Buddhism in the Sung 9780824843649

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Buddhism in the Sung

Kuroda Institute Studies in East Asian Buddhism Studies in Chan and Hua-yen Robert M. Gimello and Peter N. Gregory, editors Dögen Studies William R. LaFleur, editor The Northern School and the Formation of Early Chan Buddhism John R. McRae Traditions of Meditation in Chinese Buddhism Peter N. Gregory, editor Sudden and Gradual: Approaches to Enlightenment in Chinese Thought Peter N. Gregory, editor Buddhist Hermeneutics Donald S. Lopez, Jr., editor Paths to Liberation: The Marga and Its Transformations in Buddhist Thought Robert E. Buswell, Jr. and Robert M. Gimello, editors Sötö Zen in Medieval Japan William M. Bodiford The Scripture on the Ten Kings and the Making of Purgatory in Medieval Chinese Buddhism Stephen F. Teiser The Eminent Monk: Buddhist Ideals in Medieval Chinese Hagiography John Kieschnick Re-Visioning "Kamakura" Buddhism Richard K. Payne, editor Original Enlightenment and the Transformation of Medieval Japanese Buddhism Jacqueline I. Stone

S T U D I E S IN EAST A S I A N B U D D H I S M 13

Buddhism in the Sung EDITED

BY

Peter N. Gregory and Daniel A. Getz, Jr.

A KURODA INSTITUTE BOOK University of Hawai'i Press Honolulu

© 1999 Kuroda Institute All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America Paperback edition 2002 02 03 04 05 06 07

5 4 3 2 1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Buddhism in the Sung / edited by Peter N. Gregory and Daniel A. Getz, Jr. p. cm. — (Studies in East Asian buddhism ; 13) "A Kuroda Institute book." Includes index. ISBN 0-8248-2155-6 ISBN 0-8248-2681-7 (pbk) 1. Buddhism—China—History—960-1644. 1945-

II. Getz, Daniel Aaron.

I. Gregory, Peter N., III. Series.

BQ640.B83 2000 294.3'0951 '09021—dc21

99-34972 CIP

The Kuroda Institute for the Study of Buddhism and Human Values is a nonprofit, educational corporation founded in 1976. One of its primary objectives is to promote scholarship on the historical, philosophical, and cultural ramifications of Buddhism. In association with the University of Hawai'i Press, the Institute also publishes Classics in East Asian Buddhism, a series devoted to the translation of significant texts in the East Asian Buddhist tradition. University of Hawai'i Press books are printed on acid-free paper and meet the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Council on Library Resources.

Designed by Kenneth Miyamoto Printed by The Maple-Vail Book Manufacturing Group www.uhpress.hawaii.edu

Contents

vn

Acknowledgments Abbreviations and Conventions

IX

The Vitality of Buddhism in the Sung Peter N. Gregory

CHAPTER 1

A Buddhist Response to the Confucian Revival: Tsan-ning and the Debate over Wen in the Early Sung Albert Welter

21

3 Ko-wu or Kung-an? Practice, Realization, and Teaching in the Thought of Chang Chiu-ch'eng Ari Borrell

62

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER

Silent Illumination, Kung-an Introspection, and the Competition for Lay Patronage in Sung Dynasty Chan Morten Schlatter

109

Images of Women in Chan Buddhist Literature of the Sung Period Ding-hwa E. Hsieh

148

Miao-tao and Her Teacher Ta-hui Miriam Levering

188

7 Sung Controversies Concerning the "Separate Transmission" of Chan T. Griffith Foulk

220

8 Elite and Clergy in Northern Sung Hang-chou: A Convergence of Interest Chi-chiang Huang

295

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER

5

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER

CHAPTER

V

vi

Contents Protocols of Power: Tz'u-yün (964-1032) and T'ien-t'ai Lay Buddhist in the Sung Daniel B. Stevenson

CHAPTER 9

Tsun-shih Ritual 340

10 Chih-li (960-1028) and the Crisis of T'ien-t'ai Buddhism in the Early Sung Chi-wah Chan

409

What Is the Buddha Looking At? The Importance of Intersubjectivity in the T'ien-t'ai Tradition as Understood by Chih-li Brook Ziporyn

442

CHAPTER

CHAPTER 1 1

T'ien-t'ai Pure Land Societies and the Creation of the Pure Land Patriarchate

CHAPTER 1 2

Daniel A. Getz, Jr.

477

From Local History to Universal History: The Construction of the Sung T'ien-t'ai Lineage

CHAPTER 1 3

Koichi Shinohara Glossary of Names Glossary of Terms Glossary of Texts Contributors Index

524 577 588 598 605 607

Acknowledgments

grew out of the conference "Buddhism in the Sung" hosted by the University of Illinois in April 1996. We would like to begin by gratefully acknowledging the generous support provided by offices and agencies at the University of Illinois. The conference was made possible by grants from the Center for East Asian and Pacific Studies and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Illinois, with some incidental funding provided by the Kuroda Institute for the Study of Buddhism and Human Values. The Research Board of University of Illinois provided further support in the form of a publication subsidy and an assistantship to help with manuscript preparation. The book owes a substantial debt to participants in the conference who served as discussants or whose papers are not represented in this volume: Carl Bielefeldt, Robert E. Buswell, Jr., Peter Bol, Patricia B. Ebrey, Robert Gimello, Ellen Neskar, Barend ter Haar, and Chun-fang Yii. Their lively engagement in the conference discussion and intellectual interaction contributed much to the final shape of the papers that became chapters in this book. The book was also improved by the perceptive and helpful comments and suggestions offered by the two reviewers of the manuscript, Robert Sharf and Richard von Glahn. We would hereby like to thank them one and all. Last but not least, we would like to thank Jan Klumph for her assistance with the conference logistics and manuscript preparation, Susan Stone for her copyediting labors, Wang Yi for her help preparing the glossaries, James Bier for the map of Chekiang, and Barbara Roos for the index. T H I S VOLUME

vii

Abbreviations and

T H E FOLLOWING

HTC SKCS SPPY SPTK Sung shih T

Conventions

abbreviations have been used throughout the book:

Hsu tsang ching, 150-volume reprint of Dainippon zoku zôkyô (Taipei: Shin-wen-feng, n.d.) Ssu-k'u ch'uan-shu (Taipei: Commercial Press, 1983) Ssu-pu pei-yao, revised edition (Taipei: Chung Hwa Book Co., 1965-1966) Ssu-pu ts'ung-k'an (Shanghai: Commercial Press, 1919— 1936) Sung shih (Peking: Chung-hua shu-chu, 1974) Taishô shinshu. daizôkyô, edited by Takakusu Junjirò and Watanabe Kaigyoku (Tokyo: Taishô issaikyò kankòkai, 1924-1932)

Taishô and Hsu tsang ching references are cited by volume, page number, page register, and (where appropriate) line numbers. Depending on the nature of the text or collection, other Chinese sources are cited by either volume or fascicle (chuan), page number, and page register.

ix

Chapter 1

The Vitality of Buddhism in the Sung PETER N . GREGORY

(960-1279) has long been recognized as a major watershed in Chinese history. In addition to representing a momentous transition in the structure of Chinese society, the Sung was also a period of great cultural flowering in literature, art, and thought. In recent years a series of monographs have been published on Sung society, government, literature, Confucian thought, and popular religion. Yet the contribution of Buddhism to Sung social and cultural life has been little studied. Indeed, the study of Buddhism during the Sung has lagged far behind that of other periods in Chinese history —especially the Six Dynasties (222-589), the Sui (581-617), and the Tang (618-907), but to a lesser extent the Ming (1368-1644) as well. This book is the first extended scholarly treatment of Buddhism in the Sung to be published in a Western language. The studies presented here, however, do not pretend to offer a complete or even representative picture of Buddhism in the Sung. They focus largely on elite figures, elite traditions, and interactions among Buddhists and literati, although some touch on ways in which elite traditions both responded to and helped shape more popular forms of lay practice and piety. All of the chapters in one way or another deal with the two most important traditions within Sung Buddhism: Chan and T'ien-t'ai. Whereas most previous discussions of Buddhism in the Sung have tended to concentrate on Chan, the present volume is notable for giving T'ien-t'ai its just due. Moreover, whereas previous Western-language treatments of T'ien-t'ai have focused largely on doctrinal developments in the Sui and T'ang, the studies included in this volume present a broader and more contextualized picture of the tradition as it developed in the Sung. Various chapters locate T'ien-t'ai within its social context by discussing official patronage, literati involvement, the role of public and private ritual, the develT H E SUNG DYNASTY

1

2

Peter N. Gregory

opment of Pure Land societies, and the construction of an orthodox history of patriarchs. Others clarify the parameters and inner dynamics of the intellectual controversies that engaged the minds of some of the major T'ien-t'ai thinkers throughout the Sung. Still others deal with the complex polemical and sectarian dynamics that characterized the relationship between T'ien-t'ai and Ch'an. In various ways the chapters dealing with Ch'an also present a more contextualized understanding of that tradition by exploring its relationship with literati culture, by investigating the polemical framework of its historiography, and by examining its images of women. Despite the circumscribed scope of this book, the material it presents amply reveals the vitality of Buddhism in the Sung as well its embeddedness in the social and intellectual life of the time. Indeed, if its various chapters add up to an argument, it is that the study of Sung culture cannot be complete without a reconsideration of the contribution of Buddhism. One of the reasons for the dearth of research on Buddhism in the Sung has undoubtedly been the tenacity of the opinion that Buddhism during that period was in a state of decline—that the Sung, in fact, marked the beginning of a long and inexorable decline of Buddhism in China that extended down through the remainder of the imperial era. The growing body of new research, however, suggests that, far from signaling a decline, the Sung was a period of great efflorescence in Buddhism and that, if any period deserves the epithet of the "golden age" of Buddhism, the Sung is the most likely candidate. It is the hope of the contributors to this volume that the studies presented will prove that the stereotype of decline need no longer be taken seriously. The assumptions on which such a judgment could be sustained have become increasingly problematic. Indeed, the whole discourse of "decline" begs complicated definitional questions that bear on how scholars conceive history. If "decline" is meant in quantitative terms—number of monks, number of monasteries, levels of patronage, number of texts written, and so forth-—then the Sung was anything but a period of decline. If, rather, "decline" is understood in more qualitative terms, then we are entering a discursive realm in which historical judgment all too easily shades into moral judgment. Within this framework, moreover, it is often held that the very prosperity of Sung Buddhism in quantitative terms signaled its spiritual decline in qualitative terms. But such a judgment is apt to rest more on the moral or religious agenda that the histo-

Vitality of Buddhism in the Sung

3

rian brings to his or her study than on the material he or she studies. It also presumes a dichotomy between spiritual and material values that would have been rejected by many Sung Buddhists. The evolution of the view of Sung Buddhist decline is too complex to trace here, but one of its roots is to be found in the rhetoric of Sung Buddhism itself, especially as elaborated by members of the Ch'an tradition. Another is to be found in the sectarian and nationalist biases of Japanese scholarship, whose massive contributions to the field have done so much to inform Western understandings of Chinese Buddhism. And a third is to be found in the moral discourse of Chinese historiography and the prejudices of the Confucian tradition. The legacy of this historiographical tradition is still felt within the discipline of sinology, which tends to marginalize Buddhism as something extrinsic to the study of China. The view of Sung decline is articulated against the pinnacle supposedly achieved by Buddhism in the T'ang. The T'ang is accordingly pictured as a "golden age" in which Chinese Buddhism came into its own—an age of religious geniuses and doctrinal innovation, in which the major traditions or schools (tsung) of Chinese Buddhism reached their apogee. The Sung, by contrast, is supposed to have lacked creativity and intellectual vitality, as witnessed by the fact that no new traditions were formed. Absent, too, was the production of the great architectonic edifices of doctrine that allegedly marked the crowning achievement of the T'ang Buddhist traditions. The systematic classifications of doctrine (p'an-chiao) that characterized T'ang Buddhist scholasticism not only sought to integrate all of the Buddha's teachings into a coherent and comprehensive framework, but also justified the sectarian claims of the different traditions to represent the supreme teaching of Buddhism. Although there is some truth to this picture, it also distorts Buddhism in the T'ang as much as it does Buddhism in the Sung. The traditions (such as T'ien-t'ai, Hua-yen, and Ch'an) that developed during the Sui and T'ang never assumed fixed shape as fully wrought systems of doctrine or practice. Rather, they continued to change in profound ways throughout the period, their defining teachings were contested by various proponents, and their core doctrines showed fissures that were to erupt into full-scale controversies in the Sung. Such a picture is also distorted in privileging the formulation of doctrine as the primary field for gauging the intellectual vitality of a tradition. The vitality of Sung Buddhism was expressed in different ways.

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Peter N. Gregory

Even though no new traditions of Buddhism emerged during the Sung, the process whereby the Tang traditions constructed themselves continued to evolve throughout the tenth through thirteenth centuries. Indeed, the process begun in the T'ang was only completed in the Sung, when traditions such as Chan and T'ien-t'ai assumed their fully articulated sectarian identity. Part of that process involved the construction of a hallowed T'ang past as a means of rationalizing the privileged status claimed by Buddhists in the Sung. The genealogical histories (teng-lu), discourse records (yti-lu), and anthologies of ancient cases (kung-an) produced by members of the Ch'an tradition in the Sung, for example, all served to justify the preeminent place Ch'an claimed for itself in the world of Sung Buddhism. They did so by connecting that tradition with a line of patriarchs extending all the way back to the historical Buddha and by celebrating the sayings and doings of the great heroes of the eighth and ninth centuries as living exemplars of enlightened activity. The picture of the diminished stature of Sung Buddhism in comparison to the glories of the T'ang is thus the product of Sung Buddhist mythology, and it accordingly reveals more about the construction of Buddhism in the Sung than it does about the realities of Buddhism in the T'ang. Ch'an was still in the process of formation in the T'ang. Indeed, it is not clear in what sense one can even speak of "the Ch'an tradition" at all in the T'ang, when a series of contending lineages arose, each one vaunting its own claims to authenticity. These different lines were not subsumed together into a unified vision of the tradition as a whole until the end of the period with the writings of Tsung-mi (780-841)—but even that remained only another contending claim when it was put forth. The vision of the Ch'an tradition as a multibranched lineage stemming from a common ancestor and linked together by a mind-to-mind transmission did not take hold as the commonly accepted representation of the tradition until the publication of the Ching-te Record of the Transmission of the Flame (Ching-te ch'uan-teng lu) in the beginning of the eleventh century. The famous slogan by which the tradition came to define itself ("a separate transmission apart from the teachings that is not based on scriptures but, by directly pointing to the human mind, enables [beings] to see their own nature and realize Buddhahood") was first formulated in the beginning of the twelfth century in the Chrestomathy from the Patriarchs Hall (Tsu-t'ing shih-yiian), even though various of its elements trace back to T'ang sources. Moreover, as

Vitality of Buddhism in the Sung

5

Chapter 7 by Griffith Foulk shows, the foundational myth on which the C h a n tradition laid its historical claim, according to which the historical Buddha first transmitted the dharma to Mahàkâsyapa and thus began the patriarchal succession, continued to evolve throughout much of the Sung, only reaching its final form in the thirteenth century with the publication of the Gateless Barrier (Wu-men kuan). The various C h a n lines of the T'ang had no distinctive teaching or practice that can be reconstructed from contemporary documents. The one practice that is unique to the C h a n tradition, the introspection of the kung-an (or kôan, as it is better known in its Japanese pronunciation), was developed in the twelfth century by Ta-hui Tsung-kao (1089-1163). Nor is there any evidence that C h a n existed as a separate institution in the T'ang. Elsewhere Foulk has shown that the idealized portrait of the early C h a n monastic community supposedly instituted by Pai-chang (720-814) was the creation of Sung Buddhists, and no conclusions about the nature of the Ch'an institution in the T'ang can be drawn from the famous "Pure Regulations" attributed to him. 1 It was only in the Sung, with the establishment of the imperially sponsored system of public abbacy monasteries, that monasteries came to be designed as specifically Ch'an institutions. Finally, the most distinctive forms of literature by which the Ch'an tradition has come to be known—the genealogical histories, discourse records, kung-an anthologies, and monastic regulations—were all produced in the Sung. The Ch'an tradition is thus in many ways more a product of the Sung than it is of the T'ang. T'ien-t'ai, the other major Buddhist tradition in the Sung, virtually recreated itself in the Sung. First formed during the latter part of the sixth century, when it rose to prominence with the support of the Sui ruling house, it lost favor with the founding of the T'ang and suffered eclipse until the second half of the eighth century, when it experienced a brief revival through the efforts of Chan-jan (711782). By the tenth century, however, it was on the brink of extinction. In the wake of the warfare and social disruption that accompanied the end of the T'ang and extended through the Five Dynasties period (907-960), many of its central texts had been lost, and its traditions and practices had fallen into abeyance. The two great proponents of the tradition in the early Sung, Chih-li (960-1028) and Tsun-shih (964-1032), on a variety of fronts strove to recreate T'ien-t'ai as an independent tradition and to secure permanent in-

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Peter N. Gregory

stitutional standing for it. Paralleling the efforts of their Ch'an contemporaries, they sought to establish a firm foundation of local support, and both succeeded in gaining imperial recognition of their institutions as public abbacy monasteries (shih-fang chu-ch'ih yuan) permanently dedicated to the T'ien-t'ai teaching. They redacted T'ien-t'ai texts, wrote commentaries on them, and successfully lobbied for their inclusion in imperially sponsored editions of the canon. Whereas Chih-li strove to define T'ien-t'ai orthodoxy, Tsunshih devoted more effort to codifying T'ien-t'ai orthopraxy. While Sung Buddhists were not system builders, those who were engaged with Buddhist doctrine can be seen as playing out the tensions implicit in T'ang thought. In their efforts to clarify the orthodox teachings of their traditions, Sung figures openly addressed the ambiguities and incoherences latent in the systems they inherited from the T'ang, thereby also helping to bring into focus a central problematic that animated Chinese Buddhism as a whole. This phenomenon can be seen most clearly in the so-called Home Mountain (Shan-chia) and Off Mountain (Shan-wai) controversy that came to define T'ien-t'ai orthodoxy during the first three decades of the eleventh century. The central issues of this controversy are ably outlined in Chapter 10 by Chi-wah Chan, and some of its philosophical implications are fruitfully explored in Chapter 11 by Brook Ziporyn. In addition to illustrating the intellectual vitality of Sung Buddhism, this controversy also reveals that the Sung traditions were not selfenclosed systems but developed in continuous dialogue with one another. It is thus worth examining the problematic at the heart of this controversy in a little more detail so as to clarify its broader significance for understanding Sung Buddhism. The controversy grew out of the ambiguities inherent in Chanjan's reformulation of T'ien-t'ai thought. In order to revive the tradition in the second half of the eighth century, Chan-jan had to respond to a series of questions that had not been addressed by Chih-i (538-597), revered as the grand architect of the tradition. Most important, he had to take into account the teachings of Huayen, the preeminent doctrinal tradition at that time. Although he was critical of Hua-yen, Chan-jan also incorporated elements of its theory of mind into his reformulation of the T'ien-t'ai tradition, and it was around those elements that the Sung controversy devolved. This theory of mind derived from the Awakening of Faith, an apocryphal text most likely composed in China during the third quarter of the sixth century. This text came to occupy a central place

Vitality of Buddhism in the Sung

7

in both Hua-yen and Chan teachings during the late T'ang. It developed the Indian Buddhist doctrine of the tathagatagarbha (the "embryo" or "womb" of Buddhahood) into a theory of the one mind (i-hsin) as the ground of all experience. Whereas the Indian doctrine had referred to the potentiality for Buddhahood inherent in all sentient beings and had thus been primarily soteriological in intent, its Chinese development transformed it into full-blown ontology. This mind was intrinsically pure and enlightened and yet gave rise to and supported all defiled phenomenal states as it adapted to conditions. This idea provided the basis on which the Hua-yen theory of "nature origination" (hsing-ch'i) was developed, according to which all phenomenal appearances (hsiang) were believed ultimately to originate (ch'i) from the nature (hsing), a synonym for the intrinsically pure and enlightened one mind of the Awakening of Faith. The influence of Hua-yen thought on T'ien-t'ai is reflected in Chan-jan's use of the term "mind inclusion" (hsin-chu), which to Chih-li's opponents in the Home Mountain/Off Mountain controversy suggested that Chan-jan emphasized the mind over all other aspects of reality. More important, however, Chan-jan coined the term "nature inclusion" (hsing-chu) to encapsulate Chih-i's teaching of the mutual inclusion of all aspects of reality. In the early Sung controversy, Chih-li embraced this concept of nature inclusion as the orthodox T'ien-t'ai teaching in contrast to the Hua-yen teaching of nature origination with its primacy of mind advocated by proponents of the Off Mountain position. These two doctrines, which existed alongside one another in T'ang discourse, came to stand for contrasting models in terms of which T'ien-t'ai orthodoxy was negotiated in the Sung. Whereas nature inclusion held that every instance or order of being was contained in every other instance or order of being and thus did not privilege any one over another, nature origination saw each instance or order of being as a manifestation of the underlying nature and thereby privileged nature over everything else.2 Nature inclusion thus validated the world of phenomena and ordinary experience as the field wherein enlightenment could be realized; nature origination, in contrast, tended to discount the world of phenomena and ordinary experience in favor of a direct apprehension of the intrinsically pure and enlightened mind on which they were grounded. These issues were thus not merely of scholastic import but also had important ramifications for practice. Chih-li's Home Mountain position, for example, validated deluded states of mind as the proper

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focus of practice and affirmed the nonnegotiable status of the particulars prescribed by ritual procedure, whereas the Off Mountain position tended to devalue ritual particulars as mere expedients subservient to a more abstract discernment of truth. 3 The Off Mountain position thus tended to deemphasize the very ritual and contemplative practices that were most distinctively T'ien-t'ai in favor of an approach that was hard to distinguish from Ch'an. The controversy thus bore directly on the identity of T'ien-t'ai as a distinct tradition of Buddhism. Even though Chih-li condemned nature origination as a Hua-yen doctrine, his own position in many ways resonated closely with another doctrine elaborated in Hua-yen, one that, up until the middle of the eighth century at least, had been put forward as expressing the most exalted teaching of the tradition. This was the doctrine of universal interdependence (fa-chieh yuan-ch'i) or, as it came to be more commonly known, the unobstructed interpénétration of all phenomena (shih-shih wu-ai). Inspired by the Hua-yen (Avatamsdka) Sutra, this doctrine supposedly represented the enlightened vision of the Buddha, in which he saw the harmonious and unobstructed interdependence and interpénétration of all phenomena in the universe as if reflected on the surface of a vast, calm ocean. Both the T'ien-t'ai doctrine of nature inclusion championed by Chih-li and the Hua-yen doctrine of universal interdependence pictured a world without a fixed center, in which each and every phenomenon could simultaneously be seen as occupying both center and periphery—a world, unlike that pictured by the doctrine of nature origination, that could not be reduced to a single underlying substance or essence. The doctrine of universal interdependence coexisted with that of nature origination in the Hua-yen thought of the T'ang. Fa-tsang (643-712) and earlier thinkers clearly emphasized interdependence, but the ballast began to shift toward nature origination in the middle of the eighth century, reflecting the growing influence of Ch'an. While Ch'eng-kuan (738-839) still nominally upheld universal interdependence as representing the highest teaching of the Hua-yen tradition, he emphasized nature origination—or the unobstructed interpénétration of principle and phenomena (li-shih wu-ai)—as the basis on which that doctrine was established. He claimed that the interdependence of all phenomena was only possible because all phenomena were grounded on principle. The doctrine of interdependence was unambiguously subordinated to nature origination with

Vitality of Buddhism in the Sung

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Tsung-mi, who tried to reconcile Ch'an and Hua-yen in the early ninth century. It was the Ch'an-influenced Hua-yen of Tsung-mi in particular that provided the doctrinal cornerstone on which the Off Mountain thinkers in the Sung elaborated their understanding of the T'ien-t'ai tradition. The Home Mountain/Off Mountain controversy in Sung can thus also be seen as replicating, in a different doctrinal idiom, tensions inherent in the Hua-yen tradition. Although the Home Mountain/Off Mountain controversy was the most visible manifestation of this intellectual tension, Hua-yen scholars in the Sung also addressed this issue. Early in the Northern Sung, Hua-yen thinkers like Chang-shui Tzu-hstian (965-1038) and Chin-shui Ching-yuan (1011-1088), following the interpretations of Ch'eng-kuan and Tsung-mi, maintained that the unitary and pure "principle" (li) was the basis of reality. Shortly thereafter, however, other Hua-yen thinkers like Tao-t'ing (late eleventh century), Kuanfu (early twelfth century), Shih-hui (1102-1166), and Hsi-ti (late twelfth-early thirteenth century) returned to the earlier understanding of Hua-yen, which, like the view promoted by the T'ient'ai Home Mountain faction, viewed reality as decentered and ungrounded. The attempts by Sung Buddhists, both T'ien-t'ai and Hua-yen, to confront this issue brought into focus an intellectual problematic that animated Chinese Buddhism as a whole. The intensity and thoroughness with which it was argued, moreover, revealed an intellectual world that was anything but stagnant. The intrasectarian debates over T'ien-t'ai orthodoxy were carried out in a larger intersectarian polemical context defined by Chan's status as the dominant tradition of Buddhism in the early Sung. Chih-li's and Tsun-shih's efforts to secure imperial recognition for their monasteries as T'ien-t'ai establishments were aimed at insuring the separate institutional identity of the tradition vis-à-vis Ch'an, whose more prestigious monasteries had already succeeded in garnering such recognition for themselves. Chih-li's attacks against the heterodoxy of the Off Mountain position entailed an argument for the superiority of what he took to be the orthodox T'ien-t'ai teaching over Hua-yen and Ch'an teachings. The basis for his argument rested on doctrinal grounds. The authority on which Ch'an claims of superiority were advanced, however, were not doctrinal but genealogical. Moreover, in claiming to represent an unbroken mind-tomind transmission of the Buddha's enlightened understanding, the Ch'an tradition had not put itself forward as representing a special "sect" of Buddhism; rather, it claimed to embody the very essence of

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Buddhism itself. By contrast, the attacks against the heterodox Off Mountain teachings by the Home Mountain proponents in the eleventh century were more concerned with asserting T'ien-t'ai s distinctive sectarian identity against Chan. Even though Ch'an genealogical claims did not go uncontested by T'ien-t'ai scholars, the Ch'an tradition was still largely successful in advancing them as a means of securing a privileged position for itself. Ch'an was also a national movement, in the sense that its monasteries were located throughout China, whereas T'ien-t'ai developed as a regional phenomenon centered at Ming-chou, Hang-chou, and Mount T'ien-t'ai in Chekiang. The fact that T'ien-t'ai was forced to develop in the shadow of Ch'an meant that it had to adapt Ch'an strategies of representation in its competition for privilege, prestige, and patronage. Beginning in the early twelfth century, T'ien-t'ai historians began constructing their own lineages, a process that culminated in the Comprehensive History of Buddhas and Patriarchs (Fo-tsu t'ung-chi), composed by Chih-p'an between 1258 and 1269. This text sought to present a universal history of Buddhism from a T'ien-t'ai perspective and reaffirmed Chih-lis position as the channel through which T'ien-t'ai orthodoxy flowed. As Koichi Shinohara skillfully demonstrates in Chapter 13, this task involved rearranging the content of the biographical records preserved locally in major T'ien-t'ai monasteries around the concept of a universal lineage of dharma succession borrowed from Ch'an genealogical histories. In the course of this process, master-disciple filiations were reconfigured, major figures were sometimes displaced by minor ones, and an originally diverse and multicentered tradition was pressed into a centralized mold according to a logic that had more to do with religious legitimation than it did with historical reality. By representing its masters as dharma heirs of the Buddha and patriarchs rather than as abbots of local monasteries, this new vision of T'ien-t'ai history enabled its members to claim a parity with Ch'an in their competition for patronage and official recognition. Buddhists in the Sung were thus engaged in a series of spirited, and sometimes fractious, debates, revealing a rich polyphony of intellectual activity. Some of the central issues under debate grew out of tensions that had lain submerged in T'ang thought. They were also directly related to questions of the constitutive identity of traditions such as T'ien-t'ai and Ch'an. Sung Buddhists thus continued the process begun in the Sui and T'ang by which these traditions

Vitality of Buddhism in the Sung

11

constructed themselves. Even though the general contours of these traditions had been roughed out in the T'ang, it was left to Sung thinkers to clarify their distinctive features, a process that also saw an increasing emphasis on orthodoxy, with its inevitable consequence of polarization. This process of polarization, moreover, meant that compromise positions became increasingly difficult to maintain as ideological lines became drawn, as Foulk's chapter demonstrates in the case of Ch'an. Proponents of T'ien-t'ai and Ch'an were not only involved in lively dialogue among themselves but were also engaged in complex interactions with Sung society at large. These interactions were seen as being mutually beneficial, and the forms that they took were basically transactional, although what was understood as being transacted varied according to circumstance and the people involved. The different forms these interactions took reveal the variety of ways in which Buddhism had become a part of Chinese culture. Many people from all social strata petitioned Buddhist deities, solicited Buddhist specialists, or made use of Buddhist charms or spells as means of securing health, prosperity, and good fortune or of averting misfortune. In such cases, the primary determinant was more apt to be the efficacy of the particular deity, specialist, charm, or spell than its association with Buddhism, and it was on this level that Buddhism competed with popular religion. Many officials cooperated with Buddhist leaders, publicly sponsored Buddhist rites, or contributed to monastic projects more out of political expediency than out of personal religious commitment. The generation and accumulation of religious merit was probably the most important factor for the overwhelming majority of those who in one way or another thought of themselves as Buddhist. Such merit could be applied to benefits in this life or future lives as well as to more specifically Buddhist soteriological ends, such as rebirth in the Pure Land or enlightenment. It could also be transferred for the benefit of one's parents or ancestors or dedicated to the health and longevity of the emperor or the peace and prosperity of the realm. Members of the elite thus sponsored and participated in public Buddhist ritual services, joined Buddhist societies, and contributed generously to monastic building and reconstruction projects; they also sought out Buddhist monks as friends, spiritual counselors, and literary companions. The forms of these interactions are too numerous and too varied to summarize, but they serve to illustrate that scholarship should not overlook the power of Buddhist ideas, which, despite the

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resurgence of Confucian learning, remained a potent force throughout the Sung. The various studies included in this volume make no pretense of encompassing the whole spectrum of such interactions, but they do cover enough ground to suggest how deeply entrenched Buddhism was in Sung social life. The nature of the monastic institution was such that it could not exist without the active support of the lay community, whether it be from the state or from individuals. The dynamics of patronage is thus one area where it is possible to see how the interests of the monastic institution and various lay elites often converged. Chapter 8 by Chi-chiang Huang, for example, argues that prefects posted to Hang-chou during the Northern Sung played an important role in making the city a thriving center of Buddhism during the eleventh century. As public officials responsible for the general welfare of the city, prefects felt obliged to support Buddhism regardless of their personal views. Even those who were opposed to Buddhism on ideological grounds supported it in their capacity as officials, as a good working relationship with Buddhist leaders often proved to be indispensable for the successful discharge of their duties. Prefects were thus anxious to enlist the collaboration of eminent monks as part of their effort to maintain social order, and they devoted serious attention to the task of recruiting talented and able monks to head major monasteries in the city. Members of the elite were also often drawn to such monks personally, and many prominent literati not only patronized them in their public capacity as officials but also continued to do so as private individuals as well. The symbiotic nature of the relationship between monastic leaders and officials is well illustrated by the case of Chih-li's friend and T'ien-t'ai colleague Tsun-shih, who was brought to Hang-chou in 1015 as a result of a concerted recruitment campaign led by the prefect Hsiieh Yen (953-1025). On the one hand, Tsun-shih's reputation as a civic-minded cleric made him particularly attractive to the Hang-chou authorities. His ritual prowess could be harnessed in the service of the public weed, and his efforts at reforming local customs helped offset the influence of heterodox cults. The official support Tsun-shih received from various Hang-chou prefects, on the other hand, was crucial for the success of his mission to revive the T'ien-t'ai tradition, and the personal support he received from one particularly high-placed patron (Wang Ch'in-jo, 965-1025) was critical for successfully pressing his case at court to have his T'ien-chu

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Monastery officially designated as a T'ien-t'ai establishment and to have T'ien-t'ai texts included in the imperially sponsored edition of the Buddhist canon. In addition to his efforts to reestablish the T'ien-t'ai order, Tsunshih was also deeply concerned with reforming local religious practices. His campaign against "depraved" cults clearly aligned Buddhism with the interests of the state. As Daniel Stevenson shows in Chapter 9, the language Tsun-shih used in his various tracts on the subject employed the same hegemonic discourse by which the Chinese imperium traditionally sought to exercise control over the potentially disruptive forces of local religious practice. In using this discourse, however, Tsun-shih also clearly maintained the ultimate superiority and effectiveness of Buddhist values. He was especially concerned to convert the populace from making blood sacrifices to deities and from using meat and wine for funerary and ancestral rites. The different treatises he wrote exhorting the public to take up Buddhist merit-making practices reflect the complex dynamics by which Buddhism negotiated its relationship with official values, on the one hand, and popular religion, on the other. The rites that Tsun-shih promoted were aimed at converting local deities and spirits to Buddhism, thereby allowing them a legitimate role within the hierarchical structure of the Buddhist world as "retainers" or "vassals" to the more exalted and powerful Buddhas and bodhisattvas. The logic of religious efficacy to which Tsun-shih appealed provided a unified framework in which Buddhist and indigenous, non-Buddhist deities could function together in the same ritual setting; it also allowed prayers for worldly benefits to coexist with the profession of the highest Buddhist soteriological goals on a single continuum. The hierarchical structure embodied in ritual protocol, moreover, provided a field in which the boundaries between orthodoxy and heterodoxy were constantly negotiated. Stevenson thus calls attention to the importance of ritual for understanding the complex historical interrelationship between Buddhism and popular religious practice. Just as ritual provided a medium by which indigenous, non-Buddhist deities and practices could be incorporated into Buddhism, so it also served as a means by which Buddhist forms could be appropriated back into popular practices. The formats of the various liturgical and devotional rites that Tsun-shih devised for laity, for example, were based on the more elaborate and demanding ones followed by monks. They also served as models for the liturgical and devotional practices advo-

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cated by various lay confraternities that proliferated in the Southern Sung. The authority on which the practices of these lay groups rested was based on their perceived conformity to monastic models. Stevenson thus concludes his chapter by emphasizing the relevance of monastic forms of practice and organization for understanding such groups. Chapter 12 by Daniel Getz suggests how T'ien-t'ai influenced the development of lay associations in the Southern Sung by providing models of social organization. This phenomenon can be seen most clearly in the Pure Land societies organized by Tsun-shih and Chih-li, each of which represented a different model of social organization. Both were emulated by their T'ien-t'ai descendants in the following centuries. Like the famous society founded in 402 by Huiyiian (334-416) to which it looked back for inspiration, Tsun-shih's society was small (consisting of about one hundred members), catered to literati, and had more of a contemplative orientation. Chih-li's society, by contrast, was far larger (aspiring to ten thousand members), reached out to include a broad spectrum of society, and emphasized the daily invocation of Amitabha's name. Whereas Tsun-shih's society was short-lived (lasting only six years, 996-1002) and limited in scope, Chih-li's had a lasting impact on the forms of piety that characterized popular Pure Land devotion in the Sung. By prescribing one thousand invocations a day, Chih-li emphasized the accumulation of merit through repetition. This quantitative approach to practice was exemplified in the calendar charts issued each year to society members, in which they were to record their daily invocations. Such calendars and invocation practice became an integral part of the Pure Land societies that were subsequently formed by lay men and women during the Southern Sung. Chih-li's prologue to his announcement of the formation of his Pure Land society is particularly noteworthy in that it details his vision of how the society was to be organized. In it Chih-li called for a total of 210 assembly heads, each of whom was responsible for recruiting forty-eight members. This structure allowed the different groups to meet separately throughout the year, while the entire society would gather together annually. As Getz notes: "The doubletiered organization of Chih-li's society, by empowering the lay assembly heads, also put into place a structure that provided a framework for the future development of lay-initiated Pure Land societies that operated outside of official Buddhist institutional and ideological control." Getz goes on to cite an example of a society formed in the

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early thirteenth century by a certain Chiu Ting-kuo, a prefectural school supervisor in Ming-chou. The sources suggest that this society was founded and run entirely by laity. Interestingly, the title applied to Chiu's role as supervisor (ch'uan-tao chih shou) closely resembles that of the assembly head of Chih-li's society (ch'uan-ch'ing huishou), thereby suggesting how the structure of Chih-lis society could have served as a model for lay societies organized later in the Sung. It is easy to imagine how groups like those led by Chih-li's lay assembly heads could gradually have become independent of their monastic moorings as Pure Land devotion became more popular among the general populace throughout the Sung and late imperial period. The increasing autonomy of lay devotional groups in the Southern Sung was eventually perceived as a challenge to the authority of the monastic establishment. The spread of these societies within and outside the T'ien-t'ai tradition culminated in the formation of a Pure Land patriarchate by T'ien-t'ai historians in the thirteenth century This enterprise expressed the ambivalence with which the T'ien-t'ai institution had come to regard this movement that it had done so much to inspire: the patriarchate confirmed a growing recognition of the status Pure Land had won for itself as an independent tradition by the end of the Sung at the same time that it tried to keep it within the bounds of monastic control by reasserting its ideological and institutional connection with the T'ien-t'ai tradition. These tensions represented another manifestation of the larger and never-ending struggle engaged in by Buddhists, officialdom, and the populace at large over the right to define and control religious activity. Literati were also drawn by the power of Buddhist ideas, a point that was not lost on Neo-Confucian ideologues such as Cheng I (1033-1107) and Chu Hsi (1130-1200). Chapter 3 by Ari Borrell adds further insight to discussions of the complicated relationship between Neo-Confucianism and Buddhism by examining the thought of Chang Chiu-ch'eng (1092-1159). In his own lifetime Chang was regarded as one of the leading exponents of Tao-hsueh (Learning of the Way), the school of Neo-Confucianism associated with the Ch'eng brothers. He wrote an influential commentary on the Doctrine of the Mean (Chung-yung), one of the Four Books especially emphasized within the Tao-hsueh curriculum, and was also a leading lay disciple of the Ch'an master Ta-hui Tsung-kao (1089-1163). He was later excoriated by Chu Hsi as a Buddhist in disguise and effectively excised from the ranks of orthodox Neo-Confucians. The crux

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of Chu s criticism centered on Chang s interpretation of the investigation of things (ko-wu). Chang emphasized constant mental vigilance as the most effective way of reaching the state of equilibrium (chung) before the arousal of feelings (wei-fa). This approach to mental cultivation involved a probing investigation (ch'a) into the "who" (shei) that experiences and is aware, and Chang contrasted it with the more passive attitude of "quiet-sitting" (ching-tso) popular among literati. When self-centered human desires are finally exhausted in the course of this effort, a sudden breakthrough may occur, allowing one's originally good nature to shine forth. Only after things have thus been thoroughly investigated (wu-ko) is it possible to address the moral task of transforming society. Chang's approach to mental cultivation seems to be modeled after the kung-an investigation practice (k'an-hua ch'an) advocated by Ta-hui. Borrell concludes his chapter by discussing the social and political ramifications of this dynamic method of practice, pointing out how the vehement opposition shown by Chang and other literati followers of Ta-hui to peace negotiations with the Jurchen during the late 1130s may well have been buttressed and encouraged by Ta-hui's activist position. Ta-hui is probably the most famous Buddhist figure in the Sung. He had numerous lay disciples among the literati, many of whom were involved in the Sung Confucian renaissance, and he made a conscious effort to address Ch'an teachings to the lay elite. Ta-hui is best known for his advocacy of kung-an investigation, which he emphasized as the most effective means of bringing the mind's ratiocinative functions to a halt so as to make it ready for a sudden breakthrough into enlightenment. In Chapter 4 Morten Schlutter discusses Ta-hui's criticisms of the silent illumination Ch'an (mochao ch'an) with which his advocacy of kung-an investigation was inextricably coupled. The controversy that supposedly ensued over these two approaches to Ch'an practice is often regarded as a major fork in the Ch'an tradition, in which Ta-hui and Hung-chih (1091— 1157) are pitted against one another as the major exponents of the Lin-chi and Ts'ao-tung lineages, and their positions later came to be seen as defining the distinctive character of the Rinzai and Soto approaches to Zen practice in Japan. Schlutter questions whether there really was a "debate" at all, for neither Hung-chih nor any other Southern Sung Ts'ao-tung figure ever identified himself as teaching silent illumination Ch'an, and there is no indication that Hung-chih ever responded to or even acknowledged Ta-hui's attacks.

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Schlütter argues that these attacks were not so much aimed at individual Ts'ao-tung masters such as Hung-chih or Ch'ing-liao (10881151) as they were at the twelfth-century Ts'ao-tung tradition as a whole. Although Ta-hui's critique singled out an aspect of the Ts'aotung approach to meditation, it ignored the overall context in which it was taught and thereby distorted Ts'ao-tung teachings to serve Ta-hui's polemical purposes. Many of Ta-hui's most strident attacks on silent illumination were contained in letters to literati known to have connections with Ts'ao-tung masters. By the twelfth century the Ts'ao-tung tradition was in the midst of a vigorous revival, after having almost become extinct in the eleventh century, and it is likely that Ta-hui saw its fortunes as threatening the predominance of Lin-chi support among the elite. The first person to attain enlightenment by investigating kung-an under Ta-hui's tutelage was the nun Miao-tao (fl. 1134-1155), who also became his first dharma successor. By examining Miao-tao's relationship with Ta-hui, Chapter 6 by Miriam Levering not only sheds new light on Ta-hui's development as a Ch'an master, but also introduces the life and teachings of a prominent and influential female Ch'an teacher. Ta-hui also had other distinguished female successors—notably, the nun Miao-tsung (1095-1170) and lay patroness Madame Ch'in-kuo (dates unknown). While Ta-hui may have been unusual in his responsiveness to the aspirations of female students, the Sung Ch'an patriarchal records increasingly recognized the accomplishments of female Ch'an students and teachers. By surveying the images of women represented in Ch'an literature produced in the Sung, in Chapter 5 Ding-hwa Hsieh establishes a broader context for Levering's more focused study. The gradual and sporadic inclusion of a few scattered biographies accorded to female Ch'an teachers in eleventh- and twelfth-century transmission records culminated with the Chia-t'ai Universal Record of the Flame (Chiat'ai p'u-teng lu), compiled in 1204, which accorded entries to sixteen female Ch'an teachers. These biographies show a new, even if begrudging, openness to women within the Sung dynasty Ch'an institution. These women filled the same roles as their male counterparts: they presided over their own nunneries, gave lectures, personally instructed their disciples, wrote poetry, and had their discourse records compiled by their disciples after their deaths. As the Sung progressed, the genealogical histories, kung-an anthologies, and discourse records increasingly projected positive images of women. These images seemed to offer an alternative to domesticity, in which

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women could pursue their spiritual and literary aspirations within a Chan context. In addition to admitting women into the Ch'an lineage as dharma heirs, Sung Ch'an texts also contained a series of stories in which women played a crucial role in bringing about the enlightenment of monks. While some of these figures were historical, many of the nameless old women (lao-p'o) who appear in Ch'an stories were literary inventions and played a largely figurative role. Among other things, they could be understood as teaching that all distinctions—symbolized by those between genders—are part of the fabric of delusion and are therefore "empty." All beings, regardless of their gender or marginal status, could thus be seen as capable of attaining Buddhahood. Chapter 2 by Albert Welter raises a central issue that bears on the significance of the volume as a whole: the place of Buddhism in Chinese culture. Welter explores the voice represented by the noted Buddhist historian Tsan-ning (919-1001) in the debates at the early Sung court over the nature of Chinese culture. The early Sung emperors strove to define their rule as based on wen (civil or literary values; culture) as opposed to wu (martial power), and discussions of state policy toward Buddhism were phrased within a broader debate over a more inclusive and liberal versus a more exclusive and conservative definition of wen. Spokesmen for "ancient" or "classical" wen (ku-wen) defined Chinese culture in terms of hallowed Confucian values that excluded Buddhism, whereas others defined wen in terms of literary refinement and argued for a model that was open to historical development. Tsan-ning's arguments that Buddhism was an integral part of China's classical heritage did not prevail, and the ku-wen position became increasingly powerful at court throughout the Northern Sung. Tsan-ning's more ecumenical vision of Buddhism's place in Chinese culture was also supplanted by the alternative view put forward by Ch'an, which based its claims to legitimacy on its lineal connections to India. Ch'an made no claim for being included as part of Chinese wen and therefore did not challenge conservative Confucians; at the same time, it appealed to more liberal Confucians who subscribed to a literary definition of wen. The position that won out in the early debates at the Sung court shaped the way history was written. Because it informs the way in which the sources contemporary scholars use were compiled, its effects are reflected in the way we continue to write that history today. The increasingly ideologized discourse in which the Confu-

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cian and Buddhist traditions defined themselves in the Sung, for example, is reflected in the way in which information is compartmentalized in different types of sources. Official sources, for instance, tend to ignore or minimize the role of Buddhism in the life and thought of prominent literati. It is thus possible for a welltrained scholar, relying on standard sources, to present an intellectual portrait of such a figure without any cognizance of the substantial role that Buddhism played in his personal life and ruminations. By the same token, scholars of Chinese Buddhism are often content to remain within the confines of their traditional buddhological sources, unaware of the wealth of material available in non-Buddhist sources. The construction and reproduction of fields like "sinology" or "buddhology" thus tends to militate against an understanding of Buddhism as an integral part of the fabric of Sung intellectual and social life. If there is an irony here, it is that the model of human culture on which this compartmentalized and bifurcated picture of Chinese society is based is one that, if made explicit, most historians today would roundly reject. For it is one that presumes a static view of culture as defined by a set of unchanging norms. While such a view may exert an enormously powerful force in shaping the history of a culture, it does so as an ideology and is therefore part of the dynamic process by which culture is constructed. Although it may be impossible to proffer a definition of culture on which a majority of historians and social scientists would agree, I think that most would concur that culture is dynamic, that it continues to evolve and change, that it informs human lives and institutions just as it is informed by those lives and institutions, that it is constantly negotiated, and that it is almost always represented in diverse forms. It is this view of culture that finds its historical resonance in the minority opinion in the early Sung debates on the nature of wen. The study of Buddhism in the Sung affords an important opportunity to integrate the study of Buddhism in China more fully within Chinese studies as a whole. The study of Chinese Buddhism has long suffered from a twofold disciplinary isolation. On the one hand, it is often marginalized within Buddhist studies, which still tends to focus on Indian Buddhism as normative for the field. On the other hand, it is often ignored or given short shrift by scholars working in Chinese social and intellectual history. Part of this latter isolation is surely the fault of buddhologists, who have not done enough to reach out to their colleagues in Chinese social and intel-

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lectual history. The array of materials available for the study of Sung Buddhism, however, are more varied, complex, and vastly more extensive than those for earlier periods, and their richness enables scholars to address a broader range of concerns that go beyond the traditionally buddhological emphasis on texts and doctrine typical of research on earlier periods of Chinese Buddhism. The Sung sources thus allow scholars to locate Buddhism within its social, political, and cultural context in a way that is impossible for earlier periods.

Notes I would like to thank James Hargett for allowing me to make use of material that previously appeared in a conference report published in the Journal of Sung and Yuan Studies, no. 27 (1997), pp. 193-205.1 am especially indebted to Dan Getz, whose comments and suggestions helped to clarify my thought and prose. I would also like to acknowledge my debt to Rob Gimello, whose conference paper covered many of the same points and themes developed in this introductory chapter. 1. See his "Myth, Ritual, and Monastic Practice in Sung Chan Buddhism," in Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Peter N. Gregory, eds.. Religion and Society in T'ang and Sung China (Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 1993), pp. 156-159. 2.1 owe this formulation to Robert Gimello; see his 1996 conference paper, "Notes on the Relationship between T'ien-t'ai Buddhism and Northern Sung Literati Culture," pp. 4-5. 3. This theme is insightfully developed by Daniel Stevenson in "The Problematic of the Mo-ho chih-kuan and T'ien-t'ai History," in Neal Donner and Daniel B. Stevenson, The Great Calming and Contemplation: A Study and Annotated Translation of the First Chapter of Chih-i's Mo-ho chih-kuan (Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 1993).

Chapter 2

A Buddhist Response to the Confucian Revival: Tsan-ning and the Debate over Wen in the Early Sung ALBERT WELTER

brought a new sense of order to China. Years of chaos and competition among military warlords (chieh-tu-shih) ended with the resumption of central authority. The early Sung emperors, T'ai-tsu (r. 960-976), T'ai-tsung (r. 976-997), and Chen-tsung (r. 998-1022), consistently championed wen (the literary/civil) over wu (the military) as the defining feature of their mandate, reviving the model of the wen official who implements policy on the basis of knowledge and moral character in preference to that of the military warlord who governs by virtue of sheer force of arms. 1 The first two Sung emperors, T'ai-tsu and T'ai-tsung, played decisive roles in policy formation and implementation. 2 Rather than being passive recipients of advice from bureaucratic channels, these emperors assumed complete command over the government, personally appointing the most capable officials to execute tasks. T'aitsu rose to power as a strong, charismatic military leader who perceptively noted the fate of the warlord emperors that preceded him. Fearful that a strong military establishment might undermine his own hold on power, T'ai-tsu initiated policies aimed at ensuring the predominance of civil control over military authority. When confronted with policy decisions, he regularly summoned academicians to advise him on past practices and precedents. 3 T'ai-tsu's successor, T'ai-tsung, was determined to reign as a wen-ti, an "emperor of letters."4 To ensure the success of the Sung regime and to affirm its commitment to wen as the basis for that success, T'ai-tsung commissioned massive editorial projects employing the services of leading literary masters (wen officials). T'ai-tsung was himself an avid reader of the works that he commissioned. 5 It was his custom to spend the day reading books from the Imperial T H E S U N G DYNASTY

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Library after the conclusion of morning audiences. 6 The purpose of this rigorous reading schedule was closely connected to policy decision making. Imperially commissioned compilations were designed to instruct the emperor on matters that he might be called on to decide. The wen revival in the early Sung marked an important turning point in Chinese intellectual history. From its outset, the revival of wen signaled a return to native values and a study of the sources that discussed them. Disagreement persisted, however, over what constituted "native" values and which sources deserved to be singled out for inclusion. There was general consensus that the revival be guided by the reassertion of "Confucian" values and sources. There was disagreement, however, over the extent to which other kinds of writings might be included in the celebration of Chinese wen. Some argued for a narrow interpretation: only the purest expressions of wen, ku-wen or "classical" wen, could serve as model for the revival of classical Chinese values. Others saw the spirit of wen as innovative and sought to expand the notion of wen to include newer forms of expression, not restricted by ancient models. One of the interesting questions about the wen revival is the place that Buddhism occupied within it.7 The natural assumption has been that Buddhism, given the nature of the revival, was automatically excluded. The eventual success of Chinese thinkers in redefining their culture in Confucian terms makes the exclusion of Buddhism seem all the more self-evident.8 In retrospect, it is very easy to see the wen revival in terms of the road leading to the Ch'eng brothers and Chu Hsi. The study that I embark on here, however, reviews the variety of possibilities the wen revival offered and the roads not taken. The vantage point assumed is that of a literary Buddhist monk (wen-seng) of the early Sung period, when the revival of wen as a cultural objective allowed a broad range of alternatives. The first Buddhist to address squarely the Buddhist role in the Sung period was the scholar-monk Tsan-ning (919-1001), the leading Buddhist official at T'ai-tsungs court. Of his surviving works, the Historical Digest of the Buddhist Order (Seng shih-lueh), compiled at the end of his life, suggests the role Buddhism might assume in the Sung given the resumption of wen values as central to China s cultural identity. Even though wen officials ultimately rejected Tsanning's proposals for including Buddhism within the scope of Chinese wen, a review of these proposals is essential for understanding

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the nature of the wen revival and the effect it had on Buddhism in China from the Sung dynasty on. The close, yet complex, relations between Confucian literati and Buddhist clergy in the Sung are made more understandable through the model suggested by Tsanning. Influential Sung monks like Chih-yuan (976-1022) and Ch'isung (1007-1072) followed in the wake of Tsan-ning and his nuanced argument for including Buddhism in Sung intellectual life. Tsan-ning was in a unique position to shape imperial attitudes and policies toward Buddhism. In this chapter, I focus on three aspects of Tsan-ning's attempt to redefine the role of Buddhism in China during the early Sung. First I look at Tsan-ning's associations with wen officials and how he fit into the wen movement, based on the biography of Tsan-ning written by a leading wen official of the day, Wang Yii-ch'eng (954-1001). Second, I examine Tsan-ning's credentials as a wen master by looking into the qualities he possessed that made him influential among non-Buddhist officials at the Sung court. Third, and most important, is the argument that Tsan-ning put forth for the acceptance of Buddhism as a component of Chinese wen in the Historical Digest of the Buddhist Order.

Two Tendencies in the Early Sung Wen Revival Although there was broad consensus on the virtue and viability of wen as the basis of a new Sung culture, the definition of wen itself varied. In the early years of the Sung, it was easy to overlook basic differences in favor of the positive attributes of a general wen revival. In retrospect, however, two competing models of wen were emerging. 9 The first was a model of literary refinement, after the example set by the T'ang dynasty (617-906), that called for a synthesis of cultural traditions regardless of formal affiliation. The "literary model" of wen was inclusive, adaptive, and innovative, and it prized creativity over strict adherence to form. It was open to new ideas and approaches to enhance and broaden culture. It had no set moral agenda. The second model was espoused by moral ideologues who saw wen as a means to combat the currents of cultural decline. Rather than a creative impulse marked by a high degree of individualistic freedom, wen represented the common interests of the society as a whole. Wen provided a set of moral imperatives around which taste and conduct were regularized. The "proper" prose style of wen

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scholars, argued the moralists, should follow set patterns established by ancient literary models, known as ku-wen ("old" or classical wen). It looked back to the golden age of Confucian antiquity for its inspiration. It is not hard to see both models of wen as reflections of different aspects of the early Sung environment. Chinese society at the beginning of the Sung was multifaceted. Through the centuries, China absorbed waves of foreign migrations. These had a profound effect on everything from culinary tastes and clothing styles to literature and music. The reality of Chinese society was multicultural. Many wen masters linked Chinas future greatness with the inclusivism of the past and the adaptation of the many, diverse strands of Chinese culture into a harmonious blend. Others, however, saw novelty not in terms of cultural enhancement but rather as cultural decline. The problems that China faced, in this view, were directly connected to a licentious passion for novelty at the expense of the root values of Chinese civilization. These wen masters advocated a return to basic moral values under the pretext of a restoration of China's greatness. Expressed through attitudes of moral righteousness, they yearned for the wen of antiquity (ku-wen), before the obvious foreign influences of later ages, and strove to reestablish the Confucian literary tradition as the sole measure of Chinese culture and civilization. A self-proclaimed successor to Han Yii (768-824), Liu K'ai (9541000) is often regarded as the first Sung ku-wen scholar.10 According to Liu, "the mind and wen are one." The mind inside one is master of external manifestations; the mind represents the internal structure of wen as external appearance. This connection between wen and the mind suggests a role for wen as a moral instrument for rectifying the mind and attaining sagehood, assuming that wen models are properly selected. In Liu K'ais estimation, the classics, histories, and writings of the "hundred schools" are not to be considered true wen.11 Instead, he openly proclaimed: "My Way is the Way of Confucius, Mencius, Yang Hsiung, and Han Yu. My wen is the wen of Confucius, Mencius, Yang Hsiung, and Han Yii."12 In the context of the early Sung, where tolerance of difference was regarded as a political necessity, if not a virtue, Liu K'ais strident moral exclusivism left him isolated from official channels of power.13 Advocates of wen in terms of literary refinement and in terms of a more narrowly defined "ku-wen" agreed on the need for a cultural renaissance; they differed widely on how to achieve it. In the early years of the dynasty, the tension between the two sides was not (in

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most cases) sharp; it was still possible to maintain a preference for one without denying the validity of the other. With the reversion to warlord rule still palpable, the preservation of wen itself was at stake; disparate groups easily united behind this common cause. All members of the intellectual classes had a common stake in the preservation of Sung civil and literary culture. The type of wen preferred was secondary, as was the distinction between ku-wen and literary eclecticism. As the prospect of continued stability increased, however, so did the importance of differences that separated members of the Sung bureaucracy ideologically. Officials at the Sung court had varying reactions to Buddhism depending on their model of wen. Ku-wen proponents openly criticized the Buddhist presence in China and sought to circumscribe its influence. Those who advocated literary refinement as a model for wen tended to be more tolerant of Buddhism and even promoted it for its poetic and literary contributions. Two officials stand out as representatives of these respective positions: Wang Yii-ch'eng and Yang I. Unlike Liu K'ai, Wang Yii-ch'eng (954-1001) demonstrated that high moral resolve could be combined with an appreciation for aesthetic and individual expression.14 Wang had a narrow definition of what constituted wen: only writings modeled after the classics and five constants deserved the name. 15 Yet he saw the need to keep lines of communication open, even with adversaries. He believed that a broad appreciation of writings that fell outside the definition of wen per se was not necessarily harmful. He also maintained a close friendship with the leading Buddhist of the period, Tsan-ning. The preface he wrote for Tsan-ning s collected works (wen-chi) is the main source of information about Tsan-ning's life. All later biographies, including Buddhist ones, are heavily indebted to Wang's preface. In many respects, Wang Yii-ch'eng s approach to wen is reminiscent of Hsu Hsiian (917-992).16 Although a stern and conservative Confucian by nature, Hsu Hsiian displayed a wide range of interests that included painting and calligraphy.17 He held a number of prominent political positions and was a prolific scholar, participating in the compilation of important encyclopedic works at the early Sung court. 18 Along with his brother, he completed the redaction of the Etymological Dictionary of the Chinese Language (Shuo-wen chieh-tzu) on which all subsequent scholarship on the work is based. Although respectful of those who "sought to make wen the vehicle

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for inculcating moral values," Yang I (974-1020) was an unabashed proponent of wen in terms of literary refinement, preferring writing that "traces emotional responses to embody things" (yuan-ch'ing t'iwu) and "sings of the emotional nature" (yin-yung ch'ing-hsing).i9 Yang I was also friendly with Buddhists who exhibited the wen qualities he cherished. His associations with Ch'an masters were instrumental in establishing support for Ch'an at the Sung court. The circumstances surrounding Yang Is support for Buddhism will be examined below, particularly as they contrast with the connection between Wang Yu-ch'eng and Tsan-ning. The change in Buddhist affiliations from Wang Yii-ch'eng to Yang I also represents the changing style of Buddhism favored at the Sung court. Under the third emperor, Chen-tsung, the impact of Ch'an discourse began to be felt; the teaching of emptiness (k'ung-tsung) displaced Vinaya teaching (lil-tsung) as the mainstream Buddhist faith in the capital.20 This coincided with Yang Is sponsorship of Lin-chi Ch'an at the Sung court, which replaced earlier official support that Tsan-ning had won for Vinaya teaching.

A Buddhist Wen Master Wang Yii-ch'eng's admiration for Tsan-ning is odd in light of his ku-wen affiliation and general antipathy toward Buddhism. In the fourth of a five-point memorial to the newly appointed emperor Chen-tsung, Wang argued for the elimination of Buddhist monks from Chinese society. The thrust of Wang's argument is that the Buddhist clergy, as an idle and unproductive class, places an unnecessary, additional burden on the Chinese economy. The Buddhist clergy is likened to the military, which established itself, according to Wang, in the aftermath of the villainy of China's first emperor, the Legalist Ch'in Shih Huang-ti. As if the added strain to the four "legitimate" classes of society (scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants) by the presence of the military was not enough, the Buddhist clergy infiltrated China and made the situation even worse. The advent of Buddhism in China from the Han, argues Wang, added a sixth class also dependent on the agricultural production of farmers for their support, leading to further impoverishment. Moreover, according to Wang, Buddhism attempts to rationalize its presence on the basis of false spiritual claims.21 The attitude expressed in Wang's memorial was not unique and owes much to Han Yti who, in his "Memorial on the Bone of the

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Buddha," charged that Buddhism was non-Chinese ("no more than a cult of barbarian peoples"), subversive of public morality ("our old ways [will] be corrupted, our customs violated"), and based on superstition ("How then, when he [the Buddha] has long been dead, could his rotten bones . . . be rightly admitted to the palace?").22 Many officials who served at the early Sung court were drawn from the ranks of those who served at the court of the Latter Chou emperor Shih-tsung (r. 954-960), whose attack on Buddhism is counted among the most severe in Chinese history.23 By associating the Buddhist clergy with the military, a powerful charge given China's recent chaotic history, Wang linked the two together as enemies of the wen revival. Wang's hatred toward the Buddhist clergy and the Buddhist presence in China seems odd given his unreserved praise and admiration of Tsan-ning, the official head of the Buddhist clergy. The relationship between Wang and Tsan-ning typifies a broader incongruence: how could Buddhism survive in China in the face of the professed intolerance of ku-wen officials? To some extent, the tolerance of difference fostered among officials in the name of the higher goal of promoting wen provides an explanation. But Wang's admiration for Tsan-ning went far beyond polite tolerance, as the opening lines of his preface to Tsan-ning's collected works show: "The heirs of &akyamuni refer to Buddhist writings as the inner teaching (nei-tien) and refer to Confucian writings as outer learning (wai-hsueh). Those skilled in poetry (shih) are common; those with literary skill [skill in wen] are rare. The only one to master all four of these [knowledge of Buddhist and Confucian writings, skill in poetry and wen] is the Great Master [Tsan-ning]."24 Wang's biography suggests that Wang was far more impressed with Tsan-ning's skills as a wen master than he was deterred by his Buddhist affiliation. Contributing to Wang's admiration for Tsanning was the legitimacy that imperial support provided Buddhism. In spite of Wang's personal opinion regarding the menace to China that the Buddhist clergy represented, imperial opinion made clear that the Buddhist presence was to be tolerated, if not openly affirmed, as a legitimate feature of Chinese culture. Buddhism maintained a broad base of popular support in spite of the objections of ku-wen officials. It was feasible in this atmosphere for critics of Buddhism to accept, even admire, Buddhists with strong wen qualifications. Tsan-ning's qualifications in this regard were impeccable. Wang's biography reads like a tribute to a respected scholar-

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bureaucrat and wen master, more typical of a secular official than a Buddhist monk. While openly acknowledging Tsan-ning's Buddhist affiliation, Wang's biography avoids the complicated issues that this affiliation raised by identifying Tsan-ning as a wen master who incidentally happened to be Buddhist. This portrayal suggests the criteria by which Buddhism might find acceptance, even in the eyes of critics. As one might expect, Wangs biography emphasizes Tsan-ning's wen qualifications. Some of the main features of Wang's biography are as follows. Though he was of humble origins,25 Tsan-ning's literary skill brought him attention early on. He was awarded rank by Prince Wen-mu of Wu-Yiieh (r. 932-941). "As the Great Masters reputation increased over time, his wen studies flourished." 26 Tsanning subsequently became a leader of wen studies in Wu-Yiieh, cultivating the art of wen and teaching it to members of the ruling Ch'ien family and the soldier-officials of Wu-Yiieh. The political stability and economic success of Wu-Yiieh during the tenth century was a major contributing factor to the preservation of Buddhism. While the rest of China struggled to maintain peace, Wu-Yiieh leaders mounted a cultural revival patterned on T'ang accomplishments. True to the T'ang model, Buddhism took a leading role in Wu-Yiieh cultural affairs. Buddhist monks and institutions assumed prominent places in Wu-Yiieh society, receiving ample support from the Wu-Yiieh ruling elite. Particularly prominent were descendants of the Ch'an master Fa-yen Wen-i (885-958). His disciple T'ien-t'ai Te-shao (891-972) assumed the mantle of national preceptor (kuo-shih), serving as spiritual advisor in WuYiieh. He had especially close ties to Prince Chung-i (r. 948-978) and successfully led a campaign to reestablish Mount T'ien-t'ai as a Buddhist center. The prominence of Mount T'ien-t'ai during the Sung period derived from Te-shao s efforts and the support given his cause by Wu-Yiieh monarchs. The reemergence of Mount T'ien-t'ai as a religious center stimulated the revival of the T'ien-t'ai school during the Sung, as reinterpreted by such leading figures as Chih-li (9601028), Tsun-shih (964-1032), and Chih-yuan. Te-shao's successor, Yung-ming Yen-shou (904-975), became a leading exponent of Buddhist synthesis, incorporating Ch'an with canonical Buddhist teaching (chiao-ch'an i-chih) in a comprehensive doctrinal framework. After studying with Te-shao on Mount T'ient'ai, Yen-shou was appointed to head prominent monasteries in the Wu-Yiieh capital of Ch'ien-t'ang (Hang-chou). His reputation

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attracted scores of monks from across China and as far away as Korea, thus helping to establish Hang-chou as an important Buddhist center throughout China and East Asia during the Sung.27 Like Te-shao and Yen-shou, Tsan-ning was nurtured on Wu-Yiieh Buddhist culture. But unlike them, he outlived the period of WuYiieh independence and was forced to incorporate Buddhism into the new circumstances of Sung rule. It is difficult to know how much impact these new circumstances had on Tsan-ning's views. Some idea might be gained through general comparison with Yenshou. The major concern of Yen-shou's thought is incorporating Chan, the "new" Buddhism, into the scholastic teachings of the "old" doctrinal Buddhism, mentioned previously. The major theme of Tsan-ning's career, in contrast, is incorporating Buddhism into the broad-based Sung cultural revival, rooted in Confucianism. Generally speaking, although Tsan-ning's views on Buddhism sprang from his career in Wu-Yiieh and the circumstances associated with the Buddhist revival there, his views were ultimately conditioned by the situation that he found at the Sung court and the somewhat hostile feelings toward Buddhism that he confronted there. Wang Yu-ch'eng's biography of Tsan-ning may be read as a tribute to Tsan-ning's success among non-Buddhist literati. To further strengthen Tsan-ning's credentials as a wen master, Wang notes the lineage of his wen associations. Tsan-ning gained his "wen style" (wen-ko) through instruction from Hui-cheng (863-948), a Buddhist controller (seng-t'ung) in Wu-Yiieh honored as "Great Master Who Illuminates Wen" (Kuang-wen ta-shih).28 According to Chih-yiian, a Buddhist with a reputation as an active teacher of ku-wen to other monks, 29 Hui-cheng learned ku-wen from Sun Hsi (dates unknown) of Lo-an and forged a new literary style.30 In this way, Tsan-ning was linked to a group of "Confucian monks" known to exist in southern China.31 Wang also notes that Tsan-ning learned his "poetic art" (shih-chueh) through an official channel from the scholar Kung Lin (dates unknown), a recipient of the chin-shih degree.32 All of these associations establish Tsan-ning's credibility as a wen master of great repute, even among would-be detractors. In contrast to Tsan-ning's wen associations, information about his Buddhist identity in Wang's biography tends to be general in nature (apart from his linkage to the "Confucian monks" mentioned above). For example, the decades of Tsan-ning's early career, according to Wang, were spent cultivating Buddhist enlightenment and administering to the needs of the Buddhist faithful. Ultimately, it is

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Tsan-nings service as an official in Wu-Yueh that receives careful attention. This emphasis fits the general format of Wang's biography, which outlines Tsan-nings accomplishments following his career of service to successive Wu-Yiieh monarchs and Sung emperors, fostering an image of Tsan-ning as a loyal servant. In Wu-Yiieh, Tsan-ning served in the highest Buddhist administrative positions, first as ordination supervisor (chien-t'an) and ultimately as Buddhist controller (seng-t'ung).33 Moreover, Tsan-nings status as the leading scholarofficial in Wu-Yiieh is confirmed by the central role he played in the transfer of authority to the Sung.34 As had been the case with Hsu Hsiian, Tsan-nings services were eagerly enlisted by the emperor, anxious to unify the empire and administer it by employing men of extensive learning and literary talent. Hearing of Tsan-ning s reputation, Emperor T'ai-tsung invited him to an audience at the palace in the Hall of Abundant Blessings (Tzu-fu tien). After lengthy conversation, the emperor was deeply impressed, granting Tsan-ning emblems of high rank, a purple robe, and the honorific title "Great Master of Comprehensive Wisdom" (T'ung-hui ta-shih). The content of their conversation is revealed by Tsan-ning in the Sung Biographies of Eminent Monks (Sung kao-seng chuan) to concern the dimensions of the famous natural stone bridge extending over a waterfall at the Fang-kuang Monastery on Mount T'ien-t'ai, located in the Wu-Yiieh region.35 Elsewhere, the conversation is said to have extended to the legendary five hundred arhats of the same monastery and to the content of Hsiian-tsang's Record of the Western Regions (Hsi-yu chi).36 The breadth and detail of Tsan-nings knowledge continued to impress colleagues at the Sung court and became one of the chief characteristics for which he was remembered outside Buddhist circles. Wang also notes the high reputation Tsan-ning enjoyed among leaders in the Sung bureaucracy, including the former minister Lu Chu-yai (dates unknown) and the manager of affairs Li Mu (928984).37 The admiration Tsan-ning won from Confucian-trained, antiBuddhist bureaucrats was hard earned. Buddhist sources record the derision with which Tsan-nings appointment to the prestigious Hanlin Academy, an extremely rare honor for a Buddhist, was greeted ("How could the Academy accept such a person?").38 Tsan-nings membership in the Academy is not openly acknowledged in Wang's preface, 39 but there is mention of his inclusion in the "Society of Nine Elders," an association led by the prominent historian Li Fang (925-996).40 The Society was itself a revival of the T'ang society of the

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same name headed by the renowned T'ang poet Po Chii-i (772-846). The establishment of such an association indicates how literati in the early Sung consciously associated themselves with Chinas great tradition of wen. Other sources point to Tsan-ning's associations with prominent literati-officials of the Sung court, Hsu Hsiian and Liu K'ai, not to mention Wang Yti-ch'eng himself.41 Hsu Hsiian even wrote a poem honoring Tsan-ning.42 Each of these three figures played leading roles in the wen revival at the Sung court. At the same time that Wang's biography of Tsan-ning in his collected writings (Hsiao-ch'u chi) established Tsan-ning's credentials as a wen master, it left unresolved the larger question of his Buddhist identity and how Buddhism might fit into the broader aims of the wen revival. Buddhist biographies of Tsan-ning do little to clear up the confusion surrounding his identity. However, the Orthodox Lineage of the Buddhist Tradition (Shih-men cheng-t'ung, completed 1237) and the Comprehensive History of the Buddhas and Patriarchs (Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, completed 1269) contain biographical information on Tsan-ning.43 Both sources unmistakably identify Tsan-ning as a loyal Buddhist, openly defending him against criticism in a conscious effort to reclaim his credibility in Buddhist circles. The problem that Buddhist biographers had with Tsan-ning concerned a famous episode, recorded by Ou-yang Hsiu in his Records Composed in Retirement (Kuei-t'ien lu), recounting Tsan-ning's reputed acquiescence that the emperor need not bow down before the Buddha when offering incense, stating: "The present Buddha need not bow down to the Buddha of the past."44 Tsung-chien, compiler of the Orthodox Lineage of the Buddhist Tradition, and Chih-p'an, compiler of the Comprehensive History of the Buddhas and Patriarchs, citing an apparently common source, defended Tsan-ning by claiming that this represented a fictitious statement. The emperor in question was identified in the report as T'ai-tsu, whose reign ended before Tsan-ning appeared at court. Tsan-ning could not, therefore, have uttered such a statement to T'ai-tsu. However credible the defense was, it signaled the larger problem Tsan-ning's identity had come to represent.45 Tsung-chien openly acknowledges this problem, admitting Tsan-ning was somewhat lenient toward Wang Yii-ch'eng, given Wang's criticism of Buddhist customs (specifically, the Lantern Festival) and his lack of tolerance for Buddhist doctrine. But he counters by praising Tsan-ning's effectiveness in getting emperors to accept Buddhism, noting the practice of recent emperors to kneel before the image of the Buddha at Buddhist cele-

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brations as an example. In spite of this defense, the overall message is clear: as effective as Tsan-ning was in winning the admiration of emperors and ku-wen officials, he did so at the risk of undermining the support of his Buddhist allies. In his biography of Tsung-mi (780-841), Tsan-ning defends Tsungmi s liaisons with members of the ruling elite in what amounts to a defense of his own cause. There are some who censure Tsung-mi, saying that he should not have received nobles and officials and paid frequent visits to the emperor. I, Tsan-ning, respond [to the criticism] with these words: "According to Buddhist teaching, the dharma is entrusted to kings and ministers. If we made no connection with kings and ministers, how could the religion be made to prosper? Are the Buddha's words about powerful wheel-turning monarchs (cakravartin) and their ministers not true? The sentiment of men today is critical of anyone who is closely associated with kings and ministers. [This is because] they do not fully understand the intent of those who are close to kings and ministers. If [the intent] is for profit or fame, then we should be grateful for the criticism. However, if the association is solely for the sake of the religion, how could that not be noble? Should one try to avoid petty criticism? Those who denounce Tsung-mi are just jealous of him. If we understand Tsungmi s intentions in this manner, [such criticism] is meaningless." 46 In section 38 ("The Relative Status of Buddhist Monks and Taoists") of the Historical Digest of the Buddhist Order, Tsan-ning argues further on the need for Buddhist involvement with political leaders. "If [monks] lived exclusively in forest retreats and did not set foot inside the palace, who would promote [the Buddha dharma]? Who would determine what position it occupies [at court]? In other words, what rank would be assigned to it? Thus, if [monks] focused solely on good deeds and practiced asceticism exclusively, how would kings and nobles gain detailed knowledge [of Buddhism]? How could they use their great influence to assist [Buddhism]?" 47 Yet the efforts of Tsan-ning to defend himself and those of Buddhist biographers to redeem his image only underscore the questions his associations with ku-wen officials raised. How could the tension between Tsan-nings reputation as a wen master, guided by Confucian criteria, be resolved with his Buddhist identity? In this regard, the problems facing Tsan-nings biographers paralleled those facing Buddhism in the Sung. For his own part, Tsan-ning believed that such tensions could be resolved harmoniously, that a Buddhist identity need not be sacrificed in the affirmation of Chinese wen.

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In spite of the questions that Tsan-ning's Buddhist identity raised, the links that Tsan-ning forged with Confucian officials were a harbinger of things to come. During the Sung, Hang-chou Buddhist centers thrived under the close relations formed between the Buddhist clergy and the Hang-chou elite, as Chapter 8 in this volume by Chi-chiang Huang documents. Monks like Sheng-ch'ang (959-1020) founded Lotus societies, following the example of Huiyiian, in an attempt to garner support among the literati class, even enlisting members from the ranks of the ku-wen faction. Tsun-shih's literary talent and close relations with officials in Hang-chou caused them to attempt to enlist him as one of their own. Although he rejected their invitation, his literary talent attracted many notable lay patrons from their ranks. Chih-yuan drew direct inspiration from Tsan-ning's example, and Ch'i-sung worked to counter ku-wen criticisms by developing a framework for synthesizing apparent contradictions between Buddhist and Confucian teachings. In short, Tsanning's career sheds light on how relations between literati and members of the Buddhist clergy were maintained during the Sung, even given the professed antipathy of numerous literati toward Buddhism.48

Tsan-ning's Qualities as a Wen Master Wang's biography suggests that wen revivalists in the early Sung held Tsan-ning in high esteem for qualities unrelated to his Buddhist allegiance. Three of these may have been crucial to Tsan-ning's success as a wen master: (1) his extensive and detailed knowledge of things, a quality that was noted in his initial conversation with emperor T'ai-tsung and one that earned him great respect in the context of early Sung promotion of learning; (2) his knowledge of Confucianism, a quality for which he was sought out by Confucians seeking to learn of their own principles; and (3) his ability to exhibit wen and serve as both scholar and official at levels associated normally with Confucians of the highest accomplishment. Tsan-ning's extensive knowledge is the subject of high praise in Wang's preface and in other sources. Because Tsan-ning's writings reflecting his vast knowledge have generally not survived, the content of this knowledge is largely unknown to us. There are, however, some suggestive indications. One is the survival of a monograph on bamboo.49 Another is a record of an exchange between Tsan-ning and Liu K'ai on the nature of luminescent substances, recorded in the Record of a Rustic from Mount Hsiang (Hsiang-shan yeh-lu).

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In a conversation with Tsan-ning, Liu K'ai requested an explanation for the "blue flames" (ch'ing-yen) that appeared in his garden on evenings following dreary, rainy weather, yet vanished whenever one tried to approach them. Tsan-ning explained that this was "phosphorescent glow" (lin-huo), which formed at the sight of battles where much blood was shed. When the blood of the soldiers, coupled with the blood of the oxen and horses, soaked into the earth and coagulated, phenomena occurred such as the one Liu K'ai observed. After hearing this explanation, Liu K'ai excavated the site and found fragments of old weapons. In this way, Tsan-ning provided a naturalistic explanation for phosphorescent glow, popularly thought to represent unrequited spirits or phantoms.50 Another story from the same collection reveals how Tsan-ning's explanations of strange phenomena impressed Sung officials. An unusual painting passed into the hands of Emperor T'ai-tsung as part of the tribute accompanying the return of the principality of Southern T'ang to Sung control.51 The unusual aspect of the painting was associated with an ox that during the day appeared in the painting eating grass outside a pen but at night appeared in the same painting as lying inside the pen. When the painting was shown at court, none of the officials could explain the phenomenon except for Tsan-ning. According to Tsan-ning's explanation, the solution to the puzzle could be attributed to a discovery of the "southern barbarians," who, when the tide is out, collect drops of liquid left on the shore by a certain kind of oyster and use it to make colored ink that appears at night, but not during the day. Another kind of "invisible" ink that appears in the daytime but not at night is produced by grinding up volcanic rocks that have fallen down to the shore. The scholars all refused, at first, to believe Tsan-ning's explanation, saying that there was no basis for it. Tsan-ning replied that the basis could be found in Chang Ch'ien's Record of Strange Phenomena in Foreign Countries (Hai-wai i-wu chi).52 When the collection of works in the imperial library was examined, Tu Hao (dates unknown) found the reference in a document dating from the Southern dynasties (c. third to sixth centuries).53 These stories reflect the vast range of Tsan-ning's knowledge and show how it could favorably influence an otherwise skeptical officialdom. At the Sung court, it proved an invaluable tool against those critical of anyone tainted with Buddhist affiliation. Even the likes of Liu K'ai, the most intolerant of ku-wen officials, came to trust Tsan-ning's knowledge and judgment, as the above episode

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attests. A Buddhist source, the Comprehensive History of the Buddhas and Patriarchs, claims that Tsan-ning demolished his critics at the Sung court with his superior knowledge of historical works and Confucian literary works, causing those who once ridiculed him to submit in fear.54 Tsan-ning composed a number of works reflecting his broad knowledge of the Chinese literary tradition, but unfortunately none of these works survive. The titles, alone, suggest that his knowledge in this area was extensive.55 Two of the titles, the Release from Bondage in the Analects (Lun-yii hsiian-chieh) and the Statement on the Analects (Lun-yii ch'en-shuo), indicate Tsan-nings interest in the teachings of Confucius. Especially noteworthy here is the way in which Tsan-ning appears to interpret the message of the Analects in terms compatible with Buddhism and even, perhaps, Taoism. The phrase hsiian-chieh ("release from bondage") appears in the Chuangtzu,56 and it is used by Seng-jui in his preface to the Middle Treatise (Chung-lun; Madhyamakakarika) of Nagarjuna. 57 Several prominent scholars and their works are singled out for criticism in Tsan-nings works: Tung Chung-shu (c. 179-104 B . C . ) , author of the Luxuriant Gems of the Spring and Autumn Annals (Ch'un-ch'iu fan-lu);58 Wang Chung's (A.D. 27-ca. 100) Balanced Inquiries (Lun-heng);59 Yen Chih-t'ui (531-591+), author of Family Instructions for the Yen Clan (Yen-shih chia-hsun);60 and Liu Chih-chi (661-721), author of the Generalities on History (Shih-t'ung).61 The titles of such works by Tsan-ning provide meager information on his critical approach to native historical and Confucian sources. They do indicate, however, that Tsan-ning had explicit and highly evolved views on the proper approach to these sources. Far from being a dilettante, the titles of these works reveal Tsan-ning as an active participant in the highly charged debate over the true nature of wen in the early Sung. Without access to the ideas expressed in these works, our view of Tsan-ning will always be restricted. Any attempt to assess Tsan-ning can only partially account for the full breadth of views he held. The early Sung offered numerous opportunities for one with talents as prodigious as those of Tsan-ning, as is exhibited in Tsannings accomplishments as a scholar and as an official. A number of Tsan-ning's works as a scholar were commissioned by imperial authority. In 982, he was commissioned to compile the Sung Biographies of Eminent Monks (Sung kao-seng chuan), the only work in the biographies of eminent monks (kao-seng chuan) series compiled

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under imperial authority.62 Manager of affairs Su I-chien (958-996) commissioned Tsan-ning to contribute a section on Buddhism to the Legacy of the Sages and Worthies of the Three Teachings (San-chiao sheng-hsien shih-chi). He also wrote the Legacy of the Sages and Worthies of Vulture Peak (Chiu-ling sheng-hsien lu) and compiled the Legacy of Sages and Worthies (Sheng-hsien shih-chi).63 As an official, Tsan-ning was appointed to increasingly more prestigious positions at the Sung court. In addition to receiving an honorific robe and title, emblems of membership of high-ranking officials, Tsan-ning was appointed chief lecturer on Buddhist sutras. In 995, he was placed in charge of religious affairs in Lo-yang, the "western capital" during the Northern Sung. The pinnacle of Tsanning's career as an official came in his final years, in appointments received after emperor Chen-tsung assumed the throne in 997. In the following year (998), Tsan-ning was appointed Buddhist registrar (seng-lu) of the right precincts of the capital. His eventual appointment to the more prestigious position of Buddhist registrar of the left precincts is acknowledged in Wang Yii-ch'engs preface title.64

Buddhism as a Component of Chinese Wen The question remains how Tsan-ning could be a staunch supporter of Buddhism and an active participant in the wen revival, with its anti-Buddhist overtones, at the same time. As has been pointed out, Tsan-ning belonged to a category of "Confucian monks" devoted to "learning ju" that prospered in the early Sung. Buoyed by the centuries-long Buddhist legacy in China and imperial support for the Buddhist cause, these monks believed that the complex issues involved in wedding the Buddhist and Confucian traditions could be overcome. One of the most famous monks of the early Sung devoted to ku-wen and learning ju was Chih-yuan. The following statement by Chih-yuan made in a farewell preface for Shu-chi (dates unknown), expresses sentiments with which Tsan-ning would have likely agreed. What is called ku-wen establishes language worthy of being remembered according to the ancient Way, and the language must illuminate the ancient Way. What is the ancient Way? It is the Way the sage-teacher Confucius practiced.... His fundamental precepts were simply benevolence andrighteousnessand the five constants. If you aspire to This Culture (ssu-wen), you must

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really master the Way of the five constants. Do not lose the center yet change with the times, change but maintain continuity [with the ancient], for what is continuous endures and what endures agrees [with the Way]. Once you have apprehended the Way in the mind, let it come out by writing essays (wen-chang) and spread it as transformation through instruction (chiao-hua) [thus saving the age and setting forth the kingly way, etc.],... This should be the goal of doing wen. The creation of ku-wen truly is complete in this.65 And yet, according to Chih-yuan, there were monks even more extreme, who in imitation of Han Yii's wen, "attacked their own teaching and honored/w." 66 For Tsan-ning, and for Chih-yuan who followed, the principle expressed in "Do not lose the center yet change with the times, change but maintain continuity [with the ancient], for what is continuous endures and what endures agrees [with the Way]" became the rationale for including Buddhist teaching ("changing with the times") with the ancient Confucian legacy ("not losing the center") as "the goal of doing wen" and "the creation of ku-wen." The substance of Tsan-ning's argument was that Buddhism constituted an integral part of Chinese wen. Tsan-ning argued that rather than being an alien tradition, as proponents of a revival of wen in exclusively Confucian terms asserted. Buddhism deserved equal status as a domesticated, native Chinese tradition. In the distinction between the general promotion of wen as literary refinement, as in the case of Yang I, and the more specific promotion of ku-wen, as in Wang Yii-ch'eng, Tsan-ning's arguments went beyond an appeal to Buddhisms natural allies, the proponents of wen as literary refinement, to challenge ku-wen proponents to accept Buddhism as part of Chinas literary heritage.67 This strategy distinguishes Tsan-ning's argument for the acceptance of Buddhism from the approach of Yang I and the Lin-chi Ch'an monks Yang I supported. They adopted the more accessible position that Buddhism be appropriated in terms of the innovative and creative wen style exemplified by Ch'an discourse. Tsan-ning accepted this position but took it further to challenge the presuppositions of ku-wen itself. A summary of Tsan-ning's position is contained in his conclusion to the Historical Digest of the Buddhist Order.68 Tsan-ning's position is based on the aim of assuring a role for Buddhism in China. To fulfill this aim, Tsan-ning suggests four propositions:

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Albert Welter 1. The emperor, as the undisputed head of the Chinese state and leader of Chinese society, is the legitimate supervisor of the Buddhist religion. 2. Buddhism is useful to the emperor for conducting affairs of state. 3. Each of Chinas three religions—Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism—has a legitimate position in the function of the state. 4. It is the duty of the emperor to supervise the activities of the three religions and to direct them in accordance with the aims of the state.

The first proposition is an admission of the reality that Buddhism faced in the Sung. The survival of Buddhism depended on imperial sanction of its activities. Compared with officials, the Sung emperors offered more assertive, less ambiguous support for Buddhism. The second proposition is a reminder of the strong influence that Buddhism had over the populace. Properly guided and supported, Buddhism can serve as an important governing tool in the imperial arsenal. The third proposition is a cornerstone of Tsanning's proposal for the role of Buddhism. For Tsan-ning the three religions represent but three aspects of a single imperial ideology. Tsan-ning's concept places the emperor alone at the top as the sole authority, with the three religions in tripodlike harmony underneath. Within this ideology, each religion occupies a legitimate place acknowledged by the others. As a result, the fourth proposition assumes that the emperor has sole authority over the three aspects (i.e., religions) of his imperial ideology. The three religions are the emperors implements: he may direct them as best suits his "grand plan."69 In this manner, Tsan-ning likens the three religions to the possessions of a single family, the Chinese nation, with the emperor as the head of this family. While conceding the emperors authority over Buddhism as one of the three religions, Tsan-ning asserts that Buddhism, as a member of the Chinese family, has a legitimate place in Chinese society. In effect, Tsan-ning is attempting to state the emperor's policy and to assure the survival of Buddhism in the current political environment. What distinguishes Tsan-ning from other Buddhist authors is his pragmatic rather than ideological approach to argument. It was an approach well suited to the audience he was addressing. Aside from the political rationale for including Buddhism as a legitimate part of Chinese civilization and culture, Tsan-ning offered

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numerous examples, scattered throughout the Historical Digest of the Buddhist Order, for including Buddhism as a domestic Chinese tradition. Throughout, Tsan-ning consistently draws on criteria compatible with the wen revival and the principles embraced by an ascendant scholarly class. The style of the Historical Digest of the Buddhist Order validated the style of scholarship employed by Confucian historians, who sought clear judgment regarding current problems and situations by reflecting on them in light of historical precedent. The topics outlined in the Historical Digest of the Buddhist Order are treated in model fashion following this criterion. Through his presentation, Tsan-ning wove a subtle argument for the acceptance of Buddhism. In the first place, he emphasizes the antiquity of Buddhism in China. Tsan-ning argued that, as an established Chinese religion. Buddhism deserves to be treated as part of Chinas domestic heritage. This argument is an attempt to counter charges that Buddhist influence in China be restricted on account of its foreign origins. In section 2 ("The Arrival of Buddhist Monks in China") of the Historical Digest of the Buddhist Order, Tsan-ning claims Buddhist activity existed in China from the Chou dynasty; the evidence for this would surely have appeared in Chinese biographical and historical records had it not been destroyed by Shih Huang-ti in the Ch'in dynasty.70 He also claims that the prominent Han scholar Liu Hsiang (79-8 B.C.) frequently encountered evidence for the prior existence of Buddhist scriptures in China when he collated the books in the imperial library.71 Such claims, if accepted, would serve to make Buddhism more acceptable to Sung officials. Not only would they bring the arrival of Buddhism in China closer to Chinas "golden age" of antiquity, they also offer official recognition of Buddhism's antiquity and validity by an illustrious member of their own group. Elsewhere (in section 1, "The Date of the Buddha's Descent [from Heaven] and Birth [on Earth]"), Tsan-ning criticized Indian culture in ways that could only appeal to Chinese advocates of wen. As one of the reasons for the disagreements in Chinese records regarding the date of the Buddha's birth, Tsan-ning claims: "Owing to the unsophistication and simplicity [of culture] in India, [the observers of the Buddha's birth] were unable to record all the details [regarding it]; satisfied with generalizations, they did not emphasize a lot of detail [in their explanations]. As a result, there is no consensus in the information that has been transmitted." 72 The inference of China's cultural superiority, distancing Chinese cultural

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values from Indian ones, by the leading representative of Buddhism in China could only help to alleviate fears about Buddhisms alien status. Tsan-ning asserts throughout the Historical Digest of the Buddhist Order that Buddhism is a Chinese religion and must be understood in terms of Chinas cultural values. The point of the Historical Digest of the Buddhist Order is to substantiate this claim by citing the Chinese historical record. After citing seven different explanations for the Chinese imperial reign era of the Buddha's birth, for example, Tsan-ning makes a point of stating that "all of these are explanations based on biographical and historical records in this country [i.e., China]." 73 More important than the debate over when the event actually took place is the assumption that the Buddha's birth is an important event recorded in China's native histories. In effect, it is a Chinese event (not an alien one), important to China's culture. As events important to China's culture, Buddhist phenomena must be judged according to Chinese criteria. While acknowledging explanations of phenomena rooted in religious experience, Tsanning ultimately admits that only rational verification can be accepted. The context of this argument for accepting rational verification over religious/mystical explanations indicates a debate concerning what criterion should be admissible as historical precedent: Confucian rationalism or Buddhist mysticism. Alternate claims, depending on which criterion one counts as credible, are considered by Tsan-ning with regard to "The Introduction of Buddhist Scriptures and Images in China" (section 3). At the present time, the introduction of Buddhist scriptures and images to China is associated with two sramana [Chia She-mot'eng and Chu Fa-lan] bringing the Sutra in Forty-Two Sections and an image of the Buddha painted on coarse silk during the reign of Emperor Ming in the Han dynasty (r. A.D. 58-75). But according to the Transmission of Miraculous Tales, King Mu (r. 1001-947 B.C.) erected the Ling-an Monastery and Shih Hua presented offerings at the Asokan stupa in Yung-chou, and so on, during the Chou dynasty. [Based on this evidence,] how could [the introduction of Buddhist scriptures and images to China] not have occurred before the Eastern [i.e., Former] Han dynasty? Such evidence [as that contained in the Transmission of Miraculous Tales], however, is something that cannot be accepted on rational grounds nor expressed in words; it must be relegated [to a place] outside our [rational and verbal] categories of understanding.

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Based on material and physical evidence contingent on being rationally understandable and expressible in words, the [evidence from the] Yung-p'ing era (A.D. 58-75) is currently accepted as the introduction of Buddhist scriptures and images in China.74 Even though the evidence of the Transmission of Miraculous Tales (Kan-t'ung chuan) suggests even greater antiquity for Buddhism in China, Tsan-ning judiciously rejects it as unworthy of acceptance. The larger point here is Tsan-ning's concession that assertions, regardless of their source, must be subjected to the same criteria. These criteria point toward Tsan-ning's application of what he believes to be a basic principle for the revival of Chinese culture in the Sung: dispassionate judgment free of ideological bias. One of the great achievements of the Historical Digest of the Buddhist Order was to document the long, established tradition of imperial support for Buddhism in China, ranging from acceptance of Buddhism as part of the institutional structure of the imperial bureaucracy, sponsorship of Buddhist festivals and processions, and connections between Buddhism and the imperial court. In section 4 ("The Creation of Monasteries for Buddhist Monks"), Tsan-ning documents how Emperor Ming initially appointed Buddhist monks to the Court of Dependencies (Hung-lu ssu), the official residence for foreign guests in China. Later, he constructed the White Horse Monastery (Pai-ma ssu) for them outside the Gate of Western Harmony (Hsi-yung men) in Lo-yang. Citing a late Han etymological dictionary for authority, Tsan-ning linked the Chinese character for Buddhist monastery, ssu, to its origins as an institution provided by the government to house monks.75 Later, in a commentary at the end of section 37 ("Administrative Jurisdiction over Monks and Nuns"), he argues for increased surveillance over Buddhism by the secular government, reviewing how administrative acceptance of Buddhism evolved in China over time.76 From the Court of Dependencies in the Han, jurisdiction over Buddhism in the Latter Wei was placed under the Office for the Clarification of Buddhist Profundities (Chao-hsiian ssu), an agency of the Court of Dependencies specially appointed for monitoring Buddhist activities. In the T'ang, jurisdiction over Buddhism was placed under the Bureau of National Sacrifices (Tz'u-pu), one of four bureaus of the Ministry of Rites (Li-pu). Eventually, jurisdiction was transferred to the commissioner for the cultivation of merit and virtue (hsiu kung-te shih).77 Tsan-ning likens the change in jurisdiction over Buddhism in

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China to a process of domestication, using Chinese taste for pepper spices and appreciation of leather boots as metaphors. Pepper, once considered rare and exquisite, eventually came to be regarded as a domestic product. Leather boots, once regarded as elegant and exotic, became recognized as Chinese attire. 78 Numerous sections in the Historical Digest of the Buddhist Order are devoted to imperial acceptance of Buddhism: sponsorship of Buddhist festivals,79 recognition of Buddhist offices and titles,80 construction of Buddhist chapels in the imperial palace,81 and so on. All of these attest to the great acceptance Buddhism had won, to the point of being considered a domestic tradition. Following this reasoning, Tsan-ning argued for full acceptance of Buddhism within the administrative structure of the Chinese government. Given recognition of Buddhism as a positive force in Chinese culture by Sung officials, Tsan-ning interpreted increased government surveillance over Buddhism as beneficial to Buddhism, concluding: "The more the imperial court actively increased their control [over Buddhism], the more celebrated the activities of Buddhism became." 82 The success of this strategy depended on the acceptance of Tsan-ning s interpretation of Buddhism and its role in Chinese society by wen officials at the Sung court. This acceptance would prove problematic, but even critics of Buddhism who disagreed with Tsan-ning accepted the principle of increased jurisdiction over Buddhism as necessary government policy, in spite of the different ends at which such jurisdiction was aimed. To counter the alleged negative effect that Buddhism had on Chinese culture and morality, Tsan-ning argued for the benefits Buddhism had on Chinese moral behavior. It was the positive effect on moral behavior, according to Tsan-ning, that attracted Chinese to Buddhism in the first place. In section 8 ("Leaving Home to Enter the Buddhist Clergy in China"), he alleges that the mere presence of Buddhist monasteries in Chinese society raises the moral conduct of the people: "Whenever crazed and confused people approach a Buddhist monastery, they immediately produce good thoughts." 83 Tsan-ning likens this situation to the famous episode of Mencius' youth, when Mencius' mother reportedly moved near a school so that her child could be instilled with the moral principles of Confucianism. Reference to the example of Mencius was particularly appropriate given the situation Tsan-ning faced. In support of his claim regarding the positive effect of Buddhist morality on Chinese society, Tsan-ning proposed that Buddhist ritual

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be acknowledged among the ritual conventions governing Chinese society. On the one hand, Tsan-ning called on the Buddhist community to follow proper ritual, as established by Tao-an (312-385).84 His concern that the Buddhist clergy follow proper etiquette is expressed in section 12 ("Changes in the Etiquette for Showing Respect"),85 showing the deep concern Buddhism had for proper social conduct. The need for Buddhists to follow proper ordination rituals reassured officials of the respect Buddhism had for rules governing ritual conduct.86 This reassurance was particularly appropriate given the reputation for harboring criminal elements and social renegades that some Buddhist monasteries had. In addition, Tsan-ning justified Buddhist ritual in ways that Confucians were likely to appreciate. He characterized the effect of hymns of praise sung in Sanskrit at Buddhist ceremonies as accommodating and harmonious, having a tempering effect on human behavior, and being pleasing to heavenly beings and spirits. This characterization is comparable to Confucian justifications for music in the Book of Rites and elsewhere.87 The institution of Buddhist Rector (seng-cheng) exemplifies Chinese faith in ritual to provide social order and their trust in bureaucratic means of administering it. As such, it exhibits the application of core Chinese cultural values to the administration of Buddhism. According to Tsan-ning, when a Buddhist Section (seng-ts'ao) was instituted in the bureaucracy of the central government, rules governing the behavior of the Buddhist clergy became standardized. The office of Buddhist Rector was established to administer government directives affecting Buddhism and to restrain the activities of the clergy on the basis of law.88 In this way, Buddhist respect for moral behavior guided by ritual was incorporated into the structure of the Chinese bureaucracy. Thus, Tsan-ning portrays Buddhism as conforming to Chinese attitudes toward ritual and administrative supervision rather than being an alien, disruptive presence in China. It is interesting to note that the office of Buddhist Rector was one held by Tsan-ning himself. In spite of the persuasiveness of Tsan-ning's arguments for the inclusion of Buddhist ritual as a positive component of the Chinese state, one issue in particular pushed the tolerance of Confucian officials for accepting Buddhist ritual: Buddhist incense-offering rites at memorial services for imperial ancestors. Tsan-ning argues for the inclusion of Buddhist incense-offering rites at memorial services for imperial ancestors on indisputably Confucian grounds: participation in the incense rite is an expression of filial piety for family members

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a n d of loyalty to the emperor for officials. It is not for Heaven s sake that incense is offered b u t for the pleasing a r o m a that it brings a n d the soothing effect that the ritual has on the mental state of the participant. This explanation parallels Confucian arguments for memorial services in the Book of Rites, as Tsan-ning is quick to point out. Incense clears away foul odors and spreads fragrant aroma, causing people to delight in their olfactory senses. The original impulse for this [in the Book of Rites states]: "The people of Chou esteemed the pungent aroma [emanating from their sacrifices]. . . . " Some question the need to perform the [Buddhist] incenseoffering rite. This is answered by comparing it with [the practice during] the Chou period, when the aroma of blazing dried wood, the aroma of the blood and fat of the sacrificial victim, and the aroma of millet and artemisia were esteemed, when it was said that Heaven accepts these aromas as offerings. How can Heaven consume the aroma of blood and fat, of millet and artemisia? It is only because the people of Chou esteemed these aromas that they served Heaven with them. If this is the case, how can one fault Buddhist teaching for the importance it places on incense? More significantly, when government officials serve imperial ancestors, they are also [acting as] subjects of the emperor. Before Confucians entertain even for a moment the idea of abolishing the Buddhist incense rite, they should consider the effect it could have on loyalty and filial piety.89 Tsan-ning's remarks were m a d e to rebut the position of Tsui Li (fl. 810-839), 90 an influential T'ang official who wrote a scathing critique of imperial sponsorship of Buddhist incense-rites in the years leading u p to the Hui-ch'ang persecution (842-845), a position that remained potentially viable in the early Sung. In the reign of Emperor Wen-tsung (r. 827-839), the imperial secretary Tsui Li petitioned the throne: "There is no authorization in the classic [Confucian] scriptures for [government] sponsorship of vegetarian banquets or for [participation in] incense-offering rites by government officials on national memorial days. I humbly request that these be abolished." An imperial decree concurred: "Ts'ui Li's petition has succeeded in discerning the roots from the branches [i.e., the essentials from the extraneous]. The stipulated rules of conduct [for memorial services] in the ritual texts clearly do not include any mention of this practice. Offering incense at Buddhist and Taoist temples on national memorial days in the two capitals [of Ch'ang-an and Lo-yang] and in the administrative districts of the empire shall be prohibited from this day forward." 91

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In response, Tsan-ning put forth his strongest argument for Chinese acceptance of Buddhism to wen officials. Tsui Li contended that the incense rite be abolished on the basis that there was no mention of it in the Chinese wen tradition. Tsan-ning countered that Buddhist, not Confucian, writings must be regarded as authoritative for Buddhist rites. Mention in the Confucian classics, standing on its own, is insufficient to warrant authorization in any case. Confucian sanction of human sacrifice, suggested Tsan-ning, should not be followed just because it is authorized in classical texts. 92 The point, according to Tsan-ning, is that times change, and as they do, so do notions of proper conduct. In other words, morality is something that is conditioned, at least in part, by historical circumstance and not the prerogative of a particular age, as ku-wen moralists insisted. Strongly implied here is the idea that Buddhist writings be accepted as part of the Chinese wen tradition along with Confucian texts. The imperial decree stated that Ts'ui Li discerned the roots from the branches and that the stipulated rules of conduct [for memorial services] in the ritual texts clearly do not include any mention of this practice, but how could the ritual [practices] of the Hsia, Shang, and Chou dynasties refer to sponsoring banquets for Buddhists or to [Buddhist] incense-offering rites? In any case, the stipulated rules of conduct [in the ritual texts] are simply laws that change with the passing of dynasties. How, for example, could regulations implemented after the reign of Emperor T'aitsung (r. 762-779) appear in the stipulated rules of conduct for the late Sui or early T'ang [before T'ai-tsung's reign]? What is more, [according to Ts'ui Li's position] rituals are promulgated [solely] by Confucians, and the authority of Buddhist writings is denied. For activities pertaining to Buddhists, it surely makes no sense to use Confucian scriptures for authorization. Judged in terms of their own criteria, Buddhist rites would at once be said to be reasonable, but Confucians fail to allow this and instead cite Confucian texts [to deny their validity].93 In his commentary to section 38 ("The Relative Status of Buddhists and Taoists"), Tsan-ning argues explicitly for the inclusion of Buddhist scriptures among Chinas literary tradition. 94 His argument is contained in a rebuttal to the scheme used by Juan Hsiaohsii (478-536) in the Seven Records (Ch'i-lu) to classify existing written materials in seven sections, or "records." 95 The first five sections of the Seven Records were designated as "inner" (or "essential") works (nei), beginning with Confucian canonical works, and including historical and biographical records, works by philosophers,

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works on military affairs, collections of literary essays, works on astrology, divination, law, medicine, and so on. The last two sections, designated as "outer" (or "extraneous") (wai), were concerned with Buddhist and Taoist works. As one would expect, Tsan-ning strongly objected to the designation of Buddhism as "outer" and limiting the domestic and essential to "Confucian" works, broadly defined. Instead, Tsan-ning insisted that the designations "inner/ essential" and "outer/extraneous" be structured on nonpartisan criteria that weigh the relative strengths and weaknesses of works individually, naturally distinguishing superior works from inferior ones regardless of ideological affiliation. The basis for judging works in this fashion, the "eye of wisdom" (chih-yen), suggests an underlying Buddhist framework guiding Tsan-ning s assessment. In the past, Juan Hsiao-hsii wrote in the Seven Records that Buddhist teaching be treated in the section on outer writings. [Buddhist writings were categorized in five subsections.] The first dealt with monastic rules (chieh-lu); the second with meditation (ch'anting); the third with wisdom (chih-hui); the fourth with apocrypha (i-ssu); and the fifth with treatises and records (lun-chi). As a result, he regarded writings on Buddhist principle [i.e., truth] (li) as "outer" (fang-wai). Reference to Buddhism as an "outer teaching" (fang-wai chiao) began with Juan Hsiao-hsii. He also referred to [the teachings of] Chuang-tzu and Lao-tzu as foreign. He obstinately insisted that teachings existing within the bounds of China not be included [as domestic/essential]. I ask that we make clear [the difference between] superficial and profound teachings among these works with the eye of wisdom (chih-yen); then essential and superior teachings will naturally be distinguished from the extraneous and inferior ones. Without the eye of wisdom, [precious] jade will be destroyed along with [common] stone; good and evil will both be implemented. Without it, what can we rely on to know [the difference]?96 Tsan-ning's view that Buddhism be accepted as part of China's cultural heritage was based on a perspective on Chinese tradition as dynamic and evolving. Rather than accept a "golden age" hypothesis that rooted China's core cultural values exclusively in remote antiquity, Tsan-ning argued that as Chinese culture evolved, so did the values that it identified with. Truth is not the prerogative of a single age, but something that shifts with the changing of the times and the perspective of the group reflecting on its meaning: "[The meaning of] things differs according to the group [determining it], and

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[the meaning of] events changes in accordance with the times. One who regards the ancient sage-kings [as his model] [i.e., the emperor] does not overlook the deceptions of the past. The one who controls the myriad lands [i.e., the emperor] has the prerogative to reinterpret the meaning [of the model]."97 This statement clearly derives from Tsan-ning's concern over the effect of Confucian myopia on Chinas Buddhist tradition. Hope lies with the emperor. The emperor plays the key role in determining what model China will follow. Acknowledging this, Tsan-ning claims: "The rites and music issue from the Son of Heaven."98 Elsewhere, he affirms an emperors right, at the beginning of a dynasty, to institute the reforms he deems necessary after consolidating his control over the empire.99 In this regard, the importance of Buddhism in Chinas culture affirmed throughout the Historical Digest of the Buddhist Order may be read as an appeal to the emperor (and his ministers) to include Buddhism in the dynastic model set forth. In terms of the wen revival, Tsan-ning argued that Buddhist wen be admitted as a category of Chinese wen, not separated and excluded from it. In the context of the early Sung, when the wen revival was the rallying cry uniting all who stood for literary and civil over military rule, it was feasible to argue for the inclusion of Buddhist wen in Chinese ku-wen. As time progressed, advocates of wen became more polarized in their views. Promoters of ku-wen tended to define wen solely in terms of the literary tradition of Chinese antiquity, predating the arrival of Buddhism in China and the translation of its texts into Chinese. In this new climate, Tsan-ning's views seemed anachronistic. In the early decades of the eleventh century, momentum at the Sung court shifted toward support for Ch'an Buddhism, particularly as defined by members of the Lin-chi branch. Supporters of Lin-chi Ch'an sharply distinguished themselves from ku-wen advocates, who restricted the content and form of wen according to ancient models and moral criteria. Instead, they allied themselves with those who defined wen in more inclusive terms, embracing the dynamic and creative aspects of wen, freed of formal conventions and restrictive, moral criteria.100

Tsan-ning and Early Sung Buddhism The fate of Buddhism in the early Sung was in the hands of the emperor and secular officials. The cultivation of favorable relations between monks and officials had long been a high priority among

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Buddhists, but these relations became especially important in the Sung, when officials turned an increasingly critical eye toward the Buddhist presence in China. It is difficult to determine the precise impact that Tsan-ning's writings on Buddhism had on these officials. The Historical Digest of the Buddhist Order, one of two such writings that survive, educated Sung officials on a wide range of topics pertaining to Buddhism, most importantly, on the role that Buddhism might play in the Sung state and how it could be administered through government policy. Any understanding of the role that Buddhism played throughout the Sung would be incomplete without considering Tsan-ning's contributions. As persuasive as Tsan-ning's arguments may have been in shaping government policy in individual matters and in winning overall support for Buddhism, his case for accepting Buddhism as a component of Chinese wen met stiff opposition. The official position of Neo-Confucianism reflects a general lack of tolerance for Buddhism and exclusion of Buddhist values from the core values of Chinese culture.101 This position made it easier for Confucian officials to treat Buddhism as external to true Chinese wen rather than as part of it. Soon after Tsan-ning's death, an alternate view of the relationship between Buddhism and the Sung state began to dominate. This view was predicated on two factors, both of which had a significant impact on the future course of Buddhism during the Sung. The first factor was the change in the way political power was exercised. The first two Sung emperors, T'ai-tsu and T'ai-tsung, viewed policy formation as the personal responsibility of the emperor. During the reign of the third Sung emperor, Chen-tsung, attitudes toward the formation of imperial policy began to shift. The bureaucracy began to wield greater authority in policy formation as it depended less on the independent choice of the emperor.102 This meant that official policy toward Buddhism depended less on the prerogative of the emperor and more on the bureaucracy, which harbored strong reservations about the Buddhist presence in China. The second factor was the change taking place within Buddhism. Beginning with the publication of the Ching-te Record of the Transmission of the Flame (Ching-te ch'uan-teng lu) in 1004,103 Ch'an lineages began to assert their identity and their authority over the interpretation of the Buddhist message in China in ways that captured the attention of leading officials. Yang I, an advocate of wen as an expression of literary refinement and individual creativity, promoted the style of Ch'an reflected in "genealogical histories" (ch'uan-teng

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lu), works representing the emerging identity of Buddhists associated with Ch'an lineages. In his preface to the Ching-te Record, a text that Yang I reedited with the aid of other Sung officials, Yang I projects an image of Ch'an as "a special practice outside the Buddhist scriptures" (chiao-wai pieh-hsiu), emphasizing the distinctiveness of this new form of Buddhism from its traditional forebears. Among other things, the Ching-te Record is noteworthy for recording some of the earliest examples of the "discourse records" (yii-lu) texts that, in effect, displace the traditional function of Buddhist scripture as "the word of the Buddha" with the words of Ch'an masters. The success of the Ch'an redefinition of Buddhism in China is exhibited in the 1036 publication of the T'ien-sheng Extensive Record of the Flame (T'ien-sheng kuang-teng lu), a Ch'an transmission history promoting masters in the Lin-chi lineage who rose to prominence in the early decades of the eleventh century. Compiled by Li Tsun-hsii (d. 1038), a son-in-law of the emperor, the T'ien-sheng Extensive Record is the first work to give prominence to the expression "a separate transmission outside the scriptures" (chiao-wai piehch'uan) that later would become a hallmark of Ch'an identity.104 The recorded words of two masters, Kuei-sheng of the Kuang-chiao Monastery in Ju-chou, active in the last decades of the tenth century and the first decades of the eleventh,105 and Shih-shuang Ch'u-yiian (987-1040), make special mention of Ch'an teaching using this phrase. As the teacher of Yang-ch'i Fang-hui (992-1049) and Huang-lung Hui-nan (1002-1069), heads of the two branches that have dominated the Lin-chi lineage since the Sung, Shih-shuang Ch'u-yiian was highly influential. It is possible to view the emergence of Ch'an in the early Sung as an effective rebuttal against the hostility Sung officials felt toward Buddhism. On the one hand, the new formulation that emerged from the genealogical histories suggested that Ch'an was distinct from the old, T'ang forms of Buddhism held responsible for the decline in China's core Confucian values. On the other hand, the new Ch'an image did not challenge Confucian tolerance for Buddhism. The emerging style of Ch'an in the early Sung did not suggest that Buddhism be admitted alongside Confucianism as an expression of China's central cultural values. At the same time, it left open the question of official support for Buddhism. Stated differently, it did not directly challenge conservative Confucians, who tended to define wen exclusively in terms of the Confucian tradition

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of Chinese antiquity, to consider Buddhism as part of wen on terms that they were unwilling to accept. It catered to more liberal-minded officials who sought to define wen as a synthesis of Chinas cultural traditions, regardless of persuasion, who actively promoted Ch'an at the Sung court for the freedom of spirit, essential to their view of wen, that it championed. As a result, Buddhism could either be properly excluded or suitably enhancing, depending on the definition of wen espoused. As the dynasty progressed, officials advocating ku-wen made significant inroads at the Sung court. Allies headed by Fan Chung-yen (989-1052) succeeded in promoting active governing (yu-wei) based on ku-wen policies, denouncing Buddhist and Taoist sanction of quietistic, nonactive (wu-wei) governing. They refused to accept Buddhism and Taoism as ethical teachings and strove to reform the examination system to promote those whose ethical behavior and political idealism conformed to ku-wen principles. Shih Chieh (1005-1045) set out to combat the pernicious effect of Buddhism and Taoism on true morality and to attack Yang Is style of wen as literary refinement. Ou-yang Hsiu (1007-1072) made ku-wen criteria the pretext for passing the imperial exams when he was appointed director of examinations in 1057. To the extent that the ku-wen agenda gripped official opinion, Buddhism was excluded from positive consideration. 106 In spite of these trends rendering Tsan-ning's position obsolete, Tsan-ning provided an important example both for Buddhist teaching and for relations between monks and officials during the Sung. Following the pattern set by Tsan-ning, Chih-yuan came to epitomize the Buddhist monk as teacher of ku-wen values, interpreting Buddhism and Confucianism as two sides of the same coin. In his essay "The (Auto)-Biography of the Master of the Mean" (Chungyung tzu chuan), Chih-yuan adopts a self-appointed designation with obvious Confucian overtones to explain that although Confucianism and Buddhism use different language, they share a common truth (yen-i erh li-kuanj.107 The compatibility between truths emanating from Buddhist teaching and the principles stemming from the Confucian literary tradition represented in the writings of Chih-yuan parallels similar attitudes seen in Tsan-ning. The Buddhist Ch'i-sung also reminds one of Tsan-ning in the way he both impressed ku-wen officials and defended Buddhism against their attacks. In the early Sung, the anti-Buddhist polemics of Han Yii came to typify the antagonistic position of ku-wen officials

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toward B u d d h i s m . In his Treatises Countering Han YiX (Fei Han lun), Ch'i-sung adopted Confucian principles to m o u n t a strong counterattack against ku-wen anti-Buddhist a s s u m p t i o n s b a s e d o n the writings of H a n Yu. At the s a m e time, Ch'i-sung w a s widely adm i r e d by the leading Confucian scholars of his day, including s u c h notable figures as Ou-yang Hsiu. 1 0 8 Like Wang Yu-ch'eng, Ou-yang H s i u w a s a fierce critic of B u d d h i s m yet m a i n t a i n e d close personal relations w i t h m e m b e r s of the Buddhist clergy, even writing prefaces to monks' works. 1 0 9 This c o m b i n a t i o n of defending B u d d h i s m against criticism while retaining the respect and admiration of one's detractors is r e m i n i s c e n t of the m o d e l pioneered by Tsan-ning at the early S u n g court.

