, neutral, or anti-Buddhist, with varying degrees in between. Emperors who resorted to extreme anti- Buddhist positions tried to eradicate the Buddhist presence on Chinese soil. They undertook extreme suppression policies that formed a pattern during the first millennium whenever Buddhism was deemed an existential threat to nativist Chinese
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Heaven’s mandate. An important part of the emperor’s religious duties involved rituals that acknowledged his relationship to Heaven and the duties that accompanied it. The presence of Buddhism in China’s imperially based theocracy added complications, muddying the waters, so to speak, and challenged China’s indigenous theocratic orientations. What, for example, was the emperor’s relationship with the Buddha, and what was the proper way for an emperor to acknowledge the Buddha’s existence as a divine figure, given his duties to imperial ancestors, the “Lords on High”? Several options were available, but in principle, these can be reduced to the following possible variations:
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1. Emperor Wu of Northern Wei (446) → Emperor Wencheng restoration (454) 2. Emperor Wu of Northern Zhou (574/577) → Emperor Yang of Sui revival (581–618) 3. Emperor Wuzong of Tang (845) → Emperor Xuanzong restoration (846) 4. Emperor Shizong of Later Zhou (955) → Song Emperors Taizu/Taizong restoration (960–998)
While there were no more imperially sanctioned “great suppressions” aimed at eradication after the Song dynasty, this does not mean that Buddhism was free of government interference. To the contrary, it would be more appropriate to say that regulatory policies became institutionalized and regularized to the extent that Buddhism would never rise to a position that was perceived as an existential threat that precipitated previous suppressions.12 Still, some emperors were strongly anti-Buddhist. Emperor Huizong (r. 1100–1126) in the Song dynasty, for example, became enthralled with Daoism and instituted strong anti-Buddhist policies. The founder of the Ming dynasty, Emperor Hongwu (r. 1368–1398), become a staunch defender of Confucianism and turned against his Buddhist roots, and anti-Buddhist policies were a consistent feature until the late Ming.13 The revivals that followed these two anti-Buddhist periods were important to the revival and reconstruction of the two stūpas. The Leifeng Pagoda was first resurrected in the first year of the qingyuan era (1195), in the aftermath of Emperor Huizong’s reign, when it was reduced to rubble during the xuanhe era (1119–1125). The Yongming Stūpa was rediscovered and reconceived
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values. Yet it is interesting to observe the equally strong reaction to virulent suppressions: each pronounced attempt at eradication was met with an aftermath of revival, and eventually a return to a status quo which recognized a legitimate place for Buddhism in Chinese culture and society. The pattern of Buddhist suppression and revival in the first millennium is frequently characterized in terms of the so-called Four Great Buddhist Suppressions. While Buddhist tradition does not make specific note of the revivals, or restorations, that followed each period of suppression, these are necessary when accounting for the complicated dynamic of Buddhism in Chinese culture, what I like to refer to as the “Buddhist dance with China,” which vacillates between Buddhist acceptance and denial.11
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through the efforts of the monk Dahuo and his compatriots Yu Chunxi and Huang Ruheng in the first decades of the seventeenth century. While the precise nature of the revival of these two monuments in their respective periods is not the focus of my discussion here, it is worth noting that the same dynamics of preservation and innovation were at play and that the successful management of these dynamics ensured that both monuments functioned in the periods of stability, the new status quo, that followed. Leifeng Pagoda also suffered during the Ming dynasty from the marauding raids of Japanese pirates, from official neglect, and from predatory locals. From the Ming period onward, it ceased to be a functioning monument, although its symbolic presence continued to tower over West Lake. More recent periods in China have also been disruptive to Buddhism, the most disruptive that China has ever seen.14 The Taiping Civil War (1850–1864) brought wholescale destruction,15 the likes of which were not seen until the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution (Wenhua da geming 文化大革命, 1966– 1976). Earlier suppressions look like restrictions, sometimes severe, aimed at curbing Buddhist influence rather than complete obliterations. There is debate as well on how systematically earlier suppressions were carried out. Local authorities often had wide jurisdiction over the implementation of policies in lands under their control. Even the severest of persecutions typically left a couple of state-sponsored monasteries in each province and the monastics who inhabited them (i.e., official monasteries and clergy) relatively unaffected. The aim was to curb the nonauthorized private growth of Buddhism outside of official supervision. The Taiping Civil War, one of the bloodiest wars in human history, left swaths of China, and particularly areas along the middle and lower Yangzi River Valley where Buddhism was most prominent, in utter devastation. Yet, following the model of restoration and revival after suppression and destruction, Gregory Adam Scott argues that not only was the post–Taiping War reconstruction a lively and energetic process, but it helped to shape Buddhist religious culture long after the first phase of reconstruction was completed. Reconstruction was not simply a return to the status quo ante bellum but also an opportunity to introduce change into what was normally a highly stable system.16 This is an important point when considering the suppression- revival-stability model of Buddhist dynamism. Revival (or reconstruction) is not a simple return to the past, although the opportunity to reassert and reconfigure traditional models is surely possible, but an opportunity to introduce innovations that help solidify a new status quo.
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1. Relaxed state control over Buddhism that allowed a flourishing of Buddhist activities and an opening of avenues for community and government support. 2. Rebuilding of monasteries as centers of religious education and monastic training. 3. Enhanced ties between the clergy and laity; disputes on all kinds of issues. 4. Monasteries integrated through complicated, multilayered networks and the standardization of monastic routines and ritual practices. 5. Government officials stepping in to redraw the boundaries between Buddhism and the secular world, stopping the Buddhist expansion; Buddhism retreating into an assigned place in society, but with a newfound strength bolstered by the economic condition of Buddhist institutions and reestablished monastic routines. While I am not trying to make a case for the exact replication of this pattern in the contemporary context, it is useful to be reminded of this context as many of the features described here are at play. It is also clear that the forces for change in the Buddhist world are a combination of transformations external to society wrought by economic expansions and by government-orchestrated controls. While the degree and circumstances of these expansions and controls may vary, the features and patterns remain integral to the Chinese Buddhist world. What is apparent from this is that the dynamic of Buddhist revival/reconstruction in China is driven by political stability and economic prosperity. Without stability, people are distracted and out of necessity divert resources elsewhere in an attempt to cope with the challenges they face. Prosperity allows them to devote resources to religious/Buddhist activities, both for enhancement of social status in their communities and to procure spiritual benefits for their salvation or the salvation of others.
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As Jiang Wu has pointed out in his assessment of what he calls “the reinvention of Buddhism in seventeenth-century China,” the pattern of revival is more important than the content of the revival itself, so that we can understand the historical pattern of Buddhist revival with some degree of certainty regarding its features and parameters.17 Using the Ming dynasty as an example, and one germane to Yongming Stūpa, Wu sees several stages of development. I have extrapolated from these to formulate more generalized features:18
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One aspect of the suppression-and-revival cycle is the opportunity and need to innovate. Suppression and destruction, while obviously having negative impacts, are fraught with opportunity in the revival stage. The path to create a new status quo or stability for the Buddhist institution exists between two parameters: re-creating the past, rebuilding the institutional structure as a semblance of its previous incarnation; and imagining the future, innovating institutional patterns in response to changing social and cultural expectations.19 The tale of the two stūpas––the Yongming Stūpa and the Qian Chu Stūpas of Leifeng Pagoda––on the southern shores of the West Lake in Hangzhou exhibit these two parameters. Of more immediate concern in the destruction-revival cycle is the impact of the Cultural Revolution, one of the most devastating attacks on Buddhism in Chinese history. The Cultural Revolution was the culmination of antireligious policies developed by the Marxist-Maoist state, bent on obliterating any residual traces of China’s traditional culture, including Buddhism. The effect of the total obliteration of prior social norms in the cause of a socialist construction of reality was reminiscent of the militaristic surveillance state alleged to have been wrought by China’s first emperor, Qin Shi Huangdi, one of Mao Zedong’s heroes.20 This has made the Buddhist revival in the post- Mao period all the more remarkable. Change has marked Chinese Buddhist history, but the challenges resulting from the greatest period of devastation in its history, while being called upon to adapt in a period of overwhelming economic growth and cultural change, have increased the need for both continuities and reinventions. The complex array of forces at work in the post-Mao revival of Buddhism discussed by Ji Zhe, Gareth Fisher, and André Laliberté point to three factors: balance, continuity, and innovation. Buddhist success in the post-Mao period depends on fostering a balance between diverse interests and demands, including Buddhists negotiating with the post-Mao, atheist authoritarian state to maintain or expand legal spaces for Buddhist practice. It also depends on rebuilding or maintaining continuity with the past, so that revived doctrines, representatives, and organizations are recognized as legitimate by practitioners, not to mention the state and society at large. Moreover, in negotiating the reconstruction of Buddhism, innovations have also emerged, by both design and necessity, on both discursive and practical levels, and these innovations have also entailed reinventions of Buddhist history.21
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The Parameters of Buddhist Revival in Contemporary China How do these two stūpas reflect the contemporary revival of Buddhism in China? The fact that their origins date from the same period over a thousand years ago, and both were reconstructed and revived around the same time roughly twenty years ago, invites comparison. When we look at these two examples in the contemporary context, they appear as the two poles of religious responses to “the complex of modernity”: conservative vs. progressive. Brian J. Nichols uses a different framework for the revival of monastic Buddhism in contemporary China: curators driven by economic and political motivations, revivalists informed by religious concerns, and negotiations between curators and revivalists.22 While noting the same forces animating the contemporary revival––economic, political, and religious––I see the difference as not so much between curators and revivalists as between different species of revivalism––traditionalists motivated in reanimating continuities with the past and progressive reinventors who creatively forge new models. The Yongming Stūpa represents the former (traditionalists motivated in reanimating continuities). The Leifeng pagoda represents the latter (progressive reinventors who creatively forge new models). While the Yongming Stūpa and the Leifeng Stūpas and Pagoda, may represent differing aspects of a spectrum, they are indicative of forces driving
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As we have seen, both Leifeng Pagoda and the Yongming Stūpa owe their origins to events in the Wuyue period, when the region became devoted to Buddhism and attempted to distinguish itself as a Buddha-land (foguo 佛國), a realm impacted by the dispersion of the Buddha’s relics to the King Aśoka Monastery (Ayuwang si sheli ta 阿育王寺舍利塔), and home to a hill from Vulture Peak that had “flown in” from India (Feilaifeng 飛來峰; literally “the peak that flew in”). It was also believed to be the abode of arhats (lohan 羅 漢) decamped from India, pledged to preserve the Dharma until the arrival of the future Buddha. The appearance of Maitreya in the guise of an itinerant monk, known as Budai (Sack-Cloth) Maitreya 布袋彌勒, in Fenghua 奉化 (present-day Ningbo) and the development of iconic images of him are connected to this pledge.
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the Buddhist revival in China. Most sites fall somewhere in the middle. Lingyin, or “Soul’s Retreat,” Monastery is also a major tourist draw and Buddhist pilgrimage site in the West Lake area and sits within a cultural park managed by the Hangzhou municipal government. There is no access to the monastery except through the park, which also contains the famous Buddhist grottoes of Feilaifeng (The Peak That Came Flying [in from India]), situated adjacent to Lingyin Monastery. Entrance to the monastery requires separate admission. The number of pilgrims and tourists average ten thousand per day. With the admission fee set at 30 CNY (roughly US$4–5), the revenue adds up quickly, totaling more than 9 million CNY (US$1.3 million) per month, or 110 million CNY (roughly US$16 million) per year from admissions alone. The entrance fee to the park itself is even higher, with full fare at double the rate (60 CNY) for the monastery, so the Hangzhou city government is also reaping rich rewards. Once inside the monastery, pilgrims and tourists are treated to periodic rituals performed by a fully functioning Buddhist institution, with chanting processions accompanied by chimes and drums performed by the roughly 130 resident monks. Observation reveals a mix of devout and casual Buddhists who take advantage of opportunities to make monetary and/or incense offerings and perform prostrations before Buddhist images. Especially devout laity (again, mostly women but not exclusively so) may be invited to join in chanting rituals especially designed for them by the monastery. In spite of these opportunities, the majority of visitors are casual tourists who visit for reasons other than to express their Buddhist faith, to spend a leisurely outing with family or friends in a culturally enriching environment. Even in the culturally rich region of Hangzhou, with many interesting sites to visit, Lingyin Monastery is one of the top destinations for domestic tourists. There are lots of interesting things to see: monks in regalia performing ceremonies, colorful halls adorned with Buddhist deities and banners, altars decked out with paraphernalia to augment the grandeur of the deities worshiped, ancient historical monuments like two twin sets of towering stone pagoda-stūpas dating from King Qian Chu’s reign in the Wuyue period in the tenth century, the Five Hundred Arhats Hall, an alcove dedicated to Chan patriarchs, a hall housing the four Buddhist guardian deities, Śākyamuni Hall, Hall for the Medicine Buddha, Budai (Cloth Sack) Maitreya Hall, a museum displaying heritage objects related to history of the monastery, a library, several gift shops, tea and coffees shops (even serving lattes), and more. All in all, an argument can be made
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that the commercial aspects of the monastery sit comfortably with its religious functions and that the two are complementary. Another pertinent example emblematic of the contemporary Buddhist revival in China is the Xuedou (Snowy Springs) Monastery 雪竇寺 in the Ningbo region.23 It was founded in the Tang dynasty (although legend claims it was founded before that, in the Jin dynasty, 265–420 ce), and like many famous Buddhist cultural sites in the region, it has an illustrious history. A few years ago, it won a province-wide competition to build a new Buddhist college for Zhejiang Province for training clergy. The college is located just outside the city of Xikou, famous as the hometown and former residence of Kuo-min tang (Guomindang 國民黨) leader Chiang Kai-shek 蔣介石 (Jiang Zhongzheng 蔣中正). The monastery complex is located a few kilometers away, up Xuedou Mountain, from which it takes its name. Xuedou Monastery is an impressive complex with an array of buildings, features, and functions, similar to Lingyin Monastery and other major Buddhist monasteries in China. What distinguishes Xuedou is a rather peculiar dual-axis model. The majority of Buddhist monasteries in China are built along a central axis, with the entrance and main worship halls situated on a central corridor. There are usually side corridors, especially in the case of large complexes, adjacent to the central corridor on both sides. (Typically, one side is devoted to the business side of running the monastery and dealing with the outside world, while the other is for the residing monks or nuns, the religious side.) Xuedou has, in effect, two central axes, situated side by side, each with adjacent corridors. One of the axes is for the long-established monastery that houses its retinue of monks (and some nuns) and carries out the traditional ritual and ceremonial functions of the monastery. The other axis is newly built. The crowning image, a stunning fifty-six-meter high, golden-colored Great Maitreya statue (in the style of Budai Maitreya, an incarnation of Maitreya through the guise of a local monk from the tenth century) situated on a hilltop overlooking and completing the axis, was dedicated in 2008 (see Figure 5.5). As of May 2019, the final buildings were being erected. Although ritual functions are carried out at the new axis, its main function is as a showcase for a vision of Chinese Buddhism constructed to appeal to modern audiences. Feeling like a tourist theme park more than a monastery, it manages to walk visitors through a panoply of Buddhist history and culture with the backdrop of the stunning scenery of the Xuedou Mountains. The journey up the axis culminates with an elevator ride to the platform holding the Great Maitreya statue on the side of the hill. Photo opportunities abound throughout the experience,
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especially looking outward from the Great Maitreya statue, or against it as a background. The choice of Maitreya as the featured image of Xuedou is a result of strong ties between Maitreya and the region. In Buddhist lore, Maitreya is the future Buddha designated to usher in an era of peace and righteousness in line with Buddhist teachings and principles. According to Chinese tradition, Maitreya appeared over a thousand years ago in nearby Fenghua in the guise of an unkempt, disheveled monk. He became known as Budai (Cloth Sack) Maitreya for the cloth sack he carried on a pole on his back containing his
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Figure 5.5 Budai (Sack Cloth) Maitreya Buddha on Mount Xuedou. Photo by author, June 2018.
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possessions as he wandered aimlessly without a permanent abode. Unlike the serious demeanor of other Buddhist figures, Budai Maitreya is distinguished by his jolly nature, humorous personality, and eccentric lifestyle. He is usually shown laughing or smiling, earning him the sobriquet “Laughing Buddha.” He is also depicted as plump and well-fed, earning him the nickname “Fat Buddha.” While Maitreya’s associations with the region make him a likely candidate for Xuedou to honor as reigning Buddhist divinity, the designation is part of something much more, a campaign to rebrand Xuedou as the fifth Buddhist sacred mountain in China. As Justin Ritzinger points out, this rebranding effort began in the 1930s, at the suggestion of the monk Changxing (1896–1939) in association with Taixu (1890–1947), the famous Republican-era Buddhist reformer who had recently been installed as abbot of Xuedou Monastery by Chiang Kai-shek.24 By tradition, China has four sacred Buddhist mountains: Mount Wutai in Shanxi Province, dedicated to Manjuśri (C. Wenshu 文殊), the bodhisattva of wisdom; Mount Emei in Sichuan Province, dedicated to the bodhisattva Samantabadhra (C. Puxian 普賢), known for his strenuous practice; Mount Jiuhua in Anhui Province, dedicated to Ksitigarbha (C. Dizang 地蔵), bodhisattva-protector of inhabitants of Hell; and Mount Putuo on an island in Zhejiang Province, dedicated to Avalokitsvara (C. Guanyin 觀音), bodhisattva of compassion. The rebranding of Xuedou as China’s fifth sacred Buddhist mountain puts it on the Chinese Buddhist map as a major tourist and pilgrimage site. While the association of the region with Maitreya has long been acknowledged and is a natural point of identification, the current rebranding effort has been spearheaded by local and provincial authorities who have invested large sums of money into the construction project on Xuedou (not to mention the resources committed to construct the new Buddhist Academy) in an effort to bring prominence to the region and make it an attractive Buddhist destination. Xi Jinping, current head of the CCP, served as governor of Zhejiang Province in 2002–2007, a period when many of the plans for Buddhist revival in the region took shape, especially at Xuedou and elsewhere in Ningbo. Xi is often pictured visiting monasteries in the area during his tenure as governor, and it is a point of pride (also implying official authorization) for the Buddhist establishments that display them (Figure 5.6). This suggests the strong role played by local and provincial governments (with approval at the national level) in the Buddhist revival, who see broad-ranging cultural and economic benefits stemming from their investments.
126 A Tale of Two Stūpas
The Future of China’s Buddhist Past My comments in this chapter have been restricted to the Buddhist revival in Hangzhou and Zhejiang Province, specifically focusing on the Yongming Stūpa and the Leifeng Pagoda built to house two stūpas created by the Wuyue King Qian Chu. Zhejiang Province, and southeastern China more generally, are traditional strongholds of Buddhism, and the strength of the revival there is understandable given the history of the region. Not all regions in China have such a rich history, but those that do have experienced a more or less comparable level of resurgence. What does this resurgence bode for China’s Buddhist future? Calculating the number of Buddhists in China is fraught with difficulty. Who should we count? What level of commitment is required? Should the number include casual tourists who visit Buddhist sites as sightseers,
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Figure 5.6 Abbot of Ayuwang (King Aśoka) Monastery with Premier Jiang Zemin and Governor Xi Jinping. Detail of photo displayed at Ayuwang Monastery in Ningbo. Photo by author, June 2019.
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perhaps with little knowledge of or interest in Buddhism? According to the Pew Research Center demographic study on the Global Religious Landscape: “Religion & Public Life” (based on analysis of more than twenty- five hundred censuses, surveys, and population registers), 25 18.2% of China’s population, or just over 244 million, identify as Buddhists.26 While this is a minority of China’s population, the Pew report estimates that half of the world’s population of Buddhists are Chinese. The next most populous Buddhist country is Thailand at 93.2%, accounting for over 64 million, just over a quarter of China’s number. These are remarkable statistics that underscore the importance and potential of Chinese Buddhism to the contemporary world. If touristic Buddhism can be counted as “religious,” Buddhism in China has a bright future. Buddhist institutions in China have become wealthy based on the success of the tourist model. This is attributable to people’s rising wealth and the growth of a middle class, which in turn has manifested interest in opportunities for leisure activity. Capitalizing on the heritage sites either associated with Buddhism or under direct Buddhist control, the Chinese populace has had increased exposure to Buddhism and Buddhist values. The wealth accumulated by these institutions has been reinvested to further promote Buddhist activities. The plans for a massive Buddhist Culture Center in Hangzhou, scheduled to open in the near future, to showcase and promote the positive attributes of Buddhism, are a result of this success. The plan, first proposed in 2000 by the Hangzhou municipal government, is for the development of a Buddhist cultural district in the south courtyard of the redeveloped Haichao Monastery 海潮寺, historically one of four key monasteries in Hangzhou, along with Lingyin, Zhaoqing, and Jingci, as part of the Haichao Tourism Complex situated along the banks of the Qiantang River. The plan resumed in 2012, calling for a multifunctional urban tourism complex integrating tourism and cultural creativity, business offices, and residential and leisure facilities. Plans for a Buddhist Cultural Center include two high-rise towers devoted to the promotion of Hangzhou Buddhist culture and ancillary cultural activities. On the other hand, the accumulation of wealth can lead to problems–– charges of corruption and displays of opulence that many see as contrary to Buddhist values. While the circumstances surrounding the impulse to corruption may be modern in nature, Buddhist institutions in China have always been susceptible to such charges whenever they have encountered temptations that accompany financial success. Indeed, one of the hallmarks
128 A Tale of Two Stūpas
• Red markets are officially authorized by the CCP as enhancing socialist values.
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of Chinese Buddhism can be said to be its ability to accommodate and complement the pressures of secularization, to turn secular associations, whether of government officials or the business elite, into occasions for supporting and enhancing the Buddha-dharma. One reason for a rise in interest in Buddhism in China has been the result of a moral vacuum with the decline of CCP Marxist ideology. Xi’s recent initiatives to increase CCP morale have often been couched in terms of support for China’s ideological heritage, especially Confucianism and Buddhism, which he sees as compatible with the “Marxism with Chinese characteristics” approach that has defined Communism in China since the reforms of Deng Xiaoping. Yet it is clear that not all forms of religion, including Buddhism, are to be tolerated. In line with Xi and CCP policies, Buddhist leaders in China often speak publicly about Buddhist culture rather than Buddhist religion. Buddhism, as with other religions, is supported by the government to the extent that it serves the causes of the state. As an aspect of China’s unique cultural heritage, Buddhist institutions represent a source of pride that contributes to national and social well- being. This preference for Buddhism as a cultural rather than a religious force is also evident in the way Buddhism is studied academically in China. Although the situation is changing somewhat, the discipline of religious studies is poorly represented at Chinese universities. Buddhism in China is typically studied as an aspect of philosophy, literature, or ancient textual studies. Where units devoted to Buddhism exist, they are usually as subfields of these disciplines. This coincides with CCP preference for philosophy over religion as an academic category, where credibility is assigned first and foremost to traditions that can be counted as philosophies, and only secondarily to those regarded as religions. Movements based on what the CCP labels as superstitions (such as Falun Gong) are regarded as subversive by the state and anathema to socialist values and are actively suppressed. It is useful to keep in mind how the CCP administers policies on religion, including Buddhism, according to three categories. Fenggang Yang, founding director of the Center on Religion and Chinese Society at Purdue University, posits a threefold basis (what Yang calls “markets”) for religious expression in China, designated as Red, Gray, and Black.27
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Red, Gray, and Black designations do not apply to individual religions per se, but to aspects within individual traditions. In other words, there is “Red” Buddhism, officially authorized by the CCP as enhancing socialist values; “Gray” Buddhism, tolerated but not officially recognized and vulnerable to persecution at the whim of the government; and “Black” Buddhism, officially proscribed by the CCP as superstition and counter to socialist values. The same distinctions hold true for the other officially recognized religions in China: Daoism, Islam, Protestantism, and Catholicism. Yang’s characterization as applied to contemporary Buddhism shares general similarities with its premodern counterpart. Some years ago, the French Sinologist Jacques Gernet outlined a model for how Buddhism functioned in Chinese society based on material and economic criteria. While noting the great diversity that characterizes the Buddhist institutional presence in China, from great monasteries housing dozens of monks to village chapels and mountain hermitages with one or two inhabitants, Gernet also called attention to a similar diversity in terms of status: Some monasteries are official places of worship and are recognized as such. They have received their name (e) by imperial bestowal as well as gifts of land, funds, servants, allotments of local families, and certain privileges. They are entitled to annual subventions from the court. Their monks have been selected and ordained by the emperor and are supervised by officially appointed clergy who are held accountable for their conduct. The other kind[s]of establishments are merely tolerated and are always the first to fall victim to repressions. These are private places of worship, serving the great families as well as the people.28
Following the distinction in status accorded Buddhist institutions, Gernet stipulates that there were three kinds of Chinese monks: “the official monk, maintained at state expense and responsible for the performance of ceremonies of the imperial cult”; “the private monk, fed and clothed by the great families”; and “the common monk who lived in the country side, either in isolation or as a member of a small group.”29 Great divides of privilege
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• Gray Markets are tolerated but not officially recognized, and they are vulnerable to persecution. • Black markets are officially proscribed by CCP as superstition and counter to socialist values.
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and power separated these three types of institutions and the monks who inhabited them. More generally, Gernet’s work reminds us of the vital function that economic matters serve for the well-being of the Buddhist institution, without sustenance from which the Buddhist religion would cease to exist. Whether a Buddhist monument serves primarily as a cultural property and tourist destination or as a pilgrimage site for the pious, it exists on the basis of the access fees and donations it receives. Yongming Stūpa and Leifeng Pagoda represent vastly different models of Buddhist revival in China based on their support structures and are representative of patterns the revival of Buddhism in China is predicated on. It is well beyond the scope of the present volume, but the Buddhist revival in Hangzhou, as in many places in China, has been nothing short of spectacular. Vast pools of wealth, coupled with a sense of opportunity, combine to make plans to revitalize and reinvent Buddhism “on the ground” and to make it, once again, a vital force in Hangzhou life and culture. The popularity of Lingyin Monastery suggests the exuberant potential of the revival. As described above, Lingyin Monastery is one of China’s wealthiest Buddhist establishments and partakes in a full regimen of activities. In addition to an impressive complement of monks, the monastery maintains a plethora of main worship halls along its central axis and a number of buildings dedicated to financial and business matters, as well as hosting facilities for visiting guests (an elaborate buffet-style restaurant and two four-star hotels). It also boasts such attractions as the Five Hundred Arhats Hall, Patriarchs’ Hall, Jigong Hall, and a museum displaying artifacts. There are probably few places in China that display the exuberance and opulence of the Buddhist revival more than Lingyin Monastery. It represents the full potential of a tourist-receptive monastery. Facing Lingyin to the north, the Feilaifeng grottoes also attract considerable public interest and mark the area as the center of the Buddha-land (foguo 佛國) that was imagined there so many centuries ago. How is this Buddha-land being reimagined in the contemporary context? Up the path leading from Lingyin and Feilaifeng, one encounters the three Tianzhu (Indian) monasteries that have also sprung back to life. En route one passes Taoguang Monastery 韜光寺, allegedly built by the monk Taoguang, whom the poet Bai Juyi 白居易 memorialized.30 It was rebuilt by Wuyue King Wenmu (Qian Yuanguan) in 938 as part of efforts to make Buddhism the hallmark of the regime. Having been destroyed numerous times, it was
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renovated in 2006 as a picturesque showcase temple situated amid tea fields and some of the areas most compelling landscapes. Xia (Lower) Tianzhu, Fajing (Dharma Mirror) Monastery 法镜寺, which houses the nuns studying at the nearby Hangzhou Buddhist Academy, has reimagined itself as an esoteric Buddhist site. According to legend, the site originated as a Sūtra Translation Cloister (Fanjing yuan 翻經院), established by the Indian monk Huili, who identified the region with the Buddha’s famed preaching site in India called Vulture Peak. Wuyue King Qian Liu (r. 893–932) rebuilt the monastery and granted it the new title Five Hundred Arhats Cloister (Wubai luohan yuan 五百羅漢院). Enduring multiple incidences of destruction and reconstruction throughout its history, the current iteration of Lower Tianzhu dates from restoration efforts in 1989. Like Lingyin Monastery, Lower Tianzhu may be categorized as “a hybrid institution that serves as both a tourist site and a functioning monastery.”31 The modern conception of the monastery also speaks to its syncretic, hybrid character that incorporates revitalization of previous traditions and newer innovations. One of two main worship halls is dedicated to Guanyin (Avalokiteśvara), and since the worship of Guanyin has been very prevalent in the Tianzhu area, particularly in its associations with Upper Tianzhu, it is understandable that local traditions are embodied through this worship. The other hall is centered around a three-level Medicine Buddha Platform, with a statue of the Medicine Buddha (Bhaiṣajyaguru 藥師) on top, the statues of six other Medicine Buddhas occupying the middle level, and the bottom displaying statues of twelve yakṣa generals.32 This corresponds to a description contained in the Sūtra on the Merit from the Former Vows of the Lapis Lazuli Illumination of Medicine Buddha and the Seven Buddhas (Yaoshi liuliguang qifo benyuan gongde jing 藥師琉璃光七佛本願功德經),33 and may be regarded as an assertion of esoteric Buddhist tradition.34 This innovation raises many questions about the important role of esoteric Buddhism in the region, particularly evident in the Yuan dynasty–era sculptures at Feilaifeng. It may also be seen as a reaction to the popularity of Tibetan esoteric Buddhism in Hangzhou. Middle Tianzhu, Fajing (Dharma Purity) Chan Monastery 法净禅寺, a short distance up the road from Lower Tianzhu, also exhibits the kind of hybridity and syncretism evidenced at Lingyin and Fajing monasteries. It too features a hall dedicated to Guanyin, where, as a functioning monastery, resident monks often perform rituals involving sūtra chanting. The innovative aspect of this site is the replica paintings of Dunhuang murals that adorn the
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walls of the hall. The two large walls adjacent to the main image, framing the ritual space the monks inhabit, contain freshly painted copies of scenes from Mogao Cave 220 (Zhai Family Cave), dating from the early Tang dynasty.35 Other spaces have depictions of the famous debate between Vimalakīrti and Manjuśri, also replicated from Cave 220. The themes of the two walls are the Pure Lands of Amitābha in the west and Bhaiṣajyaguru in the east, respectively. It is noteworthy that the Dunhuang image of Bhaiṣajyaguru, the Medicine Buddha, is the central figure in a row of seven standing Medicine Buddhas. The juxtaposition of the two Pure Lands is a common feature of Dunhuang tableaux from this period. Dunhuang is far removed, both historically and geographically, from Hangzhou, and at first glance one can only be surprised by the insertion of Dunhuang into the contemporary Hangzhou Buddhist cultural milieux. The political, social, and religious context of the Zhai family in Dunhuang would seem to have little bearing on Hangzhou Buddhism. It speaks to the overwhelming influence (and attraction) of Dunhuang in the contemporary Chinese Buddhist world, where the inclusion of Dunhuang imagery forms a natural accomplice to the promotion of local Buddhist culture far beyond its original range. Upper Tianzhu, Faxi (Dharma Joy) Monastery 法喜寺, was traditionally a “teaching” (jiao 教) as opposed to a “meditation” (chan 禪) or “vinaya” (lü 律) monastery, in accordance with its association with the Tiantai School.36 Later, it became designated as a “lecture” (jiang 講) monastery, a designation it carries today. Of all the Tianzhu monasteries, its associations with Guanyin are deepest, as the origins of the “White-Robed Guanyin” (baiyi guanyin 白 衣觀音) are associated with this site. The entire Tianzhu area’s connection with Guanyin was further enhanced in the Ming dynasty, when depredations by Japanese pirates along the coast made Mount Putuo, the alleged abode of Guanyin, inaccessible. Today, Upper Tianzhu is an active monastery, though nowhere near the level of Lingyin Monastery, and serves largely the religious aspirations of native Hangzhou residents who have resumed their traditional associations with the monastery. All of these major Hangzhou Buddhist establishments, and others, deserve dedicated studies of their own. I hope that my attempts to position the Yongming Stūpa and Leifeng Pagoda reconstructions in the context of contemporary Hangzhou Buddhist culture as parameters for Buddhist revival may entice others to take up this study in future.
APPENDIX 1
This appendix provides contemporary accounts of the rediscovery, reconstruction, and reestablishment of Yongming Yanshou’s remains, the Yongming Stūpa. 1. Short Inscription Contained at the Stūpa of Wisdom-Enlightened 智覺塔藏碣小銘 by Yu Chunxi 虞淳熙 2. Note on the Reconstruction of the Stūpa Pavilion of Chan Master Yongming [Yan]shou 重建永明壽禪師塔院記 by Huang Ruheng 黃汝亨 3. An Appraisal of the Sudubo (Stūpa) of Chan Master Shouning 壽寧禪師窣堵波辧 by Yu Chunxi 虞淳熙 4. Poem and Preface on the Transfer of the Stūpa 遷塔詩并序 by Shi Dahuo 釋大壑
1. Short Inscription Contained at the Stūpa of Wisdom-Enlightened 智覺塔藏碣小銘 by Yu Chunxi 虞淳熙 The master named Yanshou was affirmed by the long-eared monk to be the response body of Amitābha.1 The king of Wuyue exonerated him from the crime of stealing public funds for releasing living beings, enabling him to shave his head and serve [Master] Cuiyan. He succeeded [De]shao as national preceptor and as [leader of] the Fayan faction. Every day, as he chanted the name of the Buddha (nianfo), he heard celestial music and smelled exquisite aromas and saw the golden terrace and jeweled trees [of the Pure Land]. When he performed the repentance ritual, Puxian (Samantabhadra Bodhisattva) awarded a flower to him. When he entered samādhi concentration (ding), Guanyin (Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva) sprinkled sweet dew on him. Sheep knelt at the site where he gave lectures; quails nested in his robes during dhyāna meditation (chan). [The king of] Korea offered him precious treasures, and the king of Hell worshiped his image. He compiled the one- hundred-fascicle Zongjing lu (Records of the Source-Mirror) and performed a routine of 108 pure activities daily. He conferred the precepts on over ten thousand people and had over two thousand disciples. He passed away while seated [in meditation] on the twenty- sixth day of the twelfth month in year eight of the kaibao era (975). His ashes formed fish scales on his body. On the sixth day of the first month of year nine (976), he was interred in the Shouning Cloister on Mount Daci. 師名延壽,長耳和尚證為彌陀應身者也。吳越王釋盜帑放生罪,使禮翠巖落髮, 繼韶國師,韶法眼宗。每念佛,聞天樂異香,見金臺寶樹。禮懺則普賢授華,入 定則觀音灌露。羝跪講席,鷃巢禪衣,高麗供珍,冥王禮像。著《宗鏡錄》百
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Translations Associated with the “Resurrection” of Yongming Yanshou and Establishment of the Yongming Stūpa
134 Appendix 1 卷,日課百八淨業,度戒萬餘人,度弟子二千餘人。以開寶八年十二月二十六日 坐逝,舍利鱗砌于身。九年正月六日葬大慈山壽寧院。
When a doctor in the region with the clan name Si put the coffin of his mother in the [same] grave in the twenty-first year (guisi) of the wanli era (1593), he contaminated the site by placing it with Master [Yanshou’s] remains. I [Chunxi] learned about this by speaking with the abbot, Xinglian.2 When the Dharma descendant [of Yanshou], Dahuo, heard what [Xing]lian had reported in the winter of the yisi (thirty-third) year (1605), he was sad and indignant. He bribed the guard, a man named Jin, and privately gathered eleven fragments of remains, placing the gold-colored bone fragments in a bowl. On the twelfth day of the sixth month of the thirty-fifth (dingwei) year (1607), I [Chunxi] went together with [Dahuo] and opened up the natural stone pit and retrieved a small three-foot-long coffin. A fragrant aroma came from the pit. We further retrieved a bowl of bone fragments which we formally transferred to the monastery. Yunqi Zhuhong, senior member of government Tao Wangling, and Ministry of Rites official Huang Ruheng prostrated themselves before it and called on people to worship it. Also, Salt Control Censor the Honorable Zuo Zongying took the lead in offering gold, and all the members of the pure assembly [including lay people] from the provincial intendant on down followed suit, and planned to build a stūpa to install the relics in, placing it at the old Dharma Hall, where the kiosk erected [by King Qian Chu] with an inscription inside remains. 萬曆癸巳,郡醫巳氏窆母,投師骨穢處,熙聞以語住持性蓮。乙巳冬,法孫大壑 聞蓮語悲憤,賂守者金氏潛收舍利十一粒,金色骨一盂。丁未六月十二日,熙與 同往,開得自然石坎,如三尺小槥,香生坎中,復收骨一盂許入寺。雲棲袾宏、 祭酒陶望齡、儀部黃汝亨瞻禮唱導,而巡鹽御史左公宗郢首先施金,監司以下及 諸清眾從之,擬營塔開基,值故法堂,仍樹亭志焉。 *** On the day of the Buddha’s enlightenment, the good sons Wu Huaizhen3 and Huai Tu4 concealed the bone fragments in a golden vase and silver alms bowl. I [Chunxi] stored the remains in an alms bowl from Khotan, on top of the seven-story structure, and made an inscription for it: Inside the Wisdom-Sun [Yongming Monastery], Behind the Source-Mirror [Zongjing Hall], When the Sun is joined with the Mirror, They [produce] such infinite light. Returning the bone fragments to here, Chronicled in the years of Wanli, Having no blemishes and having not disintegrated, They [emit] such infinite life. Gathering together the pure and defiled, They are like the jewels of Brahma’s net. Pure and grand, ultimate bliss,
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***
Appendix 1 135
佛成道日,善男子吳懷真懷土藏骨金瓶銀缽。熙以于闐銅缽貯舍利七級 之首而為之銘曰: 慧日之中,宗鏡之後, 惟日與鏡,其無量光也。 歸骨於斯,紀年萬曆, 不騫不崩,其無量壽也。 淨穢交羅,如梵網珠, 清泰極樂,象罔鄰虛, 此方墳耶?非耶? 遷乎?住乎?