Notes 1. The opening lines of the collected biographies of literary masters (Wenyuan) section of the Sung shih (439.12,997) characterizes the foundation of the Sung cultural renaissance in the following terms (adapting the translation of Peter K. Bol, "This Culture of Ours": Intellectual Transitions in T'ang and Sung China [Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1992], p. 150): It has been so from old that in the case of a founding and unifying ruler one could predict the pattern of an entire era from what his times valued. When the Great Ancestor (T'ai-tsu; r. 960-976) changed the mandate, he first gave employment to wen officials and took power away from military (wu) officials. The Sungs valuing wen (the literary/civil) had its roots in this. While still heirs-apparent, T'ai-tsung (r. 976-997) and Chen-tsung (r. 997-1022) already had reputations for loving learning. Once they took the throne, [the Sung] became more wen by the day. Through the successive reigns of their descendants, all those above who acted as rulers of men were constantly engaged in learning, and all those below who acted as ministers, from the chief councillors down to the local officials, were selected through the examinations; and so within the four seas wen-shih who combined substance and refinement appeared in droves. 2. Karl F. Olsson, "The Structure of Power under the Third Emperor of Sung China: The Shifting Balance after the Peace of Shan-yuan" (Ph.D. dissertation, University of Chicago, 1974), argues that an important shift in favor of bureaucratic over imperial control occurred during the reign of the third emperor, Chen-tsung. 3. Li Tao, Hsu tzu-chih t'ung-chien ch'ang-pien (Taipei: World Book Co., 1961), 5.2b-3a.

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4. John Winthrop Haeger, "The Significance of Confusion: The Origins of the T'ai-p'ing yii-lan," Journal of the American Oriental Society 88.1 (1968): 407a. T'ai-tsung's determination here is reminiscent of Sui Wen-ti, whose relationship with Chih-i may be said to parallel that between T'ai-tsung and Tsan-ning. 5. On receiving the copy of the T'ai-p'ing yii-lan, T'ai-tsung declared his intention to read the work personally within one year (Hsu tzu-chih t'ung-chien ch'ang-pien 24.20b, cited in Haeger, p. 407). 6. Olsson, "The Structure of Power under the Third Emperor of Sung China," p. 46. 7. Early Sung imperial attitudes toward Buddhism are examined in detail in Chi-chiang Huang, "Imperial Rulership and Buddhism in the Early Northern Sung," in Frederick P. Brandauer and Chun-chieh Huang, eds., Imperial Rulership and Cultural Change in Traditional China (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1994), pp. 144-187. 8. The "official" view of Buddhism in Neo-Confucian circles is evident from a number of sources. The following quote, from Ou-yang Hsiu's essay "On Fundamentals" (William Theodore de Bary et al., eds., Sources of Chinese Tradition [New York: Columbia University Press, 1960], vol. 1, p. 387), is characteristic. When kingly rule ceased, and rites and righteousness were neglected, Buddhism came to China. It is clear that Buddhism took advantage of this time of decay and neglect to come and plague us. This was how the illness was first contracted. And if we will but remedy this decay, revive what has fallen into disuse, and restore once again to the land kingly rule in its brilliance and rites and righteousness to their fullness, then although Buddhism continues to exist, it will have no hold upon our people. 9. The two models are suggested in Bol, "This Culture of Ours," pp. 148-175, to which I am indebted for what follows. The models should be viewed as indicators of the polarities that existed in early Sung intellectual debate and not as conclusive types into which all Sung intellectuals need necessarily fall. 10. Ibid., p. 162; biography in Sung shih 440.13,023-13,028. Liu K'ai saw himself as spokesman in a line of sages that extended from Mencius through Han Yii. Although Han Yti's model was well established, Liu K'ai was unique in proclaiming the exclusivity of Han Yti's ku-wen for inculcating true values. 11. Liu K'ai, fourth letter to Wang Hu, Ho-tung hsien-sheng chi (SPTK 123), 5.8a-9b; cited in Bol, "This Culture of Ours," p. 164. 12. Liu K'ai, Ho-tung hsien-sheng chi (SPTK 123), 1.1 lb; Bol, "This Culture of Ours," p. 164. 13. Many stories circulated allegedly revealing Liu K'ai's ruthless and impulsive character. Some of these reveal rumors of cannibalism associated with Liu K'ai. For example, while serving as prefect of Ch'iian-chou (modern day Kweilin), Liu K'ai is said to have ordered his soldiers to remove the liver of captured aborigine rebels. He would then invite subordinates to dinner, at which he would cut up the liver with a dagger and eat it raw (Chiang Shao-yti, Shih-shih lei-yuan [Shanghai: Ssu-k'u ch'iian-shu chen-pen, 1981], chuan 1; cited in Ting Ch'uan-ching, Sung-jen i-shih hui-pien [Taipei: Shang-wu yin-shui kuan, 1966], p. 155; Jane C. Djang, trans., A Compilation of Anecdotes of Sung Personalities [Collegeville, Minn.: St. John's, 1989], pp. 176-177).

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Another story testifies to his righteous indignation in the face of wrongdoing. On discovering the designs of a wicked servant who had reduced his master to the point that the master had no choice but to surrender his unwilling daughter to the servant, Liu K'ai requested the servant obtain oil, salt, fruit, wine, and other condiments for him and bring them to his room. When the servant appeared at Liu K'ai's room with the goods, Liu K'ai confronted the unsuspecting servant on his plan to force the masters daughter to marry him. Before the servant could utter a reply, Liu K'ai killed him with a dagger, hacked the body to pieces, and cooked it with the supplies the servant had just brought. The next day, Liu K'ai invited the master and other guests to dinner, where the body of the servant was eaten (Yti Yu, T'an-chuan, Chtian 1; cited in Ting Ch'uan-ching, Sung-jen i-shih hui-pien, p. 154; Djang, trans., A Compilation of Anecdotes of Sung Personalities, pp. 173-174). 14. Bol, "This Culture of Ours," p. 165; biography in Sung shih 293.97939800. 15. Wang Yii-ch'eng, farewell preface for Sun Ho, Hsiao-ch'u chi (SPTK 124), 19.266-267; Bol, "This Culture of Ours,"p. 165. 16. See Bol, "This Culture of Ours," pp. 156-157; biography in Sung shih 441.13,044-13,049. The career of Hsu Hsiian also paralleled that of Tsan-ning in important respects. As the leading scholar of the Southern Tang, a court known for its literary sophistication, Hsu Hsiian was called on to negotiate a truce in 975 when the principality submitted to Sung authority. Hsu's promotion of wen as the basis for civil authority was well received by T'ai-tsung, whose advocacy of wen over wu as the progenitor of civil order was noted above. 17. Hellmut Wilhelm, entry on "Hsu Hsiian" in Herbert Franke, ed., Sung Biographies (Wiesbaden: Steiner, 1976), p. 425. 18. During the Sung, Hsu Hsiian served as drafter in the Secretariat (chungshu she-jen), vice director of the Ministry of Rites (li-pu shih-lang), Assistant Director of the Right of the Department of State Affairs (shang-shu yu-ch'eng), vice director of the Ministry of War (ping-pu shih-lang), censor-in-chief (yil-shih ta-fu), and minister of personnel (li-pu shang-shu). Hsu Hsiian also served among the academicians that produced three of the great Sung encyclopedic works commissioned by T'ai-tsung, the T'ai-p'ing yii-lan, the T'ai-p'ing kuangchi, and the Wen-yuan ying-hua. According to Wilhelm, Hsu Hsiian intellectually anticipated much of what Ou-yang Hsiu (1007-1072) later represented (Sung Biographies, p. 425). 19. Bol, "This Culture of Ours," p. 161; Yang I, farewell preface for Yuan Taotsung and preface to Nieh Mao-Yiian's "Ytin-t'ang" collection (Wu-i hsin-chi 7.21b-23a, la-3a). 20. Huang, "Imperial Rulership and Buddhism," p. 166. 21. Sung shih 293.9797. 22. De Bary, et al., eds., Sources of Chinese Tradition, pp. 372-374. 23. Documents concerning the suppression of' Buddhism during Shihtsung's reign have been collected in Makita Tairyo, Godai shukyoshi kenkyu (Kyoto: Heirakuji shoten, 1971). 24. Wang Yii-ch'eng, Hsiao-ch'u chi, 20.137a. 25. According to Wang, Tsan-ning's forebears, the Kao family, "concealed their virtue and did not serve in office" (Hsiao-ch'u chi 20.137al8-19), a euphe-

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mism for those whose family registries lacked illustrious ancestors. Tsan-ning's humble origins are readily suggested in a statement regarding his birth in a "peasants hut" (pieh-shu or pieh-yeh). For a chronological reconstruction of the events in Tsan-ning's life, see Albert A. Dahlia, "The 'Political Career' of the Buddhist Historian Tsan-ning," in David W. Chappell, ed., Buddhist and Taoist Practice in Medieval China, Buddhist and Taoist Studies II (Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 1987), pp. 146-180. 26. Hsiao-ch'u chi 20.137a21-22. 27. For a review of Buddhism in Wu-Yiieh (with references to the sources and relevant secondary literature) and a study of Yen-shou's biographical record and one of his leading works, see Albert Welter, The Meaning of Myriad Good Deeds: A Study ofYung-ming Yen-shou and the "Wan-shan t'ung-kuei chi," Asian Thought and Culture, vol. 13 (New York: Peter Lang, 1993). 28. Makita Tairyó, "Sannei to sono jidai," Chügoku kinsei bukkyó kenkyü (Kyoto: Heirakuji shoten, 1957), p. 129, n. 30, suggests that Hui-cheng is the same person as Hsi-chiieh, whose biography is recorded in the Sung kao-seng chuan, T 50.810b-c. The dates provided for Hui-cheng's life are based on this assumption. The biography of Hsi-chiieh stipulates that Tsan-ning inherited the office of Buddhist Rector (seng-cheng) in Wu-Yüeh from Hsi-chüeh. A brief biography of Hui-cheng is found in Shih-kuo ch'un-ch'iu (Beijing: Chung-hua shu-chü, 1983), 89.1293. 29. Bol, "This Culture of Ours," pp. 165-166; see also Koichi Shinohara, "Zhi Yuan's Autobiographical Essay: 'The Master of the Mean,'" in Phyllis Granoff and Koichi Shinohara, eds., Other Selves: Autobiography and Biography in Cross-Cultural Perspective (Oakville, Ontario: Mosaic Press, 1994), pp. 35-72. Aside from their ideological affinities, Chih-yiian's personal esteem for Tsan-ning is reflected in a verse composed by Chih-yüan in Tsan-ning's honor, recorded in Tsan-ning's biography in the Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.450dl0-12: In a state of tranquility, [Tsan-ning] returned to the realm of truth; the work of saving humankind having already been completed. At the courts of two emperors, his accomplishments were much admired; his fame is known to all within the four seas. Of the traditions of old, he preserved the Lotus Association (hua-she); in the preservation of [hitherto] lost information, he satisfied [the wishes of] the imperial court. He reflected on past events without passing judgment; in the tree of the courtyard, a crow calls out at sunset. 30. Chih-yüan, Fo-shih Hui-cheng pieh-chi hsü, contained in the Hsien-chii pien, HTC 101.42d-43a. Hui-cheng wrote tomb inscriptions for Tao-fu (864937) and Ch'uan-fu (882-947) (Sung kao-seng chuan, T 50.787a-c), where he has the title "Buddhist Superior" (seng-chu). 31. Makita, "Sannei to sono jidai," p. 105, mentions the names of Kuan-hsiu, Ling-ch'e, and Chi-ssu as other examples. The phrase "Confucian monk" is a translation of Makita's jüso ( ju-seng). 32. Kung Lin is otherwise unknown.

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33. Information on ordination practice in China is presented by Tsan-ning in section 50 of the Seng shih-liieh (Ordination Platforms and Dharma Status) (T 54.252a-b); the office of Buddhist controller is considered in section 29 (T 54.243a-b). 34. Hsiao-ch'u chi 20.137b states: "When Prince Chung-i abdicated his authority and devised how to reunite the [Wu-Yiieh] principality [with the Sung] in the third year of the T'ai-p'ing hsing-kuo era (978), Master Tsan-ning entered the capital offering stupa relics of the true body of the Buddha." The relics referred to here were taken from the Sakyamuni stupa at the Mount Asoka Monastery in the Wu-Yiieh region. 35. T 50.880b-c. 36. T'ien-t'ai shan Fu-t'ien ssu P'u-yiian chuan, in Tokiwa Daijo, Shina bukkyo shiseki tosaki (Tokyo: Ryuginsha, 1938), p. 452, cited in Makita, "Sannei to sono jidai," p. 106 and p. 129, n. 33. 37. Should Lu Chu-yai be identified with Lu Tuo-hsiin (Sung shih 264.91169120)? Li Mu's biography is found in Sung shih 263.9105-9107. The titles indicate that these were high-ranking officials at the Sung court. According to Charles O. Hucker, A Dictionary of Official Titles in Imperial China (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1985), nos. 2303 and 940, the term "minister" (hsiang) refers to "a title of distinction normally given only to senior officials in a rulers central administration . . . a quasi-official reference to . . . top-echelon officials"; the manager of affairs (chih cheng-shih) to "a supplementary title granted to eminent officials who served as grand councilors (tsai-hsiang), regularly participating in deliberations about major government policies in the Administration Chamber (cheng-shih t'ang)." 38. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.397c. 39. In addition to the Fo-tsu t'ung-chi (T 49.397c7-9), cited above, Tsannings appointment to the Han-lin Academy is referred to in the Shih-men cheng-t'ung (HTC 130.450cll-12), in language similar to that in the Fo-tsu t'ung-chi (using the term "Han-yuan" instead of "Han-lin"). 40. Li Fangs biography is in Sung shih 265.9135-9140. 41. Wen Ying, Hsiang-shan yeh-lu, 3.5a (Pai-pu ts'ung-shu chi-ch'eng, vol. 95, 1965) (compiled in the Hsi-ning era [1068-1077]). 42. Hsu kungwen-chi (SPPY, chi-pu 235), 22.2b. 43. Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.450c-451a; and Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.402b-c, 405a-b. 44. Sung-jen shuo-pu shu 2 (Shanghai: Shang-wu yin-shu, 1962), 1.1. 45. Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.450d. The same defense is repeated by Chih-p'an in the Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.405a-b. 46. Sung kao-seng chuan, T 50.743al0-17, following Peter N. Gregory's translation in Tsung-mi and the Sinification of Buddhism (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1991), p. 88. 47. Seng shih-liieh, T 54.246b24-27. 48. Other chapters in this volume bear on the points mentioned here. On the relationship between the Buddhist clergy and the elite of Hang-chou, see Chapter 8 by Chi-chiang Huang; on Sheng-ch'ang's Lotus Society and the participation of ku-wen officials in it, see Chapter 12 by Daniel Getz; on Tsunshih's relationship with officialdom in Hang-chou, see Chapter 9 by Daniel

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Stevenson. Also noteworthy are the perspectives of literati figures on Buddhism: on Chang Chiu-ch'eng, see Chapter 3 by Ari Borrell. 49. See Makita, "Sannei to sono jidai," p. 115. 50. Hsiang-shan yeh-lu 3.5a-b. This story and the following one are cited in Joseph Needham, Science and Civilization in China, vol. 4, pt. 1: Physics (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1962), pp. 76-78, in connection with early Chinese scientific explanations of the phenomenon of luminescence. 51. The last ruler of Southern Tang, Li Yti, surrendered authority in 975; T'ai-tsung assumed the throne in 977. 52. This work, attributed to Chang Ch'ien, is no longer extant. 53. Hsiang-shan yeh-lu 3.20b-21a. Of related interest, Needham states, "In 1768 John Canton did in fact describe a phosphor made from oyster shells— an impure calcium sulphide made by calcining the carbonate with sulphur. This became known as Cantons phosphorous. By adding the sulphides of arsenic, antimony or mercury, phosphors with blue or green luminescence can be obtained, as Osann showed in 1825" (Science and Civilization in China, vol. 4, p. 77). 54. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.397c. 55. The following list is taken from Makita, "Sannei to sono jidai," pp. 109110. The translations of the titles are for the most part literal and tentative. 1. Nei-tien chi (Collection of Buddhist Scriptures) 2. Sung kao-seng chuan (Biographies of Eminent Monks compiled during the Sung dynasty) (T 50, no. 2061) 3. Seng shih-lueh (Historical Digest of the Buddhist Order) (T 54, no. 2126) 4. Chiu-ling sheng-hsien lu (Records of Buddhist Sages and Worthies) 5. Shih-ch'ao yin-i chih-kuei (Guidelines for the Pronunciation and Definition of Abbreviated [Buddhist] Terms[?]) 6. Wai-hsiieh chi (Collected Works on Non-Buddhist Learning) 7. Po Ch'un-ch'iu fan-lu (Criticism of the Luxuriant Gems of the Spring and Autumn Annals) 8.1 Ch'un-ch'iu wu-hsien ch'en-lun (Personal Comments to Suppress [the View That] There Are No Sages in the Spring and Autumn Annals[?]) 9. Lun-yu hsuan-chieh (Release for Bondage in the Analects) 10. Lun-yii ch'en-shuo (Statement on the Analects) 11. Nan Wang Ch'ung Lun-heng (Critique of Wang Chung's Balanced Inquiries) 12. Cheng Tsai Yung Tu-tuan (Clarifying Tsai Yungs Deciding on One's Own) 13. Ch'ih Yen-shih Ku k'uang-miu cheng-su (Criticism of Yen Chiht'uis Ancient Method [?] of Correcting Errors and Rectifying Customs) 14. Che Hai-ch'ao lun Chien-ming lu (Refuting the Treatise on the Sound of Waves [n.b. in the Lotus Sutra (T 9.58a) the sound of waves is likened to the voice of the Buddha, able to penetrate everywhere] and the Record of Illumination) (The Lit erh-shih-erh ming-liao lun, T 24, no. 1461[?]) 15. Fei Shih-t'ung (Against Liu Chih-chis Generalities on History)

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16. Ta ch'ih tsa-chu shih (Answers to Criticisms of the Various Histories of Miscellanea) 17. Sunp'u (Notes on the Bamboo Plant) (contained in the Yiieh erht'ang ts'ung-shu, and so forth) 18. Wu-lei hsiang-kan chih (Record of Mutual Feelings for All Creatures [?]) (extant, see Makita, p. 110) 19. Ch'uan tsai-lileh (Outline of Transmitted Documents[?]) (extant, see Makita) 20. Yao-yen (Essential Words) This list of writings reflects Tsan-nings dual allegiances. In terms of volume of output, Tsan-ning's Buddhist writings (nos. 1-5) are more extensive, but his non-Buddhist writings (nos. 6-20) are more numerous. According to Makita, it is reasonable to assume that works listed under numbers 2 to 5 were included in the Nei-tien lu (no. 1), and nos. 7 to 20 were contained in the Wai-hsiieh chi (no. 6). Without information on the contents of the Nei-tien lu and the Wai-hsiieh chi, it is impossible to confirm or deny this. In terms of Tsan-nings knowledge of Confucian and non-Buddhist sources, the list of titles suggests that Tsan-ning did not merely have factual knowledge of the contents of non-Buddhist works but adopted highly partisan stances toward their interpretation. 56. The expression occurs twice; see A Concordance to Chuang Tzu, HarvardYenching Institute Sinological Index Series, Supplement No. 20 (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1956), 8/3/19 and 17/6/53. In the Yang-sheng chu ("The Fundamentals for the Cultivation of Life") chapter, it appears in the context of Chin Shihs reaction to Lao-tzu's death; see Fung Yu-lan, trans., ChuangTzu (Beijing: Foreign Language Press, 1989; originally published by the Commercial Press, 1931), p. 61, where the phrase is translated as "release from bondage." 57. Chung-lun, T 30.1al0. 58. The Ch'un-ch'iu fan-lu (SPTK 10) consists of eighty-two short essays on philosophical and political subjects. Wing-tsit Chan, A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy, p. 273, n. 4, argues for the translation of fan-lu as "luxuriant gems" rather than the more literal "luxuriant dew," on the basis that "the more common interpretation is that of gems hanging down from a cap, symbolizing the connecting links between the use of terms in the Classic [the Spring and Autumn Annals] and the event it describes." 59. The Lun-heng (SPPY 180) consists of eighty-four chapters/essays, mostly devoted to attacks on current unsubstantiated beliefs and superstitions, with special chapters criticizing Confucius, Mencius, and Han Fei-tzu. Chan, Source Book, p. 293, n. 2, argues against the translation of lun-heng as "critical essays" on the basis that the professed aim of Wang was "balanced (or fair) discussion." Tung Chung-shu and Wang Chung were two of the most important essayists on Chinese culture, civilization, and beliefs during the Han period. Tung Chung-shu balanced Confucian morals and ethical theory with yin-yang cosmology (for an introduction to his thought with selected translations from the Ch'un-ch'iu fan-lu, see Chan, Source Book, pp. 271-288, and Fung Yu-lan, A History of Chinese Philosophy, vol. 2, pp. 7-87). Wang Chung found in Taoist

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naturalism a means for criticizing the prevailing beliefs and superstitions of his day (on Wang Ch'ung, see Chan, Source Book, pp. 292-304, and Fung Yu-lan, pp. 150-167; the Lun-heng has been translated by Alfred Forke in two parts [New York: Paragon, 1962; reprint of the 1907 (part 1) and 1911 (part 2) editions]). Tung was a leading representative of what became known as the New Text school (chin-wen chia); Wang was a leading representative of the Old Text school (ku-wen chia). 60. Contained in Wang Li-ch'i, Yen-shih chia-hsiin chi-chieh (Taipei: Mingwen shu-chii, 1983). According to Patricia Buckley Ebrey, Confucianism and Family Rituals in Imperial China (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1991), "Yen Chih-t'ui (531-591) is a good example of an aristocrat who valued adherence to inherited forms," who "noted the inadequacies of the ritual classics as guides to behavior" (p. 38). 61. The Shih-t'ung, compiled by Liu Chih-chi in 710, is contained in the SPPY. The nature of Tsan-nings criticism is not clear. Liu was a great proponent of the importance of studying the Tso-chuan; he also was a staunch supporter of the ideal of "perfect impartiality" and an ardent critic of official meddling in the writing of history (see David McMullen, State and Scholars in T'ang China [Cambidge: Cambridge University Press, 1988], pp. 89-92 and 177178), a view at odds with the "hands on" approach of imperially commissioned historical compilations in the early Sung. Tsan-nings attitude toward Ts'ai Yung, author of Tu-tuan (Deciding on One's Own), is uncertain based on the title of the work alone. 62. See Tsan-nings preface to the Sung kao-seng chuan (T 50.709a). According to Tsan-nings preface to the Seng shih-lueh (T 54.235a), Tsan-ning received a commission from the emperor to compile both the Sung kao-seng chuan and the Seng shih-lueh early in the T'ai-p'ing hsing-kuo (976-984) era. After the former work was completed in 988, Tsan-ning was commissioned to the East Monastery in his former district of Wu-Yiieh, to take up in earnest the task of compiling the Seng shih-lueh, completed in 999. 63. Ch'en Yuan, Chung-kuo fo-chiao shih-chi kai-lun (Beijing: K'o-hsiieh ch'u-pan shih, 1955), pp. 35-36, claims that Wang Yti-ch'eng mistakenly attributed this as a separate work, but that it is in fact Tsan-ning's contribution to the San-chiao sheng-hsien shih-chi mentioned previously. 64. Hsiao-ch'u chi 20.137b. These were leading positions in the administration of Buddhist affairs. Left and right were designations given to individuals of the same rank, except left took precedence over right in prestige. Later records claim that Tsan-ning was transferred to the left precincts in 1000 (Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.450c). 65. Sung Chin Yuan wen-lun (Beijing: Jen-min wen-hsiieh ch'u-pan-she, 1984), pp. 16-18; Bol, "This Culture of Ours," p. 166. 66. Bol, "This Culture of Ours," p. 408, n. 92. 67. The possible influence of ku-wen literary style on Tsan-nings terse prose in the Sung kao-seng chuan and Seng shih-lueh is an interesting question, although beyond the scope of the current investigation. Note that although Tsan-ning acknowledges Taoism as a legitimate tradition in China (see below), he elsewhere argues that Buddhism be given precedence over Taoism at state functions and in consideration of state policy (Seng shih-lueh, section 38; T 54.246b-247b).

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68. Seng shih-lueh, T 54.254c-255b. First reported in Albert Welter, "Tsannings Ta-sung Seng shih-lueh and the Foundations of Sung Dynasty Buddhism: The Concept of the Three Teachings as Implements of the Chinese Emperor," research report published in Transactions of the International Conference of Orientalists in Japan 33 (The Toho Gakkai, 1988), pp. 46-64; summarized in Welter, "Zanning (Tsan-ning) and Ch'an," Journal of Chinese Religions 23 (1995): 124. The summary here is taken from the latter. 69. Appeals for harmony appear in several contexts in Tsan-nings writings and must be counted as one of the leading characteristics of his thought. In the Sung kao-seng chuan, for example, Tsan-ning calls on Buddhists to refrain from sectarian wrangling (T 50.790a) and on Buddhists and Taoists to refrain from spreading malicious rumors about each other (T 50.819c-820a). In the Seng shih-lueh, Tsan-ning warns of the damage suffered by all parties when the three religions engage in factional bickering (T 54.247a, 255a-b). 70. Seng shih-liieh, T 54.236b. As the source for this claim, Tsan-ning cites the San-pao wu-yiin t'u, a no longer extant work compiled by Hsiian-ch'ing (783-861). 71. Ibid. The annotated catalogue prepared by Liu Hsiang at this time became the basis for the bibliography contained in ch. 30 of the Ch'ien Hanshu. Furthermore, Tsan-ning also cites a claim repeated in various sources (Kuang hung-ming chi, T 52.166a; Li-tai san-pao chi, T 49.29b; and the Hungming chi, T 52.12c) that in the Lieh-hsien chuan (Biographies of Exemplary Sages), seventy-four of the 136 biographies recorded by Liu Hsiang mention that the subject in question had read Buddhist scriptures. The authenticity of the Lieh-hsien chuan is questionable, as it does not resemble other works of the period in style. 72. Seng shih-lueh, T 54.235b. 73. Seng shih-lueh, T 54.235c. 74. Seng shih-lueh, T 54.236c. The Kan-t'ung chuan was compiled by Taohstian (596-667). An edition is contained in T 45, no. 1898. 75. Seng shih-liieh, T 54.236c. According to Tsan-ning: "Originally, 'ssu' ["temple/monastery"] was the name for a 'government office' [a different character SSM]. When Buddhist monks first arrived [in China] from the west, they were temporarily housed in government offices (kung-ssu). Even after they were transferred to a separate residence, [the new residence] was still referred to with the term 'ssu,' so as not to forget its origins [as a government office]. The names of monasteries (ssu) for Buddhist monks began with this." The text from which Tsan-ning is quoting, the Shih-ming, was compiled by Liu Hsi (fl. A.D. 200). 76. Seng shih-lueh, T 54.246a. 77. For a detailed study of the origin and development of the kung-te shih, see Tsukamoto Zenryu, Chugoku chusei bukkydshi ronko, vol. 3 (Tokyo: Daito shuppansha, 1975), pp. 251-284. 78. Seng shih-lueh, T 54.246a. 79. See, for example, Seng shih-liieh, section 4b, "Buddhist Image Processions" (T 54.237a-b). 80. Including sections on "Buddhist Rectors" (seng-cheng) (T 54.242c-243a), "Buddhist Controllers" (seng-t'ung) (T 54.243a-b), "Buddhist Registrars" (senglu) (T 54.243c-244a), "Lectures and Debates on Imperial Birthdays" (T 54.248a-

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b), "Granting Purple Robes to Buddhist Monks" (T 54.248c-249a), and "Appointing Monks to Official Positions and Granting Emoluments" (T 54.2502-b). 81. Seng shih-lüeh, T 54.247b-c. 82. Seng shih-lüeh, T 54.246a23-24. 83. Seng shih-lüeh, T 54.237c. 84. See Seng shih-lüeh, section 12, "Rules Governing Receptions Held on Uposatha Days" (T 54.238c). 85. Seng shih-lüeh, T 54.238c-239a. 86. See Seng shih-lüeh, section 10, "Erecting Altars for Ordination into the Buddhist Precepts" (T 54.238b), and section 11, "The Origins of Ordinations into the Buddhist Precepts for Nuns" (T 54.238b-c). Note how Tsan-ning urges the emperor and officials to take action to return to the former, proper practice of ordaining nuns. 87. See Seng shih-lüeh, section 26, "The Origins of Buddhist Hymns of Praise" (T 54.242b). The salutary effects of music on human behavior are discussed in the Yüeh-chi chapter of the Li chi in Pai-wen shih-san ching (Shanghai: Shang-hai ch'u-pan-she, 1983), pp. 131-143; see James Legge, Li Chi: The Book of Rites (New York: University Books, 1967; reprint), vol. 1, pp. 92-131. 88. See the beginning of Seng shih-lüeh, section 28 ("Instituting the Office of Buddhist Rector") (T 54.242c). 89. Seng shih-lüeh, section 25, T 54.241b27-28 and 241c27-242a3. The reference to the Li chi is to the Chiao-t'e hsing chapter (Pai-wen shih-san ching, pp. 91-99); see James Legge, Li Chi: Book of Rites, edited by Ch'u Chai and Winberg Chai (New York: University Books, 1967), vol. 1, pp. 416-448; for the passage in question, see p. 443. 90. Although the Seng shih-lüeh writes the characters for Tsui Li's name as Tsui Yüan, I follow the Chiu T'ang shu (117.3,403) in reading Tsui Li. 91. This is an abbreviated version of Tsui Li's petition and the imperial decree. It is cited by Tsan-ning in Seng shih-lüeh, section 25 (T 54.241cl4-16). The text of the petition is recorded in Tsui Li's biography in the Chiu T'ang shu 117 and in the Ch'üan T'ang wen 718. Other documents associated with Tsui Li's proposal, including the imperial decree issued based on it, are found in the Chi-jih section of the T'ang hui-yao 23. 92. Incidents of human sacrifice are mentioned in the Ch'un-ch'iu and Tsochuan commentary, Hsi Kung nineteenth year and Chao Kung eleventh year— see Pai-wen shih-san ching, pp. 76 and 351; James Legge, The Chinese Classics, vol. 5: The Ch'un Ts'ew with the Tso Chuen (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1983), pp. 117a and 635a. 93. Seng shih-lüeh, T 54.241cl6-23. 94. Seng shih-lüeh, T 54.247a. 95. The biography of Juan Hsiao-hsii is contained in Nan shih 76 and Liang shu 51. The Ch'i-lu no longer survives, but the preface is recorded in Kuang hung-ming chi, T 52.108c-l 1 lc. 96. Seng shih-lüeh, T 54.247a21-27. 97. Seng shih-lüeh, T 54.246c. 19-20. Tsan-ning's statement here is contained in section 38 ("The Relative Ranking of Buddhists and Taoists at the Imperial Court"), based on his concern that Buddhists be given precedence over Taoists at imperial functions.

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98. Seng shih-lueh, T 54.244a. 18. 99. See Tsan-ning's comments at the beginning of Seng shih-lueh, section 29, "Buddhist Controller" (T 54.243a). 100. Evidence is provided in Albert Welter, "Chan Slogans and the Creation of Chan Ideology: 'A Special Transmission Outside the Scriptures,'" an unpublished paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Religion in 1995. Among other sources, my interpretation is based on Yang Is preface to the Ching-te ch'uan-teng lu and on information on early Sung Lin-chi masters contained in the T'ien-sheng kuang-teng lu, summarized in the concluding remarks below. 101. For a representation of early Neo-Confucian attitudes toward Buddhism, see A. C. Graham, Two Chinese Philosophers: Cheng Ming-tao and Cheng Yi-ch'uan (London: Lund Humphries, 1958), pp. 83-91. 102. Olsson, "The Structure of Power under the Third Emperor of Sung China," pp. 12-20. A number of factors contributed to the change in imperial power: Chen-tsung possessed less charismatic force of personality than his predecessors; the growth in the size of the bureaucracy, which doubled in size during Chen-tsung's reign, necessitated the delegation of authority to lessen the imperial burden; and the changing political climate that followed after peace was negotiated with Khitan tribes threatening the Sung's northern border in 1004 (the "Peace of Shan-yuan") became the pretext for strengthening and refining internal administration and domestic policy. 103. Ching-te ch'uan-teng lu, T 51.196-468. 104. See the extended discussion of this issue in Chapter 7 by Griffith Foulk. 105. T'ien-sheng kuang-teng lu, HTC 135.496b. 106. On the points reviewed here, see the relevant sections of Bol, "This Culture of Ours," pp. 148-211. 107. See Shinohara, "Zhi Yuan's Autobiographical Essay," p. 38. 108. Chi-chiang Huang, "Experiment in Syncretism: Ch'i Sung (1007-1072) and Eleventh Century Chinese Buddhism" (Ph.D. dissertation, University of Arizona, 1986), pp. 221-222. 109. Prefaces for works by Buddhist monks are found in Ou-yang yung-shu chi (Taipei: Taiwan shang-wu yin-shu kuan, 1965). See, for example, Ou-yang's prefaces for the collection of poems by the Buddhist Pi-yen (vol. 5, 41.48-49) and for the collection of essays by the Buddhist Wei-yen (vol. 5, 41.49-50). See also Ou-yangs funerary inscription for the Buddhist master Ming-yin (vol. 8, 13.3-4) as well as his memorials for the addition built at Hsing-hua Monastery in Hsi-ch'uan (vol. 8, 13.11-12) and for the construction of a Buddha hall at the Pao-shih Cloister in Hsiang-t'an (vol. 8, 13.12-13). On Ou-yang Hsiu's association with Buddhists, see James T. C. Liu, Ou-yang Hsiu: An Eleventh Century Neo-Confucianist (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1967), pp. 165-172. Elsewhere in Liu's work (p. 142), both Wang Yti-ch'eng and Liu K'ai are mentioned as among the handful of writers that preferred the "ancient style" before Ou-yang Hsiu.

Chapter 3

Ko-wu or Kung-an? Practice,

Realization, and Teaching in the Thought of Chang Chiu-ch'eng ARI BORRELL

IN 1166, Chu Hsi (1130-1200), then thirty-six years old, began in earnest his lifelong critique of the influences of C h a n on literati thought and culture. In that year Chu selected four commentaries by "eminent and renowned literati" that he considered to be the most blatant examples of this Ch'an influence. Chu wrote his own interlinear commentary on each of these works and titled the whole "A Critique of Adulterated Learning" (Tsa-hsileh pien).1 One of these was the Discussion of the Mean (Chung-yung shuo) by Chang Chiuch'eng (1092-1159), an influential interpreter of the Ch'eng school of Tao-hsüeh (Learning of the Way) and a leading lay disciple of the Ch'an master Ta-hui Tsung-kao (1089-1163). 2 Chu prefaced his critique of the Discussion of the Mean with the following introduction: His Honor Chang [Chiu-ch'eng] began his studies as a disciple of Yang Kuei-shan [Yang Shih, 1053-1135]3 but left the Confucian school for Buddhism, believing himself to have achieved realization. Then Chang's Buddhist teacher [Ta-hui] told him: "You have grasped the main point [of Ch'an]. Now, when you instruct others you should present your teaching in a variety of guises and preach the dharma as you think appropriate to the circumstances. Make it so that those on different paths end up arriving at the same place. Then there will be no ill feelings between those who have left the world [Buddhists] and those still in it [non-Buddhists]."4 . . . As a result of this, all of Chang's writings are outwardly Confucian but secretly Buddhist. When he moves in and out [of Buddhism and Confucianism], his purpose is to confuse the world and lull men to sleep so that they enter the Buddhist school and cannot extricate themselves from it even if they want to. From start to finish his ideas are all those he received from his master [Ta-hui].5

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Chu's antipathy to Changs thought was so pronounced that it amounted to a minor obsession. He vowed to "exert all my strength to attack [Chang's teachings], and, though I offend the present times, I will never stop."6 Two years after he wrote the "Critique of Adulterated Learning," Chu heard that all of Chang's commentaries were to be printed in K'uai-chi (in present-day Chekiang province). "This," he wrote to a colleague, "is a disaster of major proportions equal to that of the damage caused by floods, barbarians, and wild beasts. It makes my blood run cold, b u t . . . there is no way I can stop it. I can only continue to apply myself and enlist the help of friends . . . to point out the heterodox paths so that later generations do not become utterly engulfed [by them]." 7 It is clear that Chu wished to purge the Cheng school of Chang's influence entirely. Chu systematically excluded Chang's writings from his immensely influential Commentaries on the Four Books (Ssu-shu chi-chu), and it is reasonable to assume that the loss of many of Chang Chiu-ch'eng's writings after the Sung was due, at least in part, to Chu's efforts. By the fourteenth century, when Chu Hsi's commentaries were made state orthodoxy, Chang's thought had been largely peripheralized as lying outside mainstream Neo-Confucianism. And yet in the twelfth century Chang was regarded as one of the leading figures in the first phase of Southern Sung Tao-hsiieh.8 In 1132 Kao-tsung (r. 1127-1162) ranked Chang number one in the first palace exam held in the Southern Sung. Two of Chang's students, Wang Ying-ch'en (1118-1176) and Fan Mao-shih (1101-1164), also gained top honors in the next examinations held three years later. These successes brought Chang widespread recognition, and he went on to become a prominent official and activist in the conservative revival led by Chief Councilor Chao Ting (1085-1147). Although Chang's opposition to the court's peace negotiations with the Chin dynasty resulted in a fourteen-year exile to southern Kiangsi, this exile enhanced his prestige as a heroic survivor of Ch'in Kuei's (1090-1155) infamous repression of the Cheng school and antipeace treaty movements. Among Tao-hsiieh scholars, Chang's commentaries on the classics, written during his exile (1141-1155), gained added cachet as emblems of steadfastness and integrity. Finally, Changs renown as the most accomplished lay disciple of Ta-hui Tsung-kao, the leading Ch'an monk of the day, broadened his appeal among literati drawn to Ta-hui's teaching and Ch'an in general. Chang's stature as a leading activist and spokesman for the Tao-hsiieh cause remained intact even among scholars otherwise un-

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sympathetic to his thought. Thus Huang Chen (1213-1280), a scholar in the Chu Hsi school, called Chang "an outstanding literatus of recent times" but added, "Scholars may revere his person but must be cautious about his doctrines." 9 What was it about Chang Chiu-ch'engs thought that Chu found to be so dangerous and threatening? The core of the matter lies, I believe, in Changs interpretation of the Tao-hsiieh doctrine of the "investigation of things" (ko-wu). A brief anecdote from Chang Chiu-ch'engs biography in the Chia-t'ai Universal Record of the Flame (Chia-t'ai p'u-teng lu) will serve to introduce the issue. This story takes place in 1140, two years after Chang was dismissed from office because of his opposition to the state's policy of peace negotiations with the Chin. By this time, Chang was already closely associated with Ta-hui, who was then abbot of Neng-jen Ch'an-yiian on Mount Ching, not far from Lin-an, the Southern Sung capital. Chang had returned to his hometown and was living on a retirement stipend. On a visit to Mount Ching Monastery he became involved in a discussion of the "investigation of things" (ko-wu) with Supervising Secretary Feng [Chi] and others. Ta-hui said: "You, Sir, understand only about the 'investigation of things' but not about 'things having been investigated' (wu-ko). Seeing Chang's confusion, Ta-hui laughed loudly. Chang said, "Can you, Master, please explain what you mean?" Ta-hui said, "Haven't you heard the T'ang story about the man who plotted rebellion with An Lu-shan (703-757)? This man had previously been the magistrate of Lang [in Szechwan province], and there was still a portrait (hua-hsiang) of him hanging there. When Emperor Ming [T'ang Hsuan-tsung, r. 712-756] passed through Szechwan, he saw the portrait, became enraged, and ordered his attendant to cut off the head of the image with a sword. At that time, this [former] magistrate of Lang was living in western Hsia [in modern Honan province], and his head suddenly fell to the ground." Upon hearing this, Chang suddenly understood its deep meaning and wrote the following verse on the Wall of Imperturbability: Chiu-ch'engs "investigation of things," Ta-hui's "things investigated"; If you want to know the single thread (i-kuan) [connecting the two], Two times five hundred makes one thousand.10 Only then did Ta-hui give Chang his approval. 11

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In my view, Ta-hui was attempting to address three closely related issues that lay at the heart of the spiritual and political agenda of the Tao-hsiieh movement. As I shall discuss shortly, the investigation of things (ko-wu) was the first step in the Tao-hsiieh practice of individual self-cultivation. "Things having been investigated" (wuko), then, represents the successful achievement of that practice. By juxtaposing these two terms, Ta-hui was, in fact, raising the question of the relationship between practice (ko-wu) and enlightenment (wu-ko), a key issue in both Chan and Tao-hsiieh.12 Secondly, given its original context in the Great Learning (Ta-hsiieh), the process of self-cultivation that began with the individual's investigation of things was understood to culminate in the moral transformation of all of society and the entire world. Consequently, the ko-wu/wu-ko dichotomy also stands for the relationship between individual selfrealization and the ability of the enlightened literatus to teach and morally transform other people. Finally, the exchange must be understood within the political context of the time. By 1140 it was clear that Emperor Kao-tsung intended to sign a peace treaty with the Jurchen invaders who had occupied Northern China since 1126. In order to cany out this policy, the emperor enlisted the aid of Chief Councilor Ch'in Kuei in suppressing the protests of the revanchist pro-war faction, which was closely tied to the Tao-hsiieh movement. Ch'in immediately began a wholesale purge of Ch'eng school followers at court. The exchange between Ta-hui and Chang was thus an oblique way of stressing the importance of literati self-cultivation and enlightenment for the accomplishment of the political goals of the Tao-hsiieh, namely the defeat of the pro-peace faction and the revitalization of the Sung dynasty. To understand the intellectual context of the exchange, it will be helpful to begin with an examination of the meaning and significance of the Ch'eng school doctrine of the investigation of things.

The Internalization of the Investigation of Things in Tao-hsiieh The locus classicus of the terms "ko-wu" and "wu-ko" is the first chapter of the Confucian classic the Great Learning. There the investigation of things is regarded as the first step in a process of selfcultivation (hsiu-shen) that progressively extends outward to encompass the moral transformation of society, the state, and the world. This process is described in the well-known passage of the Great Learning as a sequence of "eight items" or "steps" (pa t'iao-mu).

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Ari Borrell The ancients who wished to manifest their clear character to the world would first bring order to their states (chih-kuo). Those who wished to bring order to their states would first regulate their families (ch'i-chia). Those who wished to regulate their families would first cultivate their persons (hsiu-shen). Those who wished to cultivate their persons would first rectify their minds (cheng-hsin). Those who wished to rectify their minds would first make their wills sincere (ch'eng-i). Those who wished to make their wills sincere would first extend their knowledge (chih-chih). The extension of knowledge depends on the investigation of things (ko-wu). When things are investigated (wu-ko), knowledge is extended.

The passage then goes on to repeat the same sequence in reverse order ending with "When the family is regulated, the state will be in order; and when the state is in order, there will be peace throughout the world (t'ien-hsia p'ing)."u The "investigation of things" is both the first step in the cultivation of individual moral wisdom (steps 1 5) and the foundation for the transformation of the whole of society (steps 6-8). The phrase "the extension of knowledge lies in the investigation of things; only when things have been investigated is knowledge extended" (chih chih tsai ko-wu, wu ko erh hou chih chih) thus constitutes the linchpin of the whole process. In addition to functioning as a general "blueprint" outlining the ideal relationship between the individual and society, the Great Learning also served as a basis for discussions of learning and epistemology. Cheng Is most important contribution in this regard was to interpret the term "ko-wu" as meaning "to fathom principles" or "to realize the principles [inherent in things and events] fully" (ch'iung-li):[A The word ko means "to arrive at" (chih).... Everything has its principle (li), and one must fully "arrive at" this principle. There are many ways to do this. One way is to read books and elucidate the moral principles in them. Another way is to discuss people and events of the past and present and to distinguish which are right and which are wrong. Still another way is to handle affairs and settle them in the proper w a y . . . . One must investigate one item today and another tomorrow. When one has practiced this extensively, there will naturally occur a thorough understanding like a sudden release.15 Despite the stipulation in this passage that "one must investigate one item today and another tomorrow," other statements by Ch'eng I

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suggested that all principles were reducible to or derived from one principle and that one could "infer" the principles of all things by investigating the principle of a single thing: To investigate things in order fully to realize principle does not mean that it is necessary to investigate all things in the world. One has only to fully investigate the principle in one thing or one event, and the principle in other things and events can then be inferred (lei-t'ui).... Principle can be fully investigated [in this way] because all things share the same principle.16 Ch'eng, moreover, held that "human nature is principle" (hsing chi li),17 implying that a comprehensive grasp of principle might be arrived at by turning inward and examining one's own mind: "Things and the self are governed by the same principle. If you understand one, you understand the other, for the truth within and the truth without are identical."18 But neither Ch'eng I nor his brother Ch'eng Hao wrote a commentary on the Great Learning, and their fragmentary recorded sayings left their views on this crucial topic open to interpretation by their followers.19 There were two general areas of ambiguity. The first concerned the limits and scope of the investigation. Ch'eng school disciples debated how many things, affairs, and events one needed to investigate and whether some things had priority over other things. They asked if it was possible to arrive at principle writ large through the investigation of one thing or must many be investigated, and were all principles somehow reducible to one principle? The second area of ambiguity concerned whether the investigation of things was primarily a matter of seeking internally or externally. Did one investigate things within the self, outside the self, or both? Contributing to the ambiguity was the underlying supposition that the investigation of things led, ultimately, to an epistemological breakthrough or realization of the holism underlying all phenomena, including the self. Ch'eng I described this experience with such phrases as "one will achieve a thorough understanding like a sudden release" (t'o-jan yu kuan-t'ung ch'u) or "one will have an awakening like an opening up" (huo-jan yu ko chtleh-ch'u).20 The apparent similarities between the sudden insight following the investigation of things and Ch'an awakening (wu) have long been noted by scholars.21 Rather than discussing this difficult epistemological problem from a phenomenological perspective, I hope to show some of the ways that Chang Chiu-ch'eng drew on the parallels between the investiga-

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tion of things and Ch'an, Ta-hui's teachings on kung-an practice in particular. Ch'eng Is discussions of the investigation of things left a "fruitfully ambiguous" legacy for later generations. But whatever Ch'eng Is own understanding of the two issues raised above, his most influential first- and second-generation followers tended to emphasize an internal, one-principle approach to the investigation of things. 22 One of the most important figures in this development was Yang Shih, Chang Chiu-ch'eng's teacher. Yang's internalized approach to the practice of ko-wu is well illustrated by his following comments on the phrase "the extension of knowledge lies in the investigation of things": "The number of things to be investigated approaches infinity. Thus it would seem that one cannot investigate them all. [But] if one 'turns inward and finds himself to be sincere (ch'eng),' then all things under heaven [will be found to] reside within the s e l f . . . . If you turn inward and seek them, all principles in the world will be grasped."23 Yang's interiorization of the investigation of things was strengthened by the manner in which he tied ko-wu to another important Tao-hsiieh practice, which I will call "wei-fa practice." Wei-fa practice was based on the following passage from the first chapter of the Mean (Chung-yung): [The state] before the feelings of happiness (hsi), anger (nu), sadness (ai), and joy (le) are aroused (wei-fa) is called equilibrium (chung). When the feelings are aroused (i-fa) and each and all attain due measure and degree (chung-chieh), [the state] is called harmony (ho).... When equilibrium and harmony are realized to the highest degree, heaven and earth will attain their proper order and all things will flourish.24 Yang's reading of this passage became known as the "guiding tenet" (chih-chueh) of his school, where it served as the basis for the practice of quiet-sitting (ching-tso): "Students should embody (t'i) with the mind [the state] before the feelings .. . are aroused (wei-fa); then the meaning of equilibrium (chung) will appear of itself. Hold on to it and don't let go so that no selfish desires (ssu-yii) remain; then, when [the feelings] are aroused, they will be all certain to attain due measure and degree (chung-chieh). "2S Ch'en Lai, professor of Chinese philosophy at Beijing University, provides a succinct interpretation of what Yang's wei-fa practiced entailed: What may be referred to as the experience of wei-fa (t'i-yen weifa) requires the subject to transcend all thought and emotion so

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as to arrive at a special psychological condition. Its basic method is . . . to quiet thought and emotion so that the activity of consciousness enters a psychological state of immediate awareness (chih-chiieh). Within this state of deep tranquility, all one's powers of concentration are focused on the inner mind. Successful practitioners will often suddenly achieve a powerful sense of merging with, or forming one body with, the outside world. 26 A student once asked Yang Shih how it was possible that, as stated in the first chapter of the Great Learning, world peace could be achieved simply by "rectifying the mind and making the intention sincere" (cheng-hsin ch'eng-i). Yang's reply indicates that he conceived of wei-fa practice as the method for personally verifying the Great Learning doctrine of the investigation of things: [Despite] their self-assurance, men of later generations never rectified their minds. If they had been able to rectify their minds, it would naturally have had this effect [of bringing peace to the world]. If there is even a single wayward thought in the mind, it has not been rectified.... For this one must be able to embody equilibrium (chung) [in the state] before happiness, anger, sadness, and joy have arisen (wei-fa) so that when these emotions arise they will all be harmonious (ho). When equilibrium and harmony are fully realized, then heaven and earth will take their proper place and all things will be nurtured. What then is difficult about bringing peace to the world? 27 By collapsing the two practices of ko-wu and wei-fa, Yang took an important step in the so-called inward turn of Sung Neo-Confucianism. Its general effect was to encourage ko-wu to be interpreted as an introspective practice aimed, ultimately, at achieving a sense of perfect integration (ch'eng) and unity with all things. In the process the role of discriminative thought, itself dependent on the subject-object distinction, was greatly deemphasized. This inward turn is reflected in Yang Shih's approach to learning and the study of texts. Scholars of later generations . . . foolishly seek to fathom the subtle words of the sages with their superficial views and opinions. They analyze texts and dissect characters in great detail and consider themselves to have grasped their meaning, not knowing that they have become even further removed from their foundation. Now, the import of the ultimate Way simply cannot be fathomed with brush or tongue. It must be embodied in one's person and experienced with one's mind. Peaceful and harmonious, immerse yourself deeply in a [state of] restful tranquility and singleness. In

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Chang Chiu-ch'eng followed Yang Shih's emphasis on seeking equilibrium in the state before the feelings arise (wei-fa) and, like Yang, developed a largely internalized, one-principle approach to the investigation of things: "Students [should] make the investigation of things their priority. The investigation of things means to fathom principle (ch'iung-li); to fathom the principle of one mind is to comprehend all principles under heaven; to fathom the principle of one affair is to comprehend the principles of all affairs."29 But Changs overall approach to the cultivation of the mind differed in important ways from Yang's. To understand just how it differed I now turn to an examination of Chang s commentary on the Mean, the Discussion of the Mean (Chung-yung shuo).

The Discussion of the Mean and the Practice of Self-Cultivation In Changs hands, the Mean becomes an extended admonition to be constantly vigilant over one's mind and its activities. Using language taken from the Mean, Chang repeatedly exhorts his readers to be "cautious and apprehensive" (chieh-shen k'ung-chu)—ever vigilant and watchful—over their interior condition before mental or affective processes have risen into consciousness. If the gentleman wishes to seek the essence of the Mean, he must get the taste of it through being cautious over what is unseen and apprehensive over what is unheard. This is the basis for knowing equilibrium (chung). If one cannot hold to this method . . . it is as if one were to eat and drink all day yet never know the taste. Oh the taste of it! You will know it when you have become thoroughly immersed and drenched in what is unseen and unheard.30 To appreciate how caution and apprehension fit into Chang's ideas about practice, realization, and the ability of the spiritual adept to teach and enlighten others, I must begin with his comments on the famous opening lines of the Mean, which read: "What heaven imparts to man is called human nature (hsing). To follow our nature is called the Way (tao). To cultivate the Way is called teaching (chiao)."il Changs commentary on this passage reads: "What heaven imparts to man is called human nature." [This sentence] merely states how precious the nature is. [It refers to the

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point in a person's development when] he has not yet taken the nature as his own. "To follow our nature is called the Way." [This sentence refers to the point in a persons development when] he has embodied (t'i) the nature as his own and has entered into humaneness (jen), tightness (i), propriety (li), and wisdom (chih) but has not yet put them into application (she-shih yun-yung). "To cultivate the Way is called teaching." [This sentence refers to the point] when humaneness is practiced between father and son, rightness is practiced between ruler and subject, propriety is practiced between guest and host, and wisdom is practiced between good and wise men. From this the degrees and gradations (tengchiang lung-shai) of the Way may be known. The name "Chungyung" is based on these three.32 Here Chang posits a developmental model that charts the individual's passage through three successive stages of spiritual understanding. Beginning from an initial state of ignorance, defined by the individual's separation from his true nature, the model then moves on to the practitioner's efforts to "seek the way" (ch'iu tao). This search is equated with the practice of being "cautious over what is unseen" (chieh-shen hu ch'i so pu tu) and "apprehensive over what is unheard" (k'ung-chu hu ch'i so pu wenJ in the seeker's "pursuit of the state of equilibrium" (ch'iu-chung) prior to the arising of the emotions (wei-fa). When this state is achieved, it is tantamount to one's initial realization of the nature, also identified as one's "original essence" (pen-t'i). In the third stage, the self-realized person must fully integrate and apply (yun-yung) his realization within the ethical relationships of Confucian society. In this way, when the feelings are aroused (i-fa), they are appropriate to (chungchieh) and in harmony with (ho) the immediate situation. Most of Chang's commentary on the Mean deals with the second phase of development, that is, the search for the Way, or spiritual practice. Thus, the work's chief concern is with the inwardly directed "search for equilibrium" that leads to self-realization. By focusing on this stage of development Chang interprets all Confucian moral teaching as founded on a single task: the practice of caution (chiehshen) and apprehension (k'ung-chu). This single exercise, if persisted in, will lead the student out of his initial state of selfish desire and self-alienation to a realization that will, in turn, allow him to engage in and morally transform society. In short, the practice of "caution and apprehension" is the royal road leading to Confucian moral virtue and the wisdom underlying the cultural achievements of the ancient sage-kings.

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A glance at any page of Changs commentary immediately announces its central message: "Be cautious and apprehensive over what is unseen and unheard." Chang exhorts his readers "always to pay attention to the state of the unseen and the unheard" 33 and to be "single-minded in caution and apprehension." 34 The practice of caution and apprehension is so central to Chang's commentary that he manages to read it into virtually every passage of the text. Out of the thirty-seven sections that compose the work, there are only seven that do not contain the words "caution and apprehension." It is, in part, through pure repetition that Chang conveys the importance of self-watchfulness and the need for it to be wholehearted and constant. What does it mean "to be cautious over what is unseen and apprehensive over what is unheard"? In the Cheng school, the "unseen" and the "unheard" were interpreted to refer to the private, inner world of the individual, hidden from the eyes and ears of other people. Though invisible, this subjective realm of the psyche is the locus of the moral conscience and the fount of moral behavior. According to the Mean, then, it is essential that one be "watchful over the innermost self" (tu-shen). Chang writes: Now, if one is slightly careless [over] the unseen and unheard, it may seem that no harm will be done. However, when a mental state of inattentiveness is already clearly present within ones mind, it cannot be concealed. This condition will surely show itself in one's spirit (ching-shen) and be manifest in one's thinking as improper ideas and depraved tendencies. One will then be incapable of influencing people or things.... This is why the gentleman is watchful over himself when alone. "What truly is within will be manifest without."35 Because of the powerful tendency of the mind to lapse into an inattentive state, constant vigilance is needed. One must actively probe into the deeper, hidden, preconscious levels of the mind, aware of each thought as it arises. But this practice was different from quiet-sitting (ching-tso), the dominant form of self-cultivation practiced by other disciples of Yang Shih. Indeed, Chang explicitly rejects that quietistic form of practice: "Can sitting calmly and settling one's energies, closing one's eyes, and straightening one's demeanor be considered integrity (ch'eng)? One should [instead] nourish integrity over a long period by being cautious and apprehensive in one's ordinary daily life."36 Chang's rejection of quiet-sitting parallels Ta-hui's

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rejection of the allegedly quietistic "silent illumination Chan" (mochao ch'an) discussed by Morten Schlutter in Chapter 4. Like Tahui, Chang favored a more dynamic approach that did not require literati physically to withdraw from daily activity and involved a process of introspective self-inquiry. Throughout the Discussion of the Mean, Chang links his practice of caution and apprehension with the term "ch'a"—to "examine," "observe," "investigate," or "discern"—and with the phrase "chih ch'i ch'a"—to "extend ones discernment" or "to develop ones discernment": "Closely examine (ch'a) the obscure and indistinct (weimang) by being cautious over what is unseen and apprehensive over what is unheard. To be cautious and apprehensive is to observe closely [the state] before [selfish desire] has begun to take shape and grow."37 This use of the character ch'a shows that Chang conceived of the practice of caution and apprehension not as a mere calming of the mind but as a way to apprehend or grasp something latent in the deeper strata of consciousness. It thus has a close affinity with the investigation of things insofar as both emphasize cognition, the exercise of the knowing faculty.38 Although the practice of caution and apprehension can be said to include a type of insight or comprehension, it did not involve the discriminative faculty of the mind that makes value judgments: "Everyone uses their understanding (chih) to judge what is right and what is wrong. But they don't know how to apply their understanding to being cautious and apprehensive.... If they would shift the mind from judging right and wrong and apply it [instead] to being cautious and apprehensive, they will know which one is greater."39 Significantly, Chang held that human nature (hsing) transcended the moral categories of good and evil.40 This position—that, ontologically, the essence (t'i) of the nature is beyond relative categories —is consistent with the approach to mind-cultivation practice that Chang takes in the above passage. For, if man's true nature is beyond dualistic categories, then it cannot be fully apprehended by dualistic modes of thought. The necessity of going beyond analytical thought is made clear by Chang's descriptions of mind cultivation as a process of self-inquiry that reaches to the very ground of the subjective knower. For instance, chapter 20:10 of the Mean reads: "The Master [Confucius] said: 'To be fond of learning is to be near to knowledge. To practice with vigor is to be near to humaneness. To know shame is to be near to courage.'" Chang's commentary states:

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Ari Borrell "To be near to" means "not far away." "Not far away" simply means "it's right here." Only when one understands who (shei) it is that is fond of learning, who it is that practices with vigor, and who it is that knows shame will one be knowing, humane, and courageous. What one understands through words and writing merely comes near to this. Only when you experience it directly and comprehend who it is that experiences i t . . . is it knowledge, humaneness, and shame. 41

If self-inquiry is carried through with diligence, it will culminate in a sudden breakthrough. When sounds, forms, tastes, and smells have not yet passed before [ones senses], then one [should] think: Who is it that thinks? With the utmost refinement and singleness in each and every moment, the clouds and haze will suddenly part and disperse, all thought and deliberation will be cut off, and the great substance of the mind will appear. Only then will one realize that that which makes us identical with heaven lies here. 42 Realization involves a direct identification with one's heavenendowed nature and also a transcendence of the self. This idea is dramatically expressed in Changs commentary on chapter eight of the Mean: Through caution and apprehension, Master Yen [Hui] suddenly realized the key (chi) to the arising of emotion; whether in a state of happiness, a state of anger, a state of sadness or of joy, the moment he grasped the so-called goodness of the heaven-conferred nature, he penetrated deeply into it. Human desires were all destroyed, and the self-centered mind (wo-hsin) completely died. . . . If one is truly without a self (wo chen wu yu), how can there be any human desires! This is the wondrousness of the Mean. 43 Changs commentary represents one of the most extreme examples of the Tao-hsiieh emphasis on mind-cultivation. Continuities are apparent with Yang Shih's heavily introspective approach to Confucian praxis founded on his amalgamation of ko-wu and wei-fa practice. But where other disciples of Yang pursued the practice of quiet-sitting that settled the mind, often as a prelude to study, Chang taught a more "dynamic" method that harnessed the searching, investigative powers of the mind and directed them inward. Kusumoto Masatsugu (1896-1963) has suggested that, in Tao-hsiieh thought, an emphasis on "examination and knowing" (ch'a-shih) is indicative of an affinity with the dynamism of Lin-chi Ch'an, while

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an emphasis on "nourishing and cultivating" (han-yang) shows an affinity with the more quietistic Ts'ao-tung school.44 Whether one fully accepts Kusumoto s point or not, it is undeniable that Chang's notions of practice and realization bear the influence of Ta-hui's teachings. To begin with, the sheer weight Chang gives to the practice of "caution and apprehension" as the utmost priority in Confucian self-cultivation is comparable to the central role assigned to kung-an practice in Ta-hui's instructions to literati. Other Neo-Confucian commentaries on the classics simply do not display such a willingness to interpret an entire text exclusively in terms of a single method of mind-cultivation. Chang's constant repetition of the phrase "caution and apprehension" is itself a device aimed at inculcating in his readers the persistence and concentrated effort required for the "single-practice" technique that also characterized Ta-hui's Chan. Moreover, Chang's interpretation of the first three sentences of the Mean as discrete stages of enlightenment gives a pivotal role to self-realization similar to Ta-hui's emphasis on the experience of enlightenment (wu). But the most significant element of Ch'an practice found in Chang's commentary is his conception of self-cultivation as self-inquiry. In particular, Chang's instructions to "comprehend who it is that experiences" and to "think who is it that thinks?" is strikingly similar to the emphasis on doubt and self-questioning in kung-an practice. 45 For instance, Ta-hui writes: Whence are we born? Whither do we go? He who knows this whence and whither is the one to be truly called a Buddhist. But who (a-shei) is this one who goes through birth-and-death? Again, who is the one that knows not anything of the whence and whither of life? Who is the one who suddenly becomes aware of the whence and whither of life? Who is the one, again, who, facing this kung-an, cannot keep his eyes fixed and is not able to comprehend it? . . . If you wish to know who this one is, apprehend him where he cannot be brought within the fold of reason. When you thus apprehend him, you will know that he is after all above the interference of birth-and-death.46 It is the incorporation of self-inquiry into Neo-Confucian self-cultivation that constitutes the clearest sign of the impact of Ta-hui on Chang's thinking. This factor led Chu Hsi in his "Critique" of Chang's commentary on the Mean to insist that "the teaching of the investigation of things has been discussed in detail by various gentlemen

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ever since [the time of] the Two Masters [Ch'eng I and Ch'eng Hao]. And yet what Mr. Chang [Chiu-ch'eng] speaks of is the Buddhist method of kung-an Chan (k'an-hua chih fa). It is not the idea left us by the sages and worthies."47

The Application of Learning: Pedagogy in the Commentary on the Mencius Chang Chiu-ch'eng plotted Confucian spiritual development through three stages: ignorance, practice and realization, and application. His Discussion of the Mean takes the earnest practitioner through the first two stages that lead toward increasingly deeper levels of subjectivity. Yet Chang brings this initially inner-directed practice to a culmination in a decidedly dynamic engagement with society and the world-at-large. In the third stage, the practitioner, having embodied (t'i) Confucian moral principles, is empowered to actualize them within society. This actualization involves the ability to teach, guide, and morally transform others as well as to implement Confucian political and social institutions.48 It is toward this advanced stage of spiritual activism that Changs Commentary on the Mencius (Meng-tzu chuan) is addressed. Chang equated the final stage of the "application" (yun-yung) of the Way with Confucian teaching (chiao). This notion of "application," "employment," or "implementation" (yung) gives thematic unity to the Commentary on the Mencius just as the idea of caution and apprehension gave unity to his Discussion of the Mean. This practical orientation is evident in Changs discussions of "useful learning" (yu-yung chih hsueh), a notion he returns to repeatedly throughout the commentary: "The learning of literati must be useful. By useful I mean useful to the world, the state, and the family."49 Chang calls on the literati to "apply" their learning to effective political action, usually conceived of in terms of influencing the central government in general and the ruler in particular. During the Sung, Mencius had come under attack for his brusque, confrontational, and allegedly disrespectful attitude in admonishing the feudal rulers of his day. From these attacks there emerged an image of Mencius as pompous, arrogant, self-assertive, and contumacious.50 Chang reconfigures the image of Mencius by portraying him as an enlightened master, compassionate yet bold and uncompromising in his attempts to awaken others, especially the ruler, to their own humanity. According to Chang, Mencius' teachings must

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be understood within the historical context of their time. Confronted by the unprecedented violence of the Warring States and the rise of pernicious ideologies, Mencius responded with the use of often unconventional, sometimes startling devices. His primary purpose, however, was like that of Confucius: to realize the altruistic ideals of the ancient sage-kings so as to secure the material and spiritual welfare of the people. Chang's glorification of the bold Mencian style created what amounted to a Confucian counterpart of the provocative and sudden teaching methods associated with the Lin-chi line of Ch'an. According to Chang, Mencius' genius lay in his skilfull ability to adapt Confucian principles to fit the changing historical conditions of his day. This ability made the Mencius particularly relevant to the turbulent times of the Southern Sung and made Mencius the most suitable model for Sung scholar-officials to emulate. The activist message of the Commentary is reinforced by Changs frank appeals to his fellow pro-war partisans in the Tao-hsiieh school to heed the profound message underlying Mencius' teachings: "Mencius' views must be found within oneself by going beyond the meaning of words. . . . Concerned that scholars will be negligent, I have . . . explained the significance of the Mencius in order to sway the literati of our party."51 Such statements indicate that the Commentary on the Mencius, written after Chang had been exiled for his antipeace treaty views, was meant to encourage the efforts of Tao-hsiieh adherents, especially their work for the revanchist cause. 52 The elaborate anecdotal setting of the Mencius made it an ideal text for Chang to convey his vision of the liberated sage in action as he dispenses Confucian teachings in response to the multiple and shifting realities of daily life.53 In this way, Chang's treatment of the text is akin to the Ch'an "vision of truth as imbedded in the concrete behavior and daily activities of the enlightened individual," as represented in Ch'an "encounter dialogues." 54 Chang Chiu-ch'eng's attraction to the concrete and quotidian—as opposed to the abstract, theoretical, or doctrinal—is evident throughout his commentary on Mencius. There Mencius himself represents Chang's vision of principle as embodied, made real, and brought to life in the actions of the charismatically endowed individual. In particular, it is the power of Mencius' self-realization to transform and awaken others, especially the ruler, that is stressed throughout the commentary. "Mencius' learning is not transmitted from mouth to ear nor in what the senses possess. It is all his own sudden realization and deep insight

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into the 'heaven within me/ which he can then use to transform (tsao-hua) and apply (yiln-yung) to affairs and things."55 The key qualities Chang finds so admirable in the Mencian teaching style are expressed in the following passage: When I read [Mencius], I sigh in admiration at the depth and power of his learning and the way he employs it creatively to transform (tsao-hua) others. Like a potter molding and shaping the world and all living things, he leads and guides men . . . along the path of the former kings. To set forth the teaching in accordance with conditions . . . is the expediency (ch'üan) of the sagely Way and the versatility (pien) of the Confucian school.... The reason that the great scholar (ta-ju) can employ the Way [in the service of] the family, the state, and the world is because he has thoroughly mastered change and transformation (pien-hua) like this. How different from crude and vulgar scholars who cling to commentaries and are bound by inflexible rules and guidelines. . . . It is for these reasons that I say that Mencius is skilled at applying the Way of the sage.56 In one chapter, Mencius is in the process of leaving the state of Ch'i, having become disenchanted with its ruler, King Hsüan. An unnamed man, after fasting for a day in preparation and presenting himself as "your disciple," humbly approaches Mencius and attempts to detain him in Ch'i. Despite the man's good intentions, Mencius ignores him and rudely lies down on a table. Shocked and insulted, the visitor is on the verge of leaving when Mencius explains to him that it was King Hsüan who had, in effect, already broken off relations with Mencius by failing to accord him the proper respect. Mencius then gives two historical examples illustrating how earlier rulers had treated their ministers properly.57 Chang read this episode as an encounter between enlightened master and earnest disciple. The reader is reminded repeatedly that he must cast off his own "common sensibilities" (ts'u-ch'ing) fully to appreciate the profundity of Mencius' actions. Chang admits that, on the surface, Mencius' reception of the guest is "uncouth" (pu-wen) and "disrespectful" (pu-kung), "haughty and arrogant" (chü-ssu aoman).5S But Mencius sensed that this was no "ordinary person." Mencius knew that the man, having prepared himself by fasting and referring to himself deferentially as "your disciple," was ripe for a higher form of teaching. Mencius' rude treatment was designed to make the man "cast off and go beyond [the limitations of ] his ordinary state of mind" and "cause him to have [an insight into]

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the unfathomable" (shih jen yu pu k'o k'uei-ts'e che). "It is all an unfathomable state of transformation and change," proclaims Chang. This is the method of the mysterious transmission of the mind of one thousand s a g e s . . . . Oh! Like the transformations of the cloud dragons or the circulation of the six cosmic powers, [Mencius] ranges far beyond common sensibilities and thought. How can one fathom this with selfish understanding or evaluate even one part in ten thousand? I dare say those who have been able to accord with Mencius' ideas in the past and present number but one or two in a million. 59 Although it is understood that Mencius' charismatic power to enlighten others is applicable to anyone w h o is receptive to it, Chang gives special importance to Mencius' encounters with the feudal rulers of his time. For Chang service to one's sovereign lies in one thing and one thing only: "the rectification of the ruler's mind (hsinshu)."60 Chang describes the instantaneous and total revitalization of a failing state following the ministrations of the enlightened counselor w h o knows intuitively where the ruler's problems lie: "Immediately, the w a y w a r d state of the ruler's mind (fei-hsin) is dispersed and its original essence appears. . . . There is no need to wait for months and years or fuss with official orders and proclamations; in the space of a single breath the whole realm will be completely transformed." 6 1 H o w does an enlightened minister achieve this sudden transformation? asks Chang rhetorically. When a great man rectifies what is wrong in his sovereign's mind, it is like a skillful physician curing an illness: If sweating externally, the medicine is applied internally; deficiencies are supplemented and excesses p u r g e d . . . . [Then] with precise treatment and pin-point acupuncture, in the wink of an eye, the illness is g o n e . . . . The world . . . does not understand that Mencius has the method to correct what is wrong in the ruler's mind and restore the rule of the two emperors and three kings in the space of but a single day.62 The chief features of Mencius' pedagogical technique, so reminiscent of the Mahayana notion of "expedient means" (upaya; fangpien), are perhaps best illustrated in a group of passages that deal with the c o m m o n theme of a rulers vices. In these chapters, Mencius is confronted with the candid admission by the ruler that his desires are less than sagely and range from a fondness for popular

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music, acts of bravado and conquest, to a love of wealth and women. 63 Rather than censuring the king and condemning his vices as improper, Mencius manages to use the vices themselves as instruments of moral instruction. These passages all deal, then, with Mencius' resourceful way of enlightening the ruler by using the rulers own apparently vulgar desires and tastes to gain entry to his more altruistic instincts, the latter being identified with the prime Confucian virtue of "humaneness" (jen) and the ruler's deep concern for the safety and welfare of his people. Chu Hsi disapproved of Mencius' blunt style in such passages and criticized it as "crude" or "vulgar" (ts'u).M But Chang Chiu-ch'eng held that it was precisely in such exchanges that Mencius demonstrates the freedom and spontaneity with which he adapts to the peculiar needs of the human psyche in order to awaken the ruler. Chang exalts Mencius' willingness to forgo the niceties of ritual decorum and work directly with the all-too-human desires of the king. Mencius is a master psychologist who "profoundly understands human emotion." When he senses the right moment, he will respond immediately to "turn the key" (chi chuan ch'i chi) of the ruler's mind. 65 Chang contrasts Mencius' willingness to work with the drives, impulses, and peccadilloes of the ruler in order to convert them to a higher purpose with the pedantic dogmatism of "scholars of later times [who] guard the Way too strictly (yen) and so leave people without a way to become good":66 "Thus [Mencius] taught the Way amidst human desires (jen-yii) so that men could quickly enter the path . . . without their even realizing i t . . . . It is for these reasons that I say that Mencius is skilled at applying the Way of the sage."67 The implication here that Mencius' teaching methods worked to enlighten people by influencing them on an unconscious level—"without their realizing it"—suggests something important about Chang's conception of the whole pedagogical process. The assumption is that the student is already in possession of moral knowledge and that the teacher need only make him aware of it. This approach also assumed that the student's insight into the significance of a single, apparently banal or commonplace event can be the catalyst for a broader moral transformation. The well-known Mencius passage about King Hsiian of Ch'i's pity for an ox going to slaughter (1A7) provides a final illustration of Chang's conception of the enlightened minister's application of Confucian teachings. The passage begins with Mencius' attempts to convince King

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Hsiian of Ch'i that he has all the necessary qualities to be a "true king" (wang), that is, an altruistic ruler who makes the welfare and safety of the people his primary concern. When the king asks Mencius how he knows that he, King Hsiian, is in fact capable of realizing this ideal, Mencius replies that he has heard that the king, unable to bear the sight of a sacrificial ox being led to slaughter, ordered it spared. This spontaneous expression of compassion, insists Mencius, is itself evidence of Hsiian's capacity to be a true king. As Mencius continues to explore the significance of the incident with Hsiian, the king begins to see that he does, indeed, possess a sincere sense of empathy for the suffering of other living things, in this case, the ox. Thereupon King Hsiian exclaims to Mencius: "The Book of Odes (Shih ching) says, 'The heart is another man's, but it is I who have surmised it.' This describes you perfectly. For though the deed was mine, when I looked into myself I failed to understand my own heart. You described it for me and your words struck a chord in me."68 Chang Chiu-ch'eng's interpretation of this exchange stresses that the king's epiphany is a matter of freeing and emptying his mind of its egocentric pursuits rather than adding any new knowledge or information. Chang associates Mencius' method of alerting King Hsiian to his own deeper, as yet unconscious, moral inclinations with the thirty-first hexagram of the Book of Change (I ching), "Influence" (hsien), which describes the superior man's capacity to respond to and influence men (kan jeri) by remaining open, empty, and receptive to them. 69 In his commentary on Mencius 1A7, Chang discusses in detail Mencius' attempts to bring the king to self-realization. Though barely detectable, the momentary emergence of a sense of compassion in the mind of the king constitutes a "manifestation of humanity." Hsiian himself is initially "unaware of this subtle movement," while Mencius immediately recognizes its significance and draws the king's attention to it so that he too can "recognize the manifestation of this mind":70 "Mencius pointed directly (chih-chih) at the mind that could not bear to see the suffering of an ox to alert [the king] to it. Thereupon, the king suddenly got it for himself (ch'ao-jan tzu-te) and told Mencius that [his words had initiated] the movement of compassion in his mind. Mencius then knew that the key to [King Hsiian's] conscience had begun to operate (chi i tung)."71 Seeing that the process of moral self-reflection has begun, Mencius urgently tries to help King Hsiian extend this sense of commis-

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eration to the common people. Unfortunately, "there is something impeding his mind" that prevents the king from taking this final step. In the end, the king of Ch'i's aspirations are found to be too fixated on himself alone, and, despite Mencius' efforts, he does not fulfill his potential as a true king.72 But Mencius' failure fully to enlighten Hsiian never dampens Changs enthusiasm for the power and fundamental efficacy of the Mencian method of instruction. Chang makes the further point that the student must also prepare himself to receive instruction by emptying and opening his own mind: "Of all the evils in the world none is greater than a mind that is preoccupied with the self (tzuman ch'i hsin). Of all that is good in the world nothing is greater than emptying one's mind (tzu-hsu ch'i hsin). When the mind is preoccupied with itself, then excellent words cannot enter it. When the mind is empty, then evil will not remain long in it."73 Emperor Kaotsung himself had once asked Chang about the Mencius passage concerning King Hsiian and the ox during one of Chang's last lectures to the throne in 1140. It is likely that when he wrote the Commentary on the Mencius some years later, Chang had in mind the obvious parallels between his own failure to win Kao-tsung over to the political policies of Tao-hsiieh and Mencius' failure to get Hsiian to implement the policies of a true king.74 Changs Mencius commentary represents his own continued effort to institute his ideal of "applied learning" by promoting his vision of Mencian wisdom and pedagogy to other literati and to Emperor Kao-tsung himself. The portrayal of the enlightened Confucian teacher in the Commentary on the Mencius consistently highlights the supramundane aspects of Mencius' power to "transform" (hua, tsao-hua) morally and spiritually the people he encounters. Just as Chang's methods of self-cultivation described in his commentary on the Mean seek to go beyond the analytical mind through the practice of caution and apprehension and self-inquiry, the methods of teaching he prescribes in the Mencius commentary operate less through the exercise of reasoned argument than through an instantaneous and total awakening of moral wisdom latent within the mind of the student. The importance of this transrational element in Chang's approach to learning and teaching is made clearer by a brief consideration of the notion of "perfect integrity" (chih-ch'eng), a quality associated with the fully realized man and his extraordinary power to transform others. The term is found in both the Mean and the Mencius.

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According to the anthropocosmic vision found in the Mean, perfect integrity is a power or force coeval with the creative energies of the cosmos itself.75 The Mencius contains a similar conception of integrity as a charismatic force with the power to "move," "influence," or "affect" (tung) people: "Never has there been one possessed of perfect integrity (chih-ch'eng) who did not move (tung) others. Never has there been one who had not integrity who was able to move others."76 Changs commentary on this passage reads: This chapter is [based on] the teachings of Tzu-ssu s Mean. In it Mencius further expands on the idea that, in its application, there is nothing integrity will not move (tung).... Wherever integrity is present it will impact and reorient [others] (chi ch'u chuan i) in such a way that they never even know how it happened.... If your learning does not reach to this, how will you make the ruler into a sage-king and the people into superior men?77 Chang s pedagogical technique as outlined in the Mencius commentary shares certain formal characteristics with the teaching style of Ch'an masters represented in kung-an stories. Both aim at bypassing the conscious, thinking mind of the student through the use of unconventional or unexpected language and action. Both use commonplace, often incidental comments or events to catalyze a process of self-recognition in the student. Both envision the process of teaching and learning as aimed at a total, all-inclusive, and instantaneous apprehension of truth already latent in the students mind. In both, the paradigm is one of "awakening" the student, not of "persuading" him by an appeal to reason and rational argument. 78 A close reading of the Commentary on the Mencius shows that this epistemological model is reflected in the way Chang conceived of the investigation of things. In addition to meaning "investigation" or "examination," ko can also mean "to rectify" or "to correct," and it is used in precisely this sense in Mencius 4A20: "Mencius said . . . 'The great man alone can rectify (ko) the evils in the princes heart. When the prince is benevolent, everyone else is benevolent; when the prince is dutiful, everyone else is dutiful; when the prince is correct, everyone else is correct. Simply by rectifying the prince, one can put the state on a firm basis.'" 79 In the Commentary on the Mencius, Chang employs this meaning of ko to describe the way Mencius "corrects and removes" (ko ch'u) the psychological impediments in the rulers mind. 80 Moreover, Chang draws on another, closely related meaning of ko—'"to respond to, pervade, and trans-

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form" (kan-t'ungJ.81 Mencius is said to use his "spirit" (ching-shen) to "influence and transform" (kan-ko) the ruler and "bring him to awakening" (kan-wu).S2 The word "ko," then, is used by Chang in three closely related senses. First, he follows Ch'eng Is interpretation of ko-wu as "to fathom principle" (ch'iung-li). But, like his Confucian teacher, Yang Shih, Chang tied the investigation of things to wei-fa practice and emphasized an approach to self-cultivation that was "direct," in the sense that it was unmediated by analysis and sought to transcend the subject-object distinction, and "totalistic," in that it aimed at a complete grasp of the single principle underlying multiplicity. This practice culminated in a sudden realization of ones heavenendowed nature, allowing the individual to apply his realization to teach, guide, and enlighten others. Second, Chang uses ko in the sense of "to correct" or "to rectify what is wrong with the mind" (ko ch'i fei-hsin), especially with respect to the sage's skill in removing impediments to self-realization present in the mind of the ruler. The third meaning of ko—to "influence" or "transform" (kan-ko) others, especially in the sense of "awakening" (kan-wu) them—was favored by Ch'an commentators in their discussions of the investigation of things. 83 Despite the Ch'an elements in his teachings, Chang was not simply a Ch'an Buddhist in Confucian disguise, as Chu Hsi charged. His notions of self-cultivation ("caution and apprehension") and teaching ("applied learning") were all developed within a NeoConfucian framework and contain an element of ethical, social, and political activism not generally emphasized in Ch'an teachings. In fact, like most Neo-Confucians, Chang strongly criticized Buddhism on sociomoral grounds. 84 And yet he seems to have reserved a special sense of admiration for Ta-hui. When Chang s nephew, Yti Shu, attacked Buddhists for being amoral, Chang replied: The subtle benefits our teaching [Confucianism] has gained from the Buddhist dharma are great. Do not be so quick to denigrate it. The reason why I befriended the monk [Ta-hui Tsung]-kao is because I got such enjoyment from his extraordinary ideas and discussions. Would that all [Buddhist] disciples were so good; it's just that you, my nephew, have only met the not-so-good ones.85 There is little doubt that it was Ta-hui's own sensitivity to the political aspirations of Tao-hsueh literati that was, at least in part, responsible for the appeal he held for Chang and others like him.86

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Politics and Self-Cultivation The exchange between Ta-hui and Chang Chiu-ch'eng cited at the beginning of this chapter had strong political implications, as noted by Araki Kengo: "This [exchange] was no mere play-acting within the realm of enlightenment and samadhi; it was also meant to encourage the pro-war faction in the practice of mind-cultivation within the context of the most burning national issue of the day— the pro-war/antiwar debate."87 Chang Chiu-ch'eng's insistence that Confucian self-cultivation and learning be applied as political action must be understood within the context of the critical situation of the early Southern Sung. As touched on above, in 1140 Chang was one of the leading figures in the Tao-hsiieh-led protest of the courts policy to negotiate peace with the Jurchen invaders. But the kung-an revanchist position was itself part of a longer intellectual development that went back to the factional struggles of the Northern Sung. The foundations of Changs political identity can be found in the politics of his teacher Yang Shih. For Yang and other first-generation Ch'eng school disciples, kung-an modes of mind cultivation were closely associated with their opposition to the reformist ideology of Wang An-shih (1021-1086) and Wang's followers, especially the infamous Chief Councilor Ts'ai Ching (1046-1126). Because this political dimension of mind-cultivation had become a "given" by Chang Chiu-ch'eng's time and is, in fact, a crucial element in his exchange with Ta-hui, it is necessary to examine it. Many of Yang's ideas—including his interpretation of the Mean —developed during the government ban on the Ch'eng teaching carried out by the reformist followers of Wang An-shih between 1094 and the loss of the north in 1126.88 In his repeated and vociferous attacks on them, Yang portrayed Wang and his followers as Legalists who wished only to "enrich the state" at the expense of the general welfare. Yang was especially critical of the reformers' use of government institutions—the schools, the examinations, the official promulgation of Wang's writings—to impose ideological uniformity on the literati class. Yang's writings thus persistently contrast the inner, authentic, and experiential nature of Tao-hstieh with the externally imposed, superficial institutionalism of Wang's "New Learning" (hsin-hsueh). Yang's stress on the primacy of immediate experience as opposed to learning derived from book study should be understood, at least in part, as a reaction against Wang's teach-

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ings that dominated the school curriculum and exams during the last thirty years of the Northern Sung. Yang's stress on the unity of the self with all things referred to a psychological experience of spiritual transcendence in which self and other merged but was also part of his political critique of Wang An-shih's "New Learning": "For the sages of antiquity there was but one principle going from 'making the intention sincere' and 'rectifying the mind' to 'bringing peace to all under heaven.' This is why [theirs was] the 'way of uniting inner and outer.' The vulgar scholars of today (shih-ju) ... separate inner from outer and divide the mind (hsin) from practice (chi). This is where they err."89 The insistence that Cheng school methods of mind rectification were the necessary prerequisite for social transformation—one of the central themes of the exchange between Ta-hui and Chang in 1140—had by that time become an integral part of the Tao-hsueh critique of reformist thought and social policy. When Chang's disciple Wang Ying-ch'en summarized his teacher's learning, he wrote: Wang An-shih wrote his [New] Commentaries on the Three Classics (San-ching [hsin] i) and the Discussion of Characters (Tzu-shuo) in order to make uniform the learning of the realm. The entire world recited them as though they were the Six Classics. Master Chang [Chiu-ch'eng] of Fan-yang believed that the value of learning lies in getting it for oneself and putting it to practice personally and that [in this way, learning] could be applied (yung) to the realm and the state. To hold to the forced doctrines [of Wang] is to divide the cultivation of the self and the governing of men into two [separate] paths. Of what value is this for learning?90 The significance of the close connection between self-cultivation and factional polemics in Tao-hsueh thought for Ta-hui's cryptic comments becomes clearer when we consider court politics shortly after the Sung moved south. Between 1133 and 1138, Chief Councilor Chao Ting led a dramatic shift in central government personnel in favor of men with allegiances to the thought and politics of the "conservative," anti-Wang An-shih cause. 91 Chao was particularly well known for his patronage of Cheng school followers. Among these, it was disciples of Yang Shih like Chang Chiu-ch'eng who became some of the most vocal advocates for Tao-hsueh at court and, from 1138 or so, the most militant opponents of peace negotiations with the Chin.92 According to Teraji Jun, the rise to power of Chao Ting's faction

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was founded on its characterization of the Sung-Jurchen conflict as a "punitive war" (cheng) of a legitimate sovereign, Kao-tsung, against a traitorous subject, Liu Yii (1079-1143), the Chinese ruler of the puppet state of Ch'i established by the Chin in 1130. This classification moralized the war by placing it in a classical conservative framework derived largely from the Spring and Autumn Annals (Ch'unch'iu), a work greatly admired among conservatives but belittled by Wang An-shih.93 Charging that Wang's New Learning had subverted the minds of Sung literati, Ch'eng school activists linked Wang to Liu Yii and branded Wang and his Southern Sung followers reprobates and traitors to the dynasty.94 When Ch'in Kuei became sole chief councilor and oversaw the Sung peace negotiations with the Jurchen, he too was condemned as a traitor to the Sung cause by Tao-hsiieh officials, some of whom called for his execution.95 Ta-hui's audience would have recognized his story about a traitor to the T'ang dynasty as a reference to Ch'in Kuei and other pro-peace treaty officials—the nemeses of the Tao-hsiieh movement. Moreover, the stress on the continuity (i-kuan) of self-cultivation (ko-wu) and sociopolitical transformation (wu-ko) found in Chang Chiuch'eng s verse would also have been recognized as part of the longstanding Tao-hsiieh critique of reformist ideology.

Chang Chiu-ch'eng's Lectures to the Emperor In 1138 Chang became an imperial lecturer on the "classics mat" (ching-yen) and was assigned the Spring and Autumn Annals by Kaotsung. 96 Ever since Wang An-shih had declared the Annals to be nothing but "torn and worn court bulletins," the work had become a symbol of the split between reformers and conservatives. The Annals was restored to imperial favor by Kao-tsung after more than twenty-five years of official neglect and quickly became an important vehicle for Tao-hsiieh polemics. There are unexpected affinities between the Annals as it was read in the Ch'eng school and the kung-an or "public cases" of Ch'an teaching. Following a long tradition that can be traced back to Mencius, Ch'eng I believed that Confucius had edited the court chronicles of his home state of Lu and imbued its dry account of historical events (shih) with a profound significance (i).91 Each of the apparently banal records of ancient events contained in the text in fact expressed the enlightened judgments, decisions, and evaluations of the mind of the sage, Confucius. According to Ch'eng I, the

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recondite intention of the sage was inaccessible to all but the most earnest and wise reader: "Only the highest wisdom (shang-chih) is able to glimpse the operation of the mind of the sage (sheng-jen chih yung-hsin) in each event and each idea [of the Spring and Autumn]. Therefore, those who study the Annals must deeply immerse themselves in it, silently apprehend it, and penetrate it with all their heartand-mind; only then will you be able to grasp its profundity." 98 Because the Annals was believed to contain Confucius' judgments regarding moral and political conflicts raised in the historical record, Ch'eng I compared it to the legal judgments of case law: "The Spring and Autumn Annals is to the [rest of the] Five Classics as legal decisions (tuan-li) are to the law (fa-lu)."99 This notion of the Annals as a casebook of legal precedents suggests the original definition of kung-an as "a court document that determines right and wrong in accordance with the law."100 Like kung-an, the Annals was thought to contain examples of the enlightened mind as it operated within the context of diverse and changeable conditions. Both texts were believed to show the practical application of their respective teachings by providing concrete instances of problems and dilemmas that were resolved through the sagacious employment of sublime universal principles. Chang, following his predecessor on the classics mat, Hu An-kuo (1074-1138), considered the Annals to be "the essential canon that transmits the mind [of the sage] outside the history [of the state of Lu]."101 This position implied that the work could function as a heuristic device aimed at precipitating an immediate experience of the universal sage-mind present behind or within the particulars of the text. One had to apprehend directly the mind of the sage that was "lodged" within the text and make it live again, within ones own person and within one's own time. As Chang expressed it: In the Spring and Autumn our master Confucius has fully revealed the Way of emperors and kings, the power of heaven and earth, the brilliance of the sun and the moon, and the movements of the seasons—how can this be perceived with the ordinary mind (fan-hsin)? If, in the space of a single word, you apprehend the forge and furnace of the sagely mind (sheng-hsin), then yin and yang will break open and clouds will send down their rain. This is all [contained within] our masters Spring and Autumn—from "cultivating one's person to regulating the family, governing the state, and bringing peace to all under heaven," all is possible.102

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Reading the Annals, Chang said, the student would personally receive the transmission of the masters "method of the mind" (hsin-fa) and, "Having gotten the mind [of Confucius], then [our own daily activities such as] eating and drinking, sleeping and resting, answering and responding will all be the actions of our master [Confucius]." 103 This notion that, by knowing the sages mind, the student will be fully equipped to make judicious decisions and manage affairs is also found in the preface to Hu An-kuo s Commentary on the Spring and Autumn (Ch'un-ch'iu chuan), the best known Ch'eng school commentary on the classic. In the following selection from the preface, Hu repeats Ch'eng Is statement that "the Spring and Autumn is to the [rest of the] Five Classics as legal decisions are to the law" and then continues: Those who study this classic believe in the necessity of fathoming principle (ch'iung-li); those who fail to study it will surely be lost (huo) when it comes to managing the great matter (ch'u ta-shih) and resolving the great doubt (chtieh ta-i).... The sages of the past are long gone; how difficult it is to glimpse the function (yung) of the sages from the surviving classics. However, although there is this difference in terms of time, in terms of the human mind (jenhsin) we all share the same thing in common; if we grasp this commonality, then even if we were to go beyond the bounds of the universe, it would be as if we beheld the sage in person—the standards and criteria (ch'uan-tu) [contained] in the Annals will reside within ourselves.104 Hu's references to "the great matter" (ta-shih) and "the great doubt" (ta-i) recall the use of these terms in Ch'an writings, where they usually refer to the great existential problem of life and death, the resolution of which is tantamount to enlightenment. In the above passage, however, "great matters" and "great doubts" have a decidedly social, moral, and political content. Following Mencius, Hu believed that Confucius had written the Annals to alert the emperors of his own time to the deterioration of the Chinese moral order as evidenced by barbarian invasion, internal rebellion, and the rise of heterodox ideologies. The "great matter" and "great doubt" Hu refers to above is the quandary literati faced in dealing with what Taohsiieh partisans believed to be a monumental threat to the very foundations of Chinese civilization following the loss of North China to Jurchen invaders. 105 Note that a "single-principle" conception of the investigation of

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things undergirds this approach to the Annals. The one principle, knowable "in the space of a single word" and identified with the mind of the sage by both Chang and Hu, is replete with all principles; by experiencing it for oneself, a total transformation takes place in which the individual realizes a comprehensive wisdom that gives him the powers and authority to judge, determine, and settle affairs. Chang's classics mat lectures on the Annals represent his urgent efforts to prevail on Kao-tsung to embrace the kung-an vision of mind-cultivation as the key to dynastic revival. Time and again Chang tries to impress on the emperor that the fate of the entire realm rests on the condition of his mind. For one of his last lectures, Chang chose a passage from the Annals describing the occurrence of an eclipse in 668 B.C.E., a not so oblique reference to the growing influence of Ch'in Kuei and the pro-peace faction. 106 Changs comments read: Your subject, Chiu-ch'eng says: The sun is a symbol for the ruler. When the rulers moral virtue is fully fortified within, then he will not be disturbed by evil states of mind and untoward ideas despite the disruptive presence of powerful ministers . . . and the machinations of barbarians and bandit-rebels. The square inch [of his heart] shines forth illuminating the four directions. It is then part of the [natural] pattern (li) of things that the sun rests peacefully in its course.107 All blessings and disasters, Chang tells Kao-tsung, are ultimately traceable to the state of the rulers mind: "How could they come from the outside?" he asks rhetorically. "They are all simply phenomena within the mind." 108 Chang continues: Just now I have discussed how the aberration of an eclipse has its root in noxious energies. The sprouting of noxious energy is caused by evil thoughts. If these are not weeded out and cut off at the root, they will fly out in the four directions: above, they come in contact with the heavens; the sun and moon weaken and are eclipsed; the five constellations lose their course.... Given this, must not the rise of evil thoughts be stamped out?109 Chang then specified the approach he favored for guarding the mind. This was none other than Yang Shih's method of introspection based on the sentence from the first chapter of the Mean "Be watchful over the self when alone" (shen ch'i tu):

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Your subject likes Yang Shih's discussion of this [practice], which reads: " 'The self when alone' refers to the moment when one has come into contact with things [but] ones internal [reaction] has 'not yet gone too far astray.' Even though it can't be seen or heard, the presence of such internal activity is quite evident to the mind's eye—what is more manifest than this? Even if you wished to hide it from yourself, 'Who can you [really] deceive? Can you deceive heaven?'" This means that the sprouting of evil thoughts must not [be allowed] to remain in the mind. 110 After the formal lecture had ended, Kao-tsung raised the topic of Mencius' notion of the "way of the true king" (wang-tao): "King Hsiian of Ch'i s pity for the ox was such a minor thing, and yet Mencius immediately said that this sense [of commiseration] was enough to become a true king. I have my doubts about this." Chang replied: Your Majesty must not doubt it. This doubt separates your mind from the Way. To be unable to bear the suffering of an ox is a manifestation of the mind of humaneness (jen-hsin). This is the seed of the way of the true king. If you develop it, then all the ten thousand things under heaven, from Chinese and barbarian to plant roots and scaly fish, will be within your benevolent government (jen-cheng).lu Throughout his lectures Chang took every opportunity to draw the emperor's attention back to the matter of mind-cultivation. When Kao-tsung asked about a passage from the Book of History (Shu ching) that spoke of an ancient sage-emperor's attempts to "seek for worthy men to honor God (Shang-ti)," Chang immediately replied: "Your Majesty's mind is God. . . . To rectify the wayward mind (ko fei-hsin) before it has even begun to form—this is the way to honor Him!" 112 Chang envisions the awakening of the emperor's mind as unleashing a kind of cosmic resonance that, like the charisma exhibited by Mencius but on a grander, more monumental scale, would transform the Chinese state and its people. "I, your subject, wish that your majesty will rectify his mind (hsin-shu) so that it is responsive to and influences (ko) the mind of heaven (t'ien-hsin). This will truly bring limitless blessings to the state." 113 From the above it is evident that Chang actually tried to apply his notions of Mencian-style pedagogical techniques in his lectures to Kao-tsung. Just how closely his attempts may have drawn on Ch'an practice is suggested by the following anecdote contained in Chu Hsi's recorded sayings:

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Ari Borrell Chang Tzu-shao [Chiu-ch'eng] was a great figure. When he served as classics mat lecturer under Kao-tsung, he once presented a lecture [after which] the emperor said: "I have achieved a condition of perfect integrity (chih-ch'eng)." Chang Chiu-ch'eng said: "I see that you have this [integrity] when you are at court addressing your ministers, but how about when you retire to your private quarters?" Emperor: "I maintain my integrity there too." Chang: "How about when you are with the imperial harem?" The emperor paused and was thinking about how to reply when Chang suddenly said: "Right now you have lost your integrity."114

Changs lectures to Kao-tsung reflect many of the ideas he would later develop in his commentaries on the Mean and the Mencius, in particular his notion that learning must be applied. In these talks, Chang tried to cite and interpret the text to rectify the mind of the emperor, draw it back to the practice of mind-cultivation, and precipitate an experience of moral self-discovery. Implicit throughout is the Mencian assumption that the ruler is already, unconsciously, in possession of moral knowledge and that it need only be awakened in him by the teacher. Such a spiritual transformation, Chang believed, would have dramatic consequences for Sung social and political policy; it would guide the emperor in choosing the proper course of action in dealing with the Jurchen invasion and lead to a fullscale restoration of the dynasty.

Conclusion Chang believed that a nondiscursive mode of instruction was something that Confucianism and Buddhism held in common and that it constituted the highest and most authentic expression of these traditions.115 In a stupa inscription for his former Chan teacher Weishang (1074-1140), Chang wrote: "In the Way of the sage-kings [i.e., Confucianism] there is that which cannot be expressed in writing nor transmitted with words." Chang goes on to stress that, unless a scholar-official transcends the realm of texts and language, he can never be of real service (yung) to the world and the state. He then cites Mencius' teaching to King Hsiian that the mind of commiseration is all that is needed to become a true king as a prime example of Confucian instruction, whose significance cannot be found in writings or words. The inscription continues: [But] how can this be true for us Confucians alone? The Buddha preached the dharma to his disciples for forty-nine years and com-

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posed 1418 fascicles [of scripture].... Yet right before his death he picked up a flower and transmitted the Treasury of the Eye of the True Dharma (cheng-fa-yen tsang) to Kásyapa. Then all the previous teachings and schools [of Buddhism] were made useless (wu-yung).U6

With no irony intended, Chang confidently attributes the valorization and employment of this metalinguistic mode of instruction first and foremost to the Confucian tradition. This move fits well with the logic of Changs thought, in which actual personal experience of truth, not the abstract and enervating knowledge of metaphysics, doctrine, or theoretical analysis, enables the literatus to effect substantive change in society—to be "effective" or "efficacious" (yung). Self-realization and effective political action—the spiritual and the pragmatic—are, in Changs view, aspects of a single, seamless process that received its fullest, most dynamic expression in Confucianism. But, as Chang recognized, this vision is itself akin to the pragmatic spirituality of Maháyána with its emphasis on the wisdom of the bodhisattva to respond to the immediate needs of the present through the creative application of expedient means. Both Chang and Ta-hui had witnessed the devastating loss of the north to Jurchen troops in 1126, and, like others of their generation, this experience shaped their religious and political identities.117 In a dharma talk (fa-yü) addressed to a lay disciple, Ta-hui draws a close connection between mind-cultivation, enlightenment, and loyal service to one's sovereign: The three teachings of the sages118 are all meant to promote goodness, prevent evil, and rectify (cheng) the minds (hsin-shu) of men. When the mind is not rectified, it is treacherous and depraved and motivated by the pursuit of profit. When the mind is rectified, it is loyal and righteous (chung-i) and perfectly in accord with principle (li).... The mind of bodhi (p'u-t'i hsin) is the mind of loyalty and righteousness; the names are different, but they have the same essence.... Although I am someone who studies Buddhism, I have a love for my sovereign and concern for the state equal to that of any loyal and righteous literatus.119 It is in the context of Ta-hui s equation of the enlightened mind with loyal service to the endangered Sung dynasty that one can best understand the exchange between him and Chang with which this chapter began. When Chang Chiu-ch'eng visited Ta-hui at Mount Ching in 1140, he had recently been dismissed from office for his opposition to the negotiated peace with the Chin.120 Chang expressed

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this opposition in his lectures on the Spring and Autumn Annals, a work putatively dedicated to the defense of the Chinese ruler against the dual threat of invading barbarians and rebellious ministers. That Chang was obliquely questioning the loyalty of Ch'in Kuei was hardly lost on the chief councilor, a man known for his hypersensitivity to criticism and dissent. Indeed, Ch'in's notorious literary inquisition, through which he sought to "coerce and enforce political conformity," necessitated the use of oblique language and innuendo if his critics wished to avoid retaliation.121 In 1141, following another meeting between the two men at Neng-jen Monastery on Mount Ching, Chang and Ta-hui were charged with sedition and exiled south, where they remained for fourteen years until Ch'in Kuei's death in 1155.122 Ta-hui's anecdote about the magical death of a traitor to the T'ang throne uses images and metaphors that carry both spiritual and sociopolitical significance.123 The chaos and disruption of the political order alluded to in the story (i.e., the An Lu-shan rebellion) is meant also to stand for a condition of spiritual confusion. The attempt by an unruly and avaricious subject to depose the true ruler is a transparent metaphor for the inner conflict and division present when the mind of ego dominates and impedes the free operation of Buddha-nature. The portrait (hua-hsiang) of the rebel symbolizes deluded thoughts—false, merely conceptual, representations of reality. The idea that such deluded thinking must be completely cut off and "killed" is consistent with Ta-hui's instructions to literati to destroy the discriminating, dualistic mind through kung-an practice.124 The sword that severs the head of the painting suggests the common Ch'an motif of the sword of wisdom that "cuts away the conditioning and contrived activities that make up our false personality. . . and brings our enlightened potential out into the open." 125 1 suspect the fact that, in Ta-hui's story, the sword is wielded by order of the emperor—the legitimate authority—has a dual significance. First, it may convey Ta-hui's notion of "legitimate" Ch'an practice, with which he opposed the "heterodox" practices of so-called silent illumination Ch'an (mo-chao ch'an). For Ta-hui, true Ch'an required a personal experience of awakening (wu), best achieved by kung-an practice; other practices that fell short of this were deemed halfway measures that could never qualify as authentic Ch'an.126 Second, the death of a usurper that revives the failing fortunes of the T'ang house implies that true Ch'an practice (cheng-fa) is, in fact, the key to the restoration of legitimate dynastic rule (cheng-t'ung). Finally,

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the magical, uncanny, ultimately inexplicable nature of cause and effect in Ta-hui's story is meant to point to the need to lay down all dualistic categories in attempting to comprehend the relationship between the self-cultivation process (ko-wu) and enlightenment, and sociopolitical transformation (wu-ko). Ta-hui is indicating, I think, that by relinquishing discriminative thought altogether, the illusory dualism of "self" and "things" implicit in the very concept of "the investigation of things" will itself be seen through, and one will experience a deep sense of integrity, realize the socioethical ideals of Confucianism, and accomplish the revanchist goals of the Taohsüeh movement. 127 The Sung is widely regarded to have been a crucial period of historical transition during which virtually every aspect of Chinese civilization underwent major change. It stands to reason that the Sung intelligentsia should have been forced to grapple with their role as the transmitters of traditional cultural values in the face of a rapidly changing economic, technological, institutional, political, and social reality. The loss of northern China to a foreign state heightened their sense of urgency as they strove to recapture the core Chinese values that they believed would ensure the continuity of their culture. It is perhaps no mere coincidence that Ta-hui's story concerns a participant in the An Lu-shan rebellion of 755, a watershed event in Chinese history often used to demarcate the beginning of a fundamental shift in the traditional status and role of the elite classes. In retrospect it is clear that Chu Hsi, Ta-hui, and Chang Chiu-ch'eng all sought to articulate a response to this central problematic of the era, that the kung-an and the investigation of things were both aimed at discovering or recovering a sense of unity within diversity, the immutable within change. All three men viewed the education of Chinas elite as the crucial factor for cultural revitalization and were critical of the malevolent influences of the civil service examination system on the minds of the intelligensia, although they differed in their understanding of the methods and nature of literati learning. Chang and Ta-hui, on the one hand, espoused a model in which the traditional aims of Confucian learning—a mastery of the textual canon and the cultivation of its ethical ideals through public service—could be realized fully by a direct experience of the principle or pattern (li) that united the self and all things. This objective, moreover, could be accomplished only by a radical departure from discriminative, dualistic thought. Chu Hsi, on the other hand, strongly attacked kung-an practice among the

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literati and insisted that Confucian learning required a systematic regimen of study and thought, analysis and synthesis, during which the student needed to maintain the distinction between self and object. 128 Only after a protracted period of intellectual effort and development—"the investigation of things"—was the scholar prepared to experience a breakthrough to the "comprehensive integrity" (huo-jan kuan-t'ung) spoken of by Cheng I. The rise of kung-an C h a n and the Neo-Confucian Tao-hsueh during the Southern Sung were two developments of tremendous significance for the intellectual and religious life of the elite of East Asia. The encounter between Chang Chiu-cheng and Ta-hui stands as a fascinating example of the cultural milieu in which the two emerging traditions intermingled and exchanged ideas. Not only did this exchange continue to reverberate in the minds of Ming and Ch'ing intellectuals, it became a part of the intellectual legacy that was transmitted to Japan during the thirteenth century.129 This chapter has tried to suggest some of the complex ways intellectual and spiritual traditions interact with each other and with historical change. With its commingling of the secular and the religious, the contemplative and the political, the exchange between a Buddhist monk and a Confucian official on Mount Ching in 1140 affords a glimpse into one of the most creative and influential phases in the Chinese life of the mind.