2. Note on the Reconstruction of the Stūpa Pavilion of Chan Master Yongming [Yan]shou 重建永明壽禪師塔院記 by Huang Ruheng 黃汝亨 (1558–1626) Chan Master Yongming [Yan]Shou was born in the first year of the tianyou era (904) of Tang dynasty Emperor Zhaozong.6 The long-eared one affirmed him to be the response body Amitābha. Tiantai refers to him as Ajita.7 From early on, he was endowed with exceptional talent. As an adult, he took refuge in Buddhism (the Buddha-vehicle). At the time of Wuyue King Wenmu, he was employed as a minor official in charge of a warehouse. When he stole public funds to release life, he was sentenced to death. Facing execution, his spirit and facial expression remained unchanged. The king thought this exceptional and released him. Subsequently, he shaved his head [to study under] Cuiyan, who taught him to chant the name of the Buddha. After he sought out and paid respects to Master [De]shao, he received the fundamental [teaching] and was granted secret [transmission]. He based himself in the main principle of meditative concentration (chanding) and diligently cultivated pure activities for birth in the Western Land. 永明壽禪師,生于唐昭宗天祐元年甲子,長耳證為應身彌陀,天台號為下生阿 逸。夙禀異才,長歸佛乘。吳越文穆王時,嘗為庫吏,以盜帑放生坐死,臨刑神 色不變,王異而釋之,遂落髮翠巖,念佛誘化。尋參禮韶師,承元授密,本以禪 定大宗,勤修西方淨業。 *** In the second year of the jianlong era (961), King Zhongyi, who conferred on him the posthumous title “Wisdom Enlightened,” invited Yanshou to his home, [Yongming] Monastery, to serve as its first-generation abbot. He performed a routine of 108 activities daily, realizing emptiness while treading in the actual. He did not succumb to [regarding things as having] essences and suspended meritorious striving. He compiled the one- hundred-fascicle Source-Mirror Records, the four-fascicle Mind Verse, the three-fascicle
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They appear indistinct,5 next to nothingness itself (i.e., the tiniest of particles). Is this a grave mound (i.e., stūpa)? Or not? In transit? Or at rest?
136 Appendix 1
建隆二年,忠懿王贈號智覺,迎入本寺,為第一代住持,日課一百八事,證虛蹠 實,不墮本體而輟功行,著《宗鏡錄》一百卷、《心賦》四卷、《萬善同歸集》 三卷,又詩偈、賦咏、雜著,共一百九十七卷。宣心導眾,非落要妙而絕語言, 緇白得戒者萬餘人,入室弟子二千餘人,自度度他,普覺宏道。若夫天樂傳聲, 寶樹現色,普賢授以妙華,觀音灌以甘露,羝跪講席,鷃巢定衣,異國則高麗供 珍,冥司則閻羅禮像,精至而應,神化斯通,洵人天之大師,慈覺之共主,載在 傳紀,不可思議者已。 *** On the twenty-fourth day of the twelfth month of the eighth year of the kaibao era (975), Yanshou revealed that he was ill, and passed away while sitting cross-legged two days later. His cremated remains formed fish scales on his body. On the sixth day of the first month of the ninth year (976), his stūpa was situated on Mount Daci (Great Compassion). The Song Emperor Taizu conferred [the title] “Shouning Chan Cloister” 壽寧禪院 and granted him the posthumous title “Great Master, Illuminator of Truth” 宗照大師. He expounded the Greater Vehicle and glorified the myriad ancients. Who has been more accomplished in serving as trustee for the various groups of spiritual beings? 開寶八年十二月二十四日示疾,越二日趺逝。荼毘,舍利鱗砌于身。九年正月六 日,塔于大慈山。宋太宗皇帝賜壽寧禪院,追贈宗照大師。闡揚大乘,焜燿萬 古,羣靈所托,誰得而磨焉。 *** [Yanshou’s stūpa] endured ups and downs, mysterious alterations, and constant vicissitudes, when in the guisi (twenty-first) year of wanli (1593), a doctor in the region with the clan name Si put the coffin of his mother in the [same] grave and transferred the Master’s bone fragments to an old pit near Dongshuwu and covered it with topsoil. Alas! His spirit would not rest; the bone fragments emitted smoke. With [the remains of] the Master in a state of desolation, how could they bring us peace? When their whereabouts were revealed, on a long, dark night Qing Wu and Wu Sheng retrieved them and
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Anthology on the Common Destiny of Myriad Good Deeds, as well as poetic verses, hymned tributes, and other miscellaneous compositions, 197 fascicles in total. He proclaimed [the teaching of] Mind to instruct the masses. He did not neglect what is essential and wonderful and eliminated language [as a means to truth]. Clergy and laity who obtained the precepts numbered over ten thousand, and over two thousand became his disciples. He saved himself to save others and spread widely the path to enlightenment for all. When he transmitted the sound of celestial music and revealed the forms of jeweled trees [of the Pure Land], Puxian (Samantabhadra Bodhisattva) awarded a miraculous flower to him and Guanyin (Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva) sprinkled sweet dew on him. Sheep knelt at the site where he gave lectures; quails nested in his robes during samādhi meditation (ding). A foreign country, Korea, offered him precious treasures, and the manager of the underworld, the King Yama, worshiped his image. It was in response to his proficiency that such spiritually transformative powers occurred. He is truly a great master of both humans and gods, a lord who combines compassion and wisdom. As conveyed in the records that have been passed down, [his achievements] are beyond imagination!
Appendix 1 137
滄桑密移,不變乘變,萬曆癸巳,郡醫巳氏窆母,徙師骨于舊穴之東數武,浮土 覆之。嗟乎!靈心不晦,道骨將煙,在師寂矣,于汝安乎?天啟長夜,青烏吳生 得之以告銓部虞公,淳熙虞公聞之,以轉語其淨慈嗣法骨孫大壑。壑乃悲憤交 集,財法並施,潛收舍利十一粒,如芥如黍,骨一盂,為金為碧。 *** In the winter, the dingwei (thirty-fifth) year (1607), Honorable Yu, again accompanying [Da]huo, went to excavate the old pit. When they collected the bone fragments in a bowl, it was as if they were looking at the light of the sun and the moon, covered in a night fog of heavy clouds, or like maṇi pearls bubbling up from sludge submerged in the ocean. As a result, the Great Master of Yunqi [Monastery] Zhuhong, the senior member of government the Honorable Tao Wangling, and I, the untalented Ruheng, as well as the entire complement of government officials, prostrated before the relics and praised them. What we looked upon had never been seen before. It was as if each of us were discovering our own mind. Then the Salt Director the Honorable Zuo Zongying, the Deputy Officer of Water Conservancy the Honorable Wang Daoxian, the Commander of Qiantang the Honorable Nie Xintang, took the lead in offering gold, inspiring those of good faith to erect a [word missing in original] stūpa behind the Zongjing Hall, with a height of five stories, encircled by three walls. Also, the Local Governor the Honorable Wu Yongxian, together with two magistrate officers (?), erected a kiosk to cover the stūpa before it was even completed, to adorn it as the land of a Buddha, to restore and enhance the teaching of a Patriarch, so that there would be nothing to be regretful for. 丁未冬,虞公復偕壑往開其舊坎,收骨一盂,若披重雲宿霧覩日月光,如于沉海 淤沙湧摩尼寶。於是雲棲大師袾宏、祭酒陶公望齡、與不佞汝亨,及諸宰官軰, 瞻禮贊歎,覩未曾有,如獲自心。而鹽直指左公宗郢、水利憲副王公道顯、錢塘 令聶公心湯,首先施金,倡諸善信,建□塔于宗鏡堂後,為高者級五,為堵者圍 三,而方伯吳公用先共兩令君謀,竟未了之緒,覆塔為亭,莊嚴佛土,恢宏祖 法,無遺憾焉。 *** The work commenced on the sixteenth day of the thirty-fifth year of wanli (1607) and was completed on the eighth day of the twelfth month of the thirty-seventh (jiyou) year of wanli (1609). The Honorable [Da]huo formed a group comprised of those whose good faith and personal fervor [for the project] moved them to join in, while I, the untalented [Ru]heng, made a record of it. Privately, the myriad things of existence undergo changes, but the Way does not change with them. As the spiritual essence is indestructible, the forms it takes are all free of destruction. Because of this, this building and the tomb it contains function as filial sons and merciful grandsons, fathers who continue the tradition and inheritors of the ancestral heritage. We cherish them more than the clothes
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reported it to the Minister of Personnel the Honorable Yu. When Chunxi, the Honorable Yu, learned of it, he passed it on to the Dharma heir, the bone fragment descendant of Jingci Monastery, Dahuo. [Da]huo had mixed feelings of grief and joy. When the sacred fragments were provided as gifts, he privately gathered eleven fragments of remains, like mustard [seeds] or millet [grains], and placed them in a bowl made of gold and jade.
138 Appendix 1
工起于萬曆三十五年六月十六日,落于萬曆三十七年己酉十二月八日。壑公以不 佞亨從諸善信親炙,隨喜而屬為之記。竊以萬物有遷,道不與遷;一靈不毁,形 俱無毁。是故孝子慈孫,嗣父繩祖,即其屋廬邱墳,衣冠典籍,罔不愛護。何况 膚髮指爪,心神骨髓,滴滴相承,其忍屑越?觀自身已,普觀萬類,薪水嗣續, 舉無差別,佛子奉佛,當復如是。是故應知,靈蛻遺骨,舍利寶珠,非壽師,有 此窣堵波莊嚴堅固?非壑公,有諸宰官居士隨喜捐助?塔者,院者,讚歎恭敬 者,非諸善信,有不遷為宗、日新同德? *** When wild pheasants and spirit roosters8 are regarded equally, when snakes and worms are substantively the same as dragons and elephants, and when the seven-jeweled [stūpa] of Aśoka and an awl of the ancient Buddha,9 a stalk of grass and a length of sandalwood, rubble debris and pearls and jade [are one and the same], they all attest to the wondrous brilliance everything shares and how the responses of Buddhas and Patriarchs differ [according to circumstances]. If it were not so, Honorable [Da]huo would simply be a weak, feeble monk. How would he be able, with regard to Master [Yan]shou, to wield the dagger of Lu,10 to reveal the brilliance that had been obscured, to continue the bloodline11 of Fayan’s chief heir, to tally with the ancestor who is the true son of National [Preceptor] [De]shao, after more than seven hundred years? Honorable [Da]huo said, “Yes! As one who aspires to an assurance of future enlightenment, I have made [the stūpa] evident here, and enhanced it with my verse.” When I observe who among the people of the world are destined for rebirth in the Pure Land, this person [Yanshou], with his bones already completely decayed, the Master who has been gone several hundred years,12 his remains piled to the right of a bare cliff, is like a great perfect mirror illuminating the ten directions, or like the light of the sun and moon revealing all that exists. All of you spiritual beings possessed of life should know that you are born like [an image] in a mirror in a hall, or like a jewel in a hand. I urge that when you make prostrations in the Stūpa Pavilion, do not take the spirit of the Master for granted, do not offer incense indiscriminately. The old Buddha [Yanshou’s] maṇi pearl will reveal you for who you are! 彼夫野雉與靈雞齊觀,[ =蛇 ]蚓與龍象均體,育王七寶,古佛一錐,莖草寸 檀,瓦礫珠玉,皆妙明之共證,而佛祖之分應也。不然,壑公一弱孱僧耳,安 能于壽師七百餘年後,揮魯戈,揭重光, 法眼嫡孫之血,契韶國真子之宗哉? 壑公曰:「然!願授之記者,垂示來茲,而綴以偈。」我觀世人往生者,其人與
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we wear and our scholarly books, to say nothing of our skin and hair, our fingers and fingernails, or how the spirit of our mind and the marrow of our bones gently complement each other. How trivial all of these are in comparison! Just look into yourself and see that the inheritance provided the myriad types of people reborn in the Pure Land is without distinction, that the children of the Buddha are offered Buddhahood. Realize that this is so. Because of this, you should know that the spirit casts off its shell, its bones, and the precious treasure, the relics, are not Master [Yan]shou. How does the adornment of his sudubo (stūpa) amount to any real merit? Does this nullify the efforts and contributions of Honorable [Da]huo and the various officials and laymen? Does this nullify the faith in the various good deeds of those who praise and admire the stūpa and the hall that houses it? Should we regard [the relics of] the ancestor as untransferable? As the circumstances [of the stūpa] are renewed, does the merit from it remain unchanged?
Appendix 1 139 骨皆已朽,惟師化去幾千年,舍利纍纍赤巖右,如大圓鏡照十方,如日月光現羣 有。應知一切含靈,生如鏡在堂、珠在手,勸汝瞻禮塔院時,勿作師靈我無受, 未添香前一著眼,古佛摩尼端然否?
I was in proximity to Zongjing Hall at Nanping, a place that acquired its name because it was the structure Master Yongming Yanshou opened to discuss the one-hundred-fascicle Zongjing lu. In addition, it was in this hall where Master Lianchi [Yunqi Zhuhong] lectured on the Mind Verse that Master [Yanshou] compiled, where I went, walking with a cane, to listen. It was at this time that I sought out Master [Yanshou’s] gravesite and found the site on Mount Daci. It was a dark chiseled-out hole on the emerald-green mountain, a trace of where the image of the Honorable Compassionate One descended on the world,13 referred to as the Kiosk and the Hall of Shouning. Regrettably, I found nothing. I planned to construct a pure abode (i.e., meditation hut) nearby, but an honorable one of renown apprised me that this was the site of a Mr. Si, and that Mr. Si had arranged for a tomb and had put a stone box and stone tablet epitaph there. On the cover of a monk’s tomb was written, “There is a depository and stele buried in a box among the things in the crevice to the right of here.” I was filled with anxiety. Could it be Chan [Master] [Yan] shou? I returned and told the leader of the Society, Honorable Yunquan [Xing]lian.14 The time was the spring of the jiawu year of the wanli era (1594). 予鄰南屏宗鏡堂,永明壽禪師闢館,述《宗鏡錄》百卷于此,故名。而蓮池師就 其堂,演說師所著《心賦》,予杖藜往聽,以其間尋師方墳,得之于大慈山。翠 山碧鑿慈氏像表下生,而所謂亭與壽寧院者,不可見矣。謀築淨居其傍,青烏氏 為言,此巳氏山,巳氏事窀穸,出石匣及碣,蓋僧坟云,乃藏碣而埋匣中物于地 右隙。予大駴,將壽禪乎?歸語會首筠泉蓮公,時萬曆甲午春也。 *** Twelve years later, Honorable [Da]huo, following the instructions of Honorable [Xing] lian, went with Honorable Lan to search for it. Determined to proceed along the winding path, they sank their ankles into the cold mountain stream, pulled themselves up the stone-cliff path to worship his vestiges. After wandering around bent over, looking for it for a long time, they inquired of the caretaker, a Mr. Jin. Mr. Jin was by himself as they approached and cried out on account of his pain. Honorable [Da]huo went to his bed and explained the reason [for their inquiry], saying, “The monk [we are looking for] is our second patriarch. The king of Hell provided offerings to him in the underworld, claiming him to be a sagely master [reborn] in the higher levels of the [Pure Land of the] West. On account of this, [we can infer that] the king [of Hell] is the Buddha Dizang (Kṣitigarbha).” Mr. Jin leaped from the bed in alarm: “My father certainly experiences suffering based on your account of the king of Hell. My pain is also surely based on this. When I was seventeen years old, I received instruction from an honorable one of renown to place the items in a box, and in compliance, had it put in a hole in a receptacle, covered with water. I put it there, and that was that. Lord Minister, how could I not be in pain? Master [Yanshou] repented on my behalf, but I put him in this place!”
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3. An Appraisal of the Sudubo (Stūpa) of Chan Master Shouning 壽寧禪師窣堵波辧by Yu Chunxi 虞淳熙
140 Appendix 1
*** Rising with vigor, they climbed the mountain. Pulling up thickets of bamboo and pushing aside mounds of earth, [Yanshou’s] discarded bodily remains appeared.15 Honorable [Da]huo wept as he gathered them. Because the bodily remains were [self- contained] in a hole, none was left behind. He drew water from the stream to wash them. The śarīra glittered like pearls, eleven beads of them. One among them was slightly larger, making it [like] a particle of gold from the river running through the groves of the jambu trees.16 After they were gathered and inspected by me, I instructed a man to go to the caretaker and to visit his friend Mr. Si and inquire about the stone tablet epitaph that had been placed there. The whereabouts of the stone tablet were unknown, and we were anxious to reestablish the stūpa. In truth, Honorable [Da]huo initially had no intention of reestablishing the stūpa but wanted nothing more than to ascertain the truth about what happened to the stūpa of Master [Yan]shou. When the stone tablet epitaph was not recovered, the truth about the stūpa became even more urgent, and made the stone tablet, like the stone tablet epitaphs for Daci Huanzhong and Yuanweng Zhiyan.17 Regardless of how frequently the caretaker was instructed by Honorable [Da]huo to find it, the stone tablet epitaph came to be like a burned document or a contract gone up in smoke. The record had been obliterated and there was nothing that could be done about it. Yet, even though Mr. Si was able to obliterate this record, he was not able to destroy the mural with his image on it.18 强起,登山,拔叢篠,撥浮壤而蛻見。壑公且泣且收,蛻以窟故,得無遺蛻,汲 澗洗之,設利羅爍爍如璣者十一粒,其一稍大,作閻浮檀金色。收以視予,予使 人詣守者,又屬巳氏友詣其冡問碣,祕不出碣,慮復塔。而壑公初無意復塔,第 欲証真壽師塔而已。碣不出,塔益真,令其碣為大慈寰中、元翁止巖之碣,應亟 以示壑公,安所同焚券毁契,然必漶滅其跡亦乃已耶?且巳氏能漶滅其跡,而不 能併壁像滅之。 *** At the present moment, as a result of his resolution to be born into this world from Tuṣita [Heaven] and his one life here, [Yanshou] marked himself as a monk in history uniquely distinguished, whose memory has not faded. Some are critical [of this assessment], saying: After Master [Yan]shou departed, his cremated remains formed fish-like scales on his body. In contrast to this, the Record of Pointing at the Moon says that his intact body is in his stūpa on [Mount] Daci. If his remains are comprised of an intact body that was not cremated, how can there be a mere eleven fragments of
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後十二年,而壑公用蓮公言,挾瀾公往尋焉。解行纒,寒澗沒脛,攀磴禮像,低 徊久之,問己氏守者為金氏,因獨詣金氏,金氏瘍而呻吟,壑公拜牀下,語故, 且曰:「[比>此]僧吾第二祖,冥王供于冥,謂西方上品聖師,以[此>比]地藏王 佛者也。」金氏驚躍起:「吾父定以此嘗冥王苦矣。即吾瘍當亦坐此,吾生十七 歲時,受青烏指,埋匣中物,值故埋溺器窟可容,容之耳,主臣安得不瘍?師為 我懺,我指埋處。」
Appendix 1 141 remains, or a layer lower than the ankle, or say there were substantial layers of fish- like scales?
There was a master Xingxiu who received a vegetarian banquet from King Qian.19 He had a scab-ridden body that soiled the meditation seat of Kauṇḍinya.20 Master [Yanshou] eyed King Qian [and said to him], “This is Dīpaṃkara Buddha.” When the king dispatched a messenger to pay reverence to [Xing]xiu, [Xing]xiu said, “Amitābha (i.e., Yanshou) talks too much,” and then quickly passed away. Master [Yanshou] also passed away.21 The corporeal bodies of the two masters refer to the preserved body of Master [Xing]xiu and the body of Master [Yan]shou. They are like the gigantic tooth of Qingliang [Chengguan] and the human trunk of Tiantai [Zhiyi].22 How he who has power bears it and hastens forward! With regard to the spiritual quality of relics, it causes hair on shaved heads to grow and the chest to spill out its contents (i.e., exhibit signs of life even after death), so there is no need for cremation. After the body dies, relics result. Among the withered and decaying fragments were eleven granules. It seems that many others were discarded. As a result of these words spoken by the elder of his House, the legacy of Patriarch Yanshou has continued to be handed down to the present, no less than [his teachings recorded in] thick historical tomes––Amitābha is Master Yanshou. Believe it! The nourishing one perched securely outside the main cloister hall is the Lord born of the highest, ninth level [of the Pure Land]. Welcome the defiled [remains] and return them to [a state of] purity. Defilement itself is purity. As a result, I say to you that the receptacle tossed into the water is forever pure! 當其時,所以志兜率之下生,而一載,僧于徵史者,固儼然未散矣。或者難曰: 「壽師既化,舍利鱗砌于身。而《指月錄》則曰,塔全身于大慈。夫全身不焚而 有舍利,有舍利僅十一粒,砌不及踝,而謂鱗砌豐碩之身可乎?」予稽壽師之 化,六百三十餘年,傳記互異。南屏耆舊謂予:「有行修師者受錢王齋,疥而污 陳那之座,師目錢王,此定光佛也。王遣人禮修,修云:彌陀饒舌。便化去,師 亦隨化。兩師肉身,意者修師之身存,而壽師之身,若清涼巨牙、天台恆幹,有 力者負之而趨乎。至于舍利神物,滋生[難>薙]髮,溢出[元≒玄]膺,亦何必得于 闍維。全身去而舍利從之,零落沙之內十一粒,猶為多棄也。」因斯以談其家耆 舊之言,祖孫遞授,以至于今,不啻敦史,彌陀之為壽師,信矣。棲安養者離內 院,生上品者主九品,揖穢歸淨,即穢即淨,故示投溺器而常淨。 *** At the time, people falsely looked to fame and profit and brilliantly created a vision of a dragon-flower,23 but neglected the memory of the Honorable Compassionate One [Yanshou] and miss the point of what Master [Yan]shou advocated. Relying on Mr. Si they discovered it, the stūpa that had been abandoned. They selected a site through divination and endeavored to build a new stūpa. It was no accident that when the former vestiges of the Honorable Compassionate One that had been discarded [were reinterred], a stele was inscribed and an image resembling Amitābha [erected]. Otherwise, the rediscovery
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I have reflected on Master [Yan]shou’s departure, occurring over 630 years ago, and the recorded accounts do not agree with each other. An elder at Nanping told me:
142 Appendix 1
時人妄見名利,赫赫作龍[革>華]觀,誤象慈氏,失壽師倡導之旨,藉巳氏而發 明之,令棄舊塔,卜地而營新塔,棄舊像慈氏,鐫石而更像彌陀,非偶然也。 不然,壽師之出,服戎夷,格禽獸,羣羊 鷃尚馴慈化,羅酆鬼師且勤供養,寧 渠百世之後,明暗于幽,人不如獸,鄰山移泉之虎,無移塔之力,使蚩蚩者污靈 骨于糞壤,如此其彌戾哉!或曰,師後身之為宋景濂也,所託彌下茂州謫死,尸 失迅流,將清泰否之主運,極樂國之苦果耶? *** I read the Records of the Source-Mirror (Zongjing lu). The Master incorporated the light of two lamps and five lineages into a single mirror and succeeded in harmonizing and balancing the approaches to the Dharma and restoring and opening up the Pure Land. He also succeeded in helping Ming Emperor Taizu, Gao Huangdi, to regulate ceremonies and create music and form the text and documents for a generation. The nine schools of thought and hundred houses were all included in a great perfect [mirror], precious and not leaving any trace. Some ask whether its orientation falls into “having cause” (i.e., gradual cultivation) or “lacking cause” (i.e., sudden enlightenment). [The Records of the Source-Mirror] sides with “having cause.” Everything reverts to the doctrine of an ultimate truth, transformed through practice.27 予讀《宗鏡錄》,師納二燈五宗之光于一鏡,和會法門,恢拓淨土者,至矣。又 出而輔明太祖、高皇帝,制禮作樂,成一代之文獻,九流百家,盡入大圓紫珍而 無遺影,取向所稱,有因無因邪。因也者,並歸第一義門,化之行也。 *** When Annam, Japan, and Korea sent envoys with tribute, they all inquired about the aspects of his [Yanshou’s] life: how was his corpse disposed of, did he pass away while sitting in meditation, or did he transcend [the teachings of] Zhongnan (Huayan Master Dushun)? He had been dead barely over a hundred years when those in the seven destinies28 flocked to verify [his identity] and vied to make him their patriarch. When they learned about the aspects of his teaching, some thought him to be engaged in the composition of words, some took him to be a practitioner of statecraft, some selected him to be an artisan, and some a supporter of fundamental enrichments [to the Dharma]. After he cast off his physical form and became an immortal, whether they regarded him as a regular human being or a saint, they relied on him as a guide. How singularly magnificent he was!
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of Master [Yan]shou would be like a defeat at the hands of a barbarian military or being classed with the birds and animals. Flocks of sheep and quail-like birds were tamed by his compassionate influence and the demon masters of Luofeng regularly provided offerings to him.24 After a hundred years of being secluded from the [passage of] light and darkness, he was treated worse than an animal. When the tiger of the neighboring mountain moved the spring, it did not have the power to move his stūpa, causing wriggly worms to sully his sacred bones in the dung and soil. What a complete and utter violation of his legacy! Some say the Master later took on the body of Song Jinglian,25 who was entrusted with full control over Mao Prefecture (Sichuan). [The emperor] condemned him to death, but he escaped death and was quickly exiled.26 Shouldn’t the principal fate of one pure and serene be an end of pain in the land of ultimate bliss?
Appendix 1 143 安南、日本、高麗入貢之使,咸詢起居,以至尸解坐脫,飛遯終南,殁僅百有餘 年,七趣羣真,爭以為祖,聞其風起者,或務修詞,或任經世,或採方伎,或資 元潤,蛻形而仙,若凡若聖,倚為司南,一何盛也!
Now, to replicate the mark [Yanshou] has made on us, one of thirty-six people, the Honorable [Da]huo, collected his bone fragments and revealed their exquisiteness. He dreamed of the deep chasm into which [Master] Wisdom-Enlightened [had been cast] and wisely left a preface on “the songs of Wu.”29 How could he have established [the stūpa] in vain? What is more, among the lands upon lands in all the motes of dust, there are none that are not Amitābha’s. He transformed into Master Lianchi [Zhuhong], and when the Wufeng (Unseamed) Stūpa-Pagoda was completed, its foundations coiled into a lotus- treasury,30 he revealed its boundaries to be those of Zhina (China).31 He transformed into Master Xuelang [Hong’en],32 and when the Bao’en (Repayment of Gratitude) Stūpa- Pagoda was completed, its apex rubbed against the heavens, and declared that the lion- throne extends to the depths of the sea-turtle’s [abode]. His first transformation is regarded as Master Yongming, and when the Liuhe (Six Harmonies) Stūpa-Pagoda was completed, the fortress in its shadows suppressed the destructive tidal waves. By suspending a sacred mirror into the underworld, he became one among the trillions of transformation bodies of Amitābha. 茲復遣其印記,三十六人之一如壑公者,收骨而表微,湛虛智覺之夢,下慧吳 詠之序,寧虛設哉?且也塵塵剎剎無非彌陀,化而為蓮池師,無縫塔成,基蟠 華藏,現畛域于支那;化而為雪浪師,報恩塔成,頂摩霄漢,布猊牀于鰲極。 視其初化而為永明師,六和塔成,影鎮胥濤,懸神鑑于冥路,並彌陀千百億化 身之一身也。 *** After the stūpa of Master [Yan]shou was lost and the stūpa-pagoda of the Six Harmonies fell into disrepair, who assumed Yanshou’s position, uttered his verses, lectured on Perfect Enlightenment, and discussed prajñā? It was none other than these two masters, both patriarchal forebears of the Honorable [Da]huo, who went to visit and request him [to undertake this revival]. In addition, he [Amitābha] transformed into Master Miaofeng,33 who took the lead in initiating [the construction of] the Zongjing [Hall], illuminating all of Zhendan (China). When he first entered Huiri [Wisdom-Sun Monastery] and requested to adorn the image of Master [Yanshou], it had already been forged in yellow gold, [housed in] a pavilion, from work carried out by the three great masters. [This appearance of Yanshou] as an incarnation of Amitābha is somewhat far removed from the submerged receptacle [that contained his fragmented remains]. Who could imagine this as a response to the original aspiration to adorn it? To further broaden his influence, was it not also appropriate to want to repair his damaged stūpa, to fulfill the achievements and virtues of his former life? It was carried out by the leader of this association, Honorable [Xing]lian, made possible through the visit and request [by Lianchi Zhuhong and Xuelang Hong’en]. As a result of the request, the three masters pledged themselves to it, and repeatedly directed the many who happily complied and assisted in bringing the project to its fated conclusion.
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***
144 Appendix 1
*** When the circumstances regarding [Yanshou’s association with] Amitābha became familiar, everyone was eager to quickly see [the construction of] the image realized. The day before I worshiped his remains, I dreamed a person of renown had written down a purple- jade-colored character “Shou.” I had read in the biography of the Master that offerings from Korea [to Yanshou] included purple-jade-colored [rosary] beads and a written-out name of the Master, “Shou.” As the circumstances regarding Yanshou were so familiar, the sudubo (stūpa) of Chan Master Shou of Yongming [Monastery] was easily recognizable. The recognition is certainly attributable to the way the contention between li (noumena) and shi (phenomena) is resolved in the [Records of] the Source-Mirror. It is the reason the Master called on me [to assist]. After I made the request to the Honorable [Da]huo, he arranged for releasing living beings in the eleventh month (ziyue) at Bright Sage Lake. On the occasion when we met, he said to me: After the Master passed away, he spent three lives writing out the Huayan jing (Avatamsaka Sūtra) with his own blood. The evidence for this remains in Wu. Wang Boyu retrieved it, read it, and returned it to Wu.34 Also, a pheasant listened to the scripture (i.e., the Huayan jing), and when it died a stūpa was erected for it. The [site of the] sacred fowl is also near the lodging where the king of Wu spoke of the hundred river valleys.35 The various flowers (i.e., the Flower Adornment Scripture or Huayan jing) that Master [Yan]shou created with his blood, are his whole-body relic. After Honorable [Da]huo delivered his recollection, he sighed aloud. The stūpa of the pheasant had not disappeared, but the stūpa of the Master, on the other hand, was found only after consulting Mr. Si, who fortunately had escaped dishonor. How could the service of all those who contributed to the completion of the project to revive the Master be inferior to what was given a dead pheasant? On account of this, you should manage his stūpa well and not let his remains be exposed in the open for long periods. It is a pity that the flocks of quail and sheep were not accorded the treatment the pheasant was. This is an oversight by our forebears. 彌陀緣熟,無不咨嚮影從之速矣。予未禮舍利先一日,夢高氏遺紫玉壽字。已閱 師傳,合高麗施紫玉珠字,而壽又師名也,是其緣亦熟,作永明壽禪師窣堵波 辨,辨即為爭理事猶礙[螎 = 融]之于《宗鏡》,而師許我哉?壑公其為予請,建 子月放生于明聖湖,遇曹能始為予言:「師化後,三生血書《華嚴經》,其跡在 吳。汪伯玉取視之,復歸于吳。而聽經之雉,死為建塔,比靈雞,亦在吳王百谷 舍傍云。夫壽師血利託之雜華,是全身舍利也。」壑公其[棄>亟]收之。嗟夫! 雉兒之塔未湮,而師塔乃尋于巳氏,幸已免辱。諸與師緣熟者,豈其待師不若死 雉哉?故當亟營塔,毋令舍利久暴露也。惜 鷃羣羊,不得此雉兒,[比>此]則 昔人之罪也。
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壽師之塔湮,六和之塔圮,據其座,咏其賦,演《圓覺》,談《般若》者,獨無 意乎?夫二師皆壑公之祖也,可往詣請也。又化而為妙峰師,首開宗鏡,照耀真 丹,初登慧日,願飾師像,業已鑄黃金樓閣,覆三大士矣。彌陀化身,纔離溺 器,獨不思一酬本願,嚴飾之乎?推而廣之,又不當修欲圮之浮屠,畢前身之功 德乎?此會首蓮公之交也,可往詣請也,請三師主盟,而復導諸悅服者助緣焉。
Appendix 1 145
4. Poem and Preface on the Transfer of the Stūpa 遷塔詩并序 by Shi Dahuo 釋大壑
永明壽禪師,為淨慈開山聖祖,于開寶八年十二月二十六日示寂。明年正月六日 荼毘,舍利鱗砌于身。吳越錢忠懿王[宏>弘]俶為建塔于大慈山,樹亭志焉。宋 太宗賜額壽寧禪院,追諡宗照大師。 *** In the guise (thirtieth) year of the wanli era (1602), when the stūpa was destroyed by Mara’s evildoings, the sacred relics were placed in a special box to the right of a stone crevice. When I ([Da]huo) reflected on the fact, my Dharma seat at Jingci Monastery was a legacy from the Great Master. It was made to endure the four cruelties of icchantika,37 treated disrespectfully, covered in dung and earth. How is this a repayment for his [life- giving] Dharma-milk? How is it suitable for one of our descendants? I wrung my hands in grievous pain every time I laid eyes on the precious omen. Carrying a shovel, I climbed up the crag and dislodged [the box with his remains] from the overgrown thicket that covered its resting place. I moved it to a stūpa erected at the back of the monastery, near Lotus Flower Cave. At its base I placed the calligraphy “Zongjing lu,” written for the Huiri Pavilion Library by former Song Emperor Xiaozong, who had protected Buddhism for a period. The Local Governor the Honorable Wu Yongxian created an inscription. The Grand Scribe and Prime Minister the Honorable Dong inscribed a headboard plaque. Chief Minister of Personnel the Honorable Yu, Head Proofer of the Farm Bureau (?), the Honorable Huang, and Commander of Qiantang and Expert Engraver (?), and the Honorable Nie compiled records, wrote notes, and created titles. 迨萬曆癸巳,塔為魔羅所毁,而靈骨別窆於石隙之右。壑念淨慈法席起自大師, 使闡提肆殘忍,褻靈瑞糞壤,安所酬法乳、稱雲孫哉?扼腕痛心,每見梵兆,乃 荷鍤登巖,出之宿莽之坎,徙建寺後蓮花洞傍,其基適值孝宗昔搆慧日閣藏《宗 鏡錄》處,一時護法,若方伯本如吳公為銘,太史元宰董公為額,銓部長孺虞 公、屯部貞父黃公、錢塘令銘源聶公為志、為記、為題。 *** On the back side of the stele inscription, [there is a list of] the inaugural patrons who donated gold [for the enterprise]; they were the fountainheads of inspiration: the salt inspector and imperial censor; the Honorable Zuo, Nine Student Inspector of Statutes (?); the Honorable Xiao, Vice Statute Clarity Reviewer (?); the Honorable Wang, Provincial Intendant; and on down to the various lay benefactors. Those with financial wealth
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Chan Master Yongming [Yan]shou is the founding sacred ancestor of Jingci Monastery.36 He announced his passing on the twenty-sixth day of the twelfth month in the eighth year of the kaibao era (975). He was cremated on the sixth day of the first month of the following year (976), and his remains formed fish scales on his body. Qian Zhongyi of Wuyue, King Hongchu erected a stūpa for him on Mount Daci and set up a kiosk with an inscription in it. Song Emperor Taizong conferred an official plaque, “Shouning Chan Cloister,” and granted him the posthumous title “Great Master, Illuminator of Truth.”