Notes 1. Chu Hsi, Chu-tzu ta-ch'uan (SPPY), 72.16a-46a. A large selection from Tsahsueh pien with Japanese translation and annotation by Takahata Tsunenobu is found in Morohashi Tetsuji, ed., Shushigaku. taikei (Tokyo: Meitoku shuppansha, 1983), vol. 5, pp. 127-160. For an excellent study of the work, see Ichiki Tsuyuhiko, "Shushi no Zatsugakuben to sono shuhen," Sodai no shakai to shiikyd (Tokyo: Kyuko shoin, 1985), pp. 3-49. 2. In this chapter "Tao-hsueh"—also called "Neo-Confucianism"—is used to refer to the community of scholars and officials with intellectual ties to the Cheng brothers—Cheng I (1033-1107) and Cheng Hao (1032-1085)—and, to varying degrees, other figures of the so-called conservative or old laws faction that opposed Wang An-shih's (1021-1086) reforms during the Yiian-yu reign period (1086-1094). After the loss of North China to the Jurchen Chin in 1126, Tao-hsueh adherents became leading activists in the opposition to the Southern Sung governments policy of peace negotiation with the Chin dynasty. Studies

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of Chang Chiu-ch'eng include Huang Tsung-hsi, Ch'tian Tsu-wang, et al., SungYuan hsiieh-an (Beijing: Chung-hua shu-chu, 1989), 40.1301-1337; Tsui Ta-hua, "Chang Chiu-ch'eng te li-hsueh ssu-hsiang chi ch'i ying-hsiang," in Hou Wai-lu et al., eds., Sung-Ming li-hsueh shih (Beijing: Jen-min ch'u-pan-she, 1984), vol. 1, pp. 304-317; Kondo Masanori, "Cho Kyu-sei no Moshiden ni tsuite," in Nippon Chugoku gakkai ho 40 (1988), pp. 109-123; Araki Kengo, "Cho Kyu-sei ni tsuite," in Araki Kengo, Chugoku shiso shi no shoso (Fukuoka: Chukoku shoten, 1989), pp. 44-59; Teng K'o-ming, Chang Chiu-ch'eng ssu-hsiang chih yen-chiu (Taipei: Tung-ch'u ch'u-pan-she, 1990); Hoyt Tillman, Confucian Discourse and Chu Hsi's Ascendancy (Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 1992), pp. 24-29. Miriam Levering's Ph.D. dissertation, "Ch'an Enlightenment for Laymen: Ta-hui and the New Religious Culture of the Sung" (Harvard University, 1978), includes an excellent study of Ta-hui's relationship with the Tao-hsiieh movement and the prowar faction; see pp. 47-62 and pp. 76-82. 3. Yang Kuei-shan was the style name (hao) of Yang Shih. He was a leading student of the Cheng brothers and Chang Chiu-ch'eng's teacher. 4. Chu Hsi claimed that Ta-hui wrote this to Chang Chiu-ch'eng in a letter no longer extant. Chu Hsi, Chu-tzu ta-ch'uan, 63.20b. 5. Chu Hsi, Chu-tzu ta-ch'uan, 72.27ab. 6. Chu Hsi, Chu-tzu ta-ch'uan, 33.2b. 7. Chu Hsi, Chu-tzu ta-ch'uan, 42.24a. 8. Tillman defines the first period of the Tao-hsiieh movement as corresponding roughly to Kao-tsung's reign (1127-1162). This was the period before Chang Shih (1133-1180), Lu Tsu-ch'ien (1137-1181), and Chu Hsi (1130-1200) emerged as the leaders of the movement. See Tillman, Confucian Discourse and Chu Hsi's Ascendancy, pp. 19-23. 9. Sung-Yuan hsiieh-an 40.1317. 10. In an oral communication, Professor Wu Pei-yi of Columbia University noted that the phrase "two times five hundred makes one thousand" may be a pun based on the Sung practice of stringing a thousand cash coins on a single string or "thread" (i-kuan). 11. Cheng-shou (1146-1208), Chia-t'aip'u-teng lu, HTC 137.162d8-14. A similar version of this anecdote also appears in Ta-hui's chronological biography (nien-p'u); see Ishii Shudo, "Daie Fukaku Zenji nenpu no kenkyu (chu)," Komazawa daigaku bukkyogakubu kenkyu kiyd 38 (1980): 104b. 12. The well known Neo-Confucian thinker Chang Shih wrote: " 'The investigation of things' (ko-wu) and 'things have been investigated' (wu-ko) are not the same. 'The investigation of things' refers to the student's efforts to apply himself to practice. 'Things have been investigated' refers to [the student's] breakthrough." See commentary by Kuang-han Chang-shih (Chang Shih) in Wei Chih, ed., Li-chi chi-shuo, in Hsu Ch'ien-hstieh et al., eds., T'ung-chih t'ang ching-chieh (Taipei: Taiwan ta-t'ung shu-chii, 1972), vol. 32, 150.12a-b (p. 18,560b). 13. From Wing-tsit Chan, A Source Book in ChirCese Philosophy (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1963), pp. 86-87, with minor changes. 14. The phrase "to fathom principle" (ch'iung-li) comes from chapter 1 of the "Remarks in the Trigrams" (Shuo-kua) appendix to the I ching, where it occurs in the following sentence: "[The teaching of the sages is] to fathom principle and fully develop one's nature (chin-hsing) until destiny is fulfilled (i chih

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yii ming)" (adapted from the translation in Chan, Source Book, p. 268). Thus, in its original context, ch'iung-li was closely associated with the fulfillment of ones nature (chin-hsing). 15. Cheng I and Cheng Hao, Ch'eng-shih i-shu, in Erh Cheng chi (Beijing: Chung-hua shu-chii, 1981), 18.188. I have adapted Chans translation from his Source Book, p. 561. 16. Cheng I, Ch'eng-shih i-shu, 15.157 (Chan, Source Book, pp. 556-557). Compare Ch'eng Is statement "A thing is an event. If the principles underlying the event are investigated to the utmost, then all principles will be understood" (iCh'eng-shih i-shu 15.142; Chan, Source Book, p. 552). 17. Ch'eng I, Ch'eng-shih i-shu, 22A.292 (Chan, Source Book, p. 569). 18. Ch'eng I, Ch'eng-shih i-shu, 18.193 (Ch'an, Source Book, p. 563). Compare Ch'eng Is following exchange with a student: "Question: 'In the investigation of things, should these be external things or things within our nature and function?' Answer: 'It does not matter. All that is before our eyes is nothing but things, and all things have principle' " (Ch'eng I, Ch'eng-shih i-shu, 19.247; Chan, Source Book, p. 568). 19. A. C. Graham noted that "from the twelfth century onwards, the chief controversial issue within Neo-Confucianism was the 'Investigation of Things' " (Two Chinese Philosophers [London: Lund Humphries, 1958], p. xix). Modern scholars generally recognize that Ch'eng Hao and Ch'eng I had, at least, slightly different approaches to Confucian philosophy and self-cultivation. Fung Yu-lan, in the second volume of his 1934 work Chung-kuo che-hsiieh shih, characterized Ch'eng I and Ch'eng Hao, respectively, as "forerunners of the rationalistic (lihsiieh) and idealistic (hsin-hsileh) schools" of Neo-Confucianism. See Derk Bodde s translation of Fung's work, Fung Yu-lan, A History of Chinese Philosophy (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1983), vol. 2, p. 532. Wing-tsit Chan made a similar distinction in his Source Book (pp. 518-519). However, the philosophical differences between the two Ch'eng brothers, if they were noticed at all, were not an important issue for early generations of Ch'eng school disciples. Still, such differences were probably another factor contributing to the ambiguities surrounding the topic of the investigation of things in the Ch'eng school. The ambiguity was exacerbated by the fact that neither brother wrote much, and their followers relied on records of their talks and conversations (yii-lu) as the most important source for the Ch'eng teachings. But Yang Shih noted that many such records had been lost during the Jurchen invasion or were simply inaccurate. See Yang Shih, Yang Kuei-shan hsien-sheng chuan chi (Taipei: Taiwan hsueh-sheng shu-chii, 1974), p. 826 and p. 883. And Yin Tun (1071-1142), another disciple of Ch'eng I, questioned the reliability of such records altogether. See Chu Hsi, Chu-tzu ta-ch'iian, 72.14b-15a, 15b, 16a. Chu Hsi's compilations the Surviving Works of the Ch'engs (Ch'eng-shih i-shu) and the Additional Works of the Ch'engs (Ch'eng-shih wai-shu) became the definitive versions of the Ch'engs' recorded sayings, but these were not published until 1168, after the deaths of first- and second-generation Ch'eng disciples. 20. Ch'eng I, Ch'eng-shih i-shu, 18.188 and 17.181. 21. For instance, A. C. Graham wrote that "the investigation of things consists of thinking followed by a sudden insight into its principle. This insight reminds one a little of the satori, the sudden and permanent mystical illumina-

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tion of Zen Buddhism; but it is really quite different, a purely intellectual illumination in which a previously meaningless fact, as we say, 'falls into place'" (Two Chinese Philosophers, p. 78). Commenting on Grahams statement, de Bary noted: "Graham rightly cautions against confusing this kind of [Neo-Confucian] illumination with Zen, but it is equally important to recognize the interrelatedness of the different aspects of learning and enlightenment" (William Theodore de Bary, ed., The Unfolding of Neo-Confucianism [New York: Columbia University Press, 1975], p. 177). 22. See Ichiki, "Shushi no Zatsugakuben to sono shuhen," pp. 7-10. For a collection of the views on the investigation of things held by leading disciples of the Cheng brothers such as Lii Ta-lin (1044-1090), Hsieh Liang-tso (10501103), and Yang Shih, see the Great Learning (Ta-hsueh), in Wei Chih, Li-chi chi-shuo, 149.19a-22b (pp. 18,552a-18,553b). 23. Yang Shih, Yang Kuei-shan hsien-sheng ch'iian chi, vol. 3, 18.7a (p. 799). 24. Translation following Chan, Source Book, p. 98. 25. Yang Shih, Yang Kuei-shan hsien-sheng ch'iian chi, vol. 3, 21.2b (p. 898). 26. Chen Lai, Chu Hsi che-hsueh yen-chiu (Taipei: Wen-chin ch'u-pan-she, 1990), pp. 107-108. 27. Yang Shih, Yang Kuei-shan hsien-sheng ch'iian chi, vol. 2, 12.13a (p. 599). 28. Ibid., 17.1 la-b (pp. 779-780). 29. Chang Chiu-ch'eng, Heng-p'u chi (SKCS), 17.8a-b. My translation follows with minor changes Peter Bol, review of Hoyt Tillman, Confucian Discourse and Chu Hsi's Ascendancy, in Journal of Sung-Yuan Studies 24 (1994): 311. 30. Chang Chiu-ch'eng, Chung-yung shuo (SPTK), 1.6b-7a. 31. Following Tu Wei-ming's translation in Centrality and Commonality (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989), pp. 5-6. 32. Chang Chiu-ch'eng, Chung-yung shuo, 1.1b. 33. Ibid., 1.2b. 34. Ibid., 1.3a. 35. Ibid. 36. From Chang Chiu-ch'eng, Chung-yung shuo, in Li-chi chi-shuo 131.21a-b. The comment is on Chung-yung 20:16. 37. Chang Chiu-ch'eng, Chung-yung shuo, 2.1b-2a; cf. "The superior man profoundly develops his insight (chih ch'i ch'a) through caution over the unseen and apprehension over the unheard" (ibid. 2.4b). 38. Ch'a can be taken as an abbreviation for ch'a-shih, "to perceive and comprehend." In twelfth-century Neo-Confucian discussions of mind cultivation, ch'a-shih appears in juxtaposition with terms like han-yang or tsun-yang, "to nourish and cultivate." See Mou Tsung-san, Hsin-t'i yii hsing-t'i (Taipei: Chengchung shu-chu, 1987), vol. 2, pp. 477^78. 39. Chang Chiu-ch'eng, Chung-yung shuo, 1.8b. 40. Chang claimed that, when Mencius called human nature (hsing) "good" (shan), he did not mean "good" in contrast with, or opposed to, "evil" (o) (Chang Chiu-ch'eng, Chang Chuang-yiian Meng-tzu chuan [SPTK], 26.2a and 26.6b). According to Chu Hsi, the Ch'an master Tung-lin Ch'ang-tsung (1025-1091) transmitted this view of the nature to Yang Shih, who then passed it on to Hu An-kuo, Chang Chiu-ch'eng, and other Ch'eng school disciples. See Li Ching-te ed., Chu-tzuyu-lei (Beijing: Chung-hua shu-chii, 1988), vol. 7, 101.2585-2589.

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41. Chang Chiu-ch'eng, Chung-yung shuo, 3.10b-lla. For a similar use of "who" (shei), see Chung-yung shu 3.9b-10a. 42. Chang Chiu-ch'eng, Meng-tzu chuan, 27.6b-7a. 43. Chang Chiu-ch'eng, Chung-yung shuo, 1.9ab. 44. Kusumoto Masatsugu, "So-Min ryo shiso no katto," in Kusumoto Masatsugu sensei Chugoku tetsugaku kenkyu (Tokyo: Kokushikan daigaku fuzoku toshokan, 1975), pp. 167-192, especially p. 177. 45. Robert E. Buswell, Jr. writes, "This puzzlement is what Lin-chi Ch'an terms the 'sensation of doubt' (i-ch'ing), and building that sensation is the main purpose of investigating the hua-t'ou" ("The 'Short-cut' Approach of K'an-hua Meditation: The Evolution of a Practical Subitism in Chinese Ch'an Buddhism," in Peter N. Gregory, ed., Sudden and Gradual: Approaches to Enlightenment in Chinese Thought [Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1987], p. 351). Buswell's notes provide a review of much of the literature on kung-an practice. See also Chiin-fang Yii, "Ta-hui Tsung-kao and Kung-an Ch'an," Journal of Chinese Philosophy 6 (1979): 211-235. 46. Ta-hui Tsung-kao, Ta-hui P'u-chueh ch'an-shih yil-lu, T 47.891M7-23. I have slightly adapted the English translation found in, D. T. Suzuki, Living by Zen (London: Rider, 1982), pp. 171-172. Ta-hui uses the word "who" (shei) in a similar fashion in a letter to one of his lay students, Tseng K'ai (1083?—1153?): "If someone asks me: 'One night, Vice Minister (Shih-lang) Tseng [K'ai] dreamed that he entered your room. Is this the same as if he [did it] while he was awake?' I will tell him, 'Who (shei) is it that entered the room? Who is it that knows [about the act of] entering the room? Who is it that had the dream? Who is it that talks about the dream? Who is it that does not regard it as a dream? Who is it that truly entered the room?'" From Ta-hui's fifth letter to Vice Minister Ts'eng K'ai, in Araki Kengo, Daie sho (Tokyo: Chikuma Shobo, 1967), pp. 28-29. Tseng K'ai and Chang Chiu-ch'eng served together as lecturers to Emperor Kaotsung in 1138. See Li Hsin-ch'uan (1166-1243), Chien-yen i-lai hsi-nien yao-lu (Beijing: Chung-hua shu-chu, 1988), 121.1960. 47. Chu Hsi, Chu-tzu ta-ch'uan, 72.38a. 48. Though it is not its main concern, several passages in the commentary on the Mean do emphasize the direct link between the practice of caution and apprehension and the implementation of Confucian values and institutions such as filial piety, ritual and sacrifice, good government, and so forth. For instance, where the Mean reads: "Confucius said: How far extending was the filial piety of King Wu and the duke of Chou! Now, filial piety is seen in the skillful carrying out of the wishes of our forefathers and the carrying foward of their undertakings" (Mean 19), Chang's commentary reads: "'To carry out the wishes [of our forefathers] and carry forward their undertakings' is none other than to nourish the principle of equilibrium and harmony by closely observing the state of the unseen and unheard" (Chang Chiu-ch'eng, Chung-yung shuo, 3.4a-b.) 49. Chang Chiu-ch'eng, Meng-tzu chuan, 2.10a. 50. During the Northern Sung several prominent scholars authored works that attacked the Mencius. These include Li Kou's (1009-1059) Ch'ang-yii, Ch'ao Yiieh-chih's (1059-1129) Ti Meng, and Ssu-ma Kuang's (1019-1086) I Meng. The debate continued into the early Southern Sung as evidenced by the attacks on Mencius found in Cheng Hou's (dates unknown) I-p'u che-chung, Shao Po's (d.

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1158) Shao-shih wen-chien hou-lu, and the attempts to refute attacks on Mencius by Yii Yin-chih (dates unknown) in his Tsun Meng pien and by Chu Hsi in his "Tu Yii Yin-chih Tsun Meng pien" (see Chu Hsi, Chu-tzu ta-ch'uan, 73.1a40a), and by Hu Hung's (1105-1155) rebuttal of Ssu-ma Kuang's critique, "Shih Yi-Meng" (see Hu Hung, Hu Hung chi [Beijing: Chung-hua shu-chii, 1987], pp. 318-327). By refering to Li Kou, Ssu-ma Kuang, and Cheng Hou by name in the body of the Meng-tzu chuan, Chang Chiu-ch'eng makes it clear that his commentary was meant to respond to these critics of Mencius (see Chang Chiuch'eng, Meng-tzu chuan, 9.6a.) These critics attacked Mencius for failing to observe the proper decorum between ruler and minister (chiin-ch'en chih i) or for otherwise transgressing the principles of hierarchical relationship in feudal society. Mencius' rhetorical style was criticized as inappropriate, too severe, and vitriolic, and his opinions and arguments were called impractical or unrealistic. His critics claimed that Mencius' lack of respect for authority was further evident when he encouraged feudal lords to become kings (wang), thereby disregarding the authority of the Chou ruler. Mencius' apparent approval of rebellion and the violent overthrow of the ruler only confirmed his contumaciousness. Kondo Masanori provides a convenient summary of these issues. See his " 'Tu Yii Yin-chih tsun Meng pien' ni mieru Shushi no Moshi fuson Shu e no taio," in Nippon Chugoku gakkai ho 33 (1981): 101-115. See also Kondo Masanori's three-part article "Sodai no Moshi hihan ni tsuite," in Kanbun kyoshitsu 146 (1983): 1-5; 147 (1983): 24-31; and 148 (1984): 22-28. For a general overview of different interpretations of the Mencius, see Huang Chun-chieh, "The rise of the Mencius: Historical interpretations of Mencian morality, ca. A.D. 2001200" (Ph.D. dissertation. University of Washington, Seattle, 1980). 51. Chang Chiu-ch'eng, Meng-tzu chuan, 16:4a. For similar statements see Meng-tzu chuan 1.13a, 12.9a, and 27.5a. 52. Kondo Masanori suggests that Chang purposefully fashioned his commentary to appeal to Emperor Kao-tsung, who had a particular fondness for the Mencius ("Cho Kyu-sei no Moshiden ni tsuite," Nippon Chugoku gakkai ho 40 [1988]: 109-123). 53. In his short summary of the stylistic features of the Mencius, Burton Watson remarked on the lively, often realistic quality of the work's stories and dialogues: "The important thing to note is that in the Mencius these anecdotes have a remarkably realistic t o n e . . . . The conversations frequently take sudden, unexpected turns and there are little graphic details or psychological touches that bring the narrative to life" (Early Chinese Literature [New York: Columbia University Press, 1962], p. 131). 54. See Chun-fang Yii, "Ch'an Education in the Sung: Ideals and Procedures," in William Theodore de Bary and John Chafee, eds., Neo-Confucian Education (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1989), p. 59. 55. Chang Chiu-ch'eng, Meng-tzu chuan, 7.4a. 56. Ibid., 3.2a-3b. 57. Mencius 2B11. 58. Chang Chiu-ch'eng, Meng-tzu chuan, 9.6b. 59. Ibid. The "six cosmic powers" (liu-tzu) refer to the six trigrams (liu-kua). According to I ching cosmology, the six cosmic powers are "given birth to" by the ch'ien and k'un trigrams, the two primary generative forces that symbolize

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the masculine and feminine principles respectively. Together the eight trigrams generate the sixty-four hexagrams. 60. Chang Chiu-ch'eng, Meng-tzu chuan, 16.2a. 61. Ibid., 11.8a. 62. Ibid., 16.8a-b. The two emperors refer to the legendary sage-rulers Yao and Shun. The three kings refer to the sage-kings Yii, Wen, and Wu. 63. See Mencius 1A2, 1B1, 1B3, and 1B5. 64. According to his recorded sayings, Chu Hsi said that, "Mencius' discussions [could be] crude (ts'u) as in the sort of statement [where he told king Hsiian of Ch'i that] 'Todays music is like the music of the ancients,' that 'King T'ai was fond of women,' and that 'the Duke of Liu was fond of money'" (see Li Ching-te, ed., Chu-tzu yu-lei, vol. 2, pp. 431-432; Teng K'o-ming, Chang Chiuch'eng ssu-hsiang chih yen-chiu, p. 86, n. 54). Commenting on Mencius 1B1, James Legge wrote: "The chapter is a good specimen of Mencius's manner, how he slips from the point at hand to introduce his own notions, and would win princes over to benevolent government by their very vices. He was no stern moralist, and the Chinese have done well in refusing to rank him with Confucius" (The Works of Mencius [New York: Dover Publications, 1970], p. 150, n. 1). 65. Chang Chiu-ch'eng, Meng-tzu chuan, 2.8a. 66. Ibid., 1.5a. 67. Ibid., 3.3a. 68. D. C. Lau, trans., Mencius (New York: Penguin Books, 1970), pp. 55-56. 69. Chang Chiu-ch'eng, Meng-tzu chuan, 8.3b-4b and 1.6a-b. Kondo sees this idea of "emptying the mind" as the foundation of good rulership as central to the overall theme of Chang's Commentary on the Mencius ("Cho Kyu-sei no Moshiden ni tsuite," p. 113a). On the hsien hexagram ("Influence"), see James Legge, trans., The I Ching (New York: Dover Publications, 1963), pp. 123-124, 238, and 305-306. 70. Chang Chiu-ch'eng, Meng-tzu chuan, 2.7b. 71. Ibid., 8.3b. 72. Ibid., 2.8b. 73. Ibid., 16b. 74. Kondo, "Cho Kyu-sei no Moshiden ni tsuite," p. 112a. 75. For a discussion of integrity (ch'eng) (also translated as "sincerity" or "authenticity") in the Mean, see Tu Wei-ming, Centrality and Commonality, pp. 70-74 and 76-82. 76. Mencius 4A12. The translation follows James Legge and D. C. Lau. 77. Chang Chiu-ch'eng, Meng-tzu chuan, 15.8a-9a. In the Chung-yung shuo, Chang speaks of "using integrity to transform creatively, reorient, and change disaster into fortune" (i ch'eng tsao-hua chuan-i pien-hua shih huo wei fu). See Wei Chih, Li-chi chi-shuo, 133.17a (p. 18355). The following passage from the Chung-yung shuo makes it clear that Chang thought of the practice of "caution over the unseen and apprehension over the unheard" as a means of developing integrity and the power to transform and influence others. If one is slightly careless [over] the unseen and unheard, it may seem as if no harm has been done. However, when a mental state of inattentiveness is already clearly present within one's mind, it cannot be concealed. It will

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surely show itself in one's spirit (ching-shen) and be manifest in one's thinking as improper ideas and depraved tendencies. One is then incapable of influencing people (kan jen) or affecting things (tung wu). .. . This is why the gentleman is watchful over himself when alone. "What truly is within will be manifest without." (Chung-yung shuo 1,3a) 78. Chang believed that a psychological state of shock or deep sorrow could precipitate an experience of moral transformation in a person. See his comments on the "Metal-Bound Coffer" chapter (Chin-t'eng) of the Book of History (Shu ching) in his "General Discussion of the Book of History" (Shu ch'uan t'ung-lun): "When someone is distressed by shock and grief, human desires are suddenly broken off and this mind will become manifest. When this mind is manifest, then the principle of heaven is present within the self" (Chang Chiuch'eng, Heng-p'u chi, p. 352; Teng K'o-ming, Chang Chiu-ch'eng ssu-hsiang chih yen-chiu, p. 117, n. 89). 79. Lau, trans., Mencius, p. 126. 80. Chang Chiu-ch'eng, Meng-tzu chuan, 1.2b. 81. See Morohashi Tetsuji, Dai Kanwa jiten (Tokyo: Taishukan shoten, condensed edition, 5th printing, 1976), 6.6021d (14,749.26). For a brief discussion of these meanings of ko-wu, see Mou Tsung-san, Hsin-t'i yti hsing-t'i, vol. 2, pp. 412-427. 82. Chang Chiu-ch'eng, Meng-tzu chuan, 8.7a. 83. For instance, see the late Ming master Han-shan Te-ching's (1546-1623) commentary on the Great Learning, Resolution of Doubts Concerning the Great Learning (Ta-hsueh kang-mu chueh-i) discussed below. See also Imakita Kosen's (1816-1892) comments on the investigation of things and the extension of knowledge in his Zenkai ichiran. Imakita writes: "Ko means to 'influence and transform' (kan-ko). Ko-wu means that the principles of all-things-under-heaven spontaneously transform (kan-ko) and become manifest before one." Imakita then cites the exchange between Ta-hui and Chang Chiu-ch'eng (see Imakita Kosen, Zenkai ichiran [Tokyo: Kashiwakisha, 1987], pp. 244-247). 84. See Changs essays "Shao-i lun" (On the Minor Ceremonies), in Chang Chiu-ch'eng, Heng-p'u chi, 5.1a^4b (pp. 320b-322a), and "Ssu-tuan lun" (On the Four Beginnings), in Heng-p'u chi 5.4b-lla (pp. 322a-325b). Both essays are critical of Buddhism for failing fully to employ the wisdom developed through personal self-cultivation in service to society. For a discussion of Chang's critical attitude toward Buddhism, see Teng K'o-ming, Chang Chiu-ch'eng ssu-hsiang chih yen-chiu, pp. 28-32. 85. Yii Shu, comp., Wu-kou hsien-sheng Heng-p'u hsin-chuan lu, section 2, 46b-47b, in Chang Chiu-ch'eng, Heng-p'u hsien-sheng wen-chi (Shanghai: Commercial Press, 1925; reprint of 1614 edition with collation notes by Chang Yuan-chi). 86. Araki Kengo stresses that it was the concern for social and political matters in Ta-hui's Ch'an that made him so attractive to Chang Chiu-ch'eng ("Cho Kyu-sei ni tsuite," p. 55). 87. Araki, "Cho Kyu-sei ni tsuite," p. 55. 88. The proscription of the Ch'eng teachings was part of the infamous ban on Yiian-yu or conservative thought that the government attempted to enforce

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during the last thirty years of the Northern Sung. The ban was designed, in the words of Robert Hartwell, "to impose ideological conformity that had few parallels before the totalitarian regimes of the twentieth century" ("Historical Analogism, Public Policy, and Social Science in Eleventh- and Twelfth-Century China," American Historical Review 76 [1971]: 713). As noted by the Peoples Republic of China scholar Li Hsin, Yang's Commentary on the Mean was intended both "to elucidate the thought of the Cheng brothers and to covertly attack [Wang An-shihs] New Learning"; see Li Hsin, "Yang Shih tsai li-hsiieh shih shang te ti-wei," in Chu Hsi yil Min-hsueh yuan-yuan (Shanghai: Shanghai san-lien shu-tien, 1990), p. 76. Though he completed his Commentary on the Mean by 1114, Yang Shih said that "I hid it in my house and would not show it to anyone at first," apparently fearing that its contents would bring reprisals from Wang's supporters; see "T'i Chung-yung hou shih Ch'en Chih-mo," in Yang Shih, Yang Kuei-shan hsien-sheng ch'iian chi, vol. 3, 26.7b (p. 1065). 89. Yang Shih, Yang Kuei-shan hsien-sheng ch'iian chi, vol. 3, 16.3b (p. 1058). According to Chu Hsi, the phrase "scholars of today" (shih-ju) in this passage refers to Wang An-shih (see Chu-tzu ta-ch'uan 43.12a). For discussions of Yang Shih's attacks on Wang, see Chiang I-pin, Sung-tai ju shih tiao-ho lun chi p'ai-fo lun chih yen-chin (Taipei: Taiwan shang-wu yin-shu-kuan, 1988), pp. 96-107; Tsuchida Kenjiro, "Yoji no tachiba," Nippon Chugoku gakkai ho 33 (1981): 7186, especially pp. 73-78. 90. Wang Ying-ch'en, Wen-ting chi (SKCS), 22.8b-9a (p. 803). 91. Teraji Jun, Nanso shoki seijishi kenkyu (Hiroshima: Keisuisha, 1988), pp. 111-124, and James T. C. Liu, China Turning Inward (Cambridge: Council on East Asian Studies, Harvard University, 1988), pp. 111-128. 92. As Miriam Levering and others have pointed out, many of Ta-hui's lay disciples came from this group of literati—men affiliated with the Tao-hsiieh movement and the anti-peace treaty faction. Ta-hui himself seems to have actively supported or at least sympathized with these causes. See Levering, "Ch'an Enlightenment for Laymen," pp. 47-62 and 76-82. 93. See Teraji, Nanso shoki seijishi kenkyu, pp. 116-118. "The distinguishing feature of the Chao Ting [party] line lay in their identification of the [Sung] conflict with the joint forces of the Ch'i and the Chin as a punitive war waged against rebel bandits" (p. 117). Chao Ting became chief councilor at the end of the ninth month of 1134. Less than two months later the Sung policy toward Liu Yti changed dramatically. An edict issued in the eleventh month of 1134 labeled Liu a "rebellious minister" (p'an-ch'en) and a "bandit" (tsei). The Sung historian Li Hsin-ch'uan comments: "Ever since [Liu] Yii usurped the throne [and set up the Ch'i dynasty in 1130], the [Sung] court had addressed him with the title of 'The Great Ch'i' because of [its fear of] the Chin. Now, for the first time, an edict declared him a rebel and a criminal' (ni tsui)" (Li Hsin-ch'uan, Chien-yen i-lai hsi-nien yao-lu, vol. 2, p. 1346). The idea of a "punitive" or "legitimate" war (cheng) is referred to in Mencius 7B2 and in several places in the Spring and Autumn Annals. 94. See, for instance, Fan Chung's comments to Kao-tsung, which include Fan's statement: "Today, those who turn their backs on the ruler, go over to the enemy, and become thieves and rebels (tao-tsei) are all in accord with the ideas of [Wang] An-shih. This is what is meant when it is said that he corrupted the

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mind-culture (hsin-shu) of men everywhere.'" Fan's comments were made in an 1134 audience with Kao-tsung (cited in Li Pi, Wang Hsing-wen kung shih chien-chu [Shanghai: Chung-hua shu-chti, 1958], 6.67). See also Li Hsinch'uan, Chien-yen i-lai hsi-nien yao-lu, 79.1290; Teraji Jun, Nanso shoki seijishi kenkyu, pp. 117-118. 95. In the eleventh month of 1138 Hu Ch'iian (1102-1180) sent up a memorial demanding the execution of Ch'in Kuei and two other pro-peace officials saying that "the heads of the three men [should be] cut off and placed on poles in the public square" (Li Hsin-ch'uan, Chien-yen i-lai hsi-nien yao-lu, 123.1998). On Ch'in Kuei's long tenure (1139-1156) and repressive policies as chief councilor, see James T. C. Liu, China Turning Inward, pp. 98-101. For accusations that Ch'in was a traitor, see Liu, China Turning Inward, pp. 96-97. 96. Li Hsin-ch'uan, Chien-yen i-lai hsi-nien yao-lu, vol. 3, 121.1960. For a general discussion of the Spring and Autumn Annals and its place in Sung NeoConfucian thought, see Alan T. Wood, Limits to Autocracy (Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 1995). 97. Mencius 4B21. 98. Ch'eng I, "Ch'un-ch'iu chuan hsu," in Cheng Hao and Cheng I, Erh Cheng chi, vol. 4, p. 1125. 99. Ch'eng I, Ch'eng-shih i-shu, 2A19. 100. Chang Ch'i-yiin, ed., Chung-wen ta tzu-tien (Taipei: Chung-kuo wen-hua ta-hsueh ch'u-pan pu, 1982), vol. 1, p. 1481a (1480.360.1); Iriya Yoshitaka, ed., Zengo jiten (Kyoto: Shibunkaku shuppan, 1991), p. 125a. Cf. the Yuan master Chung-feng Ming-pen's (1263-1323) statement: "Kung-an may be compared to the case records of the public law court" (cited in Isshu Miura and Ruth Fuller Sasaki, The Zen Koan [New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1965], p. 4); see also Yii, "Ta-hui Tsung-kao and Kung-an Ch'an," p. 219. 101. Chang used the phrase "the essential canon that transmits the mind [of the sage] outside the history [of the state of Lu]" (shih-wai ch'uan-hsin chih yaotien) in a lecture on the Annals given at the local county school, probably around 1140 (Chang Chiu-ch'eng, Heng-p'u chi, 14.6a [p. 391a]). The phrase comes from Hu An-kuo's preface to his Commentary on the Spring and Autumn Annals (Ch'un-ch'iu chuan) presented to the throne in 1136. See Wang K'okuan, Ch'un-ch'iu Hu chuan fu-lu tsuan-shu (SKCS), series 4, vol. 57, chuan shou shang lb. 102. Chang Chiu-ch'eng, Heng-p'u chi, 14.7a (p. 391b). 103. Ibid., 14.4ab (p. 390a). 104. Wang K'o-kuan, Ch'un-ch'iu Hu chuan fu-lu tsuan-shu, chuan shou shang 5a-b. 105. This question—exactly how and why the Northern Sung had failed and what to do about it—constituted what Lu Hsiang-shan (Lu Chiu-yiian) (11391193) would call "the great kung-an, left unresolved for more than one hundred years." Lu said that the inscription he wrote for a shrine to Wang An-shih in 1188 had finally "decided" or "resolved" (tuan) "the great kung-an" (Lu Hsiangshan, Hsiang-shan ch'iian chi [SPPY], 1.5b and 9.6b). Lu's inscription is found in Hsiang-shan ch'iian chi 19.4a-6a. 106. "In the sixth month, on hsin-wei, the first day of the lunar month [May 18, 668 B . C . ] , the sun was eclipsed, when we beat drums and offered victims at

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the altar of the land" (James Legge, The Ch'un Ts'ew [Ch'un-ch'iu], in James Legge, The Chinese Classics [Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1893], vol. 5, p. 109). 107. Chang Chiu-ch'eng, Heng-p'u chi, 13.10a (p. 384b). 108. Ibid., 13.12a (p. 385b). 109. Ibid., 13.12b-13a (pp. 385b-386a). 110. Ibid., 13.13b (p. 386a). For Yang Shih's quote, see Wei Chih, Li-chi chishuo, 124.4a (p. 18220b). 111. From Changs biography written by his nephew Chang K'o and dated 1229, Heng-p'u hsien-sheng chia-chuan 6a, in Chang Chiu-ch'eng, Heng-p'u hsiensheng wen-chi. 112. Chang K'o, Heng-p'u hsien-sheng chia-chuan, 6a. 113. Ibid., 5b-6a. 114. Chu-tzu Yii-lei 127.3057-3058. After recounting this story, Chu Hsi commented: "Emperor Kao-tsung was open to criticism. That is why his ministers were able to express themselves fully. The vice minister Chang spent his whole life studying Buddhism. Here he was using the Ch'an masters' method of sudden repartee (chi-feng)." This is one of the few instances in which Chu Hsi praised Chang Chiu-ch'eng. A slightly different version of this exchange is recorded in Sung-Yüan hsüeh-an 40.1314. 115. Chang considered Mencius, with his bold and innovative teaching style, to represent the "authentic tradition" (cheng-t'ung) of the Confucian school (Meng-tzu chuan 6.2a, 7.10a-b, 13.5a-b, and 16.7b). Chang was so attracted to the sudden-teaching style associated with the Lin-chi school of Ch'an that he criticized Ta-hui for failing to include enough examples of it in the latter's compilation of kung-an, the Cheng-fa-yen tsang; see Ta-hui's letter, "Reply to Vice Minister Chang [Chiu-ch'eng]," in Araki, Date sho, pp. 191-194. The letter was later included as part of the prefatory material to the Cheng-fa-yen tsang, HTC 118.1a-2a. 116. Chang Chiu-ch'eng, Shang Ch'an-shih t'a chi-wen, in Hsien-ch'un Lin-an chih (SKCS), 85.17b. See Chapter 7 by T. Griffith Foulk for a full discussion of the transmission to Kasyapa. 117. Ta-hui was briefly detained by Jurchen troops as he tried to leave the Northern Sung capital of Kaifeng in 1126 (Ishii Shüdo, "Daie Fukaku Zenji nenpu no kenkyü [jo]," Komazawa daigaku bukkydgakubu kenkyü kiyó 37 [1979]: 131b). Chang Chiu-ch'eng was studying in the National Academy (t'ai-hsüeh) in Kaifeng at the time of the invasion and was forced to escape south to Han-chou by boat (Yü Shu, ed., Heng-p'u erh-hsin, 16b, appended to Chang Chi-ch'eng, Heng-p'u hsien-sheng wen-chi). 118. The "three teachings" are Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism. 119. Ta-hui Tsung-kao, Ta-hui P'u-chüeh ch'an-shih yü-lu, T 47.912b23912c27. The term Ta-hui uses to describe himself here, "loyal and righteous" (chung-i), was, during the early Southern Sung, associated with the rhetoric of the pro-war faction, who fashioned themselves the heroic and patriotic defenders of Chinese civilization, willing to die as martyrs rather than negotiate with the enemy. For instance, in 1138 Chang Chiu-ch'eng presented the court with a list of "loyal and righteous martyrs" (chung-i ssu-chieh chih shih) and asked that they be sacrificed to in state temples to encourage the moral fervor of the country (Chang K'o, Heng-p'u hsien-sheng chia-chuan, 5a; Teng K'o-ming,

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Chang Chiu-ch'eng ssu-hsiang chih yen-chiu, p. 3). See also Terada Go, Sodai no giki (Kyoto: Bunka shobo hakubunsha, 1972), p. 106 and pp. 95-109. When Chang Chun (1097-1164), a former chief councilor and leader of the pro-war faction, wrote the eulogy for Ta-huis stupa insciption (t'a-ming), he too noted Ta-hui's patriotic inclinations: "Although the master was a man of Buddhism, he had a deep sense of righteousness and affection for his sovereign. Whenever he discussed current events, his love for the ruler and concern for the times were evident in his tone and demeanor. His views were quite proper and correct. . . . If he had been a Confucian scholar, he would certainly have become a famous literatus" (Chang Chiin, Ta-hui P'u-chiieh ch'an-shih t'a-ming 837a23837bl). For a discussion of Ta-huis ties to the anti-peace treaty faction, see Levering, "Ch'an Enlightenment for Laymen," pp. 47-62. Levering notes that Araki Kengo and other Japanese scholars of Ch'an, including Yanagida Seizan and Abe Joichi, have tended to emphasize the "nationalistic flavor" of Ta-hui's Ch'an (pp. 55-56). Significantly, the so-called nationalistic element in Ta-hui's Ch'an led him—a leader of the monastic establishment—to oppose contemporary government policy, a rare event during the Sung as far as I am aware. The degree to which Ta-hui actively and openly criticized government foreign policy remains open to question. That the government perceived him to be a critic is not. 120. Chang was dismissed in the eleventh month of 1138 for his references to the eclipse mentioned above (Li Hsin-ch'uan, Chien-yen i-lai hsi-nien yao-lu, vol. 3, 123.1980-1981). 121. Charles Hartman, "The Misfortunes of Poetry: The Literary Inquisitions of Ch'in Kuei," unpublished ms. 122. On this meeting, see Ishii, "Daie Fukaku Zenji nenpu no kenkyu (chu)," pp. 106a-108b; Levering, "Ch'an Enlightenment for Laymen", pp. 47-50; and Teng K'o-ming, Chang Chiu-ch'eng ssu-hsiang chih yen-chiu, pp. 21-22. 123. My interpretation of this anecdote has benefited from consulting the Ta-hsiieh kang-mu chiieh-i by the late Ming Ch'an master Han-shan Te-ch'ing. Te-ch'ing was strongly influenced by Ta-hui, and the commentary on the Great Learning reflects Te-ch'ing's understanding of Ta-huis ideas about the "investigation of things." See Han-shan Te-ching, Ta-hsiieh kang-mu chiieh-i, in Han-shan lao-jen meng-yu-chi (Hong Kong: reprint of Chiang-pei ed., 1965), pp. 49-76. 124. See, for instance, Ta-huis "Reply to Auxiliary in the Hall [of the Dragon Diagram] Tsung," Araki, Daie sho, p. 156. The word "tsei" ("bandit" or "thief"), a term nearly synonymous with rebel or usurper, commonly appears in Ch'an writings referring to the deluded thoughts generated by the notion of self. Thus, in his second "Reply to Wang Ying-ch'en," Ta-hui compares meditating on a kung-an to trying to catch a thief: "You know where his hideout is located, you only have to apprehend him" (Daie sho, p. 151). And when Chang Chiu-ch'eng composed a verse based on the Ch'an saying "Do not be concerned that thoughts arise; fear only that you are slow in becoming conscious of them," he wrote: "Thoughts are bandits, consciousness is the bandit leader. If the bandit leader is beaten to death, where will the bandits go?" (Ta-hui nien-p'u, p. 125a). 125. J. C. and Thomas Cleary, trans., Zen Letters: Teachings of Yiianwu (Boston: Shambala Publications, 1994), p. vii.

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126. See Chapter 4 of this volume by Morten Schlutter. 127. Levering suggests that Ta-hui's comment to Chang Chiu-ch'eng that he understood ko-wu, but not wu-ko, "might be interpreted as saying that Chang is hindered by his attachment to the subject-object distinction implied in ko-wu, 'investigating things.' Turning . . . [the phrase "ko-wu"] around to [mean] 'things investigating' [wu-ko] is a way of suggesting the one-sidedness of the distinction" ("Chan Enlightenment for Laymen," pp. 97-98). 128. See, for instance, Chu's letter to Wang Ying-ch'en, "Ta Wang Shangshu," in Chu Hsi, Chu-tzu ta-ch'uan 30.4b-6b. 129. On the Ming revival of interest in Chang Chiu-ch'eng and his relationship to Ta-hui, see Araki, "Cho Kyu-sei ni tsuite," pp. 56-58; Teng K'o-ming, Chang Chiu-ch'eng ssu-hsiang chih yen-chiu, pp. 156-160. See also Ch'ien Ch'ien-i's (1582-1664) postface to Han-shan's Ta-hsiieh kang-mu chiieh-i, 44.75. When the Japanese Rinzai monk Enni Ben'en (1201-1280) returned to Kyoto after seven years of study (1235-1241) in China, one of the many texts he brought back with him was a copy of Chang Chiu-ch'eng's Discussion of the Mean (Chung-yung shuo). The work was lost in China, probably shortly after the fall of the Sung, but half of it was preserved at Tofukuji in Kyoto, where it was rediscovered by Naito Konan (1866-1934) and republished by Chang Chiuch'eng's descendant, the great bibliophile and publisher Chang Yiian-chi (18671959) in 1928. See Chang Yiian-chi's 1936 postface to the Chung-yung shuo (SPTK).

Chapter 4

Silent Illumination, Kung-an Introspection, and the Competition for Lay Patronage in Sung Dynasty Ch'an M O R T E N SCHLUTTER

P E R H A P S T H E MOST well-known issue in Sung Ch'an Buddhism is the dispute between the adherents of two different approaches to meditation and enlightenment, known as Silent Illumination Ch'an (mochao ch'an) and Kung-an Introspection Ch'an (k'an-hua ch'an). Yet the nature of the dispute, and even who it involved, has not been fully understood. It was long assumed that the primary protagonists in this dispute were the famous contemporaries Hung-chih Chengchiieh (1091-1157) of the Ts'ao-tung tradition and Ta-hui Tsung-kao (1089-1163) of the Lin-chi tradition. This view, which is still often found in scholarly writings, is based on the fact that Ta-hui in his extant sermons often strongly attacks Silent Illumination, while Hung-chih is the only Sung Ch'an master on record who uses the expression in a positive sense. This view has been qualified in recent years by Japanese scholars, who have pointed out that Ta-hui and Hung-chih, especially during their later years, seem to have had very cordial relations. Ta-hui during this period praised Hung-chih on several occasions, and after Hung-chih's death Ta-hui wrote a poem extolling his virtues. Hung-chih recommended Ta-hui for the position of abbot at one of the most prestigious monasteries in the empire, and just before passing away he asked that Ta-hui be in charge of his funeral. 1 Although Hung-chih did use the term "Silent Illumination," the expression is only found a few times in all of his extant recorded sermons and writings. Ta-hui frequently attacked Silent Illumination, but there is no evidence that Hung-chih ever responded to or even was aware of any attacks, and it hardly makes sense to talk of a "debate."2 Concluding that Hung-chih could thus not have been the main object of Ta-hui's Silent Illumination criticism, scholars like

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Ishii Shüdó and Yanagida Seizan have instead presented evidence that Hung-chih's older fellow student Chen-hsieh Ch'ing-liao (10881151) was the major target of Ta-hui's attacks. 3 It has therefore become accepted that Ta-hui did not mean to target the Ts'ao-tung tradition in general and that, although he might have disagreed with Hung-chih on certain points, he did not have Hung-chih in mind when he made his attacks on Silent Illumination. The conclusion has been that, outside of Ch'ing-liao, it is simply not clear whom Ta-hui may have had in mind when he criticized the "heretical Silent Illumination teachers"; nor is it known whether Ch'ing-liao or anyone else actually advocated the kind of teaching that Ta-hui condemned. 4 Elsewhere I have reexamined evidence found in Ta-hui's sermons and writings as well as in other Sung sources and argued that Ta-hui did, in fact, specifically mean to target the entire twelfthcentury Ts'ao-tung tradition, including Hung-chih, when he attacked Silent Illumination. 5 There is ample evidence that Ta-hui was especially unhappy with the teachings of Chen-hsieh Ch'ing-liao and felt that he had to combat Ch'ing-liao's teachings of Silent Illumination. But other evidence also shows that Ta-hui had a very negative view of the twelfth-century Ts'ao-tung tradition in general. Among other things, Ta-hui claimed to have studied with Ts'ao-tung masters when he was young and to have rejected their teachings already at that time. In this connection, Ta-hui criticized the Ts'ao-tung tradition in general for neglecting the experience of enlightenment (wu, chengwu, miao-wu).6 Ta-hui associated the whole twelfth-century Ts'aotung tradition, including Hung-chih, with Silent Illumination, and many of the expressions he criticizes as indicative of a Silent Illumination approach are in fact found in the writings of Southern Sung Ts'ao-tung masters. Furthermore, there are still extant a number of strongly worded letters from Ta-hui, warning against Silent Illumination, which were addressed to members of the literati who are known to have associated with Ts'ao-tung masters. From this and other evidence, I believe that there can be no doubt that Ta-hui specifically had the twelfth-century Ts'ao-tung tradition in mind when he attacked Silent Illumination. The Chan school had from the beginning of the Sung emphasized the harmony among its different branches, presenting itself much like a large and well-managed kinship clan. This policy had served Ch'an well and no doubt contributed to making it the Sung government's favored school of Buddhism. 7 Ta-hui's fierce attacks on

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"heretical Silent Illumination teachers" were thus unprecedented in Sung Ch'an, and although he rarely specifies whom he was attacking, his audience cannot have been in doubt.8 Ta-hui's break with the unwritten code of harmony within the Ch'an school gives rise to a number of interesting and important questions about the relationship between the Ts'ao-tung and Lin-chi traditions as well as about the Ch'an school and its position in Sung society in general. In this chapter, I will argue that the Ts'ao-tung tradition contemporary with Ta-hui did, in fact, teach an approach to Ch'an practice that is recognizable in Ta-hui's criticism of Silent Illumination, that Ta-hui's teachings to a large extent can be seen as a response to the Ts'ao-tung tradition, and that the rise of both Silent Illumination and Kung-an Introspection Ch'an must be understood in the context of the competition between the Ts'ao-tung and Lin-chi traditions for lay patronage.

Ta-hui's Attacks on Silent Illumination and His Kung-an Introspection Ch'an Ta-hui was a tireless critic of what he considered to be heterodox forms of Ch'an and misguided practices. But Ta-hui criticized what he termed "heretical Silent Illumination Ch'an" (mo-chao hsieh ch'an) far more often than any other wrong view. Virtually all Tahui's attacks on Silent Illumination occur in letters or sermons directed to literati.9 Thus, in a letter to a prominent lay supporter, Ta-hui writes: In recent years there has been a bunch of heretical teachers who preach Silent Illumination Ch'an. They teach people to do this all day without regard to anything else, ceasing and resting, not daring to make a sound and afraid to waste any time. Often literati (shih-ta-fu), who because of their intelligence and keen aptitude strongly dislike boisterous places, are being made by these heretical masters to do quiet-sitting (ching-tso). They see that they can save effort [doing this kind of practice] and so regard it as correct. They do not even seek wondrous enlightenment but only regard silence as the highest principle.10 Here Ta-hui associates Silent Illumination with long hours of passive meditation, which he sees as quietistic, focused on "silence," and not concerned with enlightenment. In another letter, Ta-hui depicts the kind of meditation teachers of Silent Illumination advocate:

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"Some take C h a n to mean being without a word or an utterance, sitting in the ghostly cave under the black mountain with knitted brows and closed eyes, and this they call the state of 'beyond the first Buddha,' 11 or 'the time before one's parents were born.' They also call it 'being silent and constantly illuminating.' "12 In the letter extracted above, Ta-hui adds toward the end: Heretical teachers teach literati to regulate the mind and to do quiet-sitting, completely separating themselves from all matters, ceasing and resting. This is clearly a case of using the mind to cease the mind, using the mind to rest the mind, and using the mind to apply the mind. Practicing in this way, how can they not fall into the realm of [dead-end] dhyana and annihilationism like the non-Buddhists and the Hlnayanists? 13 In Ta-hui's view, Silent Illumination uses the mind to control the mind, suppressing thought and inducing a state of unreflective calm, devoid of wisdom. This kind of practice is a soteriological dead end and can never lead to enlightenment. In yet another letter to a follower Ta-hui writes: In my teaching, no matter whether you are a beginner or an experienced student, without regard to whether you have studied for a long time or are just entering [the Way], if you want true quietness, you must break your mind of birth and death. Without holding on to an effort to practice [quietness], if you break your mind of birth and death, then you will be naturally quiet. The skillful means of stillness and quiet that the former sages talked about is exactly this. It is simply that the heretical teachers of this late age do not understand the former sages' talk about skillful means. 14 The followers of Silent Illumination misunderstand the function of "stillness" and "quietness." They see quietness as an end in itself and as both a method and the result of that method. Ta-hui, in contrast, feels that only when one has experienced the breakthrough of enlightenment can true silence be manifested. In the final analysis, Ta-hui's criticism of Silent Illumination teachers centers on their understanding of enlightenment. They do not believe in enlightenment as an event in time and space and even ridicule enlightenment. Thus Ta-hui complains: In recent times among Ch'an practitioners (ts'ung-lin) there has appeared a kind of heretical Ch'an that takes the disease to be the medicine. [Those who advocate this Ch'an] themselves have

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never experienced any enlightenment, and so they maintain that enlightenment is a construct, or an inducement, or that it is falling into the secondary [expedient teachings], or that it is a marginal matter like branches and leaves. Exactly because they themselves have never experienced any enlightenment, they don't believe that anyone else has experienced enlightenment either.15 To Ta-hui, the experience of enlightenment was the sine qua non of Ch'an practice. If Buddhist practice did not lead to enlightenment, the whole effort was wasted, and the chance of a lifetime would be lost. Ta-hui often attacked Silent Illumination for its failure to lead to enlightenment, but he rarely specifies exactly what was wrong with the Silent Illumination approach and why its followers misunderstood enlightenment. In a passage praising a work (no longer extant) by the statesman and Buddhist layman Chang Shangying (1043-1121), however, Ta-hui draws on a critical distinction made in the Awakening of Faith (Ta-sheng ch'i-hsin lun) that clarifies the focus of his critique: [Chang Shang-ying's text] also says: "When the actualization of enlightenment (shih-chiieh) merges with inherent enlightenment (pen-chueh), then this is called 'Buddha'." That is to say, by actualizing enlightenment now, one merges with inherent enlightenment.16 The followers of Silent Illumination17 often say that wordless silence is the actualization of enlightenment while "beyond the first Buddha" is inherent enlightenment. But this really is impossible. Since it is impossible, what kind of enlightenment is this? If everything is enlightenment, how could there still be delusion? And if you say there is no delusion, how could it be then that old Sakyamuni suddenly was awakened when the morning star appeared and understood that his own essential nature had existed from the very beginning? Therefore, it is said that with the actualization of enlightenment one merges with inherent enlightenment. It is exactly the same principle as when Ch'an practitioners suddenly find their own noses. Yet there is not a single person in whom this matter is not already complete.18 The distinction between inherent enlightenment (pen-chueh) and the actualization of enlightenment (shih-chiieh) pinpoints the fundamental difference Ta-hui saw between himself and the followers of Silent Illumination. The followers of Silent Illumination refuse to make a clear distinction between inherent enlightenment and the actualization of enlightenment. In Silent Illumination, says Tahui, the actualization of enlightenment is understood as "wordless

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silence," that is, meditation. It would seem, in Ta-hui's understanding, that the Silent Illumination followers maintained that the act of sitting in meditation in itself was the actualization of enlightenment. Thus the actualization of enlightenment is not presented as a sudden event. In contrast, Silent Illumination Ch'an emphasized inherent enlightenment as having been present since beginningless time. In this way, the followers of Silent Illumination, while pretending to maintain a distinction between the actualization of enlightenment and inherent enlightenment, in fact collapse the two. In emphasizing that all is enlightenment, the heretical teachers of Silent Illumination thereby obscure the need to overcome delusion. Ta-hui, in contrast, points out that even the Buddha had to undergo the experience of enlightenment before he recognized his own true nature. The reality of delusion for an unenlightened person cannot and must not be denied if one is ever truly to awaken. Still, as the last sentence in the above quotation shows, Ta-hui is not denying that everybody is already enlightened—it is only that it is meaningless to talk about an original state of enlightenment until delusion has been overcome and enlightenment realized. The conflict is an old one in Ch'an. The question was how to harmonize teachings and practice with the paradoxical doctrine that all sentient beings are at once already enlightened and yet at the same time are clearly still deluded. From the point of view of enlightenment, the difference between delusion and enlightenment is itself understood to be a delusion, and so any attempt at reaching enlightenment could be seen as just furthering delusion and obscuring the inherent Buddha-nature. This situation left Ch'an masters unable unambiguously to advocate practical steps to be taken to bring an end to delusion and bring about enlightenment, but also unable to deny the fact that most of us seem far from enlightened beings. Ta-hui appears much less afraid than most Ch'an masters to advocate action. With the canonical support of the Awakening of Faith, he emphatically comes down on the side of the need to work for the actualization of enlightenment. This stance gives him the freedom to advocate various methods that can lead to a breakthrough, methods by which the practitioner realizes that he was always enlightened. To Ta-hui, the actualization of enlightenment is all-important. Only at that point can the fact that everyone is inherently enlightened be appreciated. Thus it is absolutely necessary to practice with great diligence to the point where enlightenment as a shattering temporal event will occur.

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The practice that Ta-hui advocated was, therefore, strongly focused on the moment of enlightenment. The kind of meditation that Ta-hui came to advocate was what is now known as "Kung-an Introspection Ch'an." Kung-an Introspection Ch'an involves intense concentration on the crucial phrase, or hua-t'ou, of a kung-an story. This method was designed to lead to the eventual breakthrough of enlightenment. The kung-an story that Ta-hui most often assigned his students to use in this exercise concerns the response of the famous T'ang Ch'an master Chao-chou Ts'ung-shen (778-897) to the question of whether a dog has the Buddha-nature. 1 9 Thus, in a sermon addressed to a scholar-official, Ta-hui writes: A monk asked Chao-chou: "Does even a dog have Buddhanature?" Chao-chou answered: "No!" (wu).20 Whether you are walking or standing, sitting or lying down, you must not for a moment cease [to hold this "no/wu" in your mind]. When deluded thoughts arise, you must also not suppress them with your mind. Only just hold up this hua-t'ou [i.e., "no/wu"]. When you want to meditate and you feel dull and muddled, you must muster all your energies and hold up this word. Then suddenly you will be like the old blind woman who blows [so diligently] at the fire that her eyebrows and lashes are burned right off.21 Ta-hui would maintain that he allowed for no gradual approach to enlightenment: either one has it or one does not have it. In this way it is like trying to hit a target with an arrow. Either one hits or one misses. But with practice over a long time one will be able to hit the target in the end. 22 It appears that Ta-hui's intention with Kung-an Introspection practice was to bring the practitioner to a point where no thinking or conceptualizing of any kind is possible. But another parallel function of concentrating on the hua-t'ou is that it focuses a person's doubts. 23 Doubts are detrimental to enlightenment, but the unenlightened mind will always have doubts. If all doubt can be centered on the hua-t'ou, that doubt will grow until it eventually shatters, and all other doubts will disappear with it. This is the moment of enlightenment. In this way a focused doubt appears to be necessary in Kung-an Introspection practice, and Ta-hui says: "Great doubt will necessarily be followed by great enlightenment." 24 In Ta-hui's view, the difference between delusion and enlightenment had to be maintained. If it were not, people would forever be stuck helplessly in their deluded state of mind. Averting this outcome was ultimately Ta-hui's rationale for attacking Silent Illumina-

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tion, and he displayed a great urgency in his concern for those who would waste their lifetime on a dead-end practice. The Silent Illumination Ch'an of which Ta-hui accused the Ts'aotung tradition can be summed up in this way: the followers of Silent Illumination overemphasize sitting meditation and advocate prolonged hours of it. The meditation they teach is quietistic and suppresses thought. And the reason they teach in this way is that they misunderstand the nature of enlightenment and so do not seek enlightenment as an event and even belittle it. Instead, they maintain that in their silent meditation enlightenment manifests itself, falsely claiming that because we are all enlightened from the beginning there is no need to seek enlightenment.

Ts'ao-tung Teachings on Meditation and Enlightenment How accurate were the characterizations of twelfth-century Ts'aotung meditation teachings found in Ta-hui's critique of Silent Illumination Ch'an? Although relatively little source material is extant for most twelfth-century Ts'ao-tung masters, a substantial compilation of Hung-chih's recorded sayings exists,25 while much shorter compilations are extant for Ch'ing-liao,26 as well as for their common teacher, Tan-hsia Tzu-ch'un (1064-1117).27 A short collection of sermons and writings attributed to Tzu-ch'un's teacher, Fujung Tao-k'ai (1043-1118), is included in the Additional Essential Sayings of the Old Venerable Masters (Hsu ku-tsun-su yii-yao).28 Bits and pieces of the teachings of other Ts'ao-tung masters can only be gleaned from their records in genealogical histories and other collections. For this reason, the following discussion primarily draws examples from the records of Hung-chih, Ch'ing-liao, Tzu-ch'un, and Tao-k'ai. Since the objective is to look at the Ts'ao-tung teachings in the light of Ta-hui's attacks, I will not discuss the teachings of the twelfth-century Ts'ao-tung tradition in their entirety nor attempt a complete analysis of the Ts'ao-tung approach to meditation and enlightenment. I will treat the twelfth-century Ts'ao-tung ti edition as one entity, as Ta-hui did, although there seems to have been at least some variation in the teachings and styles of individual Ts'ao-tung masters. The most famous text commonly associated with Silent Illumination is Hung-chih's poem titled Inscription on Silent Illumination (Mo-chao ming). This poem is the only text of Ts'ao-tung literature where the term "Silent Illumination" is prominently mentioned.

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Nevertheless, the Inscription on Silent Illumination has been understood as a kind of manifesto of the Silent Illumination of the Ts'aotung tradition, and in it Hung-chih sets down his position on meditation and enlightenment in characteristically lyrical fashion. In the past, scholars have thought that the Inscription on Silent Illumination was Hung-chihs answer to Ta-hui's criticism of Silent Illumination, 29 and in the Japanese Taisho canon edition of Hungchihs recorded sayings, the Inscription on Silent Illumination is placed toward the end.30 In the recently discovered Sung edition of Hung-chihs recorded sayings, however, the Inscription on Silent Illumination is found in the first section, which otherwise contains material from the earliest part of Hung-chih s career and which has a preface dated 1131. 3 1 It can be concluded, at least, that the editors of the Sung edition thought of it as belonging to Hung-chihs early period, which was before Ta-hui began his attacks on Silent Illumination. 32 The poem begins: 33 In complete silence words are forgotten, total clarity appears before you. When you reflect it, it is boundlessly vast, and your body becomes numinous. Numinous it is illuminated without relying on anything, in illumination you return to the transcendent (miao). The dewy moon on the milky way, the snow-clad pine on the cloudy peak. In darkness it is even brighter, when hidden it is all the more visible. The crane dreams of misty frost, the waters contain the distant autumn. The endless eons are completely empty, all things are exactly the same. Transcendent wisdom exists in the silence [of meditation], striving for achievement is forgotten in illumination. Where does transcendent wisdom exist? Alertly we destroy murkiness. The path of Silent Illumination is the basis for leaving the world of delusion. The Inscription on Silent Illumination is about meditative experience. The first stanza neatly sums up the kind of meditation Hungchih is advocating: "in complete silence words are forgotten, total clarity appears before you." When one is sitting in this kind of meditation, having left behind all conceptual thinking, total clarity will be present. Like a mirror, the meditator will reflect this clarity, and

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his whole being will merge with the realm of enlightenment. When one is meditating in this way, transcendent wisdom will manifest, and, already being in a state of enlightenment, the meditator need not have any thought of trying to achieve enlightenment. This approach seems to be exactly the kind of meditation that Ta-hui criticized. Hung-chih here emphasizes the enlightenment inherent in all people and shows that it will manifest itself simply through sitting silently. There is no striving for enlightenment as a breakthrough experience, just as Ta-hui charged; indeed, the goal is to forget all thought of achievement. Hung-chih also points out that the wonderful state of sitting absorbed in the realm of enlightenment is not a dumb and unthinking mode of mind. Although there is no need to strive for an enlightenment experience, in the practice of meditation one must be alert to avoid falling into a murky and unthinking state of mind. Only when this is accomplished will transcendent wisdom naturally manifest itself. Hung-chih makes it clear that his Silent Illumination is not a passive and thought-suppressing exercise. At least some kind of effort on the part of the meditator is necessary, and it is not enough just to sit in a cross-legged position. One must strive to leave the world of delusion, and the practice of Silent Illumination is the way by which this is made possible. Skipping several stanzas, Hung-chihs poem continues: All the myriad things in the universe emit radiance and speak the dharma. They all attest to each other and correspond in dialogue. Corresponding in dialogue and attesting, they respond to each other perfectly. But if in illumination silence is lost, then aggressiveness will appear. Attesting and corresponding in dialogue, perfectly they respond to each other. But if in silence illumination is lost, then you will become turbid and leave behind the dharma. But when silence and illumination both are operating and complete, the lotus flower opens and the dreamer awakens. The hundred rivers flow into the sea, and the thousand peaks face the great mountain. Like geese preferring milk, like bees seeking out flowers. When Silent Illumination is perfected and obtained, the teaching of our tradition (tsung) is set in motion.

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Our traditions teaching of Silent Illumination penetrates to the highest peak and the deepest deep. Our bodies are emptiness, our arms form the mudra.34 In this section Hung-chih emphasizes the interrelatedness of all phenomena. One should not tiy to shut out the world, but rather one should become one with the whole universe in meditation. Any one-sided clinging will destroy the balance. Therefore, on the one hand, pursuing illumination (meaning enlightenment) without practicing still meditation is only another kind of craving. This caution seems to refer to teachings such as those advocated by Ta-hui, w h i c h strongly emphasize the need to attain a moment of awakening. On the other hand, Hung-chih says, if in silent meditation there is no quality of enlightenment present, then one will be stuck in a d u m b and turbid state of mind. But being able to manifest one's inherent Buddha-nature in silent meditation is complete enlightenment, and the whole universe will be in harmony. It almost seems that Hungchih is describing enlightenment as an event in time w h e n he says "the lotus flower opens and the dreamer awakens." Although Hung-chih hints at the possibility of some sort of enlightenment experience, enlightenment as a breakthrough event is downplayed and the concept itself is even seen as a hindrance. What really matters is the inherently enlightened quality of mind. Silent Illumination is the natural state of the uncorrupted mind. It is like the rivers that naturally flow toward the sea or the bees that are naturally attracted to flowers. It might, therefore, seem that little really needs to be done. Rather than the heroic effort deemed necessary to achieve enlightenment by someone like Ta-hui, Hungchih emphasizes that enlightenment is the natural and joyful state that is already fully present. At the end of this section of the Inscription on Silent Illumination, Hung-chih states that the teaching of Silent Illumination encompasses all of existence (and perhaps all of Buddhism) and that it is fully expressed in the seated meditation posture where one's body itself becomes united with emptiness and one's arms form the sacred mudra. Hung-chih further implies that Silent Illumination is the essential teaching of the Ts'ao-tung tradition and is at the center of its self-definition. Since the term "Silent Illumination" is found in only a few other places in Hung-chih's extant writings, and since it is hardly found at all in any other Ts'ao-tung material, the assertion that "Silent Illumination" is the main teaching of the Ts'ao-tung

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tradition seems odd. It is possible that the term "Silent Illumination" was used much more widely in the Ts'ao-tung tradition than the extant sources would lead one to believe. Ta-hui was largely successful in discrediting the term and in giving it a strongly negative connotation, and perhaps later redactors and compilers edited it out of the Ts'ao-tung material.35 This possibility also means that Tahui may have been more on the mark with his criticisms of the Ts'ao-tung teachings than it would seem now; for example, maybe Ts'ao-tung masters did refer to the attainment of breakthrough enlightenment as "secondary" or "branches and leaves" as Ta-hui claimed they did. In fact, Ta-hui specifically associates the last expression with Hung-chih.36 The approach to meditation and enlightenment that Hung-chih depicts in the Inscription on Silent Illumination, which might reasonably be called "Silent Illumination," seems to be characteristic of the twelfth-century Ts'ao-tung tradition. In the Inscription on Silent Illumination Hung-chih considered the practice of meditation essential in realizing one's inherent Buddha-nature in Silent Illumination, and there is much evidence that he and other Ts'ao-tung masters strongly emphasized long hours of sitting meditation. In the Record of the Monks Hall (Seng-t'ang chi), a text composed in 1132 in celebration of a newly constructed monks hall at T'ien-t'ung, Hung-chih writes about the new building: "It is warm in the winter and cool in the summer. In the mornings there is incense and in the evening, lamps. [The monks] open their bowls and eat, and wash their feet and sit. I till and shepherd among them and admonish them to practice stillness (chi)."37 Other people also noted Hung-chih's emphasis on meditation. In a preface to a collection of sermons by Hung-chih, dated 1137, Feng Wen-shu (dates unknown) writes: "The master instructs the congregation to practice stillness and to sit erect like withered trees."38 In a biography of Hung-chih by Wang Po-hsiang (1106-1173), Wang tells of a visit he made to T'ien-t'ung in 1138, noting that those who had come to study with Hung-chih "sit silently on the meditation platforms, and no one makes a sound or coughs."39 Hung-chih also often refers to the semimythical first patriarch of Ch'an in China, the Indian Bodhidharma, who is said to have sat in meditation for nine years engaged in "wall contemplation."40 Bodhidharma's example is used to justify the advocacy of prolonged meditation and to assert its orthodoxy. Frequent references to Bodhidharma's nine years of meditation can also be found in the records

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of other twelfth-century Ts'ao-tung masters, such as Hung-chih's teacher Tan-hsia Tzu-ch'un. 41 In his epitaph Tzu-ch'un is described as "being in a state of vacuity without letting it become solidified and illuminating while in a state of constant stillness";42 and about his followers it is said that "the whole congregation is in a state of emptiness, and they meditate and quietly reflect."43 Tan-hsia Tzu-ch'un was the student of Fu-jung Tao-k'ai, who was a key figure in twelfth-century Ts'ao-tung Ch'an. In the epitaph of another disciple of Tao-k'ai, K'u-mu Fa-ch'eng (1071-1128), it is said that Fa-ch'eng "always was sitting [in meditation] in the monastery, forgetting both stillness and illumination and not differentiating between coming and going. Thus we can know his way." In the poem that follows the prose text in the epitaph, its author again talks about Fa-ch'eng "peacefully sitting [in meditation] in the monastery."44 Fa-ch'eng's epithet "K'u-mu" means "dried wood," another indication that he was well known for his dedication to prolonged meditation. As is the case with most other Ch'an masters, no clear meditation instructions are found in any twelfth-century Ts'ao-tung master's sayings or writings. Still, much in the extant sermons by twelfthcentury Ts'ao-tung figures can be understood as instruction or encouragement to meditators. Many of these passages seem to support Ta-hui's accusations that their style of meditation was a passive, quietistic, and thought-suppressing practice. Thus Hung-chih says in a sermon: "[You should engage] in the great rest and the great cessation 45 so that white mold starts growing at the corners of your mouth and grass starts growing out on your tongue. In this way you become completely emptied out, washed sparkling clean, polished to a bright shine."46 Hung-chih here instructs his students to sit in meditation for very long hours in a seemingly inactive fashion, and some of the imagery he employs might bring to mind the state of a corpse. A passage like this would seem to confirm Ta-hui's worst fears. Chen-hsieh Ch'ing-liao, who was a major target for Ta-hui's criticisms of Silent Illumination, also seems to have advocated a style of meditation in which one sits in total inactivity: "Without taking a step you should constantly sit in your room and just forget about the teachings. Be like dried wood, or a stone, or a wall, or a piece of tile, or a pebble. Cut off 'knowing' and 'understanding' and be naturally vacuous and completely bright. You should not make the least bit of conscious effort here."47 The meditator is here instructed to

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be like an inanimate object and encouraged to cease all mental activity. Elsewhere, Ch'ing-liao further says: "You should be like a baby who doesn't distinguish between north and south or know the difference between the six senses. You should rest your head at once and naturally be vacuous and bright and self-illuminating."48 Again the emphasis is on being completely still and abandoning all mental activity. Indications of a similar approach to meditation can also be found in the records of Ts'ao-tung masters in the two generations before Hung-chih and Ch'ing-liao. Tan-hsia Tzu-ch'un, the teacher of Hungchih and Ch'ing-liao, has this to say about preparing for one's last day: "You all should right away, twenty-four hours a day, prepare for it by ceasing and resting. You must completely let go of all worldly concerns and sit totally still (leng-tso) in the 'dried wood hall.' You must die a turn and then in this death establish everything in the whole universe."49 In other places Tzu-ch'un talks about "sitting alone like a dry stick,"50 has references to Bodhidharma's wall-gazing,51 and talks about being like cold ashes in a censer.52 Fu-jung Tao-k'ai, who was Tan-hsia Tzu-ch'un's teacher and was widely revered as the most important figure of the early Ts'ao-tung revival, taught in a similar way. The following passage is a good example: "The path to entering the Way is to be empty inside and tranquil outside, like water still and frozen. Then all things will brilliantly reflect [each other], and neither submerged nor floating on top all phenomena will be just thus." 53 "Empty inside and tranquil outside" refers to still meditation. The implication of the passage seems to be that once one meditates like this, the whole world will be in harmony and all dualities gone. A sermon attributed to Tao-k'ai's disciple Ch'an-t'i Wei-chao (1084-1128)says: Now I only teach you to be like someone who has died the great death. If you truly can be like someone who has died the great death, then why should you spend time on intense effort (kungfu), or on studying Chan and the Way, or on bowing and burning incense? It is a lot of [wasted] effort. I have been the abbot at five different monasteries, and what I have taught my followers at all of them does not go beyond this: be like someone who has died the great death.54 The "great death" is most commonly associated with a story involving the noted T'ang Ch'an masters Chao-chou and T'ou-tzu Ta-

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t'ung (819-914). Here Chao-chou poses the questions to Ta-t'ung: "How about when a person dies the great death yet returns to life?"55 At the end of Wei-chaos sermon quoted above, a student asks him why he only talks about "great death" and not about "returning to life." Wei-chao answers that, since the student still does not know how to die, why should he be concerned about returning to life?56 Although "great death" by itself can refer to enlightenment, the story here gives it a different twist. By stressing the necessity of the great death and refusing to talk about returning to life, Wei-chao seems to emphasize quiet meditation and the stillness of mind, while downplaying the necessity of an experience of a great enlightenment. Implicit in the Ts'ao-tung meditation instructions is a strong emphasis on the inherent and universal enlightenment of all beings. In this way enlightenment as an event is deemphasized, and Ts'aotung teachers never depict it as a sudden transformative experience. Thus, in his earliest recorded sermon, from a time when he was serving as an assistant to Ch'ing-liao, Hung-chih is reported to have said about the Buddha-mind that all beings possess: "It cannot be named and it cannot be given form. From the beginning it is pure and clean and has not been defiled. From the beginning it is by itself complete and perfect, and there is no need to trouble about practice and enlightenment." 57 Again, Ta-hui's criticisms would seem to be validated here. Hung-chih seems to maintain that, since we are originally enlightened, nothing at all needs to be done. Nevertheless, just as can be seen in his Inscription on Silent Illumination, Hung-chih, as well as the other Ts'ao-tung masters, also acknowledges that some kind of effort in meditation is needed and, far from advocating that the mind should be a complete blank, warns against the danger of falling into a one-sided stillness. Although enlightenment is not depicted as a shattering experience, the Ts'ao-tung masters often emphasize in their sermons that a quality of enlightenment must be cultivated in still meditation. Thus Hung-chih says: Completely silently be at ease. In true thusness separate yourself from all causes and conditions. Brightly luminous without defilements, you directly penetrate and are liberated. You have from the beginning been in this place; it is not something that is new to you today. From the time before the vast eon when you dwelled in your old [original] home, everything is completely clear, unobscured, numinous, and singularly bright. But although this is the case, it is necessary that you act on it. When you act on it in this

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way, you must not give rise to the smallest strand of hair and not conceal a speck of dust. Cold and like dried wood, [you should practice] the great rest with broad and penetrating comprehension. If your rest and cessation is not complete and you wish to go to the realm [of the Buddha] and to leave birth and death, then there is no such place. Just as you are you must break through, understanding without the defilement of discursive thinking, and be pure without any worries.58 Hung-chih, in a manner similar to Ta-hui, here reminds the reader that, although one is originally enlightened, it is necessary to act on it. Inherent enlightenment does have to be actualized. The way to actualize enlightenment, however, is not to strive for an enlightenment experience, but to give up completely all discursive thinking. Only then will one be liberated. Meditation is not a trancelike state in which all mental activity is gone; rather one should seek "true activity," which can be realized in sitting meditation. To accomplish it, one must somehow maintain an investigative effort. Thus Hung-chih elsewhere says about the meditation he is advocating: "With a clear mind, sitting silently, you roam into subtle [emptiness] at the center of the circle. It is necessary to probe and investigate in this way.. .. The realm of true activity is just quietsitting and silent investigation."59 As with Hung-chih, Ch'ing-liao does not seem to have advocated a purely quietist approach to meditation practice. In a verse describing Mahakasyapa, the legendary first Indian patriarch of Chan, Ch'ing-liao writes: "Whether meditating or in times of turmoil, the true is his basis. Vast and clear is his wondrous [wisdom]. His words are silent and his actions untrammeled. In emptiness (hsii) he does not loose illumination." 60 Ch'ing-liao here warns that one must not fall into empty silence; an element of illumination, or transcendent wisdom, must always be present. Elsewhere, Ch'ingliao again makes the point that silence and illumination must be in perfect balance and that one must contain the other: "In the middle of activity be constantly still, when in darkness increase brightness. Don't fall into dualistic extremes."61 A similar point was made by Hung-chih in the Inscription on Silent Illumination. Fu-jung Tao-k'ai also seems to have taught that effort in meditation to achieve the state of enlightenment was necessary, as evidenced by the following passage: If you can awaken to and understand [where] your own self [was] at the time of the empty eon, then it will be like hundreds or

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thousands of suns and moons whose radiance is inexhaustible or like countless sentient beings all at once attaining liberation. But if you still don't understand, it is absolutely necessary that you retreat and come to a halt. You yourself must completely cease; you yourself should be completely at rest; you must be like a censer in an old shrine; the [instance of] one thought [of yours] should last for ten thousand years; and you should be like a man who doesn't take even a single breath. If you are able to be like this constantly for months and years, then, if you don't obtain the fruits of the Way, I am speaking nonsense and have been deceiving you all, and I will surely be born trapped in hell. I urge you all not to apply your bodies and minds mistakenly in trying to analyze the distance of the road ahead. Do not rely on an intermittent approach. It is necessary that you yourself put your strength into it; no one else can do it for you.62 Tao-k'ai here exhorts his audience to practice prolonged silent meditation, in which the crucial elements seem to be not to make any intellectual effort and remain completely still. But at the end, Taok'ai makes clear that a certain kind of effort is necessary and that the practice will lead to a state of enlightenment ("obtaining the fruits of the Way"). As these various examples indicate, twelfth-century Ts'ao-tung masters did maintain that some sort of transformation must occur through practice. In the following passage by Hung-chih, a sense of urgency comes across that is almost similar to the way in which Tahui talks about the need for a moment of awakening: "In this matter of practicing Ch'an, it is absolutely necessary that you liberate yourself from [the worldly realm of] birth and death. If you do not liberate yourself from birth and death, how can this be called Ch'an? Therefore I say: [You should ask yourself] 'How about birth? How about death? How about liberation?' " 63 Similarly, Ch'an-t'i Wei-chao, who talked about "the great death" but refused to talk about "coming back to life" in the sermon cited earlier, in fact begins that sermon by stating: "Worthy meditation Ch'an practitioners! There is no need to be all confused and muddled. Meditate so that you become enlightened. If you become enlightened you will be in a state of freedom twenty-four hours a day. You will not have to be concerned about Buddhas or patriarchs or even yourself. Even less will you have to listen to other people's instructions." 64 Wei-chao here unapologetically states that the goal is to become enlightened and that the way to reach it is through medi-

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tation. Tan-hsia Tzu-ts'un also must have hinted at the experience of enlightenment when he said, as cited earlier: "You must die a turn and then in this death establish everything in the whole universe."65 This is "coming back to life." Hung-chih and the other Ts'ao-tung masters also highly valued the kung-an as a pedagogic device. Besides using kung-an in his sermons, Hung-chih compiled two collections of one hundred kung-an with his own comments in prose and poetry, respectively.66 In fact, the following quotation suggests intense reflection bordering on the Kung-an Introspection approach Ta-hui advocated: "If you have even a little Buddhist theory, then all kinds of concepts, illusions, and mixed-up thoughts will be produced in profusion. The kung-an is manifest right here before you. Penetrate it to the root; penetrate it to the source."67 To the Ts'ao-tung masters the doctrine of original enlightenment was central, and the most important thing was simply to recognize the fact of inherent Buddha-nature. The way to recognize it was to sit in silent meditation; as soon as one can sit with a clear mind, unobstructed by discriminatory thought, enlightenment will by itself be manifest. Hung-chih and the other Ts'ao-tung masters also suggested that some sort of breakthrough of understanding is necessary and that it might take place in meditation or even in contemplating a kung-an story. The teachings of the twelfth-century Ts'ao-tung masters emphasize stillness and the letting go of mental activity in meditation. Much of the imagery employed by the Ts'ao-tung masters furthers an impression of an inactive, quietist style of meditation. However, Ts'ao-tung masters also qualify their emphasis on stillness and mental clarity, indicating that an investigative attitude in meditation is necessary and that effort is needed. Thus Ta-hui's criticism of Silent Illumination accurately depicts the approach to meditation and enlightenment that the Ts'ao-tung masters emphasized. But he only addresses one aspect of the Ts'aotung teachings. He ignores the evidence that their meditation was not purely a matter of seeking stillness and putting a halt to all mental activity, and enlightenment was hardly rejected outright by the Ts'ao-tung teachers in the way Ta-hui claims that it was. Still, it is true that the twelfth-century Ts'ao-tung masters did not emphasize enlightenment as an event, although the teachings of Hungchih and other Ts'ao-tung masters contain implicit references to the experience of enlightenment.

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The Revival of the Ts'ao-tung Tradition and Ta-hui's Teachings Hung-chih and Ch'ing-liao were at the pinnacle of a great revival of the Ts'ao-tung lineage, which had begun only a few generations earlier. During this period, the Ts'ao-tung tradition went from having almost disappeared to becoming one of the two most powerful groups of Southern Sung Ch'an. In the process, the Ts'ao-tung tradition was completely recreated, emerging in the Southern Sung as a whole new tradition of Ch'an. The importance of this Ts'ao-tung revival has been largely overlooked until recent years,68 but it was a monumental event in Ch'an history that profoundly influenced the subsequent development of Chinese Ch'an and, by extension, Japanese Zen. Ch'ing-liao and Hung-chih were both students of Tan-hsia Tzuch'un, a disciple of Fu-jung Tao-k'ai. Tao-k'ai was the heir of T'outzu I-ch'ing (1032-1083), who himself was said to have received the Ts'ao-tung transmission from Ta-yang Ching-hsiian (942-1027). Ching-hsiian was the last monk in the Ts'ao-tung lineage to be mentioned in the influential Ch'an transmission line history, the Ching-te Record of the Transmission of the Flame (Ching-te ch'uan-teng lu) and the only fifth-generation descendant of the Ts'ao-tung "founder" Tung-shan Liang-chieh (807-869) included in that work.69 The transmission I-ch'ing is said to have received from Ching-hsiian, however, was highly unusual, because I-ch'ing never met Ching-hsiian and, indeed, was not even born when Ching-hsiian died. Instead, I-ch'ing received Ching-hsiian's transmission from the Lin-chi master Fushan Fa-yuan (991-1067), who was acting on behalf of Ching-hsiian. The traditional accounts say that Ching-hsiian was about to pass away without having any disciples to carry on his transmission and that the Ts'ao-tung tradition was in danger of dying out.70 It was only saved because Fa-yuan, who already had a transmission in the Lin-chi lineage, agreed to take Ching-hsiian's transmission in trust, promising to pass it on to a suitable student. Many years later, Fayiian bestowed the Ts'ao-tung transmission of Ching-hsiian on Ich'ing, who earlier had experienced enlightenment under Fa-yiian's guidance. Since, according to the tradition, there were no other heirs to Ching-hsiian or any other Ts'ao-tung lineage in existence at the time, it was only through this unusual transmission that the Ts'ao-tung tradition survived. The way this transmission is said to have taken place is unique in Ch'an history, and it is remarkable

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that it seems to have been accepted as completely valid by almost all of the Ch'an community (see Fig. 4.1).71 Ta-yang Ching-hsiian (942-1027)

Fu-shan Fa-yuan (991-1067) T'ou-tzu I-ch'ing (1032-1083)

Fu-jung Tao-k'ai (1043-1118)

Tan-hsia Tzu-ch'un (1064-1117)

Hung-chih Cheng-

Chen-hsieh Ch'ing-liao (1099-1151)

Figure 4.1 The Sung Ts'ao-tung lineage Although the twelfth-century Ts'ao-tung tradition traced itself back to T'ou-tzu I-ch'ing, the tradition really owed its resurrection to Fu-jung Tao-k'ai and his fellow disciple under I-ch'ing, Ta-hung Pao-en (1058-1 111). Tao-k'ai and Pao-en both were eminent monks who served at some of the most famous monasteries in the empire. Pao-en wrote a history of the Ts'ao-tung tradition, which is no longer extant but which must have redefined the Ts'ao-tung lineage and supplied solid hagiographies for the later generations. 72 The version of the Ts'ao-tung lineage that became accepted in the twelfth century was somewhat different from the lineage found in earlier Ch'an works, and much new information on Ching-hsuan, I-ch'ing, and other masters in the Ts'ao-tung tradition suddenly appears in Ch'an works from the beginning of the twelfth century. It seems likely that this material found its way into traditional Ch'an history through Pao-en's work.

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Nevertheless, Tao-k'ais lineage expanded rapidly and became dominant, while that of Pao-en remained small and died out after three generations. At the time of Tao-k'ais second-generation descendants Hung-chih and Ch'ing-liao, there were, according to the genealogical histories, at least fifty-four active Ts'ao-tung masters in Tao-k'ais lineage, several of whom were highly successful. In the following generation, sixty-two names are mentioned in the genealogical histories. Hung-chih is credited with twenty-eight heirs, while fourteen heirs are listed for Ch'ing-liao.73 Both masters are said to have had thousands of followers at the monasteries where they taught. By the end of the eleventh century, the Lin-chi tradition had come to dominate the Chan school. The sudden appearance of a revived and revitalized Ts'ao-tung tradition must have been perceived as quite disruptive to the Lin-chi tradition, and when Ta-hui talks about how the teachers of Silent Illumination have suddenly appeared and complains that "these fellows are everywhere,"74 he is no doubt reacting to this sudden rise in the fortunes of the Ts'aotung tradition. The new Ts'ao-tung tradition of the twelfth century had managed successfully to establish itself as a continuation of the earlier Ts'aotung lineage through the link to the last Ts'ao-tung master in the Ching-te Record, Ta-yang Ching-hsüan, and had created an extensive hagiography. In this way it acquired the legitimacy and prestige of an honored tradition. To survive in the long run, however, the twelfth-century Ts'ao-tung tradition had to justify its existence and differentiate itself from other Ch'an traditions, especially the Linchi tradition, and it needed more than a respectable lineage to accomplish that. The approach to teaching and practice that emphasized the inherent enlightenment of all beings and a meditation practice in which this state of enlightenment naturally manifests itself seems to have provided the Ts'ao-tung tradition the distinct identity it needed. This was the teaching that Ta-hui attacked as "Silent Illumination," a term that Ts'ao-tung masters themselves may also have used. The Ts'ao-tung Silent Illumination teaching in itself was not a radical departure from previous Ch'an practice. Its basic premise of an inherent Buddha-nature in every sentient being was fundamental to all of Sung Ch'an. The notion that this Buddha-nature could manifest itself if habitual discriminatory thinking could be done away with was also standard, and using meditation as a technique to real-

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ize this goal was common in Sung Ch'an.75 What distinguishes the twelfth-century Ts'ao-tung teaching was its strong and unabashed emphasis on a silent style of seated meditation as the only way to manifest inherent enlightenment and its deemphasis on enlightenment as a breakthrough experience. This emphasis was accompanied by a distinctive vocabulary with many expressions for silence and stillness. It has been assumed by scholars that the Southern Sung Ts'aotung tradition was, as it presented itself, faithfully carrying on the lineage and teachings of the earlier Ts'ao-tung tradition. Thus, if Silent Illumination was a teaching distinctive to the Ts'ao-tung tradition in the twelfth century, so it must have been in the earlier Ts'ao-tung tradition. 76 It is not possible to deal with this question in any detail here, but examining the records of Ts'ao-tung masters before the twelfth century yields no convincing evidence for Silent Illumination or anything that can be seen as a precursor to it. There is no special emphasis on meditation; in fact, meditation is never mentioned or even hinted at, Bodhidharma's nine years of wall contemplation are never invoked, there is no special emphasis on sentient beings already being Buddhas or any deemphasis on enlightenment as a breakthrough experience, and none of the vocabulary typical of twelfth-century Ts'ao-tung Silent Illumination is used. Also, if some sort of Silent Illumination teaching was passed along in the Ts'ao-tung lineage, I-ch'ings master Fu-shan Fa-yuan must then have received it from Ta-yang Ching-hsuan and passed it on to I-ch'ing, without ever teaching it himself. But the tradition itself maintains that it was only after I-ch'ing was enlightened under the tutelage of Fa-yuan that he was selected to receive Ching-hsiian's transmission, and there is no indication that he was treated or trained in any way differently from Fa-ytian's other disciples. Silent Illumination could, therefore, have had no role in I-ch'ing's religious education. 77 There is no good case for a tradition of Silent Illumination or anything naturally leading to it within the Ts'aotung lineage before the twelfth century.78 The Ts'ao-tung Silent Illumination approach probably began with Fu-jung Tao-k'ai. As seen above, many expressions referring to Silent Illumination are found in Tao-k'ai's extant sermons, while there is no sign of a Silent Illumination approach in the sayings of any earlier Ts'ao-tung master. There is also no indication of Silent Illumination teachings in the records of Tao-k'ai's dharma brother Pao-en and his descendants. It seems likely that Pao-en and his descendants

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did not teach Silent Illumination, and it is possible that this is why their lineage failed to establish itself firmly in the Southern Sung. Silent Illumination in the Ts'ao-tung tradition can only be associated with Tao-k'ais descendants. Although there is no indication of Silent Illumination teachings in the records of Tao-k'ai and Pao-en's teacher, I-ch'ing, several expressions indicative of a Silent Illumination approach appear in a biography of I-ch'ing, probably written by one of Tao-k'ais disciples. In the biography I-ch'ing, when he was studying with Fa-yuan, "solely caused himself to be quiet and silent, refraining from thought and self-illuminating. The master directly extinguished all emotions and views and immersed himself in 'before the empty eon.' "79 The biography also states that Fa-yiian stayed with Ching-hsiian for several years before he had a "silent awakening" (mo-ch'i) and was given the transmission to hold in trust, 80 implying that Fa-yiian studied Silent Illumination with Ching-hsiian. Later the biography relates that, after I-ch'ing became the abbot at the Hai-hui Monastery, his "Silent Illumination encounters with students became ripe."81 This is one of the few places outside Hungchih's works that the expression "Silent Illumination" can be found in Ts'ao-tung literature. I-ch'ing was "frigid and withered, cold and silent. Forgetting external conditions he was quiet and illuminating, sitting or lying down he was like wood or bamboo." 82 At the end of the biography, I-ch'ing's first- and second-generation descendants are mentioned, and it is stated that they as outstanding representatives of the Ts'ao-tung tradition were "like people who had died the great death." 83 The twelfth-century Ts'ao-tung tradition was trying to project back a Silent Illumination approach onto the person who was seen as the great reviver of the lineage. The teaching of Silent Illumination was no doubt seen as instrumental in securing a place for the new Ts'ao-tung tradition in twelfth-century Sung China. Silent Illumination's most severe critic, Ta-hui, saw his own emphasis on the moment of awakening as the only one consistent with true Ch'an. Ta-hui presented his Kung-an Introspection Ch'an as the orthodox Ch'an meditation, while accusing the Ts'ao-tung tradition of deluding people and advocating a heterodox form of meditation. Yet there is little doubt that Kung-an Introspection Ch'an as such was an innovation that began with Ta-hui, although there were developments within Lin-chi Ch'an before Ta-hui that made this innovation possible. Ta-hui's teacher Yiian-wu Ko-ch'in (1063-1135) had strongly emphasized that one should investigate the word and not the meaning of a kung-an, that is, understand the kung-an directly

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without intellectual mediation. 84 At times Yiian-wu even seems to suggest an intense concentration on the kung-an that almost borders on Ta-hui's Kung-an Introspection approach. 85 Still, Ta-hui was the first to insist on the necessity for an intense introspection directed toward the crucial punch-line part of the kung-an, the hua-t'ou, and this approach makes him unique among Sung Ch'an masters. 86 Kung-an Introspection Ch'an was a meditative technique, but one that according to Ta-hui could be practiced in the midst of daily life. However, Ta-hui considered it more effective when practiced in sitting meditation, which is also how it was interpreted in later ages. Ta-hui's use of Kung-an Introspection Ch'an as a pedagogical tool is thus very different from the investigation of the kung-an that previous Ch'an masters had advocated. Although several writers have recognized that Kung-an Introspection Ch'an may have begun, or at least come into consistent use, with Ta-hui,87 there has been little attempt to put this innovation into the larger context of Sung Ch'an. There are various indications that Ta-hui developed his Kung-an Introspection technique largely to counter the Silent Illumination of the Ts'ao-tung tradition. 88 First of all, it appears that Ta-hui did not teach Kung-an Introspection Ch'an or attack Silent Illumination before 1134.89 This was the year in which he went to Fukien and lived near Ch'ing-liao, who was then the abbot at a large monastery with reportedly more than fifteen hundred people. As mentioned earlier, it can be shown that Ch'ingliao was one of the major targets of Ta-hui's attacks on Silent Illumination. In Fukien, Ta-hui came into contact with a number of people who had studied with Ch'ing-liao, and he was deeply disturbed by the Silent Illumination approach they had been taught. 90 It appears to have been to these people that Ta-hui first began to teach his Kung-an Introspection Ch'an. Much later, Ta-hui relates in a sermon how, shortly after he came to Fukien, he brought an eighty-three-year-old monk to enlightenment. Ta-hui notes that this monk originally did not even believe in enlightenment, yet, in Ta-hui's hands, he experienced a great enlightenment. Ta-hui then goes on to state that from then on he began to teach the Kung-an Introspection technique that he now would always use to instruct people.91 Although nothing is said about whom the old monk had studied with, it seems likely that the person who had taught him not to believe in enlightenment was Ch'ing-liao, as was the case with many other people Ta-hui came across in Fukien. In any event, Ta-hui here links his efforts to

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combat the lack of belief in enlightenment, which he saw as the main problem with Silent Illumination, with his initial teaching of Kung-an Introspection Ch'an. Elsewhere, Ta-hui mentions the scholar-official Wu Wei-ming (dates unknown), 92 who visited him in Fukien. Wu had studied with Ch'ing-liao and had been taught Silent Illumination. 93 When Wu came to Ta-hui, Ta-hui could immediately see that he had been under the influence of heretical teachers and gave him the story about a dog not having the Buddha-nature to work on. This quickly led to Wu's enlightenment. 94 After his experiences in Fukien and throughout the rest of his career, Ta-hui repeatedly attacked Silent Illumination. Ta-hui saw Kung-an Introspection Ch'an as a countermeasure to Silent Illumination, and attacks on Silent Illumination and advocacy of Kung-an Introspection Ch'an are very often found together in Ta-hui's sermons and writings. 95 But Ta-hui did not just attack the Ts'ao-tung tradition for teaching Silent Illumination; he attacked it especially for teaching Silent Illumination to members of the literati class. In fact, there is much evidence to suggest that Ta-hui only became concerned with Silent Illumination when he realized that many members of the literati were studying under Ts'ao-tung masters. Ta-hui did not begin his attacks on Silent Illumination until after he had come to Fukien and became a neighbor of Ch'ing-liao. However, Tahui cannot have been ignorant of the Ts'ao-tung teachings of Silent Illumination before his arrival in Fukien. Ta-hui himself claimed to have studied with Ts'ao-tung masters when he was young and already at that point to have realized the heterodoxy of their teachings.96 It is also likely that he already knew of Ch'ing-liao, who in 1134 was at the peak of his career and a very well known Ch'an master, and he must have known of Hung-chih from early on.97 So why did Ta-hui not attack Silent Illumination earlier? Ta-hui had in the years from the end of 1128 to the beginning of 1134 lived in relative seclusion, mainly in small temples with a few students. 98 During this period, a number of new texts emerged from the Ts'ao-tung tradition and came into circulation; collections of Hung-chih's sermons and writings were probably published in 1129, 1131, and 1132; a collection of the sayings of the long-deceased Ts'ao-tung ancestor Ta-yang Ching-hsiian was published in 1133; and recorded sayings of Ch'ing-liao were published before 1132 and in the beginning of 1134, just as Ta-hui came to Fukien. 99 The sudden appearance of the Ts'ao-tung material probably reflects an increased

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interest in the teachings of the Ts'ao-tung tradition at the time, and the publication of the material no doubt further fueled this interest. It may be that Ta-hui, because of his secluded life, had not been aware of the recent spate of Ts'ao-tung works and the increased popularity of the tradition before he came to Fukien. But it was probably also in Fukien that Ta-hui first came into contact with scholar-officials who practiced Silent Illumination, and it was likely only then that he realized the extent to which literati had been influenced by the Ts'ao-tung teachings. That Ta-hui was especially concerned with the effect of Silent Illumination teachings on members of the literati is strongly indicated by the fact that his attacks on Silent Illumination are found almost exclusively in letters or sermons written to literati or in sermons that were given at the request of members of the literati and where there are strong indications that literati were present. It is also significant that Ta-hui began the prolific correspondence with various literati that he kept up for the rest of his life only after he went to Fukien. A number of literati figures can be associated with various Ts'aotung masters, but no letters to lay people from Ts'ao-tung masters have been preserved, nor are there any sermons specifically dedicated to lay people as in the case of Ta-hui. Therefore, there is little direct information on how Ts'ao-tung masters might have instructed lay people in doctrine, practice, and meditation. It may be assumed, however, that Ts'ao-tung masters taught their Silent Illumination to literati not only on a theoretical level but also as a form of meditation to be practiced. This is indicated in a poem by Liu Tzu-hui (1101-1147), celebrating the publication of a collection of Ch'ingliao's recorded sayings, in which Liu states that "since following the teaching style of silent awakening, I have fallen into a state of freely roaming in Ch'an."100 But most of the evidence that Ts'ao-tung masters taught Silent Illumination, including meditation, to members of the literati is found in Ta-hui's letters and sermons. In several letters and sermons addressed to literati who can be associated with the Ts'ao-tung tradition, Ta-hui strongly warns against Silent Illumination and the Silent Illumination meditation style. Two of Ta-hui's letters are directed to the Liu Tzu-hui just mentioned, and there is also a letter to Liu Tzu-hui's brother, in which Ta-hui complains about Tzu-hui's interest in Silent Illumination. 101 Several other examples can be found of Ta-hui attacking Silent Illumination in addresses to literati who are known to have had contact with Ts'ao-tung masters. 102 As

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mentioned above, Ta-hui confined his attacks on Silent Illumination almost exclusively to remarks addressed to lay people.103 If Ta-hui saw Silent Illumination as a grave threat to the spiritual health of the literati, it follows that Ts'ao-tung masters must have been teaching it to them.

Ch'an in Sung Dynasty China There is no reason to suspect that Ta-hui did not genuinely believe that the practices of the Ts'ao-tung tradition would fail to lead to ultimate liberation, even if one maintains that he knowingly distorted the teachings of the new Ts'ao-tung tradition. However, both Ta-hui's attacks on Silent Illumination and the rise of the Ts'ao-tung tradition in the twelfth century must be understood in the greater context of the political, cultural, and social changes in the Sung and their impact on the Ch'an school. Government policies in the Northern Sung had allowed and even encouraged the growth of monastic Buddhism and had especially favored the Ch'an school.104 As a consequence, Ch'an flourished during the Northern Sung. Most important for the Ch'an school was the Sung government's policy of promoting a new class of monasteries known as "public (shih-fang) monasteries," because their abbacies were open to any qualified candidate, in contrast to the ordinary kind of monasteries, which were known as "hereditary (chia-i) monasteries," because here the abbacy stayed within a "family" of monks who in a sense owned the monastery. The Ch'an school had a special association with the institution of public abbacies, and during the Northern Sung many hereditary monasteries were converted to public monasteries reserved for the Ch'an school.105 In this way, the state enabled the Ch'an lineage to acquire an institutional basis and a framework within which it could develop its distinct literature and self-image. Toward the end of the eleventh century, however, it seems that government policies became less favorable toward Buddhism, and the Ch'an school began losing its privileged position to some degree. The granting of new plaques to monasteries—which had been a way both of registering monasteries and of guaranteeing them state protection—dropped off during the reign of Shen-tsung (r. 10671085). In the same period there was a sudden surge in the granting of titles to various deities.106 It would seem that the court was trying to gain the assistance of powers outside of those the Buddhist

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church could command. It was also during Shen-tsungs reign that the Sung government first started to sell ordination certificates, and it is possible it was alerted to this source of income by the large number of monasteries. However, the government ordination examinations were still on the books, and, judging from the biographies of famous monks, exams were still held throughout the Northern Sung.107 Although probably neither the slowdown of new name grants nor the sale of ordination certificates had any great impact on the monastic elite in the public Chan monasteries, these changes in policy must have contributed to an atmosphere that seemed less favorable to the Buddhist church in general. At the same time, public monasteries associated with the T'ien-t'ai and Hua-yen schools, and later with the Vinaya school, also came into existence, and sometimes what had been public Chan monasteries were turned over to one of the other schools. In the beginning of the twelfth century Buddhism experienced a repression by the only anti-Buddhist Sung emperor, Hui-tsung (r. 1100-1126), who in various ways elevated Taoism over Buddhism. In 1110 a three-year halt was put on the issue of all Buddhist ordination certificates. 108 The repression culminated in 1119, when a series of decrees ordered Buddhism assimilated into Taoism.109 This attempt to eradicate Buddhism as a religion separate from Taoism was short-lived, and by the end of 1120 all the measures had been withdrawn. However, a five-year ban was decreed in 1120 on the issue of ordination certificates, which was later extended for another three years.110 Later, the first Southern Sung emperor, Kao-tsung (r. 1127-1162), ordered some of the huge monastic land holdings confiscated 1 11 and instituted a ban on the issuance of all of ordination certificates from 1142 to 1160.112 Despite these measures, in the twelfth century the Sung state in fact became less activist on a local level and ceased to formulate clear central policies.113 As the government became less concerned with details of local government, it no doubt also became less concerned with the regulation of monasteries. This shift partly explains why so few name plaques were granted after the twelfth century; the state no longer saw granting plaques as a means to keep control of monasteries. Instead, this was left up to local governments. Around the time the state began to withdraw from the local level, it became harder for members of the educated elite to obtain official government positions, probably because their class had grown so large over the course of the Northern Sung. Partly because of the

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ever-changing factional politics, holding office had also become much less secure than it was early in the dynasty. The elite thus turned their attention away from the national level toward the local level and in a sense stepped into the vacuum left by the state." 4 The sum of such political and social changes had a great impact on the Buddhist church in the Southern Sung. The state could no longer be relied on to turn new monasteries into public Ch'an monasteries and thus secure them for members of the Ch'an lineage. The high price of ordination certificates and the fact that their sale was halted during several periods caused the number of legally ordained monks and nuns to dwindle. The state had lost interest in all but the most illustrious monks and the greatest monasteries. All these factors caused elite Buddhism to focus its efforts on literati and local government officials in order to obtain needed financial and political support. Reflections of this trend are found in various twelfth-century sources. In the collection of Ch'an anecdotes the Precious Instructions from the Ch'an Tradition (Ch'an-lin pao-hsun), the monk Wan-an Tao-yen (1094-1164) is said to have complained that, in his day, when an official came to a monastery, he would order the abbot to give a special talk in the great hall (which the abbot would willingly do). In the old days, says Wan-an, it was not like this, and instead officials would respectfully approach Ch'an masters to learn from them, as in the case of several famous Northern Sung literati figures.115 A greater interest in personal development and transformation seems to have emerged among the literati class in the twelfth century. Many studied with Neo-Confucian teachers, but many also sought out Ch'an masters for instruction. The majority of literati probably found it perfectly acceptable to pursue both lines of study at the same time. While before the Sung many literati may have enjoyed refined conversation and the exchange of poetry and calligraphy with well-known monks, there is little indication that they were involved in serious Buddhist meditation practice. But there are various signs that by the twelfth century a number of educated lay people became interested in practicing Buddhist meditation. Ch'anglu's "Manual of Seated Meditation" (Tso-ch'an i) from the early twelfth century was quite possibly written with a lay audience in mind.116 The text itself is likely to have spurred further interest in meditation among the literati. The rise of the Ts'ao-tung tradition coincided with the change to less favorable conditions for monastic Buddhism, and the appear-

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ance of a new group in Ch'an must have been experienced as quite disruptive by the dominant Lin-chi tradition. The emergence of the new Ts'ao-tung tradition and the withdrawal of the state from local government gave rise to an increased need for monastic Buddhism to seek patronage from literati and local officials, which probably further gave rise to increased competition among different Buddhist groups. In this climate, the competing traditions of Ch'an Buddhism must have felt the need to differentiate themselves and make their teachings relevant to the literati class. The Ts'ao-tung tradition followed this pattern with its teaching of Silent Illumination, which, with its emphasis on inherent Buddha-nature and its deemphasis on the need for a great effort to achieve a breakthrough enlightenment, may have seemed very attractive to some lay people. Ta-hui and the Lin-chi tradition responded by attacking Silent Illumination and stressing the need for great enlightenment, advocating Kung-an Introspection Ch'an. Common for both the Ts'ao-tung and Lin-chi traditions were their close connections to the literati class. Literati recommended Ch'an monks to abbacies, they donated money to monasteries, patronized illustrious monks, and wrote epitaphs for them when they passed away. The main audience for the Ch'an traditions' literary output was the literati, and to be successful the Ch'an traditions had to have teachings that were attractive to literati. Indeed, most Ch'an masters probably came from literati families themselves. Sung Ch'an can aptly be described as literati Buddhism. 117 A fairly large number of members of the literati class seems to have been involved in serious Buddhist practice in the Southern Sung. This fact is most evident in Ta-hui's many letters and sermons addressed to literati figures and his repeated attacks on Silent Illumination. When the record states that Ch'ing-liao and Hungchih had thousands of students at their monasteries, it is probably safe to assume that a number of them were not ordained monks but rather members of the educated elite enjoying a temporary stay at the monastery or studying with the master during frequent visits. As engaging as Hung-chih and the other twelfth-century Ts'aotung masters seem in their lyrical descriptions of the state of inherent enlightenment, and as earnest as Ta-hui may have been in his warnings to literati not to pursue the dead-end Ts'ao-tung practice of Silent Illumination, their differences cannot be understood in a purely soteriological framework.

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Notes I would like to thank Anne Lazrove for her very useful advice during the early stages of this chapter and Peter N. Gregory for his many helpful suggestions and skillful editing. 1. For a detailed account of the interactions between Ta-hui and Hung-chih in their later years, see Sato Hidetaka, "Wanshi bannen no gyqjitsu ni tsuite," Sotoshu kenkyuin kenkyusei kenkyu kiyo 16 (1984): 219-248. 2. See Carl Bielefeldt, Dogen's Manuals of Zen Meditation (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1988), p. 99. 3. That Ch'ing-liao was a target for Ta-hui's criticisms was first suggested in Takeda Tadashi, "Daie no mokushozen hihan to Sotozen," Tohoku Fukushi daigaku ronso 6 (1966): 237-256. This article, however, seems to have made no impact on Japanese scholarship, perhaps because of its questionable readings of some of the Chinese sources. The idea that Ch'ing-liao was a target for Ta-hui's criticism was later reintroduced in Yanagida Seizan, "Kanna to mokusho," Hanazono daigaku kenkyii kiyo 6 (1973): 1-20, which does not seem to be aware of Takeda's earlier article. Ta-hui's attacks on Ch'ing-liao have been further explored in Ishii Shudo, "Daie Soko to sono deshitachi (roku)," Indogaku bukkyogaku kenkyu 23.1 (1974): 336-339, and "Daie Soko to sono deshitachi (hachi)," Indogaku bukkyogaku kenkyu 25.2 (1977): 257-261. 4. See, for example, Bielefeldt, Dogen's Manuals of Zen Meditation, p. 100. 5. Morten Schlutter, "The Twelfth Century Ts'ao-tung Tradition as the Target of Ta-hui's Attacks on Silent Illumination," Komazawa daigaku zenkenkyujo nenpo 6 (1995): 162-127 (1-36). In a discussion of Hung-chih's thought, Ishii Shudo does not hesitate to call Hung-chih's Ch'an "Silent Illumination Ch'an" and seems to suggest that Ta-hui was reacting to Hung-chih's teaching. But Ishii also suggests that Hung-chih's Ch'an cannot have been the Silent Illumination that Ta-hui attacked, while implying that Ta-hui may have been skeptical about some of Hung-chih's teachings. See Ishii Shudo, Sodai Zenshushi no kenkyu: Chugoku Sotoshu to Dogen Zen (Tokyo: Daito shuppansha, 1987), pp. 331— 354. In his "Wanshi bannen no gyojitsu ni tsuite," Sato suggests that Ta-hui may have targeted various members of the Ts'ao-tung tradition, perhaps at times even Hung-chih, at least before they met. Takeda had previously argued that the whole Ts'ao-tung tradition as such was the target for Ta-hui's criticisms in his "Daie no mokushozen hihan to Sotozen." 6. Ta-hui P'u-chueh ch'an-shih p'u-shuo, Dainihon kotei daizokyo (Manji daizokyo) (this source will be cited as "Ta-hui p'u-shuo" hereafter), 1/31/ 5.425dl-6. 7. See T. Griffith Foulk, "Myth, Ritual, and Monastic Practice in Sung Ch'an Buddhism," in Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Peter N. Gregory, eds., Religion and Society in T'ang and Sung China (Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 1993), pp. 147-208. For a discussion of Sung government polices toward Buddhism and their effect on the Ch'an school, see Morten Schlutter, "Vinaya Monasteries, Public Abbacies, and State Control of Buddhism under the Sung Dynasty (9601279)," unpublished manuscript. 8. There are also some indications that Ta-hui may have been more explicit in his criticism than is evident now and that overt attacks on the Ts'ao-tung

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tradition have been edited out of his recorded sayings. See Schlutter, "The Twelfth Century Ts'ao-tung Tradition." 9. Ta-hui is well known for his close contacts with many literati figures and his interest in teaching them Chan. See Chapter 3 of this volume by Ari Borrrell and Miriam L. Levering, "Ch'an Enlightenment for Laymen: Ta-hui and the New Religious Culture of the Sung" (Ph.D. dissertation, Harvard University, 1978). 10. Ta-hui P'u-chueh ch'an-shih yil-lu, T 47.923a5-10, cited in Ishii, Sodai zenshushi, p. 343. A modern edition of Ta-hui's letters is found in Araki Kengo, Daie sho, Zen no goroku, vol. 17 (Tokyo: Chikuma shobo, 1969); for this letter, written to Vice Minister Chen Chiieh (1091-1154), see pp. 64-65. 11. The text literally has "beyond Bhlsmargarjitasvararaja" (Ch. Wei-yin wang), the Majestic Sound King. He appears in chapter 20 of the Lotus Sutra as a Buddha with a lifespan of billions of eons, who lived innumerable eons ago, and who was followed by a series of two million Buddhas with the same name (see T 9.50c-51b; cf. Leon Hurvitz, trans., Scripture of the Lotus Blossom of the Fine Dharma [New York: Columbia University Press, 1976], pp. 279-280). Because of his antiquity, Bhlsmargarjitasvararaja came to be seen as the primordial Buddha at the beginning of time. This expression and the expressions "the time before ones parents were born" or "before the empty eon" all denote a state before any creation takes place, and they are often used in Ts'ao-tung literature of the twelfth century. See Schlutter, "The Twelfth Century Ts'ao-tung Tradition." 12. Ta-hui yu-lu, T 47.941c2^t; Araki, Daie sho, p. 228. 13. Ta-hui yu-lu, T 47.923b9-12; Araki, Daie sho, p. 67; cited in Bielefeldt, Dogen's Manuals, p. 101. 14. Ta-hui yu-lu, T 47.922a24-28; Araki, Daie sho, p. 57 (my interpretation differs somewhat from that of Araki). 15. Ta-hui yii-lu, T 47.901c6-10; cited in Yanagida Seizan, "Chugoku zenshushi," Koza Zen, vol. 3, Nishitani Keiji, ed., Zen no rekishi: Chugoku (Tokyo: Chikuma shobo, 1967), pp. 99-100. 16. The categories of inherent enlightenment and actualization of enlightenment are most significantly found in the Awakening of Faith (Ta-sheng ch'i-hsin lun), a work attributed to the Indian poet Asvaghosa but almost certainly of Chinese origin. This work began to circulate in China during the second half of the sixth century and quickly seems to have become widely read. It contains a very condensed distillation of Mahayana doctrine and became an important text, accepted as completely canonical. See T 32.576b-c; see also translation by Yoshito S. Hakeda, The Awakening of Faith Attributed to Asvaghosha (New York: Columbia University Press, 1967), p. 37. 17. The version of this sermon in Ta-hui yii-lu, T 47.888a, has the less specific "heretical teachers" here. 18. Ta-hui p'u-shuo 5.466b2-7; see also Ta-hui yii-lu, T 47.888al2-18, and Ishii, Sodai zenshii, p. 343. This is the only sermon by Ta-hui found in both the Dainihon kotei zoku zokyo edition of p'u-shuo sermons and in the thirty-fascicle recorded sayings edition included in Taisho canon, although the first part of the piece is missing in the latter, and there are minor differences between the texts. See also the parallel passage in Ta-hui yii-lu, T 47.878b27-c3, which does not include the criticism of Silent Illumination.

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19. Although Ta-hui again and again returns to this particular kung-an, he also mentions other kung-an stories that can be used similarly. See, for example, Ta-hui yu-lu, T 47.928a6-9; Araki, Daie sho, p. 106. 20. This exchange does not appear in the entries on Chao-chou in the Tsut'ang chi, in Yanagida Seizan, ed., Sodoshii, Zengaku sosho, no. 4 (Kyoto: Chuban shuppansha, 1983), 5.37, or in the Ching-te ch'uan-teng lu, T 51. 276c. It does appear in the Chao-chou lu (HTC 118.314a), which was first published in the Shao-hsing period (1131-1162). According to the entry on Chao-chou in the Sung kao-seng chuan (T 50.775c), the recorded sayings of Chao-chou were in wide circulation at the time, but we cannot know whether the dog story was included in the early versions. 21. Ta-hui p'u-shuo 5.481cl0-13; also translated in Ishii Shudo, "Yakuchu 'Daie Fukaku Zenji hogo (zoku)' (jo)," Komazawa daigaku zenkenkyujo nenpd 4 (1993): 20-62. 22. See Ta-hui yu-lu, T 47.927b5-6; Araki, Daie sho, p. 102. Cited in Robert E. Buswell, Jr., "The 'Short-cut' Approach of K'an-hua Meditation: The Evolution of a Practical Subitism in Chinese Chan Buddhism," in Peter N. Gregory, ed., Sudden and Gradual Approaches to Enlightenment in Chinese Thought (Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 1987), p. 367, n. 78. 23. For discussions of doubt in kung-an introspection, see Yanagida, "Chugoku zenshushi," pp. 98-104; Levering, "Ch'an Enlightenment for Laymen," pp. 297-303; and Buswell, "The 'Short-cut' Approach of K'an-hua Meditation," pp. 351-356. 24. Ta-hui yii-lu, T 47.886a28; cited in Yanagida, "Chugoku zenshushi," p. 100, and Levering, "Ch'an Enlightenment for Laymen," p. 302. 25. The most readily accessible version of Hung-chih's recorded sayings is the Japanese nine-fascicle edition found in T 48.1a-121a, titled Hung-chih kuang-lu (Wanshi koroku). This edition is ultimately based on a Sung edition in six volumes, which was preserved in Japan and which has recently been reproduced in Ishii Shudo, ed., Wanshi roku (Tokyo: Meicho fukyukai, 1984). Although this edition is the most reliable, since it is not widely available I will in the following give references to the Taisho edition, noting any differences from the Sung edition. 26. Chen-hsieh Ch'ing-liao ch'an-shih yu-lu, HTC 124.300a-328a. 27. Tan-hsia Tzu-ch'un ch'an-shih yii-lu, HTC 124.243c-257b. 28. Hsu ku-tsun-su yu-yao, HTC 118.452d^54d. 29. See Zengaku Daijiten Hensanjo, ed., Zengaku daijiten (Tokyo: Taishukan shoten, 1978), p. 1225d. 30. Hung-chih kuang-lu, T 48.100a-b. 31. See the reproduction of the Sung edition in Ishii Shudo, ed. Wanshi roku, pp. 77-78. 32. As I will discuss later in this chapter, Ta-hui did not begin his attacks on Silent Illumination until 1134. 33. I have consulted two English translations of this poem: the partial and extremely free English rendition found in Sheng-yen, Getting the Buddha Mind (Elmhurst: Dharma Drum Publications, 1982), pp. 75-76, and the full, more satisfactory, translation included in Taigen Daniel Leighton with Yi Wu, Cultivating the Empty Field: The Silent Illumination of Zen Master Hung-chih (San

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Francisco: North Point Press, 1991), pp. 52-54. An interpretive translation into modern Japanese with a commentary appears in Ishii, Sodai zenshu, pp. 333336. Based on rhyming patterns the stanzas belong together in pairs. 34. Hung-chih kuang-lu, T 48.100a26-bl and 100b5-ll. 35. Interestingly, the term "Silent Illumination" is not found in the rather short version of Hung-chih s recorded sayings that survived in China, reproduced in Ishii Shudo, ed., Wanshi roku, vol. 3. 36. See Ta-hui p'u-shuo 5.428d; cited in Levering, "Ch'an Enlightenment for Laymen," p. 263. 37. Hung-chih kuang-lu, T 48.100c28-29. 38. Ibid., T 48.57bl8. The Hung-chih kuang-lu mistakenly has nieh for k'u; see the Sung edition in Ishii Shudo, ed., Wanshi roku, p. 237a7. 39. Hung-chih kuang-lu, T 48.120M4. The Hung-chih kuang-lu mistakenly has tso (a) for tso (b). See the Sung edition in Ishii Shudo, ed., Wanshi roku, p. 319al7-18. 40. See, for example, Hung-chih kuang-lu, T 48.36c, 78c, 100c, 101b, 103c, 105c, and 113c. "Wall contemplation" (pi-kuan), should probably be understood as "contemplating like a wall." See the discussion of the term in John R. McRae, The Northern School and the Formation of Early Ch'an Buddhism (Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 1986), pp. 112-115. 41. Tan-hsia Tzu-ch'un ch'an-shih yu-lu, HTC 124.243d8, 245b8, and 246cl8. 42. See Chang Chung-hsi, ed., Hu-pei chin-shih chih, 10.24all, in Shih-ko shih-liao hsin-pien 16 (Taipei: Hsin-wen-feng, 1982); also reproduced in Ishii, Sodai zenshu, p. 455. 43. Hu-pei chin-shih chih 10.25b.2; Ishii, Sodai Zenshu, p. 457. 44. See Cheng Chu (1078-1144), Pei-shan hsiao-chi, 32.5a-8a (SKCS), 1130.316b-317a; reproduced in Ishii, Sodai zenshu, pp. 463-467. 45. "Rest" and "cessation" are part of seven practice "instructions" that are attributed to Shih-shuang Ch'ing-chu (807-888), whose congregation was known as the "dried wood congregation" because of its emphasis on meditation (see the Sung kao-seng chuan, T 50.780c). Shih-shuang's seven "instructions," or things that the meditator should emulate or practice, are "cease," "rest," "one thought lasts ten thousand years," "a censer in an old shrine," "cold ashes and dried wood," "cool and low-lying," and "a strip of white silk" (see Zengaku daijiten, p. 654b). The earliest occurrence I have found of the list of seven is in the entry on Shih-shuang's student Chiu-feng Tao-ch'ien (d. 921) in the Tsung-men lien-teng hui-yao (1183), HTC 136.395d. Here, in a story about how Tao-ch'ien challenged the understanding of the monk chosen to take over the congregation after the death of Shih-shuang, Tao-ch'ien quotes the seven instructions. The same story about Tao-ch'ien is also found in the earlier Seng-pao chuan (1123), HTC 137.232b, but here only two of the seven instructions are mentioned. Twelfth-century Ts'ao-tung masters often use items from Shih-shuang's seven "instructions" in their sermons, and Ta-hui often uses the items as examples of expressions of Silent Illumination. It would seem likely that these expressions began with the Silent Illumination approach of the Ts'ao-tung tradition in the early twelfth century, which may have attributed them to Shih-shuang, who after Bodhidharma set the best available ancestral example for silent meditation.

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46. Hung-chih kuang-lu, T 48.78b7-8. This passage is also translated in Leighton, Cultivating the Empty Field, p. 36. 47. Chen-hsieh Ch'ing-liao ch'an-shih yü-lu, HTC 124.314al8-b2. 48. Ibid., HTC 124.323cl3-14. 49. Tan-hsia Tzu-ch'un ch'an-shih yü-lu, HTC 124.244b 10-18. 50. Tan-hsia Tzu-ch'un ch'an-shih yü-lu, HTC 124.243d7 and 245bl4. 51. Ibid., HTC 124.243d8, 245b8, and 246cl8. 52. Ibid., HTC 124.245al5. 53. Hsü ku-tsun-su yü-yao, HTC 118.453cl2-15. 54. Seng-pao cheng-hsü chuan, HTC 137.288dl6-19. 55. The most famous occurrence of this kung-an is in the Pi-yen lu, T 48.178c (case 41). 56. Seng-pao cheng-hsü chuan, HTC 137.289a3-4. This seems like a reverse echo of Confucius' famous statement when he was asked about the afterlife: "If you still do not understand life, how can you understand death?" (Lun-yü 11.12).

57. Hung-chih kuang-lu, T 48.1c2-3. 58. Hung-chih kuang-lu, T 48.74b25-c2 (emphasis mine). Cited in Ishii, Sodai Zenshü, p. 345. Also translated in Leighton, Cultivating the Empty Field, p. 10. 59. Hung-chih kuang-lu, T 48.73cl4-13. 60. Hsü ku-tsun-su yü-yao, HTC 118.455d5. 61. Chen-hsieh Ch'ing-liao ch'an-shih yü-lu, HTC 124.311b3. 62. Hsü ku-tsun-su yü-yao, HTC 118.453dl 1-16. 63. Hung-chih kuang-lu, T 48.60al5-16; cited in Ishii, Sódai zenshü, p. 349. 64. Seng-pao cheng-hsü chuan, HTC 137.288c. 65. Tan-hsia Tzu-ch'un ch'an-shih yü-lu, HTC 124.244M8. 66. See the Ssu-chou P'u-chao Chüeh ho-shang sung-ku and the Chen-chou Ch'ang-lu Chüeh ho-shang nien-ku, in T 48.18b-35a. See also T'ou-tzu I-ch'ing's collection of poetic commentary to one hundred kung-an in HTC 124.232b239c and that of Tan-hsia Tzu-ch'un in HTC 124.249d-257b. 67. Hung-chih kuang-lu, T 48.67al8-20. The translation is from Isshu Miura and R. F. Sasaki, Zen Dust (Kyoto: First Zen Institute of America in Japan, 1966), p. 172. 68. The pioneer in the study of the Ts'ao-tung tradition and Ch'an in the Sung in general is Ishii Shüdó, who has published a large number of articles as well as the book referred to above, Sódai zenshü no kenkyü. 69. Ching-te ch'uan-teng lu, T 51.421b-c. 70. The earliest version of this story is found in the Chien-chung ching-kuo hsü-teng lu (1101), HTC 136.176a-177a. However, the Hsü-teng lu and the other genealogical histories also list a number of other disciples of Ching-hsüan, thereby somewhat contradicting the story (see HTC 136.17a.) 71. However, there must have been some unsympathetic voices, because the scholar Fan Yii in his inscription on Ta-hung Pao-en remarks: "Common people say that I-ch'ing did not receive [the transmission] personally. They do not understand that the saintly does not have before or after and that the transmission lies in awakening." See Hu-pei chin-shih chih 10.20b; also see Ishii, Sodai zenshüshi, p. 438. In Japan I-ch'ing's transmission may have posed a bigger prob-

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lem for the Soto tradition. For example, an early edition of the recorded sayings of Dogen has a story about T'ou-tzu I-ch'ing and Fu-shan Fa-yuan. In later editions, Fa-yiian's name has been changed to that of Ta-yang Ching-hstian (see Ishii, Sodai zenshu, pp. 209-210). 72. Pao-en's work is mentioned in his epitaph, see Hu-pei chin-shih chih 10.23a; also see Ishii, Sodai zenshushi, p. 442. Ta-hui refers to Pao-en's work; see Ta-hui p'u-shuo 5.405c. 73. See the charts, based on a large number of different sources, in Zengaku daijiten, vol. 3, p. 21. 74. Ta-hui yu-lu, T 47.921b22-23; Araki, Daie sho, p. 50. 75. Such meditation seems to be advocated in the Tso-ch'an i (Manual of seated meditation), attributed to the Yiin-men monk Ch'ang-lu Tsung-tse (dates unknown) and published in the beginning of the twelfth century. Here it is said: "To seek the pearl, we should still the waves; if we disturb the water, it will be hard to get. When the water of meditation is clear, the pearl of the mind will appear of itself." Tso-ch'an i, HTC 111.460dl5 (as translated in Bielefeldt, Dogen's Manuals, p. 82). 76. Daniel Overmeyer in his article "Chinese Religion" in the Encyclopedia of Religion writes: "By the tenth century the Chan school was divided into two main branches, both of which had first appeared earlier, the Lin-chi, emphasizing dramatic and unexpected breakthroughs to enlightenment in everyday activities, and the Ts'ao-tung, known for a more gradual approach through seated meditation" (vol. 3, pp. 280-281). This passage implies both that a Silent Illumination approach was present from the beginning in the Ts'ao-tung tradition and that this approach is "gradual," a common characterization of the Ts'ao-tung Silent Illumination approach that owes much to later Japanese Rinzai polemics against the Soto school. Similar views are found in Takao Giken, Sodai bukkydshi no kenkyu (Kyoto: Hakkaen, 1975), p. 101, and in Yanagida Seizan, "Chugoku zenshushi," p. 100. Yanagida also states that Tung-shan Liangchieh did not emphasize enlightenment the way other Ch'an masters did ("Chugoku zenshushi," p. 77). In this way he is clearly implying that Sung Ts'ao-tung Silent Illumination was a continuation of this earlier trend, although he does not say so directly. The Ching-te ch'uan-teng lu, however, states that both Tungshan Liang-chieh and his famous contemporary Lin-chi I-hsiian (d. 866), who became the "founder" of the Lin-chi tradition to which Ta-hui was heir, experienced "great enlightenment" (ta-wu) (see T 51.321cl9 and 290bl). Furthermore, two of Liang-chieh's disciples are said to have been awakened in dialogue with him, while the same is not reported for any of Lin-chi's students (see Ching-te ch'uan-teng lu, T 51.337a21 and 337bl4). 77. Only one source, a biography of I-ch'ing, tries to imply that I-ch'ing learned Silent Illumination from Fu-shan Fa-yuan. See below. There is no indication of a Silent Illumination approach in the sermons of Fa-yuan included in the genealogical histories. See his records in the Hsii-teng lu, HTC 136.40d-41c, the Seng-pao chuan, HTC 137.255c-256a, and the Chia-t'ai p'u-teng lu, HTC 137.27c-28c. 78. One of the texts that is sometimes referred to as indication of an early Silent Illumination-like teaching in the Ts'ao-tung tradition is the Pao-ching san-mei, which is commonly attributed to Tung-shan Liang-chieh. However, this text is first found in Hui-hung's Pao-seng chuan (1118), where it is said that

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Liang-chieh received it from his teacher Yun-yen T'an-sheng (782-841) and that it was probably written by Yiin-yen's teacher Yao-shan Wei-yen (745-838 or 751-834) (see HTC 137.223a-b). It seems likely that this text came into existence at the time of Tao-k'ai and Pao-en. 79. See the Hsing-chuang attached to T'ou-tzu I-ch'ing ch'an-shih yii-lu, HTC 124.238bl 1-12. 80. Hsing-chuang, HTC 124.238cl. 81. Hsing-chuang, HTC 124.238cl2-13. 82. Hsing-chuang, HTC 124.238cl6. 83. Hsing-chuang, HTC 124.238dl2. 84. See Buswell, "The 'Short-cut' Approach of K'an-hua Meditation," and Ding-hwa Evelyn Hsieh, "Yiian-wu K'o-ch'ins (1063-1135) Teaching of Chan Kung-an Practice: A Transition from Literary Study of Chan Kung-an to the Practical K'an-hua Chan," Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 17.1 (1994): 66-95. See also her dissertation, "A Study of the Evolution of K'an-hua Ch'an in Sung China: Yiian-wu K'o-ch'in (1063-1135) and the Function of Kung-an in Ch'an Pedagogy and Praxis" (University of California, Los Angeles, 1993). 85. See HTC 120.385a7-13, cited in Hsieh, "A Study of the Evolution of K'an-hua Ch'an," pp. 160-161. At other times, Yiian-wu sounded much like the Ts'ao-tung teachers of Silent Illumination. See Furuta Shokin, "Koan no rekishiteki hatten keitai ni okeru shinrisei no mondai," in Miyamoto Shosen, ed., Bukkyo no konpon shinri (Tokyo: Sanseido, 1956), pp. 823-824. Yiian-wu seems typical of Ch'an masters in the earlier part of the Sung, who at times would talk about the need to attain enlightenment and at other times would wax lyrically about the inherently enlightened nature of all beings. 86. The examples sometimes cited to prove that Ta-hui's Kung-an Introspection Ch'an was following an ancient tradition are not convincing. Often cited is Huang-po Hsi-ytin (d. 850), who in the Ming edition of the Wan-ling lu advocates contemplating no/wu in a manner almost exactly like Ta-hui (see T 48.387b5-8). The passage is probably spurious, however, since the Sung editions of the Wan-ling lu do not include it. See the Sung text in Iriya Yoshitaka, trans., Denshin hoyo; Enryoroku, Zen no goroku, vol. 8 (Tokyo: Chikuma shobo, 1969), pp. 134-135. Ta-hui himself cites a letter written by his teacher's teacher, Wu-tsu Fa-yen (1024?—1104), advocating contemplation of Chao-chou's wu (see T 47, 942c24-26; Araki, Daie sho, p. 239; cited in Furuta, "Koan no rekishi-teki hatten keitai ni okeru shinrisei no mondai," p. 830). See also Ch'an-lin paohsiln, T 48.1023a27-29. Although this letter is not found in Wu-tsu's recorded sayings, another passage can be found in which Wu-tsu says that he "always simply just holds up the word 'noIwu'" and urges his students to penetrate it (see T 47.665b29-c5, cited in Yanagida, "Chugoku zenshtishi," p. 102). In several other passages where Wu-tsu discusses Chao-chou's dog kung-an, however, there is no emphasis on contemplating the wu (see T 47.660a3 and 666b28-c2). There is no record of Ta-hui's own teacher Yiian-wu K'o-ch'in using Chaochou's dog kung-an. 87. See Furuta, "Koan no rekishi-teki hatten keitai ni okeru shinrisei no mondai"; Buswell, "The 'Short-cut' Approach of K'an-hua Meditation"; and Hsieh, "Yiian-wu K'o-ch'in's Teaching of Ch'an Kung-an Practice." 88. As has been suggested by Ishii Shudo; see Ishii, Sodai zenshu, p. 331.

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89. See Ishii Shudö, "Daie Soko to sono deshitachi (roku)," Indogaku bukkyögaku kenkyü 23.1 (1974): 336-339. 90. See Schlutter, "The Twelfth Century Ts'ao-tung Tradition," pp. 157-148 ([6]-[15]). 91. Ta-hui p'u-shuo 5.443b-c; cited in Ishii, "Daie Sökö to sono deshitachi (roku)," p. 338; see also Ishii, Södai zenshü, p. 331. 92. He came to be regarded a dharma heir of Ta-hui; see P'u-teng lu, HTC 137.163a-b. 93. See P'u-teng lu, HTC 137.163c; cited in Takeda, "Daie no mokushözen hihan to Sötözen," p. 245. 94. Ta-hui yü-lu, T 47.867a21-29; see also p. 868b26-29. For a fuller discussion, see Schlütter, "The Twelfth Century Ts'ao-tung Tradition," pp. 154-153. 95. See, for example, T 47.884c-886a, 890a-892c, 901c, 923a, 933c, and 937a-b. 96. Ta-hui p'u-shuo 5.428bl9-c3; cited in Satö, "Wanshi bannen," p. 235. 97. Hung-chih and Ta-hui visited Ta-hui's teacher Yiian-wu K'o-ch'in in short succession in 1128, and K'o-ch'in in that year recommended the alreadyfamous Hung-chih to an abbacy. See Schlütter, "The Twelfth Century Ts'ao-tung Tradition," p. 142. 98. See Ta-hui P'u-chüeh Ch'an-shih nien-p'u (Chronological biography of Ch'an master Ta-hui P'u-chüeh), Dainihon kötei daizökyö (Shukusatsu zökyö), 8.8a-9a; see also the annotated and translated edition in Ishii Shüdö "Daie Fukaku Zenji nempu no kenkyü (chü)," Komazawa daigaku bukkyögakubu kenkyü kiyö 38 (1980): 133-139. Professor Ishii's edition of Ta-hui's chronological biography is based on a Sung edition and is therefore preferable. 99. Based on the dates of their prefaces. It seems likely that the works were published, or at least circulating in manuscript form, shortly after the prefaces were written. See the prefaces to Hung-chih's collections in T 48.18b; in the Sung edition in Ishii Shüdö, ed. Wanshi roku, p. 1 (not included in the Taishö edition); and in T 48.1a. The preface to Ta-yang Ching-hsüan's recorded sayings is found in Chang Shou's (1084-1145), P'i-ling chi, 10.7b-8a (SKCS), 1127.784b785a. For the prefaces to Ch'ing-liao's works, see Chen-chou Ch'ang-lu Liao hoshang Chieh-wai lu, HTC 124.300b; and Li Kang (1083-1140), Liang-hsi ch'üanchi, 137.1 la-12a (SKCS), 1126.571b-572a. 100. See the Liang-hsi chuan-chi 137.1 lb-12a; cited in Ishii Shüdö, "Daie Sökö to sono deshitachi (hachi)," p. 258. 101. Ta-hui yü-lu, T 47.925a-926c; Araki, Daie sho, pp. 82-98. 102. See Schlütter, "The Twelfth Century Ts'ao-tung Tradition." 103. In all of Ta-hui's sayings and writings I have found only one mention of Silent Illumination in a setting where there is no indication of lay people being present, although there might well have been. This is in a sermon from Chingshan, where Ta-hui was the abbot from 1 1 3 8 t o l l 4 1 , i n which Ta-hui says that although he does not agree with Silent Illumination, wall facing (meditation) is still necessary. See Ta-hui yü-lu, T 47.828bl6-18. 104. See Schlütter, "Vinaya Monasteries, Public Abbacies, and State Control of Buddhism." 105. Ibid. 106. See Valerie Hansen, Changing the Gods in Medieval China, 1127-1276

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(Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1990), pp. 80-81. This was the time of Wang An-shih's (1021-1086) radical reforms. 107. See the Sung law compendium the Ch'ing-yüan t'iao-fa shih-lei (Taipei: Hsin-wen feng ch'u-pan-she, 1976), fascicle 50, "Examination in the Canon and Ordination" section, pp. 467d-472a. See also Chikusa, Chügoku bukkyö shakaishi, pp. 27-36. 108. See Fo-tsu li-tai t'ung-tsai, T 49.680a. Cited in Ku Chi-ch'en, Sung-taifochiao shih-kao (Ch'en-chou: Chung-chou ku-chi ch'u-pan-she, 1993), p. 323. 109. See Michel Strickmann, "The Longest Taoist Scripture," History of Religions 17.3-4 (1978): 331-351; and Tsukamoto Zenryü, Chügoku kindai bukkyöshi no shomondai, Tsukamoto Zenryü chosaku shü, vol. 5 (Tokyo: Daitö shuppansha, 1975), pp. 81-92. 110. See Tsukamoto, Chügoku kindai bukkyöshi, p. 91. 111. See the Chien-yen i-lai ch'ao-yeh tsa-chi, section 1, 16.7b; cited in Jacques Gernet, Buddhism in Chinese Society: An Economic History from the Fifth to the Tenth Centuries (New York: Columbia University Press, 1995), p. 141. 112. See Chikusa Masaaki, Chügoku bukkyö shakaishi kenkyü (Kyoto: Dohosha, 1982), p. 42. 113. As argued in Robert P. Hymes, Statesmen and Gentlemen: The Elite of Fu-chou, Chiang-hsi, in Northern and Southern Sung (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986), see especially pp. 200-208. 114. See Hymes, Statesmen and Gentlemen, pp. 210-212. 115. See the Ch'an-lin pao-hsün, T 48.1033b. 116. Tso-ch'an i, HTC 111.460c-461a. See the discussion of this work in Bielefeldt, Dögen's Manuals, pp. 55-77. Ch'ang-lu Tsung-tse is known to have written several other works for lay people. 117. This expression is used in Hsieh, "A Study of the Evolution of K'an-hua Chan," p. 191.

Chapter

5

Images of Women in Ch'an Buddhist Literature of the Sung Period DING-HWA E . HSIEH

and creativity of Buddhism in the Sung is amply documented by other chapters in this volume. That vitality is predominantly attributed to men, who dominated the Buddhist arena, created new schools of thought, and composed the massive body of Sung Buddhist literature. Nevertheless, this period witnessed an increasing participation of women in religious activities. As the presence of women gradually became reflected in the literary record, it also brought changes to Sung Buddhist discourse. Competition among various Buddhist schools may also have caused some male authors to feel compelled to draw more support from women either by including women's spiritual achievements in their writings or by addressing religious issues that concerned female audiences. The present chapter examines the images of women that emerged in Ch'an literature—the genealogical histories (teng-lu), public case (kung-an) anthologies, discourse records (yu-lu), and miscellaneous writings—as Ch'an came to establish itself as one of the most prominent Buddhist schools in Sung China. I will discuss the images of women and their roles in relation to Ch'an doctrine and practice. In addition to shifting scholarly attention to the overlooked records of women in Ch'an Buddhism, I also seek to explore how Ch'an writers of the Sung employed the images of women within Ch'an rhetoric in order to distinguish Ch'an from other Buddhist traditions as well as to understand in what ways and to what extent the images of women presented in Ch'an Buddhist literature marked a departure from the dominant Confucian norms of womanhood. T H E VITALITY

The view that women had a limited spiritual capacity was deeply entrenched in both the Buddhist and the Confucian traditions. As many scholars have noted, traditional Buddhism held that a woman's body was a major hindrance to her spiritual perfection. It prevented

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her not only from becoming a Buddha but from becoming a universal monarch (râja-cakravartin), a éâkra-god, a Brahmâ-god, or a Màra as well.1 In a number of early Buddhist texts, moreover, women were portrayed as evil temptresses who seduce monks to commit sexual acts.2 The Five Confucian Classics, as Richard Guisso has shown, likewise abound in negative assumptions about women: women are by nature unclean and polluting, jealous and irrational; a woman's beauty is a snare for unwary men, the cause of moral decay and disorder in society.3 Such negative attitudes toward women supported the subjection of women to male control and reinforced the idea that a woman could never serve as a spiritual model for a man. By making the Mahâyàna claim that every person—male or female—possessed the Buddha-mind a central part of its rhetoric, Ch'an committed itself to a position from which such negative images of women could be opposed. An examination of the images of women in Sung Ch'an literature, then, sheds light on the way in which Ch'an male writers attempted to reconcile the tension between the pervasive negative attitudes toward women's spiritual capacity and the Ch'an doctrine of "seeing one's nature and realizing Buddhahood" (chien-hsing ch'eng-fo). While examining new evidence of women in the Sung, one must also keep in mind that the images and roles of women portrayed in Ch'an literature reveal more about men's perceptions of women than they do about women's experiences as seen from their own point of view. It is equally important to recognize that the men who wrote about women in Ch'an were not simply responding to women's religious needs; they were also using these images of women to illuminate Ch'an doctrine and advance the claims of Ch'an vis-à-vis other Buddhist traditions. Yet even though these records do not provide a complete or faithful picture of women's religious experience during the Sung, they still provide valuable evidence of the participation of women in Ch'an.

Types of Women in Ch'an Literature Female lay patronage played a significant role in maintaining the Ch'an Buddhist community and its activities, as is evident in some Sung Ch'an masters' discourse records. Indeed, many of the public sermons by Ch'an monks were requested or sponsored by laywomen.4 A close examination of Ch'an texts, however, indicates that

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spiritual achievements, not financial contributions, were the primary criteria for women to be given biographical entries or to receive complimentary remarks in Ch'an literature. These noted female figures can be further classified into two groups: female Ch'an practitioners—some listed as dharma heirs in the Ch'an lineage and some not—and female participants in Ch'an "encounter dialogues" (chiyiXan wen-ta), that is, women who are represented as engaging in verbal exchanges with monks in the terse, spontaneous, and nondiscursive style of Ch'an discourse. Hence, although the motivation behind the inclusion of women's records in Ch'an texts may reflect the importance of female patronage, the fact that women were praised mainly for their religious accomplishments suggests that Ch'an authors were concerned with more than issues of patronage. A small number of female dharma heirs are found in Sung genealogical histories that record various master-disciple lineages of the Ch'an school. The majority of these female dharma heirs were nuns. In addition, there were some—called tao-jen (people of the Way)— whose religious lifestyle was in between the laity and the clergy. Although these female tao-jen were fully dedicated to Ch'an practice, they remained outside the monastic order. At the same time they seemed to be less bound by the norms of household life and are often depicted as traveling freely to study with various renowned Ch'an masters. 5 Some of the female tao-jen later became fully ordained nuns. There were undoubtedly many upper-class laywomen who devoted themselves to Ch'an practice at home, but only Madame Ch'in-kuo, a follower of Ta-hui Tsung-kao (1089-1163), was given a biographical record of her own, being recognized by Sung Ch'an historians as a dharma heir in the Yang-ch'i branch of the Lin-chi lineage. Some nuns or female tao-jen not listed as Ch'an dharma heirs were mentioned in Sung Ch'an works as well. These women were regarded as exemplary because of their religious aspirations and spiritual progress. They were depicted as sincere practitioners of the Ch'an path and were admired for their tenacity in Ch'an practice and their understanding of the dharma. Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of Ch'an literature of the Sung is the frequent appearance of a group of lower-class old women (p'o-tzu, lao-p'o, or lao t'ai-p'o). Unlike those female practitioners who were historically verifiable figures, these women often seem to be mythical in origin. That is, in many cases they are probably literary creations. These old women of obscure backgrounds play an influential role in many monks' religious experiences; they often ap-

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pear on the scene to deliver a pointed lesson or to display their insight in response to a monk's question. As I shall show, all the typical traits of these old women of low social status are found in the biography of one Sung female tao-jen, Yii Tao-p'o.

From Ambivalence to Positive Recognition Women's participation in the Ch'an movement is recorded in the early Ch'an histories. According to the Record of Successive Generations of the Dharma Treasure (Li-tai fa-pao chi, compiled in 780), shortly before Bodhidharma, the semilegendary founder of the Chinese Ch'an school in the first half of the sixth century, returned to India, he announced that there were three disciples who had obtained his dharma: the nun Tsung-ch'ih (dates unknown) was said to have obtained his "flesh," the monk Hui-k'o (487-593) was said to have obtained his "marrow," and the monk Tao-yu (dates unknown) was said to have obtained his "bone."6 A slightly later text, the Paolin Record (Pao-lin chuan, 801), added a fourth monk, Tao-fu (464524), who was said to have obtained Bodhidharma's "blood."7 As recounted in the Patriarchs Hall Collection (Tsu-t'ang chi; K. Chodang chip, compiled in 952), Bodhidharma is said to have summoned his three chief disciples and asked them each what they had learned. The nun Tsung-ch'ih's answer that "[the truth] is like one delightful glimpse of the land of the Aksobhya Buddha" was recognized by Bodhidharma as only receiving his "flesh," and she was therefore ranked as the last of the three. 8 Finally, in Tao-yuan's Ching-te Record of the Transmission of the Flame (Ching-te ch'uanteng lu, compiled in 1004), the first Sung Ch'an genealogical history, a fourth monk, Tao-fu, was once more included; he was listed as the last of the four chief disciples of Bodhidharma because his understanding of the teaching was recognized by the master as merely receiving his "skin"—rather than his "flesh," "bone," or "marrow."9 Thus, while there were no doctrinal barriers to women's full participation in Ch'an Buddhism, accounts of women preserved in the early Ch'an texts still reflect an ambiguous view of their spiritual capacities and achievements. Although the nun Tsung-ch'ih was never excluded from the Ch'an historical texts and was consistently listed as one of Bodhidharma's chief disciples, she was ranked third in her understanding of the dharma. Moreover, it was the monk Hui-k'o who received the master's robe and transmission of mind and was recognized as the second patriarch of Ch'an. Some stories included in Tao-yuan's Ching-te Record reveal an

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antipathy toward women who joined the monastic order. A dialogue between the T'ang (618-907) monk Yu-chou T'an-k'ung (dates unknown) and an unnamed n u n who aspired to give a public sermon is a good example: The master said, "You, nun, as a woman, should not preach to the public." The nun said, "The Naga princess attained Buddhahood at the age of eight. So, what do you say about that?" The master said, "The Naga princess could change into eighteen forms. Try to change yourself for me." The nun said, "If I were to change myself, I would be a fox spirit." The master chased her away with blows.10 The story of the eight-year-old Naga princess who attained Buddhahood derives from chapter twelve of the Lotus Sutra.11 In the episode, after presenting a precious pearl to the Buddha, the young Naga princess instantaneously transforms herself into a man, whereupon she attains Buddhahood and begins to preach the dharma to all beings in the ten directions. For the n u n who wanted to give a public sermon, the significance of the story of the Naga princess no doubt lay in its message that every sentient being, male or female, can attain Buddhahood. For the monk, however, it meant that the female body represented an imperfection that must be overcome— in other words, that a woman must transform herself into a man before she can become a Buddha. In any case, the outcome of their encounter favors the monk and reaffirms the status quo of monks' authority over nuns. Another story offering a slight twist on this theme is found in the Ching-te Record: A group of nuns asked [the T'ang Ch'an master Lung-t'an Ch'ung-hsin], "How can we become monks?" The master said, "You must have been nuns for a long time, right?" The nuns said, "Still, is there any chance for us to be monks?" The master said, "What are you now?" The nuns said, "We are in the form of nuns. How can you not recognize us?" The master said, "Who would recognize you?"12 However we construe the masters position in this dialogue, the nuns seem to hold a low opinion of themselves and are therefore anxious to become monks. Here it is the nuns who are portrayed as having

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internalized the inferior image of women reflected in Buddhist attitudes about their poor spiritual prospects and institutionalized in their subordinate status. As Alan Sponberg has pointed out, attitudes toward women and the feminine in Buddhist literature are often inconsistent, sometimes even within a single Buddhist text.13 Thus, while including several negative portraits of women, the Ching-te Record also contains representations of some enlightened T'ang nuns, such as Mo-shan Liao-jan (dates unknown) and Shih-chi (dates unknown). Their images are positive, and they are presented as getting the better of their male counterparts. The nun Mo-shan Liao-jan, listed as a dharma heir of the late-T'ang Ch'an master Kao-an Ta-yii (dates unknown), is the only woman in the Ching-te Record accorded a biographical record of her own.14 Her record has an encouraging message for female Ch'an followers: women of advanced spiritual attainments can hold positions of respect and authority. Throughout her encounter with the monk Kuan-hsi Chih-hsien (d. 895), a disciple of Lin-chi I-hsiian (d. 866), Mo-shan retains the upper hand. When Chih-hsien asks her why she does not change her female body into a male one, Mo-shan simply replies: "[I am] not a deity or a ghost. What should I change?" Her response to Kuan-hsi's question not only wins Kuan-hsi's approval but also makes him willing to serve as a gardener in her nunnery for three years.15 The nun Shih-chi, who appears in the record of the T'ang Ch'an monk Chu-chih (dates unknown), is likewise an enlightened woman, even though she is not listed as a formal Ch'an successor. She is said to have engaged the monk Chu-chih in a Ch'an "encounter dialogue." When Chu-chih was residing in a small hermitage, Shih-chi came in without taking off her bamboo hat. Then, carrying her staff with her, she walked around his meditation seat three times, saying: "If you can say a word [that shows your understanding of Ch'an], I will remove my hat." When Chu-chih failed her test, the nun refused his invitation to stay there for the night and departed. Chii-chih was left feeling ashamed of himself: "Although I am in the form of a man (chang-fu), I lack a man's spirit." Having been bested by a woman, he decided to start on a journey to seek enlightened Ch'an masters to deepen his understanding of Ch'an.16 The nun Shih-chi's words and deeds thus provided a direct challenge to the monk Chiichih's assumption of male superiority, and she is portrayed as playing a decisive role in Chix-chih's mental resolution to undergo further Ch'an training. The two Ch'an genealogical histories compiled after the Ching-te

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Record—the T'ien-sheng Extensive Record of the Flame (T'ien-sheng kuang-teng lu) and the Chien-chung Ching-kuo Supplementary Record of the Flame (Chien-chung Ching-kuo hsil-teng lu)—failed to include any women as lineage members. 17 The T'ien-sheng Extensive Record was compiled in 1036 by Li Tsun-hsii (d. 1038), a son-in-law of the emperor and a lay disciple in the Lin-chi line, and the Chien-chung Supplementary Record was compiled in 1101 by the Yiin-men Ch'an monk Wei-po (dates unknown). The near invisibility of women— particularly nuns—in these two Ch'an genealogical histories may reflect the revival of Confucianism during this period. Led by conservatives like Ssu-ma Kuang (1019-1086) and Cheng I (1033-1107), this movements increasing emphasis on women's domestic roles and responsibilities may have influenced these two Ch'an historians' views of women's position in society.18 Moreover, the religious climate during the reigns of Emperor Jen-tsung (r. 1023-1063) and Emperor Hui-tsung (r. 1101-1125) was not friendly to Buddhism. In 1033 Emperor Jen-tsung issued an edict prohibiting any further construction of Buddhist and Taoist monasteries and temples, a gesture indicating both his decision to control the swelling size of the religious clergy and his nonsupportive attitude toward religious activities.19 Emperor Hui-tsung is well known in Chinese history for his pro-Taoist position; during his reign, he patronized the printing of the Taoist canon, converted Buddhist monasteries into Taoist temples, and urged Buddhist clergy to become Taoists.20 The exclusion of women from these two Ch'an texts may thus reflect the broader historical reality that, at times when the monastic institution felt itself under threat, it tended to close ranks in order to preserve its interests, which were predominantly those of the male clergy. As Ch'an became more secure institutionally, however, it could afford to take a more liberal attitude toward women. The portrayals of female Ch'an practitioners thus became more positive in the later Sung Ch'an texts. As Ch'ans legitimacy became firmly established in later Sung times, it had more room to develop its own discourse. Records of prominent female practitioners could then be used to demonstrate the efficacy and accessibility of the Ch'an path. The increasing participation of women in Ch'an Buddhism—as generous patrons, devout practitioners, and accomplished nuns—may also have contributed to the positive image of women in Ch'an writings. To fulfill this female audience's demands, male writers had to devote more space to accounts addressing the needs of female Ch'an Buddhists. The story of the eight-year-old Naga princess appeared frequently

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in this literature. Its message, however, was ambivalent, and it could be interpreted to mean that a woman must abandon her female sex in order to attain Buddhahood. But this story could also be interpreted to mean that every sentient being could attain enlightenment instantaneously within this lifetime and so became increasingly cited as an example by male Chan masters to encourage their female students. 21 The story about the goddess who manifested herself in Vimalakirti's house was also cited widely among Sung Ch'an Buddhists.22 In this episode, the goddess engages Sariputra in a vivid exchange, in which she demonstrates the superiority of her understanding over that of this disciple of the Buddha reputed as the foremost of the wise. When Sariputra finally asks her why, if she is so enlightened, she does not transform herself out of her female form, the goddess magically transforms Sariputra into a woman and herself into a man. This story is more radical than that of the Naga princess; the goddess not only ridicules Sariputra for his attachment to sexual discrimination but also demonstrates that no transformation from female to male is needed to attain Buddhahood. Records that exalted women's religious achievements were also added to Ch'an literature. Of the Sung Ch'an genealogical histories, the Outline of the Linked Flames (Lien-teng hui-yao) compiled in 1183 by Wu-ming (dates unknown) of the Yang-ch'i branch of the Lin-chi lineage was the first to contain biographical entries of female contemporaries and to call the nuns "Ch'an masters" (ch'an-shih). Following the Outline of the Linked Flames, the Chia-t'ai Universal Record of the Flame (Chia-t'ai p'u-teng lu), compiled in 1204 by the Yiin-men monk Cheng-shou (1146-1208), included more women in the Ch'an master-disciple lineages; altogether fifteen women are listed among the one thousand Ch'an dharma heirs from Bodhidharma to Sung contemporaries. Interestingly, in the Chia-t'ai Universal Record, the monks are still titled "Ch'an masters," but the nuns are now called "great masters" (ta-shih). Cheng-shou might have purposefully made such a distinction in an attempt to show that only monks were regarded as the genuine transmitters of the Ch'an school. Despite this distinction, he did realize that there was a need to take into account women's religious experiences so as to "illuminate Ch'an in a universal way." One of the motives behind Cheng-shou's compilation of this work was expressly that the author of the Chien-chung Supplementary Record merely included monks' achievements and neglected those of nun masters. According to the biographical account written by a lay disciple named Huang Ju-lin and included as a preface to the Chia-t'ai Universal Record:

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[Cheng-shou] studied under Yiieh-t'ang Tao-ch'ang (1089-1171). . . . One day [Yiieh-t'ang] pointed to the Supplementary Record (Chien-chung hsu-teng) and sighed: "The Way of the Buddhas and patriarchs has penetrated thoroughly and spread widely among monastic and lay people. But this work merely includes monks, leaving royal members, literati, common people, and nun masters (ni-shih) entirely unrecorded. Although this record is called 'supplementary/ how can it fail to illuminate Chan in a universal way? Why don't you write a complete work to make up for what it lacks by selecting those who have also obtained the essential teachings of the Ch'an school?" This, then, is how the work of the "universal record" was started. 23 About fifty years later, in 1252, the Collated Essentials of the Five Flame [Records] (Wu-teng hui-yiXan) was compiled by P'u-chi (11791253) of the Yang-ch'i branch of the Lin-chi lineage. This text continued to glorify women's spiritual development by adding more stories of enlightened women. The Collated Essentials of the Five Flame [Records], moreover, restored the title of "Ch'an master" to all the nuns cited as dharma heirs. Among the two thousand biographical entries from the ancient Buddhas and patriarchs down to the Sung practitioners that P'u-chi included, sixteen are about female Ch'an dharma heirs and five about anonymous old women. The inclusion of women was not confined to Ch'an genealogical histories but appeared in other Ch'an literary genres as well. The Southern Sung period (1127-1279) thus witnessed an increase in the number of women's records appearing in Ch'an literature. And if the records of Mo-shan and Shih-chi still give the impression that their eminence was based primarily on their encounters with Ch'an monks and their effect on them, later female Ch'an practitioners' biographies demonstrate their religious capacities, aspirations, and accomplishments in their own right and for their own worth.

Biographical Accounts of Sung Female Ch'an Dharma Heirs Approximately fourteen female Sung contemporaries were listed as Ch'an dharma heirs and given biographical accounts in the genealogical histories that were compiled or written during the Sung. Of these fourteen female heirs, nine were nuns. Among these Sung Ch'an nuns, the nun Wen-chao, dharma heir of the Yiin-men Ch'an master Kan-lu Chung-hsiian (dates unknown).

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was said to have contributed greatly to the spread of the Ch'an nuns' order in the lower Yangtze region of Wu-chung during the end of the Northern Sung period. A native of Wen-ling (Ch'tian-chou, Fukien), Wen-chao came from a family surnamed Tung. She decided to become a Buddhist nun at the age of seventeen. Later she studied under Kan-lu Chung-hsiian and achieved final realization. The emperor bestowed a purple robe on her. Wen-chao changed the place where she resided five times, and each time she converted it from a private one to a public one specifically associated with the Ch'an lineage.24 Mainly owing to Wen-chao's efforts, a great number of Ch'an nunneries (ni-ch'a ch'an-lin) began to emerge in the Wuchung area. 25 The nun Fo-t'ung, probably a contemporary of Wen-chao, was a dharma heir of the Ts'ao-tung Ch'an master Shih-men Yiian-i (10531137). She was well known for her depth of understanding of the Lotus Sutra and her ability to teach. Many people turned to her for inspiration and guidance. As her record says: "People, both lay and ordained, followed her like a shadow; many persons received teachings from her."26 Most of the Sung female practitioners included in Ch'an histories were either from literati families or associated with the ruling elite. The nun Hui-kuang, for example, came from a literati family surnamed Fan in Ch'eng-tu. Her uncle was Fan Tsu-yii (1041-1098), a Confucian scholar-official who was known as the author of the Mirror of the T'ang (T'ang-chien). Dharma heir of the Ts'ao-tung master K'u-mu Fa-chen (1071-1128), Hui-kuang was particularly renowned for her erudition and eloquence in debate. Emperor Huitsung was very impressed by her learning and bestowed a dharma robe on her. In 1121, she was appointed by the emperor as the abbess of the Miao-hui Nunnery in Lo-yang.27 Chih-t'ung (d. 1124) was the daughter of a Fu-chou scholarofficial named Fan Hsiin (dates unknown). She was intelligent and quick-witted from childhood. She was wed to Su T'i, the grandson of the prime minister Su Sung (1020-1101), but she soon tired of secular life and returned to her natal family in order to obtain her parents' permission to cut off her hair. Although her wish to be ordained was rejected by her father, she practiced Ch'an at home. After both her parents died, she traveled around the country studying Ch'an with many renowned masters. Later, having heard of the Lin-chi Huang-lung master Ssu-hsin Wu-hsin's (1043-1114) fame, she went to study under him and achieved enlightenment. The depth

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of her understanding of the dharma won the recognition and respect of her male counterparts. Master Ling-yuan Wei-ch'ing (d. 1117) gave her the name Tao-jen K'ung-shih, by which she became widely known in Ch'an circles. Yuan-wu K'o-ch'in (1063-1135) and Fo-yen Ch'ing-yiian (1067-1120) both had high regard for her. Chih-t'ung eventually joined the Ch'an monastic order and became formally ordained as a nun under the Buddhist name Wei-chiu. She lived in the Hsi-chu ssu at Ku-su (Kiangsu), where people flocked to visit her. She died in 1124, two years before the fall of the Northern Sung.28 One of the most notable Ch'an women in the Sung was the nun Miao-tao, whose life is discussed in detail in Chapter 6 by Miriam Levering. She was not only the first dharma heir of Ta-hui, the most renowned Lin-chi Ch'an master of the Sung period, but also the first of Ta-hui's disciples to attain enlightenment under him. 29 The nun Miao-tsung (1095-1170), also known as Tao-jen Wu-chu, was another disciple of Ta-hui. A granddaughter of the prime minister Su Sung, she married a scholar-official named Hsu Shou-yuan (dates unknown). In her thirties, however, she lost interest in worldly affairs and began to devote herself to spiritual pursuits. After studying under many Ch'an masters, she met Ta-hui and achieved enlightenment under his instruction. In 1162, she received ordination and formally became a Buddhist nun. From 1163 to her death in 1170, she was the abbess of the Tzu-shou Nunnery in P'ing-chiang prefecture (Su-chou in Kiangsu) and preached the dharma to the public. 30 Chih-t'ung was Miao-tsung's older sister-in-law, and her devotion to Ch'an may have inspired Miao-tsung's decision to pursue a full-time religious career. In addition to nuns, there were also some female tao-jen who were honored for their religious devotion and spiritual progress. One such example was Chueh-an, who was listed as a dharma heir of the Lin-chi master Ytian-wu. Chueh-an, surnamed Tsu, was a niece of an investigating censor (ch'a-yiian). While still young she made up her mind not to marry and took great pleasure in practicing Ch'an. One day, on hearing the master Yuan-wu's public preaching, she achieved enlightenment. 31 As already mentioned, Madame Ch'in-kuo (née Chi), also known as Fa-chen, was the only laywoman of the Sung to earn a biographical entry in Ch'an genealogical histories. Her son was Chang Chiin (1097-1164), a pacification commissioner who led the Sung armies to fight against the Jurchen (Chin) invasion. Widowed early, Madame

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Ch'in-kuo abandoned all forms of luxury and often abstained from meat. She learned from a disciple of Ta-hui named Tao-ch'ien (dates unknown) that Ta-hui regarded the practice of hua-t'ou (the critical phrase of a kung-an) as the most effective means to achieve enlightenment. She therefore immersed herself in hua-t'ou investigation day and night. One day, she attained a sudden breakthrough and realized her intrinsically enlightened mind. 32 The inclusion of these upper-class women in the Ch'an lineage no doubt facilitated Ch'an s growing acceptance within Sung female elite circles. By including these female practitioners, Ch'an writers seemed to suggest that Ch'an could provide women not only an alternative to domesticity but also a context in which they could pursue their religious interest and develop their literary talents or philosophical insights. A few female practitioners, it is said, wrote works on Ch'an teachings or had their own discourse records. Unfortunately, none of these works are extant today. Chih-t'ung was said to have written the Illuminating the Mind Record (Ming-hsin lu). Yiianwu wrote a preface to this work, and Ling-yuan Wei-ch'ing and Foyen Ch'ing-yiian each composed a Buddhist verse for its publication —an indication that they acknowledged her literary talent and Ch'an understanding. 33 Tao-jen Ming-shih, also known as Pen-ming, a dharma heir of Yiian-wu, was said to have written three Buddhist verses in 1140 to the Ch'an master Ts'ao-t'ang Shan-ch'ing (10571142) shortly before her death. After Ming-shih died, Ts'ao-t'ang wrote a colophon to her verses and published them together. Ta-hui greatly admired the lofty moral ideas in Ming-shih's verses and cited her verses in instructing his students. 34 The nun Miao-tsung was well known for her mastery of the Taoist texts. She also excelled at using poetry as a vehicle to express her understanding of Ch'an doctrine. Her poetry seems to have circulated widely even in secular literati circles.35 In addition, she is said to have left a discourse record that contained her explanations of and commentaries on kung-an.36 From their records, moreover, one gets the impression that the nun masters were treated on a par with their male counterparts. Like the abbots of the Ch'an monasteries, nun masters conducted the ceremonies of "ascending the [dharma] hall" (shang-t'ang)—taking the high seat, giving sermons, and answering the questions from the assembly.37 The positive image of Sung Ch'an nuns was further reflected in their interactions with both clerical and secular people, who treated them not as second-class clergy but as comparable to

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male masters. Nuns like Wen-chao and Hui-kuang were imperially appointed abbesses of public nunneries; they received purple robes and honorary titles. Many eminent nuns were importuned by local officials to preach to the public. Some had close connections with powerful literati,38 while others apparently had no interest in pursuing worldly fame and lived in seclusion.39 The eminence of these Chan nuns must have attracted many female students, though little is said about this in the Ch'an texts. Nonetheless, it is known that the nun Hui-wen, a formal successor of the Lin-chi master Fo-yen Ch'ing-yuan, had a female disciple named Fa-teng, who was also listed as a dharma heir in the Ch'an lineage. Occasionally, some of the nun masters' accounts mention nun disciples. The portraits of these unnamed nuns are much more positive than in earlier Ch'an texts; they are no longer portrayed as objects of ridicule by monks but as serious religious women eagerly seeking instructions from their masters. 40 Perhaps the most interesting point is the one mentioned in the record of Tao-jen Wu-chi (d. 1177), a female follower of Ta-hui, which says that the nun Miao-tsung was her tonsure master when she joined the monastic order.41 This incidental statement raises the more interesting historical question of whether nuns by themselves were able to take charge of the ordination of the female disciples. Although this role had traditionally included male clergy, there are some indications that it might have been restricted to nun ordination masters during the Northern Sung. In 972, Emperor T'ai-tsu (r. 960-976) ordered that from then on women who were qualified should be ordained at the ordination platforms of the nunneries, based on the rationale of maintaining the segregation of the sexes. The emperor furthermore ordered that the ordination ceremonies be conducted by fully ordained Buddhist nun masters. 42 Although this rule was loosely practiced in later Sung times, it was still incorporated into legal codes such as Classified Laws [Compiled] in the Ch'ing-yuan Era [1195-1200] (Ch'ing-yuan t'iao-fa shih-lei).43 In any case, the fact that nuns were entitled to ordain female disciples, as decreed by the Sung imperial court, surely offered them further opportunities to manage their own monastic affairs and establish their authority in the Buddhist community. The accounts of these scholar-officials' mothers, wives, and daughters thus focus mainly on their religious and intellectual pursuits, holding up for emulation their tenacious search for the Way and their remarkable literary achievements. Much information,

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moreover, is given about their contacts with the general public. In the cases of Chih-t'ung and Miao-tsung, their renunciation reflects a radical break with normal household life. Most interestingly, in both of these women's records there is a conspicuous silence about the responses from their husbands or parents-in-law to their renunciation. These records of Ch'an women diverged completely from the Confucian family values and ideals of womanhood. Nevertheless, because these women only made up a tiny percentage of the Ch'an community and also because they came from upper-class families, Ch'an writers could safely appeal to them as Ch'an exemplars without being accused of posing a serious challenge to the Confucian social order on a large scale and at the grass-roots level.

Female Chang-fu Represented in Ch'an Discourse As Miriam Levering has noted, the masculine term "chang-fu" or "ta-chang-fu," which literally means a manly man or a great hero, is frequently used in Sung Ch'an monks' discourse records to praise someone for his or her great courage and strong determination in the pursuit of spiritual perfection. The term "chang-fu" became widely applied to female Ch'an practitioners in Ch'an circles in the late Northern Sung and continued to be used throughout the Southern Sung period. However, as Levering argues, behind Ch'an male masters' use of this gender-based term for female students lay a tension between a "rhetoric of equality" and a "rhetoric of heroism." In other words, while recognizing that women and men are equally capable of achieving Buddhahood, Ch'an masters nonetheless suggest that the qualities necessary for enlightenment are by nature masculine and that only a very few extraordinary women can therefore expect to accomplish this goal.44 Such ambivalence toward female practitioners is illustrated in Sung Ch'an monks' praise for their female contemporaries. On the one hand, they acknowledged women's spiritual capacities and achievements, and many of them indeed took great pleasure in having devout female companions on the Ch'an path. On the other hand, their appreciation of these female practitioners was seldom at the expense of male primacy. A female practitioner of great courage and strong resolution was no doubt called a chang-fu, but she was called so only when compared to other female practitioners. Ta-hui, for example, praised a female practitioner, Tao-jen Huanchu, for her spiritual perfection, saying: "You are really a true chang-

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fu among women."45 To another, Tao-jen Miao-yiian, Ta-hui said: "Although you are a woman, your will [to achieve enlightenment] is no less than that of the girl who already attained Buddhahood [i.e., the Naga princess]."46 In his praise of Tao-jen Miao-chieh, the Ts'aotung Chan monk Hsii-t'ang Chih-yu (fl. 1269) said: "Judging from your extraordinary virtue and deeds, you are no doubt a chang-fu among women." 47 The Lin-chi monk Shui-an Shih-i's (1101-1176) praise of Miaotao may best represent the view generally held by many Sung Ch'an male masters toward their female counterparts. In commending Miao-tao for her spiritual capacity and achievement, Shui-an remarked: "You can certainly say about this matter [of realizing enlightenment] that it has no male or female form. Lots of strapping men (chang-fu-han) search fruitlessly for their own heads in the assembly for five or ten years. Although she is a woman, she acts like a man (chang-fu). She is superior to any number of worthless abbots (tu-chuan chang-lao)."w The thrust of Shui-ans statement plays to the presumption that the distinction between men and women in the phenomenal world implies a hierarchy of superiority and inferiority. Hence it is a matter of astonishment when a woman attains the ultimate goal of the Ch'an path and a great shame when a man fails to. In other words, only very few exceptional women who have the strong will and great energy of a nun like Miao-tao can surpass men in their spiritual attainment. Shui-an thus uses the challenge to male superiority posed by Miao-tao's remarkable achievement to spur monks on to greater effort in their practice. It is, however, also interesting to note that female Ch'an practitioners themselves tended to disregard the gender implication of the term "chang-fu," taking it simply as high praise for anyone, male or female, who has remarkable courage and will in the religious quest. The case of the nun Miao-tsung, another outstanding disciple of Ta-hui, illustrates how female Ch'an practitioners perceived themselves and how they used the term "chang-fu." When Miao-tsung made up her mind to seek a spiritual goal, she was questioned by a certain Ch'an master: "Why do you, a delicate lady of the inner quarters, participate in this 'great man's business' (ta-chang-fu shih)?" Miao-tsung, however, rebuked him: "Have the Buddhist teachings ever made a distinction between man and woman, who are identical in their characteristics?" 49 Once, in her public preaching, Miao-tsung furthermore declared: "There are innumerable persons in the vast universe. Yet, how many men are qualified to be termed as chang-fu?!"50

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Like the goddess who manifests herself in Vimalaklrti's house, Miao-tsung is depicted as wholeheartedly embracing the Mahayana doctrine of emptiness and never considering her sex a hindrance to enlightenment. To Miao-tsung, moreover, the term "chang-fu" was a neutral noun, an attribute that transcends gender distinctions. It is, and should be, used in the same way as the terms "Buddha" and "bodhisattva." As long as a person is devoted to Ch'an practice with great energy and resolution, he or she is a chang-fu, a bodhisattva, or a Buddha. The use of the term "chang-fu" by Miao-tsung indicates that although women of the Sung period might have refrained from challenging sexist language, they were creative in appropriating terms that had strong masculine implications to reaffirm Ch'an Buddhism's emphasis on the spiritual equality of the sexes. A few passages gleaned from the large corpus of Sung Ch'an literature further illustrate that some of these Sung female practitioners were self-confident, outspoken, and uncompromising. Most important, the voices attributed to women in these men's writings indicate that intelligence, righteousness, and loyalty were not characteristics represented as being monopolized by men. For example, we are told that when Chih-t'ung (the nun Wei-chiu) was in Chin-ling (the present Nan-ching, Kiangsu) during the Cheng-ho period (11111118), she built a public bath. On the door to the entrance, she wrote: Nothing exists, so what are you bathing? If there is even the slightest bit of dust, where does it come from? Say one profound sentence, then you can enter the bath. The ancient spirits can only scrub your back; How could I, the founder, illuminate your mind? If you want to attain the state that is free from dirt, You should [first] let all parts of your body sweat [i.e., to make effort]. It is said that the water can wash off dust, Yet how can [people] understand that the water is also dust? Even though you suddenly wipe out [the distinction between] water and dirt, You must still wash it off thoroughly when you come here.51

Chih-t'ung's verse is a straightforward admonition aimed at cutting through dualistic ways of thinking. It emphasizes the importance of mind-cultivation. To enter the gate of Ch'an, one must make a strenuous effort to purify one's mind, not merely one's body; and true purity, as Chih-t'ung further points out, is the capacity to transcend discriminatory views. The nun Tsu-ch'in of Ku-su (Kiangsu) was a follower of the Ch'an

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master Huo-an Shih-t'i (1108-1179) in the Yang-ch'i branch of the Lin-chi lineage. Her biography provides another example of a female chang-fu represented as having a lofty mind and an upright character.52 Though a Buddhist nun, Tsu-ch'in unabashedly expresses her distaste for the prevalent corruption in official circles and her loyalty to the emperor. When a corrupt official asked her to write a Buddhist verse, Tsu-ch'in wrote the following lines: Day in and out, as an official you do not understand what it means to be an official; Year in and out, you have often been deceived by clerks. Dismiss the clerks, then what it means to be an official will naturally be made clear; Turn the Dipper around, then you will [assume the position of authority] facing south.53

Tsu-ch'in was invited by many of the local elite to give up her reclusive life, but she was not swayed by secular fame and remained in seclusion. She died in Li's nunnery near the Feng Bridge at Ku-su. Surely the person represented as being the most outspoken and unconventional woman of her time was the nun Miao-tsung, as revealed in the anecdote about her encounter with the monk Wan-an Tao-yen (1094-1164) found in the Eulogies of the Five Houses in the Orthodox Lineage (Wu-chia cheng-tsung tsan) written in 1254 by Shao-t'an (fl. 1249-1269) of the Yang-ch'i branch of the Lin-chi lineage. It presents a vivid impression of her bold language and unconventional behavior and, most significantly, shows how she raised the sensitive issue of sexuality and employed her physical body to confront a monk who had ambivalent feelings toward her. At the time of the incident, the monk Tao-yen was chief seat (shou-tso) in Ta-hui's monastery. Miao-tsung, then known as Tao-jen Wu-chu, had not yet joined the monastic order but was staying in the abbots quarters, for which Tao-yen often criticized her. Although Ta-hui tried to convince Tao-yen not to look down on her, saying that "she, though a woman, has many outstanding merits," Tao-yen refused to give up his disapproval. Urged by Ta-hui, however, Tao-yen finally agreed to go to see Wu-chu, as a result of which the following dialogue supposedly ensued: Wu-chu asked: "Chief seat, do you want us to meet in a Buddhist way or in a secular manner?" Tao-yen said: "In a Buddhist way." Wu-chu said: "Let me first dismiss the attendants." She then invited the master [Tao-yen] into her inner chamber.

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As the master stood in front of a curtain, he found Wu-chu lying on the bed naked. The master pointed to her [private parts] and asked: "What is this place leading to?" Wu-chu said: "The Buddhas of the three worlds, the patriarchs of the six generations, and the venerable monks in the world all have come out of here." The master said: "Yet, do you allow me to enter?" Wu-chu said: "This place does not let asses cross but lets horses cross." The master had nothing to say. Wu-chu said: "I have already met you, chief seat." She then turned her back on him and faced the wall. The master withdrew feeling ashamed of himself.54 In this encounter, Wu-chu seems to be aware of Tao-yen's suspicions of an illicit relationship between her and Ta-hui as well as the conflicted nature of his own suppressed sexual feelings. By presenting herself naked before Tao-yen, she directly confronted his innermost thoughts so as to help him transcend them. Such a theme would not have been new for Chinese readers; as Chun-fang Yii has noted, certain stories of Kuan-yin and the case of Vasumitra, one of Sudhana's spiritual guides in the Gandhavyiiha, deal with women who use their bodies to help men overcome their sexual desire and thus lead them to salvation.55 What differentiates Wu-chu from such precedents is that instead of further offering her body to satisfy the monk Tao-yen's desire, she challenges his religious attainment and forces him to acknowledge the nature of his attachment. Although Wu-chu s frustration with Tao-yen's attitude may have prompted her to resort to such an extreme measure, she creatively manipulated the potentially disadvantageous situation to make her point: the real problem lies in Tao-yen's projections and not her behavior. Thus, in the end, Tao-yen withdraws in shame. The case of Miao-tsung and other examples of female chang-fu indicate that women had to be extremely tough and resilient in order to be accepted as formal members of the Ch'an lineage. Only exceptional female Ch'an practitioners could be considered equal to male masters. These records also seem to reflect women's own self-perceptions. Not only did they perceive themselves as spiritual equals to men, but they also took pride in themselves as women. One interesting point is the image of woman as mother evoked by Wu-chu in her confrontation with the monk Tao-yen. For monks committed to

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a life of celibacy, the type of woman that was the least threatening and most worthy of veneration was woman as mother. In the encounter above, Miao-tsung shifts Tao-yen's attention away from the sexual meaning of her genitals toward their function in giving birth. By reminding Tao-yen of the fact that he owes his existence to a woman who has the same reproductive organs as she, Wu-chu thus tries to transform his desire for her as a sexual object into an attitude of veneration accorded to motherhood. The image and role of the lower-class old woman that emerged in Ch'an literature of the Sung may be related to Chan monkauthors' regard for women as mothers. But the significance of these humble old women lies in their "spiritual" as opposed to "physical" motherhood.56 Because they are aged, moreover, their sexuality is no longer seen as a potential threat to individual monks' spiritual growth; in most cases, they play a helpful role in the monks' pursuits of enlightenment.

Humble Old Women in Ch'an "Encounter Dialogues" The image of old women in early Indian Buddhism was often associated with impermanence and decay. Stories of old women preserved in Buddhist literature mainly focused on their experience of the misery of old age. These old women, though spiritually enlightened, were weak and lonely.57 Old age for women was thus regarded as the pitiful end of life. It appears that even old women themselves thought this way. The Therigatha, a collection of seventy-three poems of Buddhist women belonging to the earliest strata of Buddhist literature, included some aged nuns' poems. Although they wrote to celebrate their attainment of arhatship, and one of them even expressed her pride in having the physical strength to overcome the height of Vulture Peak, their poetry on the whole conveys a sense of self-pity and sorrow for the coming of old age and for the physical decline and death that accompany it.58 Some of the many Buddhist texts introduced into China recorded the encounters between Sakyamuni Buddha and old women. A text titled Scripture of an Old Woman (Lao nii-jen ching) deals with a poor old woman who went to ask the Buddha questions concerning birth, old age, illness, and death. On hearing the Buddha's explanation, the old woman was greatly enlightened and rejoiced. When Ananda, the Buddha's faithful attendant, asked the Buddha why this old woman was endowed with such great wisdom that she could

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realize the Way immediately after hearing the Buddha's words, the Buddha answered that the old woman was actually his mother, the royal queen, in his previous lifetime. Her love for her son had been so great that she would not let him become a monk, and because of this past karma, she was reborn as a poor woman. At the end of the text, readers are told, the old woman attained final liberation from the round of rebirth. 59 The Great Perfection of Wisdom Treatise (Ta-chih-tu lun) relates another story about an old female benefactress. When Sakyamuni Buddha, accompanied by Ananda, traveled to a city of Brahmans, he wanted to test the inhabitants' belief in Buddhism. They went to the city to beg for alms from door to door, but no one donated anything to them. As they left the city with their begging bowls empty, an old maid came out from a house to dump food left uneaten. Seeing these two monks begging for food, the old maid gave them what she had, apologizing to the Buddha for it being such a poor meal. Moved by her deep faith and sincere sympathy, the Buddha smiled and emitted a five-color light, which illuminated heaven and earth. 60 Ch'an Buddhist texts of the Sung contain many anecdotes of formidable old women of humble background. Unlike the old women portrayed in early Indian Buddhist texts, these old women are not just spiritually enlightened but also physically energetic. Moreover, they are depicted as spiritual guides rather than material benefactresses. The images and roles of these humble old women may have been derived from those of mythical female figures appearing in earlier Mahayana sutras or in Chinese Buddhist monks' hagiographies. 61 The image of the Queen Mother of the West (Hsi Wang-mu) as an old woman in Taoist literature may also have served as a prototype of old women in Ch'an.62 As Suzanne Cahill has noted: "One strong tradition depicts the Queen Mother herself as a white-haired crone. . . . Herself immeasurably old and yet possessed of great dignity and authority, childless and yet the mother of all, the Queen Mother brought respect to the position of the old woman." 63 As symbols or literary creations, however, the lower-class old women in Ch'an discourse function more to illuminate Ch'an doctrine than to reflect social realities. By honoring the spirituality of the lower-class old women, Ch'an masters of the Sung emphasized the message that enlightenment has nothing to do with erudition or status; rather, it is simply a realization of the intrinsically enlightened mind that is possessed by everyone and that can even be found

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in the words and deeds of common old women with no intellectual or social pretenses at all. In their encounters with Ch'an monks, moreover, these women are always depicted as being in the dominant position. The typical image of lower-class old women as being weak and expendable is given a dramatic reversal in these stories. Thus the stories themselves can also be seen as an expedient means intended to challenge the reader to overturn his or her discriminatory preconceptions. Two old women of the T'ang period are specifically mentioned in the Ching-te Record. One is Old Woman Postulant Ling (Ling Hsingp'o). Lacking an independent biography of her own, her account is appended to the record of Monk Fu-pei (dates unknown). Both her understanding of Ch'an and the intelligence she displays in repartee with Ch'an monks are striking. 64 The other is an anonymous old woman who meets three monks on their way to Mount Ching (Hangchou, Chekiang). During her encounter with the three monks, she challenges their faith in their inherent Buddha-nature, causing them to be tremendously ill at ease. 65 In Ch'an genealogical histories, the T'ang master Chao-chou Ts'ung-shen (778-897) is often depicted as having verbal exchanges with old women. One story about the encounter between Chao-chou and a nameless old woman became a popular kung-an among Sung Ch'an Buddhists. The kung-an in which "Chao-chou investigated an old woman" (Chao-chou k'anp'o) was included in Wu-men Hui-k'ai's (1183-1260) Gateless Barrier (Wu-men kuan). It reads as follows: Chao-chou was told by a monk [of his encounter with an old woman]: The monk asked the old woman: "What is the way to Mount T'ai?"66 The old woman said: "Go straight on." As the monk went just three or five steps, the old woman said: "What a good monk, who [nonetheless] goes the same way, too!" Later another monk again mentioned this to Chao-chou. Chaochou said: "Let me go and investigate this old woman for you." The next day he went and asked the same question. The old woman also made the same reply. After he returned, Chao-chou told the assembly: "I have thoroughly investigated the old woman of Mount T'ai for you."67 This story had already appeared in the pre-Sung Ch'an text the Patriarchs Hall Collection and was subsequently included in the Ching-te Records Mount Wu-t'ai, the dwelling place of ManjusrI

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Bodhisattva, was a major pilgrimage site. According to Ch'an doctrine, however, there is no way to attain enlightenment aside from seeing into one's own Buddha-mind. When the monks on pilgrimage ask the old woman for directions, she simply says: "Go straight on." She thus seems to be trying to tell the monks that the ultimate destination of their pilgrimage is to be found within rather than on Mount Wu-t'ai.69 Chao-chou simply reports to the assembly that he has thoroughly investigated the old woman, while refraining from making any comment on her degree of enlightenment. 70 An investigation of Sung Ch'an texts shows an increasing tendency to celebrate the words and deeds of old women of low status; more stories regarding humble old women were incorporated into Ch'an genealogical histories. The Collated Essentials of the Five Flame [Records], for example, includes five anecdotes of anonymous old women in the section on "those whose lineages were unclear" (weihsiang fa-ssu).71 A common motif in these stories is that the women often ridicule monks they encounter for holding discriminatory views, and in the end the monks are either embarrassed or forced to recognize the superior insight of these old crones. Gender, as both a cultural construct and a discriminatory perception, functions well in these stories as a metaphor for conceptual thinking. 72 That is, if one cannot transcend gender concepts, one is still attached to forms and hence far away from the realm of enlightenment. One story is about a humble old woman who had an encounter with a monk of misogynist bias: In the past, there was a monk who went to study under [Ch'an monk] Mi-hu (dates unknown; a disciple of Kuei-shan Ling-yu [771-853]). On his way, he met an old woman who lived in a nunnery. The monk asked: "Do you have any relatives?" She said: "Yes." The monk asked: "Where are they?" She said: "All the plants and trees of mountains, rivers, and the great earth are my relatives." The monk said: "Old woman, don't try to be my master (fem. shih-ku), all right?" She said: "Monk, what do you think I am?" The monk said: "A vulgar person." The old woman said: "You cannot be a monk." The monk said: "Old woman, don't misunderstand and degrade the dharma."

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The old woman said: "I did not misunderstand and degrade the dharma." The monk said: "How come what you have said is not misunderstanding and degrading the dharma?" The old woman said: "You are a man and I am a woman. How could I misunderstand and degrade the dharma?"73 The old woman here is represented as being so spiritually advanced that she transcends ordinary distinctions and embraces everything on earth indiscriminately. The monk, in contrast, is still attached to discriminatory judgments and shows his contempt by questioning how a humble old woman could presume to teach a man like himself. The woman's final response indicates that she is not unaware of the distinctions between the monk as a male and herself as a female, but that such a distinction is no longer an issue when one reaches enlightenment. Therefore, it is the monk, not she, who should be blamed for the degradation of the dharma, because he fails to understand that spiritual liberation entails the transcendence of all discrimination based on gender, age, and class. Another story deals with an old woman who had been providing offerings to a head monk of a cloister for twenty years. One day, she told a young girl to hug the head monk and ask him: "How do you feel at this moment?" [After the girl did so,] the head monk said: "Dry wood is leaning on a cold rock; for three winters it has had no warmth." The girl told the old woman his reply. The old woman said: "For twenty years I have made offerings to a vulgar (su) man." She then drove him out and burned down the cloister.74 The old woman in this story had long been the pious patron of the head monk, and her offerings were his chief livelihood. Realizing that the head monk did not have any real insight into Ch'an, she immediately cut off her support for him, driving him out and burning down his cloister. The monk seems to have been excessively proud of himself because he, like dry wood, was able to resist sexual temptation and maintain his ascetic celibacy—in short, his self-righteousness betrays his attachment to his own sense of purity. In the view of this old woman, however, he is but a common person (su) who doesn't even deserve the name monk, because he is still caught in his own discriminatory attachments. These stories of humble old women, therefore, function pedagogically to inspire Ch'an practitioners to cultivate a nondiscrimi-

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natory mind and to reinforce the Ch'an notion that enlightenment is manifested in the course of everyday activities. The appearance of these humble and yet spiritually advanced female figures in Ch'an encounter dialogues helps to illuminate the need to renounce all kinds of dualistic thought in the pursuit of religious attainment. The positive image of women such stories convey highlights the point that the Ch'an approach to enlightenment involves nothing more than the direct insight into one's inherent Buddha-mind. Ch'an masters probably also used these stories to inspire their male students to make greater efforts in their practice: if a lower-class old woman could attain the highest goal of the Ch'an path, why could they not do so as well? Thus just as some remarkable female practitioners' challenge to the presumption of male superiority was used to spur on monks in their Ch'an training, so stories about the unexpected defeat of monks in their encounter with nameless old women were probably also intended to produce the same effect.75

The Term "Lao-p'o" and the Biography of Yii Tao-p'o One of the most interesting features in the use of gender-loaded terms in Sung Ch'an literature is that male masters who are noted for their efforts to enlighten their students are referred to as "old women" or "grandmothers." Huang-po Hsi-yiin (d. 850), for example, is known for the fact that he has "the earnest mind of an old woman" (lao-p'o hsin-ch'ieh)—or "grandmotherly kindness" in Ruth Fuller Sasaki's translation of the Record of Lin-chi (Lin-chi lu). Lin-chi arrived at Ta-yii's temple. Ta-yii said: "Where have you come from?" "I have come from Huang-po's place," replied Lin-chi. "What did Huang-po have to say?" asked Ta-yii. "Three times I asked him just what the cardinal principle of the Buddha-dharma was and three times he hit me. I don't know whether I was at fault or not." "Huang-po is such a grandmother (lao-p'o) that he utterly exhausted himself with your troubles!" said Ta-yti. "And now you come here asking whether you were at fault or not!" At these words Lin-chi attained great enlightenment. "Ah, there isn't so much to Huang-po's Buddha-dharma!" he cried.... Lin-chi left Ta-yii and returned to Huang-po. Huang-po saw him coming and said: "What a fellow! Coming and going, coming and going—when will it end!"

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"It's all due to your grandmotherly kindness (lao-p'o hsinch'ieh)," Lin-chi said, and then presented the customary gift and stood waiting.76 The term "old woman" (lao-p'o) in Ch'an texts is often used to praise Ch'an masters' compassionate and unselfish efforts at universal salvation. To cite another example, Yuan-wu says in his Blue Cliff Record (Pi-yen lu) that the Ytin-men Ch'an master Hsiieh-tou Ch'ung-hsien (980-1052) has "the earnest mind of an old woman" and so eagerly helps people annihilate their conceptual ways of thinking. 77 Terms like "old woman's Ch'an" (lao-p'o ch'an)ls and "an old woman's phrase" (p'o-p'o chih chti)79 suggest a Ch'an master's great patience, kindness, and enthusiasm in catalyzing students' awakening. The "old woman" in Ch'an Buddhism thus serves as a metaphor for compassion, patience, and kindness. It is worth noting that although the term "old woman" can be found in a pre-Sung Ch'an text such as the Patriarchs Hall Collection,80 it became more popular in Ch'an circles during the Sung period. The use of the image of old women as a metaphor for the compassion and kindness of Ch'an masters may also reflect Sung Ch'an monks' self-perception. That is, in addition to their nurturing role as teachers, Ch'an monks may have seen themselves—at least compared to their Confucian male counterparts—as powerless and marginal. Yet their description of themselves as "humble old women" was used positively to express their renunciation of worldly prestige and power.81 By applying the compassionate image of humble old women to themselves, Ch'an monks claimed that their worldly renunciation was not an irresponsible withdrawal from social duty but a compassionate attempt to direct people toward enlightenment. They thereby implied that cultivation of the Ch'an path was superior to the Confucian pursuit of learning. Indeed, many stories about the encounters between old women and monks can be read as a code for the confrontation between Ch'an monks (whose efforts were aimed at genuine spiritual liberation) and Confucian scholar-officials (whose efforts were aimed at textual mastery). The story of an old woman who appears during the course of the T'ang monk Te-shan Hsuan-chien's (782-865) search for enlightenment is a good example. Te-shan was originally a lecturer on the Diamond Sutra in western Shu (Szechwan), but later through his encounter with an old woman he became a disciple of Ch'an master Lung-t'an Ch'ung-hsin and achieved enlightenment under the latter s instruction.

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When he [Te-shan] first arrived in Li-chou [in Hunan], on his way he met an old woman selling fried cakes. He put down his commentaries [on the Diamond Sutra] to buy some refreshments (tien-hsin) to eat. The old woman said: "What are you carrying?" Te-shan said: "Commentaries on the Diamond Sutra." The old woman said: "I have a question. If you can answer it, I will give you some fried cakes as refreshment. If you cannot answer it, go to some other place to make your purchase." Te-shan said: "Just ask." The old woman said: "The Diamond Sutra says: 'The mind of the past cannot be grasped; the mind of the present cannot be grasped; and the mind of the future cannot be grasped.' Which mind (hsin) do you, as a superior lecturer, select (tien)?" Te-shan had no answer. The old woman then directed him to study [Ch'an] under Lung-t'an. 82 Neither the Patriarchs Hall Collection nor the Ching-te Record contain any record of this encounter. 83 The story therefore might have emerged during the latter half of the Northern Sung period. The old woman here appears much more spiritually advanced than Te-shan. The latter, who has long been a famous lecturer on the Diamond Sutra, cannot even begin to answer this woman's question and is humiliated by a poor old woman who lives by selling fried cakes. This old woman, moreover, plays a significant role in Te-shan's search for enlightenment. Not only does she enable Te-shan to realize the futility of his intellectual understanding of the Buddhist scriptures, but she also instructs him to study with Lung-t'an so that he can attain final realization. Whereas the nameless old women mentioned above were probably literary creations, an old woman from Chin-ling (present Nanking) known as Yu Tao-p'o seems to have been a real historical person (although the various encounters depicted in her biography may have had more to do with literary embellishment than historical fact). Said to be a Ch'an practitioner active during the end of the Northern Sung, Yti was probably a contemporary of Hsiao-ying (fl. 1131-1162), who wrote a biography for her in his Anecdotes Recorded at Lake Lo (Lo-hu yeh-lu, 1141 ).84 But it was not until the compilation of Chia-t'ai Universal Record in 1204 that Yu was listed as a formal successor of Lang-yeh Yung-ch'i (dates unknown) in the Yang-ch'i branch of the Lin-chi lineage. 85 A native of Chin-ling, Yii Tao-p'o sold fried food for a living. She often went together with other people to study Ch'an under Langyeh, a dharma heir of Pai-ytin Shou-tuan (1025-1072). Lang-yeh in-

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structed her with Lin-chi's teaching of "true person of no rank" (wuwei chen-jen).s6 One day, when she heard a beggar chanting "Happiness in the Lotus Land," she was suddenly enlightened. She then threw the food tray to the ground. Her husband scolded her, saying: "Are you crazy?" Yti, however, slapped him, saying: "This is not the realm you belong to." She then went to see Lang-yeh, who immediately recognized her spiritual capacity. One day, Lang-yeh asked his audience: "Which one is the 'true person of no rank'?" Yti shouted out: There is a true person of no rank, who has six arms and three heads. When she uses full strength to cut, Mount Hua is split into two. [Her strength is like] the ever-flowing water [lit. ten-thousand-yearold water], which does not care about [the coming of] the spring season.87

From then on, her fame spread. Whenever she saw a monk, she called him "son." If the monk wanted to argue with her, she would immediately shut her door. When the Ch'an master Fo-teng Shou-hsiin (dates unknown; a dharma heir of Fo-chien Hui-ch'in [1059-1117]) went to investigate Yii's degree of enlightenment, she greeted him in the same way. Shou-hsiin asked: "Where is my father?" The old woman turned around and made a bow to a free-standing pillar (lu-chu). Shou-hsiin immediately kicked it over, saying: "I thought that you must have something unique to offer." As he began to leave, Yti said: "You son, come back here. Let me cuddle you." Shou-hsiin, however, did not turn back. 88 Once when the monk An (dates unknown) came to visit Yii, she asked: "Where do you come from?" An said: "Te-shan's place." The old woman said: "Te-shan Fa-t'ai (dates unknown; a dharma heir of Yiian-wu K'o-ch'in) is my son." An asked: "Whose son are you?" Yii said: "Your question really makes me want to pee on you. Don't you dare leave."89 Yii here is depicted as an outspoken and self-confident woman. By calling monks her sons, she explicitly claims her superiority over them. She refuses to cede to Shou-hsun's aggressive gesture, treating him instead as a petulant child. The dialogue between Yii and the monk An can be read as a kung-an. When An tries to show off his lineage, Yii simply says that his master is also her son. An, however, tries to turn the tables on her with an unexpected play on gender, asking her whose son she is. Yii's vulgar rejoinder ("Your question

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really makes me want to pee on you") then provides a jolt that leaves An stymied, and Yii once again ends up having the last word. Yii's biography concludes with a verse she wrote about the T'ang dynasty Ch'an master Ma-tsu Tao-i (709-788): The face of the sun, the face of the moon; Lightning in the empty sky. Although [Ma-tsu] cuts off the tongues of patched-robed monks in the world, [He] apparently can only tell half of the truth.90

Yii praises Ma-tsu for his capacity to use terse and spontaneous language to awaken students—just like the sun, the moon, or lightning, which is so effective and immediate. However, although Ma-tsu can instruct all the monks to hold their tongues and not to give rise to any conceptualization, the truth—the Buddha-mind—still has to be attained through one's self-realization. To Yii, only when one truly realizes the inherent Buddha-mind and has sufficient faith in it can one be said to comprehend the truth. The above verse can also be read as a self-defense of Yii—that is, even though she cannot employ any elegant or abstruse phrases in her encounter with the monks, her lack of literary or intellectual background does not impede her from attaining the Way. The record of Yii Tao-p'o thus synthesizes the images and roles of the old women discussed earlier. In the first place, Yii is a lowerclass old woman selling fried food for a living. Second, her spiritual capacity and achievement are acknowledged. In addition, she compassionately tries to help monks to find the Way of Ch'an. Finally, the most peculiar point of this account is that in the eyes of the male compilers of Ch'an history, Yii s status is higher than her unenlightened husband's; she slaps him and also disdains his ignorance about Ch'an teachings. 91 By presenting Yii Tao-p'o as a Ch'an exemplar, Ch'an writers also imply that those who practice Ch'an are superior to those who do not. I have shown how the stories of humble old women were used to illuminate the Ch'an teachings and to demonstrate the superiority of Ch'an over other textual traditions, including Confucianism. These anecdotes might also serve to make Ch'an more appealing to the female lay elite. Indeed, many leading Ch'an masters of the day seemed to have realized the importance of cultivating close contacts with women who were either court ladies or had sons holding high positions in the Sung government; not only would these women's

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generous donations help maintain Chan Buddhist activities, but their devout practice of Chan might also have exerted some influence on their Confucian-official sons' policy making toward Buddhism. The vivid, and sometimes vulgar, exchanges between the lower-class old women and monks would then appear attractive and amusing to this female audience, because they demonstrated the equal access to the highest goal of the Ch'an path and, at the same time, also vicariously acted out fantasies of rebellion on the part of these women of the inner quarters who were always told to behave themselves and be subservient to men.

Conclusion Despite the evidence of increased recognition of women in Sung Ch'an literature, there is no doubt that men continued to maintain their dominance. The number of women found in Sung Ch'an literature is in no way comparable to the number of men. Nor is it proportional to the percentage of nuns within the monastic order as a whole. Whereas a survey in 1221 indicated that slightly over 13 percent of the monastic population were women, 92 the Ch'an genealogical history with the greatest number of biographical entries for w o m e n , the Collated Essentials of the Five Flame [Records],

compiled

in 1252, yields a ratio of one woman to every hundred men. These female figures, though outstanding, thus remain a disproportionately small minority that could never be seen to pose a serious threat to the hegemony of monks. The fact that the Ch'an notion of mindto-mind transmission was a predominately patriarchal succession is further reflected in the Ch'an lineage depicted in Sung genealogical histories. Even though some women were listed as dharma heirs in the Ch'an lineage and several of them were recognized as ch'an-shih, only one nun was listed as having a female disciple to inherit her transmission of the dharma. Some anecdotes, moreover, show that women had to overcome much resistance in order to be accepted as formal members of the Ch'an gate. And while admiring some women for their spiritual capacities and achievements, Ch'an masters used these extraordinary female chang-fu to inspire their male fellows to achieve enlightenment. Similarly, the humble old women's role is limited to challenging monks' depth of enlightenment and inducing them to deepen their religious insight. They are not dharma transmitters, and most of them have no connection with a Ch'an lineage. The Ch'an texts never

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mention an old woman who is capable of bringing new aspirants to full enlightenment without the intercession of a male Ch'an master. As literary creations, moreover, their presence in Ch'an discourse is mainly used to illustrate the Ch'an teaching of nonconceptualization and to affirm the Ch'an doctrine of sudden enlightenment. Still, the premium put on religious effort and spiritual attainment made it difficult for Ch'an writers during the Sung to ignore the achievements of exemplary women—especially nuns. As many Buddhist scholars have pointed out, nuns' status in general suffered a decline, while laywomen, mainly owing to their generous financial support and the prevailing societal call for women to stay at home, were honored in Buddhist literature. Nancy Auer Falk, in her discussion of the decline of the nuns' position in ancient Indian Buddhist history, has noted that "the nuns' troubles were compounded by an ambivalent image created in a tradition of Buddhist stories that sometimes praised their achievements but just as often undercut and attacked them." 93 Diana Paul notes that "nuns appear rarely in Mahayana sutras, more rarely than women lay disciples."94 The marginal status of nuns in Chinese Buddhist literature is shown by the paucity of sources dedicated to them. The first and only work in traditional China that centered exclusively on Buddhist monastic women was the Biographies of Nuns (Pi-ch'iu-ni chuan), compiled by the monk Pao-ch'ang in 516—a collection of the biographies of sixty-five nuns who were active during the period from the early fourth century to the early sixth century.95 In this context, Ch'an texts of the Sung period should be credited for giving nuns greater prominence. Not only do these texts mention nuns more frequently than laywomen, but the number of nun heirs recorded (although very small) also continued to increase over the course of the Sung. The trend begun in Sung Ch'an literature to recognize outstanding nuns continued afterwards, when social circumstances became increasingly hostile toward monastic women. In the Ch'an genealogical histories of the Ming period (1368-1644), some Sung nuns who were previously not recognized as formal Ch'an heirs were added to Ch'an master-disciple lineages.96 Furthermore, a nun named Tao-shen, who had not been mentioned in any of the Sung Ch'an works, was now listed as an heir of the Ts'ao-tung master Fujung Tao-k'ai (1043-1118) and was said to have two male heirs.97 The Ch'an genealogical records of the Ch'ing period (1644-1911) included even more nun masters' biographical accounts; altogether some thirty-three nuns were added to Ch'an genealogical histories

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in post-Sung times, and their lineage can be traced to the thirtyseventh generation of Nan-yiieh Huai-jang (677-744).98 Ch'an Buddhism of the Sung also played a pivotal role in popularizing a positive image of the humble old women. The numerous stories of old women in Sung Ch'an literature portray these physically weak and socially marginal females as spiritually helpful and morally instructive figures. In most cases, moreover, the old women are depicted as highly advanced religious figures, whose understanding of Ch'an and whose spiritual achievements are considered equal or even superior to those of Ch'an monks. Furthermore, the terms "lao-p'o," "p'o-tzu," and "lao t'ai-p'o" are used in Ch'an discourse to refer to compassion, unselfishness, and kindness. Since the Sung period, one who ardently tries to help people out of perplexity or delusion by providing detailed guidance or advice has been called "an old woman" or "grandmother." Interestingly, the examples used in modern dictionaries to illustrate the compassionate image of old women are all drawn from the Ch'an texts of the Sung period." Although Chan's reverence for the lower-class old women was never translated into social reality, these stories enriched the portraits of humble old women in Chinese popular literature. Chun-fang Yii has noted that "the characterization of Kuan-yin as being old and poor began after the Sung, and she was called Kuan-yin Lao-mu (Kuan-yin as Old Woman or Old Mother) from the Ming on."100 The circulation of the stories of humble old women in Ch'an may have contributed to the creation of such a feminine image of Kuan-yin on the popular level in post-Sung China. The images of women presented in Ch'an works become particularly significant when viewed in the larger context of Sung culture. All the records of women who left home to search for Ch'an truth emerged at a time when moral issues came to occupy a central place in Sung Confucian discourse, and women's position, as a part of the Confucian moral order, became increasingly restricted to the household domain. A great number of biographical accounts of women's lives were written by Chu Hsi (1130-1200) and his followers—the so-called Tao-hsueh scholars—to promulgate domestic and submissive images of women. For these men, a good Confucian woman was to fulfill her familial duties, and her greatest accomplishment was to assist male family members to achieve the Confucian Way. Women had no role to play outside the Confucian family system. They could never aspire to succeed to the orthodox succession of the Way. The learning of the Way and the attainment of Confucian

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sagehood were exclusively reserved for men; no woman was ever listed as an heir in the Tao-hsueh lineage. In regard to women and Buddhism, Confucian men generally held no opposition to women's pious deeds so long as a woman's practice of Buddhism did not prevent her from fulfilling the Confucian roles and duties. Sometimes Buddhist devotions were particularly admired if they enabled a woman to lead a simple, moral way of life. In funerary inscriptions, widowed women were frequently exalted for drawing on Buddhism to endure the hardships of widowhood and to resist remarriage. 101 Although women in the home were often admired by Confucian men for their practice and study of Buddhism, women who renounced household lives to join the monastic order were usually viewed as subversive and disruptive. Bettine Birge has pointed out that Chu Hsi was vehemently opposed to women becoming nuns. During his appointment as assistant magistrate of T'ung-an in Fukien (1154-1157), he prohibited women from becoming nuns. Later, while serving as prefect of Chang-chou in Fukien (1190-1191), he banned nunneries in that area.102 Thus, despite the small percentage of women included in Ch'an literature and the reluctance on the part of men to grant women influential roles in the Ch'an arena, the Ch'an message had real attractions for Sung women, especially among the elite. The records of female Ch'an practitioners give the impression that religious status and authority in the Ch'an tradition are decided not by a person's gender, age, and class, but by the depth of one's enlightenment and the ability to demonstrate one's Ch'an understanding through encounter dialogues. For women of independent minds and religious aspirations, Ch'an offered an alternative to the Confucian norms of gender and sexuality. In sharp contrast to the biographies of women in the Confucian tradition—which exalted women who were endowed with the virtues of fidelity, chastity, and obedience— the women recorded in Ch'an texts appeared outspoken, independent, and assertive. The images of women developed in Sung Ch'an literature may also have been part of a projection of Ch'an monkauthors' identification with women for rejecting Confucian gender roles and pursuing their own religious belief and interests. One may argue that Ch'an's elevation of the religious status of women did not aim at reforming the existing gender hierarchy and that Ch'an's reversal of gender stereotypes was no more than a pedagogical device to illuminate the doctrine of emptiness. Nonetheless,

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it is also important to note that the images of women in Sung Ch'an literature marked a significant evolution in Buddhist discourse; women were not treated as an object of mens desire or fear but rather were held up as figures who could enlighten others. The varied roles of women presented in Ch'an literature and the alternative sex/gender system contained therein also became widespread among the general populace as the Sung progressed. Scholars like Daniel Overmyer and Barend ter Haar have observed that many women assumed active leadership roles in Sung lay Buddhist societies and post-Sung popular religious sects.103 Overmyer has noted that the popular sectarian pao-chuan (precious scrolls) texts that appeared in the early sixteenth century contain many stories of women who rejected domesticity and devoted themselves to religious pursuits.104 Notably, the authors of these pao-chuan were sympathetic toward the situation of a domestic woman in traditional China and showed strong support for women who refused marriage. Viewed in this light, the images of women in Sung Ch'an literature may have provided a source of inspiration for the works composed in late imperial China-—a long-term effect that perhaps goes far beyond Sung Ch'an male writers' intentions.

Notes This chapter was prepared when I was a research fellow and visiting lecturer in the Women's Studies in Religion Program at Harvard Divinity School. I would like to express my gratitude to my colleagues in this program for their encouragement throughout my stay at Harvard. I would also like to thank Peter N. Gregory, Chun-fang Yti, Patricia B. Ebrey, Morten Schlutter, Robert E. Buswell, and Miriam Levering for their instructive comments and thoughtful criticism, which has contributed significantly to my thinking on many of the issues raised in this chapter. Finally, I would like to thank the students in my seminar at Harvard on Women and Buddhism in Traditional Chinese Society for their valuable suggestions on an earlier draft of this chapter. I take full responsibility for any errors that may remain. 1. See Nancy Schuster, "Changing the Female Body: Wise Women and the Bodhisattva Career in Some Maharatnakutasu.tras," The Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 4.1 (1981): 27 (see pp. 58-59, n. 10, for Buddhist sources). 2. See, for example, Nancy Falk, "An Image of Women in Old Buddhist Literature: The Daughters of Mara," in Judith Plaskow and Joan Arnold Romero,

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eds., Women and Religion (Missoula: Scholars Press, 1974), pp. 105-112; see also Diana Y. Paul, Women in Buddhism: Images of the Feminine in the Mahäyäna Tradition, 2d edition (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1985), pp. 3-59, 166-216. 3. See Richard W. Guisso, "Thunder over the Lake: The Five Classics and the Perception of Women in Early China," in Richard W. Guisso and Stanley Johannesen, eds., Women in China: Current Directions in Historical Scholarship (New York: Philo Press, 1981), pp. 47-61. 4. For example, some of the sermons given by the Lin-chi Ch'an master Yüan-wu K'o-ch'in (1063-1135) were sponsored by laywomen; see Yiian-wu Fokuo ch'an-shih yiX-lu (Discourse Record of the Ch'an master Yüan-wu Fo-kuo), T 47.733c, 734b-c, 736a, 737c, 738b, 740a, 762a, 763b, 764b. 5. The term "tao-jen, " as Barend J. ter Haar has noted, was a common Sung term used to refer to lay Buddhist believers who cultivated the Buddhist Way (hsiu-tao) or entered the Buddhist Way (ju-tao); see his discussion of the term in The White Lotus Teachings in Chinese Religious History (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1992), pp. 31-32 and passim. It is interesting to note that although these lay believers who styled themselves as people of the Way "sometimes participated in the restoration of monasteries, and collaborated with monks in specific projects" (p. 31), there is little mention of this point in the records of Ch'an female tao-jen. In many ways, the religious lifestyle of Ch'an female tao-jen as described in Ch'an texts is quite like that of the yogini in Indian Vajrayäna Buddhism; see Rita M. Gross, Buddhism after Patriarchy: A Feminist History, Analysis, and Reconstruction of Buddhism (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1993), p. 87. 6. Li-tai fa-pao chi, T 51.181a5-8. See the more thorough discussion of Bodhidharma's transmission to his various disciples in Chapter 7 by T. Griffith Foulk. 7. See the Pao-lin chuan, compiled by Chih-chü in Chung-kuo fo-chiao ts'ung-shu, Ch'an-tsungpien, vol. 1 (Kiangsi: Ku-chi ch'u-pan-she, 1993), 8.25b. 8. Yanagida Seizan, ed., Sodöshü, Zengaku sösho 4 (Kyoto: Chübun shuppansha, 1984), p. 37a-b. 9. Ching-te ch'uan-teng lu, T 51.219b27-c5. 10. Ching-te ch'uan-teng lu, T 51.294c6-9. Miriam L. Levering has discussed this episode in "The Dragon Girl and the Abbess of Mo-shan: Gender and Status in the Ch'an Buddhist Tradition," The Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 5.1 (1982): 24-27. 11. For Kumärajlva's translation, see T 9.35bl5-c26; see also Leon Hurvitz, trans., Scripture of the Lotus Blossom of the Fine Dharma (New York: Columbia University Press, 1976), p. 201; Paul, Women in Buddhism, pp. 185-190; Schuster, "Changing the Female Body," pp. 42-44; and Levering, "The Dragon Girl and the Abbess of Mo-shan," pp. 22-24. 12. Ching-te ch'uan-teng lu, T 51.313b27-cl. This story had already appeared in the Tsu-t'ang chi (see Yanagida, ed., Sodöshü, p. 96). 13. See Alan Sponberg, "Attitudes toward Women and the Feminine in Early Buddhism," in José Ignacio Cabezón, ed., Buddhism, Sexuality, and Gender (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1992), p. 3. 14. Although the nun Tsung-ch'ih and the nun Ming-wu (an heir in the lineage

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of the fourth patriarch Tao-hsin [580-651]) are listed in the Chan lineage, they do not have any biographical records of their own (see Ching-te ch'uan-teng lu, T 51.224al2). 15. Ching-te ch'uan-teng lu, T 51.288b29-289al3. This record already appears in the Tsu-t'ang chi, which simply states that Kuan-hsi agrees with Moshan's words, saying nothing about his service as a gardener under her (see Yanagida, ed., Sodöshü, p. 383). 16. See Ching-te ch'uan-teng lu, T 51.288a23-b2; see also Tsu-t'ang chi, in Yanagida, ed., Sodöshü, p. 368. 17. In the T'ien-sheng kuang-teng lu, the nun Mo-shan is excluded from the list of heirs and mentioned only in the record of the monk Kuan-hsi (see HTC 135.356cl4-d3). The Chien-chung Ching-kuo hsü-teng-lu mentions almost nothing about women except the nun Tsung-ch'ih (see HTC 136.23M4-15). 18. For Sung Confucian ideas on sexual segregation and gender hierarchy, see the discussion by Patricia Buckley Ebrey in her The Inner Quarters: Marriage and the Lives of Chinese Women in the Sung Period (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993), pp. 23-29. 19. Sungshih 1.195. 20. See Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49. 421al-b8; see also the discussion of Huitsung's attitudes and policies toward Buddhism and Taoism in Peter N. Gregory and Patricia Buckley Ebrey, "The Religious and Historical Landscape," in Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Peter N. Gregory, eds., Religion and Society in T'ang and Sung China (Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 1993), pp. 2-4. 21. For reference to the Näga princess in the teachings of later Sung Ch'an monks, see Yüan-wu K'o-ch'in ch'an-shih hsin-yao, HTC 120.368dl7-369a6; see also Ta-hui P'u-chüeh ch'an-shih yü-lu, T 47.909bl2. 22. This story is derived from the Vimalakirti-nirdesa; for the Chinese version of Kumärjiva, see T 14.547c23-548c27; see also Robert A. F. Thurman, trans., The Holy Teaching of Vimalaklrti (University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1976), pp. 58-63. For a discussion and translation, see Paul, Women in Buddhism, pp. 217-232. For Ch'an works that cite this story, see Lienteng hui-yao, HTC 136.223dl6-224al; and Hsiao-ying, Lo-hu yeh-lu, HTC 142.482al2. 23. Preface to Chia-t'ai p'u-teng lu, HTC 137.1al0-15. 24. According to T. Griffith Foulk, all Ch'an monasteries (ch'an-yüan) in the Sung were classified as public monasteries whose abbacy was open to heirs of all Ch'an branches. In the early Sung vinaya monasteries (lü-yüan) were simply ordinary private cloisters regulated by the vinaya and therefore had no specific affiliation with the Vinaya lineage, though some of them became officially designated monasteries toward the end of the Southern Sung, and their abbots were accordingly chosen from members in the Vinaya lineage. See T. Griffith Foulk, "Myth, Ritual, and Monastic Practice in Sung Ch'an Buddhism," in Ebrey and Gregory, eds., Religion and Society in T'ang and Sung China, pp. 165-166. 25. Chia-t'ai p'u-teng lu, HTC 137.72cl7-d2; see also Wu-teng hui-yüan, HTC 138.321b3-7. 26. Chia-t'ai p'u-teng lu, HTC 137.77dl 1-12; also Wu-teng hui-yüan, HTC 138.273b2-3.

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27. Chia-t'ai p'u-teng lu, HTC 137.77cl 1-12; also Wu-teng hui-yuan, HTC 138.272a4-6. A more detailed account of Hui-kuang is recorded in Yiin-wo chit'an by Hsiao-ying, the author of Lo-hu yeh-lu; see HTC 148.13cl-10. 28. Chia-t'ai p'u-teng lu, HTC 137.83b7-c4; also Wu-teng hui-yuan, HTC 138.347dl2-348al3. For the date of her death and a more detailed account of her life, see Lo-hu yeh-lu, HTC 148.481dl0-482al4. 29. Chia-t'ai p'u-teng lu, HTC 137.136a5-bl6; see also Wu-teng hui-yuan, HTC 138.401a9-b9. 30. See Chia-t'ai p'u-teng lu, HTC 137.136bl7-137a8; also Wu-teng hui-yuan, HTC 138.401bl0-402a2. The biography of Miao-tsung in the Fo-tsu li-tai t'ungtsai (1341), compiled by the Yuan monk Nien-ch'ang (1280-1323), has detailed dates of Miao-tsung's ordination and death (see T 49.700b7-c25). 31. Wu-teng hui-yuan, HTC 138.385cl4-17. 32. Chia-t'ai p'u-teng lu, HTC 137.137a9-17; see also Wu-teng hui-yuan, HTC 138.403bl7-c7. 33. See Chia-t'ai p'u-teng lu, HTC 137.83c3-4. 34. Wu-teng hui-yuan, HTC 138.385cl8-d8. 35. One of her verses was later collected in the Sung-shih chi-shih (Records of Sung Poetry), edited by Li O (1692-1752); see Sung-shih chi-shih (Shanghai: Ku-chi ch'u-pan-she, 1983), 4.2274. The Chia-t'ai p'u-teng lu also included some of her verses; see HTC 137.190a and 203b. 36. See Fo-tsu li-tai t'ung-tsai, T 49.700c20-21. 37. For the duties of the abbacy in the Ch'an monasteries, see Chun-fang Yti, "Ch'an Education in the Sung: Ideals and Procedures," in William Theodore de Bary and John W. Chaffee, eds., Neo-Confucian Education: the Formative Stage (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1989), pp. 77-78; see also Foulk, "Myth, Ritual, and Monastic Practice in Sung Ch'an Buddhism," pp. 177-178. 38. Such as the nun Wen-chao {Chia-t'ai p'u-teng lu, HTC 137.72al7-b2) and the nun Miao-tsung (Wu-teng hui-yuan, HTC 138.401bl0-d7). 39. For example, the nun Fa-hai, a dharma heir of the Yiin-men master Fachen Shou-i (dates unknown), was invited by many Confucian scholars to preach to the public, but she refused all of their requests. See Chia-t'ai p'u-teng lu, HTC 137.73a8-9; also Wu-teng hui-yuan, HTC 138.320d5-7. 40. For example, see the record of Miao-tao in Wu-teng hui-yuan, HTC 138.401b7-9; see also the record of Miao-tsung in Wu-teng hui-yuan, HTC 138.401d14-402a2. 41. Tao-jen Wu-chi was not listed as a formal heir of Ta-hui in Sung Ch'an histories. Daughter of a vice director in the Secretariat (shih-lang) named Chang Yiian-tao (dates unknown) and mother of a notary of the administrative assistant (ch'ien-p'an) surnamed Liang, she probably became involved in Ch'an in her late years, when she joined the monastic life and took the name Huichao. After Miao-tsung died, Hui-chao succeeded to the abbacy in the Tzu-shou Nunnery in Ku-su. For her record, see Yiin-wo chi-t'an, HTC 148.14dl0-15a7. 42. See entry for tao-shih (Taoists and Buddhists) in Sung hui-yao chi-kao (Taipei: Hsin Wen-feng ch'u-pan-she, 1976), 2.1a-b; see also Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.396b4-6. Tsan-ning (919-1001) was opposed to this new rule that prohibited nuns from receiving ordination in a monks' monastery and urged the emperor to restore the old rule; see his Seng shih-liieh, T 54.238c5-8.

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43. It states very clearly that "all nuns are ordained in nunneries and monks are not allowed to intervene." See Ch'ing-yiian t'iao-fa shih-lei (Taipei: Hsinwen-feng ch'u-pan-she, 1976), p. 475. 44. See the discussion by Miriam L. Levering, "Lin-chi (Rinzai) Chan and Gender: The Rhetoric of Equality and the Rhetoric of Heroism," in Cabezon, ed., Buddhism, Sexuality, and Gender, pp. 137-156. 45. Ta-hui ch'an-shih ch'an-tsung tsa-tu, HTC 114.48dl6-17. 46. Ta-huiyii-lu, T 47.909M6-17. 47. Hsu-t'ang ho-shang yii-lu, T47.1059bll. 48. See Tao-jung's Ts'ung-lin sheng-shih, HTC 148.39bl4-16. 49. See the Lin-chi monk T'an-hsius (dates unknown) Jen-t'ien pao-chien, HTC 148.69M6-17. 50. Lien-tenghui-yao, HTC 136.363c7-8; Chia-t'aip'u-tenglu, HTC 137.137a5; also Wu-teng hui-yiian, HTC 138.401dl6. 51. Wu-teng hui-yiian, HTC 138.348a6-ll. 52. Ts'ung-lin sheng-shih, HTC 148.45al2-15. 53. Ts'ung-lin sheng-shih, HTC 148.45al3-14. 54. Wu-chia cheng-tsung tsan, HTC 135.475c5-10. Miao-tao's answer about not letting asses cross but letting horses cross alludes to a well-known kung-an involving Chao-chou found in case 52 of the Pi-yen lu, T 48.187a. The "crossing" in the kung-an refers to Chao-chous stone bridge. 55. See Chun-fang Yii, "Guanyin: The Chinese Transformation of Avolokiteshvara," in Marsha Weidner, ed., Latter Days of the Law: Images of Chinese Buddhism, 850-1850 (Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 1994), pp. 166168. For Vasumitra, see Hua-yen ching, T 10.365a28-366a24, and Thomas Cleary, trans., The Flower Ornament Scripture: A Translation of the Avatamsaka Sutra, vol. 3 (Boston: Shambhala, 1987), pp. 146-149. In addition, the discussion by Elizabeth Wilson about the use of female corpses as objects of contemplation in Post-Ashokan Indian Buddhism is both interesting and insightful; see her "The Female Body as a Source of Horror and Insight in Post-Ashokan Indian Buddhism," in Jane Marie Law, ed., Religious Reflections on the Human Body (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1995), pp. 76-99. 56. For the discussion of "spiritual/physical motherhood," see Clarissa W. Atkinson, The Oldest Vocation: Christian Motherhood in the Middle Ages (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1991). The notion of "spiritual/physical motherhood" is also associated with the notion of female purity/pollution; see the discussion of the images of female deities in P. Steven Sangren, "Female Gender in Chinese Religious Symbols: Kuan Yin, Ma Tsu, and the 'Eternal Mother,'" Signs 9.1 (1983): 4-25. 57. See Susan Murcott, The First Buddhist Women: Translations and Commentaries on the Therigatha (Berkeley: Parallax Press, 1991), pp. 113-116. 58. Ibid., pp. 116-118. 59. Translated by Chih-ch'ien around A.D. 223-253, in T 14.91 Ic23-912bl3. The text has two other translations: one by Gunabhadra (T 14.912b-c) and the other by an unnamed person (T 14.912c-913b). 60. See Ta-chih-tu lun, T 25.115al5-b2. 61. See the discussion by Nancy Schuster for images of women in Mahayana texts such as the Lotus Sutra, the Vimalakirti-nirdesa, the Perfection of Wis-

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dorn in Eight-Thousand Lines, and so forth, in "Striking a Balance: Women and Images of Women in Early Chinese Buddhism," in Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad and Ellison Banks Findly, eds., Women, Religion, and Social Change (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1985), pp. 89-90 and pp. 100-101. As for Chinese Buddhist hagiographies, Hui-chiao's Kao-seng chuan mentions a certain goddess called Old Woman Lü who served as a protectress of the monk Hui-ming when he was practicing meditation (see T 50.400b9). In addition, the appearance of a mythical woman is found in Tao-hsiian's Hsil kao-seng chuan, T 50.553c23-28; see also Tsan-nings Sung kao-seng chuan, T 50.825a21-22, 842cl 1-13.1 am grateful to Professor Robert Buswell for mentioning this point. 62.1 thank Professor Chün-fang Yü for bringing this source to my attention. In her paper "Not Merely Patriarchy: Matriarchal Bodhisattvas and Female Masters in Chinese Buddhism," presented at the Conference on Professor Rita Gross' Buddhism after Patriarchy (April 20-22, 1995), she discusses various sources for the image of Kuan-yin as an old woman—an image that became increasingly popular in late imperial China; for a Taoist source, see pp. 13-14. 63. See Suzanne E. Cahill, Transcendence and Divine Passion: The Queen Mother of the West in Medieval China (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1993), p. 229. 64. Ching-te ch'uan-teng lu, T 51.262cl8-263al3. 65. Ching-te ch'uan-teng lu, T 51.435c28-436a8. Later, in Wu-teng hui-yiian, two of these three monks were identified as P'u-chou Pao-ch'e (dates unknown), a disciple of Ma-tsu Tao-i, and Nan-ch'iian P'u-yüan (748-835) (see HTC 138.50cl8-d7). 66. I.e., Wu-t'ai Mountain, in northern Shansi. 67. See Wu-men kuan, T 48.297a8-13. A translation of and commentary on this kung-an can be found in Köun Yamada, Gateless Gate (Los Angeles: Center Publications, 1979), pp. 163-167. 68. Tsu-t'ang chi, in Yanagida, ed., Sodöshü, p. 336; Ching-te ch'uan-teng lu, T 51.277b4-10. 69. As the modern Japanese Zen master Köun Yamada has suggested, her answer might be interpreted as meaning: "If you want to attain enlightenment, just go straight on, working on Mu" (Gateless Gate, p. 165). "Mu," or "wu" in Chinese, is Chao-chou's famous answer to a monk's question about whether a dog has Buddha-nature, and that exchange became one of the most frequently used kung-an in Ch'an. Although Chao-chou's answer literally means "no," wu also has the broader philosophical connotation of nothingness or nondualism. 70. An even more enigmatic encounter involving Chao-chou and another old woman can be found Wu-teng hui-yüan, HTC 138. 66bl3-14. 71. See Wu-teng hui-yüan, HTC 138.113cl7-dl6. 72.1 am indebted to Jeffrey Richey's discussion of this issue in his paper "Ta chang-fu and Lao-p'o: Twin Tools of Ch'an Deconstructive Technique," written for my course on women and Buddhism in traditional China. 73. Wu-teng hui-yüan, HTC 138.113d3-8. 74. Wu-teng hui-yüan, HTC 138.113c 17-d2. Chün-fang Yü has interpreted this story in her "Not Merely Patriarchy," p. 19. 75. I am grateful to Susan Gershwin, who took my course on women and Buddhism in traditional Chinese society, for mentioning this point.