146 Appendix 1
碑陰首創施金,則有巡鹽御史心源、左公廉憲九生、蕭公憲副瞻明、王公監司以 下及諸檀越,富者刀幣,健者筋力,工未三載,而塔以巋然,庶幾開寶莊嚴日 矣。嗟夫!自非大師神力冥資,眾信檀波所聚,烏得遂其始願耶?于是悲喜交 集,感而賦詩,得三十絕,聊紀今昔之隆替云。若師之修證行實,則詳見于《道 蹟》及〈緣起〉中,不贅。 *** Previously, before I sought refuge in the forest and became a bhikṣu (monk), I looked for inspiration and decided to worship the Buddha. Only after enjoying the splendors of the assembly did I find the stūpa, Of his cremated remains, none were preserved. Entering the mountain steeped in dew, I feared there was no way forward, As I climbed over the ridge, vapor appeared, I suddenly came upon a stream. Without hesitation, I plunged in, both feet becoming cold, A hut lay to the west, a decrepit bridge in between. Shrouded in the luxurious growth of red wisteria and green moss, As the cool fresh air of morning arrived, I saw the majestic peak. Is it not the sought-after mountain for one wanting to flee the world? I feared I lost the path to the Way and tracks to the sacred. Chasing a tiger at the sacred spring, I came upon the southern peak, Sealed adjacent to it for a thousand years, I saw a natural void.40 Is it not similar to the five manifestations of the body in Tiantai,41 A vehicle that transports one to the palace of Indra? Scholars all speak of the country of great compassion, I think only of the abandoned image hall in the green hills.42 It is the glorious burial site of the one from a previous dynasty. I alone presented the gold-colored bone fragments concealed in the stone box. As I unearthed it, I did not dare wear my monk’s robe, How could I pretend to be the child playing with grains of sand.43 After twenty-four years of wearying myself through itinerant travel, I found relief in the mist of this ancient site. No need to seek the truth elsewhere Than the [resting place of the] Sacred Monk lying near the peak of Wisdom-Sun [Monastery]. How much more in the mists of myriad trees in front of the stūpa, Do I see the lamp of transmission every night when the moon comes out!
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donated ample amounts of money; those with bodily strength donated the power of their muscles. Before three years of work was completed, the stūpa stood high and majestic, and I longed for the day when we could begin adorning it with jewels. How wonderful! Were it not for the spiritual power and resources that were collected for our deceased Great Master, and the faithful dānapati patrons who were assembled, how could my initial aspiration have been so successful? Thus, with mixed feelings of joy and sadness, I was moved to compose a poem. It is comprised of thirty stanzas.38 In brief, I record the rise and fall [of the stūpa], at present and in the past. With regard to the cultivation and realization and actual practice of the Master, it is covered in detail in the Traces of His Path39 and in the “historical accounts of his life.” The information is not repeated here.
Appendix 1 147
昔未投林入苾蒭 瞻風便欲禮浮屠 只今好聚花成塔 留得荼毘舍利無 入山露塞疑無路 越嶺煙開忽有溪 肯惜厲深雙足冷 菴應只隔斷橋西 朱藤碧蘚翳蒙茸 爽氣朝來見別峰 不是尋山將避世 恐迷道跡與靈踪 靈泉逐虎來南嶽 千載鄰封見性空 莫似天台身五現 乘通移入梵王宮 士人都說大悲鄉 誰念青山廢影堂 最是前朝榮葬地 獨貽金骨石函藏 吾生不敢負袈裟 豈學兒童[戱=戲]聚沙 二十四年行腳倦 安心從此老煙霞 不須別卜經營地 慧日峰傍近聖僧 况復塔前煙萬樹 月來夜夜見傳燈 憶昔銜悲問草萊 經心觸目便疑猜 自從求得真身現 膜拜瞻依萬里來 聚沙鞭石汨塵勞 贏得淩雲塔影高 更喜交光湖萬頃 分明宗鏡照吾曹 影昃虞淵七百年 一燈長夜幾人傳 魯陽莫惜揮戈力 慧日重光照大千
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I reflected, with sadness, why in the past it became overgrown, As it passed through my mind it occurred to me and I hazarded a guess. When I sought it out, the true body revealed itself, Arriving from far away as I knelt down and joined my hands in worship. Collected grains defiled by being lashed about among shifting rocks, Discovered through the image of the stūpa reflected in the clouds on high. Made more enjoyable by the great amount of light bouncing off the lake, I see clearly the Source-Mirror illuminating all of us. As its image faded, [the stūpa] fell into a deep chasm for seven hundred years, How many transmitted the flickering lamp through the long dark night? I do not begrudge wielding the power of the sword to lift the darkness, Wisdom-Sun shines again, illuminating the great chiliocosm.
APPENDIX 2
1. The Precious Chest Seal Dhāraṇī Sūtra of the Whole-Body Relics Concealed in the Minds of All Tahtāgatas 一切如来心秘密全身舍利寶篋印陀羅尼経 2. Chijian Jingci Monastery Gazetteer 敕建淨慈寺志 Entries a. Leifeng 雷峰 b. Leifeng Pagoda 雷峰塔 c. Record of the Inscription on Erecting Huangfei (Consort Huang) Pagoda by Wuyue King Qian Chu 吳越國王錢俶:建黃妃塔碑記
1. The Precious Chest Seal Dhāraṇī Sūtra of the WholeBody Relics Concealed in the Minds of All Tahtāgatas 一切如来心秘密全身舍利寶篋印陀羅尼経 (1) 1The Precious Chest Seal Dhāraṇī Sūtra of the Whole-Body Relics Concealed in the Minds of All Tathāgatas2 Translated by Imperial Decree3 by Tripiṭaka [Specialist] Śrāmana Amoghavajra (Bukong) of Daxingshan Monastery,4 Posthumously Titled “Great Mirror [of Righteousness],” Formally Titled “One of Great and Wide Wisdom,” [Titled as] Minister of Works, Recipient of the Purple [Robe], Duke of the State of the Su Fiefdom [Comprised of] Three Thousand Households, Specially Promoted Probationary Chief of the Court of State Ceremonial, Commander of Government Office with Prestige Equal to That of Three Offices ***
Frontispiece (2) King Qian Chu of Wuyue, Generalissimo of Military Forces in the Empire, altogether printed eighty-four thousand copies of this sūtra, placed in the Xiguan (West Gate) Brick Pagoda to perpetually supply offerings.5 Recorded in the eighth month of the yihai year (975). ***
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Translations of The Precious Chest Seal Dhāraṇi Sūtra and Selections from Jingci Monastery Gazetteer relating to Leifeng Pagoda
150 Appendix 2
*** (3) Thus, have I heard. One time, the Buddha-bhagavan was in Magadha, at the Lake of Radiant Jewels in the Park of the Undefiled, with an assembly of great bodhisattvas, as well as great voice-hearer (śrāvaka) monks, devas, nāgas, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kiṃnaras, mahoragas,6 humans and nonhumans, and so on, an assembly of innumerable hundreds of thousands in front and in back, completely surrounding him. (4) At that time, there was a great Brahmin in the assembly named Undefiled Varaprabha (Wondrous Radiance),7 who learned much through listening extensively to people of wisdom and took delight in meeting them. He always revered the ten kinds of wholesome behavior and placed unshakable faith in the Three Treasures.8 With serious intention of doing good and subtleness of intelligence, he regularly endeavored that all sentient beings be associated with wholesome benefits, and that wealth in great abundance be provided with consummate satisfaction. At the time, Brahmin Undefiled Varaprabha rose from his seat, approached the Buddha, and circumambulated the Buddha seven times, and respectfully offered the World-Honored One an assortment of incense and flowers, priceless fine clothes, a necklace of precious beads, garlands made of jewels, placing them on a canopy over the Buddha. He paid homage by placing his head at the Buddha’s feet, then stood to one side and made a
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Figure 7.1 Image in original frontispiece of the Precious Chest-Seal Dhāranī Sūtra. Photo by author, April 2019.
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request: “I humbly ask that the World-Honored One, along with his great assembly, come to my home tomorrow morning to receive my offerings.” (5) At that time, the World-Honored One silently agreed to it. When the Brahmin [Undefiled Varaprabha] knew the Buddha had accepted his request, he hurried back to his dwelling. During the night, he prepared extensive offerings of a variety of flavors of food and drink and decorated the halls of his mansion with all kinds of adornments. When daybreak arrived, with the members of his retinue he took clumps of incense and bunches of flowers, as well as a variety of musical instruments, and went to the place where the Tathāgata was staying and addressed him, saying, “It is my earnest desire to have you visit me, in accordance with my request. Now the time has come. It is my hope that you will allow me to listen attentively [to your teaching].” (6) At that time, the World-Honored One [thought], “How considerate of the Brahmin Undefiled Varaprabha,” and looking out over the great assembly, addressed them, “You all should proceed to the Brahmin’s house on account of the great benefits he wants you to acquire.” Then, as the World-Honored One rose from his seat, just as he was rising, he issued various rays of radiance from his Buddha body. His subtle form, set with jewels, illuminated the ten directions. Everyone, without exception, was alerted. After the Tathāgata had alerted them, he took to the path. Then, the Brahmin, with an attitude of reverence, took wondrous incense and flowers, and with the members of his retinue as well as the eight groups of devas and nāgas, with Śakra,9 Brahma,10 and the World-protecting kings,11 proceeded in advance to clear the path and lead the way for the Tathāgata. At that time, the World-Honored One proceeded forward on the path, but before he had gone very far came upon a park referred to by the name Fengcai (Abundant Wealth). In the park, there was an old, decaying stūpa, ravaged and broken, collapsing, concealed under thistles and thorns. Shrubs and grasses permeated it and it was covered in pebbles and gravel, appearing as a pile of earth. (7) At that time, when the World-Honored One proceeded toward the stūpa, the top of the decaying stūpa radiated great beams of light in an awe-inspiring flourish. From within the lump of earth, a voice of praise uttered, “Excellent! Excellent! Tathagata Śākyamuni. How extremely well you have done today.” It also said, “You, Brahmin, too, have today acquired great and positive benefits.” (8) At that time, the World-Honored One paid respects to the decaying stūpa by circumambulating it three times to the right. He removed the upper robe from his body and used it to cover the stūpa. Weeping, his tears fell, and blood flowed from his nose. When his sobbing finished, he smiled. At just that moment, the Buddhas of the ten directions all observed what had occurred and also that he had shed tears. They all radiated light that illuminated the stūpa. When this occurred, the gathered members of the great assembly, all alike, thought it strange. Startled and afraid, they came to a halt. (9) At that time, Vajrapāṇi Bodhisattva12 and the others also all shed tears. Ablaze and burning brightly, Vajrapāṇi Bodhisattva grabbed the [flaming] cudgel and rotated it, approached the Buddha and addressed the World-Honored One: “By what causes and conditions did this radiance appear? Why did the Tathāgata’s eyes shed tears in such a way? I humbly ask the Tathāgata to explain to the members of this great assembly how the Buddha’s great auspicious radiance appeared here, to resolve our doubts.” (10) Then, the Bhagavān told Vajrapāṇi, “This is the stūpa of the tathāgatas, in which their fully intact body relics are collected. The essence of the Dharma, the mind
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dhāraṇī-seal of all the tathāgatas, as numerous as ten million sesame seeds, are currently contained in it. Vajrapāṇi, because the essence of the Dharma is contained here, this stūpa is considered to be equivalent to the bodies of tathāgatas, as numerous as a trillion sesame seeds. It is also equivalent to a collection of the fully intact body relics of the tathāgatas, as numerous as of one hundred billion sesame seeds. And the eighty-four thousand teachings credited to the Buddha [as a cure for all sufferings] are also contained in it. Namely, protuberances on the brows of ninety-nine hundreds of thousands of millions of Tathāgatas are also contained in it. The stūpa where all Tathāgatas receive assurances of future enlightenment is the stūpa located here. It possesses great merits, is equipped with great power, and is able to fulfill all auspicious aspirations.” (11) When the great assembly heard this explanation from the Buddha, they were removed far from the dust and defilements of the world, eliminated all afflictions, and obtained the pure Dharma-eye. Among them, there were those who attained the realization of a stream-enterer, those who obtained the fruit of a once-returner, those who attained the realization of a nonreturner, and those who attained the realization of an arhat. There were some who attained the enlightenment of a pratyekabuddha; some who entered the ranks of bodhisattvas; some who attained [the stage of nonregression of] an avaivartika bodhisattva;13 some who attained assurances of future bodhi; some who attained the first stage or the second stage, and so on down to the tenth stage; and some who completed the six perfections. The brahmin who removed themselves far from the dust and defilements of the world acquired the five supranatural cognitive abilities. (12) When Vajrapāṇi Bodhisattva saw this peculiar, exceedingly rare event, he addressed the Buddha, saying, “World-Honored One, how unusual and exceedingly rare! Even those who only hear of this event will obtain excellent attributes such as these. How much more will those who, hearing the essence of this Dharma, plant the seeds of wholesome roots and acquire a great accumulation of blessings.” (13) The Buddha said, “Listen carefully, Vajrapāṇi. If there are any good men and good women, bhikṣus and bhikṣuṇīs, upāsakas and upāsikās, who write down this scripture, it is as if they wrote down all the scriptures preached by ninety-nine hundreds of thousands of ten thousands of ten millions of tathāgatas, as numerous as sesame seeds, amounting to the wholesome roots planted by ninety-nine hundreds of thousands of ten thousands of ten millions of tathāgatas, as numerous as sesame seeds, and to receiving the protective concern of those tathāgatas. If anyone reads it aloud, it is as if they read aloud the scriptures which all the Buddhas of the past preached. If they accept and maintain faith in it, it is equivalent to the perfect enlightenment of ninety-nine hundreds of thousands of ten thousands of ten millions of tathāgatas, and each and every one of these tathāgatas, at each and every place they are, no matter how far away, will protect them day and night by manifesting themselves to them. If anyone worships this scripture, by providing offerings with flowers and incense, by rubbing it with incense, adorning it with garlands of flowers, with clothing, or with ornaments, it is as if they did so in the presence of those ninety-nine hundreds of thousands of ten thousands of ten millions of tathāgatas of the ten directions. When they constantly make offerings to it with exquisite flowers and exquisite incense, with clothing and ornaments, and with the seven treasures piled as high as Mount Sumeru, the wholesome roots planted [as a result] are equally as abundant.”
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After the eight groups of devas and nāgas, the humans and nonhumans, and so on, had seen and heard this, they each were amazed and said to one another: “How astonishing, the majestic power contained in this decaying clump of earth! This miraculous transformation is the result of the assistance provided by the miraculous powers of the tathāgatas.” (14) Then, Vajrapāṇi addressed the Buddha, saying, “World-Honored One, on account of what causes and conditions did this seven-treasured stūpa come to appear as a clump of earth?” The Buddha told Vajrapāṇi, “This is not a clump of earth, but a great precious stūpa formed from the seven treasures! Further, Vajrapāṇi, it became concealed because the karmic fruits of sentient beings are weak. The fully intact body of the tathāgata cannot be destroyed. How can the tathāgata’s Diamond-Storehouse body be destroyed! It is only because of the causes and conditions of the karmic fruits of sentient beings that it appears concealed. Further, Vajrapāni, when many sentient beings practice in defiance of the Dharma, they will fall into hell. Monks who do not seek the Buddha-Dharma do not plant the seeds of wholesome roots. Because of these causes and conditions, the wondrous Dharma became concealed. The only exception is this stūpa. It is because it is supported by the supranormal powers of the tathāgatas. I now shed tears because of these factors. The other tathāgatas all shed tears because of these factors as well.” (15) At that time, Vajrapāṇi Bodhisattva addressed the Buddha, saying, “World-Honored One, if anyone writes down this scripture and places it in a stūpa, how many blessings will they obtain?” The Buddha told Vajrapāṇi, “If anyone writes down this scripture and places it in a stūpa, this stūpa will become the Diamond-Storehouse stūpa (sudoupo) of all the tathāgatas. It will also become the stūpa (sudoupo) which secretly supports the dhāraṇī minds of all the tathāgatas. It becomes the stūpa (sudoupo) of the ninetynine hundreds of thousands of ten millions of tathāgatas, as numerous as sesame seeds. It also becomes the stūpa (sudoupo) of the Buddha-crown and Buddha-eye of all the tathāgatas. [Such a person] will be protected by the supranormal powers of all the tathāgatas. If anyone places this scripture inside a statue of the Buddha or places it in any stūpa (sudoupo), this statue is considered to be constructed from the seven treasures and this stūpa is also considered to be made of the seven treasures. Canopies, pearled nets, dew receptacles, svastikas, and bells are made from the unadulterated seven treasures. All of the tathāgatas add their formidable powers to this scripture, which can truly be said to assist the original vow [to attain enlightenment]. If there are sentient beings able to plant the seeds of wholesome roots at this stūpa, they are sure to attain the stage of nonretrogression characterized by supreme, perfect enlightenment (annuttara-samyak-sambōdhi). Even if they should fall into avīci hell,14 if they worship even once at this stūpa or make even one circumambulation, they will surely attain liberation, and all will attain the stage of nonretrogression characterized by supreme, perfect enlightenment (annuttarasamyak-sambōdhi). Stūpas and statue images situated in this way will be protected by the supranormal powers of all the tathāgatas. The place they are situated will not be harmed by fierce winds, thunder and hail, or claps of thunder. Furthermore, [people who frequent there] will not be injured by poisonous snakes, poisonous insects, or poisonous animals. Nor will they be injured or harmed by inauspicious stars, strange birds, parrots, starlings, bugs and mice, tigers and wolves, or bees and
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na maḥ stryi dhvi ka nāṃ sa rva ta thā ga ta nāṃ oṃ bhu vi bha va da va ri va ca ri va ca ṭai su ru dha ra sa rva ta thā ga ta dhā tu dha ri pa dmaṃ bha va ti ja ya va ri mu dri sma ra ta thā ga ta dha rmma cakra pra va rtta na va jri bo dhi va ṇa luṃ ka ra luṃ kṛ te sa rva ta thā ga tā dhi ṣṭi te bo dha ya bo dhi buddhya saṃ bo dha ni saṃ bo dha ya ca la ca laṃ tu sa rvā va ra ṇa ni sa rva pā pa vi ga
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scorpions. In addition, there is no fear of yakṣas and rākṣasas (spirits of the dead and ogres), of bhūta (demons) and vaiśya (thousand-headed serpents), or of ghosts and demons, or of mental disorders. Also, one will not become infected with the various maladies associated with cold and heat, fistula, ulcers, tumors, or scabies. If anyone sees this stūpa even for an instant, every sort of [malady] will be removed. This place will be free of sicknesses afflicting people, horses, cattle, of sicknesses afflicting young boys and young girls. Nor will they have their lives cut short by accidental disasters. Nor will they suffer harm from swords or staves, or floods or fire. Nor will they be attacked by their enemies or oppressed by famine. Loathing demons as a result of curses brought upon them by spells will have no effect. The Four Heavenly Kings and the members of their retinue will protect them day and night. The twenty-eight kinds of beings and great yakṣa generals, as well as the sun, moon, hazy aura [of the sky], and comets will day and night protect and maintain them. All the Dragon Kings will exercise their vitality and bring rainfall according to the proper season. Because all the devas, including those in the Heaven of the thirty-three devas, will also descend three times a day in order to make offerings and worship the stūpa, all the immortals will gather three times a day to offer praise and circumambulate it. Śakrodevānām Indrah (i.e., Indra) and the various goddesses descend three times [each] night and day to make offerings. This place is assisted by the protective concerns of all the tathāgatas. If anyone creates a stūpa, whether by earth, stone, wood, gold, silver, or red copper, and writes out this essence of the Dharma and places it inside, just after it is installed, this stūpa is considered to be a construction of the seven treasures. Above and below are arranged receptacles and canopies, bells large and small, stitched nets, made from the unadulterated seven treasures. The four sides of the stūpa each has a statue of the tathagata, constructed in a similar fashion. It follows that it is supported by the supranormal powers of the tathāgatas. This seven-treasure stūpa is the great repository of the [Tathāgata’s] fully intact body relics. It towers as high as the palace of the uppermost Akaniṣṭha Heaven.15 All the devas guard it and supply it with offerings.” (16) Vajrapāṇi addressed the Buddha, saying, “World-Honored One, because of what causes and conditions does this Dharma have excellent attributes such as this?” The Buddha told Vajrapāṇi, “It is because of the majestic power of this Precious Chest dhāraṇī.” Vajrapāṇi said, “I humbly request that the Tathāgata take pity and explain this dhāraṇī to us.” The Buddha said, “Listen carefully, Vajrapāṇi. This is the fully intact body relics of all the tathāgatas, future and present, as well as those who have already experienced complete extinction (parinirvāṇa). They are all present in the Precious Chest dhāraṇī. The three bodies which all the tathāgatas possess are also contained in it.” (17) Then, the World-Honored One uttered the dhāraṇī: [Sanskrit version]16
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[Mandarin pinyin pronunciation] (1) Nà mò xī dá lī yě 〈(sì hé)〉 de wěi 〈(èr hé)〉 jiā nán (2) sà pó dá tā niè duō nán (3) ǎn (4) bù wěi pó juàn nà juàn lí jiā (5) juàn zhě lí (6) juàn zhě zhāi 〈zhì jiē fǎn〉 (7) zǔ lǔ zǔ lǔ tuó luō (8) sà juàn dá tā niè duō (9) tuó 〈(yǐn)〉 dōu tuó lí bō nà mǎn 〈(èr hé)〉 pó juàn dǐ (10) rě yě juàn lí (11) mǔ zǔ lí sà mó 〈(èr hé)〉luó (12) dá tā niè duō dámó zhuó jiā luó (13) bō luó 〈(èr hé)〉 mò lì duō 〈(èr hé)〉 nà juàn rì luó 〈(èr hé)〉 mào de mǎn ná (14) léng jiā 〈(yǐn)〉luó (15) léng qì lī 〈(èr hé)〉 dì (16) sà juàn dá tā niè duō〈(yǐn)〉de sè chǐ 〈(èr hé)〉dì (17) mào tuó yě mào tuó yě (18) mào de mào de (19) dà bō tíng (20) sān mào tuó ni sān mào tuó yě (21) zhě luó zhě luó (22) zhě lǎn dǔ (23) sà juàn juàn luō ná nǐ (24) sà juàn bō 〈(yǐn)〉bō wěi niè dì (25) hù lǔ (26) sà juàn shù jiā mǐ niè dì (27) sà juàn dá tā niè duō (28) hé lī 〈(èr hé)〉 nà yě juàn rì lī〈(èr hé)〉 nǐ (29) sān pó luó sān pó luó (30) sà juàn dá tā niè duō (31) yú xì yě 〈(èr hé)〉 tuó luō nǐ mǔ niè lí 〈(èr hé)〉 (32) méi tì sū méi tì (33) sà juàn dá tā niè duō 〈(yǐn)〉 de sè chǐ duō (34) tuó dǔ niè bì suō juàn (èr hé) hē (35) sān móyé 〈(yǐn)〉 de sè chǐ 〈(èr hé)〉 dì suō juàn〈(èr hé)〉 hē (36) sà juàn dá tā niè duō hé lī 〈(èr hé)〉 nà yě tuó dǔ mǔ nà lí 〈(èr hé)〉 suō juàn〈(èr hé)〉 hē (37) sū bō luó dǐ sè chǐ 〈(èr hé)〉 duō sà dǔ 〈(èr hé)〉 bì dá tā niè duō 〈(yǐn)〉 de sè chǐ 〈(èr hé)〉 dì hù lǔ hù lǔ hōng hōng sà juàn hē
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te hu ru sa rva śoka vi ga te sa rva ta thā ga ta hṛ da ya va jra ṇi saṃ bha ra sa rva ta thā ga ta gu hya dha ra ṇi mu dri bu te subu te sa rva ta thā ga tā dhi ṣṭi ta dhā tu ga rbhe svā hā sa ma yā dhi ṣṭi te svā hā sa rva ta thā ga ta hṛ da ya dhātu mu dri svā hā su pra ti stu bhe ta thā ga tā dhi ṣṭi te hu ru hūṃ hūṃ svā hā oṃ sa rva ta thā ga ta u ṣṇī ṣadhā tu mu drā ṇi sa rva ta thā ga taṃ sa dha tu vi bho ṣi tā dhi ṣṭi te hūṃ hūṃ svā hā
156 Appendix 2
(1) 一切如来心秘密全身舍利寶篋印陀羅尼経17 [開府儀同三司。特進試鴻臚卿。肅國公食邑三千戶。賜紫贈司空謚大鑒。 正號大廣智。大興善寺三藏沙門不空奉 詔譯]18 (2) 天下兵馬大元帥。吳越國錢王。併造此經。八万四千卷。捨入西関塼塔。 永充供養。乙亥八月日紀。 (3) 一切如来心秘密全身舍利寶篋印陀羅尼経 如 是 我 聞 。 一 時 佛 19薄 伽 梵 在 摩 伽 陀 國 無 垢 園 寶 光 明 池 中 。 與 大 菩 薩 眾 。 及 大 聲 聞 僧 。 天 龍 藥 叉 健 闥 婆阿蘇羅迦樓羅緊那羅摩睺羅伽人非人等。無量百千眾俱前後圍繞。 (4) 爾時眾中有一大婆羅門。名無垢妙光。多聞聰慧人所樂見。常奉十善。於 三寶所決定信向。善心慇重智慧微細。常欲令一切眾生相應善利。大富豐 饒資具圓滿。時彼婆羅門無垢妙光。從座而起往詣佛所。遶佛七匝。以眾 香花奉獻世尊。無價妙衣瓔珞珠鬘持覆佛上。頂禮雙足却住一面。作是請 言。唯願世尊與諸大眾。明日晨朝至我宅中受我供養。 (5) 爾時世尊默然許之。時婆羅門知佛受請。遽還所住。即於是夜廣辦餚饍百 味飲食。張施殿宇種種莊嚴。至明旦已與諸眷屬。持眾香花及諸伎樂。至 如來所白言。時至願赴我請。今正是時。願垂聽許。
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(38) ǎn sà juàn dá tā niè duō (39) wù sè nǐ 〈(èr hé)〉 shā tuó dōu mǔ nà luō 〈(èr hé)〉 ní sà juàn dá tā niè dān suō tuó dōu wěi bù shǐ duō 〈(yǐn)〉de sè chǐ 〈(èr hé)〉 dì (40) hōng hōng suō mó 〈(èr hé)〉 hē (18) At that time, after the World-Honored One had uttered this dhāraṇī, a seventreasured stūpa (sudubo) sprang forth spontaneously from the spot of the decaying stūpa, emitting high and vast, gloriously adorning, solemnly dignified, and subtly wondrous rays of light. Then, the ninety-nine hundreds of thousands of ten thousands of ten millions of tathāgatas of the ten directions all came to praise Śākyamuni Buddha, each stating, “Excellent, excellent, Tathāgata Śākyamuni! You have been able, in this manner, to utter the vast and great essence of the Dharma, to place it, in this manner, in the Dharma storehouse, and to cause sentient beings in Jambudvīpa to find benefit and joy, peace and tranquility. If there are good sons and good women who find peace in the essence of this Dharma and place this dhāraṇī inside stūpas or statues, we buddhas of the ten directions will always accompany them no matter where they may find themselves, and with our supranormal powers at all times assist and protect them with the power of our vows.” (19) At that time, the World-Honored One having uttered this great Treasure Chest Seal dhāraṇī, the relics of [the tathāgata’s] fully intact body, the extensive work of the Buddha was completed. After this, he went to the house of the Brahmin and received his offerings, allowing countless devas and humans to acquire great blessings and benefits, and then returned to his dwelling. At that time, the great assembly of bhikṣus and bhikṣuṇīs, upāsakas and upāsikās, devas, nāgas, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kiṃnaras, mahoragas, humans and nonhumans, and so on, all were overjoyed at having received the Buddha’s teaching and were firm in their conviction to practice it. _____________________________________________________ Chinese Text:
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(6) 爾時世尊安慰彼婆羅門無垢妙光已顧視大眾告言。汝等皆應往彼婆羅 門家。為欲令彼獲大利故。於時世尊即從座起。纔起座已。從佛身 出種種光明。間錯妙色照觸十方。悉皆警覺一切。如來既警覺已。 然後取道。時婆羅門以恭敬心。持妙香花與諸眷屬及天龍八部釋梵 護世。先行治道奉引如來。爾時世尊前路不遠。中止一園名曰豐財 。於彼園中有古朽塔。摧壞崩倒荊棘所沒。榛草充遍覆諸礓礫。狀若土堆。 (7) 爾 時 世 尊 徑 往 塔 所 。 時 朽 塔 上 放 大 光 明 赫 然 熾 盛 。 於 土 聚 中 出 善 哉 聲 讚 言 。 善 哉 善 哉 釋 迦 牟 尼 如 來 。 今 日 所行極善境界。又言。汝婆羅門。汝於今日獲大善利。 (8) 爾時世尊禮彼朽塔右遶三匝。脫身上衣用覆其上。泫然垂淚涕泗交流。泣 已微笑。當爾之時十方諸佛。皆同觀視亦皆泣淚。俱放光明來照是塔。是 時大眾集會。皆同怪異。驚怖而住。 (9) 爾 時 金 剛 手 菩 薩 亦 皆 流 淚 。 威 焰 熾 盛 執 杵 旋 轉 。 往 詣 佛 所 白 言 。 世 尊 此 何 因 緣 現 是 光 相 。 何 故 於 如 來 眼 流 淚如是。此是佛之大瑞光相現前。唯願如來於此大眾。解釋我疑。 (10) 時薄伽梵告金剛手。此大全身舍利聚如來塔。一切如來俱胝如胡麻心陀羅 尼印法要。今在其中。金剛手有此法要在是中故。是塔即為如胡麻俱胝百 千如來之身。亦是如胡麻百千俱胝如來全身舍利聚。乃至八萬四千法蘊亦 住其中。即是九十九百千俱胝如來頂相在其中。是塔一切如來之所授記。 若是塔所在之處。有大功勳具大威德能滿一切吉慶。 (11) 爾時大眾聞佛是說。遠塵離垢及隨煩惱。得法眼淨。其中即有得須陀洹果 者。得斯陀含果者。得阿那含果者。得阿羅漢果者。或有得辟支佛道者。 或有入菩薩位者。或有得阿鞞跋致者。或有得菩提授記者。或有得初地二 地乃至十地者。或有滿足六波羅蜜者。其婆羅門遠塵離垢得五神通。 (12) 爾時金剛手菩薩見此奇特希有之事白佛言。世尊甚奇特希有。但聞此事尚 獲如是殊勝功德。何況於此法要。種殖善根獲大福聚。 (13) 佛言。諦聽金剛手。若有善男子善女人比丘比丘尼優婆塞優婆夷。書寫此 經典者。即為書寫彼九十九百千俱胝如胡麻如來所說經典。即於彼九十九 百千俱胝如胡麻如來。種殖善根。即為彼等如來護念攝受。若人讀誦。即 為讀誦過去一切諸佛所說經典。若受持此經。即彼十方九十九百千俱胝如 胡麻如來應正等覺。彼一一20如來一一方所。遙加攝護晝夜現身。若人供養 此經。以花香塗香花鬘衣服嚴具而供養者。即於彼十方九十九百千俱胝如 來之前。成天妙花妙香衣服嚴具。七寶所成積如須彌。而為供養。種殖善 根亦復如是。 爾時天龍八部人非人等。見聞是已各懷希奇。互相謂言。奇哉威德。是朽 土聚以如來神力所加持故。有是神變。 (14) 時金剛手白佛言。世尊何因緣故。是七寶塔現為土聚。佛告金剛手。此非 土聚乃是七寶所成大寶塔耳。復次金剛手由諸眾生業果故隱。非如來全身 而可毀壞。豈有如來金剛藏身而可壞也。但以眾生業果因緣。示現隱耳。 復次金剛手。後世末法逼迫時。多有眾生習行非法。應墮地獄。不求佛法 僧不種殖善根。為是因緣妙法當隱。唯除此塔。以一切如來神力所持故。 以是事故我今流淚。彼諸如來亦以是事悉皆流淚。 (15) 爾時金剛手菩薩白佛言。世尊若有人書寫此經安置塔中獲幾所福。佛告金 剛手。若人書寫此經置塔中者。是塔即為一切如來金剛藏窣堵波。亦為一 切如來陀羅尼心祕密加持窣堵波。即為九十九百千俱胝如胡麻如來窣堵波 。亦為一切如來佛頂佛眼窣堵波。即為一切如來神力所護。若於佛形像中 安置。及於一切窣堵波中。安置此經者。其像即為七寶所成。其窣堵波亦 為七寶。傘蓋珠網露槃交結德字鈴鐸純為七寶。一切如來於此法要加其威
158 Appendix 2
娜莫悉怛哩也 (四合)地尾(二合)迦南 (一) 薩婆怛他蘖多南(二) 唵 (三) 部尾婆縳娜縳梨加(四) 縳者梨 (五) 縳者𪘨 (知皆反六) 祖魯祖魯馱囉 (七) 薩縳怛他蘖多 (八) 馱(引)都馱梨鉢娜𤚥 (二合)婆縳底 (九) 惹也縳梨 (十) 畝祖梨薩麼(二合)羅 (十一) 怛他蘖多達摩斫迦羅 (十二) 鉢羅(二合)靺[口+栗]哆(二合)娜縳日羅(二合)冒地滿拏 (十三) 楞迦(引) 羅 (十四) 楞訖哩(二合)諦 (十五) 薩縳怛他櫱多(引)地瑟恥(二合)諦 (十六) 冒馱野冒馱野 (十七) 冒地冒地 (十八) 大波[亭+夜] (十九) 三冒馱你三冒馱野 (二十) 者羅者羅 (二十一) 者懶覩 (二十二) 薩縳縳羅拏你 (二十三) 薩縳播(引)波尾蘖諦 (二十四) 戶魯 (二十五) 薩縳戍迦弭櫱帝 (二十六)
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力。以誠實言本誓加持。若有有情能於此塔種殖善根。必定於阿耨多羅三 藐三菩提得不退轉。乃至應墮阿鼻地獄若於此塔一禮拜一圍遶必得解脫。 皆得不退轉於阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。塔及形像所在之處。一切如來神力所 護。其處不為惡風雷雹霹靂所害。又復不為毒蛇毒蟲毒獸所傷。不為惡星 怪鳥鸚鵡鴝鵒蟲鼠虎狼蜂蠆之所傷害。亦無夜叉羅剎部多比舍遮癲癎之怖 。亦不為一切寒熱諸病癧瘻癰毒瘡癬疥癩所染。若人暫見是塔一切皆除。 其處亦無人馬牛疫童子童女疫。亦不為非命所夭。亦不為刀杖水火所傷。 亦不為他敵所侵。飢饉所逼。厭魅呪詛不能得便。四大天王與諸眷屬。晝夜衛護。二十八部大藥叉將。及日月衝暈彗星晝夜護持。一切龍王加其精 氣順時降雨。一切諸天與忉利天三時下來。亦為供養禮拜塔故。一切諸仙 三時來集讚詠旋遶。釋提桓因與諸天女。晝夜三時來下供養。其處即為一 切如來護念加持。若人作塔或土石木金銀赤銅。書此法要安置其中。纔安 置已其塔即為七寶所成。上下階陛露槃傘蓋鈴鐸網綴純為七寶。其塔四方 如來形像亦復如是。則一切如來神力所持。其七寶塔大全身舍利藏。高至 阿迦尼吒天宮。一切諸天守衛供養。 (16) 金剛手白佛言。世尊何因緣故此法。如是殊勝功德。 佛告金剛手。以此寶篋陀羅尼威神力故。金剛手言。唯願如來。哀愍我等 說是陀羅尼。佛言。諦聽金剛手。此是一切如來未來現在及已般涅槃者全 身舍利。皆在寶篋陀羅尼中。是諸如來所有三身亦在是中。 (17) 21 爾時世尊即說陀羅尼曰:
Appendix 2 159
(18) 爾時世尊說是陀羅尼時。從朽塔處有七寶窣堵波自然涌出。高廣嚴飾 莊嚴微妙放大光明。時彼十方九十九百千俱胝那庾多如來。皆來稱 讚釋迦牟尼佛各作是言。善哉善哉釋迦如來。能說如是廣大法要。 安置如是法藏。於閻浮提令諸眾生利樂安隱。若有善男子善女人。 安此法要。安置此陀羅尼於塔像中者。我等十方諸佛。隨其方處恒 常隨逐。於一切時。以神通力及誓願力加持護念。 (19) 爾時世尊說此大全身舍利寶篋印陀羅尼。廣作佛事已。然後往彼婆羅門家 。受諸供養。令無數天人獲大福利已。却還所住。爾時大眾比丘比丘尼優 婆塞優婆夷天龍夜叉健闥婆阿修羅迦樓羅緊那羅摩睺羅伽人非人等。皆大 歡喜信受奉行。
2. Chijian Jingci Monastery Gazetteer 敕建淨慈寺志 Entries Compiled by Jixiang in the tenth year of the jiaqinq era (1805) of the Qing Dynasty. Republished by Mister Ding of Jiahui Hall in Qiantang in the fourteenth year of the guangxu era (1888) of the Qing Dynasty. 〔清〕釋際祥撰 清光緒十四年(一八八八)錢塘嘉惠堂丁氏重刋本
(a) Leifeng 雷峰 According to the Lin’an Gazetteer Compiled in the Chunyou Era:22 [In front of Jingci Monastery, the Xianyan (Clear Adornment) Cloister has a five-story precious stūpa that preserves a famous site on West Lake.23 It is said that formerly a citizen of the district named Lei had a dwelling there and it was therefore known as Leifeng hut.] Because the world knows of Leifeng as being encircled by many mountains, it is called Central Peak (zhongfeng).