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76. Ruther Fuller Sasaki, trans., The Recorded Sayings of Ch'an Master Linchi Hui-chao of Chen Prefecture (Kyoto: Institute for Zen Studies, 1975), p. 51 (emphasis mine); for the Chinese original, see Chen-chou Lin-chi Hui-chao ch'an-shih yti-lu, T 47.504cl4-25. 77. Pi-yen lu, T 48.153c2-3. 78. This term was popular in Sung Ch'an circles; see Sung Ch'an masters' discourse records in T 47.503bl4, 565cl5, 610bl3, 652bll, 680bl4, 848a20, 855b27, 873M5-16, 874a2, 937bl5, 949a6, 958bl5; see also T 48.19M6, 233cl, 241c2-3, 264c24, and so on. 79. Tsu-ch'ing, ed., Nien pa-fang chu-yu chi (1257), HTC 119.136c8. 80. Though Lin-chi's record may be the first text in which terms such as "lao-p'o hsin-ch'ieh" and "lao-p'o" appeared, the date of the text, as we have it now, is problematic. For the use of these terms, see T 47.504cl8 and c25. For the use of lao-p'o hsin in the Tsu-t'ang chi, see Yanagida, ed., Sodoshu, pp. 142, 206, and 246; for lao-p'o ch'an, see ibid., p. 366. 81. A similarity also existed in later Medieval Europe; as Caroline W. Bynum has noted, male writers often applied female images to themselves to express a positive assessment of their renunciation of the world. See her " ' . . . And Woman His Humanity': Female Imagery in the Religious Writing of the Later Middle Ages," in Caroline Walker Bynum, Stevan Harrell, and Paula Richman, eds., Gender and Religion: On the Complexity of Symbols (Boston: Beacon Press, 1986), pp. 268-269. 82. Pi-yen lu, T 48.143cl-8; cf. Thomas and J. C. Cleary, trans., The Blue Cliff Record (Boulder: Shambala, 1977), vol. 1, p. 24. 83. See the biography of Te-shan in the Tsu-t'ang chi, in Yanagida, ed., Sodoshu, pp. 108-110; and Ching-te ch'uan-teng lu, T 51.317b-318a; neither text mentions this episode. 84. See Lo-hu yeh-lu, HTC 142.491c5-18. 85. The translation of her biography here is based on Chia-t'ai p'u-teng lu, HTC 137.95cl0-d5; also Wu-teng hui-yuan, HTC 138.376al7-bl2. 86. A term Heinrich Dumoulin explains as meaning a truly enlightened person who is free from any discriminatory views and who has attained a state of great autonomy; see his Zen Buddhism: A History, India and China, trans. James W. Heisig and Paul Knitter (New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1988), pp. 191-197. 87. See HTC 137.95cl4-16 and HTC 138.376b3-5. 88. See HTC 137.95cl7-dl and HTC 138.376b6-9. The Chinese text is ambiguous since there is no object for t'a-tao, translated here as "kicked over." The key to understanding the passage thus depends on the meaning of lu-chu. The thrust of the passage suggests that the object of t'a-tao could not have been Yti Tao-p'o and hence must have been the lu-chu. That the lu-chu was not a part of the architectural structure of the temple (and hence something that Shouhsiin could not have kicked over) is not only suggested by the context; Iriya Yoshitaka points out that although it is not clear precisely what this term meant, it probably referred to a pillar standing outside of a temple building, perhaps in the courtyard in front of, or at the base of the stone steps leading up to, the Dharma Hall or Monks Hall, and that it may have borne some kind of inscription—see Zengo jiten (Kyoto: Shibunkaku shuppan, 1991), p. 484b. Lu-chu

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appears three times in the Lin-chi lu (T 47.500M2, 503c3, and 503c4), where Ruth Fuller Sasaki translates it as "open-air pillar"—see The Record of Lin-chi (Kyoto: Institute for Zen Studies, 1975), p. 43. 89. See HTC 137.95dl^ and HTC 138.376b9-l 1. 90. See HTC 137.95d4-5 and HTC 138.376bll-12. 91. Interestingly, the record of Yü in the earlier work Lo-hu yeh-lu related that when she was scolded by her husband, she "clapped her hands" (fu-chang). But in both Chia-t'ai p'u-teng lu and Wu-teng hui-yüan, her reaction "fu-chang" was changed to "chang" (slap). Also in the Lo-hu yeh-lu, there is no verse appended to the end of Yü s biography. 92. Kenneth Chen, Buddhism in China (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1964), p. 401. 93. Nancy Auer Falk, "The Case of the Vanishing Nuns: The Fruits of Ambivalence in Ancient Indian Buddhism," in Nancy Auer Falk and Rita M. Gross, eds., Unspoken Worlds: Women's Religious Lives in Non-Western Cultures (San Francisco: Harper and Row Publishers, 1980), p. 208. 94. See Paul, Women in Buddhism, p. 79; the chapter on "The Nun" was written by Frances Wilson. 95. In T 50.934a-948a. For translation and discussion of the work, see Kathryn Ann Tsai, Lives of the Nuns (Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 1994); see also her article "The Chinese Buddhist Monastic Order for Women: The First Two Centuries," in Guisso and Johannesen, eds., Women in China, pp. 120; Nancy Schuster, "Striking a Balance," pp. 87-112; and Li Jung-hsi, Pi-ch'iuni chuan (Osaka: Töhökai, Inc., 1981). 96. The nun Chen-ju (see Yün-wo chi-t'an, HTC 148.16dl 1-I7a4) and Taojen Ch'ao-tsung (see Yün-wo chi-t'an, HTC 148.14dl0-15a7) were later listed in the Lin-chi master Ta-hui Tsung-kao's lineage (no biographical records provided); see Hsii ch'uan-teng lu, T 51.685b28 and c24. 97. See Hsü ch'uan-teng lu, T 51. 578c29-579a2. 98. The sources are based on the Wu-teng ch'ilan-shu, HTC 140.1. 99. See Morohashi Tetsuji, Dai kanwa jiten (Tokyo: Daishukan shoten, 19551960), 3.720d (ior p'o-hsin) and 9.152c (for lao-p'o). See also Lu Erh-k'uei, Tz'uyüan (Shanghai: Commercial Press, 1979), 1.756b (for p'o-hsin) and 3.2518b (for lao-p'o). Note that in the Ch'ing P'ei-wen yiXn-fu (1711) (rprt. Taipei: Commercial Press, 1967), textual evidence of the term "lao-p'o" is also cited from the Ch'an texts (see 2.900a). 100. See Yü, "Guanyin: The Chinese Transformation of Avolokiteshvara," p. 168. 101. See Bettine Birge, "Chu Hsi and Women's Education," in Neo-Confucian Education, pp. 357-359; see also Ebrey, The Inner Quarters, pp. 124-128. 102. Quoted from Birge, "Chu Hsi and Women's Education," p. 359. 103. Daniel L. Overmyer, "Women in Chinese Religions: Submission, Struggle, Transcendence," in Koichi Shinohara and Gregory Schopen, eds., From Benares to Beijing: Essays on Buddhism and Chinese Religion in Honour of Prof. Jan Yün-hua (Oakville: Mosaic Press, 1991), pp. 105-109; see also ter Haar, The White Lotus Teachings, pp. 31-43. 104. Overmyer, "Women in Chinese Religions," pp. 108-113.

Chapter 6

Miao-tao and Her Teacher Ta-hui MIRIAM LEVERING

DURING THE SUNG, Chan flourished as never before. Students from Japan and Korea flocked to its monasteries. Monks belonging to Chan lineages headed many of China's most prestigious Buddhist monasteries, and Ch'an practice and literature attracted interest and support from the educated elite. Ch'an monks and their lay supporters created comprehensive genealogical histories of their lineages, and large collections of the words and doings of earlier masters were compiled to aid Ch'an study. Ch'an teachers preached sermons, engaged in dialogue, and composed endless streams of Buddhist verse. After their death, and sometimes during their lifetimes, students gathered together these sermons, dialogues, and verses into discourse records (yil-lu), which circulated widely among literati and Ch'an students alike. Chu Hsi (1130-1200) is even said to have carried Ta-hui Tsung-kao's (1089-1163) discourse record in his satchel on his way to the government examinations. There were a significant number of Buddhist nuns in China during the Sung. A census in 1021 reported 61,240 nuns and 397,615 monks, 1 which would mean that nuns comprised slightly over 13 percent of the monastic community in the early decades of the thirteenth century. Epigraphic and other evidence shows that many of these nuns were from elite families, although there are no statistics on their number. Yet for a long time in the Sung the official Ch'an genealogies show little trace of nuns or laywomen within the ranks of the various Ch'an lineages. There are no "matriarchs" in Ch'an's highly mythologized history from its origins in India down to the Sixth Patriarch in the beginning of the eighth century in China. The first and most influential Sung genealogical history, the Ching-te Record of the Transmission of the Flame (Ching-te ch'uan-teng hi), which was completed in 1004 and presented to the emperor in 1009,

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contains only one full biographical record of an enlightened woman teacher and lineage member, a nun named Mo-shan Liao-jan, who was a contemporary of Lin-chi I-hsiian (d. 866) during the latter part of T'ang dynasty (618-907).2 One woman and 950 men have biographies in this text delineating the Ch'an lineages that were politically and institutionally relevant in the Sung. Thus, at the beginning of the Northern Sung (960-1127), Ch'an represented itself as an almost exclusively masculine preserve. Throughout the Northern Sung a series of Ch'an genealogical histories were written, presented to the emperor, and included in the Buddhist canon. In the Southern Sung (1127-1279) the representation of the reality of men's and women's participation in Ch'an in the official genealogical histories began to change. In 1183 the compiler of the Outline of the Linked Flames (Lien-teng hui-yao) added for the first time the biographies of two Sung women to his imperially sanctioned lineage text. Both were abbesses of nunneries, and both were dharma heirs of Ta-hui Tsung-kao. Their names were recorded as P'ing-chiang fu Tzu-shou ni Miao-tsung ch'an-shih (1095-1170), "the Ch'an teacher Miao-tsung of Tzu-shou Nunnery in P'ing-chiang perfecture," and Wen-chou Ching-chii ni Miao-tao ch'an-shih, "the Ch'an master Miao-tao of the Ching-chii Nunnery in Wen-chou."3 For the first time in an official, imperially sanctioned Ch'an genealogical history, two Sung women were recognized as masters of Ch'an, and what they were doing, teaching, and writing was recognized as Ch'an activity, Ch'an teaching, and Ch'an writing. In the next genealogical history to appear, the Chia-t'ai Universal Record of the Flame (Chia-t'ai p'u-teng lu) of 1204, the number of Ch'an women treated as full lineage members jumped from three to sixteen. The preface to this text made it clear that it was compiled to broaden its account of the lineage to include women and lay people whom previous compilers had left out. 4 The entries for the Ch'an teachers Miao-tao and Miao-tsung remained the most substantial, but now biographical entries containing awakening narratives, dialogues, and sermons appeared for a number of other abbesses of nunneries and laywomen. Some of those women had been active in the Northern Sung period and thus very likely were born before Miao-tao and Miao-tsung. The Chia-t'ai Universal Record ratified what a number of other less official texts by Ch'an lineage members in the Southern Sung also recognized, namely, that women had received and transmitted the flame of awakening. This chapter will examine the life and teachings of the Miao-tao,

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one of the first two Sung nuns to be recognized as a Chan teacher and full lineage member. She was also known to her contemporaries and in subsequent genealogical histories as Ting-kuang tashih (Great Teacher Light of Concentration). She was the first person of either sex to experience a great awakening using a hua-t'ou under the guidance of the leading shaper of k'an-hua (kung-an introspection) practice in the Lin-chi Chan lineage, Ta-hui Tsungkao. As a result of her experience, she became Ta-hui's first dharma heir, an important teacher of women, and a participant in the early Southern Sung revival of Lin-chi Ch'an. She and her teacher Ta-hui blazed the way toward a more widespread acceptance of women teachers as lineage members within Ch'an. Miao-tao's story also sheds considerable light on a crucial turning point in Ta-hui's career, a moment in which he both formed his own distinctive teaching method and began to criticize those of others. Miao-taos awakening thus played a central role in Ta-hui's life, as shown by the fact that he repeatedly told his listeners about it. Her awakening confirmed his belief that the examination of the hua-t'ou—the critical phrase of a kung-an—was the most effective way of precipitating an experience of enlightenment, and it thereby helped him consolidate his teaching method that came to be known as k'an-hua ch'an. Later in his life Ta-hui said that Miao-taos awakening in 1134 and the subsequent awakenings of thirteen others the following year shaped his approach to teaching from then on. The fact that Miao-tao awakened using Ta-hui's method after studying fruitlessly with one of the leading proponents of what Ta-hui called "silent illumination" (mo-chao) also contributed to Ta-hui's conviction that it was important to speak out against such "heretical" approaches to Ch'an practice. Miao-tao's awakening was also important to women from Southern Sung society who wanted to study Ch'an. In addition to serving as an inspirational model, Miao-tao taught and possibly transmitted the dharma to women students. 5 As abbess and chief teacher in a series of nunneries, she helped to make monastic training under Ch'an tutelage available to women. Miao-tao's Family and Childhood There are two main sets of sources for Miao-tao's life and teachings.6 The first comprises the biographical entries for her that appear in the Outline of Linked Flames, the Chia-t'ai Universal Record, and sub-

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sequent genealogical histories; 7 the second comprises the various accounts of her that appear in Ta-hui s writings. 8 While the sermons and dialogues collected in the genealogical histories display her character as a Ch'an teacher, the materials by Ta-hui reveal her spiritual struggle and experience of awakening. Even though scholars today are fortunate to have as much if not more information for Miao-tao as for most Ch'an teachers in the Sung dynasty, the nature of the sources only allow us to glimpse limited aspects of her life. Miao-tao was a native of Yen-p'ing, a city to the west-northwest of Fu-chou in present-day Fukien province. She was the daughter of Huang Shang (1044-1130). Huang passed his chin-shih exam in 1082, taking first place among 1428 successful candidates that year.9 Most of his official career was spent in different ministries at the capital. His highest post was at the head of the Ministry of Rites, to which he was appointed shortly after Hui-tsung's accession to the throne in 1101.10 This post involved him in current debates about education and examinations, in which he seems to have been a reluctant supporter of the reformers' plan to promote schools as a means of choosing officials. He served as prefect of Fu-chou during the Cheng-ho period (1111-1118). Huang lived during a time of heated political and intellectual controversy, when court life was dominated by factional disputes between the radical reformers led by Wang An-shih (1021-1086) and his followers and the conservative reformers led by Ssu-ma Kuang (1019-1086). Yet his career seems to have been little troubled by the turbulent events of his time, perhaps because his interests seem to have been more literary than political. Miao-tao's father's distinguished examination achievement and his successful career in the Northern Sung must have been an important circumstance in which she formed her choices in life. Her access to training at Ch'an monasteries in the Fu-chou area under eminent male teachers in the Ts'ao-tung and Lin-chi lineages was probably not unconnected to her father's career and social position. Miao-tao's biography in the Chia-t'ai Universal Record begins: "When she was a child she lost interest in [worldly] pleasures. Every night she sat and forgot her self. Her father carefully observed her remarks and actions to see if there was even a slight weakness in them. When she reached the age of twenty, she received the robe of the sangha. She then went to visit various famous teachers." 11 This account suggests a child and adolescent girl with an usually strong religious calling. On the one hand, her father recognized her lack of

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interest in worldly pleasures and her delight in meditation. On the other hand, daughters of prominent families were expected to devote themselves to marriage and family life. The passage implies that her father therefore did not want to let her pursue a career of monastic training unless he felt that her destiny clearly lay in that direction. He observed her words and behavior carefully and never found reason to doubt her calling. Thus she was allowed to become a nun at age twenty. This account of her youth also suggests that her father must have had some understanding of and sympathy for Buddhism. Like many of his peers, Huang did not view Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism as demanding exclusive allegiance. A collection of his writings, Yen-shan chi (Mount Yen collection), includes poems in all the poetic genres as well as pieces in all of the other major genres required of the Sung literatus on various occasions. A large section is given over to essays on Confucian themes and explications of the classics, as befit a high official. A number of poems and other occasional writings are addressed to Buddhist monks or concern Buddhist institutions and thus yield glimpses of the ways in which Huang Shang's world and the world of Buddhists intersected. Huang's writings show an equal if not greater interest in Taoist themes. Indeed, it seems to be Taoist, rather than Buddhist, metaphysics that he tried to relate to themes from the classics. Huang's writings on Buddhist subjects include a memorial biography for a highly accomplished Lin-chi abbot, who was also from Yen-p'ing, Tung-lin Ch'ang-tsung (1025-1091).12 Huang praised Ch'ang-tsung for his conviction that Buddhism and Confucianism in no way conflict and told how highly respected officials and literati sought out conversation with the abbot on worldly matters. Two earlier pieces in the Yen-shan chi, one an "ancient style poem" (ku-shih) sending tea to the master and the other a letter in reply to one by Abbot Tsung,13 show that Huang had enjoyed a cordial relationship with Ch'ang-tsung. Huang's "miscellaneous writings" (tsa-wen) contain a long invocation praising the arhats (Ching lo-han tsan wen).u He also wrote a series of poems on the six patriarchs of Ch'an15 and a prayer on the occasion of a Buddhist nun named Chien taking up her duties as abbess of a nunnery.16 Huang's interest in Buddhism is perhaps best revealed by some of the epitaphs he wrote for lay people, five of whom had strong Buddhist connections. 17 In the cases of three of the women (Miss Ch'en, Miss Lin, and Miss Yeh), their involvement with Buddhism is described at length. One man, Mr. Kuo, also had

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a very strong connection. The fifth case mentions that two daughters of a Mr. Ch'en became nuns. Both Miss Lin's daughter and a woman described in Miss Yeh's epitaph lived as celibate ascetics who did not marry and who served the Buddha. Miss Ch'en and Miss Lin are described as undertaking Buddhist practices diligently while they were wives and mothers. The women and men whose involvement with Buddhism Huang describes in these epitaphs were from families with high social positions, largely with Yen-p'ing or Fu-chou connections. Their sons became chin-shih, and their daughters married chin-shih. The fact that they include women who became nuns and women who did not marry but pursued ascetic forms of life indicates that such options were socially acceptable in Huang Shang's world. Apparently at the highest levels of society in southeastern China during the Northern Sung a daughter's choice to become a nun could meet with a father's approval and support, even if that father maintained an outsider's stance toward Buddhism as a bureaucrat and a classically trained writer and scholar.

Miao-tao's Career as a Nun before Meeting Ta-hui Both the Chia-t'ai Universal Record and Ta-hui note that Miao-tao visited various Ch'an teachers before meeting Ta-hui.18 The only one of these who is named, however, is Chen-hsieh Ch'ing-liao (10881151), with whom Miao-tao was studying at the large Ch'an monastery on Mount Hsiieh-feng when Ta-hui began teaching in Fu-chou in 1134.19 At that time Ch'ing-liao was already a highly successful teacher in the Ts'ao-tung lineage. A native of Szechwan, Ch'ing-liao "left home" Cch'u-chia) in his eleventh year and received full ordination in his nineteenth. After studying Ch'an with different teachers, he experienced awakening under the Ts'ao-tung master Tan-hsia Tzuch'un (1064-1117), 20 an event that most likely occurred in his twentyfirst year (1108). Ch'ing-liao then continued his travels to study under other teachers. In 1113, he reached Chen-chou Ch'ang-lu's monastery in Kiangsu, which was headed by the Yiin-men Ch'an master Tsu-chao Tao-ho (1056-1123). In 1122, at the invitation of an official, he filled in for the ailing Tao-ho, and in the fifth month of 1123 Ch'ing-liao officially became abbot of the monastery. In his inauguration ceremony he ritually honored Tan-hsia as his teacher, much to Tao-ho's chagrin.21 Once installed as abbot, Ch'ing-liao invited his dharma brother

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Hung-chih Cheng-chüeh (1091-1157), who likewise was to play a large role in the revival of Ts'ao-tung and the articulation of a distinctive Ts'ao-tung rhetoric, to serve as his head seat (shou-tso), which Hung-chih did for about a year. Ch'ing-liao left Ch'ang-lu Monastery in 1128 for a new post on Mount P'u-t'o, converting the monastery there from a Vinaya to a Ch'an one. Hung-chih, who had become abbot at Ch'ang-lu after Ch'ing-liao s departure, intended to follow him. Hung-chih was on his way to join Ch'ing-liao in 1129, when he was asked to be abbot of the large Ch'an monastery on Mount T'ien-t'ung. Ch'ing-liao left Mount P'u-t'o in 1130 to spend the summer retreat with Hung-chih at Mount T'ien-t'ung. At the end of that year, Ch'ing-liao became the sixteenth abbot of Ch'ung-sheng Monastery on Mount Hsüeh-feng in Fu-chou, where he stayed until 1136.22 As in Ch'ang-lu, he had extraordinary success; he was said to have had seventeen hundred students.23 As discussed in Chapter 4 by Morten Schlütter, Ta-hui was vehement in his criticism of Ch'ing-liao and other twelfth-century Ts'aotung masters for their "heretical" teaching of "silent illumination." Yet, apart from Ta-hui's one-sided and polemical testimony, the question of what Ch'ing-liao was teaching on Mount Hsüeh-feng is not easy to answer.24 The case of Miao-tao does, however, give credence to Ta-hui's claim that Ch'ing-liao did not emphasize the importance of an experience of enlightenment.

Miao-tao's Study under Ta-hui In the spring of 1134, soon after his arrival in Fu-chou, Ta-hui was invited by Chen-hsieh Ch'ing-liao to visit Mount Hsüeh-feng, where Ch'ing-liao was abbot, and to give a sermon there.25 In the summer of that year, Miao-tao broke her commitment to the three-month intensive training period (an-chü) at Mount Hsüeh-feng to enroll in the summer retreat at Kuang-yin Monastery, where Ta-hui was a guest instructor. Ta-hui's account of these events suggests that it was the sermon he gave at Mount Hsüeh-feng that prompted Maio-tao to join his community. Miao-tao's meeting with Ta-hui occurred just at the time when he was beginning to come into his own as a forceful Ch'an teacher.26 Ta-hui had come from an undistinguished background. After becoming a monk in his eighteenth year, he visited a succession of Ch'an teachers belonging to different lineages. He had two periods of intense exposure to Ts'ao-tung teachings.27 Ta-hui stayed the longest

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with the Lin-chi teacher Chan-t'ang Wen-chun (1061-1115) of Jewel Peak in Hunan province. Although he taught extensively under Chan-t'ang, he never received certification from him. Ta-hui seems to have devoted the decade after Chan-t'ang's death largely to literary work and sutra study within the Ch'an school, but in 1125 he took advantage of an opportunity to continue his search for enlightenment under the guidance of Yiian-wu K'o-ch'in (1063-1135). Yiian-wu, most famous as the compiler of the Blue Cliff Record (Piyen lu), had derided the use of kung-an as exercises for the display of literary skill and advocated their use in Ch'an training as a means of precipitating awakening. 28 Ta-hui experienced enlightenment while working on kung-an under Yiian-wu's guidance. 29 Following Ta-hui's awakening, Yiian-wu divided the teaching duties at T'ienning Monastery with Ta-hui. Ta-hui attained enough fame that one of the very highest ministers, Lii Hao-wen (1064-1131), 30 successfully petitioned the emperor to grant Ta-hui a special name, Fo-jih (Buddha-sun). Both Yiian-wu and Ta-hui fled to the south in the eighth month of 1126 as a consequence of the Jurchen takeover of the north, and both were unsettled for a time. Beginning in 1128 Ta-hui served as head monk and chief teacher under Yiian-wu at Yiin-chu in Kiangsi. 31 He was thus in a situation where he could well have become aware of the teaching methods and poetic instructions of two of the prominent Ts'ao-tung teachers, Chen-hsieh Ch'ing-liao and Hung-chih Cheng-chiieh. In 1130 Ta-hui left to head a small retreat monastery (an) of his own in Kiangsi to polish his training, teach a few students, and write his own comments on the dharma expressions of earlier masters. He chose a spot where he found evidence that Yiin-men, an earlier teacher whom he greatly admired, had lived and called it Yiin-men Cloister. Ta-hui left Kiangsi in the second month of 1134, and he arrived at the Kuang-yin Monastery in the third month. 32 Ta-hui discusses Miao-tao's motivation for leaving Ch'ing-liao in several places. In a sermon Miao-tao sponsored at Kuang-yin Monastery in 1134, Ta-hui says: "Recently the senior (shang-tso)33 [nun] Miao-tao came from [Mount] Hsiieh-feng and asked three times to enter my chamber [for instruction], saying: 'It is because "death follows life with terrible speed, and the samsaric cycle of birth and death is a matter of great urgency."34 I am not yet clear about myself, and therefore I wish to beg for instruction.' "35 In a later sermon Ta-hui says that when Miao-tao arrived and

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began to practice under him, "[she] truly did not know that the investigation of Ch'an (ts'an-ch'an) requires awakening (wu), so that on the last day of your life, in the Nirvana Hall [where dying monks are cared for] your attainment is effective—without that it is not Ch'an." 36 As he says in another sermon, Miao-tao's motive for coming to study with him was a suspicion that there might after all be such a thing as "awakening" (wu), as Ta-hui taught, contrary to the belief on which her practice at Mount Hsiieh-feng was based: "In the past when [Miao-tao] was at Abbot Chen-hsieh Ch'ing-liao's place, she also did not believe that there is such a thing as awakening. After I had been to Mount Hsiieh-feng, one night at the evening instruction (hsiao-ts'an) she suddenly had doubts about [this conviction]. She broke the summer retreat and came to Kuang-yin [Monastery]." 37 Ta-hui s accounts thus suggest that Miao-tao's decision to study under him was based on a suspicion that there might be something more to Ch'an than was available under Ch'ing-liao. In the sermon that Miao-tao sponsored in 1134, after some discussion of Ch'an study, Ta-hui comes to the topic of Miao-tao herself, how he has instructed her so far, and her reason for sponsoring the sermon: Today [the senior nun Miao-tao] came to me, lit incense, performed a prostration, and said: "When I study supreme wisdom (prajna), I encounter many demonic obstacles. I want to invite you to raise up supreme wisdom this evening before all the assemblies of humans and gods as an act of repentance. My vow is that [thereby] all sentient beings in the dharmadhatu may attain sudden awakening and the very deepest supreme wisdom, and together [with me] repay the grace of the Buddha." I said to her: "An ancient sage had a saying: 'Giving rise to a mind that fears [doing wrong] is difficult; manifesting goodness in the heart is difficult. To ferry others [to the other shore of nirvana] before you yourself have been ferried—that is to be a bodhisattva giving rise to the aspiration for enlightenment (bodhicitta). Having the wisdom to fear doing wrong and redirecting one's mind back to the Way—these also are rarely found.' " So I agreed to do as she asked and perform an act of repentance for her.38 As part of his explication of supreme wisdom, Ta-hui then discusses the empty, insubstantial nature of wrong acts, adding that, as long as delusion persists, there is still a need for confession and repentance. He continues:

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Today the senior nun Miao-tao has put forth a thought that she wants to obtain directly the peerless Buddha fruit, bodhi. As soon as one raises this aspiration, all the wrong acts that one has committed are like dry grasses piled as high as Mount Sumeru, and the aspiration itself is like a mustard seed sized spark—they all can be burned up completely without any remainder. Do you believe this? When this one thought has arisen, at that moment becoming a Buddha is already complete. Throughout all future time you will never retreat from it or lose i t . . . . This one thought is equal to all the Buddhas of the three worlds, nondual with them and not different from them. The Sanskrit word "sanma" means to regret past faults. It means to cut them off in your mind so that they do not continue. If you once regret them, you will never commit them again. Once this mental intention has been formed, it never retreats nor gets lost But the merit of raising the aspiration for enlightenment (bodhicitta) is vastly, incalculably less than the merit of having no m i n d . . . . Being equal to the Buddhas of the three worlds is vastly less meritorious than understanding that there are no Buddhas of the three worlds to be equal to . . . that there is no birth and no death, no sage and no ordinary person, no other person and no self, and no Buddha and no dharma. If you can see it in this way, that is the real repentance. 39 Miao-tao s request to sponsor a sermon as an expression of repentance suggests that she felt her lack of progress may have been based on a karmic obstruction (probably from a previous life). She must therefore have hoped that the force of her vow coupled with the merit accruing from the event would enable her to overcome whatever "demonic obstacle" was standing in the way of her awakening. Ta-hui's dharma instruction (fa-yti) to Miao-tao provides a further clue to her concerns at the beginning of her study with him. 40 Ta-hui begins by summarizing an earlier conversation he had had with her and then proceeds to address Miao-taos questions. You, Miao-tao, Great Master of the Light of Concentration, asked me "Please point out the key (sheng-yao) to this mind and this nature, to delusion and awakening, to facing toward [awakening] and turning away [from awakening]." I didn't answer for a long time. When you asked again, I laughed and said: "As for the key, it cannot be pointed out to people. If it could be pointed out, it would not be the key." You said: "How can it be that you have no

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expedient means (fang-pien; upaya) to enable me to make progress [toward the goal of awakening]?"41 Miao-tao is here asking for some expedient by which to grasp the mind and the nature, the difference between deluded and awakened mind, and the difference between facing toward one's awakened nature and turning away from it. According to Ta-hui's account in another sermon, when Miao-tao first came to see him she insisted that "there is no delusion and no awakening," and that only after he had scolded her sharply did she see that she was wrong.42 If this dharma instruction belongs to the summer of 1134, it seems as though, having been convinced by Ta-hui of the error of her previous understanding, Miao-tao is here groping for some means to grasp Ta-hui's new teaching, the key for understanding the distinctions she previously had been certain one should not make. Ta-hui's dharma instruction is a remarkably clear exposition of his fundamental teachings; it also explains why he recommends practice with a hua-t'ou. In his answer to Miao-tao, Ta-hui goes on to explain on what level it makes sense to say that there is a difference between delusion and awakening and on what level it makes sense to say that there is none. He points clearly to the nature of awakened mind and the difference between the viewpoint of awakened mind and that of discriminating mind. On the ultimate level, "the mind is without delusion and awakening" and "the nature is without turning toward or turning away [from awakening]." On the level of ordinary experience, however, people are deluded, and their minds flow into wrong paths. Part of their delusion consists in their setting up and clinging to dichotomies like "delusion and awakening." Because people are deluded, confused, and turned around, their pure awakened original mind and nature produce delusions instead of awakened awareness. People at this point live in a dualistic "reality" of their own construction without realizing that their constructions do not refer to anything that is real on the ultimate level. Only a mind that is not dualistic can grasp the ultimate. If deluded mind tries to grasp the ultimate, it only creates a new dualism between the ultimate and something else.43 In the next section of the dharma instruction, Ta-hui seems implicitly to tackle the subject of the truth of the "silent illumination" teaching that Miao-tao had practiced before joining him. He quotes a passage f r o m the Surangama

Sutra (Shou-leng-yen

ching)

that could be used to uphold the notion that correct practice in-

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volves allowing an inner light of subtle illumination, which is given in the nature and is neither destroyed nor born, to illuminate all aspects of the consciousness. Again, Buddha told Purna: "You use the characteristics of form and emptiness to overturn each other in the tathagatagarbha, which accordingly becomes form or emptiness and extends through the dharmadhatu.... I take subtle illumination undestroyed and unborn, and merge it with the tathagatagarbha, so the tathagatagarbha is nothing but the light of subtle awakening shining throughout the dharmadhatu." The tathagatagarbha is this mind, is this nature. So Buddha was provisionally indicating that using form and emptiness to overturn and eliminate each other is wrong and that considering that subtle illumination undestroyed and unborn is right.44 Ta-hui indicates his qualified approval of this passage from the Surangama Sutra by commenting that taking it as setting forth an ultimate doctrine or an ultimately correct form of practice is to mistake the nature of the Buddha's instruction. The Buddha gives provisional teachings and practice instructions as medicines to cure certain maladies of deluded mind, he does not set forth ultimate teachings. One must understand a teaching by discerning how it addresses a certain malady within deluded mind, not by setting it up as ultimate. This teaching functions within the constructions set up by deluded mind. Ta-hui goes on to say that the mind and the nature are indeed luminous and empty: If views of delusion and awakening are done away with and interpretations of turning toward and turning away are cut off, then this mind is as lucid and clear as the bright sun and this nature is as vast and open as empty space; right where the person stands, he emits light and moves the earth, shining throughout the ten directions. Those who see this light fully realize the absolute truth that all things are unborn (anutpattikadharmaksanti). When you arrive at such a time, naturally you are in tacit accord with this mind and this nature. 45 Ta-hui here teaches that the real "silent illumination" is the light that illuminates everything once the perspective of awakened mind is gained and delusion, with its oppostions between delusion and enlightenment, has been put to an end. He goes on to make this point very clearly:

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Only then do you know that in the past there was basically no delusion and that in the present there is basically no awakening, that awakening is delusion and delusion is awakening, that facing toward and turning away are identical, that the nature is identical to mind and mind is identical to the nature, that Buddhas are delusive demons and delusive demons are Buddhas. The one pure equality without any opposition of equal and not equal—all this is the constant endowment of one's own mind, not dependent on the skills of another.46 Ta-hui then adds that an understanding such as he has just offered is of limited use and can even be dangerous; it is better to understand such things and then set them aside in order to turn one's attention to the examination of a hua-t'ou. Apprehending the truth intellectually will not lead to awakening; for that one needs an expedient means. Ta-hui says: Even so, it's from lack of any other choice again that I explain this. Don't immediately consider this [explanation] as being really true. If you consider it as really true, then you're ignorant of expedient means, accepting dead words as fixed, multiplying empty falsehoods, producing even more confusion—there will be no end to it. When you get here, where there's no way to use your mind, it's better to understand such things, but put them to one side, and turn to look at the Great Master Ma-tsu's "Mind itself is Buddha," and "Not mind, not Buddha," and "It's not mind, it's not Buddha, it's not things";47 or Chao-chou's "The cypress tree in the garden";48 or Yun-men's "Mount Sumeru";49 or Ta-yu's "Sawing apart the scale beam";50 or Yen-yang's "A lump of earth";51 or Fen-yang Wuyeh's "Don't think falsely";52 or Chu-chih's raising a finger53—ultimately, what principle is it? This, then, is my expedient means. Think it over, Miao-tao.54 In this dharma instruction Ta-hui tries to clarify for Miao-tao his view that the teaching that the mind silently and naturally illumines is a useful expedient within deluded mind as a counter to particular forms of delusion, but that the real personal discovery of the all-pervading illumination inherent to the mind comes only after a full awakening to nonduality. It cannot be invoked by deluded mind from within deluded mind. Ta-hui is thus trying to clarify for Miao-tao how to understand "silent illumination" practice correctly. Ta-hui also reveals his rationale for claiming that Ch'ing-liao's and Hung-chih's "silent illumination" teaching risks causing students to

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mistake an expedient for an ultimate teaching, trapping practitioners within delusion rather than freeing them from it. Ta-huis dharma instruction ends up presenting a series of huat'ou to Miao-tao as the most effective way for her to resolve her quandary. His sermon delivered on the occasion of the repentance Miao-tao sponsored in 1134 further clarifies his instructions to her on how to work with a hua-t'ou. I raised [for her] Ma-tsu's "It is not mind, it is not Buddha, it is not a thing" and instructed her to look at it.55 Moreover, I gave her an explanation: "(1) You must not take it as a statement of truth. (2) You must not take it to be something you do not need to do anything about. (3) Do not take it as a flint-struck spark or a lightning flash. (4) Do not try to divine the meaning of it. (5) Do not try to figure it out from the context in which I brought it up. 'It is not the mind, it is not the Buddha, it is not a thing; after all, what is it (ho tso-ma sheng)?' "56 This passage is the earliest example of explicit hua-t'ou practice instruction to be found in Ta-huis records and the first instance of his giving of a list of cautions to prevent the student from falling into wrong ways of carrying out this practice. A set of cautions that includes these five became a standard feature of Ta-huis instruction throughout his life; a set of ten including four of these became codified in the tradition. 57 The very earliest example of Ta-huis huat'ou practice instruction in general and of his standard instructions in particular is thus this set of instructions to Miao-tao. Miao-tao's success with these instructions must have been significant in confirming what became Ta-huis characteristic approach to teaching. In laying out how he thinks awakening occurs, Ta-hui stresses the importance of the expedient means of being confronted with and stymied by a question to which the student does not know the answer—a kung-an or hua-t'ou. He brings up two stories as kung-an for his audience to puzzle over. The first is the case of Hsiang-yen, who was awakened when he heard the sound of a pebble striking a bamboo. He had been blocked for years by having too much knowledge and being too sharp. Hsiang-yen only attained a great awakening after he had been given a question he could not answer, had been told that his teacher Kuei-shan (771-834) was not going to help him understand, and had then completely given up all Ch'an study. Next Ta-hui tells the story of how the monk Chu-chih obtained his "one-finger Ch'an." When Chu-chih was living in a retreat hut

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the nun Shih-chi came in wearing her traveling hat. She circumambulated his rope bed and said: "If you can say something, I will take off my hat." Since he could not respond, she swished her sleeve and left. He called out: "Why don't you stay the night?" She said: "If you can say something, I will stay the night." He still could not say anything. After she had left, he said to himself, "I am a man (chang-fu), but I am still not the equal of a woman." So then he decided to burn the hut and descend the mountain to look for a teacher.58 Ta-hui continues with the rest of the story, relating how a teacher comes to him, how Chii-chih is awakened when confronted by his teacher lifting a single finger, and how he teaches for the rest of his life by simply holding up one finger as his teacher had done. Posing these stories as kung-an to his audience, Ta-hui concludes: "What Chiichih attained is not in his raising one finger. What Hsiang-yen attained is not in his striking the side of a bamboo. So tell me— where is it?"59 Ta-hui s sermon further shows his emphasis on the need for a sudden awakening and his castigation of the error of thinking that one can make progress without it. But how does one study Chan? One has to awaken suddenly (huojan) and directly have no mind; only then can you be joyful and at peace. If you do not awaken, then all you will be doing is mouthing a few phrases about emptiness, nonbeing, and quoting a few places where the ancients talk about nonbeing. In a mistaken fashion on the basis of this you will say: "I have obtained rest." I want to ask you—can you succeed in resting or not? That is using the mind to make the mind not exist. If you use the mind to make the mind not exist, the mind exists all the more. How can you then make it not exist? The ancient sages scoffed at this as the heresy of falling into nihilistic emptiness. You become [like] a corpse whose soul has not left it. Slandering the great wisdom (Mahàprajna) is [a sin] from which you cannot remove the effect by repentance and reform. Even though your intention [to have no mind and become a Buddha] is a good karmic cause, it invites an evil karmic effect.60 In this statement Ta-hui clarifies what he thinks Chan study is, how enlightenment occurs, and why a practice—such as "silent illumination"—that aims at "resting" does not work. Ta-hui's fundamental teaching that formed the basis of his public career, both in its advocacy of hua-t'ou practice and in its criticism of silent illumination, finds an early expression in his dharma instruction for Miao-

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tao. With the defection of Miao-tao (and no doubt some of the other seventy-odd students at Kuang-yin Monastery) from Ch'ing-liao's circle at Mount Hsueh-feng, Ta-hui marks the beginning of his lifelong effort to expose the error of all those approaches to practice that discount the importance of reaching a moment of awakening. In this sermon Ta-hui does not use what I have elsewhere called the Sung Ch'an "rhetoric of equality."61 He does not say in this early sermon, as he does in later ones (including the sermon for the three nun teachers in which he tells the story of Miao-tao's awakening), "This matter does not depend on being male or female, nor on being noble or a commoner. If you once break through, you are shoulder to shoulder with the Buddha." 62 But Ta-hui explicitly affirms that Miao-tao, a woman with sufficient determination, like men with sufficient determination, can study Ch'an successfully. At the end of the sermon he says: "Now the senior nun Miao-tao already completely possesses the will and determination of a great man (tachang-fu).63 She has decided that she will study Ch'an."64 Since "great man" is thus marked with masculine gender in Chinese, the statement, while praising Miao-tao, raises in a mild, unaccentuated way the question of whether and how often anyone of Miao-tao's gender can form this kind of firm determination to master Ch'an.65 Nonetheless, if this statement does not encourage Miao-tao as a woman, Ta-hui's storytelling in the sermon does. Ta-huis recounting of the story of the nun Shih-chi, who from her awakened awareness challenges the monk Chii-chih, also encourages Miao-tao by making the point that women monastics can and do attain a level of insight that enables them to challenge less awakened men. Ta-hui frequently told the story of Miao-tao's awakening in sermons that he gave in the latter part of his life. The first instance is in the sermon sponsored by the three nun teachers. At that time [during the summer of 1134] it was as hot as a stove bellows, and there were just a few more than seventy monks. They entered my chamber [for private interviews] twice a day. As for [Miao-tao], I instructed her to look at "It is not mind, it is not Buddha, it is not a thing."66 One time when the monastery librarian Kuang entered my chamber [for individual instruction], she was outside.67 She listened and experienced a moment of joy. Suddenly one day she said: "I just heard you raise for librarian Kuang 'It is not mind, it is not Buddha, it is not a thing.' I already understand." At that time I asked her: " 'It is not mind, it is not Buddha, it is not a thing'

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—how do you understand?" She answered: "I just understand this way." Before she had finished speaking, I shouted "Ho!" and said: "There is one too many 'I just understand this way.'" She then for the first time got a glimpse.68 Ta-hui gives further details of Miao-taos awakening in another sermon: I instructed her to look at "It is not mind, it is not the Buddha, it is not a thing" and told her: "If you penetrate (t'ou) this successfully, you can stop studying." Further, I told her that in Szechwan there was a [woman named] Chi-shou tao-jen who studied with the old monk [Yiian-wu] at Chao-chueh Monastery [in Ch'engtu].69 He instructed her to look at "It is not mind, it is not Buddha, it is not a thing—what is it?" This went on for a number of years without [her finding] an entrance. One day she told the old monk [Yiian-wu]: "I have looked at this saying (hua) and have not yet [found] an entrance. Do you have another expedient means?" The old monk said: "When I ask you, 'What is it?' make a comment." He then picked up the whisk and showed it to her, saying: "It is not mind, it is not Buddha, it is not a thing," leaving off the clause "what is it?" She suddenly understood. I brought this kind of thing up to [Miao-tao]. One day. .. she got a moment of joy. She soon wanted to come to spit out [her understanding]. I saw that she wanted to open her mouth and shouted "Ho!" and said: "Wrong! Get out!" Why? Because I saw that what she had was not the real thing. For her heels had not touched earth. In this kind of moment, even though she had a moment of joy, as it says in the [canonical] teachings, "in front there is no new realization, and if one goes back, one has lost the old residence." The old cave hole had already been torn down by me, but in front of her there was no dwelling to live in. When one reaches this point, for the first time there is no gate through which to advance or retreat. After a while she came again, bowed, and said: "I really do have an entrance." You could say that I coddled her like a beloved child.70 I stopped blocking her path and opened up a path in front of her. I asked her: "It is not mind, it is not a Buddha, it is not a thing. How do you understand this?" [She] said: "I only understand this way." Before the sound of her words had died out, I said: "You added in an extra 'only understand this way.'" She suddenly understood. In the several years since I became a head seat and took up teaching, she was the first [of my students] to succeed in investigating Ch'an (ts'an-te ch'an).11

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It is interesting to note that Ta-hui used a hua-t'ou with Miao-tao that he knew worked for a woman in the past. Not only that, he tells Miao-tao all about how his former teacher Yiian-wu had worked with his female disciple Chi-shou Tao-jen on the same hua-t'ou.12 After the summer retreat of 1134 was over, Ta-hui accepted an invitation from a layman to live at a newly built Yun-men Cloister in Yang-yii, in Fu-chou, southern Min prefecture. In a later sermon in which he looks back on this period of his life, Ta-hui notes: Later I stayed at Yang-yii Monastery. Between the fifth day of the third month and the twenty-first day of the third month [of 1135], I brought to awakening in succession thirteen people.73 Further, I received an eighty-four-year-old monk, whose name was "Elder of Great Compassion."74 I asked him, "The one who is not a companion of the myriad things, what person is that?" He said: "I can't call him by name." So then I asked: "The one who can't call him, what person is that? Hurry and tell me, hurry and tell me." He suddenly understood completely. Sweat poured off his back. Someone who from the beginning had absolutely no faith in awakening suddenly all at once awakened.75 This account concludes with a significant remark: "From this time on I began the practice of teaching everyone with hua-t'ou."16 Ta-hui's great successes with Miao-tao and with others the following spring at Yang-yii Monastery were formative experiences in the development of the teaching method that became the trademark of his approach to Ch'an. In later years he often told the story of how his own teaching method took shape and bore astounding fruit during this time of his stay in Fu-chou.

Miao-tao as a Teacher Following her awakening, Miao-tao embarked on a career as abbess and Ch'an teacher. Although sources for this period of Miao-tao's life are not as extensive as one might wish, they do offer glimpses of what must have been a distinguished career. The genealogical histories give the names of the nunneries she headed and quote some of her sermons and dialogues. Some further details about one of her nunneries have been preserved in a local gazetteer. Records of other women Ch'an lineage members in the Sung make it clear that the nunnery where she ended her life as abbess was one with a long and successful tradition of women teaching Ch'an. Although the offi-

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cial Ch'an genealogical histories do not list any dharma heirs for Miao-tao,77 Ta-hui mentions several women who had studied with Miao-tao. After her awakening and certification by Ta-hui, Miao-tao was first invited by the prefect of Fukien's Chien-chou prefecture to be abbess of the Fu-hsing ssu, a nunnery in her hometown of Yen-p'ing. Later, according to the Chia-t'ai Universal Record, she headed two other nunneries of greater renown. She was abbess of the Tzu-sheng Nunnery in Ch'ang-chou in the Western Circuit of Liang-che.78 The P'i-ling chih, a local gazetteer published in 1268, notes that it was originally built in the T'ang dynasty between 860 and 874, that it was newly repaired in the period between 1119 and 1125, and that the triple gate at its entrance was built between 1165 and 1174. Miao-tao later moved to become abbess of the Ching-chii Nunnery in Wen-chou on the coast of the Eastern Circuit of Liang-che in southern Chekiang. She is accordingly listed in Ch'an genealogies as Ching-chii Miao-tao. Thus the Ching-chii Nunnery, as the most important of the nunneries over which she presided, became a part of her name. According to the Collated Essentials of the Five Flame [Records] (Wu-teng hui-yuan), she died while abbess there. Three other Ch'an abbesses listed in the Ch'an genealogical histories and other Sung Ch'an sources also resided at the Ching-chii Nunnery.79 Thus several abbesses were associated with the Ch'an lineage as dharma heirs and in one abbess had her own woman dharma heir, who apparently succeeded her as abbess. The nunnery was recognized for its Ch'an lineage of women by the compilers of the Chiat'ai Universal Record and subsequent genealogical histories. The only information about women who studied with Miao-tao comes from Ta-hui. Miao-tao's activities as a teacher were probably far more extensive, and there were certainly more women who studied with her than the extant sources reveal. From clues gleaned from Ta-hui's sermons one can imagine a much larger network of women surrounding Miao-tao. In one sermon, Ta-hui tells his listeners that the sermon's sponsor, a woman surnamed Huang (whose dharma name was Tao-en) in the past had studied Ch'an at Miaotao's nunnery. He explains that Tao-en's aunt on her father's side, the wife of her father's younger brother, was the daughter of Wu Yiian-chao, a scholar-official from Shao-wu in Fukien who had studied Ch'an. The aunt, who had married into a family of high officials, later became a nun and a disciple of Miao-tao. When she became a nun, she was called the Great Teacher Tse-wu. According to

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Ta-hui, Tao-en often visited her aunt Tse-wu and gained some understanding of C h a n through studying with her.80 In another sermon Ta-hui mentions that the sponsor, a n u n named Great Teacher Yung, had studied with Miao-tao at two different nunneries and that Miaotao valued her highly.81 Miao-tao's records in the genealogical histories contain a n u m b e r of sermons and dialogues that reveal her style as a Ch'an teacher. I quote below three sermons as examples of her erudition, style, and concerns. The first one, which the Collated Essentials of the Five Flame [Records] notes was her inaugural sermon when she became abbess (probably at the Fu-hsing nunnery in Yen-p'ing), begins with a question from a monk and then continues with Miao-tao's more extended response: A monk asked: "When words neither extend to the matter nor connect with the hearer, what then?" The teacher [i.e., Miao-tao] said: "Before you have defecated, you have fallen into the hole." [Miao-tao] continued: "Do not ask too many questions. Even if it were true that you are very fluent at arguing and that you have wit enough to overturn mountains, within the gates of the sangha you will have no use for such [skills]. Before the Buddha appeared, there was originally nothing whatsoever to be done. When our patriarch came from the West, then there came to be many establishments. There were many monasteries facing one another, spread out on the famous mountains as thickly as pieces in a board game (wei-ch'i).S2 This has continued to the present, generation after generation. Finally it causes me to stand in front of the great assembly of gods and humans and make waves when there is no wind, communicating some bits of information about second-level truths. "What is not covered by speech or silence is everywhere. That which cannot be expressed in words and commentaries pervades all the worlds. There are eyes all over your body, you are face to face with the mechanism. Lightning and stars curl and run away —how can you grab them? Sometimes with a shout 'ho,' life and death are extinct. Sometimes with a shout 'ho,' you cannot distinguish the Buddhas and patriarchs. Sometimes with a shout 'ho,' you are attacked by enemies in all directions. Sometimes with a shout 'ho,' you can't save yourself. But tell me, in which 'ho' is the extinction of life and killing? In which 'ho' are Buddhas and patriarchs not distinguished? In which 'ho' are you being attacked by enemies on all sides? And in which 'ho' is it that you cannot rescue yourself? If you can understand this, then you can repay

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the unrepayable favor. If it is not so, then I am speaking of dreams I haven't even seen." She picked up the whisk and said: "Do you see it? If you see it, then you are obstructed by the thorns of sight." She struck the platform and said: "Do you hear it? If you hear it, then you are confused by the objects of sound. But if you can distance yourself from seeing and hearing, then that truly is only the small fruit of the two lesser vehicles. Jump out of it one pace, and you will cover and ride form and sound, let everything go and gather everything in, and host and guest will change places [freely]. Therefore it is said, 'If you want to know the meaning of the Buddha-nature, you should observe the causes and conditions of the moment.' I dare to ask all of you: what moment is it right now? The benevolent wind blows all over, helping good government. The harmonious atmosphere helps the peaceful world." She threw down the whisk and descended from the seat.83 Miao-tao s second sermon is included under her entry in the Outline of the Linked Flames. "If what we are talking about is a meeting between the original endowment (pen-fen) of two people, then there is no need [for me] to ascend this high seat. But dharmas do not arise singly; their arising depends on causes and conditions. 84 And since today the balance scale [of authority] is in my hand, I respond to whatever changes occur in the moment, grasping tight and letting loose, rolling up and rolling out, doing this with great freedom. "There are times when on top of the solitary peak I command the essential place [so that the student cannot get by]: This way won't do; the opposite, not this way, also won't do. "There are times when in the crowded street I make a passageway [for the student]: this way will do, not this way will also do. "Then I can churn the Yangtze river into curds and transform the great earth into gold, pluck a blade of grass and make it into the sixteen-foot golden body [of Sakyamuni], take the sixteen-foot golden body [of Sakyamuni] and make it into a blade of grass. "When I hold on firmly, then the three mysteries [of Lin-chi], sword and armor, the five ranks of correct and one-sided [of Tungshan], setting the whisk upright and taking up the cudgel, being silent for a long time, and [making quick responses like] stonestruck sparks or lightning flashes—all these are not necessary. "How even more unnecessary are words that like hooked sentences and barbed phrases disclose the point of a statement and [words that are refined and beautiful like] a gathering of flowers

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and elegant brocades—they are only of benefit to an impractical, useless theoretical discourse. "Therefore it is said: 'If one could thoroughly investigate all explanations of the mystery, it would be [as useless as] a fine hair extended across the great void [in a feeble attempt to cover it]. If one were to exhaust all the deepest principles of the world, it would be [as useless as] hurling one drop into the great ocean.' "Moreover each person is complete in every way, each thing is perfect, and [that which is totally complete and perfect] covers the earth and reaches to heaven. Eyes are horizontal and noses are vertical. Spring courses among the ten thousand plants; the moon is reflected on a thousand waves. There is no lack and no excess. "What is there to think about? What is there to deliberate about? Even if I sing such a tune (feng-ch'ang),S51 still can't avoid falling into irrelevancies and confusing statements. "So I will lose no time in arriving with you at the very best, most appropriate, most opportune moment." She set her staff upright and said: "Do you still understand? A thousand-foot whale spouts, and vast waves fly; one clap of thunder and the storm arises."86 The third sermon is also included in the Outline of the Linked Flames. "Chan is not a matter of ideas to think about. To establish ideas is to pervert the central core. The Way cuts off beneficial results. To set up beneficial results [as a goal] is to lose the real point. When listening to pure sounds and other nonworldly phrases, do not seek [to apprehend the truth] in ideas. Turn the receiving and responding power of the teacher around and get it into your own hands, grab the cudgel and tongs away from the Buddhas and patriarchs and control them yourselves. Where there are Buddhas, there will be no distinction between the teacher and Buddhas as host and you as the guest. Where no Buddhas are, the wind will whistle and sough. "Her mind is at peace, echoes and sounds are in harmony. As for someone like this, tell me, would you be able to handle such a person?" After a long time, she said: "Putting on my raincoat and leaning my rainhat [up against something], beyond a thousand peaks, I draw water and sprinkle the vegetables in front of the Five Stars."87 These sermons are eloquent, polished, literary. They consist of carefully constructed parallel phrases and sentences. They compare

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with the Blue Cliff Record in the power of the metaphors and the literary sophistication of their style. In fact, many of Miao-tao's phrases can be found in the Blue Cliff Record. Her sermons display a mastery of the highly poetic discourse of the Sung Lin-chi Ch'an tradition. They communicate powerfully what the goal of Ch'an study is, what a Ch'an teacher does with words, and what a Ch'an student must do in "dharma-combat" with a teacher. Miao-tao's dialogues are clever, direct, skewering, witty. Here are two of them: A nun asked: "What is the Buddha?" Miao-tao replied: "Not a Buddha." The nun asked: "What is the great meaning of the Buddha dharma?" The master [Miao-tao] said: "Ku-ti-ku-tung (an antique)."88 The second dialogue runs as follows: Someone asked: "An ancient said that, as for the fifty kinds of demonic states that trouble dhyana [meditation] enumerated in the Surangama Sutra, if today all the people on the earth studied Ch'an and [had] even higher [attainments], they would not be able to get out of their realm. Have you, reverend, been able to get out of it yet or not?" [Miao-tao] said: "I don't consort with either group."89

Conclusion Miao-tao's experience with her teacher Ta-hui shows that one wellknown Sung dynasty Ch'an master was willing to welcome a nun into his inner circle of serious students and give her the same kind of instruction he was giving monks, including oral interviews and a long written dharma instruction. This act had important consequences for him; indeed, her success in reaching a moment of awakening using a hua-t'ou was his first success as a teacher and played a large role in setting the pattern for his subsequent teaching. Tahui went on from his encounter with Miao-tao to develop the themes that he first adumbrated in the summer of 1134: the necessity of an experience of awakening, the error of misunderstanding the meaning of "silent illumination," the value of using the powerful expedient means of inspecting a hua-t'ou to put a halt to intellectualization in order to break through to a new awareness. The efficacy of

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hua-t'ou practice having been demonstrated to Ta-hui by the success of Miao-tao and others in 1134 and 1135, Ta-hui proceeded to teach it to laymen and monks alike for the rest of his career. Miao-tao thus participated in and perhaps to some extent made possible this defining moment in Ta-hui's career as a Ch'an teacher. Ta-hui's instruction was useful for her, and her success benefited him. On the level of Buddhist theory, the fact that Miao-tao was a woman may hold little significance. But within the context of Chinese society and the world of Sung Buddhism, it did matter that a prominent monk acknowledged and often publicly talked about the success of his woman dharma heir. Whether intentionally or not, by this act Ta-hui set himself on a path of encouraging women students and forming dharma relationships with them. Miao-tao's women students became his dharma relatives. When they had the opportunity, they sponsored sermons at his monastery, and he acknowledged their relationship to him and encouraged their Ch'an practice. Just as he told Miao-tao the story of Chi-shou Tao-jen, his teacher Yiian-wu's woman student, to instruct and encourage her, so he told Miao-tao's story to instruct and encourage other women students as well as to clarify for men students his reasons for insisting that a student must awaken, not just pursue "silent illumination." Miao-tao's many successful years as a teacher, during some of which Ta-hui was in exile, no doubt added to Ta-hui's fame among women students and others. A new kind of opportunity for Buddhist women in the Sung opened its doors wider as this moment in 1134 bore fruit. Miao-tao's story also demonstrates that in the Southern Sung women could be eloquent teachers of Ch'an, a role that required not only a spontaneous meeting of students in the moment and a clear insight into "true emptiness and marvelous being" but also powers of poetic expression. Miao-tao's success as an inspiration for Buddhist women in the Sung and later periods was due in large part to the high quality of her own expressions of the dharma in words. While Miao-tao taught in the manner of the Lin-chi school, nowhere in her teachings is found the kind of straightforward advocacy of the expedient of the inspection of a single hua-t'ou that is so striking in Ta-hui's sermons. Miao-tao was no mere epigone of her teacher. Instead, her sermons show a brilliant deployment of the vocabulary and poetic imagery of the Lin-chi tradition as captured in the Blue Cliff Record. She excelled as a poetic craftswoman of

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sermons and as an expositor of the essence of teaching and learning in Lin-chi Ch'an. Miao-tao and Ta-hui lived in a Buddhist world in which women were beginning to be visible as students and patrons of Ch'an, accepted enough so that Ch'an teachers' "rhetoric of equality" expanded to include the equality of women and men in their ability to realize enlightenment. Yet the social reality of that Ch'an world, and even its "rhetoric of equality," remained largely androcentric. There seems to have been no rush to change social mores to permit more women to leave home and study Ch'an; likewise, there are no recorded instances of men in the Ch'an tradition working to establish Ch'an training retreats for women. And the androcentrism of the rhetoric is shown in the fact that women's success in Ch'an study seemed always to come as a surprise to men, was attributed to the exceptional ability of the woman to act like a man, and was sometimes taken by men as a challenge to demonstrate their own (superior) manhood. An example of such androcentric rhetoric of equality occurs in relation to Miao-tao's accomplishments. When Shui-an Shih-i (1101-1176), heir to Tan-hsia Tuan-yii (1085-1150), who was himself heir to Yuan-wu K'o-ch'in, was told Miao-tao's words, he clapped his forehead with his hand and said: "You can certainly say about this matter [of realizing enlightenment] that it has no male or female form. Lots of strapping men (chang-fu-han) search fruitlessly for their own heads in the assembly for five or ten years. Although she is a woman, she acts like a man (chang-fu). She is superior to any number of worthless abbots (tu-chuan chang-lao)."90 Yet Miao-tao's experience also suggests that in the Sung the "rhetoric of equality" was not merely rhetorical.91 Miao-tao's story is one in which the possibility of women awakening and of awakened nuns teaching Ch'an (which had been entertained, though minimally, through old stories in Ch'an texts) took on a real substantiation, a flesh and blood embodiment in the world, and was recorded in the Ch'an texts as a social fact.92 Sung Ch'an was unquestionably androcentric. But the Sung male masters' rhetoric of equality shows itself, if not fully realized in actuality, nonetheless not completely empty in the case of Ting-kuang Miao-tao. One of Miao-tao's accomplishments—with the assistance of her teachers Chen-hsieh Ch'ing-liao and Ta-hui Tsung-kao, the students who studied with her and compiled her sermons and dialogues, and the compilers of the Southern Sung genealogical histories—was to convince men like Shui-an Shih-i, still caught in an androcentric

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view of the world, that the power of awakening and the nature of universal human potential was indeed such that women could awaken and teach Ch'an. If they were able to accept that teaching, perhaps they were more fully awakened.

Notes 1. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.406cl5-16 and 465c.l9-20. Huang Min-chih, Sungtai fo-chiao she-hui ching-chi shih lun-chi (Taipei: Taiwan hsiieh-sheng shu-chii, 1989), pp. 349-355. 2. See T 51.289al-13; Suzuki Tetsuo, To godai no zenshu—Konan Kosai hen (Tokyo: Daito shuppansha, 1984), pp. 149-150. 3. See HTC 136.362d-363c and 363c-364a respectively. 4. See HTC 137.1al0-15, quoted in Chapter 5 by Ding-hwa Hsieh. 5. The lineage chart compiled from a number of different sources found in vol. 3 of the Zengaku daijiten (Tokyo: Taishukan shoten, 1978) lists "the nun Fateng" as a dharma heir of Miao-tao (p. 14, lines 3-4). 6. Unfortunately her funerary inscription has not been preserved. 7. See Lien-teng hui-yao, HTC 136.363c-364a; Chia-t'ai p'u-teng lu, HTC 137.136a-b; and Wu-teng hui-yuan, HTC 138.401a-b. 8. The most important of which are the sermon by Ta-hui sponsored by Miao-tao in 1134 found in Ta-hui P'u-chiieh ch'an-shih yii-lu, T 47.864b-866c; Ta-hui s dharma instruction (fa-yil) to Miao-tao (probably written in 1134) found in Ta-hui P'u-chiieh ch'an-shih yii-lu, T 47.914b-c; and the sermon by Ta-hui found in Ta-hui P'u-chiieh ch'an-shih p'u-shuo, Dainihon kotei zokuzokyo l/31/5.441c-443c (this source will be cited as "P'u-shuo" hereafter). See also P'u-shuo, pp. 433c, 436d, and 440b for other references to Miao-tao by Ta-hui. 9. Huang was immediately notorious for the manner in which he received first place. Although the examiners had not placed his name high on the list of successful candidates, the emperor Shen-tsung did not like the essays on policy of those ranked at the top. Shen-tsung preferred the writing of Huang's that had reached the capital before Huang sat for the examinations, so he searched for his name on the list and personally awarded Huang Shang first place, an act that displeased the examination officials (Sung-shih i). This incident happened at a time when neo-Classicists like Ou-yang Hsiu and Wang An-shih were stressing writing on policy, rather than poetic skill, as the principal criterion for examination success (see John W. Chaffee, The Thorny Gates of Learning in Sung China [London: Cambridge University Press, 1985], pp. 70-71). The examiners' displeasure thus must have stemmed in part from the fact that the emperor had picked a man whose conspicuous abilities were in writing, not policy. 10. This appointment placed Huang at the head of one of the six principal administrative agencies of the central government. During this period the Min-

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istry of Rites administered the government education and examination systems as well as handling all court ceremonies and foreign guests and supervising Buddhist and Taoist monasteries. See Charles O. Hucker, A Dictionary of Official Titles in Imperial China (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1985), pp. 306-307. 11.HTC 137.136a5-7. 12. Yen-shan chi (SKCS), 34.11b-14a. Ishii Shùdò lists him as Chao-chueh Ch'ang-tsung in his Sodai zenshushi no kenkyu (Tokyo: Daitó shuppansha, 1988), p. 561. 13. See Yen-shan chi l . l l a - b and 23.11a-12b respectively. 14. See Yen-shan chi 36.1a-8b. 15. See Yen-shan chi 36.8b-13a. 16. Yen-shi chi 29.8b-9a. 17. For Miss Chen, see Yen-shan chi 33.11b-13b; for Miss Lin, see 34.4b-6a; for Miss Yeh, see 34.2b-3b; for Mr. Kuo, see 34.1b-2b; and for Mr. Chen, see 33.10a-llb. 18. See HTC 137.136a7 and P'u-shuo, p. 433c. 19. P'u-shuo, p. 443al9-bl. 20. See Chen-hsieh Ch'ing-liao ch'an-shih yii-lu, HTC 124.315b6-14; and Ishii, Sodai zenshushi no kenkyu, pp. 260-261. 21. Ishii, Sodai zenshushi no kenkyu, p. 262. 22. Ibid., pp. 263-264. 23. Ibid., p. 267. 24. What would be, if still extant, the principal source, the I-chang lu (One Slap of the Palm Record), which contained his sermons given between 1130 and 1134 at Mount Hsiieh-feng, once circulated with a preface by the literatus Liu Tzu-hui (1101-1147) but is now lost. The Chieh-wai lu (Outside the Eons Record) predates his abbacy on Mount Hsiieh-feng. It together with a commentary on the Hsin-hsin ming (Inscription on Believing in Mind) and a few other scattered teachings are gathered together in a text called Chen-hsieh Ch'ing-liao ch'an-shih yii-lu in two fascicles, but none of these pieces can be dated conclusively to his Mount Hsiieh-feng period. Only one other very short record of Ch'ing-liao s sayings is preserved, under the title Chen-hsieh Liao ch'an-shih yii-lu, in the Hsii-k'an ku-tsun yu-yao, HTC 118.454d-455d. For information on the Sung version of this text, see Nishitani Keiji and Yanadiga Seizan, eds., Zenke goroku, vol. 2 (Tokyo: Chikuma shobo, 1974), p. 492. Ishii believes that it contains a selection of the best teachings from the I-chang lu (see Sodai zenshushi no kenkyu, pp. 271-272). 25. This sermon is recorded in Ta-hui's Yii-lu, T 47.863a-864a. 26. Accounts of Ta-hui's life can be found in Miriam Levering, "Chan Enlightenment for Laymen: Ta-hui and the New Religious Culture of the Sung" (Ph.D. dissertation, Harvard University, 1978); and Chun-fang Yii, "Ta-hui Tsungkao and Kung-an Ch'an," Journal of Chinese Philosophy 6 (1979): 211-235. The annalistic biography of Ta-hui compiled sometime before 1183 by a disciple named Tsu-yung, Ta-hui P'u-chiieh ch'an-shih nien-p'u, has been edited, annotated, and translated into modern Japanese by Ishii Shudò; see "Daie Fukaku zenji nenpu no kenkyu," published in three parts in Komazawa daigaku bukkyo gakubu kenkyu kiyò 37 (1979), 38 (1980), and 40 (1982).

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27. The first was 1108-1109 with Tung-shan Tao-wei (dates unknown) at T'ai-yang Monastery in Ying-chou in present-day Hupei, a major center for the Ts'ao-tung lineage (see Yii-lu, T 47.953b; P'u-shuo, p. 428b). The second period (1109-1116) was at Jewel Peak in Hunan, where Ta-hui studied with a monk who had been an attendant of Fu-jung Tao-k'ai (see Ta-hui tsung-men wu-k'u, T 47.953M-6); P'u-shuo, p. 425d; P'u-shuo, p. 428d). 28. A point argued by Ding-hwa Evelyn Hsieh in her "Yiian-wu K'o-ch'in's (1063-1135) Teaching of Ch'an Kung-an Practice: A Transition from the Literary Study of Ch'an Kung-an to the Practical K'an-hua Ch'an," Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 17.1 (1994): 96-110. 29. See, for example, T 47.883al2-b22, one of the many places in Ta-hui's record where he tells this story at length. See my unpublished essay "Ta-hui's Awakening and His Telling of It." 30. Lii Hao-wen's biography can be found in Sung shih, chuan 362 (p. 15a); see also in Herbert Franke, ed., Sung Biographies (Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner Verlag, 1973), vol. 2, pp. 706-707. 31. Ishii, "Nenpu (jo)," pp. 131—133b; Ishii, Sodai zenshushi no kenkyu, pp. 265-266. There are sermons and chamber instructions from this period in Ta-hui's Yii-lu. 32. Ishii, "Nenpu (jo),"pp. 139b-144a. 33. In a Ch'an context shang-tso usually is a synonym for "shou-tso," the position of occupant of the head seat in the training hall and thus leader and often teacher of the other monks, under the abbot. But outside the Ch'an context the term "shang-tso" has a number of other possible meanings. In the Vinaya, a passage says that shang-tso is the title for a monk who has been in the sangha from twenty to forty-nine years. Another source gives it as a title for those who have been in the sangha ten years. In general, the other usages are as a term of respect for length of time in the sangha, for age, for monks in general, for wealth in the case of a lay person, or for wisdom in the case of a monk or nun (Zengaku daijiten 1.544d-545a). Here the term could refer to a position Miao-tao held somewhere or it could simply be a term of respect for a nun of many years' standing. 34. A variation on a saying from Yung-chia Hsiian-chueh; see Ching-te ch'uanteng lu, T 51.241b3-4. My translation of the first clause, which is not literal but captures the flavor, is taken from Chang Chung-yuan, Original Teachings of Ch'an Buddhism (New York: Vintage Books, 1971), p. 27. My translation of the second clause is taken from Sohaku Ogata, The Transmission of the Lamp: Early Masters (Wolfeboro, N.H.: Longwood Academic, 1990), p. 165. Ta-hui often used this saying, in accordance with his teaching that at the moment of one's death one will be sorry if one has not worked hard and attained full awakening. 35. T 47.865c22-24. 36. P'u-shuo, p. 433c; cf. Ishii, p. 472. 37. P'u-shuo, p. 443a. In Ta-hui's sermons he uses "tzu-chia" to refer to himself; see Iriya Yoshitaka and Koga Hidehiko, Zengo jiten (Kyoto: Shibunkaku shuppan, 1991), p. 179b. 38. T 47.865c29-866a6. 39. T 47.866al2-16, b9-19. 40. T 47.914b-c; this letter has been translated by Christopher Cleary in

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Swampland Flowers: The Letters and Lectures of Zen Master Ta Hui (New York: Grove Press, 1977), pp. 95-98; for a modern Japanese translation, see Ishii Shudo, Zen goroku, Daijo Butten, vol. 12 (Tokyo: Chuo koronsha, 1992), pp. 230-233. 41. T 47.914b 11-15. The words I have translated as "key" (sheng-yao and sheng-yao-ch'u) might also be translated "the pivotal point" (see Zengo jiten, p. 245b. Cleary renders them as "concise essentials" (Swampland Flowers, p. 95). 42. P'u-shuo, 443b 1-2. 43.T47.914M5-21. 44. T 47914b24-29. The quotation from the Surangama Sutra occurs at Shou-leng-yen ching, T 19.120c29-121a4; see the translation by Charles Luk, The Surangama Sutra (Leng Yen Ching) (London: Rider and Co., 1966), p. 93. 45. T 47.914c5-8. 46. T 47.914c8-12. 47. See Ching-te ch'uan-teng lu, T 51.253a-b. 48. In answer to the question "What is the meaning of the First Patriarchs coming from the West?" See Akizuki Ryomin, ed. and trans., Joshu roku, Zen no goroku, vol. 11 (Tokyo: Chikuma shobo, 1972), pp. 35-36; and Yoel Hoffmann, trans., Radical Zen (Brookline, Mass.: Autumn Press, 1978), p. 19. This exchange is also appears as case 37 in the Wu-men kuan, T 48.297c. 49. In answer to the question "Is anything amiss when one does not even give rise to a single thought?" See Yiin-men kuang-lu, T.47.547cl-2, and Urs App, trans., Master Yunmen: From the Record of the Chan Master "Gate of the Clouds" (New York: Kodansha International, 1994), p. 111. 50. Chun-chou Ta-yiX Chih ho-shang yii-lu, in Ku-tsun-su yii-lu, HTC 118.240a. Ta-yu died between 1056 and 1063. 51. In answer to the question "What is Buddha?" Ching-te ch'uan-teng lu, T 51.287a. The Venerable Elder of Mount Yen-yang was a dharma heir of Chao-chou. 52. Ching-te ch'uan-teng lu, T.51.257a.25. Wu-yeh of Fen-yang or Fen-chou (762-824) was a dharma heir of Ma-tsu Tao-i (709-788). 53. "Chii-chih" is very odd as a Chinese name; it seems instead to be a Chinese transliteration of a Sanskrit term, "koti," that stands for a very large number. Chii-chihs method of teaching by lifting a finger is described in case 19 of the Pi-yen lu (Blue Cliff Record). The story of how Chii-chih acquired the "one finger teaching" appears in the Ching-te ch'uan-teng lu, T 51.288b, which also relates how he continued to teach by raising one finger for the rest of his life and how the boy who stands in for him tries to teach with the same method. 54. T 47.914cl2-20. My translation here and elsewhere has adapted that of Cleary in Swampland Flowers, pp. 95-98. 55. Ma-tsu Tao-i. Although the sentence quoted is found in Nan-ch'iians record in the Ching-te ch'uan-teng lu (see note 66 below), a closely related passage appears in Ma-tsus record. It reads: "A monk asked why the Master maintained, "The mind is the Buddha." The master said, "Because I want to stop the crying of a baby." The monk persisted, "When the crying has stopped, what is it then?" "Not mind, not Buddha," was the answer. "How do you teach a person who does not uphold either of these?" The Master said, "I would tell him, 'Not things.'" The monk again questioned, "If you met a person free from attach-

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ment to all things, what would you tell him?" The Master replied, "I would let him experience the great Tao." Ching-te ch'uan-teng lu, T 51.246a.21-25; for an English translation, see Chang, Original Teachings of Chan Buddhism, p. 150. 56. T 47.865c24-28. The "ho" in the phrase "ho tso-ma sheng" is a question strengthener meaning "in the end, ultimately, finally." On tso-ma sheng as meaning ju-ho, see Zengo jiten, p. 263b. 57. See Robert E. Buswell, Jr., The Collected Works of Chinul (Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 1983), p. 373, n. 273; see also p. 338, where a passage from Ta-hui's letters in his Yü-lu (T 47.921c) that has eight instructions is quoted by Chinul; see also p. 253, n. 1. 58. This story appears in the Tsu-t'ang chi. See Yanagida Seizan, ed., Sodóshü, Zengaku sòsho 4 (Kyoto: Chübun shuppansha, 1984), p. 383; see also Ching-te ch'uan-teng lu, T 51.288b29-289al3. This story is discussed in Chapter 5 by Ding-hwa Hsieh. 59. T 47.865M l-c7. 60. T 47.866b20-29. 61. See my chapter "Lin-chi Ch'an and Gender: The Rhetoric of Equality and the Rhetoric of Heroism," in José Ignacio Cabezón, ed., Buddhism, Sexuality and Gender (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1992), pp. 137-156. 62. P'u-shuo, p. 433c. 63. On the meaning of ta-chang-fu and its use in Sung Ch'an, see my "Linchi Ch'an and Gender," pp. 141-146; for its use in funeral sermons for women in Japanese Zen, see William M. Bodiford, Sótó Zen in Medieval Japan (Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 1993), pp. 205-206. 64. T 47.866b 19-20. 65. It could be heard as implying that only unusual or "manly" women are likely to have sufficient commitment and thus, while encouraging one special woman, runs the risk of discouraging women in general. 66. See Ching-te ch'uan-teng lu, T 51.257cl4; for an English translation, see Chang, Original Teachings of Ch'an Buddhism, p. 155. 67. Kuang Tsang-chu, Librarian Kuang, is the first listed in the Nien-p'u's list of Ta-huis dharma heirs. See Ishii, "Nenpu (jó)," p. 140a, line 8, and Ishii, "Nenpu (ge)," p. 143a, line 4, and p. 163b. His full name is Chiao-chung Mikuang (d. 1155). He was from Ch'ang-le in Fukien. He had been to study with Yüan-wu at Mount Yün-chü, and with other teachers. He visited Ta-hui at Kuang-yin Retreat and was greatly enlightened at Ta-huis Yün-men Retreat at Hsiao-ch'in in Chuan-chou. In the entry in the Nien-p'u under Ta-huis fortysixth year he is called the first to obtain the dharma at Yang-yü Retreat. 68. P'u-shuo, p. 433c. 69. The Chia-t'ai p'u-teng lu has a brief entry for Chi-shou Tao-jen, as a dharma heir of Yüan-wu (see HTC 137.118b5-9), but Yüan-wu's records contain no mention of her. Ta-hui tells this story about her more than once, and his story seems to be the source of the Chia-t'ai p'u-teng lu's record. Another reference to this story is at P'u-shuo, p. 439d. 70. Lit., "praised and petted a beloved child." 71. P'u-shuo, p. 443a-b. A possible interpretation: her sentence was "Miaotao only understands this way." He says: you put in an extra "only understands this way." If you take that away, it only leaves "Miao-tao."

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72. One might be tempted to guess that Ta-hui associates using this hua-t'ou with teaching women students. But at Kuang-yin Retreat he was using this old saying with men as well, for the story explains that he was using it with the monastic Librarian Kuang. To those who wonder to what degree Ta-hui's emphasis on and interpretation of the hua-t'ou method was an innovation, the difference between Yuan-wu's method of instructing Chi-shou Tao-jen and Tahuis method of instructing Miao-tao seems to be that Ta-hui did not, like Yiianwu, ask for a comment. This may be a crucial difference—see his set of instructions given to Miao-tao and adopted in the tradition discussed above. 73. The sermon does not say in what year this occurred. If Miao-tao arrived during the rainy season retreat that probably began in the fourth month of the same year that Ta-hui arrived at Kuang-yin temple in the spring, and if Ta-hui is correct in saying that she was the first of his students to attain what he believed to be Chan's goal, then it makes sense to place his success at his next temple, Yang-yii, as occurring during the following year. 74. Chang-lao ("elder") can be used to refer to abbots and monks of high rank or as a term of respect by a younger monk in addressing an older monk. Ta-huis Yu-lu includes a poem given to "Elder of Great Compassion" (see T 47.857c). 75. P'u-shuo, p. 443bl8-c2. This passage is translated into modern Japanese in Ishii, Sodai zenshushi no kenkyu, p. 331. The eighth fascilcle of Ta-huis Yu-lu contains seven "Instructions to the Assembly" recorded at this retreat. 76. P'u-shuo, p. 443c2. 77. With the possible exception of the nun Fa-teng—see note 5 above. 78. The place was also known as P'i-ling ("Adjacent to [tomb?] mounds"), which is what it was called in the Chan genealogical history entries for Miao-tao. 79. The first is the T'ang nun Yiian-chi (also known as Hsiian-chi) (see Chiat'ai p'u-teng lu, HTC 137.170c; Wu-teng hui-yuan, HTC 138.32a). The second is Hui-wen. Although there are no details about her life, her biographical entries include a sermon, showing that she was in fact an abbess and teacher. She is listed as a dharma heir of Fo-yen Ch'ing-yuan (1067-1120), Yiian-wu's dharma brother, so she probably preceded Miao-tao as abbess of Ching-chu (see Chiat'ai p'u-teng lu, HTC.137.126a; Wu-teng hui-yuan, HTC 138.392a-b; and Hsu ch'uan-teng lu, T 51.671b). The third is Wu-hsiang Fa-teng, a dharma heir of Hui-wen. Her biographical entries give no details about her life but include a short "ascending the hall" sermon, showing that she was an abbess and teacher (see Chia-t'ai p'u-teng lu, HTC 137.148d; Wu-teng hui-yuan, HTC 138.411b; and Hsu ch'uan-teng lu, T 51.697c). 80. P'u-shuo, p. 436d. 81. P'u-shuo, p. 440b. 82. Wei-ch'i is the board game more popularly known in the West in its Japanese pronunciation as go. The Chia-t'ai p'u-teng lu and Wu-teng hui-yuan versions of this sermon have "and more sects than stars in the sky" in place of the simile of wei-ch'i. 83. Lien-teng hui-yao, HTC 136.363cl5-dl3; cf. Wu-teng hui-yuan, HTC 138.401al0-b9 and Chia-t'ai p'u-teng lu, HTC137.136al0-b8. I am translating the Lien-teng hui-yao version published in 1183. Only the Lien-teng hui-yao ver-

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sion of this sermon begins with a question and answer from a monk (seng). The same question and answer apears among other dialogues (wen-ta) in the Chiat'ai p'u-teng lu and Wu-teng hui-yuan. 84. I.e., in this case, the dharma of your awakening does not come about without things that cause it to come about. As the teacher, it is my job to be a cause. 85. Lit., "launch into song." 86. Lien-teng hui-yuan, HTC 136.363bl4-364a8. 87. Lien-teng hui-yuan, HTC 136.364a9-13. 88. Chia-t'ai p'u-teng lu, HTC.136M2-13; Wu-teng hui-yao, HTC.401b7-8. One close translation of "ku-ti-ku-tung" might be "curi-curio." This term may be a dialect expression similar to "hu-li-hu-t'u," meaning "muddle-headed, confused." "Hu-li-hu-tu" simply means "hu-tu," with some added expressiveness; my guess is that "ku-ti-ku-tung" simply means "ku-tung," "old object or instrument that deserves to be valued," with some added expressiveness through sound. As in the case of the "li" in "hu-li-hu-t'u," the "ti" in "ku-ti-ku-tung" does not add to or alter the lexical meaning. 89. Chia-t'ai p'u-teng lu, HTC 137.136M4-16. 90. Ts'ung-lin sheng-shih, HTC 148.39bl4-16. Shui-an does not take Miaotao's accomplishments as a challenge to men to demonstrate their own (superior) manhood. He just comments that she is better than many men. 91. In the Sung dynasty, as I have written elsewhere, some Chan masters practiced a rhetoric of equality. They told their audiences that all could attain awakening: "This matter does not depend on your being noble or base, old or young, rich or poor." And certain Chan masters in the Sung extended this rhetoric to include a new phrase: man or woman (see Levering, "The Dragon Girl and the Abbess of Mo-shan: Gender and Status in Chan Buddhist Tradition," Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 5.1 [1982]: 19; and Levering, "Lin-chi Chan and Gender," pp. 137-140). In his book The Rhetoric of Immediacy (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1991), Bernard Faure picked up on this observation and went on to say that in the history of the Chan and Zen tradition taken as a whole, it was never more than a rhetoric. Faure writes: "Despite—or because of—the theoretical equality it posits between the sexes, Ch'an was an essentially masculine discourse, defined by its patriarchal tradition: for all the talk about robes, there are no women, no matriarchs, there. To be sure, in Chan rhetoric, distinctions such as that between men and women were denied 'not only any ultimate importance in themselves, but also any relevance to enlightenment.' But precisely such a statement is essentially rhetorical: just like the equality between passions and awakening, it is denied in practice or in discourse as soon as it seems to threaten the established order" (p. 242; quoting Levering, "The Dragon Girl," p. 19). Faure's thought-provoking suggestion is well worth pondering, as historians of Ch'an, Zen, and Son Buddhism begin to uncover the history of women and gender in their subtraditions. But Miao-tao's story offers some counterevidence in regard to the Southern Sung. 92. See Levering, "Dogen's Raihaitokuzui and Women Teaching in Sung Ch'an," Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies, vol. 21, no. 1 (1998), pp. 77-110.

Chapter 7

Sung Controversies Concerning the "Separate Transmission ' of Ch'an T. G R I F F I T H F O U L K

been asserted that the Ch'an school in medieval China eschewed reliance on Buddhist teachings handed down in sutras and commentarial literature, stressing instead an immediate, personal realization of awakening based on meditation practice and interaction with an accomplished spiritual guide—a Ch'an master. This characterization is not entirely groundless, but it is more accurate as a description of Ch'an mythology and ideology than as an account of any actual state of affairs. Within the Ch'an tradition itself, the question of the relationship between Ch'an and the sutras was raised almost exclusively in connection with two famous slogans: "a separate transmission apart from the teachings" (chiao-wai pieh-ch'uan) and "not setting up scriptures" (pu-li wen-tzu). In various texts dating from the T'ang and Sung dynasties, these two sayings were attributed to Bodhidharma, the putative first patriarch (ch'u-tsu) of the Ch'an lineage (ch'an-tsung) in China, and were used to describe the manner in which he transmitted the dharma. By the end of the twelfth century, both sayings also came to be attributed to the Buddha Sakyamuni, who was supposed to have uttered them on the occasion of transmitting the dharma to Mahakasyapa and thereby founding the Ch'an lineage. The entire discussion of Ch'an as a "separate transmission" of the Buddha's wisdom—a transmission not relying on sutras—took place within the context of polemical claims and counterclaims concerning the historicity of the Ch'an lineage. I T HAS O F T E N

In the world of Sung Buddhism, there was no real debate over the substantive issues of sutra study by monks or the chanting of sutras as merit-making devices in Buddhist rites. Nor was there any great controversy over the practice of seated meditation (tso-ch'an), the importance of finding a good teacher, or the idea that every

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monk should seek the same realization of awakening as that attained by the founder of the order, Sakyamuni. All of those practices and values were taken for granted by all monks and were built into the structure of the Buddhist monastic institution as a whole, with scarcely any differences between the monasteries that were designated as Ch'an establishments and those that were not. 1 The controversies that simmered in the Sung over the status of the Ch'an lineage as a "separate transmission," in short, were more about securing prestige, patronage, and special privileges within the Buddhist order than about practical matters of monkish training or spiritual cultivation. The "separate transmission" slogan was used successfully by proponents of Ch'an to argue that members of their lineage, having inherited the enlightenment of the Buddha in a direct line of "mind-to-mind transmission," were the monks most qualified for positions of leadership within the existing Buddhist monastic institution. The slogan was not used to promote any particular reforms of that institution from within, nor was it associated with any schismatic attempt to establish independent Ch'an monasteries that were "sectarian" in the technical sense of splitting off from an ecclesiastical mainstream. The success of the Ch'an school in the Sung was largely predicated on its bold, quasi-historical claim to represent an elite lineage of patriarchs or "ancestral teachers" (tsu-shih) within the Buddhist order. As the story goes, the Ch'an lineage originated in India when the Buddha Sakyamuni transmitted his highest teaching or dharma (fa) to one of his close disciples, the monk Mahakasyapa. Unlike the verbal teachings (chiao) of the Buddha preserved in the form of sutra literature, the dharma vouchsafed to Mahakasyapa is said to have been the formless, ineffable essence of the Buddha's awakening—the "Buddha-mind" (fo-hsin) itself. As recipient of that special transmission, Mahakasyapa became the first patriarch of the Ch'an lineage. At the end of his teaching career, he in turn transmitted the "mind dharma" (hsin-fa) to Ananda, who became the second patriarch. That process of unilinear succession to Sakyamuni's dharma is said to have continued down through twenty-eight Indian patriarchs, culminating in Bodhidharma, who traveled to China and became the first of six eminent patriarchs in that eastern land. In the generations after the sixth patriarch, Hui-neng (638-713), the Ch'an lineage is said to have split into two main branches, which further divided into the so-called five houses (wu-chia). From two of the latter—the Lin-chi and Ts'ao-tung lines—the Sung compilers of this

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genealogy traced the numerous subbranches of the Chan lineage in which they and their contemporaries claimed membership. Modern scholarship has established that this traditional account of the founding of the Ch'an lineage by Sakyamuni and the subsequent transmission of the dharma through twenty-eight Indian and six Chinese patriarchs is mythical in nature; it does not appear in any sources older than the Pao-lin [Monastery] Record (Pao-lin chuan), compiled in 801.2 In the Sung, however, this account was promoted and accepted as a true story by many within the Buddhist order, who deemed it an accurate representation of a series of events that had actually taken place in ancient India and medieval China. The complex process through which the patriarchal lineage had been constructed in the T'ang was largely opaque to Buddhist historians in the Sung. There is no evidence that they had any knowledge of the various texts, known today as the Tun-huang Ch'an manuscripts, that contradicted the list of patriarchs given in the Paolin Record. Presumably, those works had been lost or suppressed by the end of the tenth century. Acceptance of the account of the early Ch'an lineage was far from universal in Sung China, however, and it never had the quality of naive, uncritical belief that scholars are apt to impute to "primitive" peoples or ancient cultures when we imagine the ways in which they embraced their myths. On the contrary, both the Sung Buddhists who championed the story of the early Ch'an lineage and those who refuted it shared a mode of historical consciousness in which records of past events were distinguished as factual or fictional on the basis of sophisticated rules of textual evidence and authority. An elucidation of those commonly accepted rules is one of the tasks of this chapter. Much was at stake in the Sung debates over the historicity of the early Ch'an lineage and the exact nature of the dharma that it conveyed to China. The idea that the Ch'an lineage represented a direct, unbroken transmission of the Buddha Sakyamuni's most profound insight became grounds for claiming special status and privileges within the Buddhist sangha for monks who were identified as members of the lineage. Both proponents and opponents of the Ch'an lineage took it for granted that that strategy could succeed only to the extent that the story of a "separate transmission" through the line of Indian patriarchs was accepted as historically factual. The movement to create an elite fraternity of Ch'an masters was

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tremendously successful in the Sung, despite opposition from minority parties of monks associated with the T'ien-t'ai and Nan-shan Lii (Vinaya) schools. During the Sung the imperial court designated a majority of leading public monasteries as Ch'an establishments, which meant that their abbacies were restricted to monks who could prove that they belonged to the Ch'an lineage.3 This policy went hand in hand with imperial ratification of the Ch'an "records of the transmission of the flame" (ch'uan-teng lu, hereafter referred to as "genealogical histories"), which presented accounts of the lineage going all the way back to Sakyamuni. The first text to be so ratified was the Ching-te Record of the Transmission of the Flame (Ching-te ch'uan-teng lu), which was completed in 1004 and included in the Buddhist canon by imperial decree. It was followed over the next two hundred fifty years by a series of similarly organized Ch'an genealogies that periodically brought the lineage records up to date and were added to the canon as bona fide histories. Once association with the Ch'an lineage became a ticket to high office in the leading public monasteries of the Sung, there was naturally an increase in the number of powerful monks who had a vested interest in upholding the historicity of the accounts in the genealogical histories. The success that proponents of Ch'an enjoyed in the field of historiography enhanced their social status and political power, and that status and power in turn lent impetus and legitimacy to the continued production of Ch'an histories. Although competition for followers, abbacies, and patronage was always in the background of the Sung controversies concerning the "separate transmission" of Ch'an, this chapter will focus on the intellectual and religious issues that were raised in the debates over the historicity of the early Ch'an lineage and the nature of the dharma that was transmitted. Those debates took place between leading Ch'an and T'ien-t'ai monks as well as within the Ch'an school itself. T'ien-t'ai opponents either denied the occurrence of a "separate transmission" of Ch'an from Sakyamuni to Mahakasyapa or held that it was inferior to the "perfect teaching" (yuan-chiao) that the Buddha had preached in the Lotus Sutra. Proponents of Ch'an all affirmed the historicity of the "separate transmission" to Mahakasyapa, but they differed on exactly where, when, and how it had taken place. They also disagreed on the meaning and practical implications of the slogans "a separate transmission apart from the teachings" and "not setting up scriptures."

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Ancient Sources Known in the Sung In order to understand the Sung debates on these issues, which often hinged on matters of historical evidence, it is necessary to take stock of the received documentary sources on which Buddhist historians in the Sung had to rely for details of the "separate transmission" by Sakyamuni and Bodhidharma. Record of the Transmission of the Dharma Collection Sung chroniclers of the Ch'an lineage knew that the list of twentyeight patriarchs found in the Ching-te Record and later genealogical histories was contradicted by a similar list posited in the Record of the Transmission of the Dharma Collection (Fu fa-tsang yin-yiian chuan),4 translated in 472. That text tells how, after the Buddha Sakyamunis entry into nirvana, his dharma collection (dharmapitaka; fa-tsang) was compiled by his disciples, led by Mahakasyapa. It relates how Mahakasyapa, before he died, entrusted the dharma collection to Ananda, who in turn passed it on to Sanavasa, and so on down through twenty-three generations, culminating with a monk named Siriiha.5 The text explains that the transmission of the dharma collection was cut off when Siriiha was caught in a suppression of Buddhism in the kingdom of Kubha (Kashmir). The problems caused by the Record of the Transmission of the Dharma Collection for Sung Ch'an historians were serious, and it was, accordingly, frequently cited as an authority by T'ien-t'ai critics who challenged the historicity of the Ch'an lineage. The similarity of its list of twenty-three monks with the twenty-eight patriarchs supposed to constitute the Ch'an lineage in India was obvious, and the text had the prestige of being a translation from Sanskrit, so it was hard to ignore. The problems began with the fact that the text did not posit any direct, personal transmission of the dharma from Sakyamuni to Mahakasyapa. The dharma collection that it said was transmitted in the generations after Mahakasyapa, moreover, was nothing other than the three collections (tripitaka; san-tsang) of the Buddhist canon—hardly something that would distinguish the Ch'an lineage. The transmission of the dharma from person to person, to make matters worse, was said to have been cut off after the twentythird generation, and the text made no mention of Bodhidharma or any sort of transmission to China.

Controversies Concerning the "Separate Transmission" Additional Biographies of Eminent

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Tao-hsiians Additional Biographies of Eminent Monks (Hsu kaoseng chuan) was first completed in 645, with subsequent additions made until the author's death in 667. Buddhist scholars in the Sung were well aware of the text, which was one of the oldest and most respected documents pertaining to the history of the sangha in China. For Sung historians of the Ch'an lineage, the Additional Biographies was significant because it contained biographies of Bodhidharma, 6 Hui-k'o,7 and Tao-hsin,8 who were known as the first, second, and fourth patriarchs of the Ch'an lineage in China. The text perplexed them, however, because it made no reference to the Ch'an lineage as such or to any line of Indian patriarchs linking Bodhidharma back to Sakyamuni. Nor did it draw any connections between Bodhidharma and his disciple Hui-k'o, on the one hand, and Tao-hsin and his disciple Hung-jen on the other. The reason for Tao-hsiians silence on those matters is obvious today: the myth of Bodhidharma's lineage had yet to be invented. From the standpoint of Sung historians of the Ch'an lineage, however, the problem lay partly with Tao-hsiian, who either was ignorant of the existence of the Ch'an lineage or willfully chose to ignore it, and partly with the nature of the "biographies of eminent monks" (kao-seng chuan) genre itself, which did not use the category of dharma lineages as an organizational principle. 9 All of the monks who were recognizable early in the Sung as patriarchs in the Ch'an lineage—Bodhidharma, Hui-k'o, Tao-hsin, and Hung-jen—were simply categorized as dhyana practitioners (hsi-ch'an). Pao-lin Record The Pao-lin [Monastery] Record (Pao-lin chuan) in ten fascicles,10 compiled in 801 by a monk named Chih-chti (dates unknown) or Hui-chii, was one of the T'ang texts that did the most to shape Sung conceptions of the Ch'an lineage. It was the source of the list of twenty-eight Indian patriarchs that was accepted in the Sung and was the oldest text to depict the transmission of a superior, formless dharma directly and personally from Sakyamuni to Mahakasyapa. The Pao-lin Record account of that transmission, however, incorporated elements of Buddhist lore that were well known in the Sung from various Indian texts that had circulated in Chinese translation

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since the T'ang and earlier. In particular, it echoed Buddhist scriptures that assigned a key role to Mahakasyapa in the compilation of the canon at the "first council" convened at Rajagrha by five hundred of the Buddha's disciples soon after his death. Numerous ancient records of that event, most found in sutra and Vinaya texts, were available to Buddhist historians in the Sung. All of the texts in question agree that Mahakasyapa served as the leader of the council and that Ananda was relied on to remember the contents of the Buddha's various sutras, but beyond that they differ.11 Another element in the Pao-lin Record account of the founding of the Ch'an lineage that drew on Buddhist lore long established in China was the claim that Sakyamuni gave Mahakasyapa a monk's robe (samghatl; seng-chia-li) in conjunction with his bestowal of the formless dharma and charged him with transmitting it to Maitreya, the future Buddha. The Pao-lin Record states that, at the end of his life, Mahakasyapa entrusted the dharma to the second patriarch, Ananda, and then took the robe and went into Cock's Foot Mountain (Kukkutapada; Chi-tsu shan) to await the birth of Maitreya. This story derived from sources older than the Pao-lin Record that were known in China throughout the T'ang and Sung.12 Tradition had it that Mahakasyapa had taken the robe with him into the bowels of the mountain (opening the rock, which closed behind him), where he entered into a deep "trance of extinction" to pass the billions of years until Maitreya's birth. The Pao-lin Record account of the transmission to Mahakasyapa drew on disparate sources, many of them canonical, to piece together an ostensibly historical record of the founding in India of the lineage that Bodhidharma brought to China. Although the composite nature of the Pao-lin Record version of the story may not have been as transparent to historians in the Sung as it is today, there were still inconsistencies and ambiguities within it that left room for, and in some cases demanded, further elaboration. The Pao-lin Record treats the transmission to Mahakasyapa in two places: in the biography of Sakyamuni and in the biography of Mahakasyapa. The first account comes near the end of a lengthy retelling of the Buddha's life story and is followed by a brief recounting of the circumstances of his death. The text reads: He preached the dharma in the world for forty-nine years, opening the marvelous gate of wisdom, urging the way of enlightenment on his five fellow [ascetics] and one god [Brahma]. His con-

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verting [of people] was great, [with the result that they were] provided with the three superknowledges and attained the six supernatural powers and eight liberations. He told his disciple Mahakasyapa, "I entrust to you the pure eye of the dharma (ch'ingching fa-yen), the wonderful mind of nirvana (nieh-p'an miaohsin), the subtle true dharma (wei-miao cheng-fa), which in its authentic form is formless (shih-hsiang wu-hsiang). You must protect and maintain it." He also commanded Ananda to assist in the propagation [of the dharma] and not to let it be cut off. The Buddha further instructed Kasyapa with a verse, saying: The dharma is at root a dharma of no dharma, But that no-dharma dharma is yet the dharma. When I now transmit no dharma. What dharma could possibly be the dharma?

Then, when the World Honored One had finished reciting this verse, he further said to Kasyapa, "I give to you this samghatl (monk's robe), sewn with gold thread. Transmit it in turn to the Buddha-to-be [Maitreya]. Until Maitreya Buddha appears in the world, fifty-seven billion six million years hence, do not let it be spoiled." At that time, when Kasyapa had listened to these verses, he [bowed] his head toward [the Buddha] and worshiped his feet. The top of his head emitted ethereal rays of light, which illumined that most honored of two-legged beings and collected like a golden mountain. Then Kasyapa himself responded with praises, saying, "Well spoken, well spoken! Please do not be concerned; I shall follow your command and respectfully comply with [you,] Buddha." Then the World Honored One went to the city of Kusinagara, where he told the various assemblies [of followers], "Now I have taken sick and wish to enter nirvana." Thereupon he rested beneath a pair of sala trees beside the river Hiranya, on his right side with one leg lying on the other, and quietly passed away.13 The second account of the transmission given by the Pao-lin Record appears in the biography of the "first patriarch Mahakasyapa," which follows immediately after that of Sakyamuni: [The World Honored One] always praised him [Mahakasyapa] in the assembly as the foremost [of his disciples]. At that time, when the World Honored One was about to enter nirvana, he told his disciple Mahakasyapa, "I entrust to you the pure eye of the dharma, the wonderful mind of nirvana, the subtle true dharma, which in its authentic form is formless. You may spread it and not let it be cut off." Kasyapa respectfully replied that yes, he would receive the teachings (chiao). The Nirvana Sutra says:

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"When the World Honored One wished to enter nirvana, Kasyapa was not present in the assembly. The Buddha announced to his leading disciples, 'When Kasyapa comes, you may have him proclaim and clarify the collection of the eye of the true dharma (cheng-fa-yen tsang)."'lA He further commanded Ananda, together with Kasyapa, to propagate [the dharma]. At the time, Mahakasyapa was on Vulture Peak in the Pippala Cave. When he saw the ethereal light and [felt] the earth tremble, he immediately entered into samadhi and, using his pure godly eye, saw the World Honored One entering nirvana beside the river Hiranya. 15 The Pao-lin Record's version of events at the council of Rajagrha occurs later in the biography of Mahakasyapa. It begins with Mahakasyapa telling his fellow monks after the Buddha's cremation that they should not concern themselves with the physical relics, which should be left as a great field of merit for kings, ministers, city elders, and other lay persons to make offerings to. 16 Rather, Mahakasyapa says, "We should compile (chieh-chi) the eye of the dharma (fa-yen) and not allow it to be cut off, so that in future generations it may constitute a great shining wisdom that illuminates the true dharma (cheng-fa)." Thereupon, the text continues, Mahakasyapa used his great supernatural powers to go to the peak of Sumeru (the mountain at the center of the cosmos), where he recited a verse inviting those disciples of the Buddha who also possessed such powers to forgo entering nirvana and to join him in the compilation. The verse reverberated throughout all the billions of worlds, with the result that exactly 499 disciples with supernatural powers gathered at Mahakasyapas dwelling place, the Pippala Cave on Vulture Peak in Rajagrha. The text goes on to tell the story of how Ananda, after initially being excluded from the assembly because he had not yet extinguished all defilements, was finally able to join after attaining the fruit of arhatship and proving his possession of the requisite powers by entering the door of the cave through the keyhole. The text continues: The assembly thus numbered five hundred. King Ajatasatru was made protector of the compilation, with the result that kings even today are able to see the Hinayana teachings. At the time all the bhiksus rose from their seats and inquired of the elder, Mahakasyapa, which collection (tsang) among the three collections (san-tsang) should be compiled first. Kasyapa said that it should be the collection of sutras. Kasyapa told the holy assembly, "This bhiksu Ananda has heard and retained much. He has great wis-

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dom, he always attended the Tathagata, and his practice of morality is pure. His hearing of the Buddha's dharma was like water poured entirely from one vessel into another with no remainder, and he was praised by the Buddha as the most astute in comprehension. Let us invite him to compile the collection of sutras." The great assembly, by its silence, signified its approval. Kasyapa asked Ananda, "Will you now proclaim the eye of the dharma (fayen)?" Ananda, having received this charge, respectfully assented. Observing the sacred will [of the assembly], he recited a verse: "If monks and their various clans of [spiritual] descendants are separated from the Buddha, they will have no magnificence; it would be like a host of stars in the sky having no moon." Having spoken this verse he made prostrations at the feet of the assembled monks, mounted the dharma seat, and spoke these words: "Thus have I heard. At one time the Buddha was staying at such-andsuch a city at such-and-such a place and he preached suchand-such a sutra" and so on up to "Humans and gods all made prostrations and left." Then Kasyapa asked the bhiksus whether what Ananda had spoken was not mistaken, and the bhiksus said it did not differ from what the World Honored One had preached. Thereupon Kasyapa asked Upali to compile the Vinaya collection, and he asked Katyayana to compile the Abhidharma collection. Kasyapa then entered the "samadhi of knowledge as desired" (yuan-chih san-mei) and observed that the dharma collection (fa-tsang) that had been compiled was entirely without deficiencies and that therefore it would spread and not be cut off. Next he did the same for the Vinaya and Abhidharma and also cloaked himself in the wisdom of the Great Perfection of Wisdom Treatise (Ta-chih-tu lunJ.17 Much of the wording of this account of the "first council" was drawn directly from the Record of the Transmission of the Dharma Collection. The Pao-lin Record contains several inconsistencies. The first concerns the place, time, and circumstances of Sakyamuni's formal designation of Mahakasyapa as dharma heir. In the biography of Sakyamuni, the Pao-lin Record indicated that the Buddha entrusted Mahakasyapa with the dharma in person, also reciting a verse and giving him a robe for Maitreya, but the text did not say where or exactly when that took place. The reader is left to infer that it happened at the end of the Buddha's career as a teacher; in any case, it was before he went to Kusinagara, the place of his death. In the biography of Mahakasyapa, in contrast, the Pao-lin Record presented

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an entirely different account of the transmission, in which the World Honored One publicly gave Mahakasyapa, who was not in the assembly but away on Vulture Peak, authority to "proclaim and clarify the collection of the eye of the true dharma." The timing was just before the Buddha's death and the place, presumably, was Kusinagara. Thus one account allowed for a face-to-face transmission, including the bestowal of a verse and a robe, but it told a tale for which no corroboration could be found in the sutras or Vinaya. The other was verifiable by such sources, but it fell far short of documenting a special "mind-to-mind" transmission of the Chan dharma. The second major inconsistency in the Pao-lin Record account is the ambiguous nature of the dharma vouchsafed to Mahakasyapa. On the one hand, the Pao-lin chuan wanted to show that the dharma transmitted by Sakyamuni was something formless—the "mind of nirvana." Thus, in Sakyamuni's biography, it described the "pure eye of the dharma" (ch'ing-ching fa-yen) as a subtle "dharma of no dharma" that could scarcely be confused with a body of texts or a collection of specific doctrines. 18 On the other hand, the Pao-lin Record was at pains to establish the historicity of the transmission, so it cited documentary evidence and mapped the Ch'an transmission on to the well-known account of Mahakasyapas compilation of the dharma collection (chi-fa-tsang) that was found in the Record of the Transmission of the Dharma Collection. In the passage it quoted from the Nirvana Sutra, the "collection of the eye of the true dharma" (cheng-fa-yen tsang) with which Kasyapa was publicly entrusted was hardly the formless dharma mentioned earlier; it was, rather, the tripitaka (san-tsang) compiled at the council of Rajagrha. In the Sung, the expression "collection of the eye of the true dharma" (cheng-fa-yen tsang) became a catchword of Ch'an ideology, but it no longer referred to the tripitaka. It signified, rather, a special "collection" (pitaka; tsang) that comprised no texts at all but simply the "eye" or formless essence of the dharma—the Buddhamind or enlightenment itself. It was also used to refer to the sayings of Ch'an patriarchs, especially when collected and used as kung-an.19 That shift in meaning was actually anticipated in the Pao-lin Record, in the stories of the transmission from the twenty-first patriarch Vasubandhu to the twenty-second patriarch Manorhita, 20 from Manorhita to the twenty-third patriarch Haklenayasas,21 from Haklenayasas to the twenty-fourth patriarch Simha bhiksu,22 and from the twenty-eighth patriarch Bodhidharma to Hui-k'o.23 In all of those stories, the master tells the disciple: "The Tathagata entrusted the

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great eye of the dharma (ta-fa-yen) to Mahakasyapa, and it was handed down in like manner until it came to me. I now entrust this collection of the eye of the true dharma (cheng-fa-yen tsang) to you." These words and the contexts in which they are uttered do not give the impression that the dharma being transmitted consists of a large collection of oral or written sutras. Despite the claim that transmission is taking place in just the same manner as the Buddha's bestowal of the "collection of the eye of the true dharma" to Mahakasyapa, the circumstances are quite different and no mention is made of the council of Rajagrha. It is as if the compiler of the Pao-lin Record, having drawn on canonical accounts of the compilation of the canon at Rajagrha to depict Mahakasyapa as chief heir to the Buddha's dharma, then wished to redefine that dharma in a way that dissociated it from the tripitaka. The third major inconsistency in the Pao-lin Record account pertains to the robe that Sakyamuni purportedly gave to Mahakasyapa to transmit to Maitreya. In the well-known Buddhist legends of Maitreya, the robe was really a gift directly from the Buddha Sakyamuni to the Buddha Maitreya, and Mahakasyapa was only a loyal disciple who delayed his own arhatship and nirvana to act as an intermediary. Within the context of the Pao-lin Record, however, the robe took on a different meaning, for later in the same text, in the biographies of both Bodhidharma and Hui-k'o, the granting of a robe was explained as a means of providing a palpable symbol or proof that the otherwise signless dharma had been vouchsafed from master to disciple. The biography of Hui-k'o reads as follows: When nine years had passed, [Bodhidharma] took the jewel of the unsurpassed dharma (wu-shang fa-pao), together with a kasaya (monk's robe) and entrusted them to Hui-k'o.... [Bodhidharma said], "Take my kasaya and use it as proof of the dharma." He also said, "There are four persons who have gotten my dharma. One has gotten my marrow, one has gotten my bones, one has gotten my flesh, and one has gotten my blood. The one who has gotten my blood is [my] attendant T'ou-fu, the one who has gotten my flesh is the nun Tsung-ch'ih, the one who has gotten my bones is the monk Tao-yii, and the one who has gotten my marrow is you, Hui-k'o. You should guard it well and not allow it to be cut off." He further said, "You have received my dharma together with the robe that will serve as proof. Each has a significance that can be explained intelligibly." [Hui]-k'o said, "Please, Master, tell me

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about these things and what they signify." The master said, "Inwardly, the transmission of the dharma seal denotes the awakened mind; outwardly, the transmission of the kasaya establishes the authority of the lineage [i.e., the authority to teach]. Because there is no mistaking this, everything will be clear of itself. After I have passed away, in the two hundredth year, this robe will not be transmitted and the dharma will spread throughout myriads of realms."24 The Pao-lin Record never claimed that the robe given to Hui-k'o by Bodhidharma was the same one Mahakasyapa got from Sakyamuni, but it certainly implied that the robes had an analogous function in both transmission stories. The Pao-lin Record's treatment of the transmission from Bodhidharma to Hui-k'o exhibited internal tensions and inconsistencies that were similar to those found in its account of the transmission to Mahakasyapa. Although the text was at pains to establish that Bodhidharma's lineage transmitted the formless "collection of the eye of the true dharma," it nevertheless quoted Bodhidharma as telling Hui-k'o that "I use the Lankavatara Sutra in four fascicles to explain the Buddha-nature (fo-hsing)."25 The inclusion of this anomalous detail in the text again bespeaks a desire to present a narrative that jibed, superficially at least, with the historical (i.e., textual) record as it was generally accepted by all Chinese Buddhists. In this case, the Pao-lin Record was probably compelled to mention the Lankavatara Sutra, because the oldest and most authoritative biography of Bodhidharma known in the T'ang—the one found in Tao-hstian's Additional Biographies of Eminent Monks— reported that Bodhidharma had given Hui-k'o the Lankavatara Sutra and told him that "in China my teachings are represented only by this scripture." 26 Another issue touched on in the Pao-lin Record and later debated in the Sung had to do with the identity and ranking of Bodhidharmas disciples. In the passage quoted above, four disciples are named: T'ou-fu, the nun Tsung-ch'ih, Tao-yti, and Hui-k'o. They are said to have attained the master's "blood," "flesh," "bones," and "marrow," respectively. The list of body parts symbolizes the relative profundity of each disciple's understanding, but the Pao-lin Record did not explain the basis on which Bodhidharma made that judgment. Other texts, notably Tsung-mi's Chart of the Master-Disciple Succession of the Ch'an Gate That Transmits the Mind Ground in China (Chung-hua ch'uan-hsin-ti ch'an-men shih-tzu ch'eng-hsi t'u) and the

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Ching-te Record, put words in the mouths of the disciples and thereby lent some doctrinal contents to the rankings of "shallow" and "deep." The Works of Tsung-mi The works of Kuei-feng Tsung-mi (780-841) played a crucial role in shaping the Sung conception of the Chan lineage.27 Tsung-mi was the first to conceive and name the "Ch'an lineage" in China as an extended clan that had many legitimate branches stemming from the first patriarch Bodhidharma. 28 His ecumenical conception of the Ch'an lineage was not accepted in the Tang, but it provided the basis for the organization of the Patriarchs Hall Collection (Tsu-t'ang chi), compiled in 952, and the Ching-te Record, completed in 1004; the latter became the model for all subsequent genealogical histories. Tsung-mi's writings sparked much controversy, however, and were largely rejected within what eventually emerged as the "orthodox" mainstream of Ch'an historiography. Had they been so inclined, Sung Ch'an historians might have tried to resolve the problem of the Record of the Transmission of the Dharma Collection by following the lead of Tsung-mi, who identified that text's list of twenty-three patriarchs as the very line through which the Ch'an dharma had been transmitted. In his Subcommentary to the Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment (Yuan-chueh ching ta-shu ch'ao), Tsung-mi argued laboriously that the dharma cut off after the twenty-third patriarch was only the "separate practice of the Vinaya teachings" (lii-chiao pieh-hsing).29 The Mahayana sutras, he claimed, together with the "mind ground that is the essence of Ch'an" (ch'antsung hsin-ti),30 continued to be transmitted and in fact were passed down to "Bodhidharmatrata" in the twenty-eighth generation. In Tsung-mi's view, it was possible to distinguish the "mind ground" from the Buddha's teachings that were handed down in scriptures, but the Ch'an lineage transmitted both of those simultaneously— there was no question of any sort of "separate transmission" and no need to posit a transmission from Sakyamuni to Mahakasyapa that was any different from the one reported in the Record of the Transmission of the Dharma Collection. Tsung-mi's account of the twenty-eight Indian patriarchs and the dharma they transmitted did not make much of an impression in the Sung, however. The last five names in his list of patriarchs did not match those given in the Pao-lin Record, and no other sources available in the Sung corroborated his version. Tsung-mi actually got

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those names from the Record of Successive Generations of the Dharma Treasure (Li-tai fa-pao chi),1] a text compiled about 774 and known today from Tun-huang, but that text had been lost or suppressed by the Sung. Indeed, Tsung-mi's Subcommentary to the Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment itself, which he wrote in 823 or 824, was lost in China and only became known in the Sung after it was reintroduced from Korea and published in 1138.32 Tsung-mi's writings are among the oldest extant texts in which the expression "not setting up scriptures" appears. 33 It is unlikely that he coined the phrase, however, for it appears in a contemporaneous work that he did not author, 34 and every time he cited it he was at pains to explain that it was not to be taken literally. The following passage from Tsung-mi's Preface to the Collected Writings on the Source of Chan (Ch'an-yuan chu-chuan-chi tu-hsu), completed in 833, is typical: When Bodhidharma received the dharma and brought it personally from India to China, he saw that most of the practitioners in this land had not yet obtained the dharma, and that they merely took names and numbered lists for understanding and took formal affairs as practice. He wanted to make them understand that the moon does not consist in the pointing finger and that the dharma is one's own mind. Thus he simply transmitted mind by means of mind without setting up scriptures (i-hsin ch'uan-hsin pu-li wentzu), manifested the principle, and destroyed attachments. It is for this reason that he spoke as he did. It was not that he preached liberation entirely apart from scriptures. Thus those whom he instructed, who understood what he meant, always praised the Diamond and Lankàvatàra, saying, "These two [sutras] are my mind's guide." Nowadays disciples choose one or the other [mind or scriptures], and that is the source of their delusion. Those who cultivate mind regard the sutras and sastras as having a separate purport, and those who lecture [on sutras] regard the Ch'an approach as having a separate dharma. When they hear discussions of cause and effect, cultivation and realization, they imagine that the speaker must belong to the sutras and sastras camp. They do not understand that cultivation and realization are truly the fundamental concern of the Ch'an approach. When they hear someone say that "mind is Buddha," they imagine that the speakers must belong to the Ch'an of subjective mentation. They do not understand that "mind is Buddha" is really the fundamental meaning of the sutras and sastras. 35 Tsung-mi, in short, rejected the idea that the Ch'an transmitted by Bodhidharma constituted an essentially different form of Buddhism

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from that handed down in the sutras.36 Earlier in the Preface he stated that "the sutras are the Buddha's words, and Ch'an is the Buddha's meaning. The mind and speech of a Buddha cannot be at odds. The essential thing that the patriarchs receive is what the Buddha intimately transmits." 37 These passages were often cited by those in the Sung who opposed a literal reading of "not setting up scriptures." Tsung-mi's Preface contains the following statement concerning the practice of giving a robe along with the dharma: "Through six generations of the Ch'an lineage, when masters and disciples transmitted the Ch'an dharma, they all said, 'Inside, I give the secret discourse (mi-yti); outside, I transmit the robe of proof (hsin-i).' The robe and the dharma, reinforcing each other, are understood as the seal of guarantee. After Ts'ao-ch'i [Hui-neng], we do not hear of this matter."38 This account of Bodhidharma giving a robe to Hui-k'o is only partially congruent with that found in the Pao-lin Record. Both sources explain the robe as visible "proof" of the transmission of a dharma that would otherwise be hidden, but they differ in their descriptions of that dharma. For Tsung-mi, it is a "discourse" ( yti)—a set of verbal teachings—that is "secret" (mi), whereas in the Pao-lin Record it is the "awakened mind" that is formless and hence hidden from view. Tsung-mi, moreover, states clearly that the practice of transmitting a robe had begun with Bodhidharma. The Pao-lin Record implied that the robe given by Sâkyamuni to Mahâkâsyapa had also served the function of proving Mahàkâsyapa's reception of a formless dharma. Tsung-mi's account of Bodhidharma's disciples also disagreed with that found in the Pao-lin Record. His Chart of the Master-Disciple Succession contains a diagram detailing Bodhidharma's lineage, the first sections of which illustrate Bodhidharma's transmission to his three disciples:39 Tao-yii got bones when deluded, it is the afflictions; when awakened, it is bodhi

Hui-k'o got marrow fundamentally there are no afflictions; that original state is bodhi

Nun Tsung-ch'ih got flesh when afflictions are cut off, one realizes bodhi

The remarks found beneath each of the three disciples' names not only indicate who received what aspect of Bodhidarma's dharma (flesh, bones, or marrow), but also represent Tsung-mi's assessment of the doctrinal content of each disciple's understanding. The Nun

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Tsung-ch'ih's understanding, the chart indicates, was the shallowest; Tao-yii's understanding was of middling depth; and Hui-k'o s was the most profound, which is why he inherited the mantle of the lineage and was named as second patriarch in China. There is no mention of the fourth disciple, T'ou-fu, who according to the Pao-lin Record got the masters "blood." Tsung-mi's representation of Bodhidharma's disciples in this chart, it is now known, was based on the Record of Successive Generations of the Dharma Treasure.40 There is no evidence that he was even cognizant of the Pao-lin Record version. Essentials of the Transmission of Mind The T'ang text titled the Essentials of the Transmission of Mind by Chan Master Tuan-chi of Mount Huang-po (Huang-po shan Tuan-chi ch'an-shih ch'uan-hsin fa-yao) presented a view of the Ch'an dharma that differed considerably from that of Tsung-mi. And, to judge from the frequency with which it was quoted, it too had quite an influence in the Sung. The Essentials of the Transmission of Mind contained the teachings of Huang-po Hsi-yiin (P-850) as presented to P'ei Hsiu (787?860) in 848 and recorded by him shortly thereafter. P'ei Hsiu, a lay Buddhist and high government official who had also been a student and patron of Tsung-mi,41 wrote a preface to the work, dated 857, in which he explained the circumstances of its compilation. According to the preface, Huang-po "was a legitimate descendant of the sixth patriarch of Ts'ao-ch'i, and a dharma nephew of Hsi-t'ang and Paichang. He only esteemed the highest vehicle, apart from the seal of scriptures, and only transmitted the one mind, employing no other dharma." 42 This passage is one of the earliest explicit statements of the idea that the Ch'an lineage transmitted "mind" alone, apart from any scriptures or doctrines. Proponents of what Tsung-mi called the Hung-chou lineage (the lineage of Ma-tsu) in the ninth century, among whom Huang-po may be counted, seem to have taken the lead in developing the rhetoric of "separate transmission." Another passage in the Essentials of the Transmission of Mind relates what Huang-po told P'ei Hsiu about Bodhidharma's legacy: From the time the great master Bodhidharma arrived in China, he only preached the one mind and only transmitted one dharma. Using Buddha to transmit Buddha, he did not speak of any other Buddhas. Using dharma to transmit dharma, he did not speak of any other dharma. The dharma was the dharma that cannot be preached, and the Buddha was the Buddha that cannot be

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grasped, since their wellspring is the pure mind. Only this one thing is truth; all other things are not truth. I take prajna (po-jo) as wisdom (hui). That wisdom is the formless fundamental mind (wu-hsiang pen-hsin).43 This passage makes clear that Huang-po took a position different from Tsung-mi on the question of Bodhidharma's teaching methods and use of scriptures.

Sung Views of the "Separate Transmission" The texts surveyed so far represent the legacy within which Ch'an historians and their opponents had to work in the Sung. The key points of uncertainty and controversy in those received sources were (1) the circumstances surrounding the founding of the Ch'an lineage by Sakyamuni Buddha, (2) the nature of the transmission from Bodhidharma to his three or four closest disciples, and (3) the question of whether the "mind dharma" of Ch'an was transmitted in conjunction with or apart from the teachings contained in the sutras. The Sung texts examined in the following pages all continued to discuss these issues, often repeating the same polemical slogans and motifs that were found in the pre-Sung sources. It is possible to trace in them the ongoing influence of Tsung-mi's opinion, on the one hand, and that of the proponents of "separate transmission," on the other. There was an important difference in the Sung literature, however. Beginning around the turn of the eleventh century, a few monks associated with the renascent T'ien-t'ai school added their own polemical voices to the debate by openly challenging the historicity of Ch'an accounts of the "separate transmission" from Sakyamuni to Mahakasyapa and questioning the superiority of the dharma inherited by Hui-k'o from Bodhidharma. Such criticisms coming from outside the Ch'an school tended to exacerbate the differences of opinion expressed within it, for proponents of Ch'an could not agree on what rhetorical and historiographical strategies should be employed to counter the T'ien-t'ai attacks. On the one hand, there was a tendency to defend the historicity of the "separate transmission" by appealing to the texts that all Buddhists considered the ultimate authority on the life of the Buddha—the sutras themselves. On the other hand, there was a tendency to locate the "separate transmission" safely beyond the scope of historical inquiry, making it a mystery that could only be attested by awakened Ch'an masters.

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T'ien-t'ai opposition brought about another significant change in the thrust of Ch'an polemics in the Sung as well. Whereas in earlier times the "teachings" (chiao) from which Ch'an was distinguished simply meant the Buddhist canon and did not refer to any particular movement within the Buddhist monastic community, from about the turn of the eleventh century the Teachings label was proudly claimed as a self-referential term by proponents of T'ien-t'ai doctrines. With that development, the slogan "a separate transmission apart from the teachings" was no longer just a weapon in the war of words over the nature of Bodhidharma's legacy. It became, in addition, a claim of distinctness from and superiority to the T'ien-t'ai school, which competed with the Ch'an school throughout the Sung for the abbacies of public monasteries, lay patronage, and imperial approval as orthodox Buddhism. Patriarchs Hall Collection The Patriarchs Hall Collection (Tsu-t'ang chi),44 compiled in 952, played an important role early in the Sung as a prototype of genealogical histories such as the Ching-te Record. Although it derived its basic conception of the Ch'an lineage as a multibranched entity from the writings of Tsung-mi, many of the data it presented on the Indian and early Chinese patriarchs were based on the Pao-lin Record. One point on which the Patriarchs Hall Collection differed significantly from the Pao-lin Record had to do with the setting and timing of the founding of the Ch'an lineage. Specifically, the Patriarchs Hall Collection placed the Buddha's public selection of Mahákásyapa as cited in the Nirvana Sütra ("When Kasyapa comes you may have him proclaim the true dharma") just before the Buddha's charge to Mahákásyapa in person ("I entrust to you the pure eye of the dharma"). One effect of this change was to suggest that the public announcement of Mahákásyapas qualifications occurred at the same time and place as the Buddha's private transmission of the dharma to him. Another was to imply that both the Buddha's announcement to his disciples and his words to Mahákásyapa were quoted directly from the Nirvana Sütra. By joining the two transmission stories in this way the compilers of the Patriarchs Hall Collection may have been trying to gloss over the inconsistency in the Pao-lin Record version. The result was an unintended exacerbation of the problem, however, for in the Patriarchs Hall Collection version the Buddha first refers to the absent Mahákásyapa and then in the next breath speaks directly to him, using the pronoun "you" twice.

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In general, the Patriarchs Hall Collection agreed with the position taken by Huang-po and his Hung-chou school that the C h a n lineage literally dispensed with scriptures. In its biography of Bodhidharma is found the following exchange: Hui-k'o proceeded to ask [Bodhidharma], "Master, can this dharma [you have just taught] be set down in writing (wen-tzu chi-lu) or not?" Bodhidharma replied, "My dharma is one of transmitting mind by means of mind (i-hsin ch'uan-hsin); it does not set up scriptures (pu-li wen-tzu)." The great master [Bodhidharma] spoke to people, saying, "There are three persons who have gotten my dharma. One person has gotten my marrow, one person has gotten my bones, and one person has gotten my flesh. The one who has gotten my marrow is Hui-k'o, the one who has gotten my bones is Tao-yii, and the one who has gotten my flesh is the nun Tsungch'ih. When my dharma reaches to the sixth generation, there will be people who transmit the dharma in a decadent fashion." Hui-k'o then asked, "Why do you say that in the sixth generation there will be people who transmit the dharma in a decadent fashion?" Bodhidharma replied, "Because false dharmas will compete and promote confusion of the true dharma. I have a kasaya that I will pass on to you." Hui-k'o said to the master, "If the dharma is a transmission of mind by means of mind, and it has no writings either, what is the purpose of using this robe?" The master replied, "Internally, I give the seal of the dharma to denote the awakened mind; outwardly, I transmit the kasaya to establish the authority of the lineage [i.e., the authority to teach]. Although the kasaya does not consist of the dharma, and the dharma does not consist in the kasaya, between the two all the Buddhas of the three times together make their predictions (shou-chi) [of bodhisattvas' future attainment of Buddhahood], I use this kasaya now to manifest my trust, to ensure that those who transmit the dharma in future generations will have something that is endowed them, to let those who practice the way know who has the authority of the lineage, and to cut off peoples doubts." Hui-k'o bowed in obeisance and served him intimately for nine years, day and night never leaving his side. The great master Bodhidharma then told him, "The Tathagata entrusted the pure eye of the dharma and the kasaya to Mahakasyapa, and they were handed down like that until they came to me. I now entrust them to you. Listen to my verse:

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The first part of this passage was actually based on one found in Tsung-mi s Subcommentary to the Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment: "Using mind to transmit mind" is the great master Bodhidharma's expression. Once Hui-k'o asked, "What doctrinal text is this dharma [of yours] found in?" The master replied, "My dharma uses mind to transmit mind; it does not set up scriptures." Although he said that, according to his own words one does not take [such] written expressions as the way but should forget the explanation and get the meaning (wang-chuan te-i). Having gotten the meaning, that is the transmission of mind.46 The Patriarchs Hall Collection, however, changed the wording of Huik'o's question in such a way that the Bodhidharma's reply, "My d h a r m a . . . does not set up scriptures," sounds like a rejection of written teachings—just the opposite of Tsung-mi s interpretation. Among the historical sources that were known early in the Sung, only the Patriarchs Hall Collection implied that the robe Bodhidharma gave Hui-k'o was exactly the same as the one that Sakyamuni gave to Mahakasyapa. The Pao-lin Record suggested that the robes served a similar function as proofs, but it did not go so far as to contradict the widely known "fact" that Mahakasyapa had taken the robe into Cocks Foot Mountain to wait for Maitreya. The Patriarchs Hall Collection is one of the oldest sources in which is found the phrase "a separate transmission apart from the teachings" (chiao-wai pieh-ch'uan).47 Yanagida Seizan has suggested that the phrase, which did not begin to appear in Ch'an literature until about the tenth century, came into use as a polemic against the interpretation of the Ch'an dharma promoted by Tsung-mi. 48 Yanagida observes that, on the face of it, the meaning of "a separate transmission" does not seem very different from the phrases, "using mind to transmit mind, not setting up scriptures." Because Tsung-mi had argued against a literal interpretation of those older phrases, however, it became necessary to reassert Bodhidharma's rejection of scriptures by coining a new slogan. Records of the Source Mirror In support of his theory, Yanagida notes that tenth-century works adopting Tsung-mi s standpoint of the "unity of the teachings and

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Chan" (chiao-ch'an i-chih), such as Yung-ming Yen-shou's (904-975) Records of the Source Mirror (Tsung-ching lu),A9 did not mention "a separate transmission apart from the teachings." Actually, the phrase does appear once in Yen-shou's tome, but in the context of a question posed by an opponent, and Yen-shou is at pains to argue that it should not be taken literally.50 Completed in 961, the Records of the Source Mirror was a massive compendium of Ch'an lore and Buddhist doctrine that was widely read throughout the Sung. It begins with the statement that "the patriarchs signal the principle of Ch'an (ch'an-li); their transmission is silent and accords with the true realization (cheng-tsung). The Buddhas proclaim the gate of the teachings (chiao-men); they set u p explanations and lay down the great meaning (ta-chih)."51 Yenshou's project in the Records of the Source Mirror was to show how those two approaches, that of the Ch'an patriarchs and that of the Buddhas (meaning the scriptural tradition), were complementary and not opposed. A little later in his opening statement he argued that Mind is the essential thing. Thus in India Sakyamuni Buddha said, "In the Buddhas' discourse, mind is the essential thing (fo-yu hsin wei tsung) and no-gate is regarded as the dharma gate (wumen wei fa-men)." In this land [China], moreover, the first patriarch Bodhidharma said, "Using mind to transmit mind, not setting up scriptures (i-hsin ch'uan-hsin, pu-li wen-tzu)." Therefore, Buddha after Buddha continually hand down their meaning, and patriarch after patriarch continuously transmit their minds to each other. This is the agreement of realization and meaning (tsung-chih) established by the patriarchs and Buddhas. 52 Here again the phrase "not setting u p scriptures" is interpreted as the ultimate purport of the scriptures themselves, which remain useful as an expedient for conveying that meaning. Like Tsung-mi before him, Yen-shou was very conscious of opposition to his views among proponents of the Ch'an lineage. In his Records of the Source Mirror he, too, used the device of posing hostile questions as a means of responding to his critics: Question: If one wants to illuminate the essential purport (tsung) [of Ch'an], one need only accord with the pure presentation of the patriarchs' meaning. What use is it to quote the verbal teachings of the Buddhas and bodhisattvas and employ them as a guide? Thus it is said in our [Ch'an] school (tsung-men): "If

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you borrow shrimp as eyes, [what you see] is not your own." Those sages who only attain scriptures can never join the ranks of patriarchs. 53 In his response to that objection, Yen-shou pointed out that all of the patriarchs in the Ch'an lineage, beginning with Mahakasyapa and including the six patriarchs in China, were disciples of the original teacher, Sakyamuni Buddha. The words of the Buddha he was quoting, he stressed, were nothing but the words that the original teacher had used to instruct and admonish his disciples. Following up on this line of argument, Yen-shou quoted Tsung-mi: "Thus the venerable Kuei-feng [Tsung-mi] said: 'The founding patriarch of all the so-called lineages (tsung) is Sakyamuni. The sutras are the Buddha's words, and Ch'an is the Buddha's meaning. The mind and speech of a Buddha cannot be at odds. The essential thing that the patriarchs receive is what the Buddha intimately transmits.' "54 Lest Tsung-mi's arguments fail to impress monks who considered themselves heirs to a different branch of the Ch'an lineage (Tsungmi's Ho-tse Lineage was deemed defunct), Yen-shou also quoted Matsu to make his point: The great master Ma-tsu of Hung-chou said, "When the great master Bodhidharma came from the land of South India, he only transmitted the dharma of the one mind of the great vehicle (tasheng i-hsin chih fa) and used the Lankavatara Sutra to seal the minds of living beings, lest they not believe in that dharma of the one mind." The Lankavatara Sutra says, "In the Buddha's discourse, mind is the essential thing and no-gate is regarded as the dharma gate (wu-men wei fa-men)." Why, in the Buddha's discourse, is mind the essential thing? Because when the Buddha speaks of mind, that is mind and that is Buddha (chi hsin chi fo). What I am saying right now is this mind speaking. Thus [the sutra] says, "In the Buddha's discourse, mind is the essential thing."55 In this passage Yen-shou cleverly showed not only Bodhidharma but also Ma-tsu, patriarch of the Hung-chou lineage, using the Lankavatara Sutra as a proof text. The phrase "mind is Buddha" (chi hsin chi fo) was a slogan closely associated with Ma-tsu. Yen-shou argued that when the Buddha preached the sutras, or when latter day people quoted and commented on them, all was the working of the Buddha-mind. By that logic, any tension or opposition that might be perceived

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between the Ch'an dharma and traditional forms of Buddhist practice could be dissolved, since everything in the world was just the working of the Buddha-mind. The Ch'an claim to transmit the one mind that is the source of everything, in other words, was readily interpreted to mean that the Ch'an lineage transmitted all doctrines and practices, or, to state the converse, that it had no particular doctrines or practices that it transmitted to the exclusion of any others. Although Yen-shou and his critics took opposing stances on the question of Bodhidharma's use of sütras, their fundamental assumptions about the nature of the Ch'an dharma were the same. One side argued that, because the mind dharma was formless, it could not be pinned down or identified with any particular aspect of the Buddhist tradition. The other side argued, on precisely the same grounds, that the mind dharma could not be distinguished or separated from any aspect of the Buddhist tradition. Whichever way the case was argued, the ideology of Ch'an left its proponents in the Sung free to engage (or not engage) in whatever sort of Buddhist or non-Buddhist study and practice they wished. Sung Biographies

of Eminent

Monks

The Sung Biographies of Eminent Monks (Sung kao-seng chuan),56 compiled by Tsan-ning (919-1001) in 988, followed the basic organizational structure of Hui-chiao's Biographies of Eminent Monks (compiled ca. 530) and Tao-hsüan's Additional Biographies of Eminent Monks (completed 667). Because the Sung Biographies picked up where the Additional Biographies had left off, it did not include a biography of Bodhidharma; the earliest figure in the Ch'an lineage to be treated was the fifth patriarch Hung-jen. Tsan-ning did, however, mention Bodhidharma in the commentary (lun) that follows the biographies of "dhyana practitioners" (hsi-ch'an). His remarks there are instructive because they reflect the understanding of Bodhidharma's legacy held by a Buddhist historian who, while recognizing the existence of the Ch'an lineage, did not claim any special affinity with it: There was a Central Indian, Bodhidharma, who took pity on our people [the Chinese]. He knew, although he had brought Sanskrit [texts] with him, that there were pitfalls to transmitting [the dharma] through name and form, like concentrating on the finger and forgetting the moon, or clinging to the trap even after catching the fish. [People in China] only regarded the chanting of scriptures as practice and did not believe that they themselves were

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already Buddhas. Therefore he attracted them with words, saying, "I point directly at the human mind [to make people] see the nature and attain Buddhahood; I do not set up scriptures" (wu chih-chih jen-hsin, chien-hsing ch'eng-fo, pu-li wen-tzu). Thus he used the vehicle of the perfection of expedient means (fang-pien po-lo-mi) to carry them directly to salvation, avoiding countless roundabout paths. The sütras have winding directions, and those winding directions entail gradual cultivation (chien-hsiu). "Seeing the nature and attaining Buddhahood" means suddenly awakening [to the truth that] the mind is of itself pure from the start, at root without afflictions or defilements, and in its original state fully equipped with wisdom, and that this mind is Buddha. In the end, there is no difference. When cultivation and realization are like this, it is the Chan of the highest vehicle. As for, "not setting up scriptures," the sütra says: "Not attaching to scriptures and not being apart from scriptures, it is not that there are no scriptures." If one can cultivate like this, then the signs of cultivation are invisible.57 The italicized portion of this passage was a direct quotation of Tsung-mi's Preface,58 The preceding discussion, which made use of the metaphor of the finger and the moon, also drew heavily from that text. Tsan-ning's claim that Bodhidharma's "direct pointing" was an expedient (fang-pien), just like the sütras, reflected Tsung-mi's argument against opponents who held that the Ch'an dharma was the ultimate truth, transmitted without the use of any expedients at all. Ching-te

Record

The Ching-te Record of the Transmission of the Flame (Ching-te ch'uan-teng lu),59 completed in 1004, was initially compiled by Yungan Tao-yüan, a monk in the Ch'an lineage three generations after Fa-yen Wen-i (885-958). The Ching-te Record proper was produced on the basis of Tao-yüan's compilation by a team of editors working at the Sung court, led by the historian Yang I (973-1020). 60 The Ching-te Record treated the transmission to Mahákasyapa first in its biography of Sákyamuni. After brief accounts of the Buddha's birth and early training, the text states that On the eighth day of the second month, at the time when the morning star appeared, the bodhisattva attained Buddhahood and came to be called the teacher of gods and humans. He was thirty at the time, which was the third year in the reign of King Mu [of the Chou dynasty, i.e., 999 B.C.E.]. Shortly thereafter, in the Deer

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Park, he turned the dharma wheel of the four truths (ssu-ti) for Kaundinya and the rest of the five ascetics and expounded on the fruit of the path. After he had preached the dharma in the world for forty-nine years, he told his disciple Mahakasyapa, "I entrust to you the pure eye of the dharma, the wonderful mind of nirvana, the subtle true dharma, which in its authentic form is formless. You must protect and maintain it." He also commanded Ananda to assist in the propagation [of the dharma] and not to let it be cut off. The Buddha further instructed Kasyapa with a verse, saying: The dharma is at root a dharma of no dharma, But that no-dharma dharma is yet the dharma. When I now transmit no dharma, What dharma could possibly be the dharma?

Then, when the World Honored One had finished reciting this verse, he further said to Kasyapa, "I give to you this samghatl, sewn with gold thread. Transmit it in turn to the Buddha-to-be [Maitreya], and until Maitreya Buddha appears in the world do not let it be spoiled." Kasyapa listened to these verses and worshiped the feet [of the Buddha] with his head, saying, "Well spoken, well spoken! I shall follow your command and respectfully comply with [you,] Buddha." Then the World Honored One went to the city of Kusinagara, where he told the various assemblies [of followers], "Now I have taken sick and wish to enter nirvana." Thereupon he rested beneath a pair of sala trees beside the river Hiranya, on his right side with one leg lying on the other, and quietly passed away.61 The passage beginning following the phrase "after he had preached the dharma in the world for forty-nine years" was taken directly from the Pao-lin Record. The Ching-te Record framed the story of the transmission to Mahakasyapa in an innovative way, however, for it presented the life of the Buddha in a more schematic fashion, organizing its account around the major events in his career and stressing the historicity of the narrative by giving precise dates for each. Four of the events treated had long been celebrated throughout the Buddhist world in literature, art, and annual commemorative rites: Sakyamuni s birth, enlightenment, first turning of the wheel of dharma (preaching), and nirvana. By placing the transmission to Mahakasyapa among these, the Ching-te Record implied that it was a fifth great event in the Buddha's career. It also invited comparison between the first turning of the wheel, in which the Buddha preached the doctrine of the four truths, and the first Ch'an trans-

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mission, in which he declared the true dharma to be a subtle state of mind, formless, inconceivable, and incommunicable—a "no dharma" that was nevertheless vouchsafed to Mahakasyapa. The Ching-te Record left no doubt that the latter, Ch'an dharma was superior to the explicit doctrines taught by the Buddha in his first sermon and subsequent forty-nine years of preaching. The Ching-te Record also treated the transmission in the biography of Mahakasyapa, and there too it followed the Pao-lin Record closely.62 As in that earlier text, we find an account of a second, "public" transmission in which the Buddha announces in Mahakasyapas absence that "when Kasyapa comes you may have him proclaim the collection of the eye of the true dharma." In its treatment of the council of Rajagrha, however, the Ching-te Record dissociated Mahakasyapa from the tripitaka, thereby furthering the impression that the dharma inherited by him was qualitatively different from that contained in the Buddha's sermons. The Ching-te Record presented an account of Bodhidharma s disciples that differed significantly from those found in the Pao-lin Record and Tsung-mi s Chart of the Master-Disciple Succession. The passage in question appears in the biography of Bodhidharma: After nine years had passed [since Bodhidharma's arrival in China], he wished to return to the west, to India, so he commanded his disciples saying, "The time is near; each of you should say what you have attained." At the time, the disciple Taofu replied, "As I see it, the function of the Tao consists in not attaching to scriptures and not being apart from scriptures." The master said, "You have gotten my skin." The nun Tsung-ch'ih said, "My understanding now is that it is like the joy of seeing the Buddha-land of Aksobhya: it is felt at the first glance, but not the second glance." The master said, "You have gotten my flesh." Tao-yii said, "The four elements are at root empty, and the five skandhas have no existence; from my point of view, there is not a single dharma that could be attained." The master said, "You have gotten my bones." Finally Hui-k'o, after making a prostration, just stood at his place. The master said, "You have gotten my marrow."63 The disciple Tao-fu, whose insight is judged the shallowest of the four disciples, appears for the first time in this passage. The words attributed to him—"the function of the Tao consists in not attaching to scriptures and not being apart from scriptures"—were actually a direct quote of Tsan-ning s "commentary" in the Sung Biographies.64

Figure 7.1. Bodhidharma and his disciples. Bodhidharma's foremost disciple and heir to the patriarchy, Hui-k'o, is offering his arm so that he might be accepted as a student. The caption identifies the two figures standing behind the seated first patriarch Bodhidharma as the disciples Tao-hsing and Nun Tsung-ch'ih. The former name is not attested in any Chinese sources and is considered as an orthographic mistake; the disciple most commonly associated with Hui-k'o and Tsung-ch'ih is Tao-yii. The figure beside the chair is unidentified but may be Tao-fu, the fourth disciple who is mentioned for the first time in the Ching-te Record. The painting conflates two stories: the account of the four disciples who receive his "skin, flesh, bone, and marrow" and another stoiy in the Ching-te Record that tells of Hui-k'o sacrificing his arm. The drawing, a detail from a set depicting the six patriarchs of the Ch'an lineage, dates from the thirteenth century and is preserved at Kozanji in Kyoto.

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The Ching-te Record evidently used the figure of Tao-fu to represent and denigrate Tsan-nings views concerning Bodhidharma's legacy and, through him, Tsung-mi's views. The most profound expression of Bodhidharma's dharma, according to the Ching-te Record, was evinced by Hui-k'o, who simply stood in silence. Hui-k'os wordless response symbolized the formlessness and ineffability of the dharma and the Ch'an predilection for gesture as a teaching method. (See Fig. 7.1.) Chih-li on Bodhidharma's

Disciples

The story of Bodhidharma's ranking of his disciples according to the depth of their understanding became the focal point of a debate early in the Sung between proponents of the Ch'an and T'ien-t'ai traditions. The debate seems to have begun with an unflattering suggestion by opponents of the prominent T'ien-t'ai exegete Chih-li (960-1028) that his doctrinal position was similar to the "skin" and "flesh" views of Bodhidharma's lesser disciples. Chih-li's written response to that criticism, which probably originated from rival claimants to T'ien-t'ai orthodoxy rather than from Ch'an quarters, came to the attention of Ch'an Master Tzu-ning (dates unknown), who was abbot of the Ching-te Ch'an Monastery on Mount T'ient'ung. Tzu-ning wrote to Chih-li objecting to his use of the story of Bodhidharma's disciples, Chih-li wrote back defending himself, and a rather heated exchange of some twenty letters back and forth ensued. 65 The passage that Tzu-ning took exception to was found in Exposition of the Essentials of the Ten Gates of Nonduality (Shih pu-erhmen chih-yao ch'ao), written by Chih-li in 1004. In this work, a commentary on the Ten Gates of Nonduality (Shih pu-erh-men) by the T'ien-t'ai patriarch Chan-jan (717-782),66 Chih-li set out to counter what he took to be incorrect interpretations of Chan-jan's classic. The views Chih-li objected to were ones formulated by rival interpreters of the T'ien-t'ai tradition, known to posterity as members of the Off Mountain (Shan-wai) faction, in contradistinction to Chihli's own Home Mountain (Shan-chia) faction. Most of Chih-li's arguments in his Exposition of the Essentials were not aimed directly at Ch'an critics of T'ien-t'ai, but he did rebuke the Off Mountain position on the grounds that it was unduly influenced by Hua-yen and Ch'an trends in Buddhist thought—especially by the writings of Tsung-mi.67 Chih-li's text consists mainly of straightforward explication of the

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Ten Gates of Nonduality. In an ancillary section discussing various possible objections, however, Chih-li raised the issue of the transmission from Bodhidharma to Hui-k'o, taking the position that Tzu-ning subsequently reacted to: Question: It is passed down to us that Among Bodhidharma s disciples three persons attained his dharma, but with a difference in depth. The nun Tsung-ch'ih said, "When afflictions are cut off, one realizes bodhi." The master said, "You have gotten my skin." Tao-yii said, "When deluded, it is the afflictions; when awakened, it is bodhi." The master said, "You have gotten my flesh." Hui-k'o said, "Fundamentally there are no afflictions; that original state is bodhi." The master said, "You have gotten my marrow."

[Your] present [thesis] that "the afflictions are bodhi (fan-nao chi p'u-t'i), and so on" seems to be the same as the "skin" and "flesh" views. How could it be called unsurpassably "perfect and sudden" (yuan-tun)? Answer: Students of our [T'ien-t'ai] teaching, because of these words, become confused by names and miss the point. To use that to make determinations about this entraps and dissipates our teaching. Truly it is because they do not fully grasp the meaning of the character chi ("identical"). It should be made known that our understanding of "identical" is forever different from that of all the [other] teachers. This is because [for us] it is not a matter of two things joined together, nor of the opposite sides of one thing that is turned over. Rather, it is because this substance (t'i) is entirely so [i.e., is entirely the afflictions and entirely bodhi] that we call it "identical." And why? Afflictions and samsara are manifested [lit., practiced] evil (hsiu-o); their whole substance (t'i) is the dharma gate of inherent evil (hsing-o). Hence there is no need to cut off and excise them, or to turn them over. Because the other schools do not understand inherent evil, they need to turn over evil to make it good, or cut off evil to realize good. Even [the proponents of] the "extreme sudden" (chi-tun) still say, "Fundamentally there is no evil; that original state is good." Since they are not able to take the complete [manifested] evil as [inherent] evil, the meaning they assign to "identical" is incomplete.68 Earlier Chih-li had discussed the meaning of the expression "the afflictions (klesa) are bodhi, samsara is nirvana" (fan-nao chi p'u-t'i, sheng-ssu chi nieh-p'an). His point is that the T'ien-t'ai doctrine of "perfect and sudden" means that all manifested states of existence

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contain within themselves, as part of their nature, all other states. Thus even the state of perfect Buddhahood has within it, as an integral part of what it is, all of the afflictions and possible circumstances of rebirth. It is difficult to tell from Chih-li's answer exactly what his critics objected to the most, but the comparisons that they evidently made between his view and the "skin" and "flesh" views of Bodhidharma s lesser disciples make it possible to draw some inferences. The most germane criticism, perhaps, was conveyed by the comparison of Chih-li's position with that of Tao-yu, who said, "When deluded, it is the afflictions; when awakened, it is bodhi." Chih-li denied that his understanding of the identity of the afflictions and bodhi was like two sides or aspects of a single object, such that one would "turn over" the afflictions to realize bodhi. Nevertheless, his position was highly susceptible to such an interpretation because it relied on the categories of "substance" (t'i) and "function" (yung), often rephrased as "nature" (hsing) and "practice" (hsiu). Chih-li did not hold that the afflictions (glossed as "evil") are manifest or actively functioning in Buddhahood, only that they are an essential part of the process of attaining Buddhahood and always remain within the substance of Buddhahood as a potentiality, just as Buddhahood exists as a potentiality within deluded, suffering beings. Thus he could be interpreted as positing a single substance that functioned alternately as either Buddhahood or some afflicted state of rebirth in accordance with karmic conditioning. Such an interpretation would indeed make his position seem very close to that expressed by Tao-yu. Chih-li, however, denied that he was positing a single, essentially undifferentiated substance. Rather, in his conception there were multiple states of existence, each with the afflictions and bodhi inherent in its "nature," but each displaying only one or the other in "practice." In denying that his position was the same as those attributed to Bodhidharma's inferior disciples Tsung-ch'ih and Tao-yu, Chih-li was not trying to claim that it was the same as the position attributed to Hui-k'o, the superior disciple. On the contrary, he argued that even the "extremely sudden" stance taken by Hui-k'o, which was that "fundamentally there are no afflictions" to be cut off or turned over, evinced an imperfect understanding of the "identity" (chi) of the afflictions and bodhi. This polemic, in all probability, was aimed at representatives of the Off Mountain faction who had likened their own position on the status of the afflictions to that of Hui-k'o. Chih-

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li's remarks nevertheless amounted to a claim that the Home Mountain faction of T'ien-t'ai possessed a dharma superior to that transmitted in the Chan lineage. The latter claim elicited a response from Chan Master Tzu-ning.69 Tzu-ning complained that the account of Bodhidharma's disciples cited in Chih-li's Exposition of the Essentials was just a false rumor that had no basis in historical records and did not represent Huik'o's true realization. The Patriarchs Hall Collection and Ching-te Record, he stressed, simply stated that "the second patriarch made three prostrations and stood at his place."70 Chih-li wrote a letter in reply, chiding Tzu-ning for not knowing that the story of Bodhidharma's disciples he had cited was based on Tsung-mi's "latter collection" (Hou-chi), a text known today as the Chart of the Master-Disciple Succession. He described the text for Tzu-ning's benefit and noted that it had been written in response to a question from the government official P'ei Hsiu about the relative profundity of the various Ch'an teachings. He also asserted the historical value of Tsung-mi's Preface, arguing that in contrast to these two reliable sources, the Patriarchs Hall Collection was just a haphazard compilation of records by people glorifying their own masters. 71 Tzu-ning wrote back to Chih-li saying that he now understood that the words attributed to Bodhidharma's disciples had come from Tsung-mis writings but that he rejected the notion that Tsung-mi was a more reliable source for the history of Ch'an than the ancient records of the patriarchs themselves.72 Chih-li s next letter insisted that Tsungmis views still influenced followers of Ch'an and that there were many who held that Bodhidharma had given his seal of approval to the second patriarch for saying, "Fundamentally there are no afflictions; that original state is bodhi." Moreover, he complained, those Ch'an partisans say that the T'ien-t'ai patriarch Chih-i's explanation of the afflictions was the same as that of Tao-yii, whose words only "got the flesh."73 In his final response Tzu-ning reemphasized that Tsung-mis views were not the orthodox Ch'an understanding and that the words attributed to Bodhidharma's disciples by Tsung-mi were not found in the Patriarchs Hall Collection, the text that he considered authoritative. 74 Despite their differences, Chih-li and Tzu-ning agreed that the "marrow" attained by Hui-k'o in Tsung-mi's version was a true representation of the supreme dharma. In another passage in his Exposition of the Essentials, Chih-li raised a further argument against his Off Mountain opponents:

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But this story you have quoted, where Bodhidharma gives his seal to Master Hui-ko's "Fundamentally there are no afflictions; that original state is bodhi," and so on, is all Kuei-feng's [Tsung-mi's] heretical explanation, which has led later people to take this as the ultimate, thus abandoning the three paths (san-tao) and only contemplating "true mind" (chen-hsin). The Patriarchs Hall [Collection] just says, "The second patriarch made three prostrations and stood at his place." Where does it say of the afflictions and bodhi that one does not exist and the other does? Thus we cannot use Kuei-feng's heretical explanation to make determinations about our school's marvelous discourse.75 It seems that Chih-li, following his exchange with Tzu-ning, decided to use the very argument that the Ch'an master had directed against him as a weapon in his attack on the Off Mountain faction. Accordingly he revised his Exposition of the Essentials by adding the passage just quoted and made the text public again. Chih-li was upset with the Off Mountain faction for borrowing Tsung-mi's conception of "true mind" and using it in the manner of the Ch'an ideologues to claim a more direct access to ultimate truth than that held forth in the "orthodox" T'ien-t'ai understanding of the three vehicles. Thus he attacked the notion of contemplating "true mind" as anathema to "our [T'ien-t'ai] school's marvelous discourse." Ironically, on the Ch'an side, Tsung-mi was coming under increasing criticism in the Sung for being an advocate of the "unity of Ch'an and Teachings" (chiao-ch'an i-chih). Ch'an Master Tzuning, for example, agreed with Chih-li that Tsung-mi's interpretation of the dharma inherited by Hui-k'o was an inferior dharma, but his complaint was that it was too wordy: what Hui-k'o actually did in response to Bodhidharmas test, Tzu-ning insisted, was make three prostrations and stand in silence. Whereas Chih-li rejected Tsung-mi's interpretation on the grounds that it was an inferior doctrine that was adversely influencing some misguided T'ien-t'ai exegetes, Tzu-ning rejected it precisely because it was a doctrine—a teaching (chiao)—and not the true Ch'an dharma that was transmitted wordlessly. The debate between Chih-li and Tzuning shows that as the polarizing effect of Ch'an versus Teachings polemics increased in the Sung, Tsung-mi's centrist position fell out of favor with the emerging orthodoxies at both ends of the spectrum.

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Record

The T'ien-sheng Extensive Record of the Flame (T'ien-sheng kuangteng lu),16 completed in 1036, contains an account of the transmission to Mahakasyapa that gives many innovative details not found in any earlier versions of the story. Here for the first time is found the Buddha entrusting the "collection of the eye of the true dharma" (cheng-fa-yen tsang) to Mahakasyapa secretly in person at a place named the Stupa of Many Sons (Bahuputraka-caitya; To-tzu t'a). Here, too, is the oldest mention of a famous incident that became the focal point of much controversy throughout the Sung: the story of the Tathagata holding up a flower before an assembly on Vulture Peak (Fig. 7.2). As the tale goes, that gesture elicited a faint smile from Kasyapa, who was then publicly identified by the Buddha as sole heir to the "collection of the eye of the true dharma." In the Pao-lin Record (801) and Ching-te Record (1004) accounts, the Buddha gave the formless dharma to Mahakasyapa at a place and time that remained unspecified. He subsequently went to Kusinagara where, in Mahakasyapa's absence, he publicly announced, "When Kasyapa comes you may have him proclaim the collection of the eye of the true dharma." Both of those earlier texts were at pains to minimize the fact that the "collection" in question was actually the Buddhist tripitaka as compiled at the council of Rajagrha. With the changes that appeared in the T'ien-sheng Extensive Record account, the original association between the "collection of the eye of the true dharma" and the tripitaka was all but completely obscured. The compiler of the T'ien-sheng Extensive Record, Li Tsun-hsii (d. 1038), was a lay Buddhist and a member of the imperial court. It is clear from the text that he was well versed in T'ien-t'ai doctrine, and other sources state that he once recommended Chih-li to the court for an honorific title and also wrote to dissuade that T'ien-t'ai monk from his vow of self-immolation.77 By the time he compiled the T'iensheng Extensive Record, however, Li Tsun-hsii's sympathies were firmly with the Chan camp. Some three decades earlier, the Ching-te Record had already suggested that the transmission to Mahakasyapa represented a distinct turning of the wheel of dharma and had hinted at a scheme of doctrinal classification in which the formless dharma inherited by Mahakasyapa was deemed the Buddha's highest. Li Tsun-hsii presented a similar argument in a much more

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Figure 7.2. Sakyamuni holding up a flower to instruct the assembly on Vulture Peak. This famous incident appears first in the T'ien-sheng Extensive Record of the Flame, written in 1036. The painting was produced during the Ming dynasty and is preserved at Manpukuji in Uji, Japan.

explicit and polemical manner that made it clear that the "teachings" Ch'an surpassed were none other than those of the T'ien-t'ai tradition. Like all of its predecessors, the T'ien-sheng Extensive Record describes the transmission to Mahakasyapa first in its biography of

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S a k y a m u n i . After the Buddha's six years of ascetic training and subsequent attainment of perfect enlightenment, it says: He received a request from the god Brahma [to preach] and went to the Deer Park, where he first used the dharma of the four truths to convert the five ascetics—Kaundinya and his companions. This was [a teaching] for those of inferior understanding, to make them escape from the fire of the triple world. With the preaching of the dharma of the four truths they gain the understanding of disciples (sravakas; sheng-wen). They cross the river [of birth and death] like rabbits and their vehicle is named the goat cart. He made those of middling abilities see that birth and death arise from the root cause of ignorance, in accordance with the twelve-linked chain of causes and conditions that revolves without cease. He had them turn against that and strive to extirpate their ignorance so that they attain the fruit of ones awakened to causality (pratyekabuddha; yuan-chiXeh). They cross the river like horses, and their vehicle is called the deer cart. For those of great capacities he immediately revealed the mark of truth (tun-k'ai shih-hsiang) and directly proclaimed awakening (chih-shih p'u-t'i) [showing that] form is nothing other than emptiness and that each particular thing is identical with all things (i tse i-ch'ieh). In practicing the perfections (paramitas; po-lo-mi), they do not attach to the three spheres (san-lun) [of giver, recipient, and gift], and in entering into the citadel of omniscience, they have no deficiencies in the four methods for saving beings. Successively mounting the ten stages (shih-ti) [of bodhisattvahood], they gradually cut off the three delusions (san-yti), complete the equivalent (teng) and marvelous (miao) [stages of the path], and attain great bodhisattvahood. They cross the river like a bull elephant, and their vehicle is a cart drawn by a white ox. The Tathagata walked quietly (ching-hsing) until he came before the Stupa of Many Sons. There he ordered Mahakasyapa to sit next to him and spoke to him, saying, "I secretly entrust to you the collection of the eye of the subtle true dharma (wei-miao cheng-fa-yen tsang). You must guard it and transmit it in the future and not allow it to be cut off. This great collection of the eye of the dharma (ta-fa-yen tsang), beginning with you as the first, is to be vouchsafed to a single person, without selecting between ordinary and saintly (pu-tse fan-shengj." Then the Tathagata also recited a verse for Kasyapa: The dharma is at root a dharma of no dharma, But that no-dharma dharma is yet the dharma. When I now transmit no dharma, What dharma could possibly be the dharma?

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He also said, "I now give to you this samghatl. You should guard it and transmit it to the Tathagata Maitreya for me." Thereupon he went to the city of Kusinagara, where he entered nirvana beneath a pair of sala trees.78 One striking feature of this passage not found in any earlier versions of the transmission to Mahakasyapa is its depiction of the Buddha's teaching career in terms of the three vehicles (triyana; san-sheng) made famous by the parable of the burning house in the Lotus Sutra.19 The T'ien-sheng Extensive Record uses the parable to imply that the Buddha's transmission to Mahakasyapa took place sometime after he preached the Lotus Sutra and that the dharma conveyed was even higher than the "one vehicle" taught in that text. The "intimate" or "secret" (mi) nature of the transmission to Mahakasyapa also gives the impression that the Ch'an dharma is far more exclusive than the dharma preached in the Lotus, for one of the central themes of that sutra is the Buddha's public proclamation of the "one vehicle" as a path of salvation open to all beings. Other aspects of the passage quoted above suggest that Ch'an surpasses not merely the teachings of the Lotus but the entire T'ient'ai tradition of Lotus exegetics. The ideas of "immediately revealing the mark of truth" (tun-k'ai shih-hsiang), "successively mounting the ten stages (shih-ti) of bodhisattvahood," and attaining the levels of "equivalent awakening" (teng-chueh) and "marvelous awakening" (miao-chueh) were all well-known features of those exegetics in the early Sung.80 The T'ien-sheng Extensive Record makes it clear that such a gradual path was not the Buddha's highest teaching. The distinction between saintly (awakened) persons (aryasattva; sheng-che) and ordinary (deluded) ones (prthagjana; fan-fu), likewise, figured prominently in T'ien-t'ai doctrine. In the passage cited above, the Buddha tells Mahakasyapa that the transmission of the Ch'an dharma should not hinge on that distinction. 81 There is no way of knowing if the identification of the Stupa of Many Sons as the place where Sakyamuni secretly transmitted the eye of the dharma to Mahakasyapa was Li Tsun-hsii's own invention. The appearance of that detail in the story, in any case, can be interpreted as a reaction to a demand for historical specificity and textual evidence that Li and other chroniclers of the Ch'an lineage encountered in the early Sung. A Stupa of Many Sons, variously identified, appeared in three distinct legends that were known in the Sung from historical and canonical sources.82 One can only specu-

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late on the extent to which Li Tsun-hsii was familiar with these legends, but the T'ien-sheng Extensive Record account does contain elements drawn from at least two of them. 83 By creatively weaving together details from those authoritative sources, the T'ien-sheng Extensive Record account was able to pin down the time and place of the Buddha's personal transmission to Mahakasyapa in a way that no earlier history of the Ch'an lineage had done. The T'ien-sheng Extensive Record also treated the transmission to Mahakasyapa and the story of the council of Rajagrha in its biography of Mahakasyapa: When the Tathagata was on Vulture Peak (Ling-shan) preaching the dharma, some gods made an offering of flowers to him. The World Honored One held up a flower to instruct the assembly (ch'ih-hua shih-chung), and Kasyapa smiled faintly. The World Honored One told the assembly, "I have the collection of the eye of the true dharma, the wonderful mind of nirvana, which I pass on to Mahakasyapa. He should spread it and not allow it to be cut off in the future. I also entrust to Kasyapa this samghatl sewn with gold thread, to wait for Maitreya."84 This passage is the first appearance in Chinese Buddhist literature of the story of the "World Honored One holding up a flower." By having the Buddha give Mahakasyapa the robe for Maitreya in the context of the public transmission of the dharma on Vulture Peak, the T'ien-sheng Extensive Record rather incongruously established a second instance in which Sakyamuni charged Mahakasyapa with the robe for Maitreya, the first being at the Stupa of Many Sons. Perhaps Li Tsun-hsii felt a need to have public and private transmissions of the robe, just as there were public and private transmissions of the "collection of the eye of the true dharma." The T'ien-sheng Extensive Record is noteworthy, finally, because it is the only Sung genealogical history to give an account of the transmission from Bodhidharma to Hui-k'o that differs from the Ching-te Record. According to the T'ien-sheng Extensive Record, Bodhidharma had three disciples whom he tested before returning to India, not four as in the Ching-te Record.85 The words attributed to the three also differ, but Hui-k'o, as in the Ching-te Record, stands silently at his place and is judged to have "gotten my marrow." These variations are not terribly significant in themselves, but they do show that in the first half of the eleventh century the myth was just settling down into the form that it was to take for the remainder of

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the Sung. The identities and words of the lesser disciples were still in flux, but the notion that Hui-k'o stood in silence had evidently become fixed. Record of the True Lineage The next text in the genealogical history genre to treat the transmission to Mahakasyapa was the Record of the True Lineage of Dharma Transmission (Ch'uan-fa cheng-tsung chi),S6 compiled in 1061 by Fo-jih Ch'i-sung (1007-1072). Ch'i-sung based his account entirely on the Pao-lin Record and Ching-te Record and did not incorporate the innovations of the T'ien-sheng Extensive Record. He was certainly aware of the T'ien-sheng Extensive Record, however, for he appended an evaluative commentary (p'ing) to his biography of Sakyamuni in which he questioned Li Tsun-hsiis account of the times and places where the transmission to Mahakasyapa supposedly occurred: How should we clarify the issue of when the transmission to Mahakasyapa took place? It is said: "Long ago, at the start of the nirvana assembly, the Tathagata told the monks: 'You should not speak like this. The unsurpassed true dharma that I have now has already been entrusted completely to Mahakasyapa. Thus Mahakasyapa should be for you a great support.' This explains the matter" [see Nirvana Sutra, fascicle 2], However, in the case of the true lineage (cheng-tsung), because the sages transmit and receive the dharma secretly and in person (mi-hsiang ch'uan-shou), it is not possible always to know the place and time of transmission. If we consult the sutras, then in the Lotus [the transmission] is still in the future, and in the Nirvana it has already happened. If we compare their accounts, in the Lotus Mahakasyapa is still preparing for it, whereas in the Nirvana he is not present in the assembly [when the Buddha says that the community may rely on him for the dharma]. I would say, therefore, that the time of the transmission was located between [the times of the preaching of] these two sutras. It is also said that the transmission took place in the meeting on Vulture Peak when the Tathagata held up a flower (nien-hua) to instruct the assembly and Mahakasyapa smiled faintly. Or it is said that the Tathagata transmitted the dharma to Mahakasyapa in front of the Stupa of Many Sons. In the world today, everyone takes those accounts as the truth about the transmission, but I have yet to see what [historical sources] they derive from. Although I am scarcely inclined to accept [those accounts], I would not presume to pass final judgment on the matter.87

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This passage affords an unusually direct view of the methods and reasoning processes that guided the work of one Sung chronicler of the Chan lineage. Ch'i-sung took a two-sided stance that was characteristic of the historical apologetics of Sung Chan. On the one hand, Ch'i-sung insisted on positive textual evidence, preferably from the sutras, which he regarded as the most authoritative of historical documents. Because the precise times and locations of the two transmissions given in the T'ien-sheng Extensive Record could not be verified on the basis of sutras and were not found in the oldest history of the lineage available to him (the Pao-lin Record), he doubted their historicity and declined to include them in his chronicle proper, albeit acknowledging the possibility that supporting historical evidence might yet be found. In the passage from the Nirvana Sutra to which Ch'i-sung referred, the Buddha chides his disciples for considering suicide as a means of following him into nirvana and tells them that they can rely on Mahakasyapa after he is gone.88 Ch'i-sung reasoned that since the transmission was not yet confirmed in the Lotus Sutra but was mentioned as a fait accompli in the Nirvana Sutra, it must have taken place between the times when the Buddha preached those two sutras. On the other hand, in contrast to the historicism that marked much of his reasoning, Ch'i-sung also took the position that because dharma transmission in the Ch'an lineage is an intimate or secret affair that concerns only a master and his disciple, one should not expect it to be a matter of precise historical record. He stopped short of saying that dharma transmission, being the conveyance of a formless or ineffable truth, is in principle beyond the purview of historical criticism. Ch'i-sung's polemical strategy would thus appear to be threefold: (1) to use historical arguments that could not be denied by T'ien-t'ai critics of Ch'an lore, (2) to concede that certain aspects of the Ch'an transmission lore could not be substantiated historically, and (3) to evoke the special nature of dharma transmission in Ch'an in order to shield it from the very sort of historical criticism that he himself employed. Ch'i-sung's main contribution to the ongoing development of the transmission myth in the Sung was to argue that there was in fact only one transmission of the dharma (together with the verse and robe for Maitreya) to Mahakasyapa. That transmission, in his view, took place privately between Sakyamuni and his leading disciple at some unknown place and time, and was later announced

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publicly by the Buddha just before his death, in the course of preaching the Nirvana Siitra. Both the Ching-te Record and the T'ien-sheng Extensive Record stressed the separateness and superiority of the C h a n dharma visà-vis the sùtra tradition. In his Record of the True Lineage, Ch'i-sung sympathized with the opposing position taken earlier by Tsung-mi and Yen-shou, which held that the dharma preached by the Buddha in the sutras and the dharma transmitted in the C h a n lineage were essentially the same. In Ch'i-sung's view, however, a true realization of that dharma always went beyond the words that conveyed it, and that "going beyond" was the real meaning of the phrase "a separate transmission apart from the sutras." For him, the Ch'an lineage was distinguished not by its literal rejection of scriptures from the outset, but by its superior ability to penetrate to the very deepest meaning of the sutras, a penetration that follows words as far as they can go and then, at the extreme limit of conceptualization, leaves them behind. Ch'i-sung had the following to say about the "separate transmission" slogan, which was gaining popularity among those who wanted to take "not setting u p scriptures" literally: The so-called separate transmission apart from the teachings is not, in the final analysis, something apart from the teachings of the Buddha (fo-chiao), but that which the traces of the teachings [i.e., scriptures] do not lead directly up to. That is what the Great Perfection of Wisdom Treatise (Ta-lun), for example, means when it says: "Even if the words are fitting and reach right up to it, still the mysterious meaning is profound; one may go very deep in seeking it and still miss it by far." Long ago in the Sui dynasty the sage Chih-i was supreme in his knowledge of the teachings (chiao), but did he not say: "The final principle of the Buddha dharma cannot be expressed in words; how could one, relying on words and expedients, speak of the source of the twelve divisions [of the canon]?" 89 The Sutra {of Perfect Enlightenment] says, "The teachings of the sutras are like a finger that points at the moon; when you have turned and seen the moon, you will know that the signal is not the moon." 90 Why is it that people become attached to the traces of the teachings? Again, in a sutra [the Buddha] said, "For fifty years, from the Deer Park [the place of his first sermon] up to the river Hiranyavatï [the place of his death], I have yet to preach a single word." This is what the phrase "apart from the teachings" is talking about. However, although these profound secrets are

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contained in the sutras, they are still just talk. The sages verify it, and thus they decree a face-to-face transmission by means of mind (i-hsin hsiang-ch'uan). That is what is called in Chan "a separate transmission apart from the teachings."91 Ch'i-sung was evidently influenced in these remarks by Tsung-mi's commentaries on the Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment (Yuan-chueh ching).92 He quoted sutras to show that they already contained within them the equivalent of the Chan "separate transmission" doctrine. He stressed, however, that until the teachings of the sutras were "verified" (yen) by a realization that went beyond the words, they were just talk. It was the face-to-face encounter between master and disciple in the Ch'an lineage, he argued, that facilitated and guaranteed the nonverbal "verification" of the words. Thus Ch'i-sung privileged Ch'an as the lineage that "used mind" (i-hsin) to transmit awakening and not merely talk about it, but he depicted it as working within rather than apart from the broader scriptural tradition. One of the implications of his position was that Ch'an slogans such as "a separate transmission apart from the teachings" and "not setting up scriptures" were themselves just words, on the same level with the sutras. Those slogans, too, needed to be "verified" and transcended, and they were as susceptible as any other teaching to being taken literally and becoming objects of deluded attachment. Another ramification of Ch'i-sung s stance was a softening of the Ch'an polemic against the Teachings lineage, T'ien-t'ai. As seen in the preceding passage, Ch'i-sung was able to quote both T'ien-t'ai Chih-i and the Great Perfection of Wisdom Treatise, a text that was used as a source of authority in the T'ien-t'ai tradition, to bolster his own arguments. From Ch'i-sung's point of view, the Ch'an lineage inherited the same teachings from the Buddha as the T'ien-t'ai tradition, so no criticisms of those teachings were called for. What set Ch'an apart was not its rejection of the teachings but its verification of them, seeing the "moon" that they point to without becoming fixated on the "finger" of the words themselves. Ch'i-sung believed that the literal interpretation of the "separate transmission" slogan that some adherents of the Ch'an lineage fell into was the height of stupidity. By attaching to just those words, they not only failed to verify their meaning (to transcend language), they recklessly threw out the wealth of teachings of the Buddha pertaining to morality, meditation, and wisdom (the so-called three modes of training—san-hsueh). Thus, while Ch'i-sung took a stance

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that laid claim to awakening ("verification") as the C h a n dharma, and while he argued for the historicity of the Ch'an lineage against T'ien-t'ai critics, much of his polemical writing was directed against fellow proponents of Ch'an. The following passage, which appears just before the one quoted above in Ch'i-sungs's Record of the True Lineage, takes issue with a literal interpretation of Hui-k'o s silence in the story of the testing of Bodhidharma's disciples: When I was young, I heard from a wise teacher something that had been handed down from old. According to him, when Tao-yii said, "The four elements are at root empty, and the five skandhas have no existence; from my point of view, there is not a single dharma that could be attained," the way of verbal expression was cut off (yen-yti tao tuan) and the basis of mental activity was destroyed. Thus Bodhidharma said, "You have gotten my bones." Then, when the second patriarch [Hui-k'o], after making a prostration, returned to his place and stood, he said, "You have gotten my marrow." What an excellent expression! He [Hui-k'o] truly took matters to the limit. His were the words of a patriarch. 93 In this passage Ch'i-sung quoted part of the story of Bodhidharma's four disciples that had appeared in the Ching-te Record,94 interposing two comments that he said he had heard in his youth. The point he wished to make was that Hui-k'o's silence was actually a form of speech, since it was a way of communicating his profound understanding of Bodhidharma's dharma, whereas Tao-yii's words were the functional equivalent of silence, since the understanding they reflected left no room for verbal expression or mental activity. The intent of Ch'i-sung's argument was to interpret the Ching-te Record account of Bodhidharma's disciples in such a way that those who argued for a literal silence (or a literal rejection of the sutras) were associated with the inferior disciple Tao-yii. Ch'i-sungs's own position favoring the use of sutras as an expedient, then, would be associated with the superior disciple Hui-k'o, whose silence was really an eloquent figure of speech pointing to the limits of language. Chien-chung Supplementary

Record

The next text in the genealogical history genre to deal with the transmission to Mahakasyapa was the Chien-chung Ching-kuo Supplementary Record of the Flame (Chien-chung Ching-kuo hsu-teng lu),95 compiled by Wei-po (dates unknown) in 1101. The Chien-chung

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Supplementary Record treats the biographies of Sákyamuni and the thirty-three patriarchs of the "true lineage" (cheng-tsung) in India and China (Mahákásyapa through Hui-neng) not in separate sections, but together in an unbroken text that is punctuated only by the transmission verses that each patriarch gives his dharma heir. The merged biographies of áákyamuni, Mahákásyapa, and Ánanda relate basically the same events as those found in the corresponding biographies in earlier genealogical histories, but the presentation and style are very different. The Chien-chung Supplementary Record account of each patriarch is much shorter and is written in a very terse manner using disconnected four-character phrases, with the result that the text reads more like verse than prose. Indeed, it has precious little syntax, being virtually devoid of the grammatical particles that serve in classical Chinese as pronouns, subject markers, prepositions, and conjunctions. Thus the Chien-chung Supplementary Record does not so much tell the story of the transmission to Mahákásyapa as present a series of discrete images and allusions that the reader must link together and interpret on the basis of prior knowledge. My translation, which begins in the middle of the biography of áákyamuni and ends in the middle of the biography of Ánanda, mirrors the structure of the original. Each line represents one fourcharacter phrase; commas and semicolons indicate semantic breaks that are suggested by the Chinese. In an effort to maintain the flavor of the original, I have resisted the temptation to assist the reader by linking the phrases into sentences, clarifying temporal or spatial relations, adding proper nouns or pronouns to identify the subjects of verbs, or in any way making the text more coherent than it would appear to readers of the Chinese: Forty-nine years, three vehicles clearly expounded; Held up a flower, broadly displayed; A faint smile, the first transmission; Before the great assembly, Validated the eye of the true dharma; Enjoined practice, apart from the teachings; A separate transmission to those of superior capacities; The fruit (lien), eyes all see; The blossom (hua), the verse intimately speaks: The dharma is at root a dharma of no dharma, But that no-dharma dharma is yet the dharma. When I now transmit no dharma, What dharma could possibly be the dharma?

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At that time the Venerable Mahakasyapa Shared the seat, transmitted the robe; On account of the flower awakened to the Way; Stone chamber among the crags, Proclaimed the dharma, saved beings; The World Honored One entered nirvana, Compiled the sacred teachings; Shut out Ananda, yet to extinguish the defilements; Before Pippala crag, Crossed legs on rock, Sat through the night, Realized the fruit of the path; Displayed supernatural powers, Penetrated the rock and entered; Whereupon Kasyapa Transmitted the eye of the true dharma, And recited a verse, saying: The fundamental dharma of all dharmas Is neither a dharma nor a non-dharma; How in this dharma could either Dharmas or no-dharmas exist? At that time the Venerable Ananda Sat on the rock and awakened to the Way; Compiled the sacred word; One cry have I heard.96

Having gained some familiarity with various earlier accounts of the events alluded to in this passage, it is not so difficult for readers of this chapter to convert it into a comprehensible narrative. Anyone who was not already familiar with the Ch'an lore on the subject, however, would be unable to make much sense out of the text at all. The author Wei-po evidently took it for granted that the basic "facts" of the transmission to Mahakasyapa were fairly well known by his audience. It is clear, at least, that he was not trying to prove the version of the transmission story that he summarized in such abbreviated fashion. Indeed, his use of terse language and his preference for poetic allusion over expository prose suggests that he was more interested in cloaking his subject in mystery than in establishing it as part of the historical record. I would speculate that by this time (1101) the legitimacy of the story was no longer in serious question and that it had become so widely accepted as to cease being the exclusive intellectual and spiritual property of a small coterie of chroniclers and promoters of the Ch'an lineage. Wei-po's proclivity for indirect speech, bordering on obscurantism, might thus be interpreted as an elitist attempt to restrict full access to the empowering myths of the Ch'an tradition.

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The Chien-chung Supplementary Record was the first of the Sung genealogical histories to use the "separate transmission" slogan with reference to the Buddha's transmission of the dharma to Mahakasyapa, as seen in the lines that state that the Buddha held up a flower and then "enjoined practice, apart from the teachings; a separate transmission to those of superior capacities." 97 Chrestomatky from the Patriarchs

Hall

The Chrestomathy from the Patriarchs Hall (Tsu-t'ing shih-yuan),9s compiled in 1108 by Mu-an Shan-ch'ing (dates unknown), came down on the side of Tsung-mi and Yen-shou in the debate over the relationship between Ch'an and the sutras. First published in 1154, it includes the discourse records of a number of Ch'an masters and a glossary of terms gleaned from Ch'an texts. Surprisingly, given its relatively late date of compilation, the Chrestomathy is the oldest extant source in which are found juxtaposed all four phrases of the now-famous Ch'an slogan "A separate transmission apart from the teachings (chiao-wai pieh-ch'uan); not setting up scriptures (pu-li wen-tzu); pointing directly at the human mind (chih-chih jen-hsin); seeing the nature and attaining Buddhahood (chien-hsing ch'eng-fo)."99 Mu-an introduced this four-part slogan in the context of explaining the term "simple transmission" (tan-ch'uan), which was commonly used in Ch'an circles in the Sung to describe Bodhidharma's "transmission of mind by means of mind": The transmission of dharma by the patriarchs was initially carried out in conjunction with the teaching vehicle of the tripitaka, but later the patriarch Bodhidharma simply transmitted the mind seal (tan-ch'uan hsin-yin), destroying attachments and illuminating the fundamental principle (tsung). This is what is called "a separate transmission apart from the teachings, not setting up scriptures, pointing directly at the human mind, seeing the nature and attaining Buddhahood." However, many people mistake the meaning of "not setting up scriptures." They speak frequently of abandoning texts and regard silent sitting as Ch'an. These are truly the dumb sheep of our school.100 In writing this passage, Mu-an borrowed language from Tsung-mi's Preface.101 Mu-an interpreted the slogans "not setting up scriptures" and "a separate transmission apart from the teachings" as meaning that one should study scriptures and realize their purport without becoming attached to the letter. He specifically rejected the viewpoint, exemplified by the passage from the Chien-chung Supplementary Record quoted above, that the Buddha himself had engaged in

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a "separate transmission." In Mu-an's view, the Indian patriarchs in the Ch'an lineage all transmitted the dharma in conjunction with the tripitaka; it was Bodhidharma who first "simply transmitted the mind seal" as an expedient fitting the circumstances in China. The "dumb sheep" criticized by Mu-an were apparently persons who took the words "not setting up scriptures" literally, ignoring the study of sutras and concentrating solely on the practice of seated dhyana (tso-ch'an). This allusion is one of the few indications in the Sung literature of the existence among believers in the Ch'an lineage of an anti-intellectual element or a group of dhyana specialists in the traditional sense used in the Biographies of Eminent Monks literature. In most cases, the intramural debates over the correct interpretation of the Ch'an school's slogans pitted "liberals" like Ch'i-sung and Mu-an, who gave vocal support to sutra study, against "fundamentalists" such as Yang I, Li Tsun-hsii, and Wei-po, who did not, favoring instead an exclusive adherence to the genealogical lore and enigmatic rhetoric of the Ch'an records. Historians of the latter ilk tried to justify their rejection of sutras by claiming that Bodhidharma and even the Buddha had done the same. It is hardly conceivable, however, that they were the intended targets of the epithet "dumb sheep" used by Mu-an. As highly refined men of letters who were connoisseurs, collectors, editors, and authors of Ch'an literature, they were anything but anti-intellectual, despite their penchant for iconoclastic rhetoric. And, if they had any particular interest in the practice of seated dhyana, it did not show in their literary work. Outline of the Linked

Flames

The Outline of the Linked Flames (Lien-teng hui-yao),102 compiled by Wu-ming (dates unknown) in 1183, is the next of the works in the genealogical history genre to touch on the transmission to Mahakasyapa. The text's initial treatment of the topic in the biography of Sakyamuni is virtually identical to the corresponding section of the Ching-te Record.103 Following that standard biographical notice, however, the Outline relates a number of brief, disconnected anecdotes about events in Sakyamuni's life and exchanges with his disciples. For some of the anecdotes, Wu-ming also includes comments that were made by eminent Ch'an masters in the past. In other words, he treats the anecdotes as kung-an and collects the recorded comments of masters who also treated them as such, although refraining to comment himself. Many of the comments are attributed to Miao-shan, a posthumous name for Ta-hui Tsung-kao (1089-1163). Wu-ming was a dharma heir in Ta-hui's lineage.

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A m o n g the anecdotes a b o u t S a k y a m u n i there are t w o that pertain to the transmission to M a h a k a s y a p a . I have translated a section of the text that includes three anecdotes, those t w o a m o n g them, in order to convey s o m e sense of the context in w h i c h they occur: The World Honored One, one day, mounted the [lecture] seat. The monks of the great assembly gathered and took their places. Kasyapa struck the mallet [announcing the start of the lecture] and said, "The World Honored One has preached the dharma," whereupon the World Honored One got down from the seat. The World Honored One, at a gathering on Vulture Peak, held up a flower to instruct the assembly. In the assembly all were silent. Only Kasyapa broke into a faint smile. The World Honored One said, "I have the collection of the eye of the true dharma, the wonderful mind of nirvana, the subtle dharma gate, which in its true form is formless. Not setting up scriptures, as a separate transmission apart from the teachings, I transmit it to Mahakasyapa. Miao-shan's appreciatory verse says: Holding up a flower on a single sprig, He licentiously abandons his family responsibilities. If you call it a transmission of the mind-dharma, All things in the world will be as if paralyzed. The World Honored One, long ago, went before the Stupa of Many Sons, bade Mahakasyapa to share his seat, and wrapped him in a samghatl, saying, "I secretly entrust to you my collection of the eye of the true dharma. You must guard it and transmit it to the future, not allowing it to be cut off." 104 In collecting these anecdotes and c o m m e n t s W u - m i n g w a s not c o n c e r n e d w i t h adducing historical evidence pertaining to the biogr a p h y of S a k y a m u n i or w i t h lending historical consistency to the story of the transmission to M a h a k a s y a p a . Anyone familiar w i t h existing accounts of the Buddha's life, including those f o u n d in earlier C h a n genealogical histories as well as sutra and Vinaya literature, w o u l d have realized that a majority of the anecdotes h a d no basis in any ancient historical documents. Like other kung-an collections, however, Wu-ming's text treated the anecdotes as "old cases" or pearls of w i s d o m used to test one's literary wit and spiritual insight. The t w o pertinent anecdotes included in the Outline do, nevertheless, shed additional light on the m a n n e r in w h i c h the transmission to M a h a k a s y a p a w a s understood as a historical event in the late t w e l f t h century. F o r one thing, they s h o w that both versions of the

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transmission of the "collection of the eye of the true dharma" promoted by the T'ien-sheng Extensive Record in 1036—the secret one at the Stupa of Many Sons and the public one on Vulture Peak—were still in circulation. They also show that the illogical redundancy of the T'ien-sheng Extensive Record account of the robe (namely, that it was physically handed over to Mahakasyapa on two different occasions) may have been resolved by only mentioning the robe in the context of the transmission at the Stupa of Many Sons; subsequent retellings of the transmission on Vulture Peak make no reference to the robe. It is also noteworthy that the anecdote relating the transmission of the robe in the Outline does not mention Maitreya. In this text, at least, the robe had become Mahakasyapa s to keep as an unambiguous symbol of his inheritance of the formless Ch'an dharma. The Outline is the oldest extant text to put the slogans "a separate transmission apart from the teachings" and "not setting up scriptures" into the mouth of the Buddha himself. Wei-po, in his Chien-chung Supplementary Record, had described the World Honored One's holding up of a flower as an act of "separate transmission," but he had not been so bold as to attribute that phrase to Sakyamuni. The Outline also did more to portray the Buddha as a Ch'an master than any previous text in the genealogical history genre. It attributed to the Buddha the special teaching methods that were believed to distinguish the Ch'an lineage from the so-called doctrinal lineages: the use of gestures, physical actions (e.g., the famous "shouts and blows"), and all sorts of indirect speech in place of ordinary verbal exposition. Thus, for example, in the first of the anecdotes translated above, the Buddha gets down from the lecture seat without saying anything, preaching the dharma by means of a wordless gesture. The comment by Ta-hui (Miao-shan) on the story of the Buddha holding up a flower reveals much about that influential master's understanding of dharma transmission in Ch'an. The expression that I have translated "family responsibilities" (tang-chia) literally means "taking charge of" or "serving as head of" (tang) a "household" or "family" (chia). In the world of Sung Buddhism, lineages of dharma transmission were referred to metaphorically as chia, and in Ta-hui's comment it is the "house of Ch'an" (ch'an-chia) that Sakyamuni is presumed to be head of. Given the common understanding that the Buddha actually founded the Ch'an lineage and set the precedent for its special teaching methods by holding up a flower to preach the

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dharma, Ta-hui's apparently sacreligious comment that the World Honored One thereby "licentiously abandoned his family responsibilities" is just the opposite of what one might expect him to say. His meaning, plainly stated, is that no decent Chan master would betray his heritage by using such a wrong-headed teaching method. On one level, this comment may be interpreted as an example of the kind of iconoclastic rhetoric for which Chan is famous or as the sort of seemingly harsh criticism that is really affectionate praise. The comment also raises a question, however, as to how the Buddha should have acted properly to represent the house of Ch'an. Surely Ta-hui was not advocating a return to the teaching method of "setting up scriptures." On the contrary, his comment suggests that the holding up of a flower, insofar as it is a symbolic gesture meant to convey a particular message (i.e., the ineffability of the dharma), suffers from the same fundamental defect as the preaching of sutras. The only way for Sakyamuni to uphold his family responsibilities, Ta-hui implies, would be for him not to signify anything at all, in words or gestures. Eyes of Humans and Gods Another account of the transmission to Mahakasyapa is found in the Eyes of Humans and Gods (Jen-t'ien yen-mu),105 a Ch'an collection edited by Hui-yen Chih-chao (dates unknown) and published in 1188. It appears in the text under the heading of "Buddha's collection of the eye of the true dharma" (fo cheng-fa-yen tsang): Long ago, at a gathering on Vulture Peak, the World Honored One held up a blue lotus blossom and winked to instruct the fourfold assembly (ssu-chung). None could apprehend his hidden meaning (mi-i). Only Mahakasyapa grasped the Buddha's purport. A sutra says: "The Buddha said to Mahakasyapa, 'I have the collection of the eye of the true dharma, the wonderful mind of nirvana, which I pass on to you. You must propagate it and never allow it to be cut off.'" Also, as he was approaching nirvana, he said to Ananda, "You must propagate the twelve divisions of sutras" (shih-erh pu ching), and to Upali he said, "You must receive and uphold the entire Vinaya" (chieh-lu). In transmitting [the dharma] to Mahakasyapa he recited a verse: The dharma is at root a dharma of no dharma. But that no-dharma dharma is yet the dharma. When I now transmit no dharma, What dharma could possibly be the dharma?

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With this Mahakasyapa took the Buddha's kasaya (monk's robe) into Cock's Foot Mountain and entered into the trance of extinction to await Maitreya's birth. 106 Most of the elements of this entry in the Eyes of Humans and Gods were drawn from earlier accounts of the transmission to Mahakasyapa, but there are also some embellishments that appear here for the first time. The description of the flower as a blue lotus, for example, and the notion that the Buddha winked when he held it up have no precedents in earlier versions of the story. The Eyes of Humans and Gods also went further than earlier versions of the transmission on Vulture Peak in claiming that there was "a sutra" in which the ostensibly wordless transmission of the Ch'an dharma was recorded. The Eyes of Humans and Gods also treated the transmission to Mahakasyapa in a section of the text titled "miscellaneous records of our [Ch'an] lineage" (tsung-men tsa-lu), under the heading "holding up a flower" (nien-hua): Magistrate Wang Ching asked Ch'an master Fo Hui-ch'iian, "In what text does the story that the Ch'an school tells about the World Honored One holding up a flower appear?" Ch'iian replied, "It is not found in the collection of sutras." The magistrate said, "Recently in the Han library I happened to see the Sutra of Brahma Deva Asking the Buddha to Settle Doubts (Ta-fan t'ien-wang wen-fo chueh-i ching) in three fascicles. Upon examining it, the sutra text that it contained was exceedingly detailed. A Brahma Deva went to Vulture Peak, where he took a golden colored Po-lo flower (polo-hua) and offered it to the Buddha. He gave his own body as a seat and invited the Buddha to preach the dharma for living beings. The World Honored One mounted the seat and held up the flower to instruct the assembly. Humans and gods, a million of them, were all nonplused. Only the golden-hued ascetic [Mahakasyapa] broke into a faint smile. The World Honored One said, "I have the collection of the eye of the true dharma, the wonderful mind of nirvana, which in its true form is formless. I transmit it to Mahakasyapa." This sutra has many discussions in which the Buddha is asked about the affairs of emperors, which is why it has been kept secretly and the world has not heard of it."107 This story about the chance discovery of a sutra containing the incident of the Buddha holding up a flower subsequently appeared in numerous other texts associated with the Ch'an tradition. 108 It was even repeated in the Comprehensive History of the Buddhas and Patriarchs (Fo-tsu t'ung-chi),109 a work that favored the T'ien-t'ai tra-

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dition and was unsympathetic to exaggerated claims made by Sung proponents of the Chan lineage. It is not surprising that the story attracted great interest in the latter part of the Sung, for as in Ch'isung's commentary in the Record of the True Lineage (compiled 1061), the authenticity of the anecdote of the Buddha holding up a flower had been questioned even within the Ch'an school on the grounds that proper historical documentation was lacking. Eye of the Perfect and Sudden Lineage The story of the transmission to Mahakasyapa, reshaped and embellished in numerous retellings throughout the Sung, took on a polemical edge that depicted T'ien-t'ai exegetics and the Lotus Sutra on which it was based as an inferior dharma. The T'ien-t'ai reaction to the Ch'an use of the Mahakasyapa story was spirited but tempered by several considerations that made an outright denial of the Ch'an myth difficult. In the first place, the idea that a particular Buddhist teaching or dharma could only be judged authentic on the basis of genealogical records that established a legitimate lineage of descent from the Buddha Sakyamuni was so widely accepted in the Sung that outright rejection of that genealogical trope was not a viable option for T'ien-t'ai partisans. A transmission from Sakyamuni to Mahakasyapa had a venerable place in T'ien-t'ai tradition itself, moreover, having been established by no less an authority than Kuan-ting (561-632) in his introduction to Chih-i's Great Calming and Contemplation (Mo-ho chih-kuan).110 The T'ien-t'ai lineage of twenty-four patriarchs, derived from the Record of the Transmission of the Dharma Collection, was susceptible to attack from Ch'an quarters on the grounds that it had been cut off, however, and T'ien-t'ai proponents in the Sung had to scramble to demonstrate the unbroken continuity of their line. In doing so, they had little choice but to reaffirm some sort of transmission to Mahakasyapa, since he was their only textually defensible candidate for T'ien-t'ai "first patriarch." Having taken that position, it was also necessary to defend the T'ien-t'ai teachings received by Mahakasyapa as equal or superior to the Ch'an dharma that he inherited. One strategy was to deny that Mahakasyapa had received any "separate transmission apart from the teachings" and to argue that the Ch'an dharma he inherited was the same in its essence as the dharma handed down in the Lotus Sutra. By allowing but a single transmission to Mahakasyapa and supporting the notion that it took place on Vulture Peak (where the

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Lotus was preached), T'ien-t'ai advocates tried to blur the distinction between their lineage and that of Ch'an and claim a share of the prestige and legitimacy associated with Mahakasyapa's inheritance of the supreme dharma. Because the earlier Ch'an genealogical records, in particular the Pao-lin Record and the Patriarchs Hall Collection, tended to support the view that the dharma vouchsafed to Mahakasyapa was the same as the dharma preached by the Buddha for forty-nine years, those texts were occasionally cited by T'ien-t'ai teachers such as Chih-li in debates with Ch'an opponents. Another strategy, more aggressive but less effective given the popularity of the Ch'an mythology, was to allow that there was a "separate transmission" of the Ch'an dharma but to insist that it belonged not to the fourth and highest "dharma of conversion" in the T'ien-t'ai classification of doctrines, the "perfect teaching" (yuan-chiao), but rather to the third class, that of the "separate teaching" (pieh-chiao).lu Although these two polemical strategies appear to be mutually exclusive when viewed from a strictly logical standpoint (one cannot argue that the Ch'an "separate transmission" was both nonexistent and inferior), in practice they were used simultaneously by defenders of the T'ien-t'ai tradition. An excellent example of both lines of argument is found in a work titled Eye of the Perfect and Sudden Lineage (Yuan-tun-tsung yen),112 written in 1194 by I-t'ang Fa-teng. Fa-teng (dates unknown), a monk in the Home Mountain faction branch of T'ien-t'ai following Chih-li, was a prolific author well known in the Southern Sung as a leader of the T'ien-t'ai movement centered in Ming-chou (Ning-po).113 In the following passages from the Eye of the Perfect and Sudden Lineage, Fa-teng takes issue with the Ch'an version of the transmission to Mahakasyapa: The treatise [Chih-i's Great Calming and Contemplation] says: "The dharma [that was preached] first in the Deer Park, then on Vulture Peak, and finally in the Crane Grove [where Sakyamuni died] was transmitted to Mahakasyapa."114 This [passage] makes it clear that the Tathagata's collection of the eye of the true dharma was given to Kasyapa and then passed down through successive generations forever and never cut off. The reason it was given to Kasyapa was because of his advanced years, eminent virtue, and strict adherence to ascetic practices, which qualified him to hand it down and make it prosper. It was also because karmic conditions were with him. But what does the dharma that was transmitted [to him] consist in? How was it transmitted? Was it greater (ta) or lesser

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(hsiao) [i.e., what was its place in the classification of doctrines]? Here I will try to put forth [answers to] these [questions]. Some say, "At the assembly on Vulture Peak, the World Honored One held up a flower and Kasyapa smiled faintly; that is the mark (hsiang) [of the dharma transmitted]." But that theory has no basis at all in Indian scriptures and must be considered merely a metaphor created by people in later times. Some say, "When [in the fourth of the five periods] the Buddha taught the Prajna sutras through the mouths of his disciples (po-jo chuan-chiao), that was the transmission of dharma." But that theory still does not specify the mark (hsiang) of that which is transmitted. Moreover, in the Prajna sutras it is Subhuti and Sariputra who are directly infused [with the Buddha's wisdom], not Kasyapa. Some say, "The Tathagata transmitted the dharma constantly, everywhere he went; how could it be restricted to a single time and single place?" But that theory is vague and unfocused in the extreme. According to some explanations, when the World Honored One transmitted the robe, that was the transmission of dharma. Others say, "When the World Honored One entered nirvana, Kasyapa came later, and the Buddha displayed his two feet; that was the transmission of dharma." When we examine these two explanations, however, they only have to do with external signs. How could [those signs] possibly be the mark of the dharma that is transmitted? But if the explanation of the transmission of dharma ignores that mark and does not clarify it, then we do not know what dharma it is that was transmitted, nor how the patriarchs gave and received it among themselves. Not knowing its essentials, its [further] transmission is also difficult. If that is the case, then we only have the name "transmission" but do not have the actual thing. Alas! To "hear it on the road and immediately go speaking of it in the streets" was already ridiculed by the ancients;115 how much more [would they ridicule] those who do not even know the reason [i.e., what they are talking about]? The way of the Buddhas and patriarchs, having come down to the present, is especially flourishing now. How could there be no reason for it? 116 Fa-teng's main concern here was to pin down the "mark" (hsiang) or precise characteristics of the one supreme dharma inherited by Mahakasyapa. He criticized several modalities of the Chan transmission concept for their historical and doctrinal vagueness on this point. Thus, while granting the story of the Buddha's flower some

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symbolic value, he judged it apochryphal on the grounds that it could not be found in any Indian sütras. Fa-teng also dismissed the theory, evidently advanced in Ch'an circles, that dharma transmission took place through an infusion of the power of the Buddha (adhisthána; chia-ch'ih) directly into the mind of the recipient in the same way that the Buddha preached the perfection of wisdom (prajñaparamita; po-jo) sütras through the mouths of his disciples. For Fa-teng, that theory was both too vague, since it did "not specify the mark (hsiang)" of the dharma supposedly transmitted, and historically ungrounded, since Mahákásyapa was not named in the sütras as one who received the Buddha's inspiration. The theory that transmission to Mahákásyapa had no fixed time or place was also "vague and unfocused in the extreme," since it stipulated neither the circumstances of the transmission nor the contents of the dharma. Finally, Fa-teng rejected the notion that the dharma transmitted to Mahákásyapa was "marked" or characterized by the robe or by the Buddha's display of his feet—such things were perhaps symbols of transmission, but it would be absurd to say that they themselves were the content of the dharma received. Fa-teng's criticism of the "vagueness" of Ch'an accounts of the dharma received by Mahákásyapa struck right at the heart of Ch'an polemics, for it was precisely the concept of a formless and ineffable dharma that informed the notion of a "separate transmisión apart from the teachings." If there was any particular transmission to Mahákásyapa, Fa-teng wanted to argue, then it had to have a specifiable form (time, place, etc.) and content (a "mark"). If the dharma was truly formless and not to be identified with any words or outward signs whatsoever, then one could not claim that it had been transmitted at all, let alone exclusively to Mahákásyapa. Actually, as in the case of Ta-hui's comments on the case of the Buddha holding up a flower, such an assessment was shared by many proponents of the Ch'an lineage. There was a strong tendency in the Ch'an rhetoric to deconstruct the concept of dharma transmission itself. However, much to the annoyance of T'ien-t'ai monks like Fa-teng, the admitted fact that dharma transmission á la Ch'an was inconceivable and ultimately nonexistent did not prevent advocates of Ch'an from successfully establishing a lineage of patriarchal heroes who were deemed to have mastered the inconceivable and accomplished the impossible. The passage from Fa-teng's Eye of the Perfect and Sudden Lineage continues:

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People in these latter days have given rise to heretical views, and thus we have the theory of "a separate transmission apart from the teachings," which is to say, "holding up a flower and that is all." But among those who practice Buddhism, although what the Chan and Teachings [T'ien-t'ai] traditions teach is not the same, since they all rely on the Buddha, they must all take the Buddha's dharma as a standard. The Buddha's dharma is what was transmitted to Kasyapa. What was transmitted to Kasyapa was nothing other than the dharma that was preached first in the Deer Park, then on Vulture Peak, and finally in the Crane Grove—at what time was there a "separate transmission"? If we seek out the reason [for that erroneous theory], it is that people did not comprehend the [true] source [of the Buddha's dharma], feared that the Teachings would become mixed up in Ch'an, and came up with this theory of "separate transmission," not knowing the insufficiency of the "separate [teaching]" (pieh-chiao). What was expressed by the Tathagata in eight voices and four unlimited modes and what was received by Kasyapa was the dharma of teachings (chiao-fa). Those teachings illuminate the mind and penetrate the principle. How could there be any practice or attainment that overlooks them? There are those who say, "It is a transmission of mind by means of mind." But I would like to know, how is it that they know this mind can be transmitted? Is it not through the explanations given in the teachings? How much more so since "scriptures, by their nature detached, are identical to liberation." 117 From this we know that Ch'an and the Teachings both point to what was transmitted on Vulture Peak. How could the transmission to Kasyapa be at odds with the Buddhas and patriarchs? 118 Fa-teng here takes a position that is similar to that of Tsung-mi and his epigones Yen-shou and Ch'i-sung, stressing the common roots of both Ch'an and the Teachings in a single dharma taught by the Buddha. His main point, however, is that the dharma can never be transmitted apart from expedients (fang-pien) of some sort. That idea derives directly from the T'ien-t'ai tradition. Fa-teng not only criticized the various Ch'an theories of "separate transmission" for their vagueness and heresy, he offered an alternative, the T'ien-t'ai point of view: The transmission of the dharma is the transmission of the essence of the Buddha's mind. You should know that this essence can be looked at in its wholeness or in its division into parts. Its parts are all the dharmas that were preached throughout the Buddha's career.... In its wholeness it is the Lotus Sutras "opening of the

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provisional to reveal the ultimate truth" (k'ai-ch'uan hsien-shih), which explains the Buddha's wisdom and vision and reveals the source and self-nature of all dharmas. Everything preached earlier was no more than an expedient (fang-pien). But now that the ultimate truth has been revealed, it is all the Buddha's wisdom and vision. In the first round, although it was preached, Kasyapa did not understand it. In the next round, when it was explained with the parable of the "high, vast, great cart," Kasyapa heard it and rejoiced in his heart, and thus received it. Truly it is because this wisdom and vision of the Buddha includes and integrates all knowledge that it is said, "The supreme true dharma is given to Kasyapa." . . . Thus we know that the mark of dharma transmission was right there on Vulture Peak and has no other explanation. It just refers to the Buddha's wisdom and vision, and that is all. Although the dharma includes greater and lesser [vehicles], at this point they all return to a single w a y . . . . When the people of old spoke of "the World Honored One held up a flower and Kasyapa smiled faintly," was it not this [wisdom and vision of the Buddha as conveyed in the Lotus] they were symbolizing?119 Here Fa-teng answers the question that he posed at the outset about the "mark" of the dharma transmitted to Mahakasyapa: it is nothing other than the Buddha's preaching of the Lotus Sutra on Vulture Peak and, more specifically, his sermon using the "parable of the high, vast, great cart"—better known today as the parable of the burning house. When Mahakasyapa heard and accepted that sermon, he received the essence of the Buddha's mind in its wholeness —the "eye of the perfect and sudden lineage." Sutra of Brahma. Deva

The story in the Eyes of Humans and Gods about the discovery of the Sutra of Brahma Deva Asking the Buddha to Settle Doubts (Tafan t'ien-wang wen-fo chueh-i ching) is of questionable historicity, but two texts by that name are found today in the Dainippon zoku zokyo, having been preserved in Japan.120 Both contain the anecdote of the Buddha holding up a flower, but neither gives a translators name or time of translation, and the title (identical for both texts) does not appear in any Chinese sutra catalogues, so their provenance is unknown. 121 An examination of the parts of the two texts of the Sutra of Brahma Deva that treat the transmission to Mahakasyapa suggests that they were composed after the story of the Buddha holding up a flower had been fully elaborated in China. Since the motivation for "discovering" a sutra that confirmed the historicity of the transmission on Vulture Peak would also have arisen subsequent

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to the popular spread of the story and the controversy over its authenticity, it is reasonable to conclude that the Sutra of Brahma Deva (in whatever form) was concocted no earlier than the mideleventh century. Because the extant texts (in particular the one-fascicle version) do contain a passage similar to the one that the magistrate Wang Ching purportedly summarized for Ch'an master Fo Hui-ch'iian, it is possible that the Sutra of Brahma Deva was written before the Eyes of Humans and Gods (compiled in 1188), the oldest known source for the Wang Ching story. It is even possible that the account of Wang Ching's discovery was based on an actual occurrence, for a clever way to lend credibility to a newly forged "sutra" would be to leave it in a library somewhere (preferably not a monastery library where its sudden appearance would have been suspicious) for some innocent person to find and make public. Even if one were to accept that scenario, however, many questions would remain. 122 An equally plausible scenario is that the production of one or more texts called the Sutra of Brahma Deva was actually inspired by (and perhaps intended to lend veracity to) the story of Wang Ching's discovery. If that were the case, the texts we have today could have been produced any time after the late twelfth century and could have been written in either China or Japan. Many Japanese scholars over the past two centuries have judged the texts of the Sutra of Brahma Deva forgeries produced in Japan; others argue against a Japanese origin.123 My own guess is that the texts were written in China sometime between the mid-twelfth and late fourteenth centuries and that they represent aborted attempts to lend a legitimizing scriptural basis to the story of the Buddha holding up a flower. The controversy over the authenticity of the story of the Buddha's flower was, after all, a Sung Chinese concern; from the time when their interest was aroused in the late twelfth century, the Japanese were eager but relatively passive and uncritical consumers of Ch'an lore transmitted from China.124 Like many other texts of dubious authenticity, they evidently failed to survive in China proper but were somehow preserved on the periphery of Chinese culture, in this case in Japan. The one-fascicle version of the Sutra of Brahma Deva represents the transmission to Mahakasyapa as follows: At that time a great Brahma Deva, the lord of myriads of realms, whose name was All Encompassing, took a great Po-lo flower (polo-hua), a lotus of the marvelous dharma (miao-fa-lien) with roots

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that reached throughout three thousand great thousands of realms, a n d o f f e r e d it to the B u d d h a . He then withdrew, m a d e prostrations, a n d said to the B u d d h a , The World Honored One is now a Buddha who has already attained perfect enlightenment. For fifty years you have preached a variety of dharmas and presented a variety of teachings to convert and save living beings of all sorts of capacities. If there is a supreme great dharma yet to be preached, disseminate and preach it for me, for persons who will practice as bodhisattvas in the future and for deluded sentient beings who desire to tread the path of Buddhahood. Having m a d e this speech, h e o f f e r e d his b o d y as a seat, d e c o r a t e d w i t h a great robe, a n d b a d e the Tathagata to sit. At that time the Tathagata sat o n that precious seat a n d accepted the lotus f l o w e r (lien-hua). W i t h o u t p r e a c h i n g and w i t h o u t speaking he simply held u p the lotus flower. All of the eighty-four t h o u s a n d h u m a n s a n d gods w h o w e r e present in the great assembly at that time w e r e f r o z e n in silence. T h e n M a h a k a s y a p a the elder, o n seeing the B u d dha hold u p the f l o w e r to instruct the assembly in the matter of B u d d h a h o o d , alone b r o k e into a faint smile. T h e B u d d h a then spoke these words: I have the collection of the eye of the true dharma, the wonderful mind of nirvana, the subtle dharma gate that in its true form is formless. It is entirely retained and held without setting up scriptures, as a separate transmission apart from the teachings. It is the ultimate truth that turns ordinary beings into Buddhas. I now transmit it to Mahakasyapa. H a v i n g said this, he w a s silent. At that time the venerable M a h a k a s y a p a got u p f r o m his seat, w o r s h i p e d the B u d d h a s feet w i t h his head, a n d said to the B u d d h a : Wonderful! I recall how, countless kalpas ago, I gave rise to the thought of enlightenment on the occasion of the Buddha Dlpamkara preaching the dharma. I have practiced, following the Buddha [in this life], and again the World Honored One has preached the dharma. In that preaching of the dharma I have attained the extinction of defilements and the knowledge that I have become an arhat. Again, listening to the preaching of the various forms of the dharma treasure, I entered the bodhisattva path, gained the first fruit of the immovable [the eighth stage], and completed the Mahayana path, getting close to the omniscience of a Tathagata. And from what place does this marvelous wisdom come? It all comes from the long-alienated mind of an ordinary person (fanfu). That long-alienated mind is the same as the mind of all the Buddhas, which is understood to be the dharmakaya. This is

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called attaining Buddhahood. Gaining sight of this mind does not consist in the speaking of doctrinal principles (chiao-li) or promoting understanding within the scriptures. It only consists in using the mind to reveal what is within. It does not make use of samadhi and does not expect to experience any fruits. When their karma is ripe, ordinary persons will see it. Thus the way of the Buddha, though transmitted among ordinary persons, is not cut off. If this dharma did not exist, then there would only be attainment of the way for those who experience the fruits of sainthood (hsien-sheng), and there would be no attainment of the way of the Buddha by ordinary monks, nuns, laymen, or laywomen. However, in this sin-polluted world of the end of the dharma (mo-fa), not one person in ten million has realized the fruit. Because they do not realize the fruit, [if this dharma did not exist] the way of the Buddha would be cut off. Transmission would only exist in name and letter, and there would be no elephants of the way. Because this dharma does exist, the elephants who transmit the way of the Buddha are not finished in this final age.

The Buddha said, "Excellent Mahakasyapa!"125 Having traced the development of the story of the transmission to Mahakasyapa through various Sung period genealogical histories, it is surprising to encounter a version in which he gives such a lengthy "acceptance speech." Striking, too, is the argument that the dharma received by Mahakasyapa is not only the "supreme great dharma" and the "ultimate truth," but the dharma that is best suited for saving ordinary deluded beings "in this sin-polluted world of the end of the dharma." That claim stands in marked contrast to other versions of the story of the Buddha's flower, which imply that the Ch'an dharma is, as the Chien-chung Supplementary Record put it, "a separate transmission to those of superior capacities." Here, in the one-fascicle Sutra of Brahma Deva, there is no doubt that before the transmission Mahakasyapa was a person of superior capacities, for he had already advanced far along the bodhisattva path. As in all other versions, moreover, only he was able to understand when the Buddha held up the flower, so the Ch'an dharma is certainly not depicted as the sort of "easy way" to salvation that anyone can readily grasp whenever it is demonstrated. Nevertheless, by Mahakasyapa's own testimony, neither doctrinal understanding nor training in samadhi nor attainment of any of the fruits of the Hlnayana or Mahayana paths was essential to his final attainment of Buddhahood. All that attainment takes, he says, is gaining sight of the Buddha-mind, which in its essence is no different from the deluded mind possessed by all ordinary beings. No particular culti-

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vation is called for, the text suggests, since seeing the Buddha-mind is something that happens unexpectedly, with causes beyond one's conscious manipulation: "when their karma is ripe, ordinary persons will see it." Other versions of the transmission to Mahakasyapa suggest that the Chan dharma is the highest because it does not make use of expedient devices to reach persons of lower capacities. The one-fascicle Sutra of Brahma Deva agrees that the Ch'an dharma is the highest but argues that precisely because it does not depend on expedients, but only the innate Buddha-mind, it is not beyond the reach of anyone. Thus, in an age when spiritually advanced persons are exceedingly rare, it is only the Ch'an dharma that keeps the way of the Buddha, "though transmitted among ordinary persons," from being cut off.126 Gateless Barrier The last version of the transmission to Mahakasyapa to consider is the sixth case in the Gateless Barrier (Wu-men kuan),121 the kungan collection compiled by Wu-men Hui-k'ai (1183-1260) and printed in 1229. The case, titled "The World Honored One Holds Up a Flower" (shih-tsun nien-hua), reads as follows: The World Honored One Holds Up a Flower When the World Honored One long ago was at a gathering on Vulture Peak, he held up a flower to instruct the assembly. At that time, everyone in the assembly was silent; only the venerable Mahakasyapa broke into a faint smile. The World Honored One said, "I have the collection of the eye of the true dharma, the wonderful mind of nirvana, the subtle dharma gate that in its true form is formless. Not setting up scriptures, as a separate transmission apart from the teachings, I pass it on to Mahakasyapa." Wu-men says: Yellow-faced Gautama [i.e., Sakyamuni] is certainly unscrupulous. He forces one of good family to be his maidservant and displays a sheep's head while selling dog meat. I was going to say how remarkable it was. But if at the time the entire assembly had smiled, how could the transmission of the collection of the eye of the true dharma have occurred? Or again, supposing that Mahakasyapa had not smiled, how could the transmission of the collection of the eye of the true dharma have occurred? If you say that the collection of the eye of the true dharma has a transmission, that is the old yellow-faced one deceitfully hawking his wares at the village gate. If you say that there is no transmission, then why was Mahakasyapa singled out for approval?

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[Wu-men's] verse (sung) says: Holding up the flower, His tail is already exposed; Kasyapa cracks a smile, Humans and gods are nonplused.128

Like the Outline of the Linked Flames (compiled 1183), the earlier text in which the "World Honored One holds up a flower" was treated as a kung-an, here the story of the transmission to Mahakasyapa is presented in truncated form. Missing are Sakyamuni's verse, the robe entrusted to Mahakasyapa, the compilation of the dharma after the Buddha's nirvana, and so on. It is likely that Wumen omitted these well-known elements from the Gateless Barrier version because the initial exchange between the Buddha and Mahakasyapa had already become established as a fixed "saying" (huat'ou) that served as a topic for reflection and interpretive comment. Indeed, Wu-men's own comment both echoes and responds to the comment on the same kung-an made earlier by Ta-hui (Miao-shan), quoted in the Outline of the Linked Flames. The earthy language and irreverent tone of Wu-men's comment fits the image of the iconoclastic Ch'an master that was fostered in the hagiographical literature of Sung Ch'an, but as in the case of Ta-hui's comment, it was not simply intended to shock or amuse—it raised a real philosophical problem. The Buddha is a swindler, "selling dog meat as mutton," Wu-men suggests, because he passes off a preaching of the dharma that makes use of signs—namely, holding up a flower—as a "separate transmission" of the signless dharma itself. He then relies on another sign—Mahakasyapa's smile—as proof that the latter has received the dharma. If dharma transmission depended on the discrimination of such signs, Wu-men jokes, the implications would be absurd: if the entire assembly had happened (for any reason) to smile or if Mahakasyapa had happened not to smile then the Buddha would not have been able to make any distinction between them, and he could not have selected an heir to propagate the Ch'an lineage. Wu-men's remark that the Buddha "forces one of good family to be his maidservant" parallels Ta-hui's statement that he "licentiously abandons his family responsibilities." The meaning in both cases is that to hold up a flower is to bastardize the very truth (the incommunicable nature of the dharma) that one wishes to communicate. Wu-men thus echoes Ta-hui's point that it is false to speak of any sort of transmission of dharma, but he also

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goes Ta-hui one better by insisting that it is equally false to deny the existence of dharma transmission. In other words, it is possible both to signify and to grasp through signs the ultimate impossibility of signification, whereupon one may smile along with Mahâkâsyapa, join with Ta-hui and Wu-men in freely insulting the Ch'an masters of old for their many deceptions, and without hesitation request from one s teacher his formal approval as a dharma heir. Not everybody gets it, though: "Kâsyapa cracks a smile," but "humans and gods are nonplused," foolishly imagining that something profound and beyond their comprehension has been communicated. Wu-men, significantly, ends his comment by reaffirming the historicity of the transmission to Mahâkàsyapa: "If you say that there is no transmission, then why was Mahâkâsyapa singled out for approval?" In the Sung, monks with wits as quick as Mahâkâsyapa's were rewarded by being admitted to the Ch'an lineage and thereby to the abbacies of the nations leading monasteries. It made a real difference socially and materially. That difference was legitimized, Wu-men implied, by the Buddha himself in his selection of Mahâkâsyapa and his establishment of the Ch'an lineage. For all of the banter at Sâkyamuni's expense, those were historical facts not to be dispensed with lightly.

Conclusion The idea that the Ch'an lineage represents a "separate transmission" of the Buddha's highest dharma, handed down apart from the teachings contained in the sütras, underwent a long and involved process of development in medieval China. The debates that raged in the Sung over the historical particulars and religious meaning of the "separate transmission" of Ch'an gave voice to concerns that were largely doctrinal and ideological. In all of the literature examined above there is virtually no indication that concrete matters of Buddhist practice—such as whether or not Ch'an monks should actually study or chant sütras—were at stake in the debates. Japanese, Chinese, and Western scholars have tended to be so seduced by the Sung Ch'an rhetoric of "separate transmission" that they have often imagined a separate Ch'an monastic institution in which the traditional forms of Buddhist practice prescribed in the sütras and Vinaya were abandoned. The Sung Ch'an literature in which the trope of "separate transmission" evolved, however, was polemical in nature, philosophically oriented, and concerned with elucidating teaching methods only in the context of ancient history,

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with reference to methods ostensibly employed by the founding patriarchs Sakyamuni and Bodhidharma. The use of this literature to extrapolate a picture of Ch'an practices and institutional arrangements in the T'ang or Sung is scarcely justifiable. "Ch'an" monasteries in the Sung featured essentially the same facilities, schedules of activities, and bureaucratic structures as any other large, public Buddhist monasteries, including those that were designated as Teachings (T'ien-t'ai) monasteries. What distinguished the Ch'an establishments, basically, was their designation by the imperial court as places where the abbacy was restricted to monks who were dharma heirs in the Ch'an lineage. In this respect, the debates over whether (and on what grounds) the dharma transmitted in the Ch'an lineage could be regarded as Sakyamuni Buddha's highest were of tremendous consequence for the Buddhist order at large. Because the Sung court accepted a series of Ch'an genealogical histories as accurate representations of the Ch'an lineage and because those texts promoted Ch'an as a separate transmission of the Buddha's supreme "mind dharma," there was ample justification for the court to designate numerous leading public monasteries as "Ch'an abbacy" domains. Another way in which the rhetoric of "separate transmission" had a direct impact on Buddhist monasticism in the Sung was through the media of sacred art and ritual performance. Some Ch'an monasteries in the Southern Sung, for example, featured an image of a "flower-holding Sakyamuni" (nien-hua Shih-chia) as the chief object of worship (pen-tsun) enshrined in the Buddha hall. The Sung Ch'an rites of selecting a dharma heir, similarly, can be seen as reenactments of the "first transmission" to Mahákasyapa, for they involved both a "secret," personal bestowal of the formless dharma from master to disciple and a public announcement that transmission had taken place, thereby entering the event into the historical (genealogical) record. This chapter has focused on just those matters of doctrinal and historical interpretation that were, as best one can tell from the existing textual record, front and center in the Sung controversies concerning the "separate transmission" of Ch'an. In the process of surveying and unpacking the various points of contention that engaged the Buddhist participants in those debates, I have identified three main lines of dispute or tension. In the first place, within the Buddhist order as a whole in the Sung there was a division between persons who accepted the general

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premise that the Chan lineage constituted a "separate transmission apart from the teachings" of the Buddha's highest dharma (his "mind" or awakening) and persons who either rejected that claim or were indifferent to it. The dividing line here ran between Buddhist monks and lay people who were followers of the Chan school and those who were not. Most of the texts reviewed in this chapter were authored by persons who belonged to the former camp. A few, however, were written by monks whose sympathies lay elsewhere. Tsan-ning, the author of the Sung Biographies of Eminent Monks, was aware of the Ch'an lineage myth but chose to pay it little heed. Bodhidharma, in his view, was simply a dhyana practitioner who, although he had brought Sanskrit texts with him from India, used the expression "not setting up scriptures" as an expedient device for teaching the Chinese. Chih-li, a leader of the Home Mountain faction of T'ien-t'ai in the early Sung, apparently accepted as historical facts the idea that Hui-k'o had been Bodhidharma's best disciple and that a Ch'an lineage of dharma inheritance could be traced back to him. In Chih-li's view, however, Hui-k'o was certainly not heir to the Buddha's highest dharma—that honor belonged to Chih-i and other patriarchs in the T'ien-t'ai lineage. Fa-teng, a T'ien-t'ai monk and the author of the Eye of the Perfect and Sudden Lineage, was well versed in all of the Ch'an lore of his day. He was also explicit and adamant in his rejection of the claim that Ch'an alone transmitted the Buddha's highest dharma or even that the Ch'an dharma was "separate" from the Buddha's other teachings in any fundamental way. The textual evidence treated in this chapter suggests that opposition between the Ch'an and T'ien-t'ai schools heated up from around the turn of the eleventh century, just when Chih-li and Tsun-shih were seeking official recognition for T'ien-t'ai abbacy monasteries and the inclusion of T'ien-t'ai texts in the canon. The T'ang and earliest Sung texts that present histories of Bodhidharma's lineage display little awareness of T'ien-t'ai opposition to their claims. From the eleventh century, however, Ch'an texts such as Li Tsun-hsii's T'ien-sheng Extensive Record (completed 1036) and Ch'i-sung's Record of the True Lineage (compiled in 1061) begin to show signs of antiT'ien-t'ai polemics. Whereas in earlier texts (up to and including the Ching-te Record, completed in 1004) the "teachings" that Ch'an is ostensibly "apart" from are equated with the Buddhist tripitaka as a whole, subsequent Ch'an works identify those "teachings" more or less explicitly as T'ien-t'ai doctrines.

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The second line of dispute traced in this chapter divided the Ch'an school from within during the Sung. Its roots, however, can be traced back into the earliest histories of Bodhidharmas lineage that were inherited from the T'ang; those texts already exhibit tension between the "liberal" and "fundamentalist" interpretations of the slogan "not setting up scriptures." The former drew its inspiration from the writings of Tsung-mi, and the latter may have derived from the Hung-chou school of Ma-tsu and Huang-po. The "liberal" position, on the one hand, was that the slogans "not setting up scriptures" and "a separate transmission apart from the teachings" were not to be taken literally. Rather, the Ch'an patriarchs made use of sütras but did not cling to the letter and thus were able to penetrate to the deep, ineffable core of their meaning. The implication of this view was that the Buddha transmitted only one dharma (not separate "Ch'an" and "teachings" dharmas) but that members of the Ch'an lineage grasped that dharma most fully and completely because they used its verbal form to get at its mental essence. The "fundamentalist" position, on the other hand, was that the Ch'an dharma, being utterly formless and signless, was indeed essentially different from that conveyed by the Buddha in the form of written sütras. According to this view, only the Ch'an lineage transmitted the Buddha-mind itself; all other lineages were stuck at the level of a merely verbal understanding. The "liberal" position was represented in the Sung by several works, beginning with Yen-shou's Records of the Source Mirror (completed in 961) and continuing down through Ch'i-sungs Record of the True Lineage (1061) and Mu-an's Chrestomathy from the Patriarchs Hall (1108). The overall evidence of the surviving literary record, however, suggests that the "fundamentalist" position was represented by a greater number of works and that, by the advent of the Southern Sung at least, it had emerged as the "orthodox" (most widely accepted) Ch'an view. Among the texts reviewed above, those that line up on the "fundamentalist" side include the Patriarchs Hall Collection (952), the Ching-te Record (1004), Li Tsun-hsus T'ien-sheng Extensive Record (1036), Wei-po's Chien-chung Supplementary Record (1101), Wu-ming's Outline of the Linked Flames (1183), Chih-chao's Eyes of Humans and Gods (1188), and Wu-men's Gateless Barrier (1229). Viewed sequentially, these texts can be seen to become bolder and bolder in the claims they make concerning the "separate transmission" of the formless Ch'an dharma and the Buddha Sákyamuni's role in initiating it. Earlier texts in this series work hard to disso-

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ciate the "collection of the eye of the true dharma" with which Mahakasyapa was entrusted from the Buddhist tripitaka and to establish the superiority of the formless Chan dharma. Later ones relocate the "first transmission" to Vulture Peak, conveniently obscuring the original connection between the dharma inherited by Mahakasyapa and that compiled at the council of Rajagrha, and directly challenging the T'ien-t'ai claim to the "last word" (the Lotus Sutra) preached on that sacred peak. The Buddha himself is then identified as the author of the slogans "a separate transmission" and "not setting up scriptures." Eventually he is even depicted as a Ch'an master, exhibiting all the gestures and rhetorical flourishes of a "wordless" teaching method. His sayings are treated as kung-an, just like the "old cases" gleaned from the discourse records of other Ch'an patriarchs, and subjected to acerbic commentary. The third line of tension analyzed in this chapter is a more subtle one, for the division it inscribed did not set Ch'an partisans against their T'ien-t'ai counterparts or "liberals" against "fundamentalists" within the Ch'an camp. This tension, rather, is found within each of the texts that represents the prevailing "fundamentalist" view, dividing the author against himself, as it were. A basic problem with the literal interpretation of the "separate transmission" slogan was that it relied on the notions of utter formlessness and signlessness to establish the difference and superiority of the Ch'an dharma over the "teachings." While effective as a polemical device, this approach had a self-defeating aspect, for it effectively put the transmission of the Ch'an dharma beyond the reach of historical verification altogether. There was, in other words, a fundamental tension between the historiographical need to pin down the place, time, and circumstances of the Buddha's "separate transmission" to Mahakasyapa and the polemical need to locate it on a higher, suprahistorical plane. Thus, in virtually all of the "fundamentalist" texts examined in this chapter, two transmissions are posited: a "real" one that is secret, private, or indeterminate in some way and a visible, public one that, though part of the historical record, is but an outward sign of the real one. Wu-men, in his Gateless Barrier, makes this tension explicit by highlighting the inherently self-contradictory nature of any attempt to depict "separate transmission" as a verifiable historical event. Presenting this dilemma as a challenge, he implies that the awakened can somehow have it both ways. Perhaps the most striking feature of all the Buddhist texts examined in this chapter, regardless of where they come down on the

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issue of the "separate transmission" of Ch'an, is their unquestioning acceptance of Indian sutras as the ultimate authorities on matters pertaining to the life and teachings of the Buddha Sakyamuni and the first "Ch'an" patriarchs Mahakasyapa and Ananda. I have shown how the progressive fabrication and embellishment of the Mahakasyapa myth in Ch'an texts, beginning with the account found in the Pao-lin Record, was marked at every stage by a desire to provide realistic details that could somehow be corroborated in sutra literature. One good example of this tendency is the selection in some texts of the Stupa of Many Sons as the site where the first transmission took place. The most extreme example is the actual forging of a scripture, the Sutra of Brahma Deva, in an effort to prove the story of the Buddha holding up a flower on Vulture Peak. For all of its talk about "not setting up scriptures," the Ch'an school in Sung China certainly valued the written word and prized the sutras as the ultimate source of authority in historical evidence.

Notes 1. All of the major public monasteries in the Sung, including Ch'an monasteries, had the same basic facilities for meditation practice, sutra study, and the group recitation of sutras in ritual contexts. All Buddhist monks, furthermore, whether or not they affiliated themselves with the Ch'an school, were fairly well versed in both the sutras and the norms of monastic discipline (Vinaya), for such training was a prerequisite to qualify for the novice and full ordinations that were regulated by the state. See T. Griffith Foulk, "Myth, Ritual, and Monastic Practice in Sung Ch'an Buddhism," in Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Peter N. Gregory, eds., Religion and Society in T'ang and Sung China (Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 1993). 2. The study of T'ang dynasty texts discovered in the early twentieth century in Tun-huang has shown that various lists of Indian patriarchs culminating in Bodhidharma (or Bodhidharmatrata) were fabricated and embellished over the course of the eighth century. The traditional account of the lineage of dharma transmission linking Bodhidharma with the putative "sixth patriarch," Huineng, has also been shown on the basis of Tun-huang manuscripts to be the result of a series of retrospective (and competing) fabrications. For a survey of the texts in question, see Philip B. Yampolsky, trans., The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch (New York: Columbia University Press, 1967), pp. 1-57. 3. Foulk, "Myth, Ritual, and Monastic Practice," pp. 163-167. 4. Fu fa-tsang yin-yiian chuan, T 50.297a-322b. 5. For the list of twenty-three patriarchs given in the Record of the Transmission of the Dharma Collection, see Yampolsky, The Platform Sutra, p. 8.