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薩縳怛他蘖多 (二十七) 紇哩(二合)那野縳日哩(二合)抳 (二十八) 三婆羅三婆羅 (二十九) 薩縳怛他櫱多 (三十) 麌呬野(二合)馱囉抳畝涅梨 (二合三十一) 沒悌蘇沒悌 (三十二) 薩縳怛他櫱多(引)地瑟恥多 (三十三) 馱覩櫱陛娑縳(二合)訶 (三十四) 三摩耶(引)地瑟恥(二合)帝娑縳(二合)訶 (三十五) 薩縳怛他櫱多紇哩(二合)那野馱覩畝[捺-扌]梨(二合)娑縳(二合)訶 (三十六) 蘇鉢囉底瑟恥(二合)多薩覩(二合)閉怛他櫱多(引)地瑟恥(二合)帝戶嚕戶 嚕吽吽薩縳訶 (三十七) 唵薩縳怛他櫱多 (三十八) 塢瑟抳(二合)沙馱都畝捺囉(二合)尼薩縳怛他櫱單娑馱都尾部使多(引)地 瑟恥(二合)帝 (三十九) 吽吽娑嚩(二合)訶 (四十)
160 Appendix 2 《淳祐臨安志》:[在凈慈寺前,顯嚴院有寶塔五層,傳收西湖勝跡。云昔郡民 雷就之所居,故名雷峰庵。] 世傳雷峰眾山環繞,故曰中峰。
Quotations from a Hundred Songs about West Lake25 claims there is hut on Leifeng, with Feng being the name of the person who lived there. On account of its being encircled by many mountains, Lin Heqing composed a song, “Medicinal Journey on Central Peak.”26 《西湖百詠引》:有雷峰菴,雷就故居也。以其眾山環繞,林和靖有〈中峰行 藥〉詩。 According to the Former Gazetteer of Jingci Monastery:27 Leifeng faces the Monastery, marking the northern boundary of Nanping [Hill] as it branches to the west. Since it illumines the mountains, they are reflected in the dome (i.e., sky) that surrounds it. It was formerly known as Central Peak (Zhongfeng), and also Surrounded Peak (Huifeng). In the Song dynasty, a Daoist priest named Xu established himself there, studying the Laozi. He lived there as if he were a dark swan or fog leopard (i.e., a complete recluse),28 and was referred to as Gentleman of the Surrounded Peak (Huifeng Xiansheng). Some claim there was one by the name of Feng who hid here, and because of this it is called Leifeng. A grove of trees and a deep moat envelop and surround it in green and white colors, also making it an impressive sight. A pagoda was constructed here for the Wuyue consort, in honor of a concealed hair curl of the Buddha. Initially it was planned for a height of a thousand zhang and thirteen stories, but upon discovering that financial resources were insufficient, they started to build it at seven stories. Later, they reconsidered based on plans that the experts divulged; they stopped construction at five stories. It was called Huangfei (Consort Huang) Pagoda. Given the [existence of the] locally grown huangpi tree, it was mistakenly called Huangpi Pagoda. It is commonly referred to as Leifeng Pagoda. It has a height of over forty zhang, standing erect and touching the heavens. It is resplendent in gold and jade colors, with soaring rafters and suspended bell, and all manner of adorning decorations. At present, [Leifeng Pagoda] is made remote, covered in dense vegetation. The ochrecolored bricks are in a state of disrepair, submerged in weeds under a net of undergrowth. The bottom stories [consist of] pavilions framed in mold, interspersed with inhabited nests. Inside it is dark and dusky; outside it hangs high [in the sky]. The ascent of the stone steps to access it is mistakenly referred to as “Honorable Jug’s Cave.” Indeed! The ceramic glaze covering it has peeled off. Even if one gets lost in the commanding spectacle of the setting sun (xizhao) and with agile nimbleness pushes oneself inside, it is like enduring the days of summer to prolong the cold (i.e., not worth the effort). 《淨慈寺舊志》:雷峰在寺對,為南屏北折而西衍之支,即照山也。 穹窿迴映,舊名中峰,亦曰迴峰。宋有道士徐立之,學老子,自比冥鴻 、霧豹居此,號迴峰先生。或云有雷就者隱此,故又名雷峰。叢木深塹 ,縈青繞白,亦佳境也。吳越王妃於此建塔,奉藏佛螺髻髮。始以千丈 十三層為率,尋以財力未充,始建七級,後復以形家言,止存五級,名 黃妃塔。以地產黃皮木,遂訛黃皮塔,俗稱雷峰塔云。高四十丈許,兀
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According to Lin’an Gazetteer compiled in the Xianchun era:24 In front of Jingci Monastery a local villager, Mr. Lei, built a hut and lived in it. It is named after him. It is also referred to as Central Peak (zhongfeng). 《咸淳臨安志》:在淨慈寺前,鄉人雷氏築菴居之,故名。又謂之中峰。
Appendix 2 161 立層霄,金碧璀璨,飛甍懸鈴,種種嚴飾。今則鬱攸之餘,赭埴頽然, 灌莽緜絡而已。下級架菌閣,巢居於中,內幽窈而外高懸,陟磴求之, 誤謂壺公洞,真矣。琉璃剝落,雖失夕照一景,玲瓏虛豁,猶堪夏日延涼。
According to Notes on the Poetry of Xihe (Xihe shihua):29 The peak in front of Mount Nanping became famous for the imposing majesty of the scenery that surrounds it in the distance. A pagoda was erected on top of it for a Wuyue consort. Its original name was Huifeng Pagoda but is commonly written as Leifeng owing to the similarity in the sound of hui and lei which led to the mistake. The former gazetteers compiled in the chunyou and xianchun eras identified it as the creation of a man with the surname Lei. How utterly ridiculous! In the Song dynasty, there was a Daoist priest named Xu who resided there, building an abode next to the Pagoda. The world referred to him as the Gentleman of the Surrounded Peak (Huifeng Xiansheng). The evidence for this is clearly discernible. On this day, as the sun trends toward the west, I sat for a long while gazing at the Pagoda and paid a visit to the lower rise of [Mount] Nanping. I saw what was written on the stone wall––The Family of Gua,30 Record of Studies,31 and the Doctrine of the Mean––and rubbed them with my hands for a long period of time, until the sun was swallowed by the mountain peaks. Engraved on the stone walls are traces of the past, writings by the Honorable Sima Wen (i.e., Sima Guang).32 In the History of the Song Dynasty, when Emperor Gaozong ordered the chancellor to clarify the Way of governance, he included Sima’s writings. However, the author of the Legacies of Wulin counters his judgments,33 giving preference to the compositions by men of the Tang dynasty in eight parts, not Sima’s. The poem reads: [Mount] Nanping includes Huifeng [Pagoda], A crooked path leads to it from the gate of the monastery here. For a consort, the Huang Pagoda was erected, Commonly called the pillar of Huangpi. (Huangpi is a corruption of Wangfei. The Gazetteer says it was mistaken as the local Huangpi plant.) Meandering to the west of Mount [Nan]ping, On the stone wall I see the drippings of moisture. Sitting facing it, I quietly investigate the stone inscription, Unaware that the sun has disappeared to the west.
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Additional note: When the Pagoda was erected in Wuyue, the Huayan Sūtra was carved in stone at the bottom in scaled bricks. It seems at present that one would have to use a machete to get to it. The stone strips are covered with a small script resembling the calligraphic style of Ouyang, even more embellished. Those who find their way, desperately seek to make offerings of incense and flowers, at once trampling and disturbing the site. How deeply regrettable! King Qian Zhongyi composed a record of his constructing the Pagoda. Beside it, the former Yanjiao (Adorning Teachings) Cloister, the Leifeng Hermitage, Tongyuan (Penetrating the Fundamental) Pavilion, Wanghu (Observing the Lake) Tower, and Shangqing (Supreme Purity) Palace, are visible, but all are in ruins. 又按:吳越建塔時,石刻《華嚴經》,鱗甃其下,今猶有劚得者,俱條石小 楷,類歐陽率更書法。逕此者,亡問香華作禮,輒蹂溷其上,深可嗟恨。錢忠懿 王有建塔記。其傍舊有顯嚴教院、雷峰菴、通元亭、望湖樓、上清宮,並廢。
162 Appendix 2
(b) Leifeng Pagoda 雷峰塔 According to Lin’an Gazetteer Compiled in the Xianchun Era:34 [Leifeng Pagoda] is situated on Mount Nanping.35 A man of the region, Mr. Lei, lived there. A stūpa was erected here for a consort of the Qian family. As a consequence, it was also known as Huangfei (Consort Huang) Pagoda. It was additionally called Huangpi Pagoda on account of this region’s Huangpi plant, but this is nothing more than a mistake attributable to colloquial pronunciation. 《咸淳臨安志》:在南屏山。郡人雷氏居焉。錢氏妃於此建塔,故又名黃妃 塔。又曰黃皮塔,以其地嘗植黃皮,蓋語音之訛耳。 According to the Gazetteer of Travel Observances of West Lake:36 The Pagoda was built to be seven stories. Later, people reconsidered based on environmental concerns that the experts divulged; they stopped construction at five stories. 《西湖遊覽志》:塔建七級,後人復以風水家言,止存五級。 According to A Brief Introduction to the Scenic Spots on West Lake:37 Leifeng Pagoda was constructed for the Wuyue royal consort, Ms. Huang, in order to conceal a hair curl of the Buddha. It was also known as Huangfei (Consort Huang) Pagoda. Some make a mistake based on pronunciation and call it Huangpi Pagoda. Initially it was planned for a height of a thousand zhang and thirteen stories, but upon discovering that financial resources were insufficient, they started to build it at seven stories. Later, they reconsidered based on environmental concerns the experts divulged; they stopped construction at five stories.38 On the interior of the Pagoda, the Huayan Sūtra is engraved in stone in the octagonal structure built of bricks encircling it. After the passage of many years, they have sunk into the ground. Among the people of the Ming dynasty there was one who used a machete to get to it. The small script fully resembles the calligraphic style of Ouyang, even more embellished. In addition, at the bottom of the Pagoda there were sixteen arhat statues made of gold and copper, each several zhang in height. Upon investigation, through the request by the monk Daoqian, they were offered to and moved inside Jingci Monastery. The details are provided in a preceding part of the text (not recorded here). By popular account, West Lake has two seductresses, White Snake and Black Carp, who are imprisoned beneath the Pagoda. During the reign of Emperor Jiajing of the Ming dynasty (1521–1567), the Pagoda was set afire with the top spire twisted into the shape of a ram’s horn. Everyone said it was the poison vomited up by the two seductresses. Watching it intently, it became a mass of snakes. This is clearly nothing more than a fantasy of the strange and fictitious tale genre (chuanqi). The Pagoda formerly had layers of eaves
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《西河詩話》:南屏山前峰,以上勢迥抱得名。吳越王妃建塔其上。本名回峰塔 ,俗作雷峰,以「回」、「雷」聲近致誤。而淳祐、咸淳舊志造一雷姓者當之, 可笑甚矣。宋有道士徐立之,築室塔傍,世稱回峰先生,此明可驗者。是日,日 將西,久坐望塔,及訪小南屏,觀石壁所書〈家人卦〉、《學記》、《中庸》, 摩挲延伫,而日已銜岫矣。石壁鐫司馬温公書,此是舊跡。《宋史》高宗諭大臣 以明道及此書,而作《武林遺事》者,反辨為唐人所作八分,非是。詩曰:「南 屏有回峰,曲抱當寺門。王妃建黃塔,俗號黃皮墩。(黃皮,王妃之訛。志云地 植黃皮,誤。) 迤邐屏山西,石壁看垂露。坐對索靖碑,不覺日西去。」
Appendix 2 163
There are two Buddhas on the Lake, Precious stone like beauties, Leifeng is like an old monk. To this Li Liufang said,41 “[Leifeng] is an old drunkard.” 《湖山便覽》:雷峰塔,吳越王妃黃氏建,以藏佛螺髻髮,亦名黃妃塔。或以 語音致譌,呼黃皮塔。始以千尺十三層為率,以財力未充,姑建七級,後復以風 水家言,止存五級。塔內以石刻《華嚴經》圍砌八面,歲久,沉土。明人有劚得 者,小楷,絕類歐陽率更書法。又塔下有金銅羅漢像一十六尊,各長數丈。尋因 僧道潛請移供淨慈寺內,詳具上文。俗傳西湖有白蛇、青魚二妖,鎮壓塔下。明 嘉靖時,塔煙,摶羊角而上,羣謂兩妖吐毒。迫視之,聚虻42耳。傳奇之妄,即 此可見。塔舊有重簷飛棟,窗戸洞達,後燬之於火,惟孤標巋然獨存。陳仁錫品 其老蒼突兀,如神人搢笏。聞起祥云,湖上兩浮屠,寶石如美人,雷峰如老衲。 李流芳則云,此一古醉翁也。
(c) Record of the Inscription on Erecting Huangfei (Consort Huang) Pagoda by Wuyue King Qian Chu 吳越國王錢俶:建黃妃塔碑記 To respect Heaven and cultivate virtue is the course that human beings should follow.43 With greatest humility, I aspire to continue the grand legacy and perpetuate the era of peace and prosperity here [in Wuyue]. Since it has yet to reach its full prosperity, how can I not aspire to embody my [Wuyue] ancestors’ and Buddhist masters’ devotion to the Buddha’s power of compassion and tolerance? At every opportunity, I recite the words of the Buddha ceaselessly with my mouth and open the scriptures of the Buddha incessantly with my hands, revealing the profound meaning contained in them. Officials in the palace ritually venerated the spiral tuft of the Buddha’s hair, representing the continued existence of the Buddha; I do not dare secretly hide it in the palace [where others are unable to worship it]. I respectfully commanded that [this pagoda] be built for the precious object on these shores with gentle waves at West Lake, in order to safely install it. The scale [of the pagoda] is magnificent and beautiful, to an extent that has not been seen or heard of previously. Initially, the great hope of palace officials was to build to a height of thirteen stories, a thousand chi, but owing to limited funds the plan was not realized and we settled on a height of seven floors. It is a pity the initial aspiration went unfulfilled. To calculate [the cost of] construction, the bricks and mortar, earth and wood, the money for paint, tiles and stones, manual labor, artwork and images, and the gold and jade ornamentation, it took six million strings of cash. Compared to the Yingtian Pagoda in Kuaiji, the one so called by Xu Yuandu, it was only after a total of three lifetimes that his wishes became fulfilled and the project was completed. Through combined efforts, [our pagoda] appeared in a very short period as if by fantasy, as a precious place for enhancing faith [in Buddhism]. It was made possible through emissaries, apparitions manifested by the Precious [Stūpa] Tathāgata. By comparison, Xu Yuandu could not reach this level of success.
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suspended by rafters, with window openings to peer out of. After the devastation caused by the fire, only the lonely skeletal edifice, high and mighty, survived. In the work by Chen Renxi,39 it is an old azure-colored tower, like a ceremonial tablet of a snake spirit. Wen Qixiang commented:40
164 Appendix 2
When the pagoda was completed, the scriptures, especially the Huayan (Avatamsaka) Sūtra, were inscribed on the sides around the perimeter of the octagonal base, and the completed pagoda became a structure for the cultivation of inconceivable merit. In this way, I join my palms with fingers and fingertips together to worship and praise it, and because of this the pagoda’s name is “Huangfei” (Consort Huang). 塔成之日,又鐫《華嚴》諸經圍繞八面,真成不思議劫數,大精進幢,如是合 十指爪,以贊歎之。塔曰黃妃云。 Respectfully written by Qian Chu, King of Wuyue, as a postscript to the [Huayan] Sūtra. 吳越國王錢俶拜手謹書於經之尾
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敬天修德,人所當行之。矧俶忝嗣丕圖,承平茲久,雖未致全盛,可不上體祖 宗,師仰瞿曇氏慈忍力所沾溉耶?凡於萬幾之暇,口不輟誦釋氏之書,手不停批 釋氏之典者,蓋有深旨焉。諸宮監尊禮佛螺髻髮,猶佛生存,不敢私祕宮禁中。 恭率瑤具,創窣堵波於西湖之滸,以奉安之。規[橅 = 模]宏麗,極所未聞。宮監 宏願之始,以千尺十三層為率,爰以事力未充,姑從七級梯昊[註],初志未滿為 慊。計甎灰土木,油錢瓦石,與夫工藝像設,金碧之嚴,通緡錢六百萬。視會稽 之應天塔,所謂許元度者,出沒人間凡三世,然後圓滿願心,宮監等合力於彈指 頃,幻出瑤坊,信多寶如來分身應現使之然耳,顧元度有所不逮。
Chapter 1 1. Mention of geological core sampling may conjure similarities to Foucault’s “archaeological” approach. See his The Archeology of Knowledge. While agreeing with Foucault’s approach, in general, I have made no attempt to systematically apply it here. Rather than use the archaeological approach for an excurses into methodology––Foucault’s wish to “recount the by-ways and margins of history . . . the history of those shady philosophies that haunt literature, art, the sciences, law, ethics, and even man’s [sic] daily life . . . the spontaneous philosophy of those who do not philosophize” (“Archaeology and the History of Ideas,” 136)––m y aim here is more prosaic: to understand dimensions of Chinese Buddhist dynamism, whose existence is generally acknowledged but not scrutinized, at least in connection to stūpa veneration. My core sampling approach is focused on the way the specific sections of the core reveal the specificity of how sites were used and experienced at particular junctures in their history. 2. While there has been a growing body of work on relic veneration in Buddhism in recent years, little of it has focused on China. David Germano and Kevin Trainor, eds., Embodying the Dharma: Buddhist Relic Veneration in Asia was the product of four successive American Academy of Religion seminars and includes contributions from leading scholars in the field (Strong, Faure, Sharf, Kinnard, and Swearer, in addition to Germano and Trainor). In many ways, the volume signaled how the study for relics had become normalized within Buddhist studies, where it had been advancing for many years. While it has chapters dealing specifically with India, Tibet, Japan, and Thailand, and essays framed primarily in comparative and theoretical terms, an essay devoted specifically to Buddhist relic veneration in China is noticeably lacking. Mariko Namba Walter and Jacqueline Stone, eds., Death and the Afterlife in Japanese Buddhism contains a series of essays on Japanese death rituals and concepts of the afterlife, dominated by Buddhism for over a thousand years. One essay, by Brian Rupert, is concerned with relic veneration (“Beyond Death and Afterlife: Considering Relic Veneration in Medieval Japan”). Rupert has also completed a larger study, Jewel in the Ashes: Buddha Relics and Power in Early Medieval Japan. While Rupert’s work is of interest for comparative reasons, it is by design concerned with medieval Japanese Buddhism and has little connection with China. John S. Strong, Relics of the Buddha, is a landmark study analyzing the connection between relic veneration and the biographies of Śākyamuni Buddha, including his past lives as a bodhisattva. Bernard Faure’s work has also examined the connection between images of death and mortuary practices and relic veneration specific to Zen/Chan traditions:
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Notes
166 Notes
In the age of the Zhou dynasty, the teachings of the sage (i.e., Buddha) (shengjiao 聖教), vestiges of the sacred [pertaining to Buddhism] (lingji 靈跡), as well as stûpas built by King Aśoka 阿育王 were found here in this land (i.e., China). Mention would surely have been included in [Chinese] biographies and historical records (zhuanji 傳記), but these were undoubtedly destroyed in the “burning of the books” [campaign] of Qin Shi Huang[di] 秦始皇帝. 10. Ji Shenzhou Sanbao gantong lu 集神州三寶感通錄; T 52-2106.404a28-b11. Compiled in 664, the Gantong lu is also referred to as the Ji Shenzhou tasi sanbao gantong lu 集 神州塔寺三寶感通錄, Collection of Inspired Responses of the Three Treasures in the Pagodas and Temples of Shenzhou (i.e., China). It records the temples, stūpas, images, and miraculous experiences of monks and nuns from the Latter Han to the beginning of the Tang.
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The Rhetoric of Immediacy: A Cultural Critique of Chan/Zen Buddhism, 132–147; Visions of Power: Imagining Medieval Japanese Buddhism, 158–173. Faure’s work is limited in scope to Chan/Zen traditions and not focused exclusively on China. 3. Charles Freeman, Holy Bones, Holy Dust: How Relics Shaped the History of Medieval Europe, 9; Peter Brown, The Cult of the Saints: Its Rise and Function in Latin Christianity. 4. Josef W. Meri, “Relics of Piety and Power in Medieval Islam.” The “special dead” is a category framed initially by Brown, The Cult of the Saints, 69. 5. Orianne Aymard, “The Cult of Relics in Hinduism.” 6. Faure, The Rhetoric of Immediacy, 137 and n. 17. The “war of the relics” is also famously depicted in a detail of the South Gate of the “Great Stūpa” at Sanchi, described in John Marshall, A Guide to Sanchi, 49–50. According to scriptures (The Book of the Great Decease; Mahāparinibbāna sutta, Dīgha Nikāya 16), after the Buddha’s body was cremated, his relics were entrusted to a group of lay disciples. When armed men arrived from seven other regions and demanded the relics, they were divided into eight portions in order to avoid bloodshed. As a result, his relics were enshrined and worshiped in stupas by the royals of eight countries: (1) Ajātasattu, king of Magadha; (2) Licchavīs of Vaiśālī; (3) Śākyas of Kapilavattu; (4) Bulis of Allakappa; (5) Koliyas of Rāmagrāma; (6) brahmin of Veṭṭhadīpa; (7) Mallas of Pāvā; and (8) Mallas of Kushinārā. 7. Sem Vermeersch, “The Development of the Buddhist Relic Cult from Unified Silla to Early Koryo.” The number of studies regarding Buddhist relics and their veneration is too numerous to list. Vermeersch’s bibliography of Western language sources, 133–135, is a useful guide, including works by Timothy Barret, Daniel Boucher, Jinhua Chen, Eung-chon Choi, Ruth Dunnel, Bernard Faure, Jan Fontein, Antonino Forte, Chi-chiang Huang, John Jorgensen, John McRae, N. M. Pankaj, Brian Ruppert, Gregory Schopen, John Strong, and Kevin Trainor. 8. The story of King Aśoka, or Aśokavadana (Ayuwang zhuan 阿育王傳) was translated twice into Chinese: CBETA T 50-2042 (An Faqin 安法欽, active 281–306) and CBETA T-2043 (Sengqiepoluo 僧伽婆羅 Saṃghabhara, 460–?); English translation, John S. Strong, The Legend of King Asoka: A Study and Translation of the Asokavadana. 9. See, for example, Zanning’s 贊寧 citation from [Sanbao] wuyun tu 三寶五運圖 in the Seng shilue 僧史略 (T 54-2126.236b12-13):
Notes 167
Sahe lived in the county of Lishi in Xihe during the Eastern Jin period (317– 420). In a “return-from-death” experience, Sahe saw Avalokiteśvara, who explained that if Sahe wished to avert rebirth in hell, he should repent past misdeeds before the stūpas Aśoka built. Sahe was urged to search out Aśoka stūpas (Ayuwang ta) in Luoyang (Henan), Linzi (Shandong), Jianye (present- day Nanjing), Maoyin (Kuaiji), and Chengdu (Sichuan). When he revived from death, Sahe became ordained as the monk Huida. While the earliest rendition dating from fifth century concluded the tale at this point, subsequent records, especially the Tang accounts, highlighted his travels to the South in search of Aśokan artifacts at Jiankang and Maoyin county (Kuaiji province), respectively. See also Koichi Shinohara, “Two Sources of Chinese Biographies: Stupa Inscriptions and Miracle Stories”; Marilyn Martin Rhie, Early Buddhist Art of China and Central Asia II: The Eastern China and Sixteen Kingdoms in China and Tumshuk, Kucha and Karashahr in Central Asia, 64–82. 12. Ji shenzhou sanbao gantong lu 集神州三寶感通錄; CBETA T52-2106.404b. 13. Hsueh-Man Shen, “Between One and Many: Multiples, Multiplication and the Huayan Metaphysics,” 217. 14. Zhiru, “From Bodily Relic to Dharma Relic Stūpa,” 83; Shen, “Between One and Many.” 15. Chen Shunji (Ch’en Hsun- chi) 陳俊吉, “Leifengta digong yudiao tongzi xiang tanjiu: wudai shancai tongzi yihua de duli zaoxiang,” 雷峰塔地宮玉雕童子像 探究: 五代善財童子異化的獨立造像. For Sudhana featured in the grottoes of Feilaifeng, see Qing Zhang, “Feilaifeng and the Flowering of Chinese Buddhist Sculpture from the Tenth to the Fourteenth Centuries.” 16. On Qici as an incarnation of Maitreya, see Qing Zhang, “Indigenizing Deities: The Budai Maitreya and the Group of Eighteen Luohans in Niche No. 68 at Feilaifeng,” 22–27.
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These stūpas/pagodas are discussed in a series of articles by Murata Jirō 村田二郎, “Chūgoku no Aiku-ō tō” 「中国の阿育王塔」. In legends, Daoxuan is also attributed with the transmission of a Buddha tooth relic, one of the four tooth relics enshrined in the capital of Chang’an during the Tang dynasty, allegedly received during a visit at night from a divinity associated with Indra. 11. Liu Sahe 劉薩訶 (var. 薩何), an account in the Shishi yaolan 釋氏要覽, overlapping in parts with another in the Fozu tong ji 佛祖統紀, records a miraculous episode in his life, wherein he died suddenly at the age of twenty-one, but revived after seven days. Upon his return to life, he recounted his meeting in the underworld 冥間 (var. hell 地獄) with a man more than two zhang tall, with a body of golden color, who he thought was certainly Avalokitêśvara. This bodhisattva preached the Dharma to him. In the Fozu tong ji version of the story, Avalokitêśvara instructed him to establish Aśokan stūpas 阿育王 塔 in five locales; see T 2127.304b22–c1, T 2035.461a9–15 [DDB: Michael Radich]. Shi Zhiru, “From Bodily Relic to Dharma Relic Stūpa: Chinese Materialization of the Aśoka Legend in the Wuyue Period,” 91, provides the following summary:
168 Notes
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17. Daoji (1149–1209) was ordained at eighteen at Lingyin Monastery and was the dharma heir of Xiatang Huiyuan 瞎堂慧遠. A recorded saying attributed to him, Jidian daoji chanshi yulu 濟顛道濟禪師語錄, is found at CBETA X 69-1361. Aside from that, the only other Song Chan source mentioning Daoji is the Rujing heshang yulu 如淨 和尚語錄. His genealogical information can be seen in Xu Gaoseng zhuan 續傳燈 錄 31, where he was listed as one of the disciples of Chan master Lingyin Huiyuan, a seventeenth-generation descendent of Huineng. According to the Wudeng yantong mulu 五燈嚴統目錄, Daoji was the most important disciple of Lingyin Huiyuan. His hagiography is collected in Tiantai shanzhi 天台山志 5, Jingci sizhi 淨慈寺志 10, and Buxu Gaoseng zhuan 補續高僧傳 19. His story was greatly extended in the Ming dynasty, and his image was transformed from a mad Chan monk to a figure endowed with the values of the three teachings. During this process, he was widely worshiped by all social classes and played a significant role in the popular religion. (I am indebted to Lu Zhang for this information.) On Xiaoting Guo’s popular eighteenth-century tale of Ji Gong, see John Robert Shaw, trans., Adventures of the Mad Monk Ji Gong: The Drunken Wisdom of China’s Most Famous Chan Buddhist Monk. 18. Zhang, “Indigenizing Deities,” 31. Zhang also suggests that the representative expression of this belief system is Zhipan’s Fozu Tongji 佛祖統紀, which contains a section entitled “Shengxian chuhua” 聖賢出化 (The Appearance and Incarnation of Sages and Worthies), listing many Chinese and Indian monks believed to be incarnations of Buddhist deities in China (T 49-2035.462a-c). 19. The details are presented on the chapter on the Yanshou Stūpa in this volume. 20. Jinhua Chen, “Images, Legends, Politics, and the Origin of the Great Xiangguo Monastery in Kaifeng: A Case-Study of the Formation and Transformation of Buddhist Sacred Sites in Medieval China,” 353. While Chen offers a useful template for the study of Buddhist sacred sites, his own application of it to the Xiangguo Monastery in Kaifeng is pretty much restricted to the sociopolitical background behind the rise of the monastery with little attention to its later history. Much of this section and the remainder of the chapter that follows is drawn from my recent article, “Borderland Complexes and Translocations: How a Japanese Tendai Monk Discovered Chan/Zen Buddhism in an Indian Buddhist Homeland in the Hangzhou Region.” Hualin International Journal of Buddhist Studies 4.2 (2021): 497–534. 21. Chen, “Images, Legends, Politics,” 353. 22. Chen, “Images, Legends, Politics,” 353, n. 1, provides a list of important studies in recent years, including a series of studies on Mount Wutai by Raoul Birnbaum: Studies on the Mysteries of Mañjuśri; “Thoughts on T’ang Buddhist Mountain Traditions and Their Context”; “The Manifestation of a Monastery: Shen-ying’s Experiences on Mount Wu-t’ai in T’ang Context”; “Secret Halls of the Mountain Lords: The Caves of Wu-t’ai Shan”; and two articles by Robert M. Gimello, “Wu-t’ai Shan during the Early Chin Dynasty: The Testimony of Chu Pien” and “Chang Shang-ying on Wu-t’ai Shan.” On Mount Song, see Bernard Faure, “Relics and Flesh Bodies: The Creation of Ch’an Pilgrimage Sites” and Tonami Mamoru, The Shaolin Monastery Stele on Mount Song. On Mounts Putuo and Jiuhua, see Reginald Johnston, Buddhist China: Visit to Chiu-hua-shan in Anhuei and P’u-t’o-shan in Chechiang, and on Mount Putuo,
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Chün-fang Yü, Kuan-yin: The Chinese Transformation of Avalokitesvara. In addition to these, one may include more recent works on Mount Putuo by Marcus Bingenheimer, Island of Guanyin: Mount Putuo and Its Gazetteer and Claire Vidal, “Administering Bodhisattva’s Guanyin Island: Their Monasteries, Political Entities, and Power Holders of Putuoshan.” On Mount Emei, there is James M. Hargett, Stairway to Heaven: A Journey to the Summit of Mount Emei. On Mount Jiuhua, there is Nan Ouyang, “The Making of a Sacred Place: The Rise of Mount Jiuhua in the Late Imperial and Republican Eras (1368–1469).” 23. Even the “Chinese” of Chinese Buddhism is subject to debate. Does it designate a geographic entity that is inclusive of the Theravāda iterations along its borders with Myanmar (Burma) and Laos, not to mention the Tantric traditions of Tibet and Mongolia? Or is it an ethnic and linguistic designation for the Buddhism of the Han Chinese written in their language? In the current context, I take it as the latter. 24. A recognition of the need to apply geographic analysis in the study of Chinese religion and an initial foray in this direction, based on G. William Skinner’s subdivision of China by drainage basins in nine areas (The City in Late Imperial China; Skinner, Mark Henderson, and Zumou Yue, A Note regarding the Physiographic and Socioeconomic Macroregions of China), is Jiang Wu, Daoqin Tong, and Karl Ryavec, “Spatial Analysis and GIS Modeling of Regional Religious Systems in China: Conceptualization and Initial Experiment.” 25. For variations of what constitutes the Jiangnan region, see “Where Exactly the Jiangnan Is?” [sic], Chinese National Geography 3 (2007), the map from which is reproduced at https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jiangnan.png. 26. Norihisa Baba, “Sri Lankan Impacts on China and Japan: A Short History of a Dhāraṇī Sūtra,” unpublished manuscript, incorporated into Baba, “From Sri Lanka to East Asia: A Short History of a Buddhist Sutra.” The distribution of the Buddha’s remains is divisible into two types: rūpa-kāya (seshen 色身) and dharma-kāya (fashen 法身). Rūpa-kāya represent the physical body of the Buddha, the relics obtained through cremation after his death. Dharma-kāya represent the doctrinal body of the Buddha as captured in his recorded teachings (not to be confused with the eternal and transcendent Dharma-kāya of later Mahāyāna). 27. The Fozu tongji 佛祖統記 verifies that Qian Chu esteemed Aśoka by erecting eighty- four thousand stūpas with copies of Precious Chest Seal Dhāraṇī Sutra inside (T 49-2035.206b-c). 28. For a fuller explanation, see my upcoming article, “Marking Buddhist Sacred Space: The Aśoka Stūpa Cult in Wuyue and at the Court of Song Emperor Taizong,” in Jiang Wu, ed., The Formation of Regional Religious Systems (RRS) in Greater China. 29. Borrowing a term used by Paul Mus, Barabudur, 94 and 100; cited in Strong, The Legend of King Aśoka, 104. 30. In the Aśokāvadāna (Ayuwang zhuan 阿育王傳; The Legend of King Aśoka), Aśoka gathers the remains that had been dispersed among the eight monarchs following the Buddha’s cremation, constructs eighty-four thousand urns for dispersing the remains, and miraculously transports them throughout the Jambudvīpa world in a single instant, constructing stūpas over each of them. Just as the Aśokavadāna stipulates that
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the eighty-four thousand stūpas are to be distributed evenly throughout the world, it is also important that all the reliquaries be enshrined at the same moment. The dedication of a stūpa constitutes the moment it “comes alive,” and in order for the body of the Buddha to be “resurrected” through the eighty-four thousand urns bearing his remains, the dedication must take place simultaneously. At the request of Aśoka, the elder Yaśas agrees to cover the sun with his hand to signal the moment of completion of all eighty-four thousand stūpas throughout the world. 31. Yixiantian 一線天, normally translated as “direct access to Heaven,” is a common name for scenic spots in China. It appears at non-Buddhist sites, such as the Nine Temples of the Jiugong Mountains 九宮山. In traditional anthologies, the name is also quite popular but does not have to be associated with Buddhism. (I am grateful to Kai Sum Wong for this observation.) In this context, however, Yixiantian may be read as an abbreviation of Yixian Tianzhu 一線天竺, “direct access to India,” in recognition of the area’s alleged translocation of Indian landscapes. 32. Antonio Mezcua López, “Cursed Sculptures, Forgotten Rocks: The History of Hangzhou’s Feilaifeng Hill,” 48 and 49, fi gure 6. 33. Zhang, “Feilaifeng and the Flowering of Chinese Buddhist Sculpture,” 42: “Although no one (including modern scholars) has questioned whether or not Huili was a real monk who came to Hangzhou during the Eastern Jin period, no record linking Huili and Feilaifeng can be found in Buddhist historical texts by Chinese monks from before the Five Dynasties period.” 34. Zhang, “Feilaifeng and the Flowering of Chinese Buddhist Sculpture,” 40; translation slightly altered. 35. Zhang, “Feilaifeng and the Flowering of Chinese Buddhist Sculpture,” 46. 36. Zhang, “Feilaifeng and the Flowering of Chinese Buddhist Sculpture,” 50. It ceased to exist by the Ming period. 37. López, “Cursed Sculptures, Forgotten Rocks,” 48b. 38. Wen Fong, “The Lohans and a Bridge to Heaven,” 24–40. 39. Fong, “The Lohans and a Bridge to Heaven,” 17–24. 40. Song gaoseng zhuan 宋高僧傳27, CBETA T 50-2061. 880b-c. 41. In the Southern Song dynasty, Cao Xun 曹勳 (1098–1174) wrote the Jingci chuangsu wubai luohan ji 净慈创塑五百羅漢記 (Record on Sculpting Five Hundred Luohans in Jingci [Monastery]) regarding the erection of a Five-Hundred Arhat Hall between 1153 and 1158 at Jingci 淨慈 Monastery (formerly Yongming 永明 Monastery), a central Buddhist institution on Hangzhou’s West Lake through the patronage of both elites and commoners. Cao Xun also wrote the Jingshan luohan ji 徑山羅漢記 (Record on the Arhats of Jingshan [Monastery]) in the first year of the longxing era (1163), regarding the creation of portraits for five hundred Chan heroes (i.e., arhats) for Jingshan 徑山, a leading Chan monastery in the Hangzhou region. In Songyin ji 松隐集 (Collected Works by Songyin), in Wang Yunwu 王 雲五, ed., discussed in Zhang, “Feilaifeng and the Flowering of Chinese Buddhist Sculpture,” 163–168. 42. Zhang, “Feilaifeng and the Flowering of Chinese Buddhist Sculpture.” According to information posted at the Feilaifeng site, there were twenty-seven niches carved
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during the Song dynasty (mostly in the Northern Song). Qing mentions seven of these as dedicated to arhat/Chan sculptures. 43. Peter Gregory, Tsung-mi and the Sinification of Buddhism, 9; Thomas Cleary, The Flower Ornament Scripture 3: Entry into the Realm of Reality, 1489–1502. 44. CBETA T 48.523a; T 50.848b-c; T 51.434a. The Jingde Chuandeng lu 景德傳燈錄 claims that after he finished a poem suggesting his connection to Maitreya, Budai transformed himself (hua 化) and was later seen by people of the region walking along carrying a cloth bag. As a result, Buddhist clergy from the four congregations competed to depict his image, with a full-body representation in the Eastern Hall of the Great Shrine Pavilion 大殿 of Yuelin Monastery 嶽林寺 (located in the Fenghua district of Mingzhou) (T 51.434b26-27). The Song Gaoseng chuan 宋高僧傳 also claims that people from the Jiang and Zhe regions often painted his image following his death (T. 50.848c). See also Helen Chapin, “The Ch’an Master Putai”; Richard Edwards, “Pu- tai- Maitreya and a Reintroduction to Hangchou’s Fei- lai- Feng”; Zhang, “Feilaifeng and the Flowering of Chinese Buddhist Sculpture,” 206–213. 45. Gregory Levine, Awakenings: Zen Figure Painting in Medieval Japan. 46. Faure, The Rhetoric of Immediacy, 115. 47. On specific details regarding trade official envoys between China, Japan, and Korea, see Hans Bielenstein, Diplomacy and Trade in the Chinese World, 589–1276, chapters on Japan (101–110) and Korea (111–192). In terms of the influence of trade with Japan on developments in Japanese Buddhism, see Mimi Yiengpruksawan, “A Pavilion for Amitabha: Yorimichi’s Phoenix Hall in Transcultural Perspective” and Norihisa Baba 馬場 紀寿, “ ‘Hōkyōin kyō’ no denpa to tenkai: Suriranka no daijō to Fukū, Enju, Jūgen, Keiha” 『宝篋印経』の伝播と展開: スリランカの大乗と不空、延寿、 重源、慶派 (The Transmission and Cultural Influences of a Dharani Sutra: From Sri Lankan Mahayana to Amoghavajra, Yongming Yanshou, Chōgen, and Kei School). On trade between Hakata and Song China, see Andrew Cobbing, “The Hakata Merchant’s World: Cultural Networks in a Centre of Maritime Trade.” For diplomatic relations between Song and Koryŏ, see Michael Rogers, “Sung-Koryø Relations: Some Inhibiting Factors” and “Factionalism and Koryŏ Policy under the Northern Song.” Regarding Buddhist interactions, see also Benjamin Brose, “Crossing Thousands of Li of Waves: The Return of China’s Lost Tiantai Texts.” 48. I discuss this more fully in Welter, “Borderland Complexes and Translocations: How a Japanese Tendai Monk Discovered Authentic Buddhism in an Indian Buddhist Homeland in the Hangzhou Region.” 49. On Saichō, see Paul Groner, Saicho: The Establishment of the Japanese Tendai School. On Ennin, see Edwin O. Reischauer, Ennin’s Diary: The Record of a Pilgrimage to China in Search of the Law and Ennin’s Travels in T’ang China. 50. Eisai recounts in the Kōzen gokokuron how his aim to revive the lost tradition of Zen in Japan inspired his first trip: “A patriarch from my country previously brought Zen teaching from China to Japan. The school no longer exists. The reason I have come is because I hope to revive what has been abandoned.” Yanagida Seizan’s 柳田聖山 edition of the Kōzen gokoku ron 興禪護國論111a; corresponding to T 80-2534.10a14-18.
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51. Shinya Mano, “Yōsai and the Transformation of Buddhist Precepts in Pre‐modern Japan,” 43–55, and his conclusion: “To sum up the major characteristics of Yōsai’s activities in northern Kyushu, it is said that his nineteen-year stay was not only to wait for the opportunity of going to China, but also to propagate his esoteric teachings. While he [was] based at Seigan temple for writing down his ideas on esotericism, he travelled around all over northern Kyushu, visiting historical Buddhist sites where his predecessors had spent time.” See also Sueki Fumihiko 末木文美文, “Eisai Zenji to Mikkyō” 栄西禅師と密教. 52. The sites associated with events in Śākyamuni’s life: Lumbini (birth), Bodhi tree (enlightenment; Bodh Gaya), first sermon (Sarnath), death (Kuśinagara), and other significant places, Sravasti, Rajgir, Sankassa, and Vaiśali. According to Yanagida (396a-b), interest in making pilgrimage to sites associated with the life of the Buddha rose with the Faxian’s 法賢 translation of the Scripture on the Eight Famous Spiritual Monuments (Ba daling taminghao jing 八大靈塔名號經; T 32-1685) in the early Song dynasty. 53. Following such works as Xuanzang’s Records of the Western Regions (Xiyu ji 西域記; T 51-2087), the regions to the west of China, including India proper, were generally referred to as “western regions.” 54. Military commissioners (anfu shilang 安撫侍郎) were officials charged with administering government and military affairs in their respective circuits, sometimes referred to as pacification commissioners (Charles O. Hucker, A Dictionary of Official Titles in Imperial China, 104 no. 17). 55. Yanagida, ed., 111b; T 80-2543.10b4-9. 56. A work by Yijing 義淨; T 51-2066.2a6-7. This follows the suggestion of Yanagida. 57. Yanagida, ed., 111b; T 80-2543.10b9-12. 58. Luoyang dongshan jianren si kaishan shizu ming’an xigong chanshi taming 洛陽東山建 仁寺開山始祖明庵西公禪師塔銘 by Rulan 如蘭, a former abbot of Shang Tiangzhu Monastery in Qiantang (Hangzhou) in the second year of yongle (1404); Fujita Takuji 藤田琢司, ed., Eisai zenji shū 栄西禅師集, 783: 舶主告回。放洋三日,逆風俄起, 反至溫州瑞安縣。自謂,未究參訪。故風濤阻我。乃別商主,直往天台萬年 寺謁虛庵。 On the role of monks and merchants on the East China Sea trade, see Enomoto Wataru, Sōryo to kaishōtachi no Higashi Shinakai 僧侶と海商たちの東シナ海. 59. Jinhua Chen, “The Borderland Complex and the Construction of Sacred Sites and Lineages in East Asian Buddhism.” 60. Eisai asserts his legitimacy as a Zen master in the Kōzen gogkoku ron 興禪護國論; T 80-2543.9c09-10a13. 61. T 80-2543.10c10-13. 62. See, for example, Brian Moloughney’s review article “Overcoming the Borderland Complex: Indian and China, 600– 1400,” discussing Romila Thapar’s Early India: From the Origins to AD 1300, Tansen Sen’s Buddhism, Diplomacy, and Trade: The Realignment of Sino-Indian Relations, 600–1400, and S. A. M. Adshead’s T’ang China: The Rise of the East in World.
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Chapter 2 1. Hisayuki Miyakawa, “An Outline of the Naito Hypothesis and Its Effects on Japanese Studies of China.” 2. See, for example, Philip C. C. Huang’s review article “In Search of a Chinese Modernity: Wang Hui’s The Rise of Modern in Chinese Thought.” 3. “Tang and Song China: Two Models of Empire.” https://orias.berkeley.edu/sites/defa ult/files/2010-tackett-summary.pdf 4. Kenneth Ch’en, Buddhism in China, A Historical Survey states this explicitly. Jacques Gernet, Buddhism in Chinese Society: an Economic History from the Fifth to Tenth Centuries does so implicitly through its chosen period of coverage. 5. T. Griffith Foulk, “Myth, Ritual, and Monastic Practice in Sung Ch’an Buddhism.” 6. Mario Poceski, The Records of Mazu and The Making of Classical Chan Literature. 7. Valerie Hansen, The Open Empire: A History of China through 1600. 8. Yoga here is not understood as the meditation technique to still the mind, etc., but in its esoteric Buddhist connotation of engendering harmony between a practitioner and the Buddha by producing a mudrā, chanting a mantra, and meditating on a particular deity. 9. Song gaoseng zhuan 宋高僧傳 3; T 2061.50.724b16-25. For a discussion of Zanning’s categorizations, especially as they pertain to the tradition of esotericism in China, see Robert Sharf, Coming to Terms with Chinese Buddhism, 269-278. 10. The argument in this chapter and much of the content is also contained in my forthcoming article, Albert Welter, “Reimagining the Dharma: Yanshou, Doyuna and Zanning on the Three Pillars of Buddhism,” International Journal of Buddhist thought and Culture, Vol. 32, No. 1. For a fuller treatment of the origins and impact of Wuyue Buddhism, see Albert Welter, “Making and Marking Buddhist Sacred Space: Wuyue Buddhism and Its Influence in the Song Dynasty.”
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63. Chen, “The Borderland Complex and the Construction of Sacred Sites and Lineages in East Asian Buddhism.” The notion of the borderland complex in the study of East Asian Buddhism was first raised by Antonino Forte, “Hui-chin [fl. 676–703 ad], a Brahmin Born in China.” My characterization also follows Chen’s abstract for a talk delivered at Stanford University Ho Center for Buddhist Studies, “When and How the Marginal became Central: Borderland Complex in East Asian Buddhism,” May 16, 2012. 64. Clemens Greiner and Patrick Sakdapolrak, “Translocality: Concepts, Applications, and Emerging Research Perspectives.” 65. Glei and Jaspert, “Terms, Turns and Traps: Some Introductory Remarks.” My analysis here is indebted to their remarks. 66. Glei and Jaspert, “Terms, Turns and Traps,” 2. 67. Glei and Jaspert, “Terms, Turns and Traps,” 4–6. 68. Robert H. Sharf, Coming to Terms with Chinese Buddhism: A Reading of the Treasure Store Treatise, 2.
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11. The Five Dynasties 五代 are Later Liang 後粱 (907–923), Later Tang 後唐 (923– 936), Later Jin 後晉 (936–946), Later Han 後漢 (947–950), and Later Zhou 後周 (951–959). The Ten Kingdoms 十國: Wu 吳 (892–937), Nan (Southern) Tang 南唐 (937–975), Former Shu 前蜀 (907–925), Later Shu 後蜀 (934–965), Nan (Southern) Han 南漢 (917–971), Chu 楚 (896–951), Wuyue 吳越 (893–978), Min 閩 (909–945), Jingnan 荊南 (907–963), and Bei (Northern) Han 北漢 (951–979). For historical developments in southern kingdoms in the Five Dynasties period, see Ben Brose, Patrons and Patriarchs: Regional Rulers and Chan Monks during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms. 12. On Luo Yin, see Jan de Meyer, “Confucianism and Daoism in the Political Thought of Luo Yin.” 13. Hatanaka Jōen 畑中浄園, “Goetsu no bukkyō—toku ni Tendai Tokushō to sono shi Eimei Enju ni tsuite” 呉越の仏教--特 に天台徳韶とその嗣永明延寿に つい て (Buddhism in Wuyue: With Special Reference to Tiantai Deshao and His Heir, Yongming Yanshou), 309. On Buddhism during Qian Liu’s reign, see Abe Chōichi 阿部肇一, Chūgoku zenshūshi no kenkyū 中国禅宗史の研究 (A History of Chinese Zen), 129–174. 14. Hatanaka, “Goetsu no bukkyō,” 309. 15. Song Gaoseng zhuan 宋高僧傳, juan 7: T 2061, p. 750, c27–p. 751, a2. 16. On the relation between Qian Chu (King Zhongyi) and Tiantai Desaho, see Hatanaka, “Goetsu no bukkyō”; Abe, Chûgoku zenshûshi no kenkyû, 186–210; Albert Welter, Monks, Rulers and Literati: The Political Ascendancy of Chan Buddhism, 118–119. 17. Shiguo chunqiu 十國春秋 (Wu Renchen 吳任臣), 89, 4b. 18. For a discussion and list of the monks supported by Qian Chu (King Zhongyi), see Abe, Chūgoku zenshūshi no kenkyū, 186–210; a list of the important monks who studied with Qian Chu under Deshao and whose biographies appear in fascicle 26 of the Jingde Chuandeng lu 景德傳燈錄 is given by Ishii Shūdō 石井修道, Sōdai zenshūshi no kenkyū 宋代禅宗史の研究, 82–83. 19. On Yanshou’s scholastic style Chan in the Zongjing lu, see Albert Welter, Yongming Yanshou’s Conception of Chan in the Zongjing lu: A Special Transmission within the Scriptures. 20. Albert Welter, “The Problem with Orthodoxy in Zen Buddhism: Yongming Yanshou’s Notion of zong in the Zongjing lu (Records of the Source Mirror).” 21. On Yanshou and the Wanshan tonggui ji, see Albert Welter, The Meaning of Myriad Good Deeds: A Study of Yung-ming Yen-shou and the Wan-shan t’ung-kuei chi. 22. According to legend, the dispersion of the Buddha’s relics to China was facilitated by an episode in which King Aśoka miraculously erected eighty-four thousand stūpas at the same time, each containing a relic of the Buddha––with the elder abbot Yaśas covering the sun with his hand to signal the completion of the work. See Lokesh Chandra, Life of Lord Buddha from Chinese Sutras Illustrated in Ming Woodcuts, 426– 427 (Episode 193), with accompanying text referencing the Ayuwang zhuan 阿育王 傳 (T 2042). 23. Abe, Chūgoku zenshūshi no kenkyū, 125–216.
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24. T 2016, p. 415, b10–15: 域中之教者三。正君臣。親父子。厚人倫。儒。吾之 師也。寂兮寥兮。視聽無得。自微妙。升虛無。以止乎乘風馭景。君得之 則善建不拔。人得之則延貺無窮。道。儒之師也。四諦十二因緣。三明八 解脫。時習不忘。日修以得。一登果地。永達真常。釋。道之宗也。Welter, Yongming Yanshou’s Conception of Chan in the Zongjing lu, 226. 25. CBETA T 51-2016. 26. CBETA T 51-2076. 27. CBETA T 54-2126. 28. Welter, Yongming Yanshou’s Conception of Chan in the Zongjing lu, 48–51. 29. T-672 and T 16-682 (translated by Amoghavajra); Secret Adornment is the name of the Pure Land of Vairocana. 30. T 32-1666 and T 31-1585. 31. ZJL 2 (T 48.427b29- c12): 又經云。佛言。三世諸佛所說之法。吾今四十九 年不加一字。故知此一心門。能成至道。若上根直入者。終不立餘門。為 中下未入者。則權分諸道。是以祖佛同指。賢聖冥歸。雖名異而體同。乃 緣分而性合。般若唯言無二。法華但說一乘。淨名無非道場。涅槃咸歸祕 藏。天台專勤三觀。江西舉體全真。馬祖即佛是心。荷澤直指知見。又教 有二種說。一顯了說。二祕密說。顯了說者。如楞伽密嚴等經。起信唯識 等論。祕密說者。各據經宗。立其異號。如維摩經以不思議為宗。金剛經 以無住為宗。華嚴經以法界為宗。涅槃經以佛性為宗。任立千途。皆是一 心之別義。 32. My comments here follow my previous work, Yongming Yanshou’s Conception of Chan in the Zongjing lu. 33. See the Fahua xuanyi 2B (T 33.704cff.). 34. The back-to-back reference to Jiangxi and Mazu is odd, given that these are usually understood as appellations for the same person. 35. As an example of Yanshou’s incorporation of Confucianism and Daoism, see his discussion in fascicle 3 of the Wanshan tonggui ji (T 48.988a3-b9). 36. T 48.416b10-11. 37. T 48.416b13-20: 實謂。含生靈府。萬法義宗。轉變無方。卷舒自在。應緣現 迹。任物成名。諸佛體之號三菩提。菩薩修之稱六度行。海慧變之為水。 龍女獻之為珠。天女散之為無著華。善友求之為如意寶。緣覺悟之為十二緣 起。聲聞證之為四諦人空。外道取之為邪見河。異生執之作生死海。論體則 妙符至理。約事則深契正緣。 38. Chanju Mun, The History of Doctrinal Classification in Chinese Buddhism: A Study of the Panjiao Systems. 39. Greene, Chan before Chan, 8; see esp. Chapter 5, “From chan to Chan,” 205–248. 40. Greene, Chan before Chan, 206. 41. Welter, Monks, Rulers and Literati. 42. Ishii, Sōdai zenshūshi no kenkyū, xx. 43. Welter, Monks Rulers and Literati, Chapter 5: “Chan Transmission and Factional Motives in the Jingde [Era] Transmission of the Lamp (Jingde Chuandeng lu),” 115–116.
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44. Yang Yi, in turn, called on other leading literati, Li Wei 李維 (jinshi 985) and Wang Shu 王曙 (963–1034), to assist. 45. The character of Wuyue Chan is reflected in the thought of its leading representative, Yongming Yanshou (see Welter, Yongming Yanshou’s Conception of Chan in the Zongjing lu). 46. Kamata Shigeo 鎌田茂雄, Zengen shosenshū tojo 禅源諸詮集都序 (Preface to the Collected Works on the Origins of Chan); Jan Yun-hua, “Tsung-mi, His Analysis of Ch’an Buddhism,” 34. 47. The translation of 同參 as “common practice” admittedly does not capture the nuances of the term well. Can 參 has the meanings of “to take part in,” “to participate,” “to join,” “to attend”––indicating the more comprehensive attention to practice in this context as a member of the clergy under the direction of a Chan master. 48. CBETA T-2076.196c27-197a1: 若乃但述感應之徴符。專叙參遊之轍迹。此已標 於僧史。亦奚取於禪詮。聊存世系之名。庶紀師承之自然而舊録所載。或掇 粗而遺精。別集具存。 49. Yang Yi’s Jingde Chuandeng lu Preface is contained in CBETA T 51-2076.196b-197a; Ishii, Sōdai zenshūshi no kenkyū, 21a–23a. For the lines in question, see 196c25–27, Ishii, Sōdai zenshūshi no kenkyū, 23b5–7; Japanese translation on p. 10. 50. Note, however, that the Tiansheng Guangdeng lu 天聖廣燈錄 includes Yang Yi among the list of Chan transmission recipients. 51. Commonly referred to as the Four Great Books of the Song dynasty: the Taiping yulan 太平御覽, a general-purpose leishu 類書 encyclopedia; the Taiping guangji 太平廣記, a collection of deities, fairies, ghost stories, and theology; the Wenyuan yinghua 文苑英華, an anthology of poetry, odes, songs, and other writings; and the Cefu yuangui 冊府元龜, a leishu encyclopedia of political essays, autobiographies, memorials, and decrees. 52. Johannes L. Kurz, “The Politics of Collecting Knowledge: Song Taizong’s Compilations Project,” 301–302. 53. Yang Yi personified the renewed interest in literary culture at the Song court, especially the dedication to literary sophistication as a means to demonstrate knowledge of China’s cultural inheritance and direct this in appropriate forms suitable to the present. Peter K. Bol, “This Culture of Ours”: Intellectual Transitions in T’ang and Sung China, 148–175. In other words, rather than follow a strict guwen agenda that restricted expression to approved forms, Yang Yi inclined toward innovation on the basis of established patterns. His goal, and the goal of the early Song, was to construct a new model for Chinese culture, indebted to past precedents but also free of past limitations. The Tang represented a glorious legacy, to be sure, but it was ultimately flawed in Song eyes. Care had to be taken to avoid those problems that had plagued Tang rule, which had disintegrated into warlordism and civil unrest. A new basis for culture had to be imagined. Yang Yi played an instrumental role in this enterprise, and Chan played an important purpose in Yang Yi’s conception of the new cultural paradigm. 54. This section represents a summary from the “Saṃgha Administration in the Imperial Bureaucracy” section of Albert Welter, “Confucian Monks and Buddhist
Notes 177
To rectify (zheng 正) is to administer (zheng 政). By rectifying oneself, one rectifies others. [The Buddhist Rector] is referred to as such because he successfully implements administrative directives (zhengling 政令) [aimed at rectifying the clergy]. In all likelihood, [this institution] is based on [the fact that] if bhiksus were free of the law, they would be like horses without bridles and bits, or like oxen without restraining ropes. As they gradually become tainted by secular customs (sufeng 俗風), they inevitably contravene the rules of refinement (yaze 雅則). That is why [the government] appointed [members of the Buddhist clergy] famed for their virtue (dewang 德望) to restrain them on
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Junzi: Zanning’s Da Song sent shilüe and the Politics of Buddhist Accommodation at the Song Court.” 55. T54.254c14. 56. T 2126, p. 236c19-21. 57. T 2126, p. 242b25-26. 58. T 2126, p. 242b28-29. As examples of Saṃgha administrators at the time of the Buddha, Zanning mentions Yinguang 銀光 (Mahākāśyapa), who governed the clergy on Vulture Peak; Shenzi 身子 (Śariputra), who governed saṃgha activities in the Bamboo Grove; and Tapo Moluo 沓婆摩羅 (Dravya Mallaputra), who was granted the position by the Buddha himself and was reputedly responsible for establishing the order in which monks begged for food. 59. Hucker, A Dictionary of Official Titles in Imperial China, no. 1050. In this case, the meaning has a more specific connotation, similar to the comments given by Hucker for the term zhi . . . shi (no. 934), referring to an administrator of a specific agency, suggesting “a specially authorized appointment of someone with nominally different status to serve in a normally more prestigious post as administrator of an agency.” 60. This sentiment is similar to Zanning’s claim that “the rites and music issue from the Son of Heaven” 禮樂自天子也 (T 2126, p. 244a18). 61. T 2126, p. 243a20-21. 62. T 2126, p. 243a21. “Some use [the title of] Advisor (nayan 納言) instead of Imperial Secretary (shangshu 尚書), and [some], use [the title of] Minister of War (sima 司馬) instead of Defender-in-Chief (taiwei 太尉).” For detailed descriptions of these offices, consult Hucker, A Dictionary of Official Titles in Imperial China, nos. 4079, 5042, 5713, and 6260. There is frequently no consistency from one dynasty to the next in the way that titles are designated for particular responsibilities, and the same applies, according to Zanning, to the titles used for the administration of Buddhism. 63. The Taishō edition punctuation is incorrect here, and I follow Makita. For the meaning of jingzhong 淨眾 (pure assembly), see Oda Tokunō, Bukkyō daijiten 佛教大 辭典, 966b. 64. According to Morohashi Tetsuji (Dai Kanwa jiten 大漢和辭典 vol. 3, p. 970c), guanfang 官方 refer to the methods through which officials administer their duties. Its use here and elsewhere in the SSL (see T 2126, p. 243c and T 2126, p. 245a) is connected to this meaning. 65. T 2126, p. 242c14. 66. As Zanning stipulates:
178 Notes the basis of laws, and ensure their devotion to rectitude (zheng 正). It is why they are called Buddhist Rectors. (T-2126 242c15-18)
Filial piety is both visible and invisible. Invisibility is the principle (li) of filial piety; visibility is the practice (xing) of filial piety. The principle is the means by which filial piety emerges; practice is the means by which filial piety is formed. If one cultivates its external form but does not cultivate it within oneself, one’s
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67. T-2126.243c9-10. 68. My description here follows Zanning’s comments in SSL II, section 37A (T 2126, vol. 54, p. 246a25–b4). Officials in the Chinese bureaucracy were categorized into a total of nine ranks for purposes of determining prestige, compensation, priority in court audience, etc. Each rank was commonly divided into two classes (first and second) or grades (upper and lower). The lower five ranks (5 through 9) were eligible to Buddhist officials. However, judged by Zanning’s comments, the reference here is to an alternate, quasi-or unofficial ranking system specifically for Buddhist monks, and not part of the normal official ranking system. Following Zanning’s description of the Buddhist ranks, he calls on the emperor to “confer clear dictates authorizing an array of specific offices (guan 官) and specific ranks (pin 品) [for the Buddhist clergy].” 69. The term xuan 選 (Hucker, A Dictionary of Official Titles in Imperial China, no. 2653) indicates the process used by the Ministry of Personnel (libu 吏部) to choose men for appointment in the bureaucracy. 70. The term shihe 釋褐 (Morohashi, Dai Kanwa jiten, 40129-10) normally refers to the act of putting aside one’s ordinary clothing and donning the robes of an official on the occasion of first assuming duties. Here the meaning is adapted to a Buddhist context. 71. The monk’s robe donned here, the kasayâ (jiasha 袈裟) or Buddhist surplice, indicates official entry into the clergy. 72. Receiving the formal and formless precepts indicates full admission into the Buddhist order. The first three ranks indicated here may be taken as (1) admission into the Buddhist order, (2) acceptance as a novice in training, and (3) status as a fully ordained monk. 73. T 2126, p. 246b2. 74. T 2126, p. 246a24. 75. Xinjin wenji 鐔津文集 fascicle 8; Chinese Text Project 中國哲學書電子化計劃, https://ctext.org/wiki.pl?if=gb&chapter=199590 (21): 儒佛者聖人之教也。其 出雖不同,而同歸乎治。儒者聖人之大,有為者也。佛者聖人之大,無為者 也。有為者以治世。無為者以治心。 76. Xinjin wenji 鐔津文集 fascicle 8: 儒謂仁義禮智信者。與吾佛曰慈悲曰布施曰恭 敬曰無我慢曰智慧曰不妄言綺語。其為目雖不同,而其以立誠脩行。善世教 人豈異乎。 77. 上皇帝書 “Letter to the Emperor,” in Chuanfa zhengzong ji 傳法正宗記 fascicle 1, T 51-2078.715a: 聞佛經曰。我法悉已付囑乎國王大臣者。此正謂佛教損益弛 張。在陛下之明聖矣。如此則佛之徒。以其法欲有所云為。豈宜不賴陛下而 自棄于草莽乎。 78. In his Yuanxiao 原孝 (Origins of Filial Piety), 3, Qisong explains Buddhist inspiration for Confucian action:
Notes 179
孝有可見也,有不可見也。不可見者,孝之理也;可見者,孝之行 也。理也者,孝之所以出也;行也者,孝之所以形容也。修其形容, 而其中不修,則事父母不篤,惠人不誡。修其中,而形容亦修,豈惟 事父母而惠人,是亦振天地而感鬼神也。天地與孝同理也,鬼神與孝 同靈也。故天地鬼神,不可以不孝求,不可以詐孝欺。 79. T-1428. 80. T-1484. 81. The earliest extant version of the Chanyuan qinggui 禪苑清規 is that compiled by Changlu Zongze 長蘆宗賾 and dated to 1103. There is a study and translation by Yifa, The Origins of Buddhist Monastic Codes in China: An Annotated Translation and Study of the Chanyuan qinggui. 82. Yifa, The Origins of Buddhist Monastic Codes in China invokes a similar methodology in Chapter 2 of her work, “Genesis of Chanyuan qinggui: Continuity and Adaptation.”
Chapter 3 1. See Albert Welter, Yongming Yanshou’s Conception of Chan in the Zongjing lu: A Special Transmission within the Scriptures. 2. Song gaoseng zhuan (SGSZ) 宋高僧傳 28; T 50-2061.887a-b. 3. On Yang Yi, see Albert Welter, Monks, Rulers, and Literati: The Political Ascendancy of Chan Buddhism and “Literati Chan at the Song Dynasty Court: The Role of Yang Yi in the Creation of Chan Identity.” 4. Jingde chuandeng lu (CDL) 景德傳燈錄 26; T 51-2076.421c-422a. 5. 吏督納軍須 according to SGSZ; 華亭鎮將 according to CDL. In the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, the Huating Commandery was under the jurisdiction of the Wuyue Kingdom, included in Kaiyuan Prefecture, Suzhou and Xiuzhou. It currently corresponds to the area of Songjiang County in Shanghai, in the southwest upstream of the Huangpu River. 6. Based on the Da fangdeng tuoluoni jing 大方等陀羅尼經. 7. One small but significant discrepancy between the SGSZ and CDL is the number of years each reports that Yanshou served as a Buddhist monk. Both records agree that Yanshou passed away in the eighth year of the kaibao era (975) at the age of seventy- two. While the SGSZ stipulates that he had been a monk for thirty-seven years, the CDL marks it as forty-two years. How do we account for this five-year discrepancy? If we acknowledge that Yanshou renounced his official career as a military officer and
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service to one’s parents is not genuine and one’s kindness toward others is not sincere. If one cultivates it within oneself and also cultivates its external form, serving one’s parents and being kind toward others would not only be genuine and sincere, but also shake [the forces of] heaven and earth and arouse the [powers of] demons and spirits! Heaven and earth share the same principle with filial piety. Demons and spirits share the same spiritual essence with filial piety. Consequently, heaven and earth and demons and spirits cannot but be influenced by filial piety, cannot be deceived by fake filial piety.