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6. Hsu kao-seng chuan, T 50.55 lb-c. 7. Hsu kao-seng chuan, T 50.55 lc-552c. 8. Hsu kao-seng chuan, T 50.606b. 9. Tao-hstian's collection of biographies, as its title suggests, was not the first such work to appear in China. It was modeled closely after the Kao-seng chuan, which had been compiled around 530 by Hui-chiao (T 50.323c-422a). In particular, Tao-hsiian followed the basic structure of that earlier work, which categorized the biographies of monks according to the particular activity or mode of Buddhist practice for which they were most famous. Hui-chiao s categories were: (1) sutra translators (i-ching), (2) exegetes (i-chieh), (3) thaumaturges (shen-i), (4) dhyana practitioners (hsi-ch'an), (5) illuminators of the Vinaya (ming-lu), (6) self-immolators (i-shen), (7) sutra chanters (sung-ching), (8) promoters of meritorious works (hsing-fu), (9) hymnodists (ching-shih), and (10) sermonists (ch'ang-tao). 10. Yanagida Seizan, ed., Sozo ichin: Horinden, Dento gyokuei shu, Zengakusosho, no. 5 (Kyoto: Chubun, 1983). 11. Some say that the compilation of the canon took place in two parts, with Ananda responsible for the collection of sutra (sutra-pitaka; ching-tsang) and Upali responsible for the Vinaya (vinaya-pitaka; lii-tsang). Others say that in addition to those two collections, Ananda also took charge of the compilation of the Abhidharma (abhidharma-pitaka; a-p'i-t'an tsang). Still others say that the three collections (tripitaka; san-tsang)—sutras, Vinaya, and Abhidharma— were handled by Ananda, Upali, and Mahakasyapa, respectively, or that Ananda recalled all three by himself. For a survey of the literature, see Mochizuki Shinko, Bukkyo daijiten (Tokyo: Bukkyo daijiten hakkojo, 1931-1936) l:902b-c. 12. The idea that Mahakasyapa had been charged with giving Maitreya a robe is found, for example, in the Mi-lo ch'eng-fo ching (Sutra on Maitreya Attaining Buddhahood) (T 14.433b-434a); in the pilgrim Hsiian-tsang's (602664) firsthand account of his visit to Cock's Foot Mountain (Thomas Watters, On Yuan Chwang's Travels in India [New Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal, 1973], vol. 2, p. 143); in a work by Tao-hsiian (596-667) written in 664 (Chi Shen-chou san-pao kan-t'ung lu, T 52.430); and in a work by Tao-shih compiled in 668 (Fayuan chu lin, T 53.504a). I am indebted for these references to Karen L. Brock, "Awaiting Maitreya at Kasagi," in Alan Sponberg and Helen Hardacre, eds., Maitreya, The Future Buddha (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988), pp. 222-226.

13. Pao-lin chuan, in Yanagida, ed., Sozo ichin: Horinden, lOa-c. 14. The passage as quoted, to the best of my knowledge, does not appear in any extant recension of the Nirvana Sutra. The Ta-pan nieh-p'an ching (Mahaparinirvana Sutra) does contain a passage in which the Buddha tells his disciples that they should rely on Mahakasyapa, to whom he transmits his true dharma (T 12.617b24-c2). 15. Pao-lin chuan, in Yanagida, ed., Sozo ichin: Horinden, 12a-b. 16. Ibid., 12d-14a. 17. Ibid., 13c-14a. 18. Ibid., 10b. 19. As is well known, the Japanese monk Dogen Kigen (1200-1253), who studied at several of the leading Chan centers in the Southern Sung, used this

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expression (Shobogenzo) as the title of a collection of sermons that he left to posterity. Less well known is the fact that Dogen also assembled a koan collection with the same title: it is most often referred to as the Shobogenzo sanbyaku soku (Okubo Doshu, ed., Dogen zenji zenshu, vol. 2 [Tokyo: Chikuma shobo, 1969, 1970], pp. 201-252). The influential Chan master Ta-hui Tsung-kao (10891163) before him had also produced a kung-an collection entitled Cheng-fa-yen tsang (HTC 118.1a-78b). 20. Pao-lin chuan, in Yanagida, ed., Sozo ichin: Horinden, 79b. 21. Ibid., 93c. 22. Ibid., 101a. 23. Ibid., 134b. 24. Ibid., 144a-c. 25. Ibid., 134c. 26. Hsu kao-seng chuan, T 50.552b20-21; see also 552c21-22. 27. For an excellent biography of Tsung-mi and discussion of his works, see Peter N. Gregory, Tsung-mi and the Sinification of Buddhism (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1991). 28. Even today, after the discovery of the Tun-huang manuscripts, Tsung-mi s works remain unique among Tang texts in this respect. All others that treat Bodhidharmas lineage stake exclusive claims to the inheritance of his dharma, rejecting or ignoring competing claims. See his Chung-hua ch'uan-hsin-ti ch'anmen shih-tzu ch'eng-hsi t'u, HTC 110.433c-438c; and Yiian-chueh ching ta-shu ch'ao, HTC 14.277c-280a. 29. Yiian-chiieh ching ta-shu ch'ao, HTC 14.276b-c. 30. The expression "ch'an-tsung hsin-ti" may also be interpreted to mean the "mind ground of the Chan lineage"; Tsung-mi may have intended a double meaning. 31. Li-tai fa-pao chi, T 51.180a-b. See Yampolsky, The Platform Sutra, p. 8. Tsung-mis list is identical to that of the Li-tai fa-pao chi with the exception that he omits Madhyantika and changes Subhamitra back to Vasumitra, which was the original reading of the name in the Ta-mo-to-lo ch'an-ching (see Yampolsky, pp. 30, 40), a text Tsung-mi also knew. 32. Yanagida Seizan and Nishitani Keiji, eds., Zen no goroku, no. 2, Sekai koten bungaku zenshu, vol. 36B (Tokyo: Chikuma, 1974), p. 477. 33. Sekuguchi Shindai, Daruma no kenkyii (Tokyo: Iwanami, 1967), pp. 190191. 34. The saying "using mind to transmit mind, not setting up scriptures" (i-hsin ch'uan-hsin, pu-li wen-tzu) occurs in the Hsileh-mo lun, a work attributed to Bodhidharma (T 48.373M3-14). The text survives today in a Sung edition but was probably written in the ninth century, contemporaneously with Tsung-mi. 35. Ch'an-yuan chu-chuan-chi tu-hsiX, T 48.400bl7-26. Also see T 48.405b2-4. 36. See the discussion of this issue in Gregory, Tsung-mi, pp. 226-230; see also Po Chii-i's poem praising Tsung-mi, translated in Gregory, Tsung-mi, p. 78. 37. Ch'an-yuan chu-chuan-chi tu-hsii, T 48.400M0-11. 38. Ch'an-yuan chu-ch'uan-chi tu-hsii, T 48.401b2-4. A similar statement also appears in Tsung-mis Chung-hua ch'uan-hsin-ti ch'an-men shih-tzu ch'enghsi t'u, HTC 110.434a5-9.

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39. Chung-hua ch'uan-hsin-ti ch'an-men shih-tzu ch'eng-hsi t'u, HTC 110.434c-d. 40. Li-tai fa-pao chi, T 51.181a. 41. For biographical information on P'ei Hsiu and his relationship with Tsung-mi and Huang-po, see Gregory, Tsung-mi, pp. 73-77. 42. Ch'uan-hsin fa-yao, T 48.379b27-29. 43. Ch'uan-hsin fa-yao, T 48.381bl7-21. 44. Tsu-t'ang chi, in Yanagida Seizan, ed., Soddshu, Zengaku sosho, no. 4 (Kyoto: Chubun, 1984). 45. Ibid., pp. 37a-b. 46. Yiian-chiieh-ching ta-shu ch'ao, HTC 14.275cl5-18. 47. The phrase appears in the biography of Shih-shuang Ch'ing-chu (807888)—see Tsu-t'ang chi, Yanagida, ed., Soddshu, 130M2-13. 48. Yanagida Seizan, Shoki zenshu. shisho no kenkyu (Kyoto: Hozokan, 1967), pp. 472-473. 49. Tsung-chinglu, T 48.415a-957b. 50. Tsung-ching lu, T 48.660b2. 51. Tsung-chinglu, T48.417b5-6. 52. Tsung-chinglu, T 48.417b28-c3. 53. Tsung-ching lu, T 48.418al4-15. 54. Tsung-ching lu, T 48.418b5-7. The passage quoted comes from Tsung-mis Preface to the Collected Writings on the Source of Ch'an (Ch'an-yiian chu-ch'iianchi tu-hsii, T 48.400bl0-ll). 55. Ch'an-yiian chu-ch'iian-chi tu-hsii, T 48.418M3-17. For the quotation from Ma-tsu, see Ching-te chuan-teng lu, T 51.246a5-8; see also Iriya Yoshitaka, Baso no goroku (Kyoto: Zenbunka kenkyujo, 1984), p. 19. 56. Sung kao-seng chuan, T 50.709a-900a. 57. Sung kao-seng chuan, T 50.789b24-c5. 58. Ch'an-yiian chu-ch'iian-chi tu-hsii, T 48.399b. 59. Ching-te ch'uan-teng lu, T 51.196b^67a. 60. Ishii Shudo, Sodai zenshushi no kenkyu (Tokyo: Daito, 1987), pp. 12-21. 61. Ching-te ch'uan-teng lu, T 51.205b23-c8. 62. Ching-te ch'uan-teng lu, T 51.206a2-ll. 63. Ching-te ch'uan-teng lu, T 51.219b27-c5. 64. Sung kao-seng chuan, T 50.789c4-5. 65. Ishii Shudo, Chugoku senshushi wa (Kyoto: Zenbunka kenkyusho, 1988), p. 65. 66. Shih pu-erh-men, T 46.702c-704c. 67. Brook Ziporyn, "Anti-Chan Polemics in Post Tang Tiantai," Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 17.1 (1994): 26-65. 68. Shih pu-erh men chih-yao ch'ao, T 46.707a21-b4. My translation follows Brook Ziporyn, "Anti-Chan Polemics in Post Tang Tiantai," pp. 34-35. 69. Some of the letters exchanged between Chih-li and Tzu-ning are preserved in Chih-li s discourse record, titled Record of the Teachings and Career of the Sage of Ssu-ming (Ssu-ming tsun-che chiao-hsing lu) (T 46.894b-896b). 70. Chiao-hsing lu, T 46.894bl6-26. This is in agreement with the Ching-te Record as it exists today; see translation above. However, the extant edition of the Patriarchs Hall Collection does not have the story of Bodhidharma testing his

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disciples and gives no indication of the contents of the "flesh," "bones," and "marrow" they are said to have received; see translation above. 71. Chiao-hsing lu, T 46.894c25-895al3. 72. Chiao-hsing lu, T 46.895bll-13. 73. Chiao-hsing lu, T 46.895cl8-29. 74. Chiao-hsing lu, T 46.896a20-896bl3. 75. Shih pu-erh-men chih-yao, T 46.707M0-15. My translation follows Ziporyn, "Anti-Chan Polemics in Post Tang Tiantai," p. 35. 76. T'ien-sheng kuang-teng lu, HTC 135.298a-451d. 77. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.193a, T 46.902b-903a. I am indebted to Daniel Stevenson for these references. 78. T'ien-sheng kuang-teng lu, HTC 135.305dl4-306al2. 79. See Miao-fa lien-hua ching, T 9.12b-13c, translated by Leo Hurvitz in Scripture of the Lotus Blossom of the Fine Dharma (New York: Columbia University Press, 1976), pp. 58-64. 80. The concept of the bodhisattva path that Li Tsun-hsu seemed to have had in mind when he described Sakyamuni's preaching of the "one vehicle" had been associated with T'ien-t'ai doctrine as early as the Sui and Tang. That concept had been revived in the Sung by T'ien-t'ai partisans such as Hsi-chi (919987), his Korean disciples Chegwan (dates unknown) and I-t'ung (K. Uit'ong, 927-988), and I-t'ung's students Tsun-shih (963-1032) and Chih-li (960-1028). Chegwan's T'ien-t'ai ssu-chiao i, for example, discussed the "ten degrees of faith," "ten abodes," "ten degrees of action," "ten degrees of transference," "ten stages," "equivalent awakening," and "marvelous awakening" that constituted the fiftytwo stages of the path in Chih-i's scheme (T 46.779a; see also David W. Chappell, ed., T'ien-t'ai Buddhism: An Outline of the Fourfold Teachings [Tokyo: Daiichi-Shobo, 1983], pp. 152-160). 81. The passage echoes Bodhidharma's words as quoted in the Additional Biographies of Eminent Monks: "Dwelling in vipasyana (pi-kuan), there is no self and no other; ordinary (fan) and saintly (sheng) are on the same level" (Hsu kao-seng chuan, T50.551cl0). 82. The first legend appears in the accounts of two famous Chinese pilgrim monks who visted India: Fa-hsien (traveled 399-414), whose account appears in the Kao-seng Fa-hsien chuan (T 51.861c-862a); and Hsiian-tsang (600-664), whose account is in the Ta T'ang hsi-yii chi (T 51.908c-909a). It is a Jataka tale in which the Buddha reveals that in a former life he was one of a thousand warrior brothers who threw down their weapons out of deference to their birth mother. The spot where that occurred, the tale says, was subsequently marked by a shrine variously called the Stupa of Many Sons, Stupa of the Thousand Sons (Ch'ien-tzu-t'a), or Stupa of the Discarded Bows and Weapons (Fang kungchang t'a). It was where the Buddha announced his intention to enter nirvana soon. The first legend made no mention of Mahakasyapa, but there were other Buddhist texts available in the Sung that did place him in the company of the Buddha at a stupa with that name. In the Tsa a-han ching Mahakasyapa tells Ananda about a time when he "happened to meet the World Honored One at a Stupa of Many Sons" (T 2.303b2). Mahakasyapa says he was moved to give his finely woven robe (samghati, seng-chia-li) to the Buddha to sit on, whereupon

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the Buddha gave him a robe made of discarded rags (fen-sao-i) in return (T 2.303a23-b29). The stoiy also appears in the Tseng-i a-han ching (T 2.418b5-cl2). A third legend, found in the Fo pen-hsing-chi ching, relates an incident in which Mahakasyapa pays reverence to the Tathagata near Rajagrha under a Tree of Many Sons (To-tzu shu), which was so named because it was the dwelling of a spirit (shen) named "Many Sons" (T 3.866a27-28, blO). There is no mention of an exchange of robes. Rather, in this story the Buddha tells Mahakasapa that if there is a teacher who falsely claims spiritual attainments and accepts the worship of disciples, that person's head will break apart into seven pieces. Similar stories are found in the Ken-pen-shuo i-ch'ieh-yu pu pi-ch'u-ni p'i-naiyeh) (T 23.91 lb) and the Ta chuan-yen-lun ching (T 4.287c). 83. The T'ien-sheng Record claim that the Buddha stopped at the Stupa of Many Sons on his way to Kusinagara to die made sense both chronologically and geographically in the context of Fa-hsiens and Hsiian-tsangs records, and its account of the Buddha meeting Mahakasyapa there and giving him a robe gained credence from the stories found in the Agamas (early sutras); see preceding note. 84. Tien-sheng kuang-teng lu, HTC 135.306cl^. 85. Tien-sheng kuang-teng lu, HTC 135.320cl2-17. 86. Ch'uan-fa cheng-tsung chi, T 51.715a-769d. 87. Ch'uan-fa cheng-tsung chi, T 51.718b23-c6. 88. Ta-pan nieh-p'an ching, T 12.617b24-c2. There is a difference between the passage as it is quoted by Ch'i-sung and the text that exists today: the former says that the dharma was "already entrusted" (ifu-chu) to Mahakasyapa, whereas in the latter the Buddha says that he "hereby entrusts" (i fu-chu) the dharma to Mahakasyapa. 89. Ch'uan-fa cheng-tsung lun, T 51.782a28-b4. 90. Yuan-chueh ching, T 17.917a27-28. 91. Ch'uan-fa cheng-tsung lun, T 51.782b8-14. My translation relies in part on Yanagida, Shoki zenshu shisho no kenkyu, pp. 473-474. 92. See, for example, Tsung-mis Yuan-chueh ching liieh-shu (T 39.555cl215); see also his Yuan-chueh ching ta-shu (HTC 14.172c) and Yuan-chueh ching ta-shu-ch'ao (HTC 14.451b). 93. Ch'uan-fa cheng-tsung lun, T 51.782a3-7. 94. Ching-te ch'uan-teng lu, T 51.219c3-5. 95. Chien-chung Ching-kuo hsii-teng lu, HTC 136.1a-207d. 96. Chien-chung Ching-kuo hsii-teng lu, HTC 136.20a9-b2. 97. Chien-chung Ching-kuo hsii-teng lu, HTC 136.20al0. 98. Tsu-t'ing shih-yuan, HTC 113.1a-122b. 99. Tsu-t'ing shih-yuan, HTC 113.66cl 1-12. 100. Tsu-t'ing shih-yuan, HTC 113.66cl0-13. 101. Ch'an-yiian chu-chuan-chi tu-hsu, T 48.400M7-20. 102. Lien-teng hui-yao, HTC 136.208a-475c. 103. Lien-teng hui-yao, HTC 136.219dl2-220a2. 104. Lien-teng hui-yao, HTC 136.220dl6-221a7. 105. Jen-t'ien yen-mu, T 48.300a-336a. 106. Jen-t'ien yen-mu, T 48.308b6-14. 107. Jen-t'ien yen-mu, T 48.325b4-14.

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108. For a list of some twenty-three texts in which the story appears, see Inoue Shüten, Mumonkan no shin kenkyü, vol. 1 (Tokyo: Hóbunkan, 1922), pp. 301-303. 109. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.170cl2-14. 110. T 46.1al5. See Neal Donner and Daniel B. Stevenson, The Great Calming and Contemplation: A Study and Annotated Translation of the First Chapter of Chih-i's "Mo-ho Chih-kuan" (Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 1993), pp. 100-101, n. 13. 111. Peter Gregory has suggested that this move could also be related to the Ch'an use of the passage in the Hua-yen ching held to relate the Buddha's first words spoken immediately after his enlightenment (see T 10.272c25-273a2). The T'ien-t'ai tradition had criticized Hua-yen as a "separate teaching" (piehchiao). For a discussion of how the "separate" and "perfect" teachings functioned in the context of the Shan-chia/Shan-wai debates, see Chapter 10 by Chiwah Chan. 112. Yüan-tun-tsung yen, HTC 101.200a-204b. 113. Takao Giken, Sódai bukkyóshi no kenkyü (Kyoto: Hyakkaen, 1975), pp. 173-174. 114. This quoted passage can be found in T 46.1al5. 115. A reference to the Lun-yü 17.14; see D. C. Lau, trans., Confucius: The Analects (Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1979), p. 143. 116. Yüan-tun-tsung yen, HTC 101.200b7-c4. My translation and annotation of this and the following passages from the Eye of the Perfect and Sudden Lineage is heavily indebted to Brook Zipoiyn, "Anti-Chan Polemics in Post Tang Tiantai," pp. 55-57. 117. A quote from the Vimalaklrti-nirdesa sütra; see T 14.540cl9 for the original passage. 118. Yüan-tun-tsung yen, HTC 101.200c4-14. 119. Yüan-tun-tsung yen, HTC 101.200c 15-d9. 120. Ta-fan t'ien-wang wen-fo chüeh-i ching, HTC 87.302c-338a. 121. One of the two manuscripts, comprising two fascicles and twenty-four sections (see HTC 87.302c-325b), was reportedly discovered in central Japan by a monk named Mujaku Reiko, who wrote a preface to it and a colophon dated 1727. According to Mujaku, he had found the manuscript about fifty years earlier, which would be about 1677. The existence of the text, he wrote, proved that the report in Sung literature of what the magistrate Wang Ching said was not false. The work was rumored, he said, to have been brought from China by Jikaku Daishi (Ennin, 792-862), but there was no information in the text to confirm that. A second colophon to the text by Tóshuku Rozen dated 1732 states that copies were provided to three temples in the Kansai area. The other manuscript, comprising one fascicle and seven sections, gives no information whatsover about its provenance (see HTC 87.325c-339a). 122.1 have been unable to determine the ostensible date of Magistrate Wang Ching's discovery of the sütra or the identity of Ch'an master Fo Hui-ch'iian. 123. Zengaku daijiten 2.817a. 124. Mujaku Reiko s preface, moreover, rings true. While touting the text as a valuable document brought from China in the late fourteenth century, Mujaku frankly admitted that its origin was uncertain and suggested that it may

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have been compiled in part by someone who lifted passages out of the Nirvana Sütra. In other words, he did not try to claim that it was a genuine sütra translated from Sanskrit, but only that it was the text referred to in Sung accounts of Wang Chings discovery, such as the Jen-t'ien yen-mu (T 48.325b4-14). 125. Ta-fan t'ien-wang wen-fo chüeh-i ching, HTC 87.326c4-dll. 126. Because scholars of East Asian Buddhism tend to associate the doctrine of the "end of the dharma" (mo-fa; mappo) most closely with the Japanese Pure Land tradition and its belief in the "easy way" to salvation through faith in the Buddha Amitábha, it may be tempting to interpret the preceding passage from the one-fascicle Sütra of Brahma Deva as a medieval Japanese Zen (especially Soto Zen) response to the polemics of its rival, the Jodo Shinshü. Such an interpretation is certainly defensible, and it supplies a motive for the hypothetical fabrication of the text in Japan. A Japanese Zen monk wishing to produce a "sütra" could do no better than to chose a title that was already widely attested in Chinese records (in the story of Wang Chings discovery) but that, conveniently enough, had no actual text to go with it. Such an author, naturally, would be only too happy to take the wording of Wang Chings summary of the sütra as a starting point for his production. The appearance of the concept of the "end of the dharma," however, does not mean that the entire text or the part including Mahakasyapas speech was necessarily produced in Japan. Despite the apparent novelty of its argument concerning the suitability of the Chan (Zen) dharma for a degenerate age, the one-fascicle Sütra of Brahma Deva does evince continuities with other accounts that were definitely products of Sung China. In the T'ien-sheng Extensive Record, the Ch'an dharma is contrasted to that of the three vehicles, in particular the bodhisattva path with its many stages, and the Buddha tells Mahákásyapa to pass on the dharma "without selecting between ordinary and saintly" (pu-che fan-sheng) (HTC 135.306a7). Moreover, many versions of the transmission to Mahákasyapa express the idea that the Ch'an dharma is formless, that it cannot be communicated by any means (verbal or otherwise), and that the historical fact of its appearance in the world through the agency of the Ch'an lineage is therefore a wonderful and inconceivable mystery. The argument presented in the one-fascicle Sütra of Brahma Deva is a logical extension of that idea. 127. Wu-men kuan, T 48.292c-299d. 128. Ta-fan t'ien-wang wen-fo chüeh-i ching, T 48.293cl2-24.

Chapter 8

Elite and Clergy in Northern Sung Hang-chou: A Convergence of Interest CHI-CHIANG HUANG

tenth year of Emperor T'ai-tsung's reign ( 9 7 6 - 9 9 9 ) and only seven years after Ch'ien Ch'u ( 9 2 9 - 9 8 8 ) had surrendered the Wu-Yiieh Kingdom to the Sung—a riot allegedly led by a Buddhist monk broke out in Hang-chou. The exact duration, background, and nature of the riot are not recorded, but the leader was arrested and identified as Shao-lun (dates unknown). Portrayed as a demonic monk (yao-seng) in official history, Shao-lun was soon convicted and put to death, as were three hundred followers.1 Despite the injustice suffered by some innocent citizens who had the misfortune of being implicated, the incident afforded Confucian historians yet another opportunity to advance the stereotype of monks as the leaders or instigators of regional unrest. This image, which had gained currency long before the Sung, was further promoted by the compilers of the Sung official history. They cast an incident of banditry that took place during the Tuankung period (988-989) of T'ai-tsung's reign in the same vein. This group of bandits was said to have been led by a certain Monk Hou and a soldier, Liu Wo. They ransacked Hsing-p'ing, Li-yang, and other districts in the Kuan-chung area, where they killed two police officers. Originally a small group of several hundred people consisting mainly of soldiers, the band grew into a threatening force of a thousand men. The riot seems to have been subdued quickly, and Monk Hou and Liu Wo were subsequently executed. 2 In an incident occurring in 1044, one of the leaders of a group of bandits in Hunan was said to have been Monk Teng. This band, formed by mountain aborigines, also grew into a large group over two thousand strong. Monk Teng became the sole leader after another leader, Huang Chuo-kuei, had been killed. His defiance of the authorities resulted in violent clashes with government forces. The IN 985—the

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Map of Chekiang detailing Hang-chou and other important sites in the emergence of Sung T'ien-t'ai.

government's inability to pacify the bandits and its ruthless killing of innocent people enraged high-ranking officials such as Ou-yang Hsiu (1007-1072). Ou-yang recommended the use of appeasement and inducement rather than force to settle the matter, but his words seem to have fallen on deaf ears. 3 Official histories, which tend to portray monks in a negative light, were often compiled by conservative Confucians for didactic purposes. It is possible that the compilers of the Sung history wary of similar kinds of riots breaking out at the beginning of the Yuan, promoted a negative image of monks, hoping to limit their influence as a source of potential opposition in their own time. They probably

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saw Shao-lun as representing interests loyal to the ruler of the WuYiieh Kingdom, Ch'ien Ch'u, who had surrendered his land to the Sung in 978. They thereby sought to represent the activities of Shaolun's group as subversive to the newly established Sung regime, which was trying to restore the social and political order. Ou-yang Hsiu, in fact, perceived the monk leader of the 1044 riot in this manner, and in one of his memoranda he suggested that Monk Teng and his followers might have to be placated by offering them higher official titles.4 In their attempt to teach historical lessons, the authors of the official histories often ignored the positive contributions of Buddhists. They seem to have been more interested in portraying a negative image of monks than in offering a balanced representation of the clergy. When they mentioned Buddhism as the object of an officials patronage, they tended to adopt a disapproving tone. Such official records stand in stark contrast to many private accounts, which portray clerics in a much more favorable light. The authors of these accounts usually relished their contacts with clerics, drawing poignant pictures of the deep friendship and cooperation among various members of the elite and clergy. Whether officials in the national bureaucracy serving in a local post or local scholars, prefects or members of a small district staff, these elites formed an alliance with the clergy to bring order and prosperity to their jurisdiction. They sanctioned activities sponsored by Buddhist institutions, actively participated in Buddhist congregations, and generously extended their support to the clergy. They were as much of an impetus to the flourishing of Buddhism in their area as were the leaders of the local Buddhist institutions. Indeed, during the Northern Sung (9601127), the elite frequently enjoyed a symbiotic relationship with the clergy. Contrary to the claim that they patronized Buddhism "as individuals or as members of their local gentry rather than by virtue of their authority" as officials, the elite in some regions of the Sung patronized Buddhism in their capacity both as bureaucrats and as private individuals. 5 They thus helped foster a positive image of the clergy that counterbalances the negative stereotypes often encountered in offical historiography. Many of these accounts portray Hang-chou during the Northern Sung as one of the regions where this relationship of mutually beneficial cooperation especially flourished. There are several reasons that Hang-chou makes a particularly interesting focus for examining elite-clergy relationships during the

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Northern Sung. To begin with, Hang-chou had been the capital of the "Buddhist kingdom" of Wu-Yiieh since its establishment by the Ch'ien family in the beginning of the tenth century. After Wu-Yiieh s incorporation into the Sung empire, Hang-chou remained a great city where Buddhist monasteries and temples proliferated. The Buddhist institutions there thrived on a favorable milieu that the elite did much to promote, and they fared well in their ecclesiastical operations under a government whose leaders adopted a policy salutary to their growth. Hang-chou was also one of the few places in the Sung where various Buddhist schools in addition to Ch'an were represented. Although the majority of the monasteries in Hang-chou were affiliated with the Ch'an lineage, changes were often made to permit some of them to become affiliated with "Teachings" (chiao) schools (predominantly T'ien-t'ai, but also Hua-yen). 6 The presence of different Buddhist schools and communities gave rise to a unique atmosphere of religious pluralism. Given the important political and economic status of its Buddhist institutions, Hang-chou needed highly capable and judicious administrators to preside over its government and to work with Buddhist institutions. The members of the national bureaucracy posted to Hang-chou as prefects found it advantageous to elicit the collaboration of the clergy to ensure the social order and prosperity of the city. The elites patronage of and close ties with the clergy thus contributed to the process of the growth of Buddhist institutions in Hang-chou. An examination of this process can therefore provide a better understanding of the complexities of the Buddhist-Confucian relationship as well as yield a more balanced picture of elite-clergy relationships. The rich legacy of Buddhism in Hang-chou paved the way for its institutional growth after the imperial household moved there from K'ai-feng and established it as the capital of the Southern Sung (1127-1279). It was on the basis of the intimate connection between the elite and the clergy in the Northern Sung that ruling elites of the Southern Sung could maintain and improve the condition of Buddhist institutions, which enabled Buddhism to reach new heights in the city. An important dimension of governing Hang-chou throughout the Sung entailed the administration of the Buddhist clergy and monasteries in the city. To a great extent, the elites attempt to square with Buddhist institutions, which involved four major schools, made Hang-chou a vibrant center of Buddhism throughout the Sung.

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The elite in Hang-chou during the Northern Sung was not an entirely homogeneous group. Nevertheless, the members of the elite who were most involved with Buddhism during that time—and whose activities were thus recorded in official histories, Buddhist histories, and local gazetteers—seem to have shared the same general interests. Although the prefects, as outsiders, could be seen as representing the state's interest, their roles as public officials responsible for the welfare and prosperity of Hang-chou closely aligned them with the interests of the local elite. With perhaps the exception of only one or two, the great majority of prefects worked relatively harmoniously with the local elite, especially in regard to matters connected with Buddhist institutions. Moreover, the importance of Buddhism in Hang-chou meant that, whatever personal opinions officials may have had of Buddhism, their official duties would have inclined them to adopt a pragmatic and open-minded attitude in their dealings with the religion.

The Elite and T'ien-t'ai Buddhism Many Sung writers noted the formidable presence of Buddhism in the city of Hang-chou: the sheer number of monasteries and temples dotting the city and the throngs of monks ambling about its streets. In the absence of reliable records on the exact population of clerics and the number of monasteries and temples, the kind of density suggested in some official accounts may at first appear hyperbolic.7 Nevertheless, the invariable emphasis on the prevalence of Buddhist establishments and clerics in both private and official accounts argues for their plausibility. For one thing, the increase in the numbers of monasteries and temples took place at a relatively rapid rate. Before the Ch'ien family surrendered Wu-Yiieh to the Sung, a total of over three hundred Buddhist establishments were scattered throughout the city of Hang-chou. In the reign of Chen-tsung (9981022), West Lake alone was surrounded by over two hundred Buddhist sites.8 The number continued to grow from 360 in the reign of Che-tsung (1086-1110) to 480 in the Hsien-ch'un (1265-1274) period of the Southern Sung.9 Toward the end of the Northern Sung (1127), the city as a whole boasted 658 large and small monasteries and temples.10 Although the growth of Buddhist institutions would never go unchecked, the authorities in Hang-chou were generally supportive. As the Buddhist presence became increasingly widespread, it was

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imperative for the authorities to cooperate with monastic leaders. More than just treating them as literary friends, the elite became involved in monastic activities, actively participated in religious congregations, and generously supported monasteries whenever they launched a building project. More important, they did these things not only as individuals but also as officials. A noteworthy example of elite participation in Buddhist activities was the society initiated by the monk Sheng-ch'ang (959-1020) during the Ch'un-hua period (990-995) of T'ai-tsung's reign (see Chapter 12 by Daniel Getz for further discussion). Modeled after Hui-yiian's (334-416) White Lotus Society (Pai-lien she) organized nearly six hundred years before, Sheng-ch'ang formed the Pure Conduct Society (Ching-hsing she) at the Chao-ch'ing Monastery on Hang-chou's West Lake.11 Many ranking officials congregated there to discuss Buddhist doctrine, chant scriptures, and copy the "Pure Conduct Chapter" (Ching-hsing p'iri) of the Hua-yen (Avatamsaka) Sutra. They also joined together periodically to take vows before an image of the Vairocana Buddha. 12 These activities lasted for as long as thirty years, during which a total of 123 scholar-officials became members and called themselves Disciples of Pure Conduct (Ching-hsing ti-tzu). The number of participants corresponds with that of Hui-yiian's White Lotus Society. Yet, unlike Hui-yiian's society, Sheng-ch'ang's society included several prime ministers, as Sun Ho (961-1004) pointed out in his Account of the White Lotus Hall (Pai-lien t'ang chi). Of the 123 participants, five were prime ministers: Wang Tan (9571017), Hsiang Min-chung (949-1020),13 Wang Ch'in-jo (962-1025), Wang Sui (fl. 1001-1045), and Chen Yao-tso (963-1044).14 Others were either vice ministers, such as Su I-chien (958-996),15 prefects of Hang-chou, such as Wang Hua-chi (944-1010) and Chang Ch'iihua (938-1006),16 regional fiscal commissioners, such as the aforementioned Sun Ho,17 or Han-lin scholars, such as Sung Po (9361012). They served different functions in Hang-chou when they became associated with the society and joined the vow-taking ceremony Sheng-ch'ang administered. One of the vows was as follows: "Starting from today, together with one thousand members and eighty monks, I will give rise to the aspiration for enlightenment (bodhicitta) and will carry out the bodhisattva practice far into the future. I vow to be reborn in the Land of Peace and Sustenance (Anyang kuo) when this life is done."18 Sheng-ch'ang tried to reach out to the elite of Hang-chou in the hope of ensuring their collective support. He indicated that his soci-

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ety was organized in response to the anti-Buddhist sentiment that some contemporary scholars expressed in their ancient-style prose (ku-wen) inspired by Han Yiis (768-824) works. He hoped his society would engender the same kind of positive religious sentiment that Hui-yiians society had effected. 19 It is a measure of Shen-ch'ang's success that his society did not disband at his death, and its elite members were eager to find someone of his caliber to carry on his legacy.20 One important concern of Hang-chou literati was to seek out clerics reputed to have unusual talents or powers. Although this concern was often a matter of personal curiosity, as in the case of Su Shih's friendship with Yiian-ching, it could also be overtly political. Appointments of abbots at major public monasteries were ratified —if not decided outright—by local prefects and the imperial court, and choice of the right cleric could have important regional ramifications. One individual who made a particularly strong impression on Hang-chou literati and officialdom was Tz'u-yiin Tsun-shih (964-1032), the T'ien-t'ai master and champion of popular religious reform discussed in Chapter 9 by Daniel Stevenson. Around the time when Sheng-ch'ang s society was taking shape in Hang-chou, Tsun-shih founded a similar Pure Land confraternity for monks and prominent laity at Pao-yiin yuan in Ming-chou (see Chapter 12 by Daniel Getz for details). While in Ming-chou he also carved an image of Kuan-yin and promoted the deity's worship as a means to transform the local populace and pacify the realm. On another occasion he and Ssu-ming Chih-li (960-1028) joined together to perform rites in order to alleviate a severe drought in Ming-chou, the success of which was commemorated in a stele by the local prefect. This sense of civic responsibility continued to show itself throughout later periods of Tsun-shihs career, possibly finding its fullest expression in his campaign to reform popular religious practice—especially blood and wine sacrifice to gods and ancestors—through the promotion of Buddhist morality and ritual.21 During his twenty-odd years as an abbot in Ming-chou and T'aichou, Tsun-shihs reputation as a cleric increasingly attracted the attention of the Chekiang literati and clerical elite. Chang Te-hsiang (978-1048), while serving as prefect of T'ai-chou (ca. 1011), invited Tsun-shih to lecture on Chih-i's Great Calming and Contemplation (Mo-ho chih-kuan) at the Ching-te Monastery. In 1015, eminent clergy of the Chao-ch'ing Monastery prevailed on Tsun-shih to come west to Hang-chou. His lectures there and at the K'ai-yiian Monas-

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tery in Su-chou were an immediate success, drawing thousands of laity and clergy. That same year the Hang-chou prefect Hsiieh Yen (953-1025) ordered Tsun-shih to take up permanent residence in Hang-chou as abbot of Ling-shan Monastery, later known as the (Lower) T'ien-chu Monastery. As detailed by Stevenson in this volume, Tsun-shih's activities in Hang-chou served a wide variety of civic needs. His renown as a master liturgist brought a stream of requests from local officials and the imperial household to perform rites for the protection of the state. As part of this program Tsun-shih instituted annual performances of the Golden Light Repentance at the new year to secure blessings for the emperor and the local community. He also instituted massive annual ceremonies for releasing living creatures at West Lake, the timing of which coincided with the celebration of the Buddha's birthday on the eighth day of the fourth lunar month. These yearly performances became major Buddhist events in Hangchou during the Sung, attracting thousands of participants and onlookers from all classes. As part and parcel of his overall campaign to promote Buddhist and Confucian norms among the populace, such activities appealed keenly to those officials concerned with bringing local communities into line with the ideology of the Sung imperium. Aside from Hsiieh Yen and Chang Te-hsiang, the two prefects best known for their patronage of Tsun-shih were Ma Liang (959-1031) and Wang Ch'in-jo. Ma Liang probably first met Tsun-shih while serving as prefect of Hang-chou between 1016 and 1018. It is also possible that his acquaintance with this learned and ambitious cleric helped alert Ma Liang to the grave need for monastic reform. Thus in 1024, when he was prefect of Lu-chou, he memorialized Emperor Jen-tsung about the rampant situation of bogus monks hiding in monasteries. He requested that each district be limited strictly to the given government quota and that candidates with a record of conviction be ineligible to take the required ordination examination. 22 During his later years, as his personal interest in Buddhism deepened, Ma Liang retired to Hang-chou, where he consulted Tsun-shih closely on points of Buddhist doctrine. On his behalf Tsun-shih had written various sections of his Two Teachings for Resolving Doubts and Establishing the Practice and Vow to Be Reborn in the Pure Land (Wang-sheng ching-t'u chueh-i hsing-yuan erh men), which Ma himself subsequently published. Ma Liang also promoted the Pure Land faith to his clan. His grandson, Ma Yii (fl. 1068-1086), was a devout

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follower of Amitàbha. He studied Chih-i's Elucidation of Doubts about the Pure Land (Ching-t'u shih-i lun) and practiced according to Tsun-shih's short Rite for the Ten Moments of Mindfulness of the Buddha, with Dedicatory Vow (Shih-nien hui-hsiang fa).23 As magistrate of several small counties in Shantung and Szechwan, Ma Yu regularly instructed the populace on rebirth in the Pure Land and the performance of Buddhist rites. His wife, née Wang, and his son Ma Yung-i were also devotees of nien-fo (invocation of the Buddha's name). In addition, Ma Yung-i practiced the sixteen visualizations and regularly recited the Sutra on the Visualization of the Buddha of Immeasurable Life (Kuan Wu-liang-shou-fo ching)—a routine that he maintained for some thirty years. Thus several generations of Ma Liangs descendants followed his example of ardent faith in Pure Land Buddhism. 24 Wang Ch'in-jo, another patron of Tsun-shih, is generally known for his support of Taoism rather than Buddhism. By all accounts he was a man of extreme religious zeal. He assisted and served as consultant to Chen-tsung in the infamous "Heavenly Document" (t'ienshu) episode, which led to the historic feng-shan sacrifice on Mount T'ai that Emperor Chen-tsung undertook to consolidate the dynasty in 1008.25 Wang's manipulation of heavenly portents in conjunction with the feng-shan ceremony earned much contempt from certain officials and later court historians. Yet the same events won him respect in religious circles, where he is known as an unfailing patron of Taoism and T'ien-t'ai Buddhism. He was an extremely learned scholar, well-versed in both traditions. Wang served as prefect of Hang-chou from 1019 to 1020. During his tenure he spent considerable time with Buddhist clerics there, becoming most closely associated with Tsun-shih. Hearing of Tsunshih's lofty reputation, Wang invited him to the prefectural offices, where Tsun-shih preached to him on the meaning of the three interpenetrating dharmas in Chih-i's Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra (Fa-hua hsuan-i). Wang was deeply impressed with his eloquence and became an immediate patron of Tsun-shih, declaring that he had never heard such inspiring teachings nor met such a profound master. Over the next several years Wang kept up a regular correspondence and consultation with Tsun-shih. His questions prompted Tsun-shih to write several digests of T'ien-t'ai teaching, which Tsunshih submitted to Wang as catechistic tracts. 26 Tsun-shih's association with Wang gave him a powerful sponsor at court who was willing to help Tsun-shih realize his ambitions to

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reestablish the T'ien-t'ai school and promote Buddhist values as the foundation of an orderly society. As Stevenson points out, it was primarily Wang who persuaded the emperor to make the T'ien-chu Monastery a public monastery for the T'ien-t'ai teachings and declare West Lake a protected site for releasing living creatures (fangsheng ch'ih).27 Wang also submitted Tsun-shih's request that the T'ien-t'ai scriptures be officially incorporated into the Buddhist canon, although a decision was not made on the matter until T'iensheng period (1023-1032) of Jen-tsung's reign. Even after Wang took office in Ying-t'ien (present day Shang-ch'iu in Honan) and Nanking, he continued to concern himself with the welfare of the T'ien-chu Monastery. From Ying-t'ien he wrote Tsunshih letters speaking forthrightly about the profound karmic bond that existed between them. While in Nanking he invited Tsun-shih for further discussion of the dharma, keeping him there for three months. He presented T'ien-chu Monastery with a statue of Sengch'ieh (628-710), for which Tsun-shih himself composed a ceremonial liturgy.28 Furthermore, Wang and his wife donated a prodigious amount of money—over six million in cash—to help expand the main hall of T'ien-chu Monastery. When the emperor bestowed on Tsun-shih the honorific title of "Cloud of Loving-Kindness" (Tz'uyiin) in reward for his service to the state, again it came through Wang Ch'in-jo's efforts. Tsun-shih's services on behalf of the civic weal and the state attracted imperial patronage as well. In 1022, Jen-tsung's mother, the regent Dowager Chang-hsien, sent a commissioner 29 to the T'ien-chu Monastery to bestow silk and gold in honor of Tsun-shih's religious piety and cultivation. She twice ordered Tsun-shih to hold a penance ceremony for the state. Tsun-shih accordingly revised and presented the Empress Dowager with a copy of his manual for the Golden Light Repentance, which he recommended for the protection of the nation. Chang-hsien continued to contribute large sums of cash to his monastery to feed its thousand monks. High-ranking officials also followed suit. Ch'ien Wei-yen (962-1034), Yang I (974-1020), and Chang Te-hsiang, among others, were extraordinarily generous in donating funds. 30 Hu Tse (963-1039), who presided over Hangchou as the prefect in 1026, donated a large sum to help build the three front gates of the temple. 31 His successor, Li Tzu (982-1036), gathered residents of Hang-chou to keep the master from a planned retirement. 32

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The Upper T'ien-chu Monastery The case of Tsun-shih well illustrates the convergence of interests among the elite and the Buddhist establishment as well as the importance of the judicious selection of abbots to head the major Buddhist institutions in Hang-chou. Wang Ch'in-jo's predecessors as prefect had also contributed to the prosperity of Buddhism. For instance, when Chang Ch'ii-hua was the prefect from 997 to 999, the city was faced with a five-month drought. Learning that the Upper T'ien-chu Monastery (Shang T'ien-chu ssu) had been known for its epiphany of Kuan-yin since its establishment in the Later Chin (936-947) and of the efficacy of praying for Kuan-yin's blessings, he personally escorted the image of Kuan-yin to the Fan-t'ien Monastery to pray for rain. Located in the southern part of the city precincts, the Fan-t'ien Monastery had become famous for having housed a relic of the Buddha. Although the relic had been moved to K'ai-feng, where it was placed in the K'ai-pao Monastery in 976 when Ch'ien Ch'u had submitted Wu-Yüeh to T'ai-tsung, the monastery retained its prominence and was apparently large enough to accommodate a big crowd. Its abbot, Yü-ming (dates unknown), who "took delight in the sudden teaching," had opened a cloister for preaching T'ien-ta'i doctrines.33 The prayers for rain were successful, and the service was accordingly instituted as a governmental ritual requisite for stopping flood or drought. 34 These events increased the appeal of Kuan-yin and prompted the city to expand the Upper T'ien-chu Monastery, which had been little more than a small cloister (see Fig. 8.1). It also began the momentum that made the monastery a major pilgrimage site for people seeking the intervention of Kuan-yin.35 It offered Buddhist services—such as the invocation of the Buddha's and Kuan-yin's names—for patrons and their families. The fate of the Upper T'ien-chu Monastery in the first part of the eleventh century is unclear; it seems to have been eclipsed temporarily by the Lower T'ien-chu Monastery during Tsun-shih's residency there. Nevertheless, it still seems to have slowly continued to grow. Sometime between 1023 and 1030 two monks allegedly dreamed that they saw Kuan-yin's image strolling in the air, telling them that she wanted to rest in a small mountain surrounded by three nearby mountain peaks.36 The monks thus moved the image to the new site. During this time, the Ch'an monk Miao-chen (dates unknown) was installed as the abbot, and the Upper T'ien-chu Mon-

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Figure 8.1. Woodblock view of the Upper T'ien-chu Monastery contained in an 1888 edition of the Hang-chou Shang T'ien-chu chiang-ssu chih

astery began its affiliation with the Ch'an school.37 Authorities continued to select Ch'an monks—such as P'u-tz'u Huan-min (999-1059) and Chih-yiieh (dates unknown)—to head it.38 When Shen Kou (1028-1067) assumed the prefectship of Hangchou in 1062, he deemed the Upper T'ien-chu Monastery's affiliation with Ch'an inappropriate given its cultic emphasis on Kuan-yin. He accordingly removed Chih-yiieh as abbot and replaced him with Pien-ts'ai Yiian-ching (1011-1091), one of the most prominent T'ient'ai monks in Hang-chou during the Northern Sung.39 In the meantime, he petitioned the court to redesignate the Upper T'ien-chu as a "Teachings" (chiao) monastery affiliated with the T'ien-t'ai lineage. Yiian-ching's talents had been discovered by one of Shen Kou's predecessors, Lti Chen (chin-shih, 1038), who served as prefect of Hang-chou from 1051 to 1052. Yiian-ching was a leading disciple of Tsu-shao (dates unknown), who had succeeded as abbot of the Lower T'ien-chu Monastery after Tsun-shih's retirement. Yiian-ching had served as head lecturer of the Lower T'ien-chu Monastery and

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had received a purple robe and the title of Pien-ts'ai (Talented Debater) from the emperor at the age of twenty-five.40 Lii Chen invited him to preside over the small Great Compassion Pavilion (Tapei-ko) in the city, where the master won widespread respect for his strict enforcement of discipline. 41

When Shen Kou arrived in Hang-chou ten years after Lii Chen, Yuan-ching was already well known for conducting repentance rituals. With the installation of Yiian-ching as abbot, the Upper T'ienchu Monastery began to attract more people. The residents of Hangchou flocked there, vying with one another to offer donations. Yiianching used these funds to build large rooms and halls, expanding the facility into a monastery of unusual grandeur, whose pavilions, mansions, and other imposing structures outnumbered those of other Buddhist institutions in western Chekiang. The space was large enough to house several times as many students of the dharma as before. Since the image of Kuan-yin seems to have always responded to prayers favorably, Shen Kou recommended that the monastery be given a new name, Efficacious (Ling-kan) Kuan-yin Monastery.42 Further recognition and support from the elite made the Upper T'ien-chu Monastery even more popular. In 1065, Tseng Kung-liang (999-1078), then one of the prime ministers who had assisted in the conversion of the monastery, donated a large sum of cash, which permitted Yuan-ching to further the monastery expansion. 43 Accompanying the funds were 5,230 fascicles of scriptures, which Tseng Kung-liang gave to the monastery to mark the completion of its library. He also asked the famous calligrapher Ts'ai Hsiang (10121067), then the prefect of Hang-chou, to provide calligraphy inscribing the monastery's new name (Ling-kan Kuan-yin ssu) on a plaque to decorate its facade. The court of Shen-tsung (r. 1068-1085) often sent commissioners to present incense money (hsiang-pi) and grant annual farming funds (ta-nung-ch'ien) for the administration of Buddhist ceremonies. Ranking officials and minor bureaucrats came unceasingly with donations and requests for prayers. 44 Although Yiian-ching seems to have been an ideal choice to preside over the Upper T'ien-chu Monastery, the factional struggles within the court and bureaucracy led to his removal in 1079, when one of his prime patrons, Tsu Wu-tse (1006-1085), was purged. Tsu had served as prefect of Hang-chou between 1067 and 1069. Wang An-shih (1021-1086) apparently had an animus against Tsu, whom he believed had misappropriated funds that should have gone to him. According to both official and private accounts (which are gen-

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erally not favorably disposed toward Wang), when Wang became prime minister, he secretly charged the circuit supervisor of Chekiang to find fault with Tsu. The circuit supervisor accused Tsu of bribery, and the court sent the censor, Wang Tzu-shao (chin-shih, Jen-tsung's reign), to investigate the matter. Wanting to curry favor with Wang An-shih, Wang Tzu-shao incriminated Tsu.45 As a result, Tsu was arrested, and Yiian-ching was implicated because he had benefited from the "bribery," as Tsu had allegedly donated a portion of money needed for casting the monastery bell. A monk named Wen-chieh (dates unknown) took advantage of Yiian-ching's absence to maneuver himself into the abbacy of the Upper T'ien-chu Monastery by using his personal connection with a wealthy friend who was the circuit supervisor. Factional struggles at court could thus sometimes override local interests in the appointment of key abbotships in Hang-chou, especially during the reign of Shen-tsung, when Wang An-shih wielded tremendous political power. Such partisan conflicts created opportunities for ambitious clerics to gain advancement through the back door, as is most likely what happened in the case of Wen-chieh. Only after Wen-chieh's "conspiracy" was exposed in the following year (1080) was Yiian-ching reinstated as abbot of the Upper T'ienchu Monastery, after which it once again regained its former reputation and popularity. Many witnesses to this dramatic change expressed their amazement. The prefect Chao Pien (1008-1084), for instance, remarked: "When the master left T'ien-chu, the mountain became empty and spirits were wailing; once he returned to T'ienchu, the monastery regained its splendor."46 A devout Buddhist himself, Chao Pien presided over Hang-chou twice and was on intimate terms with Yiian-ching. His words were echoed in a poem by Su Shih (1037-1101) titled "Hearing of the dharma master Pien-ts'ai's return to Upper T'ien-chu [Monastery], I inquire after him with a playful poem." The first few lines read: When the man of the Way left his mountain, The mountain's hue turned to dead ashes. The white clouds no longer smiled, And the green pines were filled with grief. Suddenly came news of the man's return; Birds sang and the misty mountain turned clear. A divine light radiates from its jeweled coiffure, Dharma rain washes away the swirling dust.47

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But cases such as Wen-chieh were rare. Under normal circumstances the selection of eminent clerics in Hang-chou went along smoothly, and the monasteries for which they were responsible continued to prosper. Although Yuan-ching s return restored the reputation of the monastery and won back its patrons who had abandoned Wen-chieh, the monastery was in shambles. In 1096, the prefect Chen Hsiian (chinshih, 1063) memorialized Che-tsung to provide him with several dozen blank ordination certificates for sale so as to raise funds for its renovation. The sale of blank ordination certificates, which the Ministry of Sacrifice implemented in 1067 as a policy to relieve famine in the Shensi area, now took a new turn. 48 The funds derived from this sale, valued at 170 strings of cash per certificate, were used to purchase timber and hire carpenters. 49 Yet the cost of refurbishing the monastery was much more than could be derived from the sale of certificates. The need for extra funds prompted Chen to petition the court to allow all monasteries and temples within the entire circuit, for one time only, to deliver to the Upper T'ien-chu Monastery the donations they received. Two deputy fiscal commissioners charged with the mission in the region, Hu Tsungche (chin-shih, 1061) and Chang Shou-chieh (dates unknown), were able to collect five million strings of cash. Large sums of cash also poured in from patrons to aid in the reconstruction. These efforts succeeded in transforming the Upper T'ien-chu Monastery back into one of the most imposing Buddhist establishments in Hang-chou. 50 Ch'en Hsiian was willing to go out of his way to rebuild the monastery out of gratitude to Kuan-yin for her efficacious response to his prayer, which ended a continuous period of rain in the city, as his memorial to the throne recounts: When your subject took his office last year, people were suffering from famine. This year, it has rained continually from spring to summer for several months. Since the land of Wu-hsing county, being lower [than other areas], had been flooded so often, residents were worried about a potential flood. Your subject thus led his staff to pray at the foot of the image [of Kuan-yin]. At that time, the rain poured down the mountain, soaking the clothes and caps of the whole entourage. It damaged ditches and destroyed paths. The attendants had to wade through flooded streets to return [to government offices]. By the time your subject finished praying and had returned to his office, the weather had

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cleared up: the clouds dispersed, the sun emerged right above us, and a gentle breeze arose.51 The memorial goes on to say that, after the prayer, the prefect took his entourage to the city to perform a Buddhist service and to pray with citizens of the city. Thereafter, rain fell seasonably, farmers had no bad news to report, crops were plentiful, and the people experienced years of abundance. 52

The Convergence of Eminent Monks Hang-chou attracted many more talented monks of Yuan-chings caliber during the mid Northern Sung. Su Shih made the following observation: Alas! Confucius and Lao-tzu represent two different schools of thought; Confucianism and Buddhism are separated by different institutions. Within Buddhism, the Chan and Lii (Vinaya) schools attack one another.... When I first visited Wu, I had the opportunity to see five [Buddhist] masters: the lecturers [Hui]-pien and [Fan]-chen and the Chan [masters] [Huai]-lien and [Ch'i]-sung. Twenty years later, only this old master [Pien-ts'ai] remained alive. Now even he has gone. Who will be there for those born after them to honor as their master? 53 In addition to Pien-ts'ai Yuan-ching, Su mentions four other prominent Buddhist masters: Hai-yiieh Hui-pien (1014-1073), Nan-p'ing Fan-chen (dates unknown), Ta-chiieh Huai-lien (1009-1090), and Ming-chiao Ch'i-sung (1007-1072). All spent most of their life in Hang-chou and all except Ch'i-sung were very close to Su Shih. 54 Even though there were many other monks who played an equally important role in the Buddhist culture of Hang-chou, Su s list serves as a good example for the further delineation of the close ties between the elite and the clergy. Su Shih befriended Yuan-ching when he took up residence in Hang-chou as vice prefect in 1071. He also became acquainted with Hui-pien, Yuan-chings dharma brother. Like Yuan-ching, Hui-pien was a lecturer at the Lower T'ien-chu Monastery when his master, Tsu-shao, was advanced in years. He eventually succeeded Tsu-shao and became the abbot of that institution. When Shen Kou was prefect in Hang-chou, both Yuan-ching and Hui-pien were already well known. Shen appointed Hui-pien to fill a local government post designated as the monastic official (seng-kuan). Before long, Hui-

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pien was promoted to supervisor of the chief rectifier of the clergy (tu seng-cheng) in charge of general monastic affairs. According to Su Shih, this post was given to him because he had demonstrated an exemplary attainment in both "practice and understanding" (hsing chieh). Since the position entailed supervising both the rectifier of the clergy (seng-cheng) and the assistant rectifier of the clergy (seng-fu) (who were responsible for clerical documents, financial accounts, legal cases, certificates, as well as reception of visitors), it required someone who got along well with government functionaries and was adept at administrative work.55 In appointing Hui-pien, Su believed, Shen Kou had made an exceptionally astute choice. Su respected Hui-pien highly and became his confidant. In a preface to his encomium for Hui-pien, Su described his impression of him during his tenure of the vice prefect of Hang-chou: Young and pompous as I was then, I was not ready to settle for the office I held. I frequently visited the master and sat in a purified atmosphere facing him. Often hearing just a single word, I felt my worries dissolve like melted ice. I felt composed in my body and spirit. This reminds me of what Chuang Tzu says about Tungkuo Shun-tzu. A man with human face that yet looks divine, he keeps himself void and natural, pure and accommodating. [When people do] things that do not accord with the Way, he wears a solemn face to wake them up. Thus they rid themselves of depraved thoughts. This is very much what the master was like.56 Su Shih respected Hui-pien for both his deportment and his learning. According to him, although Hui-pien specialized in T'ien-t'ai, he was also well-versed in Pure Land and grasped the essence of Ch'an. Along with Yuan-ching, he practiced the way of the Buddha in Hang-chou as if Amitabha had descended to this world. He astounded its residents, including Su Shih and other members of the elite, with the efficacy of his prayers to Kuan-yin in relieving drought in the city.57 Hui-pien lectured in Hang-chou for twenty-five years, nurturing many disciples who transmitted his teaching. His lectures often drew a thousand or so listeners. He also taught Pure Land teachings and gathered patrons to organize a Pure Land society, which built a pagoda and pavilion for carrying out their activities promoting the Pure Land faith. Hui-pien was also appointed chief rectifier of the clergy in Hang-chou. He implemented an examination system to test candidates who wanted to compete for vacant abbacies. Modeled

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after the civil service examination, the exams tested the exegetical ability of candidates. Candidates had to answer five out of ten questions correctly in order to stay in the pool, and vacancies were filled according to their grade. Examiners were selected from the eminent monks of the large monasteries and from outstanding disciples of Hui-pien; the candidates' names were sealed in order to ensure fairness. 58 Although it is not fully clear how Hui-pien's examination system worked vis-à-vis the selection process within the prefect's office, the system seems to have been well received and became the standard procedure for the selection of the abbots at various monasteries. The examination results provided the prefect's office with a valuable source of information on the available candidates for a vacant abbacy. Although it is likely that prefects still continued to rely on recommendations in making appointments at the more prominent monasteries, they were probably quite willing to fill openings at lesser monasteries by relying on the examination results. Given the large number of monasteries in Hang-chou, the examinations enabled the prefect to pick a qualified monk to fill vacancies at such monasteries without having to tax the resources of his staff, leaving him time to focus his attention on recruiting more prominent monks to fill the more important abbacies. The more prominent positions were those reserved for the public monasteries, the so-called ten-directions abbacies (shih-fang chuch'ih). Smaller institutions, by contrast, were more likely to be hereditary "disciple-lineage abbacies" (chia-i t'u-ti)—monasteries, that is, that were passed down from master to disciple.59 Hui-pien's examination system contributed to the general expansion of Buddhism in Hang-chou by creating a vehicle by which smaller, hereditary monasteries could become reclassified as public monasteries by opening up their abbacies to a pool of candidates outside of the former abbot's personal disciples. In this way, at the same time that Huipien's system assisted the prefect in his task of selecting abbots, it also benefited Buddhism as well. The appointment of monks at major public monasteries did not rely on the examination system instituted by Hui-pien, as illustrated by the case of Fan-chen (the second monk mentioned by Su Shih). Fan-chen was one of the three main disciples of Chih-li. When Wu Shih-tu (dates unknown) was appointed vice prefect of Hang-chou in 1072, he recruited Fan-chen from the Lung-yu Monastery of Chinshan (in present-day Tan-t'u in Chen-chiang) and recommended that

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he be made the abbot of the Hsing-chiao Monastery on Mount Nanp'ing. Wu refurbished the monastery and had it reclassified as a Teachings monastery affiliated with Fan-chen's T'ien-t'ai lineage. As a mark of his respect, Wu attended Fan-chen's lectures in full official attire. The skillfulness of Fan-chen's exposition was such that he was praised for being able to tie all the sundry categories of T'ient'ai doctrine together with a single thread so as to make them unambiguously comprehensible to everyone.60 Su Shih was among Fan Chen's patrons when he first came to Hang-chou as vice prefect. When he returned to the city twenty years later as the prefect, he was grieved to learn that Fan Chen had already died. Su commented on the master's remarkably broad learning and prodigious memory. He noted that Fan-chen had always been able to recite any passage from the histories and classics that Su Shih had himself failed to recollect. Yet Su lamented that these unusual gifts went unrecorded in his biographical sketch.61 Fan-chen was also a staunch defender of the orthodoxy of Chih-li's position in the Home Mountain/Off Mountain controveries (see Chapter 10 by Chi-wah Chan for a general overview). Thirteenthcentury T'ien-t'ai histories claim that Fa-chen petitioned the authorities for permission to stage a public debate with one of the major exponents of the Off Mountain (Shan-wai) position, Jen-yiieh (9921064), who had been one of Chih-li's closest disciples but had later defected from Chih-li's camp. 62 Fan-chen supposedly even requested that the loser in the debate be subject to corporeal punishment. Reacting to the vehemence of Fan-chen's arguments, the authorities were said to have mediated the outcome of the debate by announcing that Fan-chen excelled Jen-yiieh in the area of erudition and retention, whereas Jen-yiieh excelled him in the writing of essays.63 There are good reasons to be suspicious of this account of events, whose telling may have been colored by the efforts of later T'ien-t'ai historians to construct an orthodox T'ien-t'ai lineage tracing back to Chih-li (as discussed in Chapter 13 by Koichi Shinohara). Jen-yiieh died in 1064, nearly ten years before Fan-chen came to Hang-chou as abbot of the Hsing-chiao Monastery. The debate nevertheless could well have occurred around 1051, when Fan-chen was staying at the Upper T'ien-chu Monastery and Jen-yiieh was the abbot of a monastery in Hang-chou. 64 It is likely that Fan-chen wanted to take Jen-yiieh publicly to task for betraying his teacher, Chih-li. He may also have sought to use the opportunity afforded by the debate as a means of winning elite patronage for himself.

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Whatever Fan-chen's motivations, the debate apparently did nothing to damage Jen-ytieh's support among the elite in Han-chou. His patrons included Hu Su (996-1067), fiscal commissioner of the Liang-che Circuit (Liang-che chuan-yiin-shih), military director in chief (tu-chien) of Hang-chou sometime before 1046, and eventually prefect of Hang-chou from 1066 to 1067. Hu often consulted Jenyiieh on Buddhist doctrine and recommended that he be granted the title Ching-chiieh (Pure Enlightenment). 65 As a patron of Buddhism, Hu would not have wanted to see a potentially divisive confrontation between representatives of two rival groups. Other members of the elite had no reason to promote schismatic conflict, regardless of whom they favored and what they believed.

The Elite and Ch'an Buddhism Ch'i-sung was one of the best known Ch'an monks in Hang-chou during the middle of the eleventh century. His celebrity rested in part on the reputation he earned as an essayist. His patrons included Lang Chien (975-1063), Kuan Ching-jen (chin-shih, 1059), Chang Fang-p'ing (1007-1091), Lii Chen, and Li Tuan-yuan (d. 1091), to name only a few. Chang and Lii were prefects in succession, Yang was a vice prefect, Kuan was the registrar (chu-pu) of Hang-chou and the magistrate of the Ch'ien-t'ang county, and Lang was a native of Hang-chou who presided over neighboring prefectures such as Yiieh-chou. These officials helped Ch'i-sung succeed in bringing his writings to the attention of high-ranking officials at court and Emperor Jen-tsung. 66 Lang Chien, for instance, was an unfailing supporter of Ch'i-sung. A native of Hang-chou and an admirer of Ch'i-sung's work, he encouraged him to collate the various editions of the Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch (Liu-tsu t'an-ching) so that a reliable version of the text could be made available. He generously donated funds to make printing blocks, hoping to increase the circulation of the scripture. Owing to his support and Ch'i-sung's two-year endeavor, the new standardized edition of the text, known as Record of the Dharma Treasure of the Sixth Patriarch (Liu-tsu fa-pao chi), gained wide circulation.67 Lang introduced Ch'i-sung's writings to Chang Fang-p'ing, when the latter was the prefect of Hang-chou from 1050 to 1051. Much impressed, Chang praised Ch'i-sung for "not only penetrating the principle of emptiness (k'ung-tsung), but also demonstrating a high level of refinement in literary style."68 His successor Lii Chen

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also had a high opinion of Ch'i-sung's work. Together, they were among several high-ranking officials promoting Ch'i-sungs cause when more of his works were submitted to them at the capital by various friends and admirers, including Kuan Ching-jen and Ts'ui Huang-ch'en (chin-shih, 1038).69 Kuan and Ts'ui represented the local elite at the lower level of the Hang-chou bureaucracy who patronized Ch'i-sung. Before Ch'i-sung made a trip to the capital, where he personally presented his works to various high-ranking officials and was given an audience by Prime Minister Han Ch'i (1008-1075) and Vice Minister Ou-yang Hsiu, Kuan had helped him submit his works to Han Ch'i and Fu Pi (10041083), another prime minister. Ts'ui had helped him submit his works to T'ien K'uang (1005-1063), Tseng Kung-liang, and Chao Kai (996-1083), all of whom were among the emperors closest advisors.70 With their endorsement, Ch'i-sung submitted all his works along with a "ten-thousand word" memorial (wan-yen-shu) to Emperor Jen-tsung in 1061. In that memorial, he vigorously defended Buddhism from its detractors and entreated the emperor to admit his works—including the Record of the True Lineage of Dharma Transmission (Ch'uan-fa cheng-tsung chi) and the Essays Upholding Buddhist Teachings (Fu-chiao pien)—into the Buddhist canon. 71 The emperor was said to have been very impressed by Ch'i-sung's works and to have approved his requests. The emperor's uncle-in-law, Li Tuanylian, who was a good friend of Chang Fang-p'ing, also wholeheartedly supported Ch'i-sung's request. He admired Ch'i-sung deeply, praising him for his erudition and compassion. Believing that Ch'isung was worthy of everyone's esteem, he made a personal plea in his behalf, recommending that he be granted a purple robe. The emperor entrusted the prefect T'ang Hsiin (1005-1064) to confer the robe on him sometime between 1058 and 1060.72 Elite patronage of Ch'i-sung followed what had come to be a well-established pattern in Hang-chou. Members of the elite sought out monks such as Ch'i-sung to inquire about the dharma, to exchange poems, to discuss meditation practice, to seek advice on spiritual life, to invite them to lecture on a certain scripture, and to offer them clerical positions. Monks who enjoyed mingling with members of the elite in higher office were probably more apt to find steadfast benefactors for their monasteries. Nevertheless, other monks could still win generous support even if they preferred living a simple and tranquil life and keeping their social intercourse to a minimum. Ch'i-sung seems to have had all of the connections nec-

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essary to have made himself much more visible. However, he chose to forgo that opportunity once he had made his voice heard in the capital. 73 He was nonetheless obliged to accept an official appointment between 1065 and 1066 when Ts'ai Hsiang (1012-1067) took over the Hang-chou prefectship. Ts'ai impelled him to return from the Teng-yiin Ch'an Monastery in Jun-chou to preside over the Ching-hui Ch'an Monastery on Mount Fo-jih in Hang-chou. 74 Although Ch'i-sung's advocacy of the harmonization of the three teachings and his debate with T'ien-tai monks over the transmission of the lineage brought him notoriety, it was his literary skill that impressed the Hang-chou elite most. Even more than Chih-yuan, he was regarded as a brilliant ku-wen writer whose style rivaled great Confucian writers like Han Yii and Ou-yang Hsiu. Nevertheless, the ability to compose elegant classical style prose did not necessarily make a monk the object of elite patronage, although it was definitely an advantage. The elite recruited Ch'an monks to serve as abbots more for their clerical pedigree and reputation in preaching. Ma Liang, for example, installed Ch'an master Hung-shou (944-1022) as the abbot of the renowned Hsing-chiao Monastery when he assumed the prefectship of Hang-chou in 1016.75 Master Hung-shou was a disciple of T'ien-t'ai Te-shao (891-972), the national preceptor under the king of Wu-Yiieh, and was therefore a dharma brother of Yungming Yen-shou (904-975). 76 Known as a Ch'an monk of the Fa-yen lineage, he was not particularly reputed for his literary skill. Yet Ma Liang sought him out to take the abbacy of the Hsing-chiao Monastery even when he secluded himself in Ta-tz'u Mountain to the south of Hang-chou. Hung-shou headed the Hsing-chiao Monastery for five years and apparently was widely respected. 77 The Sung imperial house had taken a keen interest in Ch'an Buddhism since the reign of Chen-tsung, and it was thus concerned with the appointments to the abbacies of large Ch'an public monasteries throughout the realm. The Hang-chou elite accordingly served as a major resource in recommending eminent Ch'an masters to Chentsung and Empress Chang-hsien. They thereby helped promote Ch'an of the Fa-yen lineage, which had been most active in Hangchou and its environs. For instance, when Hsueh Ying (dates unknown) was in Hang-chou, he was patron of many monks, including Chih-yuan and the Ch'an master Wen-sheng (dates unknown) of the Ling-yin Monastery. 78 Wen-sheng was a disciple of Yun-chii Taoch'i (929-997) in the fourth generation of the Fa-yen lineage. As a sponsor of Wen-sheng's lectures, Hsiieh Ying may have been the one

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who recommended Wen-sheng to Chen-tsung. In any event, Wensheng was summoned to head the Ch'eng-t'ien Monastery in the capital. He served there for about two decades before he decided to return to Hang-chou and live in seclusion at a certain Hsing-ch'ing Retreat. However, Jen-tsung summoned him to the capital again in 1026 to preside over a monastery that had been the residence of his deceased uncle-in-law, Wu Yuan-i (962-1011). The emperor named the monastery Tz'u-hsiao ssu and began to build other Ch'an monasteries in K'ai-feng, partly in honor of Wen-sheng after hearing that he died en route to the capital.79 The elite of Hang-chou continued to recruit Ch'an masters to head major monasteries such as Ling-yin (Fig. 8.2), where Yung-ming Yen-shou had taught. They helped maintain the particular Ch'an lineage affiliated with this monastery as long as they could. They were also able to elicit support from the imperial house to preserve this monastery as an exclusively Ch'an institution. For instance, Ma Liang supported the Ch'an master Hui-ming Yen-shan (dates unknown), who succeeded Wen-sheng as the abbot of the Ling-yin Monastery. He invited Yen-shan to lecture and participated in Ch'an dialogue as his student. 80 With his support, Yen-shan gained prominence and had a large following of a thousand monks. 8 ' The imperial house also extended its support to this monastery (given its former connection with Wen-sheng). In 1026, Empress Chang-hsien granted it a manor, charging Yen-shan to pray for Emperor Jentsung on his birthday. In 1030, the city memorialized the court to exempt the monastery from paying the food tax. The court granted the monastery this privilege and Yen-shan the title of Great Master of Concentration (Ch'an-ting ta-shih).82 Sometimes the court appointed a renowned senior Ch'an monk to head a monastery. Such an appointment enhanced the prestige of the monastery. For instance, in 1050 Emperor Jen-tsung assigned Ch'an master Te-chang (dates unknown) as the abbot of the Ling-yin Monastery on his retirement from the capital. Te-chang was one of the Ch'an masters whom Jen-tsung had periodically granted audiences. He was sent to Ling-yin to succeed Yen-shan. Although he may only have held the abbacy briefly, his presence there made it easier to solicit support for the renovation of the monastery after it had been destroyed by a fire.83 Thus when Hui-chao Yiin-ts'ung (dates unknown) and P'u-tz'u Huan-min headed the monastery, they were able to rebuild it with the city's generous support. The appointment of Huan-min as the abbot of the Ling-yin Mon-

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Figure 8.2. The Ling-yin Monastery as presented in an 1897 edition of the Ling-yin ssu chih

astery further underscored the elites influence on the life of the monastery. The authorities seem to have paid particularly close attention to the monastery because of its national reputation. While they were willing to give it some latitude in dealing with its problems, they also wanted to exercise some control over important personnel issues. Therefore, when the fire broke out at the monastery, they did not bother to investigate, because Huan-min assumed the responsibility in his capacity as the controller of the monastery (chien-ssu). However, when the abbot Yen-shan died, they installed Hui-chao Yiin-ts'ung as the abbot rather than his dharma brother Huan-min. Again when Yiin-ts'ung died, they chose not to follow Yiin-ts'ung's recommendation of Huan-min but appointed someone else as abbot. Did these events reflect a conflict of interest between the indigenous local elite and the national elite serving in Hang-chou (particularly the prefects)? If such were the case, one would expect the representatives of the national elite to win out. Yet, because of the complications involved, a prefect might choose not to exercise his power. Therefore, when Li Jui presided over Hang-chou and learned of Huan-min's comportment, he appointed Huan-min to

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head the Upper T'ien-chu Monastery rather than the Ling-yin Monastery. However, Lis successor, Sun Mien (996-1066), recalled Huanmin to the Ling-yin Monastery and appointed him abbot soon after he assumed the prefectship of Hang-chou in 1055.84 Sun's patronage enabled Huan-min to regain any loss of prestige he may have suffered. Sun Mien attended his inaugural lecture together with one hundred officials clad in official attire. Thousands of citizens in Hang-chou came to the Ling-yin Monastery to hear his presentation. Since many of the Ch'an monks recruited to serve as abbots in Hang-chou came from other regions, there must have been a variety of networks through which their names came to the attention of the local authorities. Such networks formed around particular Ch'an lineages and their patrons among the elite. The mobility among the members of the national elite who filled posts such as the prefectship in Hang-chou provided a natural vehicle for their spread. During the reigns of Chen-tsung and Jen-tsung (1023-1064), for instance, many of the Ch'an monks recruited to Hang-chou were disciples of Yun-chii Tao-ch'i, a third-generation Ch'an master in the Fa-yen lineage. Tao-ch'i taught at Yiin-chu Mountain in Hung-chou (in presentday Kiangsi). Three of his disciples were brought to Hang-chou: Wen-sheng (mentioned before in conjunction with the Ling-yin Monastery), Lung-hua Wu-sheng (964-1022), and Lung-hua Yu-

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chung (dates unknown). The prefect responsible for bringing Wusheng to Hang-chou had presided over Hang-chou during the Hsienp'ing period (998-1003). Wu-sheng had headed the Pao-sheng Monastery on Mount Lung-hua near Hang-chou for some twenty years before coming to Hang-chou. He was probably succeeded by Yuchung, who arrived in Hang-chou around 1008 and took residence at the Fa-yii Monastery. In 1023, the prefect Li Chi (chin-shih, Chen-tsung's reign) invited him to head the Pao-sheng Monastery in Hang-chou. In all likelihood his appointment was the result of Wusheng's recommendation. 85 The way in which informal networks within Ch'an lineages and their elite patrons worked can also be seen in the case of Ta-chueh Huai-lien, a major figure in the Yiin-men lineage. Huai-lien came from Nan-ch'ang (in present-day Kiangsi). He went on to the Yiiant'ung Monastery on Mount Lu, where he worked as a scribe for Chii-na. Chii-na's reputation reached Emperor Jen-tsung, who invited him to the capital in 1050 to head the newly built Ching-yin Ch'an Monastery. Chii-na declined the invitation and recommended Huai-lien in his stead. Huai-lien went on to distinguish himself in K'ai-feng with his ability to deliver eloquent Ch'an lectures. He won the favor of Jen-tsung and Ying-tsung (r. 1064-1067). Both emperors summoned him to answer their inquiries about the dharma. Jentsung gave him seventeen pieces of his own writings, which he had written in exchange for Huai-lien's verses. Ying-tsung ordered that Huai-lien be housed in any monastery he chose after his retirement from the capital. When Ch'i-sung (who also belonged to the Ytinmen lineage) went to K'ai-feng to present his writings to the emperor and ministers, Huai-lien was his host and supporter. When Huai-lien retired to Hang-chou during Ying-tsung's reign, he was first invited to preside over the monastery on Mount Fo-jih, where Ch'i-sung had been abbot for some time. There he became a close friend of many prominent scholars, including the vice prefect Su Shih, who held him in unusual reverence. After Huai-lien later moved to Mount Asoka in Ming-chou, Su Shih wrote an inscription for the pavilion that Huai-lien built to preserve the writings he had received from Jen-tsung. Emperor Ying-tsung had requested that Su Shih write the inscription, because the emperor believed that Huai-lien's Hangchou patron Su Shih was most familiar with the monk.86 While imperial patronage seems to have preceded the local support that Huai-lien received during his sojourn in Hang-chou, prefects and their staffs were more often than not first patrons of other

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monks before they became guests of the imperial palace. With the support of the local elite, some Ch'an monks from Hang-chou were able to move on to the capital. Chen Hsiang (1017-1080), for instance, was instrumental in Hui-lin Tsung-pen's (1020-1099) entry into K'ai-feng. As the prefect of Hang-chou from 1072 to 1074, Ch'en was persistent in recruiting Tsung-pen, who had been the abbot of the Jui-kuang Monastery in Su-chou for some years.87 After an unsuccessful attempt to relocate Tsung-pen in Hang-chou, he managed to "borrow" him by assuring the authorities and residents of Su-chou that the master would return after three years. Tsungpen thus began residence at the Ching-tz'u Monastery, where he attracted an even larger following than he had in Su-chou. It was only after nine years in Hang-chou that he finally returned to Su-chou. 88 Not long afterward, he was summoned to the imperial palace, where he instructed Emperor Shen-tsung (r. 1068-1085) in Ch'an. He was then asked to preside over the Hui-lin Ch'an Cloister within the Hsiang-kuo Monastery and soon became one of the most esteemed monks in K'ai-feng.89 When the emperor died, he was summoned to the Fu-ning Palace to lecture and dedicate prayers on his behalf. Deeply moved by his words, Emperor Che-tsung granted him the title of Yüan-chao (perfect illumination). When Tsung-pen retired from the capital in 1086, the court ordered that he be allowed to wander about as he pleased and that no local authorities should oblige him to preside over any monastery 90 During the eleventh century Hang-chou was the city from which the court most often recruited monks to head major monasteries in the capital. The elite of Hang-chou thus bore a double responsibility to exercise care in their appointment of monks locally. After Tsung-pen left Hang-chou, his outstanding disciple and head lecturer, Ta-t'ung Shan-pen (1035-1109), was approved to succeed him as the abbot of the Ching-tz'u Monastery.91 There Shan-pen proved himself as effective a leader as Tsung-pen, and the Ching-tz'u Monastery grew to the point where a total of one thousand monks needed to be fed daily. Large donations and offerings continued to pour in, providing the monastery with ample reserves. The grandeur of its Buddha hall, as one Buddhist historian put it, made visitors wonder whether they had entered a blissful heaven.92 The flourishing of the monastery increased Shan-pen's authority and fame. Thus, sometime between 1090 and 1091, Chang Tun-li (fl. 1080-1100) (who had married Ying-tsung's third daughter and become Shen-tsung's brother-in-law) came to Hang-chou to invite Shan-pen to the capital.

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Su Shih, who was prefect of Hang-chou at the time, also urged him to go.93 In K'ai-feng, Princess Yiieh-kuo, Chang Tun-li's wife, recommended that he be granted the title of Ta-t'ung (great penetration). Thereupon Emperor Che-tsung housed him in the Fa-yun Monastery as the successor of Fa-hsiu (1027-1090), who had recently died.94 Within eight years, he had succeeded in attracting such sizable donations from the noble and the wealthy in K'ai-feng that he was able to turn the monastery into a huge complex with an extensive dwelling area and sundry ceremonial halls, all embellished with colorful tiles and walls.95

The Diversification of the Hang-chou Clergy Part of what made Hang-chou such a thriving center of Buddhism during the Northern Sung was the presence of a variety of Buddhist schools. In addition to T'ien-t'ai and Chan, Vinaya (Lii) and Huayen monasteries came to be established in the city in the second half of the eleventh century. In addition to his patronage of T'ien-t'ai and Ch'an monks, for instance, Su Shih also respected a monk of the Vinaya school, Chan-ju Yiian-chao (1048-1116). He believed that Yuan-chao's religious dedication and extensive scholarship qualified him as the most venerable monk after Yuan-ching. When his mother died, Su held a memorial service, in the course of which he donated to Yuan-chao's monastery jewels left by his mother and hired a painter to portray Amitabha's image on her behalf.96 A year later, Wang Ts'un (1023-1101, prefect 1092-1094) put Yiian-chao in charge of the Ling-chih Monastery in Hang-chou, commissioning him to build an ordination platform. 97 Li Ts'ung (chin-shih, 1040s; prefect, 1097-1098) admired him for his knowledge of the Vinaya, and his support enabled Yiian-chao to gather a following of no fewer than five hundred patrons. 98 Chiang Chih-ch'i (1031-1104; prefect, 11021103) repeatedly invited Yiian-chao to lecture at the prefect's office and became a major patron of Yiian-chao and his monastery.99 The support Yiian-chao received indicates that elite patronage was secured more through the personal qualities of monks than their sectarian affiliation. Yiian-chao was a disciple of Shen-wu Ch'uch'ien (1011-1075) and Kuang-tz'u Hui-ts'ai (998-1083), under whom he studied T'ien-t'ai and Vinaya teachings. He was also well versed in Ch'an and Pure Land. He held that the Vinaya, T'ien-t'ai, and Ch'an teachings formed an integral whole and thus argued for the harmonization of the three schools.100 He also advocated the imple-

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mentation of "advanced precepts" (tseng-chieh) to improve the moral quality of monks, for which he incurred sharp criticism from some segments of the sangha. He nevertheless won elite support and was transferred to the Ling-chih Monastery to proceed with his plan to build an ordination platform. Further protests held up his project with the threat of litigation, but the authorities gave him their support, and he was permitted to build the ordination platform. Over the course of his thirty years as abbot of the Ling-chih Monastery, he administered the bodhisattva precepts more than sixty times and ordained almost ten thousand monks.101 Yuan-chao and his disciples were also experts in performing the ritual whose aim was to authenticate and mark the perimeter of a monastic complex (simaba.nd.ha; chieh-chieh). Yuan-chao earned the respect of local authorities for his emphasis on discipline and the moral transformation of society in his sermons and writings. His championing of Buddhist education won him the abbacy of the Chao-ch'ing Monastery, famous for the Pure Land Society that had been founded there at the end of the tenth century. Yuan-chao continued to uphold the legacy of Sheng-ch'ang. He and his followers held steadfast to their commitment to maintaining the Vinaya tradition despite the clamor of Ch'an monks who derided adherents of Pure Land and the Vinaya. They were thus able to reestablish the Vinaya order in Hang-chou. The diversity of Buddhist traditions represented in Hang-chou greatly impressed one of its most illustrious foreign pilgrims, Uich'on (1055-1107), scion of the royal house of Koryo, who arrived in Sung China in 1085. When he reached Hang-chou, the authorities wished to acquaint him with the leaders of the Buddhist community, among whom Yuan-chao was a prominent member. Uich'on received the bodhisattva precepts from Yuan-chao, whose lectures greatly impressed him. He was also introduced to Tz'u-pien Ts'ung-chien (1035-1109), who had just assumed the abbacy of Upper T'ien-chu Monastery. Ts'ung-chien instructed Uich'on in T'ien-t'ai meditation teachings.102 The ultimate goal of Uich on s pilgrimage, however, was to further his understanding of Hua-yen Buddhism so as to clear up doubts he had had about some points of exegesis and to settle some doctrinal disputes that had long bothered him. 103 With the help of the court, he was put in touch with Chin-shui Ching-yiian (10111088), the leading Hua-yen authority in Hang-chou. 104 Uich'on's meeting with Ching-yiian laid the foundation for the royal house of the Koryo to become the main patron of Ching-yiian's

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Hui-yin Monastery (also known as the Kao-li Monastery). This unprecedented foreign patronage had an enormous impact on Buddhism in Hang-chou in the time that followed, and many monasteries benefited from the lavish funds donated to the Hui-yin Monastery by the Koryo kings, who attributed Uich'on's accomplishments to the instruction he had received there from Chingyiian. Ching-yuan had been brought to Hang-chou by Shen Kou around the time Yuan-ching was installed at Upper T'ien-chu Monastery, Hui-pien was appointed rectifier of the clergy, and Hui-ts'ai was made the abbot of the Jeweled Pavilion of Fa-hui. 105 Shen's attention was drawn to Ching-yuan when the latter was lecturing in Kiangsu, where many of his works enjoyed wide circulation. He lost no time bringing Ching-yuan to Hang-chou, making him the abbot of the newly built Hsien-shou Monastery. After taking up a brief residence in neighboring prefectures in response to continuous entreaties, Ching-yuan settled at the Hsiang-fu Monastery in Hang-chou until the prefect P'u Tsung-meng (chin-shih, 1053) appointed him abbot of the Hui-yin Monastery which Ching-yuan turned into a thriving center for Hua-yen. The Hui-yin Monastery had been a Chan cloister headed by the Chan master Shan-ssu (dates unknown). The Bureau of the Rectifier of the Clergy (Seng-cheng ssu) in Hang-chou reported to the office of the prefect that Shan-ssu had been insolent and requested that he be replaced by a more cooperative monk. P'u Tsung-meng thus replaced Shan-ssu with Ching-yuan and helped turn Hui-yin into a Teachings monastery in honor of Uichon and Ching-yuan. 106 The petition the Hui-yin adminstrative officer submitted to the prefect requesting that the monastery be converted from a Ch'an to a Teachings institution pointed out that both the Hsing-chiao and Upper T'ien-chu monasteries had experienced a similar conversion after Fan-chen and Yiian-ching had been installed as abbots. It went on to stress that the monastery had flourished since the arrival of Uich'on, who had donated scriptures, images of Buddhas, and other religious objects. Since the monastery had earned a good reputation, offerings were flowing in, and Hua-yen teachings were thriving, the petition argued, it was eligible for a change in its classification to accord with its new function. Reacting favorably to the petition, the prefect submitted a memorial to the emperor requesting permission for the change. 107 The reclassification of Hui-yin as a Teachings monastery gave

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Hua-yen a firm foothold in Hang-chou. Uich'ons presence and the patronage he both contributed and inspired were instrumental. Such increased financial means enabled Ching-yiian to refurbish the monastery, print booklets on Hua-yen teachings, distribute portraits of Hua-yen patriarchs, and publicize Hua-yen teachings. The prefect P'u Tsung-meng and his staff donated funds to build a Hall for the Seven Patriarchs (ch'i-tsu t'ang), in which the images of the seven Hua-yen patriarchs were installed.108 P'u Tsung-meng and two fiscal commissioners of the Chekiang region, Sun Ch'ang-ling (fl. 1070s1080s) and Hsu Mao (chin-shih, 1041), also mobilized the residents of Hang-chou to help with providing statues, scrolls illustrating Sudhana's pilgrimage, and sundry ritual implements and supplies. They built a storehouse to preserve the six hundred fascicles of Huayen texts donated by the vice prefects Li Hsiao-hsien (fl. 1080s) and Yao Shun-hsieh (dates unknown). The Koryo king, who was also Uich'ons brother, followed suit by donating a copy of the Hua-yen Sutra in three volumes. Uich'on himself donated a miscellany of Hua-yen literature to the monastery totaling more than seven thousand items.'09 The Koryo royal house supported the monastery with enthusiasm. The Koryo king continued to make donations to the monastery after Ching-yiian s death in 1088. He dispatched three of Uich'ons disciples to Hang-chou to bring a portion of Ching-yuans relics back to Korea. In 1101, the Koryo king sent an envoy to K'ai-feng to attend Emperor Hui-tsung's coronation ceremony. There the envoy presented over a thousand taels of white gold to the Sung emperor for the construction of a new pavilion at the Hui-yin Monastery. Newly acquired scriptures were placed in the pavilion along with statues of Vairocana, Manjusri, and Samantabhadra. Offerings, supplies, and ceremonial paraphernalia filled the hall.110

Concluding Remarks When Wang Ch'in-jo was appointed prefect of Hang-chou in 1019, leaders of the major Buddhist institutions, including Tsun-shih, assembled to greet him. With the exception of one or two eminent monks, such as Chih-yuan, most eminent monks seemed predisposed to show their courtesy to the late minister. A reception ceremony for an incoming or an outgoing prefect had become a formality, if not an obligation, that monastic leaders in Hang-chou had to observe. It was a ritual they needed to participate in to express their

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gratitude to an outgoing prefect for his patronage and to make clear their expectations of continued support from the incoming one. An individual abbot might shun this ritual in the name of illness, as Chih-yuan did, yet he still had to apologize for his absence or inability to participate, as Ch'i-sung did to Tsu Wu-tse. m The public display of Confucian decorum on the part of clerics was meant to sustain the rapprochement and congeniality that they had built with the elite. The same display on the part of the elite was meant to acknowledge the importance with which it viewed maintaining a friendly relationship with the Buddhist leaders. Such ceremonies publicly affirmed the mutual interests of both sides. Nurturing such a relationship was important for both the clergy and the elite as it created an atmosphere of understanding and cooperation so necessary to both sides. Fan Chung-yen (989-1052) was well aware of the importance of this relationship. In 1050, famine swept over the Chekiang area and caused widespread starvation and many deaths. Fan, then the prefect of Hang-chou, summoned the leaders of the Buddhist community to help. He encouraged them to initiate construction and renovation projects so that the people could exchange their labor for the grain stored in their monasteries. Official granaries were also opened. With the help of the clergy, Fan Chung-yen was able to relieve Hangchou of the famine. The court instituted his strategy as a new policy to be adopted in any disaster area.112 Fan Chung-yen's policy thus provided a model for his successors to follow. Fan was also known for his interest in Buddhism and his patronage of some monks, and his success as a prefect could in part be ascribed to the friendly relationship he had nurtured with the clergy. Prefects who did not enjoy such a cordial relationship might find it more difficult to enlist the support of the clergy in time of civic need. Maintaining a friendly and cooperative relationship with the clergy was thus important for a prefect to fulfill the responsibilities of his office. Since this dynamic was built into the structure of the mutual dependence of the elite and clergy, it operated largely independently of the individual prefect s personal views on Buddhism. Whether the relationship was built on personal preference or practical sociopolitical considerations, the elite of Hang-chou made it a norm to oversee Buddhist activities, select capable leaders, and sponsor monastery construction. Many prefects—such as Hsiieh Ying, Ma Liang, Wang Ch'in-jo, Wang Sui, Yang Chieh, Fan Chung-yen, Chang Fang-p'ing, Hu Su, Chao Pien, P'u Tsung-meng, Su Shih, Lii Hui-ch'ing, and

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Chiang Chih-ch'i—were personally drawn to Buddhism, and they patronized the religion both in their public capacity as officials and as individuals. Other prefects—such as Chang Ch'ii-hua, Chang Yung, Hsiieh Yen, Hu Tse, Li Tzu, Lii Chen, Li Jui, Sun Mien, Shen Kou, Ts'ai Hsiang, Tsu Wu-tse, Chen Hsiang, Wang Ts'un, Chen Hslian, and Li Ts'ung—did not share such personal sympathies with Buddhism yet, in their public capacity as officials charged with the general welfare of the city, felt compelled to support its institutions. Some among this group even appear to have resented its immense influence. Ts'ai Hsiang, for instance, was very critical of Jen-tsung's patronage of Buddhism. He remonstrated with the emperor about his zealous belief in an "irrational prayer for blessing," arguing that the emperor should pay more attention to human affairs. 113 Tsu Wu-tse lamented that people had lost their sense of Confucian ethics because they were captivated by Buddhism. He decried the lack of education, which he believed was the main reason that people took refuge in Buddhism. 114 Ch'en Hsiang promised to make education his priority as the prefect of Hang-chou because he regretted seeing well-bred youngsters enmeshed in the world of artisans, merchants, Buddhists, and Taoists without knowing the way of Confucian teachers and the principles of humanity and righteousness.115 These men all sought to promote Confucian education as a counterbalance to what they perceived to be the inordinate influence of Buddhism. However, they also had to keep Buddhist institutions in good shape and help renovate them to respond to public needs. Their influence over the selection of eminent monks and their offering of official patronage seem to have been their way of mediating the tension between personal beliefs and public responsibilities.

Notes 1. See the biography of Chou Ying in Sung shih (Beijing: Chung-hua shuchii, 1977), 268.9226-9228. 2. See the biography of Lu Pin in Sung shih 308.10139-10141. Cf. T'ai-tsung shih-lu included in the Taipei reprint of the Chung-hua shu-chii punctuated edition of the Sung shih (Taipei: Ting-wen shu-chii, 1978), 76.13a-b. The latter indicates that Liu Wo was a soldier, but it does not include the monk in its account. None of these records indicates the fate of the monk. However, since Liu Wo was killed by Hou Yen-kuang, there is no reason that the life of the monk would have been spared.

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3. See Tsou-i chi in Ou-yang Hsiu ch'iian-chi (Taipei: Ho-lo ch'u-pan-she, 1975), 4.199-202, for three memoranda (cha-tzu) concerning the proposed method of dealing with the "Hunan Man." 4. See Tsou-i chi 4.201. 5. For the quote, see Timothy Brook, Praying for Power: Buddhism and the Formation of Gentry Society in Late-Ming China (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1994), p. 30. Brooks contention that before the Ming the elite only patronized Buddhism as individuals or government agents but not as both is misleading. One has to bear in mind that the Northern Sung court had good reason to treat prominent monasteries and temples with care. As agents of state, the elite governing places where such monasteries and temples were within their jurisdiction had to support its clergy, even if they personally did not patronize Buddhism. During the Northern Sung, elite patronage on the levels of both state agents and individuals occurred in places with a strong Buddhist tradition because it was the job of government agents to work with local people, including the local elite, to maintain important monasteries and temples. In places without such a tradition, supporting monasteries would be entirely within the domain of the local elite, as demonstrated in Robert P. Hymes, Statesmen and Gentlemen: The Elite of Fu-chou, Chiang-hsi, in Northern and Southern Sung (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986), pp. 177-199. In any case, the situation of the elite-clergy relationship was much more complicated than Brook recognizes. It varied from one place to another according to scale of Buddhist and other religions' influences. 6. The Hsien-ch'un Lin-an chih, Wu-lin fan chih, Hang-chou fu chih, and other gazetteers of monasteries as well as private accounts such as the T'ienchu pieh-chi by Tsun-shih give the strong impression that the majority of monasteries were affiliated with Ch'an. For instance, in T'ien-chu ssu shih-fang chuch'ih i in T'ien-chu pieh-chi, HTC 101.153dl8, Tsun-shih lamented that there was no T'ien-t'ai monastery among the several hundred in Hang-chou. T'ien-ta'i masters thus had to put up with the awkward situation of having to live in other types of monasteries. Be that as it may, it is simply impossible to determine the numbers of temples and monasteries affiliated with Ch'an and other Buddhist schools at this time. 7. For example, the preface to the section on Buddhist monasteries and Taoist temples (ssu-kuan) in the Hsien-ch'un Lin-an chih (Taipei: Kuo-t'ai wen-hua shih-yeh yu-hsien kung-ssu, Sung-Yuan ti-fang-chih edition, 1980) says: "Buddhist monasteries and Taoist temples nowadays are all over the world; they are most prevalent in the Ch'ien-t'ang area [i.e., Hang-chou]. While both teachings flourished the most in the Ch'ien-t'ang area, students of Buddhism outnumbered those of Taoism. If one counts a hundred religious institutions in the city, more than ninety of them will be Buddhist monasteries and less than one-tenth will be Taoist temples" (Hsien-ch'un Lin-an chih 75.1a-b). 8. See Ting Wei, Hsi-hu chieh-she shih hsii, in tJich on's Wonjung mullyu, included in Han'gukpulgyo chonso (Seoul: Tunguk University Press, 1980), 4.563ab. Ting's figure, like that of Tsun-shih, was a rough estimate based on his personal observations. 9. See Lin Cheng-ch'iu, Nan-Sung tu-ch'eng Lin-an (Chekiang: Hsin-hua Publishing Co., 1986), p. 12, which is based on Hsien-ch'un Lin-an chih.

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10: This figure is based on the Meng-liang lu (Taipei: Ta-li ch'u-pan-she, 1980), p. 256. It is highly credible because, according to Ch'ih-ssu Hang-chou Hui-yin chiao-yiian chi, there were 532 temples in Hang-chou by the end of Che-tsung's reign. See Hui-yin ssu chih (Taipei: Ming-wen shu-chii, 1980), 6.1. 11. According to Ting Wei, Sheng-ch'ang sent a verse to ranking officials in the capital, inviting them to participate in his society. Officials at court responded with enthusiasm. See Ting's preface cited above in note 8. 12. See Chih-yiian's inscription dedicated to Sheng-ch'ang for his organization of the fellowship. This inscription, which is included in Tsung-hsiao's Lepang wen-lei, mentions that the image was Amitabha Buddha (T 47.184a8-9). However, the inscriptions written by Sung Po and Ch'ien I indicate that the image was the Vairocana Buddha (Hanguk pulgyo chonso 4.642b3). Shengch'ang's biography in the Lu-shan Lien-tsung pao-chien apparently follows Sung's and Ch'ien's accounts (see T 47.324c2). 13. Wang Tan was minister from 1006 to 1017 and Hsiang Min-chung from 1012 to 1019. The Lu-shan Lien-tsung pao-chien (T 47.324b26) says that they both presided over the society for some time. It also suggests that they were involved in the society's activities when they were ministers. Sun Ho's note indicates that Wang was then right exhorter (yu-cheng-yen) in the Secretariat, whereas Hsiang was right grand master of remonstrance (yu-chien-i tai-fu) in the Secretariat. 14. Wang Ch'in-jo held the position of minister twice: from 1017 to 1019 and from 1023 to 1025. Wang Sui was minister from 1037 to 1038. Wang Sui succeeded Wang Ch'in-jo as the prefect of Hang-chou in 1020 not too long before Sheng-ch'ang's death. Like Wang Sui, Ch'en Yao-tso held the same position from 1037 to 1038. He probably joined the fellowship when he was deputy fiscal commissioner sometime between the Ching-te (1004-1007) and Ta-chung hsiang-fu (1008-1016) periods. 15. Su I-chien was appointed vice minister sometime before 993 as indicated in Sun Ho's note. 16. See the biography of Sheng-ch'ang in Lu-shan Lien-tsung pao-chien, T 47.324c, which is based on the stele inscription written by Chih-yuan. See Ta Chao-ch'ing ssu chih, in Chung-kuo fo-ssu chih hui-k'an, series 1, vol. 16 (Taipei: Ming-wen shu-chii, 1980), 5.1b-3b. Since Sung Po, Sun Ho, and Su I-chien contributed writings to commemorate the activities of the fellowship, their names were mentioned in the biography of Sheng-ch'ang. Sung Po contributed a verse with a preface, which says: "Admiring Hui-yiian for his initiation of the pure [land] fellowship on Mount Lu, the master [organized a similar one but] changed the name 'Lotus' into 'Pure Conduct'" (T 47.324c9-10). His inscription, which can also be found in Wonjung mullyu (Han'guk pulgyo chonso 4.563b564c), is probably the source of Sheng-ch'ang biographies in the Le-pang wenlei and the Fo-tsu t'ung-chi. Su I-chien composed a preface for the "Pure Conduct" chapter of the Hua-yen Sutra, and Sun Ho did an inscription. The Ta Chao-ch'ing ssu-chih preserves a Pai-lien t'ang chi by Sun Ho (4.1 lb-14a). There the names of twenty-two officials who were associated with Sheng-ch'ang in one way or the other were mentioned. Ch'en Yao-tso had twice served as vice fiscal commissioner of the Chekiang region; he also became prime minister during Jen-tsung's reign.

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17. Sun Ho was vice fiscal commissioner in the Chekiang region during the Hsien-p'ing period (998-1003). 18. See Lu-shan Lien-tsung pao-chien, T 47.324c2-5; I have adapted the translation of Daniel Getz, "Siming Zhili and Tiantai Pure Land in the Song Dynasty" (Ph.D. dissertation, Yale University, 1994), p. 289. The term "pao-shen" here refers to the body received as a consequence of past karma. 19. See Lu-shan Lien-tsung pao-chien, T 47.324c9-13. For Hui-yiian, see Lepang wen-lei, T47.193b-c. 20. For a more detailed discussion of Sheng-ch'ang's society, see Getz, "Siming Zhili," pp. 275-294. 21. See Ch'i-sung, Hang-chou Wu-lin T'ien-chu ssu ku ta-fa-shih, Tz'u-yun shih-kung hsing-yeh ch'u-chi, in T'an-chin wen-chi, T 52.713b26-715cl4; see also Tsung-hsiao, Pao-yiin chen-tsu chi, in Ssu-ming tsun-che chiao-hsing lu, T 46.930c-933a. For a detailed account of Tsun-shih's career, see Chapter 9 by Daniel Stevenson in this volume. Tsukamoto Zenryu mentions Tsun-shihs activity briefly in A History of Early Chinese Buddhism, vol. 2 (Tokyo: Kodansha International Ltd., 1985), p. 866. 22. For Ma Liangs association with Tsun-shih, see Ch'i-sung, Hang-chou Wu-lin T'ien-chu ssu ku ta-fa-shih, Tz'u-yun shih-kung hsing-yeh ch'u-chi, T 52.713b26-715cl4; and Chih-p'an, Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.207c-208a. For his tenure in Lu-chou, see Pei-Sung ching-fu nien-piao (Shanghai: Chung-hua shuchii, 1955), p. 102. For his memorial, see Sung hui-yao chi-kao (Taipei: Hsiu wen-feng ch'u-pan-she, 1976, reprint of the 1936 Pei-p'ing t'u-shu-kuan edition), 8.7867. 23. Ma Yii had received Tsun-shih's rite from the famous promoter of Pure Land Wang Ku (dates unknown). About Wang Ku, see I-cheng Wang Shih-lang, in Lu-shan Lien-tsung pao-chien, T 47.327a-b. For Ma Yii and his relation to Wang Ku, see Huang Ts'e's Ma Shih-lang wang-sheng chi, in Le-pang wen-lei, T 47.190a-c. Huang Ts'e (1070-1132) became assistant minster in the Ministry of Works at Che-tsungs court. 24. See Ma Shih-lang wang-sheng chi, T 47.190b-c. 25. For Wang's connection with the feng-shan sacrifice and his involvement with Taoism, see Sung shih 283.9561-9563. Also see Wen-mu Wang-kung muchih-ming, in Hsia Sung, Wen-chuang chi (SKCS), 28.9a-15a. 26. See, for example, Tsun-shih's Wei Wang ch'eng-hsiang Ch'in-jo chiang Fahua ching t'i and Ta Wang ch'eng-hsiang Ch'in-jo wen T'ien-t'ai chiao shu, in T'ien-chu pieh chi, HTC 101.146bl-147a2 and 148al-151b2. For details, see the chapter in this volume by Stevenson. The idea that the three dharmas of Buddha (i.e., the enlightened state), sentient beings (the unenlightened state), and the mind are identical is a key teaching of Chih-i's Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra. See Paul Swanson, Foundations of T'ien-t'ai Philosophy (Berkeley: Asian Humanities Press, 1989), pp. 177-199; see also Fa-hua hsiian-i, T 33.693a4693b5. Tsun-shih's exposition of this point is recorded in the Wei Wang Ch'enghsiang Ch'in-jo chiang Fa-hua ching t'i, HTC 101.146bl-147a2. 27. In 1021 Wang Sui wrote an inscription commemorating the transformation of West Lake into a pond for releasing living creatures. He states that Wang Ch'in-jo made this request when he was given an audience by Chen-tsung in 1020. See Wang Sui, Hang-chou fang-sheng ch'ih chi, in Hsien-ch'un Lin-an chih 33.14a-b.