180 Notes
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became a monk at age twenty-eight, the tally of forty-two years would be nearer the mark. The answer, I suggest, lies in the way each work accepts Yanshou’s transition from lay to monastic life. Zanning was a literati monk who followed a career as a scholar-official and held leading administrative positions, like Buddhist registrar 僧 錄, with jurisdiction over monastic affairs both in the Wuyue Kingdom and at the Song dynasty court. In this capacity, Zanning would have been sensitive to technical distinctions regarding someone’s status as a monk, whether officially recognized (i.e., registered) or not. A sectarian Buddhist work like the CDL would not necessarily be inclined to follow such distinctions and would more easily allow lenient criteria in counting the years of Yanshou’s monastic service, counting the time when he first joined Master Cuiyan’s community. If this suggestion is correct, it means that Yanshou spent a period of five years as a monk without official recognition (i.e., a monastic certificate), a period when his status was tenable. This, in turn, could account for any legal uncertainties following his departure from military service. 8. 汝與元帥有緣。他日大興佛事密受記。 9. T 51-2076.407c3–4. 10. Official authorization of Yanshou’s teaching is implicit in Qian Chu’s preface to Yanshou’s Zongjing lu (T 48-2016). For a translation, see Welter, Yongming Yanshou’s Conception of Chan in the Zongjing lu, 226–227. While the accepted date of Yanshou’s death is kaibao 8 (975), there are discrepancies in later sources: Fozu tongji 佛祖統 紀 43 (T 49-2035.396b26) states that Yanshou passed away in kaibao 7 (974), as does Shimen zhengtong 釋門正統8 (X 75-1513.352b); Jingtu chenzhong 淨土晨鐘 10 (X 62-1172.88a) claims Yanshou was ninety-eight when he died in kaibao 8, which would push his birth back twenty-three years, to 881. This issue is also discussed in Chen Yuan’s 陳垣 study of the years of birth and death of Chinese Buddhist monks, the Shishi yinian lu 釋氏疑年錄. I am grateful to Kai Sum Wong for reminding me of these discrepancies and for mentioning this source. 11. Longshu jingtu wen (LJW) 龍舒淨土文 5; T 47-1970.268b-c. 12. Lebang wenlei (LBWL) 樂邦文類 3; T 47-1969A.195a-b. 13. LBWL: 於國清行法華懺。. . . 又中夜旋遶。次見普賢前供養蓮華忽然在手。 因思夙有二願。一願終身常誦法華。二願畢生廣利群品。憶此二願。復樂禪 寂。進退遲疑。莫能自決。遂上智者禪院作二鬮。一曰一心禪定鬮。二曰誦 經萬善莊嚴淨土鬮。冥心自期曰。儻於此二途。有一功行必成者。須七返拈 著為證。遂精禱佛祖。信手拈之。乃至七度。並得誦經萬善生淨土鬮。由此 一意。專修淨業。. . . 禪觀中見觀音以甘露灌于口。從此發觀音辯才。LJW: 於 禪觀中見觀音。以甘露灌其口。乃獲觀音辯才。下筆盈卷。著萬善同歸集宗 鏡錄等。共數百卷。 14. Shimen zhengtong 釋門正統.CBETA X 75-1513.352a-c. 15. Fozu tongji 佛祖統紀. CBETA T 49-2035.264b-265a. 16. The five works are Shenxi anyang fu 神棲安養賦, Fahua lingduan fu 法華靈瑞賦, Huayan gantong fu 華嚴感通賦, Guanying yingxian fu 觀音應現賦, and Jinkang zhengyan fu 金剛證驗賦. 17. See Albert Welter, The Meaning of Myriad Good Deeds: A Study of Yung-ming Yen- shou and the Wan-shan t’ung-kuei chi, 88–89.
Notes 181
Fan Kuai 樊噲 (242? BCE–189 BCE) was a military general of the early Han dynasty and prominent figure in the struggle for power between Liu Bang 劉邦 (Emperor Gao) and Xiang Yu 項羽. Guan Yu 關羽 (?–220 CE) served under warlord Liu Bei in the late Han dynasty and played a significant role in the events leading up to the end of the Han and establishment of Liu Bei’s state Shu Han 蜀漢 during the three Kingdoms period. Yue Fei 岳 飛 (1103–1142) led Southern Song forces against the Jurchen, and was put to death for his militant stance opposing government negotiated peace settlement. In popular literature, there is the Ming dynasty work by Lu Xixing 陸西星, the Investiture of the Gods (Fengshen Yanyi 封神演義, literally, Investiture of Gods Dramatization of Doctrines), set in the era of the decline of the Shang dynasty (1600–1046 BCE) and emergence of the Zhou dynasty (1046–256 BCE). 21. The name of Yongming Monastery 永明寺 was changed to Jingci Monastery 淨慈 寺 during the Southern Song dynasty, either in the ninth or nineteenth year of the shaoxing era (1139 or 1149); Jingci Monastery Gazetteer 淨慈寺志, http://buddhist informatics.dila.edu.tw/fosizhi/ui.html?book=g016, f3. 22. Jingci Monastery Gazetteer 淨慈寺志 11: 741–800. 23. Jixiang Zhuyun 際祥主雲 lived during the Qing dynasty. He hailed from Wuxing 吳 興 in Zhejiang Province. He initially resided at Yanjiao Monastery 演教寺 and later headed Jingci Monastery. 24. Mentioned in several instances in Eichman, A Late Sixteenth- Century Chinese Buddhist Fellowship.
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18. Short Inscription Contained at the Stūpa of Wisdom-Enlightened 智覺塔藏碣小銘, Jingci Monastery Gazetteer 淨慈寺志 11.754: 師名延壽,長耳和尚證為彌陀應身 者也。T. Adam Baldry, “Building Amitabha: The Deification of Yongming Yanshou from the Wuyue to the Ming,” 16. On Yu Chunxi 虞淳熙 (1553–1621), the lay disciple of Yunqi Zhuhong, see Jennifer Eichman, A Late Sixteenth-Century Chinese Buddhist Fellowship, 308–324; Timothy Brook, Praying for Power: Buddhism and the Formation of Gentry Society in Late-Ming China, 187; R. Po-chia Hsia, A Jesuit in the Forbidden City: Matteo Ricci (1552–1610), 269; Jamie Greenbaum, Chen Jiru (1558– 1639), 80, esp. n78. 19. Note on the Reconstruction of the Stūpa Pavilion of Chan Master Yongming [Yan]shou 重建永明壽禪師塔院記, Jingci Monastery Gazetteer 淨慈寺志 11.756: 永明壽禪師 生于唐昭宗天祐元年甲子。長耳證為應身彌陀。天台號為下生阿逸。 Baldry, “Building Amitabha,” 17. 20. The Eight Immortals (baxian 八仙) refer to He Xiangu 何仙姑, the only female of the group, often depicted holding a lotus flower; Cao Guojiu 曹國舅, relative of a Song dynasty emperor; Li Tieguai 李鐵拐, identified by his iron crutch and calabash bottle, associated with medicine and the easing of suffering; Lan Caihe 藍采和, of ambiguous gender and considered the patron of florists and gardeners; Lü Dongbin 呂洞 賓, scholar and poet leader of the Eight Immortals; Han Xiangzi 韓湘子, lute artist; Zhang Guolao 張果老, specialist in the “dark arts” (fangshi 方士) and associated with old age; and Zhongli Quan 鍾離權, associated with death and the power to create silver and gold, often depicted holding a fan.
182 Notes
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25. Discussed at length in Eichman, A Late Sixteenth- Century Chinese Buddhist Fellowship, esp. 311–324. 26. Translated in Appendix 1. 27. Mentioned in several instances in Eichman, A Late Sixteenth- Century Chinese Buddhist Fellowship. 28. Translated in Appendix 1. 29. Mentioned as an “outlier with one or more connections to the [Buddhist] fellowship” in Eichman, A Late Sixteenth-Century Chinese Buddhist Fellowship, 367. 30. Translated in Appendix 1. 31. Mentioned in Eichman, A Late Sixteenth-Century Chinese Buddhist Fellowship, 45n72. 32. Mentioned in several instances in Eichman, A Late Sixteenth- Century Chinese Buddhist Fellowship. 33. Reading tian 田 as an abbreviation of mutian 募田. 34. Yuanjin Dahuo 元津⼤壑, compiler of Nanping Jingci si zhi 南屏淨慈寺志, during the wanli period (1573–1619) of the Ming dynasty, and the Yongming Daoji 永明道蹟 (X 86–1599). Dahuo was the first to claim Yanshou was an incarnation of Amitābha. 35. Translated in Appendix 1. 36. Reading lü 律 for jin 津. 37. Mentioned in passing in Eichman, A Late Sixteenth- Century Chinese Buddhist Fellowship. 38. Eichman, A Late Sixteenth-Century Chinese Buddhist Fellowship. Yunqi Zhuhong was a prominent Buddhist active in the Hangzhou region. See Chun-fang Yu, Renewal of Buddhism in China: Chu-Hung and the Late Ming Synthesis; Jeffrey Broughton and Elise Yoko Watanabe, The Chan Whip Anthology: A Companion to Zen Practice, a translation of Yunqi Zhuhong’s Changuan cejin 禪關策進; Bruce E. Carpenter, “Buddhism and the Seventeenth Century Anti-Catholic Movement in China”; and Thierry Meynard, “Chinese Buddhism and the Threat of Atheism in Seventeenth- Century Europe.” Buddhist-Christian Studies vol. 31 (2011): 3–23. The entry in DDB gives a useful summary: “Master Lianchi . . . studied Confucianism in his earlier years, before receiving initiation from Xingtian 性天 of Wutai shan 五臺山, becoming a Buddhist monk at the age of thirty-one. After traveling for six years in search of the truth, he returned to his native state of Hangzhou 杭州 at the age of thirty seven. Thereupon he restored a dilapidated temple on Mt. Yunqi, making it his headquarters. This temple gathered many followers and became a major center of Buddhist scholarship. Yunqi combined the practice of Chan and Pure Land, and also placed emphasis on the Vinaya. He is attributed with thirty-two works on Chan, Pure Land, and vinaya” (DDB, accessed March 2020). 39. Yu, Renewal of Buddhism in China, Chapter 4: “Zhuhong and the late Ming Lay Buddhist Movement,” 71–105. From the biographies of Zhuhong’s illustrious lay followers, we learn that nine had jinshi degrees, and two achieved such national prominence that their biographies were included in the Ming shi (97). 40. Yu, Renewal of Buddhism in China. 41. Jiang Wu, Enlightenment in Dispute: The Reinvention of Chan Buddhism in Seventeenth-Century China, 84.
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42. Eichman, A Late Sixteenth-Century Chinese Buddhist Fellowship, 28. 43. Brook, Praying for Power, 187. 44. Eichman, A Late Sixteenth-Century Chinese Buddhist Fellowship, 173. 45. On Tao Wangling 陶望齢 (1562–1609), including his interactions with Zhuhong, see Eichman, A Late Sixteenth-Century Chinese Buddhist Fellowship, 324–347. 46. Huang Ruheng 黃汝亨 (1558–1626) was a native of Hangzhou and a master calligrapher in the Ming dynasty. See Eichman, A Late Sixteenth-Century Chinese Buddhist Fellowship; Nicolas Standaert, Yang Tingyun, Confucian and Christian in Late Ming China: His Life and Thought, 33. 47. Eichman, A Late Sixteenth-Century Chinese Buddhist Fellowship, 172–174. 48. X 86-1599.54c-60a. 49. Jacques Gernet, China and the Christian Impact: A Conflict of Cultures, 24. 50. Gernet, China and the Christian Impact, 66. This is the suggestion made by Xu Guangqi 徐光啟, Matteo Ricci’s most famous and best-educated disciple, in his preface to Father Sabatino de Ursis, Taxi shuifa 泰西水法 (Western Hydraulics), issued in 1612. 51. Gernet, China and the Christian Impact, 51. 52. Zhuhong, Jiesha fangsheng wen 戒殺放生文 (Essays on Non-Killing and Releasing Life), summarized in Yu, Renewal of Buddhism in China, 82–92. The general plan of Ricci’s work Tianxue shiyi 天學實義 (The True Meaning of the Study of Heaven), also known as Tianzhu shiyi 天主實義 (The True Meaning of the Master of Heaven), is provided in Gernet, China and the Christian Impact, 9. 53. Yu, Renewal of Buddhism in China, 94. 54. Jerome, Ad Riparium, i, P.L., XXII, 907; Peter Brown, The Cult of the Saints: Its Rise and Function in Latin Christianity. 55. Gernet, China and the Christian Impact, 92. 56. Lingyin Monastery Gazetteer 靈隱寺誌 3A, p. 141, http://buddhistinformatics.dila. edu.tw/fosizhi/ui.html?book=g021, accessed March 2020. 57. Eichman, A Late Sixteenth-Century Chinese Buddhist Fellowship, 332–333; Yuan Hongdao, Yuan Zhonglang chidu 袁中郎尺牘 19–21: “Yongming exerted his utmost in explanation, but how could he not know that the more he explained it, the more fragmented it became, and the clearer he tried to be, the more obscure he was?” 58. LJW: 有僧每日遶塔禮拜。人問其故。僧云。我撫州僧也。因病至陰府。命 未盡放還。見殿角有僧畫像一軸。閻羅王自來頂拜。我問。此僧何人。主吏 云。此杭州永明寺壽禪師也。凡人死者皆經此處。唯此一人不經此處。已 於西方極樂世界上品上生。王敬其人。故畫像供養。我聞之故。特發心來 此遶塔作拜。以此見。精修西方者為陰府所重。 59. The compilation date of the Former Gazetteer of Jingci Monastery 淨慈寺舊志, based on evidence provided here, must have been ca. 1830–1860. The passage cited is in Jingci Monastery Gazetteer 淨慈寺志 11.741: 永明祖塔,初在大慈山。祖以開寶 八年遷化,明年奉荼毘舍利靈骨,建塔於山之陰。吳越王俶樹亭志焉。宋太 宗賜額壽寧禪院,陳忠肅瓘有碑銘,於今七百四十年矣。陵谷遷流,幾至漶 滅。萬曆丁未,大壑徙建宗鏡堂。 60. On the Northern Song Confucian official Chen Guan 陳瓘 (1060–1124; jinshi 1079, posthumously called Zhongsu 忠肅), see Anthony DeBlasi’s entry “Chen Guan 陳瓘.”
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61. This is the evidence for inferring the date of the Old Gazetteer as ca. 1830–1860, 740 years after Chen Guan was active (1090–1120). 62. Yuanjin Dahuo 元津⼤壑, compiler of the Nanping Jingci si zhi 南屏淨慈寺志, noted above, and of the Yongming Daoji 永明道蹟. 63. Jingci Monastery Gazetteer 淨慈寺志 11.743-744: 按:塔院初從大慈山遷建於寺 後,即今宗鏡堂址後。康熙五年,復遷建於寺東,即今處。院門額曰「極樂 世界」,姜立綱書。塔上正中石刻云「唐慧日永明宗照智覺禪師之塔」,後 有跋云:「斯塔初在大慈山,淨慈法嗣大壑徙建于宗鏡堂後。塔成于萬曆己 酉冬佛成道日,史官董其昌記此語。」乃宗鏡堂後舊塔之事,及豁堂遷塔, 仍存此石。 64. Dong Qichang 董其昌 (1555–1636) was a painter, calligrapher, politician, and art theorist of the later Ming dynasty; see Xiao Yanyi 蕭燕翼, “Dong Qichang 董其昌.” 65. Jingci Monastery Gazetteer 淨慈寺志 11.786–787: 迨萬曆癸巳,塔為魔羅所毁, 而靈骨別窆於石隙之右。. . . 扼腕痛心,每見梵兆,乃荷鍤登巖,出之宿莽之 坎,徙建寺後蓮花洞傍。其基適值孝宗昔搆慧日閣藏《宗鏡錄》處。 66. Note on the Reconstruction of the Stūpa Pavilion of Chan Master Yongming [Yan]shou 重建永明壽禪師塔院記 (Jingci Monastery Gazetteer 淨慈寺志 11.758). 67. See Yu Chunxi’s Short Inscription Contained at the Stūpa of Wisdom-Enlightened 智覺 塔藏碣小銘, translated in Appendix 1. 68. Huang Ruheng, Note on the Reconstruction of the Stūpa Pavilion of Chan Master Yongming [Yan]shou, translated in Appendix 1. 69. X 63-1231.82a-156a. 70. The full account of Yu Chunxi’s An Appraisal of the Sudubo (Stūpa) of Chan Master Shouning 壽寧禪師窣堵波辧 is translated in the documents included in Appendix 1. 71. According to Jingci Monastery Gazetteer 淨慈寺志 10:733, Yunquan [Xing]lian 筠 泉性蓮 was a disciple of Xuelang Hong’en 雪浪洪恩. According to Nanping Jingci si zhi 南屏净慈寺志 2, he and his brother Gusong Wenying 古松文英 were established as “co-abbots” of Jingci Monastery. People called Xinglian “the leader of societies/ associations” 會首 because of his activity in many local Buddhist groups, such as the Shenglian Association 勝蓮社, and the construction of Wangong Pond 萬工池. He was also known for inviting Yunqi Zhuhong 雲栖袾宏 to Jingci Monastery to discuss the Mind Verse (I am indebted to Xinrui Zeng for this observation). 72. The term used here, tui 蛻, typically refers to the shedding of old feathers, hair, skin, or an old shell, to make way for new growth; hence, skin cast off during molting, exuviae, to pupate, to molt, to slough, to cast off an old skin or shell. 73. Yanfutan jin 閻浮檀金, “a particle of gold from the river running through the groves of the jambu trees,” is a metaphor for the appearance of a Buddha. It refers to a special kind of brilliance. Yanfutan 閻浮檀 is an abbreviation for 閻浮那檀 (Skt. jambū- nada), where jambū 閻浮 is a kind of tree and nada 那檀 means “river.” According to Hindu tradition, this gold becomes polished by the essence of the juice of the Jambū trees, which is subsequently dried off by soft breezes, resulting in the most refined form of gold. 佛說佛母出生法藏般若波羅蜜經 T 228.8.659a18 (四分律 T 1428.22.958b9). DDB, accessed March 2020.
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74. Also discussed in Eichman, A Late Sixteenth- Century Chinese Buddhist Fellowship, 174. 75. Hsueh-Man Shen, “Between One and Many: Multiples, Multiplication and the Huayan Metaphysics,” 217. 76. Yongming daoji 永明道蹟 (X 86-1599). According to Eichman, A Late Sixteenth- Century Chinese Buddhist Fellowship, 174, “This text stands as a testament to the types of discrete, coordinated efforts that were made by smaller groups within [Buddhist] networks [in the late Ming] and further strengthens the evidence we have of the depth of their interactions.” 77. As reviewed in Eichman, A Late Sixteenth-Century Chinese Buddhist Fellowship, 174–175. 78. Jingcisi zhi 11.768: 《淨慈寺續志》:祖孫遞授,以至于今,不啻敦史,彌陀之 為壽師,信矣。棲安養者離內院,生上品者主九品。 79. Cited from Jingci Monastery Gazetteer 淨慈寺志 11.742: 《淨慈寺續志》:永明塔 院在大殿東北,雍正十一年勅建,前起加封妙圓正修智覺禪師石牌坊. 80. For a translation of Huang’s Note on the Reconstruction of the Stūpa Pavilion of Chan Master Yongming [Yan]shou, see Appendix 1. 81. Huang Gongyuan 黃公元, “Huiri Yongming Zhijue Yanshou: Hangzhou jing cisi yongming lin yuan yinglian shangxi” 慧日永明智觉延寿:杭州净慈寺永明琳 院楹联赏析 (Huiri Yongming Zhijue Yanshou: An Appreciation and Analysis of Couplets at Yongming Linyuan in Hangzhou Jingci Temple), 92. 82. Taixu (1890–1947), born in Haining, Zhejiang Province, was a Buddhist modernist, activist, and thinker who advocated the reform and renewal of Chinese Buddhism (Don Alvin Pittman, Toward a Modern Chinese Buddhism: Taixu’s Reforms; Eric Goodell, “Taixu’s Youth and Years of Romantic Idealism, 1890–1914”). Yinguang (1862–1940), a native of Heyang in Shaanxi Province, made significant contributions to the revival of modern Chinese Buddhism, particularly the Pure Land revival movement centered in Shanghai in the 1920s and 1930s (Jan Kiely, “The Charismatic Monk and the Chanting Masses: Master Yinguang and His Pure Land Revival Movement”). Yingci (1873–1965), originally hailed from Anhui Province, was tonsured at Fayu Monastery on Putuoshan, and was ordained at Tiantong Monastery in Ningbo. He was a noted Chan master and seminary organizer and established Huayan University in Shanghai (later moved to Haichao Monastery in Hangzhou) and the Dharmadhatu Seminary 法界學院 at Xingfu Monastery in Changshu (Jiangsu Province). Ma Yifu (1883–1967), was born in Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province, was a Guoxue 国学 scholar, calligrapher, and seal carver, and one of the representatives of the New Neo- Confucian 新儒家学 school. Along with Liang Shuming 梁漱溟 and Xiong Shili 熊 十力齊, he is recognized as one of the “three sages of New Confucianism” 新儒学三 圣人. Xia Chengtao (1900–1986), a native of Wenzhou in Zhejiang Province, was a pioneering founder of modern Chinese Ci lyric poetry studies 词学. 83. Daxing (1900–1952), born in Dongtai, Jiangsu Province, was ordained at Tianning Monastery in Yangzhou and was a student of Taixu. During his career, he presided over the South Putuo and Minnan Buddhist colleges and founded the Modern saṃgha 现代僧伽 magazine to defend Buddhism against its critics, as well as serving
186 Notes
Chapter 4 1. Eugene Y. Wang, “Tope and topos: The Leifeng Pagoda and the Discourse of the Demonic.” Leifeng Pagoda also figure prominently in the analysis by Shi Zhiru, “From Bodily Relic to Dharma Relic Stūpa: Chinese Materialization of the Aśoka Legend in the Wuyue Period.” 2. Jean-Paul Sartre, Existentialism Is a Humanism, vii, based on a lecture delivered by Sartre in October 1945. The phrase was used by Sartre to summarize the approach of Martin Heidegger in Being and Time. 3. The Chinese word ta 塔 retains an ambiguity in that it may refer to either a pagoda, a monumental edifice or tower, or a stūpa containing relics of the Buddha. In the current study, “pagoda” is reserved for the architectural edifice and “stūpa” for a miniature container used to house the artifact. 4. For a general history, see F. W. Mote, Imperial China 900–1800, “The Five Dynasties,” 3–30; Wolfram Eberhard, A History of China, “The Period of the Five Dynasties,” 195– 208. For more in-depth treatments, see Hung Hing Ming, Ten States, Five Dynasties, One Great Emperor; Peter Lorge, The Reunification of China: Peace through War
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as editor of the weekly publication Modern Buddhism 现代佛教 and editor in chief of Haichao yin 海潮音 magazine. Late in his career, he served as abbot of Xuedou Monastery in Ningbo. 84. Xingci (1881–1950), a native of Xinchang in Zhejiang Province, was trained and ordained at Fangguang Monastery on Mount Tiantai. He was active in establishing the Shanghai Buddhist Association 上海佛教同仁会 with people from the Shanghai Buddhist community. 85. I take the main point here to call attention to Yanshou’s two major works, the Zongjing lu (Records of the Source-Mirror) and the Wanshan tonggui ji (Common End of Myriad Good Deeds Anthology). 86. The missing sinograph zhi 之, which is obstructed from view in the photo, is known from the postscript comment by Jixiang Zhuyun 際祥主雲 in Jingci Monastery Gazetteer 淨慈寺志 11, translated above. 87. Mingzhou Ayuwang Shan sizhi 明州阿育王山寺志 2, “The Story of the Precious Stūpa Containing Relics of Tathagata Śākyamuni’s Actual Body” 釋迦如來真身舍利寶塔傳. 88. One famous full-body relic in Chinese Buddhism is that of Huineng 慧能 at the Nanhua Monastery 南華寺 near Shaoguan 韶关, Guangdong. Studies on this phenomenon include Robert H. Sharf, “The Idolization of Enlightenment: On the Mummification of Ch’an Masters in Medieval China,” 1–3 and Nan Ouyang, “The Making of a Sacred Place: The Rise of Mount Jiuhua in the Late Imperial and Republican Eras (1368–1949),” which deals, in part, with the cult of mummified bodies in the local mortuary practices on Mount Jiuhua. See also Justin Ritzinger and Marcus Bingenheimer, “Whole-Body Relics in Chinese Buddhism—Preliminary Research and Historical Overview.”
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under the Song Dynasty; and chapters contained in Denis Twitchett and Paul Jakov Smith, eds., The Cambridge History of China, Volume 5, Part One: The Sung Dynasty and Its Precursors, 907–1279: Paul Jakov Smith, “Introduction: The Sung Dynasty and Its Precursors, 907–1279,” 1–37; Naomi Standen, “The Five Dynasties,” 38–132; Hugh R. Clark, “The Southern Kingdoms between the T’ang and the Sung, 907–979,” 133–205. Also see the translation of Ouyang Xiu’s 歐陽修 New History of the Five Dynasties 新五代史 by Richard L. Davis, Historical Records of the Five Dynasties. 5. Zhiru, “From Bodily Relic to Dharma Relic Stūpa” discusses the circumstances, motivations, and ramifications of Qian Chu’s production of eighty-four thousand miniature stūpas in terms of the shift from bodily relic (shensheli) to dharma relic (fasheli) in stūpa veneration, as well as the rematerialization of the Aśoka myth as evidence of continuing cross-cultural exchanges in Buddhist Asia. 6. Xianchun Lin’an zhi 82.125 (Lin’an Gazetteer Compiled in the Xianchun Era)《咸 淳臨安志》 , https://ctext.org/wiki.pl?if=en&chapter=238137. Also recorded in Chijian Jingci Monastery Gazetteer 敕建淨慈寺志 13:919–920. According to Ulrich Theobald, An Encyclopaedia on Chinese History, Literature and Art, the Xianchun Lin’an zhi is the qualitatively best of all local gazetteers (difangzhi 地方志) from the Song period. The compiler, Qian Shuoyou 潛說友 (1216–1277), a native of Jinyun 縉 雲 in the prefecture of Chuzhou 處州 (Zhejiang), expanded the two older chronicles from the city, the (Qiandao) Lin’an zhi 乾道臨安志 and (Chunyou) Lin’an zhi 淳祐臨 安志, and compiled a hundred-juan-long updated version. Apart from these texts, Qian made use of quite a few other sources, like Yan Shu’s 晏殊 (991–1055) geography book Yudizhi 輿地志, Fan Zhizhang’s 范之長 Huangchao junxian zhi 皇朝郡 縣志 and Da song dengke ji 大宋登科記, a book on state examinations. 7. On the construction activities of Qian Chu and other Wuyue monarchs, see Abe Chõichi 阿部肇一, Chūgoku zenshūshi no kenkyū: seiji shakaishiteki kōsatsu 中国 禅宗史の研究: 政治社会史的考察; Antonio Mezcua López, “Cursed Sculptures, Forgotten Rocks: The History of Hangzhou’s Feilaifeng Hill.” 8. The Yingtian Pagoda 應天塔 in Kuaiji 會稽 allegedly originated at the end of the Jin dynasty (266–420). Referred to here is the reconstruction and renaming of the pagoda as Yingtian Pagoda in the first year of the qianfu era (874) of the Tang dynasty. 9. Excavations reveal that a copy of the Diamond Sūtra was also inscribed. 10. Wang, “Tope and topos,” n5 suggests the Mr. Lei referred to here may be a reference to a Daoist hermit named Xu Lizhi 徐立之, otherwise known as Mr. Huifeng 回峰, who once lived on the site, or to a man named Leijiu 雷就 who also once lived there. 11. Xianchun Lin’an zhi 咸淳臨安志 82.124, https://ctext.org/wiki.pl?if=gb&chapter= 238137.124. See also the citation from the Former Gazetteer of Jingci Monastery 淨慈 寺舊志 contained in Chijian Jingci Monastery Gazetteer 敕建淨慈寺志 13:909–913, and translated in Appendix 2, under the entry for Leifeng 雷峰. 12. Wuyue beishi, fuyi 吳越備史·補遺, entry for the eleventh month of the ninth year of the kaibao era: “This month, the consort of the king of Wuyue, with the clan name Sun, passed away. In the second month, the spring of the second year of the taiping xingguo era, an imperial order dispatched an assistant of the palace steward to provide funeral expenses for the consort. She was given the posthumous title: Imperial
188 Notes
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Consort (huangfei).” (是月,吳越國王妃孫氏薨。太平興國二年春二月,敕遣 給事中程羽來歸王妃之賵,諡王妃曰皇妃。) Although the Wuyue beishi 吳越備 史 was compiled by Qian Yan 錢儼, the currently existing print version dates from the jiajing era (1522–1566) of the Ming dynasty. The “Addendum” (Buyi 補遺) was added by Ma Jinchen 馬盡臣 (d.u.) in the Ming dynasty as well. 13. Wang, “Tope and topos.” 14. Ren Guangliang 任光亮, “Hangzhou leifeng ta ji ‘yiqie rulai xin mimi quanshen sheli bao kuangyin tuoluoni jing’ ” 杭州雷峰塔及「一切如来心秘密全身舍利宝筐印 陀罗尼经」, 101, 103. Shih-Shan Susan Huang, “Early Buddhist Illustrated Prints in Hangzhou,” 138, cites a report from Yu Pingbo 俞平伯 (“Ji Xihu Leifengta” 記西湖雷 峰塔發現的塔磚與藏經, 122), and Wang Guowei 王國維 (Liangzhe gukanben kao 兩浙古刊本考), that “when the pagoda first collapsed in 1924, local people found small printed scrolls deposited inside some hollowed bricks among the ruins. Each scroll was rolled up and wrapped in yellow silk and blue brocade strips in a sutra bag before being placed into a hollowed brick. There were more than one thousand copies of these Dharani scrolls discovered in situ, but most of them had rotted.” 15. Contained in CBETA T 19-1022A and T 19-1022B. There is also a translation by Dānapāla 施護, T 19-1023. 16. Norihisa Baba, “From Sri Lanka to East Asia: A Short History of a Buddhist Sutra,” based on a preliminary study published as “Sri Lankan Impacts on East Asian Buddhism: Transmission of a Dhāranī Sūtra.” http://www.bhutanstudies.org.bt/ publicationFiles/C onferenceProceedings/BuddhismConference2012/19.Buddh ism2012.pdf 17. DatangXiyuji大唐西域記11:「一曰:摩訶毘訶羅住部,斥大乗、習小教。二曰: 阿跋邪祇釐住部,学兼二乗,弘演三蔵」(T 51-2087.934a). 18. Gregory Schopen, “The Text on the Dhāraṇī Stones from Abhayagiriya: A Minor Contribution to the Study of Mahāyāna Literature in Ceylon.” 19. Contained in fascicle 4 of the collected documents in Daizong zhaozeng sikong dabian zhengguangzhi sanzangheshang biaozhi ji 代宗朝贈司空大辨正廣智三藏和上表制 集 (T 52-2120.848b-c). Following Baba’s fuller version in the unpublished paper “Sri Lankan Impacts on China and Japan,” published in Japanese as 馬場 紀寿,『宝 篋印経』の伝播と展開: スリランカの大乗と不空、延寿、重源、慶派 (The Transmission and Cultural Influences of a Dharani Sutra: from Sri Lankan Mahayana to Amoghavajra, Yongming Yanshou, Chōgen, and Kei School). 20. For details, see Baba, “Sri Lankan Impacts on China and Japan.” 21. As the Yiqie rulai xin mimi quanshen sheli baoqie yin tuoluoni jing 一切如來心祕密 全身舍利寶篋印陀羅尼經) in five sheets 六紙 (T 55-2154.700a19). 22. Cited from Baba, “Sri Lankan Impacts on China and Japan”; R. Chandawimala, Buddhist Heterodoxy of Abhayagiri Sect: A Study of the School of Abhayagiri in Ancient Sri Lanka; Masatoshi Hayashidera, 林寺正俊 “Hōkyōinkyōdarani no Bonkan hikaku 宝篋印陀羅尼の梵漢比較 (A Comparative Study of Sanskrit and Chinese Translations of the Sarvatathāgatādhiṣṭhānahṛdaya dhāraṇī).” 23. On the background of the printing of these sūtras, see Sören Edgren, “The Printed Dharani-Sutra of A.D. 956”; Tsuen-hsuin Tsien, “Paper and Printing,” 157–159; Huang, “Early Buddhist Illustrated Prints in Hangzhou,” esp. 135–142.
Notes 189
Construction of stūpas
Print year of Sarvatathāgatādhiṣṭhānahṛdaya
Bronze stūpas: 955
Possession of the Swedish royal family: 956 Version found in 1917 from the Tianningsi 天寧寺 temple in Huzhou 湖州: 956 Version found in 1971 from the Song-era reliquary in Anhui 安徽 Province, Wuyi district 無為県: 956
Iron stūpas: 965
Version found in 1971 from the steel stūpa in Zhejiang Province 浙江省, Shaoxing city 绍興市: 965
Silver stūpas: 970s
Version found in 1924 after the Leifeng Stūpa 雷鋒塔 collapsed: 975
Examples of other Qian Chu Aśoka pagodas excavated:
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24. T 49-2035.206b-c. 25. Hattori Ikuko 服部育子, “Sen Kōshuku Hachimansen tō wo Meguru Genjyō to Kadai” 銭弘俶八万四千塔をめぐる現状と課題 (Current Research and Tasks regarding Qian Hongchu’s 84,000 Stūpas). According to J. S. Edgren, “The History of the Book in China,” the 956 edition was reprinted in Korea in 1007 and provides further evidence of the early transmission of printed texts from China to Korea. 26. The text is adopted from Hsueh-Man Shen, “Between One and Many: Multiples, Multiplication and the Huayan Metaphysics,” 212n10. Only the latter part of the record survived in its original form; it is preserved in a manuscript (dated 965) now in the collection of the Saifuku-in Monastery in Hiroshima, Japan. It is quoted in its entirety in the chronicle Fusō Ryakuki 扶桑略記 26, edited by Kōen 皇円 (d. 1169). 27. Huang Yi-hsun, “The Wuyue Kings and Buddhism,” 36n67. Yellow Turbans are so- named for the headgear they wear. Such protest groups became famous in China after the Yellow Turban Rebellion (184-205 CE) that contributed to the fall of the Han dynasty. 28. Hōkyōin kyō ki, dated twenty-second day of the seventh month in the year 965. The original document is contained in the Kongō ji in Japan. Reference and translation (with slight changes) from Zhiru, “From Bodily Relic to Dharma Relic Stūpa,” 86, 241–242n10. 29. Romila Thapar, “Aśoka and Buddhism as Reflected in the Aśokan Edicts.” 30. Shen, “Between One and Many,” 217. 31. Da Tang Xiyu ji 大唐西域記 9 (T 51-2087.920a21-24): 印度之法,香末為泥,作 小窣堵波,高五六寸,書寫經文,以置其中,謂之法舍利也;數漸盈積,建 大窣堵波,總聚於內,常修供養。 See also the translation by Samuel Beal, Si-Yu- Ki Buddhist Records of the Western World II, 146. 32. There are various interpretations of the value of a koti: one million, ten million, one hundred million, etc. The term appears in Buddhist sūtras as an astronomically large number or to describe an incomprehensible expanse of time or space. 33. Da Tang Xiyu ji 大唐西域記 9 (T 51-2087.920a24-b3). For an alternate translation, see Beal, Si-Yu-Ki Buddhist Records of the Western World II, 147. 34. Hattori, “Sen Kōshuku Hachimansen tō wo Meguru Genjyō to Kadai,” cited from Baba, “Sri Lankan Impacts on China and Japan,” who also provides the following table:
190 Notes Other gilded pagodas of the same type unearthed in China were made around the same time.
The pagoda base is inscribed with the title “Monk Hui Qui.” Along the four sides of the pagoda body there is a strip of carved inscription that reads, “Amitahba Ceremony at Longce Temple, Wuyue Kingdom /Buddhist disciple Pan Wenyan, wife, Wang Shiyi niang /Nanrenda Family and Relatives /commissioned this pagoda with eternal respect.” 「吳越國龍冊寺彌5陀會/弟子潘文彥妻王十一娘 / 男仁大闔 家眷屬 / 造此塔永充供養」
• Iron Aśoka Stupa unearthed from Huiguang Pagoda, Ruian, Zhejiang in 1966. 1966 年浙江瑞安慧光塔出土
This pagoda was commissioned by Wuyue King Qian Chu. It has an inscription that reads, “King Chu of Wuyue Kingdom /Respectfully commissioned Eighty-four Thousand precious pagodas /as eternal offerings in the year Yichou.” Yichou is the 3rd year of the Qiande era (965) in the Northern Song Dynasty. 「吳越國王俶/敬 造寶塔八万/四千所永充供/養時乙丑歲記」 35. For further discussion, see Zhiru, “From Bodily Relic to Dharma Relic Stūpa,” 89–91; for a comprehensive listing, see Li Wang, “ ‘Baoqieyinying ta’ yu Wuyue guo dui ri wenhua jiaoliu.” 36. See Baba, “Sri Lankan Impacts on China and Japan” ; Zhiru, “From Bodily Relic to Dharma Relic Stūpa,” 243n29. 37. Shen, “Between One and Many,” 210. 38. Zhiru, “From Bodily Relic to Dharma Relic Stūpa,” 103 relates that one gilt bronze stūpa unearthed in 1971 during construction in Shaoxing city in Zhejiang Province has a little wooden cylinder containing a roll of the Precious Chest Dhāraṇī Sūtra wound around a wooden stick. Shen, “Between One and Many,” 210n7, describes a small number of pagoda miniatures, similar in shape and iconography, dated to the same period, the pagodas commissioned by King Qian Chu. These miniature pagodas are generally larger in size, often handcrafted, and often contain a small reliquary (in either vessel or coffin shape), holding relic grains. Interestingly, their dedicatory inscriptions point to private donors rather than the royal court of Wuyue. For
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• Those recorded in Wang Chang’s 王昶 Jinshi cuibian 金石萃編 (Selected Inscriptions on Bronzes and Stone Tablets), dated 955. • The fifteen little gilded stupas unearthed in 1957 from the underground palace of Wanfo Temple in Jinhua, Zhejiang Province, were dated 965. • The gilded stupas made of cast iron excavated from the underground palace of Huqiu Pagoda in Suzhou were made around 961. • A stupa unearthed in 1955 from Songfu Monastery (1955 年浙江崇德崇福寺 塔出土) had seven tiers of discs. The inner surface of the pagoda body is carved with an inscription: “King of the Wuyue Kingdom /Respectfully Commissioned by Qian Hongchu /Eighty-four Thousand Precious Pagodas /Recorded in the year Yimao.” (Yimao is the 2nd year of the Xiande era [955] in the Later Zhou Dynasty). 吳越國王/錢弘俶敬造/八万四千寶/塔乙卯歲記」 • A stupa unearthed in 1963 from the Pagoda of Zhongxing Monastery 中興寺塔 (a.k.a. Nanji ta 南寺塔). 1963 年浙江東陽中興寺塔(南寺塔)出土
Notes 191
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examples of such miniature pagodas, see Zhejiangsheng wenwu kaogu yanjiusuo, ed., Leifengta yizhi 雷峰塔遗址, 66 and 124–133, fi gures 88, 185–186, 190–203; Suzhou Bowuguan, Suzhou bowuguan cang: Huqiu Yunyansi ta Ruiguangsi ta wenwu 苏州博 物馆藏: 虎丘云岩寺, 塔瑞光寺塔文物, 188–196, 198–199. 39. Julie L. Mellby, One Million Buddhist Incantations, referring specifically to the Hyakumanto Dharani, according to Japanese records (Shoku Nihongi) completed between 764 and 770 on the orders of Empress Shōtoku as an act of atonement and reconciliation following the suppression of the Emi Rebellion led by Fujiwara no Nakamaro in 764. It consists of four Sanskrit prayers of the Mukujoko-kyo (Vimala Mirbhasa Sūtra), entitled Kompon, Jishinin, Sorin, and Rokudo from the Darani-kyo. 40. On printing in China, see Zhang Xiumin 張秀民, Zhongguo Yinshua shi 中国印刷 史 (History of Printing in China). 41. On Feng Dao’s accomplishment, see Thomas Francis Carter, The Invention of Printing in China and Its Spread Westward. 42. Baba, “Sri Lankan Impacts on China and Japan,” n33. 43. Huang, “Early Buddhist Illustrated Prints in Hangzhou,” 146–147. 44. Fozu tongji 佛祖統記 10: T49-2035.206b-c: 〔呉越忠懿王錢弘俶〕慕阿育王造八 萬四千塔。金銅精鋼冶鑄甚工,中藏寶篋印心呪經,亦及八萬四千數。 45. Shen, “Between One and Many,” 221–223 discusses the metaphorical nature of the number eighty-four thousand. 46. James Legge, A Record of Buddhist Kingdoms, 69. 47. Paul Mus, Barabudur, 94, 100, cited in John Strong, The Legend of King Aśoka, 104. I am also reminded of Robert Sharf ’s statement, appropriate to this context, “There is little reason to believe that the display of relics contravenes either the letter or the spirit of Buddhist teachings; why is a relic any less a signifier for nirvana than the word nirvana itself?” Sharf, “On the Allure of Buddhist Relics,” 166. 48. Interestingly, the intact original stūpa depicted there appears to be different in style from those forged by Qian Chu. 49. See especially Kuroda Toshio 黒田俊雄, Nihon chūsei no kokka to shūkyō 日本中世 の国家と宗教. 50. These include Charles Orzech, Henrik Sørensen, and Richard Payne, eds., Esoteric Buddhism and the Tantras in East Asia; Koichi Shinohara, Spells, Images, and Maṇḍalas: Tracing the Evolution of Tantric Buddhist Rituals; and Jeffrey C. Goble, Chinese Esoteric Buddhism: Amoghavajra, the Ruling Elite, and the Emergence of a Tradition. 51. Henrik Sørensen, “On Esoteric Buddhism in China: A Working Definition,” 157: “Esoteric Buddhism is a form of Mahāyāna—not a separate school but a movement centering on attaining its spiritual and worldly goals through ritual practices. . . . I reserve the term ‘Esoteric Buddhism’ as the most useful, if not perfect, way of designating this form of Buddhism. For the early, undeveloped Esoteric Buddhist elements encountered in Mahāyāna literature, I use the term ‘esoteric Mahāyana’ to underscore that we are dealing with particular forms of belief and practice.” See also Robert Sharf, “On Esoteric Buddhism in China,” in Coming to Terms with Chinese Buddhism: A Reading of the Treasure Store Treatise, 263–278.
192 Notes
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52. Full title: Zhijue chanshi zixing lu 智覺禪師自行錄; CBETA X 63-1232. By my count, no fewer than 16 of the 108 practices involved dhāraṇī practices and recitations (nos. 9, 10, 18, 24, 31, 38, 45, 52, 65, 67, 70, 71, 72, 89, 90, and 93). 53. Zhaohua Yang, “Understanding Yongming Yanshou’s Dhāranī Practices in The Records of the Personal Practices of Chan Master Zhijue.” 54. Yoga here is not the meditation technique to still the mind, etc., but is understood in its esoteric Buddhist connotation of engendering harmony between a practitioner and the Buddha through producing a mudrā, chanting a mantra, and meditating on a particular deity. 55. Song gaoseng zhuan 宋高僧傳 3; T 2061.50.724b16-25. 56. T 48-2016.416a: 此窮心之旨。達識之詮。言約義豐。文質理詣。揭疑關於正智 之戶。薙妄草於真覺之原。 Cited in Albert Welter, Yongming Yanshou’s Conception of Chan in the Zongjing lu: A Special Transmission within the Scriptures, 231. 57. See Welter, Yongming Yanshou’s Conception of Chan in the Zongjing lu, 72–75; Yi-hsun Huang, Integrating Chinese Buddhism: A Study of Yongming Yanshou’s Guanxiu Xuanshu, 80–95. Chō Bunryō, Chōkan kegon shisō no kenkyū: “shin” no mondai wo chūshin ni 澄観華厳思想の研究-「心」の問題を中心に, discusses the importance of “mind” in Chengguan’s Huayan thought. Ishii Shūdō, 石井修道, “Sugyōroku ni oyoboshita chōkan no chōsaku no eikyō ni tsuite” 「『宗鏡録』に及ぼした澄 観の影響について」 argues that Chengguan was the greatest Huayan influence on Yanshou’s thought in the Zongjing lu. 58. On Qian Liu’s 錢鏐 role and the rise of the Wuyue Kingdom, see Zhiru, “From Bodily Relic to Dharma Relic Stūpa,” 94–96. 59. Zizhi tongjian 資治通鑑 266. 60. See Shiguo chunqiu 十國春秋 78. 61. Zizhi tongjian 資治通鑑 273. Some Later Tang officials held reservations, as jade certificates were normally reserved for emperors and Chinese vassals were not supposed to bear kingly titles. Emperor Zhuangzong granted Qian’s requests. 62. Xin wudai shi 新五代史 67; Davis, Historical Records of the Five Dynasties, 571. 63. Eberhard, A History of China, “The Epoch of the Second Division of China.” Ironically, three of the Five Dynasties were founded by non-Han barbarian Shatuo Turks, and the Southern regimes generally had more stable and effective governments during this period. 64. I discuss this with regard to Zanning, especially in The Administration of Buddhism in China: A Study and Translation of Zanning and His Topical Compendium of the Buddhist Order in China; “Confucian Monks and Buddhist Junzi: Zanning’s Da Song sent shilüe and the Politics of Buddhist Accommodation at the Song Court”; and earlier in “A Buddhist Response to the Confucian Revival: Tsan-ning and the Debate over Wen in the Early Sung.” 65. On Huizong’s policies affecting Buddhism, see Shin-yi Chao, “Huizong and the Divine Empyrean Palace Temple Network.” 66. Qingyuan xiuchuang ji 慶元修創記, in Chunyou Linan zhi jiyi 淳祐臨安志輯逸. Unfortunately, I have been unable to consult the original text itself and am relying on the entry Nan-Song Qingyuan xiuchuangji yibei 南宋慶元修創記殘碑 at Huaren
Notes 193
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baike 華人百科 (https://www.itsfun.com.tw/南宋慶元修創記殘碑/wiki-4496521- 2828811, consulted March–April 2020) on the fragment of the inscription uncovered in 2000 at the Leifeng Pagoda excavation site, contained in Zhejiang Provincial Museum; I am indebted to the account by Wang, “Tope and topos.” The original text consists of fourteen lines, each with 37 to 40 words, for a total of 556 words. Coincidentally, the relics excavated at the Leifeng Pagoda site are consistent with the information in the Qingyuan xiuchuang ji. 67. Chunyou Lin’an Gazetteer 淳祐臨安志 8: 在凈慈寺前,顯嚴院有寶塔五層,傳收 西湖勝跡。云昔郡民雷就之所居,故名雷峰庵。世傳雷峰眾山環繞,故曰中 峰。https://ctext.org/library.pl?if=gb&file=107689&page=203#雷峰. 68. Xianchun Lin’an Gazetteer 咸淳臨安志, compiled in 1268 by Qian Shuoyou 潛說 友 (1216–1277). Cited from Chijian Jingci Monastery Gazetteer 敕建淨慈寺志 13, translated in Appendix 2. 69. The compilation date of the Former Gazetteer of Jingci Monastery 淨慈寺舊志, appears to have been ca. 1830–1860. Cited from Chijian Jingci Monastery Gazetteer 敕建淨慈寺志 13, translated in Appendix 2. 70. The Travels of Marco Polo vol. II, 497. 71. Wang, “Tope and topos.” This is not to say that Leifeng Pagoda went completely unnoticed; it is mentioned with some frequency in records dating from the Northern Song onward. While it occasionally was mentioned in descriptive topical comments, following Wang, it appears to have had little impact on the literary imagination (i.e., poetics). 72. Bai Juyi 白居易, “Lengquan ting 冷泉亭,” in Chengde Zhang 张成德 (ed.), Zhongguo youji sanwen daxi: Zhejiangjuan (shang) 中国游记散文大系:浙江卷(上), 1, as cited from López, “Cursed Sculptures, Forgotten Rocks,” 39. 73. Wang, “Tope and topos.” 74. López, “Cursed Sculptures, Forgotten Rocks.” 75. 天容水色西湖好,雲物俱鮮。 鷗鷺閒眠,應慣尋常聽管弦。 風清月白偏宜夜,一片瓊田。 誰羨驂鸞,人在舟中便是仙。 76. See Wilt L. Idema, The White Snake and Her Son: A Translation of the Precious Scroll of Thunder Peak with Related Texts. 77. Taiping guangji 太平廣記 456–459, https://ctext.org/taiping-guangji/zh. Although completed in 978, it was prevented publication owing to its allegedly insignificant subject matter, popular fiction mostly dealing with supernatural themes, and was not published until the Ming dynasty. 78. Wang, “Tope and topos.” See Taiping guangji 太平廣記 458, “Li Huang” 李黃 (https:// ctext.org/taiping-guangji/458/lihuang/zh); from Boyi zhi 博異志 70–71 (https:// ctext.org/wiki.pl?if=gb&chapter=554784), an early collection of stories recounting strange and extraordinary events compiled in the Tang period. While the original was lost by the Song period, surviving parts were included in various reprint series, such as the Siku quanshu 四庫全書, Tang-Song xiaoshuo 唐宋小說, Wuchao xiaoshuo 五 朝小說, Tangren Shuohui 唐人說荟, and so on. See Theobald, An Encyclopaedia on
194 Notes
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Chinese History, Literature and Art, citing Li Xueqin 李學勤 and Lü Wenyu 呂文鬰, Siku da cidian 四庫大辭典, vol. 2, 2173. 79. Wang, “Tope and topos.” Wang notes that the Three Pagodas date from the late eleventh century, when Su Shi, as prefect of Hangzhou, had them built on the lake, close to the islet near the south, to serve as territorial and boundary markers to control private farming activities on the lake, and that the site became one of the Ten Views of West Lake in the thirteenth century. In the late fifteenth century, the greed and corruption of monks of the Buddhist monastery on the nearby islet enraged Yin Zishu 陰子淑, a government inspector known for his strict and bold administrative decisions, who ordered the monastery and pagodas be destroyed. They were not rebuilt until 1611, around the same time Yongming Stūpa was reestablished. 80. Wang, “Tope and topos.” 81. Chijian Jingci Monastery Gazetteer 敕建淨慈寺志 13:910, translated in full in Appendix 2. 82. Included in the entry from Chijian Jingci Monastery Gazetteer 敕建淨慈寺志 13:917– 919, translated in Appendix 2. 83. Both reports are found in an article by Ren Guangliang 任光亮, “Hangzhou leifeng ta ji ‘yiqie rulai xin mimi quanshen sheli bao kuangyin tuoluoni jing’ ” 杭州雷峰塔及「 一切如来心秘密全身舍利宝筐印陀罗尼经」, 100. The first one is from a clipping seen by Ren in the Shanghai Library collection; the second is from the January 1925 issue of Xiaoshuo yuebao 小说月报 16–1. Yu Pingbo 俞平伯 (1900–1990) fell afoul of Marxist critiques of his work in the Maoist era. His book Study of the Dream of the Red Chamber was criticized for lacking “scientific analysis” and for failing to notice the “great anti-feudal trend” represented in the classical novel. Mao Zedong used the critique as an opportunity to launch an attack against Yu and, ultimately, the idealism espoused by Hu Shih. 84. Lu Xun, “Lun lei feng ta de dao diao” 论雷峰塔的倒掉; Yang Xianyi and Gladys Yang’s translation, “The Collapse of Leifeng Pagoda.” See also 112–118. For an assessment of Lu Xun’s motivations, see Wang, “Tope and topos.” 85. Wang Qian 王倩, “Leifeng xinta jinqiu liangxiang” 雷峰新塔今秋亮相 (Rebirth of Leifeng Pagoda; literally, “The Debut of the New Leifeng Pagoda This Autumn”), 14–15. 86. I agree with Wang, “Tope and topos,” n11, that the pagoda was most likely built in 976, based on the dated sūtras and woodblock prints excavated from the pagoda. The Baoqieying jing retrieved from the pagoda is dated 975, and a woodblock print bearing a pagoda image retrieved from the hollow bricks is dated 976. Since Qian Hong Chu’s votive inscription records that the pagoda was built “within a moment of [a]finger snap,” it is very likely that the construction was completed in 976. Considering that the Wuyue Kingdom ended in 978, it could not have been completed after that date. 87. On domestic Chinese debates concerning the Leifeng site, see Zhang Zuqun 张祖群, “Lun Leifengta ‘daota-chongjian’ de ‘zhenshi xing,’ ” 论雷峰塔“倒塌-重建”的“真实 性 (Debating the “Authenticity” of the “Collapse and Reconstruction” of the Leifeng Pagoda), 43–49.
Notes 195
Chapter 5 1. The chapter epigraph from Ouyang Xiu 歐陽修 (1007– 1072) is based on his impressions of the West Lake in Fuyang, Anhui Province, when he was stationed there. For an alternate rendering, see Kenneth Rexroth, trans., One Hundred Poems form the Chinese, 60. 2. Donald E. MacInnis, trans., “The People’s Republic of China: Document 19: The Basic Viewpoint on the Religious Question During Our Country’s Socialist Period [Selections].” 3. As a professor at a small liberal arts college in the early 1990s, I invited a sociologist of Chinese religion to speak to my class on the subject of religion in contemporary China. With statistical data gathered from extensive surveys conducted in China in the 1980s, he was assured that aside from residual traces of ancestor or family religious practices, there was no evidence of religion in contemporary China. 4. For a comprehensive view drawing from a wide array of perspectives and geographic regions (but not Hangzhou), see the collection of essays in Ji Zhe, Gareth Fisher, and André Laliberté, eds., Buddhism after Mao: Negotiations, Continuities, and Reinventions. 5. Although Lingyin is typically translated in this fashion, as the Soul’s Retreat, the original association, as I explain below, seems tied to the nearby Feilaifeng 飞来峰/飛來 峰, Peak That Came Flying, referring to the alleged origins of the translocated Indian locale of many of the Buddha’s sermons, Mount Gṛdhrakūṭa (Vulture Peak), rendered in Chinese as Lingjiu shan 靈鷲山. Following this, Lingyin Monastery takes its name from an abbreviated form of Lingjiu shan. Vulture Peak was so named “because Piśuna (Māra) once as assumed there the guise of a vulture to interrupt the meditation of Ānanda,” or “more probably because of its shape, or because of the vultures who fed there on the dead” (DDB 靈鷲山). 6. On Huiyuan, see Wm. Theodore de Bary and Irene Bloom, eds., Sources of Chinese Tradition, “Huiyuan: A Monk Does Not Bow Down before a King,” 426–428; Erik Zürcher, Buddhist Conquest of China: The Spread and Adaptation of Buddhism in Early Medieval China; 204–253. 7. Jiang Wu, Enlightenment in Dispute: The Reinvention of Chan Buddhism in Seventeenth-Century China, 280.
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88. Based on observations. My categorizations have been influenced by an analysis of the Leshan Giant Buddha Scenic Area by Xiaomei Zhao, “Leshan Giant Buddha Scenic Area,” International Institute for Asian Studies Newsletter 75 (2016): 8–9. On power relations and the modalities of Buddhism’s control at Mount Putuo, see Claire Vidal, “Administering Bodhisattva Guanyin’s Island: Their Monasteries, Political Entities, and Power Holders of Putuoshan.” 89. Marcus Bingenheimer, Island of Guanyin: Mount Putuo and Its Gazetteers.
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8. Following the somewhat self-evident observation by Dewei Zhang, Thriving in Crisis: Buddhism and Political Disruption in China 1522–1620. It goes without saying that these three basic modes are far from static and that each may be characterized by a range of fluctuation in Buddhist activities. 9. Exemplified by Han Yu’s 韓愈 famous “Memorial on the Bone of the Buddha,” written in response to the emperor’s welcoming a bone relic of the Buddha during an annual procession and festival for the event in the capital; see de Bary and Bloom, eds., Sources of Chinese Tradition, 583–585. 10. Exemplified by Ouyang Xiu’s 歐陽修 essay “On Fundamentals,” ibid., 590–593. 11. In this case, acceptance equals the status quo or “stability,” denial equals “suppression,” and “restoration” is what follows “suppression.” 12. A useful outline for recommended Song administrative policies is found in my recent volume, The Administration of Buddhism in China: A Study and Translation of Zanning and His Topical Compendium of the Buddhist Order in China. This is not to suggest that these measures did not exist before the Song, only that they became regularized to an extent that heretofore was not evident. 13. Wu, Enlightenment in Dispute. 14. Ji, Fisher, and Laliberté, eds., Buddhism after Mao, 2, 16n6. 15. Even the naming of the Taiping insurgency is a point of contention. Here, I follow Tobie S. Meyer-Fong, What Remains: Coming to Terms with Civil War in 19th Century China in labeling it “civil war” instead of the more customary “rebellion.” Gregory Adam Scott, “Reconstructing Buddhist Monasteries in Post-Taiping China,” 167, writes that “Buddhist sites in China had experienced wars, rebellions, and periods of religious persecution before, but the damage and destruction wrought upon Buddhist monasteries during the Taiping War was likely on a scale far beyond anything that had preceded it.” 16. Scott, “Reconstructing Buddhist Monasteries in Post-Taiping China.” 17. Wu, Enlightenment in Dispute, 280. 18. Wu, Enlightenment in Dispute, 280–282. My extrapolation deviates from Wu slightly, but not significantly. 19. Ji, Fisher, and Laliberté, eds., Buddhism after Mao cast a similar framework for Buddhist revival in contemporary China, especially with their categories for “continuity” and “reinvention.” 20. While Qin Shi Huangdi 秦始皇帝 was traditionally reviled in standard Confucian- influenced interpretations as the arch-villain of Chinese history, his image was reversed, especially in the Maoist era, as a bulwark of a strong China. In the words of Mao, “He buried 460 scholars alive; we have buried forty-six thousand scholars alive. . . . You [intellectuals] revile us for being Qin Shi Huangs. You are wrong. We have surpassed Qin Shi Huang a hundredfold. When you berate us for imitating his despotism, we are happy to agree! Your mistake was that you did not say so enough.” Mao Zedong sixiang wan sui! (1969), cited in Kenneth Lieberthal Governing China, 195. 21. Ji, Fisher, and Laliberté, eds., Buddhism after Mao, “Introduction,” 3.
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22. Brian J. Nichols, “Tourist Temples and Places of Practice: Charting Multiple Paths in the Revival of Monasteries,” 98–99. 23. For a more sustained study of the Xuedou Monastery renaissance in contemporary China, see Justin Ritzinger, “Marketing Maitreya: Two Peaks, Three Forms of Capital, and the Quest to Establish a Fifth Buddhist Mountain.” 24. Ritzinger, “Marketing Maitreya,” 86–87. 25. Pew Research Center, “The Global and Religious Landscape,” especially “Buddhists” Dec. 18, 2012. https://www.pewforum.org/2012/12/18/global-religi ous-landscape-exec/ and https://www.pewforum.org/2012/12/18/global-religi ous-landscape-buddhist/. 26. Estimates on the numbers of Buddhists in China vary widely due to the opaque nature of reporting. According to figures cited in Ji, Fisher, and Laliberté, eds., Buddhism after Mao, 24–25, state statistics from the PRC put the number at 100 million. The Research Center for Religious Culture at East China Normal University estimated 300 million in 2005. Todd M. Johnson and Brian J. Grim, The World’s Religions in Figures: An Introduction to International Religious Demography, 35–36, estimated the number at 207 million in 2010. Based on these estimates, the figures given in the Pew report are not out of line. 27. Yang’s “market approach” is criticized by Ji, Fisher, and Laliberté, eds., Buddhism after Mao, “Introduction,” 5, for being one-dimensional and reductionistic. While I agree that this aspect may be overemphasized, it does not, in my view, invalidate it. 28. Jacques Gernet, Buddhism in Chinese Society: An Economic History from the Fifth to the Tenth Centuries, 4. 29. Gernet, Buddhism in Chinese Society, 4. To give an idea of the relative numbers of institutions housing each of these three types in medieval China, Gernet refers to the Bianzheng lun 辯正論 (CBETA T 52-2110) by Falin 法琳 (572–640) which enumerates for the Northern Wei dynasty (386–534): 47 great state monasteries; 839 monasteries of princes, dukes, eminent families, etc.; and 30,000 or more monasteries built by commoners. 30. In a verse entitled Ji Taoguang Chanshi 寄韜光禪師 (Tribute to Chan Master Taoguang). 31. Nichols, “Tourist Temples and Places of Practice,” 99. 32. Yakṣa cover a broad category of nature spirits, but in Buddhism are attendants of the guardian deity of the north, Vaiśravaṇa, protector of the righteous, or may also refer, as here, to the twelve heavenly generals who guard the Medicine Buddha. 33. CBETA T 14–451. 34. Yi Liu, “Revitalizing Local Memories: The Lower Tianzhu Monastery as a Cultural Repertoire.” 35. Mogao Cave 220 has been the subject of extensive study. Qiang Ning, Art, Religion, and Politics in Medieval China: The Dunhuang Cave of the Zhai Family examines the social, political, and religious ramifications associated with the construction of the site by the Zhai family. 36. Morten Schlütter, “Vinaya Monasteries, Public Abbacies, and State Control of Buddhism under the Northern Song (960–1127).”
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1. The excerpt is from Jingci Monastery Gazetteer 淨慈寺志 11.754–756. 2. The record of Xinglian 性蓮 is found in Jingci Monastery Gazetteer 淨慈寺志 9 appendix, 634–637. 3. Wu Huaizhen’s 吳懷真 name appears in Lucille Chia, “Huizhou Natives and the Publishing World of Late Ming China,” 344–345. 4. Huai Tu 懷土, otherwise unknown. 5. The term xiangwang 象罔 is from the “Heaven and Earth” 天地 chapter of the Zhuangzi 莊子, as a synonym for “nothingness.” 6. This excerpt is from Jingci Monastery Gazetteer 淨慈寺志 11.756–762. 7. Ajita 阿逸 is one of sixteen arhats who vowed to stay in this world to ensure the transmission of the correct dharma to Maitreya 彌勒 (and sometimes regarded as an epitaph for Maitreya). 8. “Spirit roosters” 靈雞 are symbolic of good fortune. On the day of an imperial pardon in ancient times, a spirit rooster was set on the pole to show good fortune. See the verse of the Tang poet Li Yi 李益 entitled Dali bi huangdi yu dan feng men gaiyuan jian zhong dashe 大禮畢皇帝御丹鳳門改元建中大赦: “The spirit rooster inspires heavenly amnesty” 靈雞鼓舞承天赦,高翔百尺垂朱幡. 9. An “old awl” (lao guzhui 老古錐) represents an experienced and incisive teacher. DDB, accessed June 23, 2021. 10. A symbol for a means of power to assist one in a crisis. 11. Literally, “to drip the blood,” to drip the blood of the living into the bones of the deceased, to continue the bloodline. Reading li as li 瀝; is not found in Morohashi Tetsuji, ed., Dai Kanwa jiten. 12. Reading bai 百 (hundred) instead of qian 千 (thousand), which makes no sense in this context. 13. The compassionate one descending on the world usually refers to the descent and birth of a Buddha, such as Śākyamuni or Maitreya, but in this context, as revealed below, it is a clear reference to Yanshou as an incarnation of Amitābha. 14. According to Jingci Monastery Gazetteer 淨慈寺志 10:733, Yunquan Xinglian 筠泉 性蓮 was a disciple of Xuelang Hong’en 雪浪洪恩 (mentioned also below). 15. As noted previously, the term used here, tui 蛻, typically refers to the shedding of old feathers, hair, skin, or an old shell, to make way for new growth, hence, skin cast off during molting, exuviae, to pupate, to molt, to slough, to cast off an old skin or shell. 16. As noted previously, Yanfutan jin 閻浮檀金, “a particle of gold from the river running through the groves of the jambu trees,” is a metaphor for the appearance of a Buddha. It refers to a special kind of brilliance. Yanfutan 閻浮檀 is an abbreviation for 閻浮那檀 (Skt. jambū-nada), where jambū 閻浮 is a kind of tree and nada 那 檀 means “river.” According to Hindu tradition, this gold becomes polished by the essence of the juice of the Jambū trees, which is subsequently dried off by soft breezes, resulting in the most refined form of gold. 佛說佛母出生法藏般若波羅 蜜經 (T 228.8.659a18) 四分律 (T 1428.22.958b9) (DDB, accessed March 2020).
Notes 199
When the King of Wuyue fed the monks at Yongming Monastery on the occasion of his birthday, the King asked Master [Yanshou]: “Are there currently any authentic monks here?” The Master replied: “The venerable long-eared one is the response body (nirmāṇa-kāya) of Dīpaṃkara Buddha.” When the King quickly dispatched men to pay reverence, Dīpaṃkara said “Amitābha talks to much,” and passed away in the seated position after a short time. 吳越王以誕⾠飯僧於永明寺。王問師云。今有真僧降否。師⽈。⻑⽿ 和尚乃定光佛應⾝也。王趨駕參禮。定光云。彌陀饒⾆。少選。跏趺 ⽽化。 22. The “gigantic tooth of Qingliang” relates to a legend of the monk Qingliang Chengguan 清涼澄觀, an important figure in the Huayan tradition. According to sources like the Fozu lidai tongdai 佛祖歴代通載 (T 49-2036.634c24-26), after Chengguan passed away, Indian divinities came for the relic of his teeth (此印度文 殊堂神也.東取華嚴菩薩大牙歸國供養. 有旨啟塔. 果失一牙唯三十九存焉). The annotation in the Chuci 楚辞 indicates that hengqian 恆幹 means the human body, and in this context, refers to the bodily śarīra of Tiantai master Zhiyi. I am indebted to Yi Liu for these references. 23. The flower of the tree that Maitreya will sit under when he becomes a Buddha and preaches at the dragon-flower assembly. 24. Mount Luofeng 羅酆山 (or Fengdu 酆都) is the most famous Chinese purgatory, derived from the Daoist tradition. It is the subterranean realm that is home to souls who have acquired merit through moral behavior or meditational techniques, but not of sufficient quantity to enter a celestial abode. 25. Song Jinglian 宋景濂, or Song Lian 宋濂 (1310–1381), was a Chinese historian and politician during the Ming dynasty. He was a literary and political advisor to the dynasty’s founder and one of the principal figures in the Mongol Yuan dynasty Jinhua school of Neo-Confucianism. As a head of the official Bureau of History of the Ming dynasty, Song Lian directed the compilation of the official dynastic history of the
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17. Daci Huanzhong 大慈寰中 (780–862) was a student of Baizhang Huaihai in the Linji lineage. Yuanweng Zhiyan 元翁止巖 is otherwise unknown. Presumably, these are monks whose stone-tablet epitaphs also became lost. 18. There is no mention of this mural elsewhere; details regarding it and the alleged image it contains are uncertain. 19. Xingxiu’s 行修 biography as “the venerable long-eared of the Five Dynasties” 五代 長耳相和尚 is preserved in the Wulin xihu gaoseng shilüe 武林西湖高僧事略 (X 77-526:583b05). 20. Reading Chenna 陳那 as an abbreviation of Jiaochenna 憍陳那. Jiaochenna 憍陳 那, or Kauṇḍinya, was one of the initial five disciples of Gautama Buddha, and the first to attain arhatship. In the “Five Hundred Disciples” chapter of the Lotus Sūtra, he receives a prediction that he will become a Buddha called “Universal Brightness.” 21. Yuanjin Dahuo’s 元津⼤壑 Yongming Daoji 永明道蹟 (X 86-1599:57c) also contains an account of this episode:
200 Notes
林風纖月落,衣露靜琴張。 暗水流花徑,春星帶草堂。 檢書燒燭短,看劍引杯長。 詩罷聞吳詠,扁舟意不忘。 30. The “lotus-treasury” (huazang 華藏) indicates the lotus world or universe of a Buddha, created by their vows and practices. Here it is an indication of the Pure Land of Amitābha. 31. Zhina 支那 is a phonetic rendering for “China.” 32. Xuelang Hong’en 雪浪洪恩 (1545–1608) was a prominent Buddhist master in the Jiangnan area, specializing in Huayan and Yogacara doctrinal studies; see Jiang Wu, Enlightenment in Dispute: The Reinvention of Chan Buddhism in Seventeenth- Century China, 26. 33. Miaofeng refers to Miaofeng Fudeng 妙峰福登 (1540–1612), an eminent master who occupied a leading position in Buddhism during the Ming dynasty; for a full-length study, see Zhang Dewei, “Engaged but Not Entangled: Miaofeng Fudeng (1540–1612) and the Late Ming Court.” 34. Wang Boyu 汪伯玉 (d.u.) was a famous painter in the Ming period. 35. Possibly an allusion to Laozi 老子 66: “The reason why the rivers and seas are able to be Lord of the hundred valley streams is because they excel at being lower than them” 江海之所以能為百谷王者,以其善下之. 36. This excerpt is from Jingci Monastery Gazetteer 淨慈寺志 11.786–789. 37. Icchantika refer to beings incapable of attaining nirvana. In China, they are denoted as those who have severed their good roots and are lacking in faith. What the four
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preceding defunct Yuan dynasty. Natasha Heller, “From Imperial Glory to Buddhist Piety: The Record of a Ming Ritual in Three Contexts,” 74–75, considers the association between Yanshou and Song Lian drawn by Yu Chunxi and Huang Ruheng. 26. See Ming shi 明史 128; Ming shi 明史11 Houfei 后妃: Taizi Xiaoci huanghou 太祖孝 慈皇后. 27. This may be taken as a gloss on Yanshou’s teaching of wanshan tonggui 萬善同歸, literally “myriad good all return,” indicative of the proposition that the performance of myriad good deeds (i.e., Buddhist practices) propels one to inevitably return (or revert) to the ultimate goal of Buddhist teaching: nirvana. 28. The seven possible states of sentient beings: hell dweller; hungry ghost; animal; human; spiritual being; deva, or aśura. 29. The translation is tentative. The “songs of Wu” is probably an allusion to the line of a poem by Du Fu 杜甫, “Evening Banquet at Mr. Zuo’s Villa” 夜宴左氏莊, from Burton Watson, trans., The Selected Poems of Du Fu, 1: Wind tossed trees, a slim moon setting, robes dew-damp, the clear tuning of a qin: hidden waters flow by blossomed pathways, spring stars encircle the thatched hall. We examine books until the candles burn low, admire swords, leisurely sipping wine, then, poems done, listen to the songs of Wu— never will I forget my lone boat travels there.
Notes 201
[W]hen the world-honored one entered Rājagṛha to beg for food, there was a boy by the side of the road playing in the sand. Mistaking the sand as grains of rice, he fervently offered them [to the Tathagata]. The Buddha bestowed a prophecy of future enlightenment upon him, saying: After my final nirvana, this boy will become an Iron Wheel-Turning King in Jambudvīpa. All the rulers in the four great continents will bow down to him. He will collect the relics of my actual body contained in the eight stūpas and create 84,000 stūpas. In the course of a single night, he will dispatch the multitude of supernatural beings off to the four continents [to disperse the stūpas] as offerings. After the Buddha’s final nirvana, the prophecy recorded of old was fulfilled. 世尊入王舍城乞食,路傍有童子戯沙,即以沙為麨,殷勤奉施。 佛授記曰:「此童子,吾滅度後,於閻浮提作[銕 = 鐵]輪王,四大 洲中悉皆臣伏。取吾八塔真身舍利,造八萬四千塔,於一夜役諸鬼 神[徃 = 往]四天下供養。」佛滅度後果符昔記。
Appendix 2 1. The numbered sections in paratheses correspond to the numbered sections of the Chinese text that appears at the end of this section. 2. With very minor, insignificant variations, the Leifeng Pagoda version corresponds to CBETA T 19-1022A, translated by Amoghavajra 不空 (705–774). This also matches
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cruelties refer to is unclear. The Fanyi mingji defines an icchantika as “someone who does not believe in cause and effect, has no shame (for wrongdoings), does not believe in karmic retribution, cannot see the present or the future, is not intimate with spiritual friends, and who does not follow the moral discipline taught by the buddhas” (不 信因果, 無有慚愧, 不信業報, 不見現在及未來世, 不親善友, 不隨諸佛所說教誡) (翻譯名義集 T 2131.54.1084a29). Charles Mueller, DDB, accessed March 2020. 38. A note by the compiler of the Jingci Monastery Gazetteer (淨慈寺志 11:789) appended to the end of the poem states, “The Preface claims [the poem is comprised of] thirty stanzas. The poem currently recorded in the Old Gazetteer of Jingci Monastery has only ten” 按:序稱三十絕,今《淨慈寺舊志》錄詩僅十首。 39. The Yongming daoji 永明道蹟 (Traces of the Path of Yongming), compiled by Dahuo 大壑, with a preface by Tao Wangling 陶望齡, CBETA X 86-1599. 40. The natural void (xingkong 性空), here taken as a description of a geographic feature, has an additional intended meaning, fundamental to Buddhist teaching: the emptiness of a permanent nature in created things. 41. Reference unclear, perhaps an allusion to the five periods of teaching revealed in the course of the Buddha’s life? 42. The image hall refers to a hall containing images or paintings, usually relics and portraits of the temple founder or other illustrious monks or nuns. In this case, a reference to Yanshou’s stūpa pavilion. 43. An allusion to a story about King Aśoka, as related in the Mingzhou Mount King Aśoka Monastery Gazetteer (Mingzhou Ayuwang Shan sizhi 明州阿育王山寺志), fascicle 2: 85–86, allegedly recorded by Zanning 贊寧:
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the translated text that Kukai 空海 (774–835; travel in China, 804–806) had brought to Japan, the oldest existing version (Kamata Shigeo 鎌田茂雄 and Kawamura Kōshō 河村孝照, eds., Daizōkyō zenkaisetsu daijiten 大蔵経全解説大事典, 298c). A lengthier version of the translation attributed to Amoghavajra, with variations, is included in an 1801 edition and found at T 19-1022B. In addition, there is a translation by Dānapāla 施護 in 980, T 19-1023. 3. Translation of this forematter follows Michael Zimmerman, A Buddha Within: The Tathagatagarbhasutra: The Earliest Exposition of the Buddha-Nature Teaching in India. The Tang emperor at the time of translation would have been either Suzong (r. 756– 762) or Daizong (r. 762–779). 4. Daxingshan Monastery allegedly dates from the second year of the taishi era (265) of Emperor Wu in the Western Jin dynasty. During the Sui and Tang dynasties, it was a national sūtra translation venue and the birthplace of Esoteric Buddhism 密教. In the eighth century, Daxingshan Monastery was also the place where foreign monks were often housed, and Indian monks such as Wuwei 無畏, Vajrayana 金剛智, and Bukong 不空 regarded this as their home. From here, Bukong’s esoteric teachings were transmitted via Bukong’s student Huiguo 惠果 to Kukai 空海, who initiated the Esoteric School (Shingon 真言) in Japan. 5. Xiguan (West Gate) Brick Pagoda is another name for Huangfei, later Leifeng, Pagoda. 6. The eight celestial beings that commonly appear at assemblies where the Buddha preaches the Dharma. Devas refer to nonhuman beings who share the godlike characteristics of being more powerful, longer-lived, and, in general, much happier than humans. Nāgas are snake-spirits who reside in the netherworld, believed to live in various parts of the human world, as water-dwellers or cave-dwellers. In Buddhism, they are regarded as followers of Virūpāksa, the Heavenly King who guards the western direction. Yakṣa are the attendants of Vaiśravana, guardian deity of the North, known to protect the righteous, as well as a reference to the Twelve Heavenly Generals who guard the Medicine Buddha. In Buddhism, gandharvas are low-ranking devas, subservient to the Great King Dhṛtarāṣṭra, Guardian of the East. Beings are reborn as gandharvas as a result of performing basic ethical practices (see Janavasabha Sutta, DN.18). Gandharvas are often depicted flying through the air, playing musical instruments. They are also associated with trees and flowers, dwelling in the scents of bark, sap, and blossoms, and as beings of the wilderness that might disturb a meditating monk. Asuras refer to demigods, titans, or antigods (Robert Beer, The Handbook of Tibetan Buddhist Symbols, 246), and one of the six realms of rebirth, resulting from the fruits of both wholesome and unwholesome karma. Garuḍas are golden-winged birds with enormous wingspans. Like the nagas, with whom they are regarded as enemies, garuḍas combine characteristics of animals and divine beings and are considered among the lowest of the devas. Kiṃnaras are benevolent half-human, half-bird creatures. Mahoragas are snake-headed Indian deities, regarded as protectors of the Buddhist law. 7. Dīpankara, the Buddha of the past who foretold the coming of Śākyamuni, was a disciple of Varaprabha, but there seems to be no connection to the Varaprabha referred to here.
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8. The ten kinds of wholesome behavior refer to prohibitions of lay Mahayana practitioners against killing, stealing, adultery, lying, harsh speech, divisive speech, idle speech, greed, anger, and wrong views. The Three Treasures, or Jewels, are the Buddha, Dharma, and Saṃgha. 9. In Buddhist cosmology, Śakra is the ruler of the Trāyastriṃśa heaven (Heaven of the Thirty-three Devas). 10. A creator god in Hinduism, Brahma was appropriated into Buddhism as a protector of Buddhist teachings, and lord over the realm of Brahmaloka, the heavenly realm of rebirth. 11. Commonly regarded as the Four Heavenly Kings who watch over the four directions of the world. 12. Vajrapāṇi (Thunderbolt-Bearer) is an esoteric deity and one of the earliest-appearing bodhisattvas in Mahayana Buddhism, represented along with Manjuśri and Avalokiteśvara as one of the earliest three protective bodhisattvas surrounding the Buddha. As the protector and guide of Śākyamuni, he symbolizes the Buddha’s power. 13. See James B. Apple, “On Avaivartika and Avaivartikacakra in Mahāyāna Buddhist Literature with Special Reference to the Lotus Sūtra” and “The Irreversible Bodhisattva (avaivartika) in the Lotus sūtra and Avaivartikacakrasūtra.” 14. The lowest level of the “hell” realm, with the most suffering, into which the dead who have committed grave misdeeds are reborn. 15. The highest heaven of great bliss. 16. Not contained in the Leifeng Pagoda scroll; appended at the end of T 19-1022A. 17. Chinese: Yiqie rulai xin mimi quanshen sheli baoqie yin tuoluoni jing; Sanskrit: Sarvatathāgatā-adhiṣṭhāna-hṛdaya guhyadhatu karaṇḍa-mudra-dhāraṇī-sūtra. Text of the Leifeng Pagoda scroll; with minor variation equivalent to T 19-1022A. 18. This information is missing in the Leifeng Pagoda dhāraṇī scroll and is supplied from T 19-1022A. 19. The logograph 佛 (Buddha) does not appear in T 19-1022A; it appears in T 19-1022B, but without 薄伽梵 (bhagavan). 20. T 19-1022A has 一切 rather than 一一. 21. There are some variances in this section when compared to T 19-1022A, largely inconsequential. 22. From the entry on Leifeng in 雷峰 in the Chunyou Lin’an Gazetteer 淳祐臨安志 8, compiled 1241–1252, https://ctext.org/library.pl?if=gb&file=107689&page=203#雷 峰. Passage added in brackets is contained in Chunyou Lin’an Gazetteer, but not in the Chijian Jingci Monastery Gazetteer. 23. This section is from Chijian Jingci Monastery Gazetteer 敕建淨慈寺志 13:909–913. Entries from the West Lake Gazetteer (Xihu zhi 西湖志) and A Brief Introduction to the Scenic Spots on West Lake (Hushan genglan 湖山便覽) at the end of the section in the Gazetteer are largely repetitive of information already cited or are concerned with etymological analysis not pertinent to my analysis, and are not all included in the translation here. 24. Xianchun Lin’an Gazetteer 咸淳臨安志, compiled in 1268 by Qian Shuoyou 潛說友 (1216–1277), is the qualitatively best of all local gazetteers (difangzhi 地方志)
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from the Song period. It incorporated and expanded upon two older chronicles, the Qiandao Lin’an zhi 乾道臨安志 (compiled in 1169) and the Chunyou Lin’an zhi 淳祐臨安志. See the entry by Ulrich Theobald, An Encyclopaedia on Chinese History, Literature and Art. 25. A Hundred Songs about West Lake (Xihu baiyong 西湖百詠) is a famous poetry collection by Guo Xiangzheng 郭祥正 (1035–1113), https://ctext.org/wiki. pl?if=gb&res=209074. I am unable to find a suitable reference, but a Lin Heqing Bridge 林和靖橋 is mentioned at 25. 26. Lin Heqing 林和靖 (a.k.a. Lin Bu 林逋, 967–1028) was a famous poet in the Northern Song dynasty who lived as a recluse on West Lake for much of his later life. The title of the poem is listed in Xianchun Lin’an Gazetteer 咸淳臨安志 96.12; https://ctext. org/wiki.pl?if=gb&chapter=260320 and refers to the full title, “Song Composed While Gazing at the Mountains to the North on a Medicinal Journey to Central Peak” 中峰行藥却望北山因而成咏. A copy of the poem is found in The Complete Poems of Gentleman Lin Heqing of the Song Dynasty 宋林和靖先生詩集, https://ctext.org/ library.pl?if=gb&file=129399&page=53. 27. The compilation date of the Former Gazetteer of Jingci Monastery 淨慈寺舊志 appears to have been ca. 1830–1860. 28. A dark swan is a metaphor for a recluse who avoids the world to live in secret, a talented person with lofty ideals. A fog leopard is the name of a text appearing in Leinü zhuan (Biographies of Exemplary Women) 2 and refers to a black leopard in Nanshan that can avoid external dangers by not eating for seven consecutive days, existing on mist (fog) and air alone. 29. Xihe 西河 (West River) is a pseudonym of Mao Qiling 毛奇齡 (1623–1716), a scholar and philologist of the early Qing dynasty. Initially, he refused to serve the Qing, but eventually gave allegiance to Emperor Kangxi and was appointed to the compilation of the official history of the Ming dynasty (Ming shi 明史). See Benjamin A. Elman, From Philosophy to Philology: Intellectual and Social Aspects of Change in Late Imperial China. Xihe’s Collected Works 西河集 are contained in Siku Quanshu 四庫全書. 30. The Family of Gua 家人卦 is one of the sixty-four hexagrams of the Yi jing 易經 (Classic of Changes), no. 37. 31. Record of Studies 學記 is a section of the Li ji 禮記 (Record of Rites), https://ctext.org/ liji/xue-ji/zh. 32. Sima Wen 司馬温 is more commonly known as Sima Guang 司馬光 (1019–1086), the famous politician and historian of the Northern Song dynasty who served as prime minister. Among his works are the Zizhi tongjian 資治通鑑 (Comprehensive Mirror in Aid of Governance), a manual on political governance that occupies an important place in Chinese history. 33. The Wulin yishi 武林遺事 is otherwise referred to as the Wulin zhang gucong 武林掌古叢. 34. Xianchun Lin’an Gazetteer 咸淳臨安志, compiled in 1268 by Qian Shuoyou 潛說友 (1216–1277); see above. 35. This entry is from Chijian Jingci Monastery Gazetteer 敕建淨慈寺志 13:917–919.
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36. Xihu youlan zhi 西湖遊覽志 is a local gazetteer on West Lake. Both it and Xihu youlan zhiyu 西湖游覽志餘 (西湖遊覽志餘), also called Xizhu zhiyu 西湖志餘, a collection of further information on the lake and the city of Hangzhou, including countless stories and tales, were written by Tian Rucheng 田汝成 (1503–1557), first printed in 1547. 37. A Brief Introduction to the Scenic Spots on West Lake (Hushan genglan 湖山便覽), 12 fascicles, was compiled by the Zhao brothers, Zhao Hao 翟灝 and Zhao Han 翟瀚, during the Qianlong period of the Qing dynasty, recording 1,016 scenic spots on West Lake. 38. The same statements appear in the Former Gazetteer of Jingci Monastery 淨慈寺舊志, translated above. 39. Chen Renxi 陳仁錫 (1581–1636) was a political figure in the Ming dynasty. 40. The identity of Wen Qixiang 聞起祥 is unknown. 41. Li Liufang 李流芳 (1575–1629) was a late Ming dynasty painter. 42. Reading she 蛇 “snake” for meng 虻 “horsefly.” 43. This excerpt is from Chijian Jingci Monastery Gazetteer 敕建淨慈寺志 13:919–920. The same entry is found in Qian Shouyou 潛說友, ed., Xianchun Lin’an zhi 82.125 (Lin’an Gazetteer Compiled in the Xianchun Era)《咸淳臨安志》卷八十二. https://ctext.org/wiki.pl?if=en&chapter=238137.
A Tale of Two Stūpas: Diverging Paths in the Revival of Buddhism in China Albert Welter https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780197606636.001.0001 Published: 2022
Online ISBN: 9780197606667
Print ISBN: 9780197606636
END MATTER
Bibliography
Subject: Buddhism
Abbreviations CBETA Chinese Buddhist Electronic Text Association電子佛典集成. http://www.cbeta.org. CDL Jingde Chuandeng lu CTEXT China Text Project 中國哲學書電子化計劃 https://ctext.org. 2002–2022. Donald Sturgeon. “Chinese Text Project: A Dynamic Digital Library of Premodern Chinese.” Digital Scholarship in the Humanities, 2019. DDB Digital Dictionary of Buddhism 電子佛教辭典. A. Charles Muller, editor. www.buddhism-dict.net. LBWL Lebang Wenlei LJW Longshu Jingtu wen SGSZ Song Gaoseng zhuan T T = Taishō shinshū daizōkyō 大正新脩大藏經 [Buddhist Canon Compiled during the Taishō Era (1912–1926)]. 100 vols. Takakusu Junjirō 高楠順次郎 and Watanabe Kaigyoku 渡邊海旭 et al., eds. Tōkyō: Taishō Issaikyō Kankōkai, 1924–1934. Digitized in CBETA (v. 5.2) and SAT Daizōkyō Text Database (http://21dzk.l.u-Tōkyō.ac.jp/SAT/satdb2015.php).
Primary Sources (Listed by Title) [Note: CBETA T (Taishō Canon) references are listed as volume number followed by text number.] Ayuwang zhuan 阿育王傳 (Aśokavadana). An Faqin 安法欽. Trans. CBETA T 50–2042. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Ayuwang zhuan 阿育王傳 (Aśokavadana). Sengqiepoluo 僧伽婆羅 (Saṃghabhara). Trans. CBETA T 50–2043. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Ba daling taminghao jing 八大靈塔名號經. Faxian 法賢. Trans. CBETA T 32–1685. WorldCat Boyi zhi 博異志. Zheng Huangu 鄭還古. ctext.org. 中國哲學書電子化計劃. Base text unknown. https://ctext.org/wiki.pl? if=gb&res=854160 WorldCat Chijian jingci si zhi 敕建淨慈寺志. See Jingci Monastery Gazetteer. Chunyou Linʼan Gazetteer 淳祐臨安志. Ruan Yuan 阮元. ctext.org. 中國哲學書電子化計劃 Harvard Yenching Library edition (1881). https://ctext.org/library.pl?if=gb&res=89962 Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC p. 208
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Nan-Song Qingyuan xiuchuangji yibei 南宋慶元修創記殘碑. Huaren baike 華人百科 https://www.itsfun.com.tw/南宋慶元修創 記殘碑/wiki-4496521-2828811 Seng shilue 僧史略. Zanning 贊寧. CBETA T 54-2126. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat
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Nanping Jingci si zhi 南屏淨慈寺志.Yuanjin Dahuo 元津⼤壑. Peking University Library edition. ctext.org. 中國哲學書電子化計 劃 https://ctext.org/library.pl?if=gb&res=2384 Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC
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Xizhu zhiyu 西湖志餘. See Xihu youlan zhiyu. Xin wudai shi 新五代史 (New History of the Five Dynasties). Ouyang Xiuʼs 歐陽修. Richard L. Davis, trans. Historical Records of the Five Dynasties. New York: Columbia University Press, 2004. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat COPAC Xiyu ji 西域記. Xuanzang 玄奘. CBETA T 51-2087. Google Scholar Google Preview WorldCat
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Yiqie rulai xin mimi quanshen sheli baoqie yin tuoluoni jing 一切如来心秘密全身舍利寶篋印陀羅尼経 (Sanskrit: Sarvatathāgatā-adhiṣṭhāna-hṛdaya guhyadhatu karaṇḍa-mudra-dhāraṇī-sūtra). Bukong 不空 (Amoghavajra). Trans. CBETA T 19–1022A. Yiqie rulai xin mimi quanshen sheli baoqie yin tuoluoni jing 一切如来心秘密全身舍利寶篋印陀羅尼経 (Sanskrit: Sarvatathāgatā-adhiṣṭhāna-hṛdaya guhyadhatu karaṇḍa-mudra-dhāraṇī-sūtra). Bukong 不空 (Amogavajra). Trans. CBETA T 19– 1022B. p. 210
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A Tale of Two Stūpas: Diverging Paths in the Revival of Buddhism in China Albert Welter https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780197606636.001.0001 Published: 2022
Online ISBN: 9780197606667
Print ISBN: 9780197606636
END MATTER
Index
Subject: Buddhism
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Published: October 2022
223Index For the bene t of digital users, indexed terms that span two pages (e.g., 52–53) may, on occasion, appear on only one of those pages. Tables and gures are indicated by t and f following the page number Amitābha 6–71019–2052–5356–5761–626770–7172113–14131–32133135141143144171n.47181nn.18– 19182n.34189–90n.34198n.13199n.21200n.30 Amoghavajra (Bukong) 78171n.47188n.19202n.4 as translator of The Precious Chest Seal Dhāraṇi Sūtra 77149175n.29191n.50201–2n.2 anti-Buddhist 4250–5191115–18 arhat 6–712–1452–5386–87100121–23130131152162170–71nn.41–42198n.7199n.20 30186n.1187n.5189n.29191n.47201n.43 Aśoka Monastery 4–510–1167–69121126f201n.43 Aśoka pagoda 79–10189–90n.34 Aśoka stupa 4–6910–1119–2027–284467–69100101– 2103104106138166n.9167n.11169n.27169n.28174n.22189–90n.34 Avalokitêśvara 1051–52129131133135–36167n.11168–69n.22203n.12 Baba, Norihisa 77–78169n.26171n.47188n.16188nn.19–20188n.22189–90n.34190n.36191n.42 Bai Juyi 94130–31193n.72 Bingenheimer, Marcus 106–7168–69n.22186n.88195n.89 borderland complex 1617–19171n.48172n.59172–73nn.62–63 Buddha-land (foguo) 5910–121485112–13121130 Buddhism, destruction/suppression of 114–21196n.11196n.15 dynamics of Buddhism in China 27–820 parameters of Buddhist revival 20119120121–25132 pattern of revival 115117119130 reasons for destruction/suppression 115 Buddhist junzi (famen junzi) 41–4253176–77n.54192n.64 Buddhist mountains, four sacred 7–810124–25 cakravartin 427116 Chan Buddhism 12–1323174n.16179n.3182n.41195n.7200n.32 Chen, Jinhua 7–817–18166n.7168–69nn.20–22172n.59173n.63 Chengguan (Huayan master) 88–89141172n.57199n.22 Cultural Revolution era destruction of Buddhism 6567–69108111113–14118120 Dahuo 4656–5759–6061–6364–657172117–18133134136–37145–47182n.34184n.62199n.21201n.39 See also Yuanjin Dahuo Daoxuan 4–5166–67n.10 Daoyuan 2024–2534–363744–4547–48 Daxing (Master) 66185–86n.83 p. 224
denglu (lamp records)
24–2537–38
Deng Xiaoping, and relaxation of Chinese Communist Party’s religious policies 65100108128 Deshao (Tiantai) 262735–3649–50174n.13174n.18 Dhāraṇī 159–11202177–7879–8279f83–84858687–9091103112–13149–59150f169nn.26– 27188n.16188n.18188n.22190–91n.38192nn.52–53203n.17203n.18 Dharma 5–6911–14161825–26293031323436–3738–3942–4446–4752–535459–6081–8386–87112– 13114–15121127–28131132134142145151–52153–54156165– 66n.2167n.11167n.14168n.17169n.26185n.82186n.1187n.5189n.28190nn.35–36190– 91n.38192n.58198n.7202n.6203n.8 reimagined 24–25333844–45 Dōki 79–8081 Eichman, Jennifer 55–56181n.18181n.24182n.25182n.27182n.31182n.32182n.37182n.38 Eighteen Arhats 6–714 Eightfold Path tripartite structure 14–1516–1820171–72nn.50–51172n.58172n.60 Eisai (Yōsai) 3–714–1516–18171–72nn.50–51172n.58172n.60 esoteric 51587–88131172n.51173nn.8–9191nn.50–51192n.54202n.4203n.12
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Aśoka 4–59–1119–2027–2879–8185112–13116166n.8167n.11169–70nn.29–
exoteric and esoteric Buddhist matrix 2487–8990103112–13 Faure, Bernard 14165–66n.2166nn.6–7168–69n.22171n.46 Feilaifeng (The Peak That Came Flying [from India]) 5–611–1213149495121–23130– 31167n.15167n.16170nn.32–34170nn.35–36170–71nn.41–42171n.44187n.7195n.5 Feng Dao 84191n.41 Feng Menglong 9596 Fong, Wen 13170n.38170n.39 gaoseng zhuan (Biographies of Eminent Monks) 13163738–3946–474853– 54168n.17170n.40173n.9174n.15179n.2192n.55192n.61 Gernet, Jacques 57129–30173n.4183nn.49–51183n.55197n.28197n.29 gong’an (Kōan) collections 37–38 Guangquan vii–viii111–12 Hōkyōinkyō- ki (Record of the Precious Chest Seat Sūtra) 79–80 Huang Ruheng 52–535456–576061–636472117–18133134135–38183n.46184n.68199–200nn.25–26 Huang, Shih-Shan Susan 84–85188n.14 Huayan jing (Avataṃsaka Sūtra) 5–69747677–7887–89100103112–13144161162 Huayan school 33 Huijiao 13 Huili 11131170n.33 Huiyuan, defender of Buddhist clergy 114–15168n.17195n.6 imperial policies toward Buddhism 115–16 jataka 5–6 Ji Gong (Chan Master Daoji) 6–7168n.17 Jingci Monastery 320–2126–2746485253–545556–575859–6263657071727492–9493f97100109– 11110f112113–14127137145149159–64168n.17170n.41182n.34183n.59184n.62184n.63184nn.65– 66185n.78185n.79185n.81186n.86187n.6187n.11188nn.18–19193nn.68– 69194n.81194n.82198n.1198n.2198n.6198n.14200n.36201n.38203nn.22–23204n.27205n.38205n.43 p. 225
Jingde Chuandeng lu (Record of the Transmission of the Lamp Compiled in the Jingde Era)
2028–
293647–48 Jixiang Zhuyun 5459181n.23186n.86 Kṣitigarbha 1055139 Kuaiji Mao Stūpa 4–59–10 Kurz, Johannes L. 37176n.52 Lebang Wenlei (Topical Anthology of the Land of Bliss) 5051–52180n.12180n.13 Leifeng Pagoda 1–23519–202173–747781f83–8487–8991–9793f98f102f104–5106–7112–13120126149159– 63167n.15187n.11188n.14189–90n.34190–91n.38193n.71194n.83201–2n.2202n.5203n.16203n.18203n.22 Buddhist vs. Confucian and Daoist landmarks 94 contents of modern reconstructed pagoda 104–5 contrast with Yongming Stūpa 1–221104–5111112120121126130132 design for reconstruction of 100–1 destruction and reconstruction of 97–102103106117–18120192–93n.66194n.85 hidden history of 73–91103186n.1 as Huangfei Pagoda 74–77102103112–13160162163–64 Lu Xun’s comments on 99–100103194n.84 natural beauty of surroundings 9495 and the New Culture Movement 99–60194n.84 periods in the history of 102–3 stakeholders 105194n.87 as tourist site 100101–2104–5106–7 Lingyin Monastery vii–viii311–1227–2842–4349t505871–7293–94108–9111–12121–24127130– 31132168n.17183n.56195n.5 Linji Chan 6–737–3858199n.17 Liu Sahe 4–5167n.11 Liuhe Pagoda 92100111143 Longshu Jingtu wen (Writings from Longshu on the Pure Land) 50–535864180n.11 Lopéz, Antonio Mezcua 11–1295170n.32187n.7
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Haichao Monastery 3127185n.82185–86n.83
Lotus Sūtra 1129–314851–5261–62196n.20203n.13 Ma Yifu 65–66185n.82 Maitreya 6–71012–1452–53116121–25124f167n.16171n.44197n.23197n.24198n.7199n.23 Mañjuśri 1055131–32168–69n.22203n.12 Mazu Daoyi 30–31 meditation 24–252728–2930–3134–3946–474851–5260–6182–83132133135– 36139141142173n.8192n.54197n.24 mesocosm or “magical structural milieu,” 10–1185 mind 9–101117–182429–313334–3842–4360–61667780–818687–89112–13135–36137–38139147149– 59173n.8184n.71192n.54192n.57 mind to mind transmission 17–18 monastery administration 39–40 Mus, Paul 85169n.29191n.47 myriad good deeds (wanshan) 273246–4749t51–5267135–36174n.21180n.17186n.85200n.27 myriad practices (wanxing) 36–37 Naitō hypothesis 22–23173n.1 Nichols, Brian J. 121–23197n.22197n.31 Ouyang Xiu 429095108186–87n.4195n.1196n.10 Panjiao (doctrinal classi cation) 33175n.38 pilgrimage 3–45–615–1753–5457–58121–23124–25130168–69n.22171n.49172n.52 p. 226
Precious Chest Seal Dhāraṇī Sūtra
159–11202177–7879–8279f83–8485–9091103112–13149–59169n.29
great rewards accruing from 87 outline of contents 85–87 Qian Chu (King Zhongyi) 5–69–1119–202627–2838–39444549–50647174–76777879–8081–8283– 848587–919296100101–2103104112–13120121–23126134149163– 64169n.27174n.16174n.18180n.10187n.5187n.7189–90n.34190–91n.38191n.48 emulation of Aśoka and casting of Aśoka style stūpas 5–6100101–2103104 Postscript to the Huayan Sūtra 74 on the three teachings 2887–88 Qian Liu (King Wusu) 132589–90131174n.13192n.58 Qian Shouyou 76205n.43 Qian Yuanguan (King Wenmu) 48130–31 Qian Zuo 11–12 Qici 6–714167n.16 Qin Shihuangdi 4–5120166n.9196n.20 qinggui (pure rules) 24–2543–44179n.81179n.82 Qisong 42–4393–94178–79n.78 regional/geographic approach to Chinese Buddhism 8–9 Releasing life (fangsheng) 5657–5861–63183n.52 relic veneration 3–757–58165–66n.2187n.5 Ricci, Mateo 57–58181n.18183n.50 Ritzinger, Justin 124–25186n.88197n.23197n.24 Śākyamuni 5–691112–1427–28293436–3774104121–23151156165n.1172n.52186n.87198n.13202n.7203n.12 Samantabhadra 1051–5278133–34135–36 śarīra 3–4561–62140 Dharma-body 9–10 physical body 199n.22 Seng shilüe (Topical Compendium of the Buddhist Clergy) 2024–2528–2938–3943–45166n.9 Sharf, Robert 21173n.68186n.88191n.47191n.51 Shen, Hsueh-Man 61–6281–82167n.13167n.14185n.75189n.26189n.30 Shenhui 31 Sørensen, Henrik 87–88191nn.50–51 special transmission 3437–38174n.19179n.1192n.56 separate practice outside the teaching 37–3847–48 Su Shi 93–94193n.75 Sudhana (Shancai) 5–612–14167n.15
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monastic rules (Vinaya) 2428–2946–475587–88132182n.38197n.36
Tackett, Nicholas 22–23 Taixu 65–6671124–25185n.82185–86n.83 Tang-Song transformation 22–2345 Tao Wangling 56–575861–63134137183n.45201n.39 Tendai 14–1517–18171n.48171n.49174n.13 Ti/yong (essence/function) 31 Tiantai, Mount 1316–1725–2627–284849–5049t51–5267–69186n.84 Tiantai School 25–2630–313351–52132 Tianzhu monasteries Lower Tianzhu, Fajing (Dharma Mirror) Monastery 11–12108–9112131–32197n.34 Middle Tianzhu, Fajing (Dharma Purity) Chan Monastery 11–12108–9112131–32 Upper Tianzhu, Faxi (Dharma Joy) Monastery 20108–9112131132 Vajrapāṇi Bodhisattva 8687151–52153–54203n.12 Vermeersch, Sem 3–4166n.7 “vertical” analysis methodology 2 p. 227
Wang, Eugene
73186n.1
Wen (literary/cultural) revival 42 West Lake 327–2849t53–545871737492–9393f95969799100–2101f104105106–7108109–74112–13117– 18120121–23162–63170n.41194n.79195n.1203n.23204nn.25–26205n.36205n.37 White Snake, legend of 2091–979899–100101–2103–5111113 Wu, Jiang 114–15119169n.24169n.28182n.41195n.7200n.32 Wuyue 58–1011–12131419–2024–2934–3738–39444546–4748–5149t565964717475–7678– 7980848587–9192100–2103104112–14121–23126130– 31133135145149160161162163164167n.11169n.28173n.10174n.11174n.13176n.45179n.5179– 80n.7181n.18186n.1187n.7187–88n.12189n.27189–90nn.34–35190–91n.38192n.58194n.86199n.21 and the Five Dynasties 24–2550–517487–8891112–13174n.11 printing culture 584–85100–1 strategy for dealing with northern dynasties 89–90 Xi Jinping 108125 Xingci (Master) 67186n.84 Xuanzang 13156677–7882176n.51 Xuedou Monastery 49t5052123–25124f185–86n.83197n.23 Yang, Fenggang, and CCP policies toward religion 128–29 Yang Yi 34–3747–48176n.44176nn.49–50176n.53179n.3 Yang, Zhaohua 87–88192n.53 Yongming Daoji (Traces of the Path of Yongming) 56–5761–62182n.34184n.62185n.76199n.21201n.39 Yongming Monastery 2627–2849t5053–5458–5971100113–14134181n.21199n.21 Yongming Stūpa 1–25–6754113–14 contemporary revival of 2065–7071–72121–23 discovery of 59–61100117–18133 events in the history of 64–65 model for Buddhist revival 72121–23130 movement of 5859–606571 periods in the history of 71–72 and the revival of Buddhism in the Hangzhou region 62–63126–27 shape of 5–6 Yongming Yanshou 5–719–2024–25262935–3644–4546–5355–567187–88113– 14133139171n.47174n.13174n.19174n.20175n.24175n.28175n.32176n.45179n.1180n.10181n.18181n.19192n.5319 2nn.56–57 as Amitābha Buddha 6–719–204152–536271–72113–14133135 apotheosis of 6–753 biography of 49–50144 as Chan patriarch 5971–72 conversion from Chan to Pure Land 51–5371–72 as promoter of blessings (xingfu) 46–4771–72 as Pure Land Patriarch 6–75267
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translocation (translocality) 7–810–111718–20170n.31171n.48
Record of Personal Practices (Zixing lu) 87–88 worship of his Stupa 19–2052–5358–596465–7071–72134139 Yu Chunxi 52–53545556–5860–6364–6572117–18133–35139–44181n.18184n.67184n.70199–200n.25 Yuan Hongdao 58183n.57 Yuanjin Dahuo 56–5771182n.34184n.62199n.21 Yunqi Zhuhong 55–5662–63134139181n.18182n.38184n.71 yulu (dialogue records) 24–2537–38 Zanning 132024–2635–363738–3940–4142–4546–4887–88166n.9173n.9177n.60177n.62177– 78n.66178n.68179–80n.7192n.64201n.43 p. 228
Zen
14–151617–1836165–66n.2171n.45171n.50172n.60174n.13174n.20182n.38
Zhang, Qing 6–7167n.15167n.16 Zhaoqing Monastery 3127 Zhuhong 55–5662–63134137139181n.18182nn.38–39184n.71 See also Yunqi Zhuhong zong (implicit truth) 2930–3233 Zongjing lu (Record of the Source-Mirror) 142024–2526–2728–293344–4549t51–52586088– 89133139142145174n.19174n.20175n.24175n.28175n.32176n.45179n.1180n.10186n.85192nn.56–57 Zongmi 35–36 Zutang ji (Patriarch’s Hall Anthology) 34–35
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Zhiyi 25–2651–5267–69141199n.22