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28. The Tang period monk Seng-ch'ieh, often referred to as the "Great Sage of Ssu-chou," was thought to be a manifestation of the bodhisattva Kuan-yin. Icons of him were commonly worshiped in the T'ang and Sung periods. For a study of Seng-ch'ieh, see Makita Taiiyo, Chugoku bukkydshi kenkyu, vol. 2 (Tokyo: Daito shuppansha, 1994), chapter 3, part 1. 29. There is some confusion over this persons name and identity. Ch'i-sung (T 52.715al7) gives it as Yang Huai-chi, whereas the Shih-men cheng-t'ung (HTC 130.418cll) and the Fo-tsu t'ung-chi (T 49.208a26) give it as Yang Huaiku. Both Ch'i-sung and the Shih-men cheng-t'ung identify Yang as a palace eunuch. 30. These are three names singled out in the inscription written by Ch'i-sung (T 52.715a21), where they appear as their respective posthumous honorary titles, Ch'ien Wen-hsi, Yang Wen-kung, and Chang Hsiin-kung. 31. He is referred to as [Imperial] Secretary Duke Hu (Shang-shu Hu-kung) in the inscription (T 52.715a27). But since he did not hold this title, Ch'i-sung must have mistaken his official title for that of Hu Su (996-1067), the prefect of Hang-chou in 1066. The latter did hold the title of secretary. Nevertheless, he could not be the Duke Hu in question because Tsun-shih died long before his arrival in Hang-chou. 32. Li Tzu was the prefect of Hang-chou from 1028 to 1029. See Hsien-ch'un Lin-an chih 46.6a, and Pei-Sung Ching-fu nien-piao, p. 80. 33. See Hsien-ch'un Lin-an chih 76.9b, and Chih-yuan, Ku Fan-t'ien ssu [Ch'ing-Jchao She-li hsing-yeh chi, in Hsien-chii pien, HTC 101.49a-c. See also Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.416a-417a. As indicated in these sources, this monastery later played a very vital role in the acrimonious debates between the Home Mountain (Shan-chia) and Off Mountain (Shan-wai) factions. Ch'ingchao (963-1017), a dharma brother of Chih-yuan and a representative of the Shan-wai camp, resided in this monastery from 1004 until his death. 34. The Upper T'ien-chu Monastery had been called T'ien-chu Kuan-yin Monastery previously and should not be confused with the [Lower] T'ien-chu Monastery mentioned earlier. For Chang's prayer, see Shang T'ien-chu chiangssu chih (Taipei: Ming-wen shu-chii, 1980), 12.4a. 35. On the Upper T'ien-chu Monastery as a center for the Kuan-yin cult during the Sung, see Chun-fang Yii, "P'u-t'o-shan: Pilgrimage and the Creation of a Chinese Potalaka," in Susan Naquin and Chun-fang Yii, eds, Pilgrimage and Sacred Sites in China (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1992), pp. 196-202. 36. Hsien-ch'un Lin-an chih 80.14b. 37. Hsien-ch'un Lin-an chih 80.18a. 38. Shang T'ien-chu chiang-ssu chih 5.1b, and Ku Ling-yin P'u-tz'u ta-shih t'aming, in T'an-chin wen-chi 15.17a-19b (T 52.716c-717b). The two records disagree on when Huan-min served as the abbot of the Upper T'ien-chu Monastery. The former says that he was appointed the abbot of Ling-yin Monastery in 1048 and moved to Upper T'ien-chu in 1053, when Sun Mien was the prefect of Hang-chou. The latter says that a prefect by the name of Chi appointed him the abbot of the Upper T'ien-chu Monastery and that Sun Mien moved him to head the Ling-yin Monastery in 1053. There are problems with the dates in these two accounts. In the first place, Sun Mien was not appointed prefect until 1055, so he could not have installed Huan-min as the abbot of the Upper T'ien-chu Mon-

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astery or moved him to the Ling-yin Monastery in 1053. In the second place, it is not clear who selected Huan-min as the abbot. If he were selected in 1048, then the prefect responsible for selecting him would have beeen Chiang Tang (980-1054). In fact, there was no prefect bearing the surname Chi. There was, however, a prefect named Li Jui (dates unknown), who presided over Hang-chou from 1053 to 1054. He was most likely the person who recommended Huanmin because he had held the title "Lung-t'u," by which Ch'i-sung referred to Chi. Since the character for Li could easily be miswritten as Chi, it is probable that Li Jui was the one who selected Huan-min. It still does not make sense that he would have selected Huan-min to head the Upper T'ien-chu Monastery and would then have moved him back to the Ling-yin Monastery in the same year. Therefore, it is more likely that Li Jui appointed Huan-min the abbot of Upper T'ien-chu Monastery in 1053 and that Sun Mien called him back in 1055. 39. See Hsien-ch'un Lin-an chih 80.14b-15a. Shen Kou seemed to have believed that Ch'an masters did not have expertise in administering the kind of Buddhist services involved in chanting sutras that T'ien-ta'i monks were good at. Pien-ts'ai Yiian-ching is commonly known as Yiian-ching Pien-ts'ai, Lungching Pien-ts'ai, or simply Pien-ts'ai for short. 40. For more on Pien-ts'ai, see Su Ch'e, Lung-ching Pien-ts'ai fa-shih t'a-pei, in Luan ch'eng chi (Shanghai: Ku-chi ch'u-pan-she, 1987), vol. 3, pp. 1439-1443; and Yang Chieh, Lung-ching Yen-en Yen-ch'ing yuan chi, in Lung-ching chienwen lu 2.1a-2b. Also see Wang Meng-hsiian, Yiian-ching wai-chuan, in two fascicles, attached to the Shang-t'ien-chu chiang-ssu chih, in Chung-kuo fo-ssu chih hui-k'an, series 1 (Taipei: Ming-wen shu-chii, 1980), especially the first fascicle, la-8b. According to Su Che's inscription, Yiian-ching had lectured for his master, Tsu-shao, for fifteen years before he was twenty-five. This claim is highly suspect, because he would have been ten years old if he had really lectured at that time. 41. According to Yang Chieh, this pavilion was part of the Fa-hui Monastery. Wang Meng-hsiian says that the Fa-hui Monastery was dubbed the Great Compassion Pavilion Monastery because the attached structure was much more famous. See Yiian-ching wai-chuan lA.5b. From its designation, the Great Compassion Pavilion must have contained a statue of the Eleven-headed Kuan-yin. 42. See the stupa stele by Su Ch'e cited above in note 40. 43. Hsien-ch'un Lin-an chih 80.15a-b. Tseng Kung-liang was prime minister from 1061 to 1070, most of the time along with Han Ch'i. 44. Hsien-ch'un Lin-an chih 80.15a-b. 45. See Tsu's biography in Sung shih 331.10659-10660. Shao Po-wen, Shaoshih wen-chien lu (Beijing: Chung-hua shu-chii, 1983), p. 174; and Hsien-ch'un Lin-an chih 89.4732-4733 provide the same account. Su Ch'e's stupa inscription mentions that some policy critics were not pleased with Tsu's work in Hangchou and incriminated him. Su did not spell out Wang Tzu-shao's name. 46. Su Ch'e, Lung-ching Pien-ts'ai fa-shih t'a-pei, pp. 1439-1443. Chao Pien was the prefect of Hang-chou in 1070 and 1077-1079. It was during his second tenure in Hang-chou that he witnessed this change. His eulogy (tsan) was much longer than the quote in Su Ch'e's inscription. For its entirety, see Yiian-ching wai-chuan IB.la. 47. See Tung-p'o ch'iian-chi 9.11b. The term "pao-chi" alludes to the parable

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in the Lotus Sutra regarding a precious pearl hidden in the top-knot of the cakravartin's jeweled coiffure (see T 9.38c22-39a20, translated by Leon Hurvitz in Scripture of the Lotus Blossom of the Fine Dharma [New York: Columbia University Press, 1976], pp. 218-219). It also alludes to a bodhisattva, or a Buddha, named Pao-chi (Ratnaslkhi). Su Shih used this term metaphorically in praise of Yuan-ching as if he possessed this precious pearl or had the quality of a bodhisattva. The poem is also included in Chang Ming-tz'u, Tung-p'o ch'an hsi chi (Shanghai: Commercial Press, 1928), p. 4b. The translation of the entire poem can be found in Beata Grant, Mount Lu Revisited: Buddhism in the Life and Writings of Su Shih (Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 1994), pp. 71-72. Chang's collection misprints the phrase "fu-ai" (floating dust) as ching-ai (pure dust), which makes little sense here. Grant probably reads shan-jung (mountain looks) as shan-ku (mountain valley), hence, "And bird song burst open the mountain valleys" in line six of her translation. 48. The official dynastic history indicates that in 1067 the Ministry of Sacrifice gave the Office of the Fiscal Commission in Shensi blank ordination certificates for sale to relieve the famine in the Shensi area. See Sung shih 14.267. For a discussion of the sale of monk certificates, see Kenneth Ch'en, "The Sale of Monk Certificates during the Sung Dynasty," Harvard Theological Review 49.4 (1956): 307-327. One has to bear in mind that the sale of ordination certificates during this time was primarily for the reconstruction of monasteries rather than for national revenue. 49. For the value of the certificate, see Huang Min-chih, Sung-tai fo-chiao she-hui ching-chi shih lun-chi (Taipei: Hsiieh-sheng Book Store, 1989), pp. 389390. In the Northern Sung, the sale of certificates occurred most often during the reign of Shen-tsung. The Ministry of Sacrifice gave out blank certificates to various offices of regional commissioners when their jurisdictions suffered from food shortages. In 1070, the Office of the Fiscal Commission in the Chekiang area was given ordination certificates that were used to purchase grain from Buddhist institutions. 50. See Pao Ch'in-chih, Pao Ch'in-chih tai Ch'en Hsiian chuan Ling-kan Kuanyin pei, in Hsien-ch'un Lin-an chih 80.16b-17b; and Ch'en Hsiian, Shang Lingkan Kuan-yin yuan tsou, in Shang T'ien-chu chiang-ssu chih 2.1a-b. Ch'en was the prefect of Hang-chou from 1094 to 1096 and from 1101 to 1102. The figure of five million strings of cash seems exorbitant and is therefore suspect. When Fan Chung-yen governed Yiieh-chou in 1038, he managed to collect an annual prefectural revenue of three hundred thousand plus strings of cash, and that amount was considered much higher than the average prefectural revenue. An expenditure approximately sixteen times more than the average prefectural revenue seems way too high to be used to reconstruct a monastery. 51. See Ch'en Hsiian's memorial Shang Ling-kan Kuan-yin yuan tsou, cited in the previous note. 52. Ibid. 53. See Chi Lung-ching Pien-ts'ai wen, in Tung-p'o chuan-chi 91.22a. Also see Hsii Ch'ang-ju, ed., Tung-p'o ch'an-hsi chi (Taipei: Lao-ku wen-hua shih-yeh kung-ssu, reprint, 1982), 7.4-5. For the untranslated part of this eulogy, see Grant, Mount Lu Revised, pp. 30 and 70. 54. Su Shih mentions that he saw both Hui-pien and Ch'i-sung when he was

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in Hang-chou. He describes Ch'i-sung as "always angry-looking" and Hui-pien as "always cheerful." He also learned that both of them died sitting in the lotus posture. There is no indication, however, that he and Ch'i-sung were close. See Tung-p'o chuan-chi 103.1b. 55. See Hsu Ch'ang-ju, Tung-p'o ch'an-hsi chi, 2.20-21. 56. See Hai-yueh Pien-kung chen tsan, in Tung-p'o chuan-chi 95.20b-22a. This encomium is included in Hsu Ch'ang-ju, Tung-p'o ch'an-hsi chi, 2.20-21. For Su's reference to Tung-kuo Shun-tzu, see A Concordance to Chuang Tzu, Harvard-Yenching Sinological Index Series, Supplement No. 20 (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1956), 54/21/3; cf. Burton Watson, trans., The Complete Works of Chuang Tzu (New York: Columbia University Press, 1968), p. 221. An alternative translation of a portion of Su's preface can be found in Grant, Mount Lu Revisited, p. 74. 57. See Su Shih's Hai-yueh Pien-kung chen tsan, in Tung-p'o ch'an-hsi chi 2.20-22; and Su Ch'e's T'ien-chu Hai-yueh fa-shih t'a-ming, in Luan ch'eng chi 24.1445-1447. 58. See Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.210c. It is not clear what source Chih-p'an used for the passage concerning this examination system. Although much of his record on Hui-pien corresponds with the stele inscription written by Su Ch'e (and is probably accurate), the description of the examinations is somewhat confusing. Candidates to be dropped from contention should be those who had fewer than five, rather than three, correct answers. Since in classical texts, five is often mistaken for three, or vice versa, Chih-p'an might not have been responsible for the mix-up. 59. The "ten-directions" and "disciple-lineage" applied to Ch'an, Teachings, and Vinaya (Lii) monasteries. The existence of the latter seems to have raised concerns in the later Northern Sung and the Southern Sung. Chang Shang-ying (1043-1122), for instance, made it a big issue when, in his capacity as the prefect of Sui-chou, he wanted to convert the Ling-fen ssu from a Lii monastery to a Ch'an monastery. See Chang Shang-ying, Ta-sung Sui-chou Ta-hung-shan lingfeng ch'an-ssu chi in Hu-pei chin-shih chih (Taipei: Hsin-wen-feng ch'u-pan-she, Shih-k'o shih-liao hsin-pien), pp. 12,126-12,127. Recent English-language scholarship has started to pay attention to the different implications of these two systems in the context of Ch'an monasteries in the Sung. See T. Griffith Foulk, "Myth, Ritual, and Monastic Practice in Sung Ch'an Buddhism," in Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Peter N. Gregory, eds., Religion and Society in T'ang and Sung China (Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 1993), pp. 159-167. 60. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.214cl2-14, 25-26. 61. See Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.215a8-ll. 62. Jen-yiieh composed the Shih-chien (Ten Points of Remonstration) and Hsiieh-pang (Dispelling the Defamation) challenging Chih-li's position. These are preserved in the Ssu-ming Jen-yiieh i-shuo ts'ung-shu, HTC 95.382-433. 63. See Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.426al5-18; Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.215a2-7. This assessment of the two monks explains why there is no single written work recorded in Fan-chen's biographical entries, whereas about two dozen titles are mentioned in Jen-ytieh's. 64. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.214cl2-13. Jen-yiieh came to Hang-chou to live with Tsun-shih in 1025 or 1026 (see Getz, "Siming Zhili," p. 220, n. 176). Jen-

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yileh was abbot of three monasteries in Hang-chou, including Chao-ch'ing, Ling-chih, and Shih-pi. He was at the Ling-chih Monastery in either 1032 or 1033, as indicated in the biography of Shang-hsien in the Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.213c26. He also spent ten years in Wen-chou, as indicated in the biographies of Jen-ytieh in Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.421d3, and Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.241b22. It is unclear when he went to Wen-chou, but it is likely that he stayed in Hang-chou until the early 1050s before going on to Wen-chou. He ended his life in his home district in Cha-ch'uan near Hu-chou. 65. Hu Su's biography is contained in Sung shih 318.10,366-10,367 and in Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.242b-c. Hu Su wrote a preface to Jen-ytiehs commentary to the ¿urangama Sutra titled Leng-yen chi-chieh. See Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.42 ld6-7; Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.241b24. 66. For Ch'i-sungs life and thought, see Chi-chiang Huang, "Experiment in Syncretism: Ch'i-sung (1007-1072) and Eleventh-Century Chinese Buddhism" (Ph.D. dissertation, University of Arizona, 1986). Grant offers a brief account of Ch'i-sungs life on p. 79 of Mount Lu Revisited. Her statement regarding Ch'isung's access to Ou-yang Hsiu's personal library in 1032 through Li Kou's introduction is wrong. The library belonged to a bibliophile named Ou-yang Fang (dates unknown) in Kiangsi. Ch'i-sung did not meet Ou-yang Hsiu until he traveled to K'ai-feng in 1061, when the latter became vice minister. 67. See Ch'i-sungs preface, Liu-tsu fa-pao chi hsu, in T'an-chin wen-chi, T 52.703b-c. 68. Shang Chang Tuan-ming shu, in T'an-chin wen-chi, T 52.694b-c. Note that Chang had been the head of Chiang-ning prefecture with the title of "Tuanming tien hsiieh-shih" before he was appointed prefect of Hang-chou. Ch'i-sung wrote this memorial eight years after his works were introduced to Chang, then state finance commissioner (san-ssu-shih). For Chang's career, see Wang Chih-yung, Chang Fang-p'ing nien-p'u, in Sung-tai wen-hua yen-chiu (Ch'eng-tu: Szechwan ta-hstieh ch'u-pan-she, 1993), series 3, pp. 148-179. 69. Liu-tsu fa-pao chi hsu, in T'an-chin wen-chi, T 52.703b-c. See also Shang Lii nei-han shu, in T'an-chin wen-chi, T 52.696a-b. Ch'i-sungs works were submitted to Chang by Ts'ui Huang-ch'en eight years later, when Chang was the state finance commissioner. They were submitted to Lii by a monk when Lii was a Han-lin academician. 70. See Huang, "Experiment in Syncretism," pp. 155-156. 71. See Wan-yen shu shang Jen-tsung huang-ti and Tsai shu shang Jen-tsung huang-ti, in T'an-chin wen-chi, T 52.687a-691c. 72. See Hsieh Li t'ai-wei ch'i, in T'an-chin wen-chi, T 52.696c-697a. 73. See Yu Kuan Yen-ch'ang mi-shu shu, in T'an-chin wen-chi, T 52.697b-c. 74. See T'an-chin wen-chi, T 52.699c-700b, for Ch'i-sung's letters addressed separately to the prefect Ts'ai Hsiang, the vice prefect and his staff, senior monks, monk-officials, and patrons of the monastery. 75. While Ma Liang may be known as an ardent supporter of the T'ien-t'ai monk Tsun-shih, he was also the patron of some Ch'an monks, as indicated in the discussion below. 76. For a detailed study of T'ien-t'ai Te-shao and Yung-ming Yen-shou, see Hatanaka Joen, "Goetsu no bukkyo," in Otani daigaku kenkyil nempo 7 (1954): 305-365. For an English-language study of Yen-shou, see Shih Heng-ching, The

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Syncretism of Ch'an and Pure Land Buddhism (New York: Peter Lang Publishing, 1992). 77. See Li Tsun-hsii, T'ien-sheng kuang-teng lu, HTC 135.436c-437a. 78. Hstieh Ying was grand master of remonstrance (chien-i tai-fu) when he was appointed Hang-chou prefect; hence his epithet Grand Remonstrant Hsiieh (Hstieh ta-chien) or, simply, Grand Remonstrant. He apparently had exchanged poems with Chih-yuan, who later included a poem addressed to Hstieh in his book. See Shang Ch'ien-t'ang ta'i-shou Hstieh ta-chien, in Hsien-chti pien, HTC 101.89a-b. 79. See T'ien-sheng kuang-teng lu, HTC 135.444a-c, 379al2. Wu Yuan-i married T'ai-tsungs fourth daughter. Thus he was T'ai-tsungs son-in-law, Chentsung's brother-in-law, and Jen-tsung's uncle-in-law. The Tz'u-hsiao Monastery became an important Ch'an monastery in K'ai-feng. However, it is not listed in either the Sung hui-yao chi-kao or the Tung-ching meng-hua lu. See Li Lien, Pien-ching i-chi chih (SKCS), 18.30. 80. See T'ien-sheng kuang-teng lu, HTC 135.450b-d. 81. See T'ien-sheng kuang-teng lu, HTC 135.444a-d; and Hui-hung, Ch'an-lin seng-pao chuan, HTC 137.244c. Among the monks studying with Yen-shan at the Ling-yin, Hsiieh-tou Ch'ung-hsien (980-1052) later became extremely popular. Ch'ung-hsien was introduced to Yen-shan by Tseng Hui (chin-shih, 989), who was fiscal commissioner of the Liang-che Circuit and a patron of Yenshan. Tseng Hui and his son, Tseng Kung-liang, were both patrons of many Buddhist monks. 82. See Wu-lin Ling-yin ssu chih (Taipei: Ming-wen shu-chti, reprint of 1888 edition, 1980), 3A.8b and 5.34a-37b. The latter section has a discussion of the error regarding the date when the monastery was exempted from paying tax. It also corrects the description in the Wu-lin fan-chih, where it says that Empress Chang-i granted the manor. 83. For Te-chang's abbacy, see Wu-lin Ling-yin ssu chih 3A.8b. Te-chang belonged to the Lin-chi lineage, so his abbacy was an interruption of the Fa-yen line of succession at the Ling-yin. However, his abbacy probably was a titular one because he was a retired "outsider." Nonetheless, he had a reputation sufficient to attract support from local government and elites when the monastery needed refurbishing after a fire. This fire had broken out sometime before Yenshan's death. According to Ch'i-sung, the successor of Yen-shan, Hui-chao Ytints'ung refurbished the temple with Huan-min's assistance. It makes sense that Te-chang's arrival at this critical time helped ease the situation. Ch'i-sung probably gave too much credit to Huan-min when he described the mishap the monastery had encountered. For some reason, he did not mention Te-chang at all. See T'an-chin wen-chi, T 52.716c-717b. 84. See T'an-chin wen-chi, T 52.716c-717a. 85. See Ling-yin ssu-chih 3A.8b. 86. See Chieh Ta-chtieh ch'an-shih hsien shu, in T'an-chin wen-chi, T 52.700b; and Ch'en-k'uei ko pei, in Tung-p'o ch'uan-chi (SKCS), 86.3b-5a. Although Ch'isung's letter says that Huai-lien was invited to preside over "his mountain," it is not clear which prefect extended this invitation. 87. Tsung-pen became known to the elite circle because Fu Pi had studied Buddhism under his disciple, Cheng-wu Hsiu-yung (fl. 1023-1064), and became

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familiar with him. Fu Pi had written a letter to Tsung-pen acknowledging with deep admiration that Tsung-pen had been the source of his Buddhist learning. 88. See Hui-hung, Ch'an-lin seng-pao chuan, HTC 137.5250c-251c. According to Hui-hung, Tseng Hsiao-hsii (1049-1127) escorted Tsung-pen back to Suchou. Although it remains unclear what Tseng's official function was, it is clear that Tseng had consulted Tsung-pen on Buddhist doctrines. 89. Ch'ao Yiieh-chih (1059-1129) says that Tsung-pen was one of the three most prominent disciples of T'ien-i I-huai (993-1064), who had founded the most flourishing lineage of Ch'an thus far. The other two disciples were T'ien-po Ch'ung-yiian and Fa-yiin Fa-hsiu (1027-1090). See Kao-yu Yueh ho-shang taming, in Ching-yii-sheng chi (SKCS), 20.34. Li Mi-sun (1089-1153) also indicates that "during the Hsi-[ning] and [YuanJ-feng periods, Yiian-chao [Tsungpen] and Yuan-t'ung [Fa-hsiu] spread their way all over the world. Many powerful ministers and dignitaries earnestly associated with them." See Hsiian-chou Chao-t'ing shan Kuang-chiao ssu Na kung ch'an-shih t'a-ming, in Y un hsi chi (SKCS), 24.15. 90. Ch'an-lin seng-pao chuan, HTC 137.251a. 91. This occurred in 1082 according to Hui-hung s record. See Tsung-pen s biography in Ch'an-lin seng-pao chuan, HTC 137.250c-251c. 92. See Shan-pen's biography in Ch'an-lin seng-pao chuan, HTC 137.555a556a. 93. In Buddhist histories, the princess is often identified as Princess Yiiehkuo, which was only one of her honorary titles. She was also subsequently titled Ch'i-kuo and Chi-kuo. For Shan-pen's entry into K'ai-feng, see Hsii Ch'ang-ju, Tung-p'o ch'an hsi chi, 7.5-6. Su Shih was prefect of Hang-chou from 1089 to 1091. His account of Shan-pen makes it clear that Che-tsung rather than Shentsung summoned Shan-pen to the capital. Hui-hung was indefinite about this in his account of Shan-pen. Sus account also makes it clear that Shan-pen went to K'ai-feng to take over the abbacy of the Fa-yiin Monastery, which had become vacant because of Fa-hsiu's death. Since Fa-hsiu died in 1090, Shanpen's appointment could not haver occurred before 1090. 94. Ch'an-lin seng-pao chuan, HTC 137.278a-b. 95. Hsii Ch'ang-ju, Tung-p'o ch'an hsi chi, 7.5-6. 96. See Su Shih, A-mi-t'o sung ping hsii, in Hsien-ch'un Lin-an chih 79.1b2a. The Le-pang wen-lei has different title (see T 47.273c-274a). Su Shih also wrote the verse to commemorate his deceased wife, née Wang (Le-pang wen-lei, T 47.237c). For his Pure Land faith, see Ronald C. Egan, World, Image, and Deed in the Life of Su Shi (Harvard University Press, 1994), pp. 142-149. 97. See Yiian-chao, Lun Tz'u-min san-tsang chi shu, in Chih-yiian chi, HTC 105.299d-300c. In this essay, Yiian-chao mentioned that the former prefect, senior compiler (hsiu-chuan) Wang, invited him to Hang-chou with an official appointment letter. According to the Sung shih, among three Hang-chou prefects with the surname Wang, only Wang Ts'un had held this title in 1078 before he became the prefect in 1092. See the biography of Wang Ts'un in Sung shih 341.10,871. If this was the case, then the prefect would have been Ch'en Hsiian, mentioned earlier. 98. This is based on Ho Tan's Ling-chih Ch'ung-fu ssu chi, quoted in Hsiench'un Lin-an chih 79.2a-3a. Ho's account confuses the date of Li Ts'ung's tenure

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in Hang-chou. The Yuan-feng period (1078-1085) given in the account should probably be emended to the Yiian-fu period (1098-1100). In fact, Li Ts'ung was appointed Hang-chou prefect in 1097 and relieved of the job in 1098. 99. Yiian-chao, Wei P'an-fu Chiang Shu-mi k'ai-chiang yao-i, in Chih-yuan i-pien, HTC 105.279a-280a. 100. See Yuan-chaos autobiography and biography in the Lung-hsing ssu chih (Taipei: Ming-wen shu-chii, reprint, 1980), 6.17b-18b and 9.7ab. Also see his Lun Tz'u-min san-tsang chi shu, in Chih-yuan chi, HTC 105.299d-300c. Both Ch'u-ch'ien and Hui-ts'ai were based in Hang-chou. See Hang-chou Nan-p'ingshan Shen-wu fa-shih t'a-ming, in Chih-yuan chi, HTC 105.289c; and Hang-chou Lei-feng Kuang-tz'u fa-shih hsing-yeh chi, in Chih-yuan chi, HTC 105.292d-293b. According to these two accounts by Yiian-chao himself, Ch'u-ch'ien preached in Hang-chou in his later years. Hui-ts'ai spent forty years studying and preaching in Hang-chou. Although both were Tsun-shih's disciples, Hui-ts'ai was much more involved in administering ordination. 101. See Lun Tseng-chieh shu, in Chih-yuan chi, HTC 105.298d-299d; and Lun Tz'u-min san-tsang shu, cited above. Also see Lung-hsing ssu chih 9.7b-8a. 102. Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.427c-428a. According to Shang T'ienchu chiang-ssu chih 3.89 and Ts'ung-chiens letter to Uich'6n in Taegak kuksa munjip (Seoul: Konkuk University, 1974, photolithographic reprint of the 1939 Haein-sa woodblock edition), 7.3b, Ts'ung-chien succeeded Fa-chao Yung-wen (dates unknown) as the abbot of the Upper T'ien-chu Monastery. He lived there for twenty four years. 103. For a detailed study of (Jich'on's pilgrimage, see Huang Ch'i-chiang, "Shih-i shih-chi Kao-li sha-men I-t'ien ju Sung ch'iu-fa k'ao-lun," Hsin shihhsiieh 2.2 (1991): 53-74; reprinted in Huang Ch'i-chiang, Pei-Sung fo-chiao-shih lun-kao (Taipei: Commercial Press, 1997), pp. 201-222. 104. See Huang, "Experiment in Syncretism," pp. 59-60. 105. Hui-ts'ai was apparently an outstanding disciple of Tsun-shih. He was known for practicing and preaching the Pure Land faith. See Hang-chou Leifeng Kuang-tz'u fa-shih hsing-yeh chi, in Chih-yuan chi, HTC 105.292d-293b. 106. See Chin tsou Hang-chou ch'i chiang Hui-yin ch'an-yiian kai wei shihfang chiao-yuan chu-ch'ih shih, in Hui-yin ssu chih 9.2a-4a. The document does not say exactly what kind of trouble Shan-ssu had made. 107. See Ch'ou ssu Hang-chou Hui-yin chiao-yuan chi, in Hui-yin ssu chih 6.71-73; and Chin-tsou Hang-chou ch'i chiang Hui-yin ch'an-yiian kai wei shihfang chiao-yuan chu-ch'ih shih, in Hui-yin ssu chih 9.171-173. 108. The seven patriarchs refer to Asvaghosa, Nagarjuna, Tu-shun (557640), Chih-yen (602-668), Fa-tsang (643-712), Ch'eng-kuan (738-839), and Tsung-mi (780-841). The building of this "Seven Patriarchs Hall" was probably the first palpable presentation of the "seven patriarch theory" Ching-yiian had initiated. 109. See Chang Heng, Hui-yin yuan chiao-tsang chi, in Hui-yin ssu chih 6.4b6a; and Tseng Min's stele inscription of Ching-yiian in Hui-yin ssu chih 8.16a. Cf. Ching-yiian's biography in the Lung-hsing ssu chih 9.1 lb-12a. The latter is based on Tseng Min's writing, which ascribes the donation of these scriptures to Uichon. I follow Chang Heng partly because his account was written in 1086, the year the storehouse was completed, whereas Tseng's account was written

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after the death of Ching-yiian (1088). Moreover, Chang wrote his account in Hang-chou, whereas Tseng wrote his in Fukien. 110. See Hang-chou Hui-yin chiao-yiian Hua-yen ko chi, in Hui-yin ssu chih 6.74-77. 111. See Ch'i-sungs letter to Tsu Wu-tse in T'an-chin wen-chi, T 52.701b21. 112. For Fan Chung-yens inclination to Buddhism, see Huang Ch'i-chiang, "Ts'ung Fan Chung-yen ti shih-chiao kuan k'an pei-Sung Chen-Jen chih chi ti ju-shih kuan-hsi," in Chi-nien Fan Chung-yen i-ch'ien-nien tan-ch'en kuo-chi hsueh-shu yen-t'ao-hui lun-wen chi (Taipei: Ch'ang-an ch'u-pan-she, 1990), pp. 283-306; reprinted in Huang, Pei-Sung fo-chiao-shih lun-kao, pp. 133-152. 113. See Sungshih 320.10,398. 114. See Ts'ai-chou hsin-chien hsueh chi, in Tsu Wu-tse, Lung-hsiieh wen-chi (SKCS), 7.3a-4b. 115. See Chiin-shou Chen mi-hsueh chuan-hsiieh wen, inHsien-ch'un Lin-an chih 56.3b.

Chapter 9

Protocols of Power: Tz'u-yiin Tsun-shih (964-1032) and Tien-t'ai Lay Buddhist Ritual in the Sung DANIEL B . STEVENSON

(964-1032) is best known as one of two great clerics responsible for "reviving" the T'ien-t'ai school of Buddhism during the Northern Sung (960-1126), the other being his elder brother-in-dharma, Ssu-ming Chih-li (960-1028). Beginning with the Orthodox Lineage of the Buddhist Tradition (Shih-men cheng-t'ung) (1237) and the Comprehensive History of the Buddhas and Patriarchs (Fo-tsu t'ung-chi) (ca. 1269), later T'ien-t'ai historians credit these two individuals with reclaiming the tradition from the brink of extinction in the aftermath of the Hui-ch'ang persecution (842-845) and the collapse of the T'ang empire. Although Chih-li is typically cast in the leading role, evidence suggests that Tsun-shih may have had a greater impact on Northern Sung T'ien-t'ai than later sectarian sources would allow, possibly outshadowing that of Chih-li himself.1 Closely related to his role as a T'ien-t'ai patriarch is the memory of Tsun-shih as a leading contributor to Pure Land Buddhism of the later imperial period. Much of the theological and liturgical development of the Pure Land cult in the Sung and post-Sung period—at least in clerical circles—was carried out under the aegis of the T'ient'ai order. As both a T'ien-t'ai liturgist and an ardent devotee of Amitabha, Tsun-shih produced several manuals on Pure Land ritual that came to be regarded as classics by later generations of the faithful. 2 He was also renowned for his piety and saintly powers, accounts of which appear regularly in Pure Land hagiographical collections dating from the Sung through the Ch'ing.3 TZ'U-YUN T S U N - S H I H

Tsun-shih the T'ien-t'ai master and Tsun-shih the Pure Land devotee are by far the most frequent representations encountered in contemporary scholarship. However, there is a third historical memory of Tsun-shih that has been neglected by scholars but is equally celebrated in the Chinese Buddhist record, and that is Tsun-shih's role as

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a reformer of lay Buddhist practice, especially lay ritual. Throughout his forty-year career as a T'ien-t'ai dharma master, Tsun-shih campaigned actively against "taking life" (sha-sheng; pranatipata), his prime target being the "depraved" (hsieh) local custom of offering blood sacrifice to ancestors and gods. In its stead he promoted Buddhist concepts of moral retribution and Buddhist practices of cult devotion and merit-making. Once again ritual became a key point of focus, a turn that dovetailed seamlessly with his interests in T'ient'ai liturgical institutions and Pure Land devotion. Fully half of the sixty-odd tracts by Tsun-shih that survive today bear on the topic of lay religious practice. Over three quarters of these works deal with liturgical subjects, the most prominent cultic topoi being the ceremonies for feeding hungry ghosts (shih-shih o-kuei) and releasing living creatures (fang-sheng), the Ullambana (yu-lan-p'en) festival, the rite of repentance and offering to the Buddhist world-protecting gods based on the Golden Light Sutra (Chin-kuang-ming ch'an/kungyang), and devotion to Amitabha and Kuan-yin. At the urging of Wang Ch'in-jo (962-1025), grand councilor to Chen-tsung (r. 997-1022) and an ardent patron of Tsun-shih, the Sung court bestowed the honorific name of "Cloud of Loving-Kindness" (Tz'u-ytin) on Tsun-shih in 1022. The epithet was chosen in part to commemorate his moral rectification of the Hang-chou populace, especially his campaigns against blood sacrifice and the taking of life. In acknowledgment of his accomplishments as a practitioner and promoter of T'ien-t'ai ritual, Tsun-shih's contemporaries also referred to him "master of penance" (ch'an-chu), a nickname that the Sung court formalized as an official title in 1160.4 Additional sobriquets followed, most of them connected in some form with Tsunshih's ritual prowess. 5 This national acclaim, coupled with local memories of him among clerical circles of the Southeast, established Tsun-shih as one of the most celebrated lay reformers and liturgists of the Sung period. Representations to this effect fill the chapters on lay religion in the Orthodox Lineage of the Buddhist Tradition and the Comprehensive History of the Buddhas and Patriarchs, even overshadowing his accomplishments as a T'ien-t'ai master and Pure Land devotee. Hagiography notwithstanding, the selection of lay rites promoted by Tsun-shih and the tracts that he produced on them have also left an indelible mark on Buddhists of the post-Sung period. Tsun-shih was hardly the sole creator of this cultic repertory; most of these practices were already current among the Buddhists of his day. How-

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ever, by formalizing their ritual content and incorporating them into a discrete community cycle, Tsun-shih contributed substantially to their definition as a ritual corpus. The great monasteries of the Ming and Ch'ing periods hosted a liturgical cycle and repertory of layoriented rites remarkably close to that of Tsun-shih. Moreover, officiating clerics often consulted Tsun-shih's manuals and, at times, reprinted them verbatim for use in their communities. Just as was done with his Pure Land manuals, his tracts on cults such as the bestowal of foods on hungry ghosts, the Golden Light, and the releasing living creatures ceremonies were afforded an authoritative stature by monks bent on rectifying their performance. 6 Tsun-shih's ritual programs may also have contributed to the rise of nonclerical Buddhist confraternities and ritual specialists during the Sung period such as the brethren of the way (tao-min or tao-yu) or White Lotus (pai-lien) movements organized by charismatic lay figures such as Mao Tzu-yiian (1086/88-1160). As Daniel Getz indicates in Chapter 12 of this volume (and as the work of Suzuki Chusei, Daniel Overmyer, Chikusa Masaaki, and, more recently, Barend ter Haar has also shown), the upsurge of Pure Land societies that occurred in Kiangsu and Chekiang around the turn of the Northern and Southern Sung was closely linked to lay Pure Land activities and Amitabha cloisters centered near T'ien-t'ai monasteries. 7 Given Tsunshih's influence in these circles, it is not at all improbable that the penance and nien-fo liturgies employed by the likes of Mao Tzu-yiian (who is known to have had deep ties to T'ien-t'ai monks in Kiangsu) were modeled on ritual norms originally laid down by Tsun-shih. In an ironic twist of fate, Buddhist clergy of later periods who invoked Tsun-shih's ritual manuals to control the heresies of lay sectarianism may have been struggling against a tradition of popular piety that was sparked by Tsun-shih himself. This chapter will explore Tsun-shih's views on lay Buddhist practice, giving particular attention to his evangelization of local religion and to the cultic and ritual programs through which he sought to transform it. I begin by reviewing some of the major events of Tsun-shih's life, with an eye to situating his lay activities within the broad range of concerns and experiences that shaped his career. I will then turn specifically to Tsun-shih's lay ritual repertoire. Through analysis of key rites (such as the Golden Light Repentance, Food Bestowal for Hungry Ghosts, Releasing of Living Creatures, and Pure Land ritual), I will examine the symbolic and ideological resonances between Tsun-shih's repertoire and prevailing concepts

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of religious power. Commonalities of ritual form and concept that inform this assortment of rites suggest that widespread dissemination of this ritual culture in the Sung contributed to a generic Buddhist discourse of religious efficacy from which diverse claims of religious authority were shaped and contested—hence the title of this chapter, "protocols of power."

Tsun-shih's Career Tsun-shih's career as a Buddhist monk was distributed among three main geographical centers, 8 all of them situated in modern Chekiang province in southeast China: Mount Tung-i in T'ai-chou, an eastward extension of the range in which Mount T'ien-t'ai itself is located; 9 the thriving coastal city of Ming-chou (Ning-po) in northeastern Chekiang; and the city of Hang-chou at the mouth of the Che River, former capital of the southern kingdom of Wu-Yiieh and soon-to-be capital and cultural center of the Southern Sung. Born and raised in Ning-hai county, the mountainous coastal district just to the east of Mount T'ien-t'ai, Tsun-shih was exposed early on to lore about Chih-i (538-597), revered as founder of the T'ien-t'ai school, and to various sites in the region associated with the origins of T'ien-t'ai. While still a young boy he left home to become a postulant on Mount Tung-i, receiving the novitiate precepts when he reached the accepted age of eighteen (981). Two years later in 983 he was ordained as a full Buddhist monk at Ch'an-lin Monastery, the institution renowned for being the first monastery established by Chih-i on Mount T'ien-t'ai.10 Following a period of intensive study of the Vinaya, which he commenced under the Vinaya master Shou-ch'u (dates unknown) in 984, Tsun-shih entered Kuo-ch'ing Monastery at the foot of Mount T'ien-t'ai. There he made the first in a series of solemn vows to commit himself body and soul to the T'ien-t'ai tradition. Standing before an image of the bodhisattva Samantabhadra, just as Chih-i is said to have done some four centuries earlier, Tsunshih burned off a finger in offering and pledged to apply himself to the T'ien-t'ai teaching." Shortly after this decision Tsun-shih moved to Pao-yiin Monastery in Ming-chou to study with Pao-yiin I-t'ung (K. Ùit'ong, 927-988), the expatriate monk from Koryó and renowned successor to the T'ien-t'ai master Hsi-chi (919-987).12 As the T'ien-t'ai treatises instructed, Tsun-shih first applied himself to the study of T'ien-t'ai doctrine (chiao), soon distinguishing himself as one of the most out-

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standing of I-t'ung's disciples. After mastering the subtleties of T'ient'ai doctrinal and meditative theory, he turned to intensive practice of "meditation" (kuan), marking the transition with another solemn vow. On the day for the annual commemoration of Chih-i's death, Tsun-shih pledged until the end of his life to exert himself regularly in the practice of the four forms of samádhi, after which he sealed his vow by scorching the crown of his head. 13 The four samádhis were a hallowed feature of T'ien-t'ai practice since at least the Sui (589-618), their centrality to the tradition having been firmly established in the literary and hagiographical record of the T'ien-t'ai founders Hui-ssu (515-577) and Chih-i.14 But as effective as they were deemed for removing karmic obstacles and inducing enlightenment, they were also feared for their extraordinary rigor. Following the death of his master I-t'ung in 988, Tsunshih returned to Mount T'ien-t'ai, where he threw himself into an intense regimen of ascetic practice, the strain of which eventually caused him to fall gravely ill. In a last-ditch effort to turn his situation around, Tsun-shih withdrew to a secluded hall to undertake the forty-nine day invocation of Kuan-yin repentance (ch'ing Kuan-yin ch'an-fa), a rite of the T'ien-t'ai four samádhis renowned for its healing powers. 15 On first entering the ritual sanctuary, Tsun-shih was confronted with increasingly ominous symptoms and visions, but as the weeks passed his condition showed signs of improvement. On the final day, a mysterious voice in the air announced to him, "The Buddhas of the ten directions have extended your life and increased your merit." That same night he dreamed that a giant being touched his mouth with a vajra-scepter. Startled, he awoke to find himself completely cured and endowed with an eloquence and charisma more powerful than anything he had known before. 16 More than just a miraculous cure, Tsun-shih's transformation resonates closely with the enlightenment experiences of the T'ien-t'ai founders as rehearsed in sectarian hagiography. 17 The episode thus signals a key turning point in his career, marking simultaneously the fulfillment of his previous vows and his appropriation of the patriarchal charisma suitable for a T'ien-t'ai master. The experience also fostered a faith in T'ien-t'ai ritual—especially the ritual programs of the four samádhis—that later showed itself in all aspects of Tsun-shih's religious life, from his personal practice and the training of his monastic disciples to his evangelization of the laity and the state.

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Tsun-shih's Abbacy of Pao-yun Monastery in Ming-chou (990-1002) Tsun-shih's debut as an acknowledged T'ien-t'ai teacher came in 990, when he was invited by the surviving members of I-t'ung's community to fill his seat (chiang-hsi) at Pao-ytin Monastery in Mingchou. He remained at Pao-yun for the next twelve years, where he lectured regularly on the T'ien-t'ai doctrinal treatises and exhorted his students in the practice of the four samadhis, much as he had done while training under I-t'ung some years earlier. It was during his tenure as abbot of Pao-yun that Tsun-shih founded his famous Pure Land society discussed in Chapter 12 by Daniel Getz. Also during this period of his career, in 999, he engaged the Hang-chou artisan Shen San-lang to fashion an image of Kuanyin, his aim being magically to substantiate his own mission and to promote the bodhisattva's beneficent influence among the populace.18 An unblemished block of white sandalwood was selected for the material. The setting in which it was carved was consecrated as a ritual sanctuary (tao-ch'ang), a procedure that typically entailed purifying the precincts, the materials, and the craftsmen with incantations and holy water. The icon was further empowered by inserting gold-lettered copies of various dharani scrolls into its torso, including the three spells from the Sutra for the Invocation of Kuan-yin (Ch'ing Kuan-shih-yin hsiao-fu tu-hai t'o-lo-ni ching).19 Tsun-shih then installed the image in the Pao-yun Dharma Hall and invited over one hundred monks from the Ming-chou area to participate in its final consecration. He composed the Commemorative Record and Text of Fourteen Vows for the Sandalwood Statue of the Greatly Compassionate Kuan-yin specifically for the occasion, the contents of which were read aloud during the ceremony as a last act in the empowerment of the statue. 20 In the opening lines of his prologue to this tract, Tsun-shih invoked Chen-tsung's recent plan "to promote the cultivation [of virtue] by providing the entire populace, both high and low, with sets of the Confucian and Buddhist scripture."21 Lamenting the fact that the T'ien-t'ai teachings were "essentially unknown to persons of worth and eminence," Tsun-shih linked the ritual production of the Paoyiin Kuan-yin to the propagation of both the T'ien-t'ai order and Chen-tsung's cause. In recounting his motives for carving the image, Tsun-shih pointed back to the role that devotion to Kuan-yin played in his own

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spiritual development. Noting how in his own practice he had been "unfailingly uplifted by [the bodhisattva's] power," he pledged to "draw on his own personal benefit in order to bring benefit to others."22 Continuing this rumination on the theme of "benefit" and "poWer," Tsun-shih stated: As to the means for benefiting others, there is nothing better than expounding [the practice and powers of] ritual invocation to draw people [toward religion], carving ritually consecrated images to give them focus [in their practice], extolling the imperial state to put them at ease, and setting forth the true (cheng) doctrine [of Buddhism] to discipline [their lives]. All four [objectives] are accomplished [within this project].23 The specifics of these means and benefits are spelled out in detail in the fourteen vows that Tsun-shih recited to empower the icon. The first and most central of these vows posits a structural identity between the Buddhist dharma or law (fa) and the imperial law (fa) or legitimizing worldview, praying that the "the true dharma and law (cheng-fa) of our august empire .. . will lead both high and low to esteem the orthodox (cheng) and renounce the depraved (hsieh), so that the entire realm may enjoy purity and happiness like that of a purified Buddha land."24 The next five vows seek the protection of the Buddhist Three Jewels, praying, respectively, for the protection of Buddhist holy images and relics, the safeguarding and propagation of the Buddhist scriptures, the maintenance of the internal purity and institutional integrity of the monastic sangha, and the rectification (cheng) of persons who hold wrongful views of the Buddhist teachings. Read in light of Tsun-shihs commitment to the T'ien-t'ai school, the key to this vision of orthodox renewal lies in the reclamation of the teachings of Chih-i. Tsun-shih's preoccupation with orthodoxy mirrors that of Chih-li in the so-called Shan-chia/ Shan-wai controversy (as discussed in Chapter 10 by Chi-wah Chan). Three additional vows request that the statue be endowed with "beneficent powers" (tz'u-li) equivalent to a manifestation body of Kuan-yin, so that it may inspire conversion and offer protection from calamity to all who encounter it. The afflictions listed range from large-scale natural disasters and foreign invasion, through the seven calamities of fire, water, demons, beating with staves, ghosts, imprisonment, and bandits to poison and illness. The remaining vows are of a more personal nature, requesting that Tsun-shih be strengthened in his quest to ascend the stages of the bodhisattva

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path and fulfill the Mahayana vision of perfect Buddhahood. Disquieted by the conviction that the age in which he was living was that of the semblance dharma (hsiang-fa), Tsun-shih looked to Amitabha and rebirth in the western Pure Land as the safest and most "speedy" (chi) means to achieve his personal ends. The episode of the Pao-yiin icon is instructive in several ways. Coming in the wake of Tsun-shihs own spiritual healing through practice of the Invocation of Kuan-yin Repentance, it demonstrates the commensurability of his "interior" life as a cleric—a domain often thought of as antagonistic to worldly events—and a host of mundane social and political concerns, all of which fall within the purview of Buddhist ritual praxis and its range of promised "benefits." As a performative statement, the list of vows also provides a glimpse of the range of priorities that informed Tsun-shihs mission at the moment when he first entered the public domain as a T'ient'ai abbot. Infused into the body of this statue via ritual vow (yuan; pranidana) are found a perfect analogue to Tsun-shihs own emergent identity, the contours of which anticipate the specific projects that were of central concern to him during his mature years on Mount Tung-i and in Hang-chou. Most of all, the ritual act of forging the Pao-yiin Kuan-yin also demonstrates the profound extent to which Tsun-shihs entire posture on the world hinged on a concept of religious power (li) and efficacy (kan-ying) bound closely to T'ien-t'ai liturgy. Not only did Tsun-shih practice, promote, and write extensively on these ritual traditions, but he read events in all forms—positive as well as negative—through an idiom of reflexive efficacy informed by Buddhist concepts of moral cause and effect and, above all, the complex habitus of ritual repentance and veneration.25 More than any other method, he sought to realize his "rectification" (cheng) of humankind and his Pure Land on earth through the medium of ritual technology. Tsun-shih's Tenure at Ch'eng-t'ien Monastery on Mount Tung-i (1002-1014) and the Lower T'ien-chu Monastery in Hang-chou (1015-1032) Over the three decades following his creation of the Kuan-yin icon at Pao-yiin Monastery, Tsun-shihs efforts as a T'ien-t'ai master and abbot were directed to three main public projects: the first was to seek secure establishment of the T'ien-t'ai order through government sanction of the T'ien-t'ai scriptural canon and the creation of public monasteries (shih-fang chu-ch'ih yuan) dedicated permanently to the

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T'ien-t'ai teachings; the second was to furnish those monasteries with routines of training and procedure that would preserve the spiritual integrity of the order irrespective of personal charisma; and the third was to wean the local populace from depraved religious practices and to convert them to the orthodox ways of the Buddhist tradition. These goals were pursued chiefly at two locations, the Ch'eng-t'ien Monastery on Mount Tung-i in T'ai-chou and the Lower T'ien-chu Monastery in Hang-chou. In 1002 Tsun-shih gave up his position as abbot of Pao-yiin and returned with a handful of his students to Mount Tung-i in the T'ient'ai range. At Tung-i, Tsun-shih initially planned to withdraw into the eastern hills so that he and his disciples might practice without disturbance. His following grew so numerous, however, that he was obliged to take up residence in a more centrally located hermitage, the site of which eventually became the Ch'eng-t'ien Monastery (renamed Neng-jen Monastery in 1117).26 Except for the occasional sojourn to nearby monasteries, Tsun-shih remained on Mount Tung-i until 1014, the year when he finally made his way to Hang-chou and initiated the contacts that relocated him there permanently in 1015. Shortly before his departure he transferred leadership of the Tung-i complex to Shen-chao Pen-ju (981-1050), a talented disciple of Chih-li whom Tsun-shih handpicked from the Chih-li's Yen-ch'ing community to groom as his successor. Tsun-shih s departure from Tung-i in 1014 was occasioned by an invitation to lecture at Chao-ch'ing Monastery in Hang-chou. 27 The following year (1015) he delivered an extended series of lectures at the K'ai-ytian Monastery in Su-chou, after which he was summoned back to Hang-chou by the incumbent prefect, Hsiieh Yen (953-1025), and installed as abbot of the dilapidated Ling-shan or T'ien-chu Monastery. Though a modest cloister, at best, the acquisition of T'ien-chu was a momentous event for Tsun-shih, to which he attributed no small amount of magicoreligious significance. By his own testimony, he had been looking for years to acquire a foothold in a major center of Buddhist culture from which he might spread the T'ien-t'ai dharma. Located in Hang-chou, the site of the former capital of the kingdom of Wu-Yiieh, as well as a burgeoning commercial and administrative center for the Chekiang and Kiangsu region, the T'ien-chu Monastery offered Tsun-shih the exposure that he had sought for so long. On discovering that the monastery had once been the residence of the Sui Dynasty monk Chen-kuan (538611), an eminent disciple of Chih-i, Tsun-shih was further convinced

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that his arrival in Hang-chou was "no mere accident." 28 Assured by this and other omens that the time was right to promote the T'ient'ai dharma, he set out to obtain canonical status for the T'ien-t'ai scriptures and to have T'ien-chu Monastery officially sanctioned as a "public monastery" (shih-fang chu-ch'ih yuan) permanently dedicated to the T'ien-t'ai teaching. 29 Both requests were initially tendered to the throne through Wang Ch'in-jo, the powerful statesman and spiritual confidant to Emperor Chen-tsung. Wang became a fervent patron of Tsun-shih on meeting him in Hang-chou in 1019 and forwarded Tsun-shih's two requests to the throne when he returned to K'ai-feng in 1020.30 That same year T'ien-chu was officially declared a T'ien-t'ai public monastery, and Tsun-shih himself was given the purple robe and the honorific name "Cloud of Loving-Kindness" (tz'u-yun).n But a decision on the petition to gain canonical status for the T'ien-t'ai treatises did not materialize until 1024, after the request was submitted a second time through the auspices of the palace eunuch Yang Huaichi (dates unknown) and Empress Dowager Chang-i (d. 1032), mother of the newly enthroned Jen-tsung (r. 1022-1063) and a native of Hang-chou. 32 When Tsun-shih first settled at Ling-shan/T'ien-chu Monastery in 1015, the complex consisted of only a handful of buildings, all of which were in poor condition. During the decade that followed T'ienchu s proclamation as a public monastery, the institution saw intensive rebuilding and expansion. The first major donation, for construction of the Great Hall (ta-tien), was offered by members of the royal family. Additional support followed from various eminent officials whom Tsun-shih met during their rotations through Hangchou, including the likes of the Han-lin scholar and prefect Hu Su (996-1067), the prefect Hu Tse (963-1039), the Han-lin scholars Ch'ien Wei-yen (962-1034) and Chang Te-hsiang (978-1048), and the aforementioned Yang Huai-chi. 33 By the mid-1020s T'ien-chu Monastery boasted a large, state-ofthe-art ground plan with a well-defined system of monastic offices and operations. 34 Convinced that routinized standards and procedures were the key to successful transmission of the T'ien-t'ai teaching over succeeding generations, Tsun-shih formalized this arrangement in 1030 by authoring a series of codes (kuei-shih) for the T'ien-chu community, including a rule for future abbots. 35 The next year he retired to a small hermitage to the east of T'ien-chu and appointed his disciple Tsu-shao (dates unknown) to succeed him as

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abbot, charging, "You are to hand down my teaching. I hereby entrust you with this incense burner and fly whisk. Do not be the last person [in our line] who cuts off the seed of the Buddha. You should attend to this [matter] assiduously!"36 At the time of his death in 1032, Tsun-shih left behind some twenty-odd disciples deemed capable of "giving lectures and bearing the dharma" together with two fully developed monastic communities committed to perpetuating his religious program: the Ch'engt'ien Monastery on Mount Tung-i (headed by Pen-ju) and the Lower T'ien-chu Monastery in Hang-chou. 37 Within two generations these two institutions were joined by the Upper T'ien-chu or Ling-kan Kuan-yin Monastery, a cloister situated on the upper reaches of Mount Ling a short distance from Tsun-shih's Lower T'ien-chu Monastery. Famed for its numinously potent statue of Kuan-yin, the Upper T'ien-chu Monastery became an increasingly powerful cultic and pilgrimage center during the Northern Sung.38 Originally the abbots of the monastery were appointed chiefly from the Ch'an school; but as Chi-chiang Huang describes in Chapter 8 of this volume, in 1062 the prefect Shen Kou (1028-1067) turned control of the monastery over to Pien-ts'ai Yuan-ching (1011-1091), a talented former student and second-generation successor to Tsun-shih descended through Tsu-shao.39 Shen Kou's decision initiated a line of T'ien-t'ai abbots that continued well into the Ming period, making the Upper and Lower T'ien-chu complex possibly the most illustrious center of T'ien-t'ai teaching in southeast China.40 As early as 1063 the Ch'an master Ch'i-sung (1007-1072) noted, "The fact that the T'ien-t'ai style and teaching enjoys such prosperity in the region of Wu-Yiieh . . . lies with the virtuous influence of Tz'uyiin [Tsun-shih]." This sentiment is echoed by any number of near contemporaries. 41 Tsun-shih's direct impact on these three monasteries lasted through six, maybe eight, generations of abbots at the most, until their abbotships were gradually assumed by spiritual descendants of Chih-li's line. But the memory of Tsun-shih and especially the legacy of learning and ritual praxis that he inscribed so carefully into the daily routines of these communities continued to influence local tradition well beyond the demise of his immediate lineage. Tsun-shih's Campaigns against Meat and Wine Sacrifice From the time of his debut as the abbot of Pao-yiin Monastery, Tsun-shih showed an interest in public outreach as well as a keen

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sense of the sociopolitical ramifications that such involvement with events outside the monastery walls might carry. This spirit of activism is evident not only in the series of vows attached to the Pao-ytin Kuan-yin, but also in such concrete social projects as prayers for rain on behalf of the local officials and populace, and the formation of a Pure Land society for eminent laity of Ming-chou. During Tsunshih's Tung-i period (1002-1014) this involvement took a more militant turn, crystallizing into a campaign against the "depraved" (hsieh) and "base cults" (yin-ssu) of local religion aimed at converting the populace to the "orthodox" (cheng) ways of Buddhism. Although ideology or "correct view" was a concern, as a rallying point for this mission Tsun-shih set his focus on the practice of blood and wine sacrifice (chi) and the more pragmatic question of ritual efficacy, blood and wine sacrifice being the age-old liturgical medium through which local communities negotiated relations with the gods, ghosts, and ancestors whom they believed empowered their world. The hagiography of Tsun-shih recounts tale after tale of thaumaturgical exploit in the mountainous coastal districts surrounding Tung-i, presenting the master in the image of the archetypal Buddhist pioneer who domesticates the wilderness and its inhabitants by conquest of the native gods. With his move to Hang-chou in 1014, Tsun-shih's campaign picked up even greater evangelical zeal, fired by the powerful response that his message received from the larger and more urbanized populace of the region. During his first lectures at Chao-ch'ing Monastery, students are said to have flocked to him "like waters pouring into a marsh." Believing the time was right for a headlong attack on local funerary customs, Tsun-shih preached fervently on the evils of wine and meat sacrifice to the dead. As a result, the common people "all changed their ways and complied with his instructions, turning from forbidden foods to vegetarian offering (chai)." To further impress on them the need to "reflect deeply on their actions and greatly fear future retribution," he combed the Mahayana sutras for exemplary verses and compiled the Teaching of Compassion and Wisdom to Restrain the Use of Wine and Flesh.42 Tsun-shih's lectures in Su-chou provoked a similar reaction. The populace of the city became so enthusiastic in their observance of the Buddhist restrictions against wine and meat that the officials responsible for revenues from the liquor monopoly were "hardly able to obtain a sale." Possibly fearful of being branded a charismatic with antigovernment leanings, Tsun-shih became deeply anxious

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over this state of affairs. In an ironic spirit of "render unto Caesar" he promptly quit the K'ai-yüan Monastery and returned to Hangchou so that the government wine merchants could get back to business as usual. 43 During his Tung-i and Hang-chou periods Tsun-shih produced a stream of treatises concerned with issues that clustered around blood sacrifice and the worship of gods, ghosts, and ancestors. The liturgical reforms that he advanced in these writings resonated closely with his manuals on lay Buddhist ritual. The parallels are strong enough to suggest that the repertory of cult practices promoted in these ritual manuals was designed specifically as a vehicle to redress the depravities of local religion at their point of greatest vitality—the sphere of everyday cultural performance. Hence for Tsun-shih, lay rites such as the feeding of hungry ghosts (shih-shih o-kuei fa), intoning the Buddha's name (nien-fo), or the ceremony for releasing living creatures (fang-sheng hui) serve as both a bona fide source of religious efficacy and an expedient device for transforming religious outlook. Through the latter, especially, they became a site where the struggle between orthodoxy and heterodoxy could be engaged effectively and the boundaries between them clarified. When Tsun-shih settled on Mount Tung-i with his students in 1002, he found the populace of the region to be ardent devotees of a local cult known as the White Crane (Pai-ho miao). In an episode reminiscent of classic Buddhist, Taoist, and Confucian tales of thaumaturgic conquest, he set out to convert both the god and its devotees to Buddhism. As Ch'i-sung relates: The populace [of Tung-i] considered [the White Cloud Shrine] to be especially sacred (shen) and vied with one another to supply it with live animal sacrifices. The master brought them to understanding and led them to replace their blood offerings with the observance of vegetarian feasts (chai). Once when the master and a group of locals were traveling to the White Crane Shrine by boat, wind and waves blew up violently. The crowd thought it to be the work of the god. The master, turning in the direction of the shrine, preached on the Buddhist prohibition against taking life, whereupon the waves subsided. He then commanded the god to receive the Buddhist precepts, after which animal sacrifice was discontinued at the shrine. Finally he composed the Essay on Wilderness Shrines, along with a compact for the god (shen-yüeh). The populace still relies on them today.44 Tsun-shihs Essay on Wilderness Shrines (Yeh-miao chih) is preserved in his Golden Garden Collection (Chin-yüan chi), where it is

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joined by two additional tracts related to the White Crane episode: the Announcement for Replacing Blood Sacrifice with the Practice of Vegetarian Feast (Kai-chi hsiu-chai shu-wen) and the Verses for Resolving Doubts about Replacing Blood Sacrifice with Vegetarian Feast (Kai-chi hsiu-chai chueh-i sung). The Announcement was written expressly to be read during the ceremony for the annual spring sacrifice at the local village shrine as a covenant to seal the village elders' (ch'i-lao) pledge to "replace [blood] sacrifice with [Buddhist ceremonies of] vegetarian offering" and to "renounce the depraved (hsieh) and comply with the true (cheng)." Thus it appears to be the very compact mentioned by Ch'i-sung. The Verses for Resolving Doubts is clearly a later, albeit related, work. Faced by resistance to these changes on the part of certain segments of the populace, Tsun-shih wrote the piece to forestall lapses of faith in persons who had recently given up blood sacrifice for rites of vegetarian feast (chai).AS The episode of the White Crane Shrine itself marks the beginning of the campaign against blood sacrifice and Chekiang popular religion that extended through Tsun-shih s years on Tung-i and in Hangchou. More important still, the points of tension with local religion and the program of cultic reform outlined in the Tung-i tracts set the basic parameters for lay ritual elaborated in Tsun-shih s later tracts and reflected in his liturgical corpus as a whole. 46 Thus the Tung-i treatises, when taken as a blueprint for his overall corpus of lay writings, serve to reveal the systematicity of Tsun-shih's lay program in ways that the individual ritual manuals themselves cannot. Tsun-shih makes no mention of either the White Crane spirit or any other local god by name in his tracts against meat and wine; however, the deity is known to have had a popular following in T'aichou throughout the Sung period.47 Moreover, his characterization of religious customs of the Tung-i region conforms closely to depictions provided in gazetteers for the T'ien-t'ai area such as the Chiating ch'ih-ch'eng chih and other sources for Chekiang popular culture in the Sung. In the Essay on Wilderness Shrines and the Announcement for Replacing Blood Sacrifice with the Practice of Vegetarian Feast Tsun-shih describes the following state of affairs in and around Tung-i. Thinking that unusually clear mountain springs or luxuriant trees are the abode of numinally potent spirits (shen), the local populace routinely fashioned paper objects to lay in offering at their foot or set out platters of foodstuffs along their banks. Those in the villages who were able to communicate with the spirits were revered as shamans (wu). At their urging, the worship of these lowly spirits was spread

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from household to household, growing eventually into major cults with permanent shrine buildings that entailed three or four major sacrifices per year. Illness and disaster, drought or excess rain—all forms of misfortune were attributed to the power of these local gods. "In their service [to these deities]," Tsun-shih laments, "the ignorant and lowly masses inevitably go against what is right. They dispense with humaneness (jen) and engage in the taking of life, thinking that they will personally thereby enjoy long life; they cast aside virtue and pursue illicit religious practices (yin-ssu) in the hope of gaining good fortune. Thus do the common folk of the mountains and coastline cling onesidedly to their false ways."48 The language that Tsun-shih adopts in these tracts—describing "wilderness religion" (yeh-tz'u) and "excessive or unsanctioned cults" (yin-tz'u and yin-ssu), the "orthodox and true" (cheng) versus the "false and depraved" (hsieh), and the ubiquitous deceptions of the "shamanic medium or sorcerer" (wu)—is a stock part of the discourse through which the Chinese imperium and its supporters sought to exert control over local religion. Since at least the Han period this sort of hegemonic language was used by both the state and the organized Buddhist and Taoist clergy to single out cults that were outside of the state-sanctioned mainstream, especially those deemed subversive or perverse and, hence, a target for suppression. 49 By his use of this rhetoric, Tsun-shih placed himself squarely in the company of the local prefect and educated literati, whose mission it was to ensure that the local populace was brought smoothly into the imperial enterprise. His displays of thaumaturgical power and his campaigns against depraved gods and cults, likewise, reenact an age-old Buddhist paradigm of saintliness vouchsafed to him and his followers from patriarchal legend and classic medieval Buddhist hagiography. The founding of the Yii-ch'iian and Kuo-ch'ing monasteries, the two most important early T'ien-t'ai communities, began with Chih-i's conversion of the local spirits to the service of the Buddhist dharma. 50 As an ardent follower of Chih-i and a native of the T'ien-t'ai area, Tsun-shih was familiar with Chih-i's legendary heroics. To add further literary and historical luster to his writings, Tsun-shih also invoked such hallowed sixth-century figures as Emperor Wu (r. 502-550) of the Liang Dynasty and the Liang layman Yen Chih-t'ui (531-591), author of the Family Instructions for the Yen Clan (Yen-shih chia-hsun). The Discussion of the Correct (Pien-cheng lun) of the early T'ang master Fa-lin (572-640) is another favorite.51 Whatever his particular source or motive, this alignment with the

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rhetoric of state orthodoxy doubtless helped to cement further the connection between Tsun-shih and his literati patrons. Despite his animosity towards the "depravities" (hsieh) of local religious practice, throughout his disquisitions on blood sacrifice and local cult Tsun-shih continues to work within the basic conceptual and symbolic infrastructures of Chinese popular religion. At no point does he deny the influence of gods, ghosts, and ancestors; nor does he denigrate the mundane concerns or social value attached to their worship by household and community. The local gods are in large measure retained by Tsun-shih, yet selectively so. They are approved for worship insofar as they are compatible with Tsun-shih's extended socioreligious program. Tsun-shih's criterion for sanction seems to be the kind of social and ritual behavior that worship of a given god promotes. Thus while he preserves these traditional epicenters of local religious culture, his reinscription of them within the larger field of Buddhist moral causality and efficacy is a wrenching displacement at best. In the case of the White Crane Shrine, the Announcement for Replacing Blood Sacrifice urges that the shrine itself and the festivals of community sacrifice held traditionally at the spring and autumn equinoxes should be maintained. However, Tsun-shih replaces their traditional liturgies with Buddhist rites of repentance and vegetarian offering, at the same time revising their festivities to accord with Buddhist dictates of solemnity and clerical protocol. For celebration of the biannual offerings at the White Crane Shrine, a rite of repentance and offering based on the Golden Light (Suvarnaprabhâsa) Siitra is recommended as the ritual medium most suited for honoring the local gods.52 Parameters of liturgical authority are redrawn accordingly. The traditional shamans and mediums are to be avoided as benighted and deceitful, with the village elders deferring to the Buddhist clergy in their stead. Written as a manifesto for the spring offering at the newly converted White Cloud Shrine, Tsun-shih's Announcement gives the following indication of how far-reaching this Buddhist domestication of local culture could be: Today... we will [ritually] sweep and sprinkle the shrine of the god (shen-tz'u) and adorn it in preparation for Buddhist services. We will replace the tuan (short?) dance with the awe-inspiring and dignified comportment [of Buddhist ritual], and we will transform the extended ballad into the sonorous chant of the Vaipulya [i.e., Mahàyàna] sutras. The vessels are filled with purified millet, and the platters overflow with vegetarian dishes. [Today] we pull out

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the thorny brambles; we eliminate the seed of the noxious eranda plant; and we burn the caltrops, sowing in their place the [wholesome] root of the yen-po. The mountain streams no longer flow with the fur, feather, and blood [of slaughtered creatures]. The songbird and kite, perched side by side in the trees, cease their clamoring. Oxen and sheep [once used for ritual sacrifice] indulge their natures easefully [in the fields]. Fish and bird delight in heaven, and in one swoop village and ward are transformed, becoming altogether like a Pure Land.53 At the base of this new vision of religious efficacy lies the Buddhist law of moral retribution and soteriological process. Where religious empowerment formerly devolved as a set of highly personalized links to local gods and ancestors, here the identity of these beings and their relations with the human world are reorganized according to the architectonic value structures of Buddhist cosmology. Harmony with the supreme order of the Three Jewels supersedes fealty to the local gods as the bedrock of efficacious living. Meanwhile, the cardinal virtues of loving-kindness (tz'u; maitri) and compassion (pei; karuna)—the modus operandus of the Buddhas and the utter antithesis to the violence of blood sacrifice—become the core values on which relations with the sacred powers turn and "through which fruition of the myriad virtues is realized."54 Vegetarian restraint (chai) and avoidance of taking life (pu-sha) are advanced by Tsun-shih as key practices for translating the empowering ideology of loving-kindness (tz'u) into daily performance, a fact that possibly links Tsun-shihs campaigns against wine and meat with the development of the lay "vegetarian societies" (ts'aishe) that became so prevalent later in the Sung. Extending this general sentiment into the world of concrete cult, Tsun-shihs Verses for Resolving Doubts goes on to recommend an array of specific liturgical programs deemed effective for handling traditional community and household concerns. Echoing the recommendations of the Announcement, Tsun-shih instructs that ritually empowered copies of the Golden Light Sutra should also be enshrined in the home. In lieu of offerings of wine and meat to the household gods, family members should daily pay homage to the Three Jewels, intone the sutra's title, and make offerings to the text, dedicating the merits of the performance to the edification of their local tutelary deities (shen): "The household will be safe and secure; wealth and property will increase; gods and dragons will protect the home; natural calamities and depraved ghosts or demons (kuei) will be unable to do one harm." 55

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For further increasing one's store of merit and as atonement for past taking of life, one may perform the rite of releasing captured fish and animals (fang-sheng), a ceremonial act of compassion that also comes from the Golden Light Sutra. In times of illness or natural calamity, "single-mindedly intoning the name of Bodhisattva Kuanyin" is recommended, a practice that according to the Sutra for the Invocation ofKuan-yin will "cause one to be protected day and night by a host of great gods (t'ien; deva), dragons (lung; nagas), and yaksa demons who have been charged by the Buddha to watch over [devotees]."56 To pacify nameless ghosts and to deliver ancestors suspected of being reborn in the lower realms, daily performance of an abbreviated version of the Buddhist rite for feeding hungry ghosts (shihshih o-kuei) is recommended, using the spell of the Sutra of the Dharanl for Deliverance of the Flaming-Mouthed Hungry Ghosts (Chiu-pa yen-k'ou o-kuei t'o-lo-ni ching) to empower and distribute offerings of food.57 However, all things considered, for both worldly blessings and deliverance in the life to come, nothing is more effective than intoning the name and reflecting on the merits of Amitabha Buddha (nien-fo).ss This list of cult practices that Tsun-shih enjoins on the laity in his tracts against blood sacrifice matches to the letter the array of rites that are the topical focus of his assorted lay ritual manuals, as if the liturgical repertory had been designed as a cohesive program for household and community. What the tracts against meat and wine sacrifice sought to accomplish in the abstract Tsunshih's lay manuals sought to realize in practice. But why this particular array of rites and cultic foci? Why such consistency in the selection? The rites that Tsun-shih selected were hardly novel, at least to the Buddhist segment of the population. Nearly all of them had been an established element of Buddhist cultic life since at least the mid-T'ang and in some cases earlier. For example, many of these practices were promoted by Yung-ming Yen-shou (904-975) in the Chekiang region a mere two generations before Tsun-shih, which raises the strong possibility that Tsun-shih set out to rectify and propagate a tradition of lay ritual that already had a strong presence in the area.59 But historical precedent alone does not provide a full explanation. For that it is necessary to look more closely at the ways in which this particular selection of rites intersected with the range of concerns that typified lay religious life and Tsun-shih s aims as a cleric.

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Tsun-shih's Lay Repertory and Its Ideological and Symbolic Resonances In the interest of understanding the overall thrust of Tsun-shih's lay program, I turn to the individual cults that Tsun-shih's lay ritual repertory comprised. Since it is impossible to treat the full scope of Tsun-shih's rites for laity within this chapter, I confine myself to a summation of their most basic features. Discussions of ritual content will be kept at a minimum, the only exception being the rite for releasing living creatures and penance rites related to the Golden Light Sutra. These will be described in more detail as a way of illustrating the conventions of ritual structure that inform Tsun-shih's repertory as a whole. Rites for Kuan-yin

The discussion of Tsun-shih's personal interactions with Kuan-yin in the previous section has already touched sufficiently on the cult to convey its basic thrust: Tsun-shih turned to the bodhisattva for everything from spiritual enlightenment and protection of the Buddhist church to the healing of illness, the safeguarding against demonic disturbance, and prayers for rain. For both his own ritual practice and his larger community celebrations, the master looked chiefly to the Invocation of Kuan-yin Repentance, one of the traditional rites of the T'ien-t'ai four samadhis, the form of which Tsunshih amended and recodified in his Samadhi Rite for the Dharanl that Eliminates Poison and Harm by Invoking Kuan-shih-yin (Ch'ing Kuan-shih-yin hsiao-fu tu-hai t'o-lo-ni ching san-mei i).60 That Tsun-shih and his community were versed in other forms of Kuan-yin devotion as well is evident from Sung records. The everpopular Dharani of Great Compassion (ta-pei chou) was definitely known to Tsun-shih and his students, as was the rite of the Great Compassion Repentance (ta-pei ch'an-fa), which Chih-li formalized as a standard liturgical program for the spell.61 Tsun-shih's acolyte Ssu-wu (dates unknown) and his second-generation disciple Pients'ai Yuan-ching were both famed for their ability to cure illness and exorcise ghosts through the use of holy water empowered by the Dharanl of Great Compassion.62 Tsun-shih himself recited the dharanl over the timbers and tiles of the Golden Light Repentance Hall at T'ien-chu in order to bless the chapel's construction.63 Given the prominence of the Kuan-yin cult among Tsun-shih's followers, one of the most important developments contributing to the

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popularization of the Invocation of Kuan-yin and the Great Compassion repentance rites was the conversion of Upper T'ien-chu or Ling-kan Kuan-yin Monastery from a Chan to a T'ien-t'ai "lecture" (chiang) institution, an event that came about through Pien-ts'ai Yiian-ching's appointment as abbot by the Hang-chou prefect Shen Kou. Famed for its numinally potent statue of Kuan-yin, the Upper T'ien-chu Monastery became an increasingly powerful cultic and pilgrimage site during the Five Dynasties and Northern Sung period. Although it belonged to the Ch'an school when Shen Kou first arrived in Hang-chou, he is alleged to have decided that "Upper T'ien-chu was originally an altar for the Great Master Kuanyin. Since the deity should be served with Buddhist rites of verbal repentance and confession, [the monastery] should not be an abode for Ch'an meditation." 64 On this basis he dismissed the incumbent Ch'an abbot and replaced him with Yuan-ching, initiating a continuous stream of T'ien-t'ai abbots that lasted through the Yuan and the Ming. With this connection between Upper T'ien-chu and T'ien-t'ai masters such as Yuan-ching, Tsun-shih's Invocation of Kuan-yin Repentance and Chih-li's Great Compassion Repentance probably became the main liturgies used in ceremonies at the Upper T'ien-chu Kuan-yin hall as well as in affiliate Kuan-yin chapels that sprouted up throughout the Chekiang and Kiangsu region. Tsun-shih and the Pure Land In addition to his interest in Kuan-yin, Tsun-shih's two decades in Ming-chou and on Mount Tung-i were also marked by a growing effort to promote Pure Land practice among his monastic and lay followers. The White Lotus society that he organized for prominent Ming-chou laity in 996 continued to meet regularly for worship at the Pao-yiin Monastery until the master relocated to Tung-i in 1002.65 On arriving there, one of the first projects that Tsun-shih undertook was to fashion an image and set up a chapel for the Buddha Amitabha, the precincts of which were used for the regular practice of Buddha-mindfulness samadhi (nien-fo san-mei), a form of intensive retreat similar in kind to the T'ien-t'ai four samadhis. To guide his students in their efforts, he composed a special rite for Pure Land practice. Although sources give little insight into lay Pure Land activities on Mount Tung-i, this twofold emphasis on lay outreach and monastic retreat continued through Tsun-shih's Hang-chou years, centered in part on the Hermitage for Contemplating the [Setting]

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Sun (Jih-kuan an), a detached chapel that Tsun-shih built on the slopes above T'ien-chu Monastery. Within the space of a generation, Tsun-shih's successors transformed this emergent pattern of Pure Land devotion into the distinctive lay institutions described in Chapter 12 by Daniel Getz. Organized into large confraternities bound by formal pledge, members of these societies vowed to maintain a personal regimen of Pure Land devotion at home, while also attending regular convocations for ritual worship and recitation of the Buddha's name (hsi-nien hui). These gatherings typically convened at monastic centers, often in Amitabha pavilions (Mi-t'o ko) or Pure Land chapels (ching-t'u yuan) constructed specially to house their activities. For guidance on spiritual matters, they looked to Buddhist monks who were seasoned practitioners of Buddha-mindfulness samadhi, thereby imbibing and reinforcing the ethos of intensive retreat that was so prevalent in T'ien-t'ai monastic circles. Tsung-hsiao's Compendium of the Land of Bliss (Le-pang wen-lei, dated 1200) and Tsun-shih's Golden Garden Collection (Chin-yuan chi) and Special Collection from T'ien-chu (T'ien-chu pieh-chi) together preserve some dozen homilies, hymns, and litanies for Pure Land practice authored by Tsun-shih, most of them fragmentary and undated. 66 In addition to these shorter tracts, Tsun-shih published two major manuals that circulated widely among his monastic and lay followers: the Rite for Repentance and Vows for Rebirth in the Pure Land (Wang-sheng ching-t'u ch'an-yiian i) and the Two Teachings for Resolving Doubts and Establishing the Practice and Vow to be Reborn in the Pure Land (Wang-shang ching-t'u chueh-i hsing-yuan erhmen; hereafter Two Teachings). The Rite for Repentance and Vows for Rebirth in the Pure Land describes a regimen of ritual penance and meditation that is to be applied in isolated retreat lasting from one week to seven weeks or longer. At each of six intervals of the day and night, the retreatants perform ritual repentance and profession of the vow for rebirth before Amitabha Buddha, followed by recitation of Pure Land sutras and circumambulation of the central altar. For the remainder of the period they withdraw to a separate location for seated meditation, where they mentally visualize the form of Amitabha and the Pure Land, or, if lacking in contemplative skills, they verbally intone the Buddha's name. Although linked ideologically by Tsun-shih to Vasubandhu's Treatise on the Pure Land (Ching-t'u lun), the Rite for Repentance and

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Vows for Rebirth in the Pure Land looks specifically to Chih-i's Repentance Rite for the Lotus Samadhi for its ritual structure and significant portions of its liturgic content. In this respect the Rite for Repentance and Vows for Rebirth in the Pure Land is a perfect example of Tsun-shih's tendency to assimilate new devotional cults to the conventional form of the T'ien-t'ai four samadhis. Tsun-shih finalized the Rite for Repentance and Vows for Rebirth in the Pure Land in Hang-chou in 1015, but the text is known to have existed much earlier; the manual for Buddha-mindfulness ritual that he composed on Tung-i may have been an early prototype.67 Buddha-mindfulness samadhi is a key concern of the Rite for Repentance and Vows for Rebirth in the Pure Land. Like Chih-i's Lotus and Invocation of Kuan-yin repentances, Tsun-shih's seven-day retreat seeks in the short term to remove karmic obstacles and induce enlightening visions of Amitabha through cultivation of meditative concentration on the Buddha. However, as the title of the Rite for Repentance and Vows for Rebirth in the Pure Land itself implies, the final aim is to lay the foundation for rebirth in the Pure Land. Buddha-mindfulness samadhi itself remains subordinate to this end. Modern scholars suggest that the Rite for Repentance and Vows for Rebirth in the Pure Land was most likely intended for clergy, since it must have been too ascetically demanding for the average lay person to practice. The Rite for Repentance and Vows for Rebirth in the Pure Land itself, however, makes provisions for individuals without prior training, allowing, at one point, that "goodly men and women" might join the monastic sangha in the practice of the seven-day rite.68 Thus the possibility that laity were given access to this retreat culture remains an open question. But even without their direct participation, the sheer presence of ritual retreat in Sung T'ien-t'ai monasteries must have enhanced the mystique of this topos in the eyes of the local populace. A similar gravitation toward clerical paradigm is evident in the rites that Tsun-shih designed expressly for laity, as can be seen from his Two Teachings.69 The Two Teachings preserves two programs for daily lay worship in its second chapter on "carrying out the practice and making the vow." Both stand as discrete rites unto themselves, which at times have circulated as independent ritual tracts. The first of these two programs, known as the "rite for veneration and repentance" (lich'an fa), is a streamlined version of the core cycle of the Rite for Repentance and Vows for Rebirth in the Pure Land, for which reason it is often dubbed the "Smaller Amitabha Repentance." Divested of

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the retreat format, the "smaller" rite is enjoined on laity either as a daily morning service (time permitting) or as a special observance for the uposatha fast.70 The second program, known as the "ten moments of mindfulness" (shih-nien), is even more drastically attenuated. Also billed as a rite for morning worship, it consists chiefly of recitation of the Buddha's name followed by a concluding vow. Drawing on the idea that even the worst sinner may be saved by calling on Amitabha for "ten moments" at the time of death, Tsun-shih designed this simple formula both as a minimum daily quota of Pure Land practice and a dress rehearsal for the deathbed. 71 As in the Rite for Repentance and Vows for Rebirth in the Pure Land, both the smaller rite of confession and the ten moments give central place to mindful recollection of Buddha Amitabha (nien-fo), with the latter two works advancing verbal recitation (ch'eng-fo ming-hao) over meditative visualization (kuan-fo). All three, however, emphasize the need for "single-minded and single-willed concentration" (i-hsin i-i), a point that harks back to the "meditative" topos of Buddha-mindfulness samadhi. Again, as in the Rite for Repentance and Vows for Rebirth in the Pure Land, both lay rites situate recitation of the name within an extended framework of ritual purification, veneration, confession, and vow, thereby replicating the basic design of the more liturgically intensified clerical rites. Lay and clerical worship thus obey the same ritual norms and principles of efficacy. This fact not only reinforces the complementarity of the two domains but also tends to heighten the authority of the professionally trained cleric. As a Salvationist ideology, the ultimate locus of concern in Tsunshih's Pure Land practice is rebirth in the Pure Land, achievement of which perfects all of the standard Mahayana virtues of the bodhisattva path. The vow passages that conclude Tsun-shih's lay and monastic liturgies typically pray for a lucid and easeful death, attended by all of the auspicious signs of immediate rebirth in Amitabha Buddha's presence. In the near term, they also aspire to gladdening dreams and ecstatic visions of Amitabha, the experience of which brings assurance of one's impending salvation. But for all of its "other-worldly" orientation, Pure Land practice promises more mundane benefits as well. After rehearsing the evils of "depraved" (hsieh) religious practice, Tsun-shih in his Preface for the Abbreviated Biographies of Pure Land Devotees (Wang-sheng hsifang lueh-chuan hsin hsti) offers recitation of the Buddha's name as

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the true means to the "sublime benefits of this world" (hsien-shih sheng-li) that blood sacrifice falsely claims to deliver. Pure Land devotees will be protected by the Buddhist guardian gods and great bodhisattvas, never to suffer affliction by ghosts, demons, and other forms of calamity. Amitabha will enfold them in his radiance, eliminating their past sins and affording them nightly dreams of his person and realm. They will be blessed with a joyous heart, radiant disposition, and brimming vitality; their actions will produce auspicious outcomes; and they will receive respect from whomever they encounter.72 Liturgies for Bestowing Food on Hungry Ghosts Although they contain an apotropaic dimension, Tsun-shih s Pure Land rites focus more centrally on the goal of salvation through rebirth in the Pure Land. His rites for bestowing food on hungry ghosts (shih-shih o-kuei fa) and releasing living creatures (fang-sheng hui) move into an area of ritual concern that is directed more squarely to the spiritual workings of the world at hand. Both the hungry ghosts (o-kuei; preta) and the animals are beings of destinies lower than the human realm that, although deserving of our mercy, also bear inextricably on our world and our fortune. This is especially the case with the kuei (demon or ghost), who were popularly thought to impinge on human existence in the form of deceased kin or the dangerously restless dead. Compounding injury with depravity, lives of countless birds and beasts were taken for the purpose of appeasing these specters through blood sacrifice (chi)—a most grave sin in Buddhist eyes. Tsun-shih s Golden Garden Collection and Tsung-hsiao s Survey of Food Bestowal Rites (Shih-shih t'ung-lan) preserve a total of five short tracts by Tsun-shih on the rite for bestowing food on hungry ghosts, most of them probably written during his Hang-chou period.73 They are joined by an additional tract on the annual Ullambana, or "Ghost Festival," titled Nine Points on the Performance of the Ullambana Rite (Hsiu yii-lan-p'en fang-fa chiu men).74 Although different from the rite for feeding hungry ghosts, as a liturgy that centers on offerings to the kuei, the Ullambana shares many of the same aims and cultic resonances. Both rites were already a well-established part of local Buddhist culture when Tsun-shih came on the scene.75 His manuals capitalized on this culture, both as a response to genuine religious needs and as a site for sorting out points of ideological ambiguity between

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Buddhism and local religion. In the Nine Points on the Ullambana Tsun-shih laments, "The common people of Wu and Yiieh hold [yearly] performances of the Ullambana, but the name has become debased to the point of being synonymous with [rites of] mourning (sang). It is truly painful [to behold]." He goes on to describe how, on the appointed day of the festival, people set up special altars for ancestors in their homes or at hermitages, where they offer food and burn paper money and "underworld clothing" (ming-i), "much like the [traditional] mortuary supplications for the dead that involve the use of fu and kuei vessels."76 Tsun-shih s Correct Usage of the Term "Food Bestowal" (Shih-shih cheng-ming) sounds similar complaints about prevailing uses of the food bestowal (shih-shih) rite. Chapels bearing the names "water and land" (shui-lu), "food of liberation" (chieh-shih), or "netherworld paths" (ming-tao) were ubiquitous to Buddhist temples throughout Wu and Yiieh, in which rites for bestowing food on hungry ghosts (o-kuei) or "orphaned souls" (ku-hun) were routinely performed for the local populace.77 The excess material expense and drama of these performances notwithstanding, Tsun-shihs chief criticism is the failure to clarify the true ideological underpinnings and soteriological thrust of these rites—a problem that, like the Ullambana, stems from resonances with local rites for the dead. As with the generations before them, Tsun-shih and his contemporaries were faced with a range of different interpretive modalities regarding ancestors, ghosts, and the afterlife. At one end of the spectrum lay the culture of indigenous Chinese ancestral religion, in which the dead continued to be a source of spiritual power (ling) among the living, either as a beneficent ancestor (duly installed and maintained in the realm of the ancestors) or as a vengeful ghost (kuei). At the other end lay the normative Buddhist view of karmic retribution and reincarnation—severing all affective ties with the living, the dead are born into a completely new existence among the six destinies, their rebirth determined by the nexus of karmic influences that emerges during the forty-nine days of the "intermediate state" (chung-yu). As Stephen Teiser and others have shown, the distinctive mortuary idiom of medieval China (the ten courts of purgatory included) itself devolved around this ideological and symbolic antimony.78 Historically speaking, the equation of the Chinese terms "kuei" (ghost or demon) and "o-kuei" (hungry ghost) with the Indian preta and various subclasses of demon brought an immediate conflation of

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Buddhist and Chinese cultures of the dead and demonic. Commonalities of ritual and symbolic motif—such as pacification through the offering of food—deepened these resonances, contributing to the "hybridized" Ullambana and food-bestowal performances to which Tsun-shih was heir. Ideologically speaking, Tsun-shih subscribes to the canonical Buddhist view.79 He dismisses outright the idea that existence as a hungry ghost is the predestined fate of every person not ritually installed as an ancestor, rejecting as well the notion that either the dead or the lowly beings of the preta-loka can avenge themselves on the living. Tsun-shih accordingly deems it erroneous to think of the food bestowal and the Ullambana as mortuary rites (sang) per se. As the sutras instruct, these ceremonies should be performed specifically for kin only if one fears that a family member has been reborn as a hungry ghost, a situation that is contingent on the perception that the deceased followed sinful ways. Before all else, the food bestowal and Ullambana are rites of charity (shih; dana) expressive of the Mahayana spirit of universal compassion (tz'u-pei), albeit here directed to the specific plight of hungry ghosts. Whatever associations with filial piety and ancestral obligation these rites might invoke—and this sense remains quite strong in Tsun-shih's writings—the blessings that redound to the living come not from the ghosts themselves but from the moral edification and merit accrued by one's own ritualized act of charity and compassion. But even though Tsun-shih disavows any connection with the traditional practices of Chinese ancestral and mortuary ritual, this does not obviate the importance of the Ullambana and food-bestowal rites for the handling of the spectral order at large. As denizens of the six realms, hungry ghosts and demons still have a bearing on the human sphere, and the rites of offering are significant to Tsun-shih as a medium for negotiating this relationship. In his Meditative Visualizations for the Rite of Food Bestowal (Shih-shih kuan-hsiang), Tsunshih provides a taxonomy of different species of hungry ghost and demon, noting that certain middling and upper grades of kuei are able to obtain nourishment from sacrificial offering. Attracted especially to lascivious entertainment and the pungent odor of blood, wine, and noxious spices, these demonic sprites will deceive humans into worshiping them by awing them with low-grade anomalies (kuai). Believing such things to be the work of ancestors or gods (shen) who have the power to affect human fortune, ignorant people build shrines to these spirits and ply them with food and song. Good

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spirits (shan-shen) and the Buddhist gods abandon these people for their depravities, and they become the victim of baleful influences, not to mention terrifying retribution in present and future lives.80 Tsun-shih thus moves the problem of kuei beyond the issue of family and ancestral cult to that of "excessive cult" and shamanic culture as a whole. The entire continuum of popular religious culture—with its rites of spirit possession, sacrifice, ecstatic dance, and song—is reinscribed as "false" and "depraved" religion precisely because it originates wholly in the twisted appetites of kuei who are deceptively masquerading as beneficent gods. As a technology for alleviating the afflictions of the kuei, the Ullambana and food-bestowal liturgies can therefore also be read as rites of exorcism and conversion, with all of the socioreligious ramifications that the topos and rhetoric of exorcism entail. In the course of ritual performance, ancestor, hungry ghost, and benighted devotee all become sons and daughters in the great family of the Buddha. The food-bestowal and Ullambana rites are united in kind by the fact that both are methods for offering physical and spiritual nourishment to the most afflicted demons. However, their mechanisms for achieving this end are different. In the Ullambana rite, it is the offering of food through the auspices of the monastic sangha (their power of merit increased by the three-month summer retreat) that enables the hungry ghosts to be transformed. 81 In the food-bestowal rite it is not the merit-power of the monastic sangha but the power of esoteric dharanl that transforms the food and liberates the ghosts from their fetters. Moreover, where the Ullambana occurs once a year and requires the mediating services of the clergy, Tsun-shih allows that the food-bestowal rite should be performed regularly by both clergy or laity, at home and in the monastery. In the interest of these two groups he taught abbreviated and expanded forms of the rite, the contours of which he drew from Amoghavajra's translation of the core Sutra of the Dharanl for Deliverance of the FlamingMouthed Hungry Ghosts and related works.82 Touting the power of the rite in his Verses for Resolving Doubts, Tsun-shih notes, "This rite for food bestowal not only will enable former members of one's household to obtain food but will cause all hungry ghosts to be satiated. Its benefits are profound indeed!"83 Apart from this direct assistance to hungry ghosts and ancestors, however, the benefits accrue to performers of the rite in other important ways as well. The master narrative of the Sutra on the Deliverance of the Flaming Mouths itself unfolds as a frantic quest on the

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part of Ananda to extend his life span and alter his karmic fate, after it has been foretold that he will die in three days and suffer rebirth as a hungry ghost. Expanding on the list of benefits ascribed by the sutra, Tsun-shih delineates five forms of personal blessing that will accrue from regular practice of the food-bestowal rites: (1) one's life span will be extended; (2) one's demeanor will be fresh and radiant; (3) one will be filled with vigor; (4) one will develop aweinspiring charisma and eloquence, which will earn the esteem of all whom one encounters; and (5) no human or nonhuman creatures will dare to do one harm.84 The Ceremony for Releasing Living Creatures The ceremony for releasing living creatures (fang-sheng hui) is another rite promoted by Tsun-shih that is directed toward the compassionate deliverance (tz'u-chi) of lower beings, aspects of which resonate directly with his campaigns against taking life and blood sacrifice. Inspired by the tale of Jalavahana's salvation of trapped fish in the Golden Light Sutra, the releasing living creatures ceremony is an act of loving-kindness (tz'u) and merit-making that centers around the release and spiritual edification of captured animals, usually turtles and fish.85 Although the record of its performance dates to the early medieval period, the ritual achieved its first real notoriety in T'ien-t'ai circles—especially the Chekiang region—when Chih-i, with the blessing of the Ch'en throne, instituted its practice around Mount T'ien-t'ai.86 During the T'ang, the Emperor Su-tsung (r. 756-762) established some eighty-one official sites for releasing living creatures at prefectural centers located on major bodies of water. On the basis of this precedent, in 1017 the Sung emperor Chen-tsung restored these former sites and prohibited fishing within a five-/z radius of the prefectural seats in which they were located. Moved by this event and inspired by Chih-i's patriarchal example Tsun-shih between 1019 and 1020 prevailed on his influential patron Wang Ch'in-jo to petition the throne to have West Lake officially declared a state pond for releasing living creatures. The request was granted in 1020, and shortly thereafter Tsunshih initiated the annual practice of holding public gatherings for releasing living creatures at West Lake on the day of the Buddha's birthday (the eighth day of the fourth lunar month).87 Chih-li followed suit in 1025 by petitioning the court to establish a releasing living creatures site near Yen-ch'ing Monastery in Ming-chou. He also adopted an annual cycle identical to that of Tsun-shih, produc-

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ing his own manual for the ceremony, the Tract on Releasing Living Creatures (Fang-sheng wen).BS Wang Sui's commemorative stele (dated 1021) for the West Lake site reports that Wang Ch'in-jo was troubled by the customary local practice of taking fish from the lake's waters even though a hundred-odd Buddhist sites overlooked its shores. When annual prayers for the emperors long life were offered at the New Year, the populace in the hope of good fortune would also establish ritual sites and, dressed in elegantly feathered robes, celebrate the Taoistinspired ceremony for presenting offerings to the local "dragons lair." Wishing to stop this vulgar rite—blood sacrifice seems to have been used—and to end the taking of living creatures from West Lake, Wang urged adoption of the lake as a sanctuary where taking life was prohibited. 89 A manual for the rite, the Teaching on Compassionate Deliverance through the Release of Living Creatures (Fang-sheng tz'u-chi fa-men), is contained in Tsun-shihs Golden Garden Collection.90 Its preface states that Tsun-shih was inspired to write the tract when, en route to Kingfisher crag, he happened on a group of Hang-chou locals performing a releasing living creatures ceremony on the waters of West Lake. Mortified by the numerous flaws in their procedure— especially the casual recitation of litanies and sutras without proper visualization—Tsun-shih instructed them in the correct form of the rite, eventually setting his teachings down in his seven-part manual. Although clearly written during his Hang-chou period, the Teaching on Compassionate Deliverance through the Release of Living Creatures does not appear to be connected in any direct way with the establishing of the releasing living creatures pond. Nonetheless, it does provide an indication of how the rite was performed in Tsun-shihs community. As in the rite for bestowing food on hungry ghosts (shih-shih), the releasing living creatures ceremony takes the form of a kind of conversion liturgy. Beings are first freed of their gross physical and mental impediments through offering and incantation, then brought to the Buddhist path through preaching of the dharma and administering of the Three Refuges. In principle, the ceremony should be led by a dharma master who is well-versed in the Buddhist teachings as well as in the empowering visualizations necessary to effect the creatures' spiritual liberation. Having gathered the various fish and animals destined for release, the officiating priest seats himself near the creatures and surveys them with the eye of compassion.

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He then commences the rite with a statement to them on the evils of samsaric rebirth, the value of hearing the dharma, and the overall aims of the rite. Taking a vessel of ritually empowered water, he intones the dharanl that strips away defilement, as he sprinkles the creatures with holy water. So doing, he announces to them, I have washed away your filth so that you may now approach the Three Jewels.... But because your faculties have been exceedingly obscured and obstructed for eons [of lifetimes], how could you possibly be able to comprehend the words of dharma that I would preach to you? On your behalf I will now summon three times the Buddhas and bodhisattvas of the ten directions, [requesting] that they use their spiritual powers to empower you and instantaneously strip away your mental defilements, allowing you to hear and comprehend the true dharma . . . nourish your conscious awareness . . . and receive the Three Refuges.91 Prostrating to the ground, the offerant ritually summons the Three Jewels. He then venerates in sequence Buddha Sakyamuni, the Buddha Ratnasambhava, and the bodhisattvas Kuan-yin and Maitreya, praying that the Buddhas may transform the creatures' minds. A short litany on the meaning of the Three Refuges and the importance of faith follows, after which the formal ceremony for bestowing the Three Refuges itself is performed on the creatures' behalf. At its conclusion, the priest leads the assembly in extended intonation of the ten epithets of Buddha Ratnasikhin, noting the promise of the Golden Light Sutra that this recitation will enable any being who hears it to be reborn in the Heaven of the Thirty Three (Trayastrimsa) and eventually achieve Buddhahood. Having established the creatures' link with the Buddhist teachings, the dharma master next presents a formal discourse on the twelvefold chain of causation, the aim being to instill in them proper view and spiritual motivation. Then, to put this understanding into action, the priest offers incense, visualizes the presence of the Three Jewels, and performs ritual confession of sins on the creatures' behalf. The confessional litany concludes with a dedication of merit and the prayer that these beings may be reborn in the western Pure Land. The text itself makes the point that the Amitabha Sutra allows for even "strange creatures" to be incarnated there. In the concluding verses Tsun-shih writes, "Amitabha's vow of broadly encompassing loving-kindness does not omit a single b e i n g . . . . Kuan-yin s vow of loving-kindness is profound, indeed, forever coursing through the five destinies."92

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The Golden Light Offering and

Repentance

Having renounced the [vulgar] gods and spirits (shen) and given up [blood] sacrifice (chi), if one later happens on natural disaster and misfortune, to whom does one turn for protection? . . . When one practices vegetarian fast and offering (chai), cultivates meritorious practices, and reads sutras, to which gods (shen) should a household dedicate these meritorious [actions]? How many such gods or altar stations (wei) should there be? With these several questions, Tsun-shih in his Verses for Resolving Doubts about Replacing Blood Sacrifice with Vegetarian Feast addresses the pressing problem of how to fill the cultic void left by his banishment of the gods and demons of local religion.93 Worship of the transcendent Buddhas and bodhisattvas of the clergy is all well and good. Indeed, the practices of "intoning Amitabha's name" and devotion to the bodhisattva Kuan-yin are recommended by Tsun-shih as panaceas for any and all of life's ills. But everyday concerns of family and community called for less detached deities, beings who—like the traditional gods of home and village—had a character and personal history that made them more "humanly" sensitive to the realities of daily existence. In answer to his question, Tsun-shih lists the following as approved foci for worship in the home and community: the Buddhist gods (t'ien; deva) dragon-kings (lung-wang; naga), and other good gods and spirits (shan-shen) who act as guardians of the world at large (loka-pala); Yama and his official minions of the underworld; all of the various indigenous spirits or gods (shen-ming) of the mountains, the rivers, and the imperial domain and its subdistricts (ching-i); the local earth god (t'u-ti shen); the good tutelary spirits of the household (hu-chai shen). These are the so-called good or beneficent gods and spirits (shan-shen), to be distinguished from the lowly and deceitful "demons" (kuei) worshiped by the vulgar populace (su). "Miscellaneous gods (shen) and demons or ghosts (kuei) apart from these," Tsun-shih instructs, "should not be ritually served nor have merit dedicated to them . . . for they are what we call 'depraved and misguided' (hsieh-t'ao)."9"' Early T'ien-t'ai ritual manuals for daily offices of worship and for the four samadhis routinely include the Indian world-protecting devas (t'ien) and the indigenous Chinese shen in their venerations, usually with prayers enjoining them to protect the practitioner and bless the state and its populace. 95 This paradigm is picked up by

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Tsun-shih and his T'ien-t'ai contemporaries, providing the basis for their hierarchical schematizations of the gods as well as their liturgical handling. The array of beneficent gods and spirits enumerated in Tsunshih s Verses for Resolving Doubts itself conforms closely to the lists of divine benefactors that appear in the ritual manuals of Tsun-shih and Chih-li, both in content and in the conventions of their arrangement. 96 Figures such as Brahma, Sakra (Indra), the Four Divine Guardian Kings, the Yaksa generals of the twenty-eight asterisms, beneficent beings of the eight classes of demigod (kueishen) who reward good and punish evil, Yama and his underworld legions—that is to say, the divine progenitors and protectors of the mundane world familiar from Indian Buddhist scripture—typically head the list. Farther down there is a distinct shift to the gods and spirits "of our land or empire" (kuo-nei) and "our national borders and wards" (tz'u-t'u ching-i). Their likes typically include the gods of the five marchmounts and four ocean-bound confluences, nationally famous mountains, rivers, and holy shrines; gods of the local prefecture, district, city walls and moats, ward, guild, shop, household, and the local Buddhist monastery. Tsun-shih thus draws the indigenous Chinese gods into the world of Buddhist practice, giving them a legitimate place in the Buddhist scheme of things and in its efficacy system. Nowhere do his writings suggest that this accommodation was a matter of disingenuous ploy or apologetic—an "expedient" gesture to cajole the local populace toward the purer goals of "high" Buddhism. As with the ghosts and ancestors, Tsun-shih accords the Chinese gods a full measure of reality; but he relocates them and revalorizes them according to the principles of Buddhist cosmology and spiritual taxonomy. The protocol governing the lists of indigenous Chinese gods corresponds closely to those used in the proceedings of the Ministry of Rites preserved in the Sung hui-yao and in manuals for high Taoist liturgy. Such continuities suggest that the T'ien-t'ai arrangement was itself constructed in deliberate keeping with the legitimizing worldview advanced by the Chinese imperium. More important still, they underscore the potential for complicity between the T'ien-t'ai ritual handling of the local gods and the effort of officials to bring local religion into line with the mythos of the imperial state. But while Tsun-shih is unquestionably supportive of the imperial project, he is adamant in ascribing supreme authority to the Buddhist dharma alone, making it the sole transcendent locus from

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which all authority and efficacy are denominated. Throughout his manuals a sharp qualitative distinction is maintained between the "saintly" or "sagely" (sheng; drya) ranks of the Buddhist Three Jewels —the fully enlightened and transcendent Buddhas, bodhisattvas, and arhats of the divine sangha—and the righteous but "ordinary beings" (fan; prthagjana) of the deva or asura realms who oversee cosmic order and serve as the domesticated guardians of the dharma in the mundane world. The indigenous Chinese shen—"the gods of our sovereign land"—are accorded a position lower still. Even then, a local god is sanctioned as a "good or beneficent god" (shan-shen) only by dint of willingness to "observe and protect the orthodox dharma or law" (shou-hu cheng-fa). For example, the "orthodox (cheng) and upright (chih) spirit inspectors (shen-ssu)" who police the local prefecture, city, and village are not just gods who espouse Confucian norms. They also "keep vegetarian fast (chai) and guard the Buddhist precepts."97 By definition, the Chinese gods derive their sovereign status and authority from their professed fealty to the authentic (cheng) order of the Buddhist dharma. In delineating this relationship to the Buddhist dharma and its transcendent "sages" (sheng), T'ien-t'ai authors often adopt the language of feudal enfeoffment, a strategy that also emulates the idiom of state religion. The Buddhas and bodhisattvas are represented as "lords and masters" (chu), wholly sovereign in their embodiment of the charisma of dharma, while the gods are cast in the role of "retainer" (k'o) or "vassal" (pin).9i As one might expect, this idiom is further reproduced in the symbolics of spatial organization and choreography that govern the relative place of the gods in ritual performance. The fact that local gods and spirits were readily incorporated into a wide variety of T'ien-t'ai rites meant that any of the traditional liturgies—including the four forms of samadhi—could be adapted to local apotropaic ends. During the Northern Sung there are ample instances in which Tsun-shih and Chih-li were solicited to perform rites such as the Lotus Repentance on behalf of the court and official benefactors. But to what extent local gods figured explicitly as anything more than a generic or passive presence remains a question. Having looked over similar lists of deities in select Taoist rites, Valerie Hansen has speculated that there was little to no adaptation to specific deities, leaving a gulf between high Taoist liturgy and worship of the local gods." At a certain level, her observations seem to hold true for most of

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the T'ien-t'ai manuals as well. There are important exceptions, however, especially when one looks beyond the litanies to the subscripted passages that provide instructions for their adaptation. In their manuals for granting the bodhisattva precepts, Chih-li and Tsun-shih include the invocation of specific Chinese gods such as the Five Thearchs, various stellar deities, the Marquis of the Wind, the Master of Rain, the Duke of Thunder, and the Lightning Mother, all of whom the Sung court ordered enshrined at local district and prefectural altars.100 The Rite of Recitation for the Altar of [the Buddha of] Blazing Radiance (Ch'ih-sheng-kuang tao-ch'ang nien-sung i), a manual by Tsunshih that details a rite for protection of household, community, and state centering on the Buddha Tejoprabha, gives specific instruction for inclusion of local gods into the ceremonial proceedings: "Depending on whether it is for the state or the local household," Tsunshih states, "one should simply note that the place in which one dwells has its particular [gods] that it serves. One may add to or reduce their number as one sees fit."101 These include such categories as gods of national and local shrines (such as the Five Sage Princes), gods of city walls, dragon spirits who protect the household, tutelary gods of different crafts, granaries, and shops, as well as astral deities who safeguard the household from misfortune. This same practice of modifying the liturgical pantheon to accommodate specific local divinities also became a regular feature of the influential rite of offering for the beings of water and land (shui-lu fa-hui) as codified by the thirteenth-century T'ien-t'ai master Chih-p'an. From these examples one can surmise that Buddhist rites, and possibly Taoist chiao and chai as well, might have incorporated local gods to a degree more than Hansen would allow. If these "higher" rites are thought of as hegemonic—that is, as working with symbolically coded motifs of conversion or reiteration of systemic hierarchies—then Buddhist rites or Taoist chiao need not give formal place to the local gods in their "high" pantheons for the local gods to figure as key dramatis personae. With regard to contemporary celebrations for local gods, Kenneth Dean and others have shown that Taoist chiao or "cosmic renewal" rites serve as a core marker in an extended "liturgical framework" that is chiefly "Taoist" but that incorporates complex layers of ritual event. Often these include "shamanic" possession and non-Taoist blood sacrifice, which appropriately take place "outside" the shrine hall and chiao sanctuary proper.102 It is known from Hung Mai's Record of the Lis-

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tener (I-chien chih) and the writings of Sung literati that Taoist chiao were used in this fashion in the Sung. It is conceivable that Buddhist rites such as the Golden Light Offering and the massive Offering to Beings of Water and Land (shui-lu fa-hui)—which, not coincidentally, share certain structural similarities with the chiao— were intended to fill a similar niche.103 The essential point to bear in mind is that ritual convention treated the local gods more as wards of the Buddha dharma than as its sponsors. The Tejoprabha and Water and Land rites notwithstanding, a perfect example of such accommodation is the Golden Light offering and repentance—the T'ien-t'ai rite that Tsun-shih recommended be instituted at the White Crane Shrine in lieu of the traditional spring and fall sacrifice. In his supplementary Verses for Resolving Doubts about Replacing Blood Sacrifice with Vegetarian Feast, Tsun-shih further urged that the Golden Light Sutra be enshrined and worshiped daily in the home, as the sutra instructs in its chapter on Sri MahadevI (Chi-hsiang or Kung-te t'ien).104 Considering the particular complexion of this scripture, such a choice was anything but fortuitous. Some half a dozen different translations of the Golden Light Sutra were produced over the two and a half centuries between its first introduction to China by Dharmaksema (ca. 414-426) and the influential translation by the pilgrim I-ching in 703. Not unlike the Lotus Sutra, the bulk of the text is taken up with promoting the blessings that will come with veneration of the text as sacred icon, the majority of which are directed to sovereign rulers and the protection of their realms. Central to this scenario is the notion that the physical text of the sutra itself embodies the divine presence of the dharma, so that whoever exalts the scripture thereby appropriates the forces that govern existence as a whole. Unlawfulness and heteropraxy (fei-fa; adharma) in the spiritual realm are homologized to violation (tsui) in the secular order, with the understanding that the Buddha dharma is the unitary order against which both are measured. In chapter after chapter, select gods (shen) and demons (kuei) of the mundane world pledge divine protection to human sovereigns who uphold the sutra and its law.105 Thus the sutra provides a ready-made blueprint for constructing extended hierarchies of authority around the transcendent marker of the Buddhist Three Jewels. The lists of Indian gods that appear in the various liturgical writings of Tsun-shih and Chih-li are themselves strikingly parallel to the cast of benevolent deities of the Golden Light Sutra, enough so to

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suggest that the sutra may have served as a paradigm for the construction of the extended T'ien-t'ai pantheon of Indian and Chinese gods. That Tsun-shih would further recommend the Golden Light Sutra as the ideal focus for worship at community and home shrines is in perfect keeping with the scriptures overall cultic orientation. A diversity of cults were spun off from the Golden Light Sutra within decades after its introduction to China in the early fifth century, including—among others—a repentance rite for the elimination of sins (based on the sutra's Repentance chapter, Ch'an-hui p'in); individual cults of offering inspired from chapters to the Four Divine Guardian Kings (ssu t'ien-wang) and the figures Sarasvati (Ta-pientsai t'ien) and Sri MahadevI; and the "releasing living creatures" (fang-sheng) ceremony discussed above. Because of its narrative associations with the mythos of righteous rule, the sutra and its cult earned a special place among the early medieval aristocracy in China, generating considerable patronage at the Chinese, Korean, and Japanese courts.106 The T'ien-t'ai patriarch Chih-i himself inherited and left his stamp on this tradition, probably as a vestige of the royal cult fostered under Emperor Wu of the Liang (r. 502-550) and continued by the rulers of the succeeding Ch'en Dynasty (557-589). During his various sojourns to Chin-ling, Chih-i preached regularly on the Golden Light Sutra for the Ch'en emperor. He also composed a manual for a sevenday Golden Light Repentance, thereby incorporating the rite into the repertory of the four samadhis. Inspired by this example, Tsun-shih and his dharma brother Chih-li made the Releasing Living Creatures Ceremony and the Golden Light Repentance regular events in the model liturgical cycles of T'ien-chu and Yen-ch'ing monasteries. To support this practice, both men also produced recodifications of Chih-i's original manual for the Golden Light Repentance. Chih-i's Rite for the Golden Light Repentance is based on the Dharmaksema translation of the Golden Light Sutra. Its cultic contours and list of divinities are drawn from the scripture's various chapters, with special emphasis on the goddess Sri MahadevI.107 Although the liturgical structure is similar to those of other confessional rites of the four samadhis, its contents are sketched in only the barest outline. Finding Chih-i's manual to be ambiguous on certain liturgical details—especially the procedure for presenting offerings of food and drink to the gods—Tsun-shih redressed these deficiencies by turning to the T'ang translation of I-ching and Chih-i's Repentance Rite for the Lotus Samadhi. His recodified and expanded

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version of the manual was published in the form of the Emended Rite for the Golden Light Repentance (Chin-kuang-ming ch'an-fa puchu i), known also by the alternate title of Rite of the Golden Light Altar for Protection of the State (Chin-kuang-ming hu-kuo tao-ch'ang i). Although a version of the text probably existed earlier, it was finalized and submitted to the Sung court in 1022, in response to Empress Dowager Chang-i s request for Tsun-shih to perform rites of repentance on behalf of the state.108 The Golden Light Repentance gained considerable prominence among T'ien-t'ai clerics of the Sung as an intensive penance and samadhi retreat, as seen by the frequency with which it appears in the biographies of eminent monks. Tsun-shih's own community had a particularly strong tradition of Golden Light retreat practice.109 But while this element of repentance is retained in Tsun-shih's Emended Rite, Tsun-shih makes a special point of emphasizing the role of "summoning and dispensing offerings" (chao-ch'ing san-sa or fengkung) to the Buddhist protector gods (t'ien and/or shen). Hence the rite came to be referred to, alternatively, as either a "rite of repentance" (ch'an-fa) or an "offering to the gods" (kung-t'ien), depending on the particular spin that the liturgical community put on its performance. The central figure for Tsun-shih is the goddess Sri Mahadevi, with SarasvatI, the Four Divine Guardian Kings, and various other figures of the Golden Light Sutra playing significant but secondary roles. Along with making offering to these beings, food and drink are also dispensed to the "good gods" (shan-shen) and demigods of "this sovereign land" (kuo-nei). The list includes "the gods of famous mountains, rivers, and spiritually potent shrines; gods of the prefecture and local soil; and gods who protect the true dharma in the locale or the monastery where one lives."110 Tsun-shih specifies that the core cycle of the Golden Light repentance or offering should be performed at select points of the day and night for a fixed period of one week. Sung records, however, indicate that it could also last only three days or be extended to as long as one hundred. 111 Location was flexible, allowing for performance in a Buddhist monastery, a layman's home, or any other public or private edifice, so long as the site was properly consecrated as a ritual sanctuary (tao-ch'ang). The main images of the sanctuary were Sakyamuni Buddha, flanked by Sri Mahadevi to his left and SarasvatI and the Four Guardian Kings to his right. Although Tsunshih provides no specific instruction on this point, additional deities

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could be included, so long as space was sufficient. T'ien-t'ai tracts from the Southern Sung that bear on the Golden Light Offering make provisions for anywhere from fourteen to twenty-four such altar sites (wei). They also indicate that there was a good deal of controversy over the question of divine protocol—that is to say, which particular deities should be included and where they should be placed in relation to one another.112 Tsun-shih stipulates that a second "detached" (pieh-ch'u) altar site be used for offerings presented specifically to these "gods/spirits (shen) of the four directions." He instructs, "In principle one should separately establish a purified site (ching-ti) outside of the sanctuary proper (tao-ch'ang wai). A small altar space (t'an) sprinkled with aromatic infusions will suffice. Strive to make it stately and pure . . . large enough to move about and do circumambulation." 113 This arrangement is itself reminiscent of that used in the Ullambana and Food Bestowal rites, in which offerings are first presented to the Three Jewels and, secondarily, transported to another location (i.e, "purified ground") for distribution to the hungry ghosts. More important, it agrees closely with Tsun-shih s instructions for setting up a special altar site for the Golden Light Offering on the occasion of the seasonal offering at the White Crane Shrine on Mount Tungi. Is it possible, then, that in substituting the Golden Light Offering for traditional blood sacrifice the altar sites were arranged so that the local shrine served as the "subsidiary or outer altar," with the local god himself becoming the focal point of the action? Or, as when Taoist chiao rites are used at local shrines, might the shrine itself have been consecrated as the "inner" altar for the Buddhist deities and the altar to the local god temporarily moved "outside"? As the spatial protocols of the rite imply, the choreography of the Golden Light Offering is governed at every level by hierarchy. Like the Food Bestowal, Ullambana, and Releasing Living Creatures rites, the Golden Light liturgy—even when performed as an offering to the gods (kung-t'ien)—is not purely a rite of offering per se. The emphasis is on confession and the renewal of oaths of allegiance to and before the Three Jewels, with the presentation of food as a ceremonial pretext for sealing the bond. Moreover, this collective service to the Buddha dharma is the ultimate source of ritual empowerment, not the exchange of the food itself. At all levels of ritual symbolism and choreography, the local gods are cast as unenlightened wards of the Buddhist Three Jewels, not unlike their human or less-than-human counterparts. Hence the rite devolves not simply

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as a Buddhist surrogate for feasts of celebration for the community gods but as a combined ceremony of conversion and cosmic renewal, in which indigenous gods and human community alike are pledged anew to the Buddhist dharma. Through this pledge, the world is realigned and misfortune averted. The altar sites having been established, the rite begins with the usual invocation of the high deities of the main altar through the eidetic offering of incense and flowers. After the specific aims of the rite have been declared to them, formal presentation of the offerings follows. The food is offered to each of the deities of the main altar, first to the saintly (sheng) beings of the Buddhist Three Jewels, then separately to the high Indian guardian deities and, finally, to the "various gods of the four directions" (ssu-fang chu shen) located at the outer offering site. While the laity may offer prostrations to all of the deities invoked, the Buddhist clergy are enjoined to do so only to the saintly beings of the Buddhist Three Jewels, the lower gods being beneath their dignity. The symbolic differences in status that attend the activities of the main and outer altars are further underscored by the specific terminological distinctions that Tsun-shih uses in his manual. The binome "feng-kung," which (along with kung-yang) is the usual Buddhist designation for an offering from an inferior to a superior or a devotee to a deity, is to be used to refer chiefly to the offering sequence at the main altar. But for the offering to the lower gods and spirits (shen) at the outer altar, only the term "san-sa," scattering and sprinkling abroad, should be used.114 These lesser gods and spirits, it would seem, are only marginal guests at the royal banquet. They are presented with victuals en masse, as lesser officers and foot soldiers of a lord might be served in the outer court or barracks. As unenlightened beings, they are not much higher in status than the laity and common folk for whom the rite is being performed. Duly summoned and satiated, these lesser gods and spirits are treated to the same instruction in the dharma and renewal of religious vows as their human patrons. Assembled at the inner sanctuary, the officiating clergy and lay participants next pay formal veneration (li-ching) to the list of saintly Buddhas and bodhisattvas of the Golden Light Sutra. Here the host of Indian guardians gods and progenitors and their high Chinese counterparts are conspicuously excluded from the list, presumably implying that they, like their lay counterparts, are also on the giving rather than the receiving end of the obeisances. Standing "as though

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face to face" with the Buddhas, sins are collectively confessed, merit is dedicated, and the bodhisattva vow is professed "universally on behalf of all beings throughout the dharmadhatu." After a short period of ritual circumambulation and recitation of the three refuges, the group retires to a separate location, where a monk ascends a high seat (for preaching the dharma) and edifies gods and humans alike with the recitation of the Golden Light Sutra. As the Sutra of Golden Light specifies, the merits of the Golden Light Repentance may be "transferred" or applied to a host of worldly concerns. At two distinct points in the ritual proceeding Tsun-shih specifies that the patrons may formally emend the litanies to "declare their particular intentions for holding the rite, stating them as they see fit." This occurs once at the end of the verse prayers in praise of the Three Jewels (just before the formal invitation of the deities into the sanctuary) and again during the dedicatory prayer that accompanies the offering to the gods at the outside altar site.115 But whatever the apotropaic or worldly concern may be, it is essential that it be consistent with the general principles of the Mahayana dharma. In the prefatory chapters to the Emended Rite for the Golden Light Repentance, Tsun-shih dedicates an entire section to the question of wrongful intentions in performance of the rite. Two points stand supreme. One is the importance of single-minded practice of meditation and repentance in the hope of eliminating one's own sinful obstacles. The second is emphasis on "protection of the dharma and the request that [the law of] karmic cause and condition be preached." 116 If one's aims are heartfelt and truly receptive to these ends, the Three Jewels and the "good gods" are "sure to respond." This subordination of all benefit and efficacy to the ultimate valuative ground of the Buddhist dharma is illustrated in Tsunshih's litany for the concluding vow: May all the eight categories of god and beneficent spirit be increased in their awesome spiritual [powers] and brought near so that they may always watch over and protect this land of ours. May the winds be propitious and the rains fall according to season, allowing grains and fruits to be produced in rich abundance. May the loving presence of our sagely emperor and benevolent kings know no limit; may the myriad ministers and vassals constantly guard their honor and the myriad people of the four classes eternally be blessed with riches, joy, and peace. May everyone from our intimate acquaintances to sentient beings everywhere—

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whether they be sponsors of the Buddha dharma, our fathers, mothers, elders, teachers, or monks—together give rise to true faith and make the resolution to seek perfect enlightenment.117 Summation The Golden Light rites of offering to the world-protecting gods, the rite for bestowing food on hungry ghosts, and the Ullambana all entail cultic foci and ritual symbolism that are similar to the Chinese practice of placating gods, ancestors, and the restless dead with offerings of food. Such resonances with indigenous topoi not only commended these Buddhist rites as immediately applicable to Chinese religious concerns, thereby contributing to their initial popularity, but they also opened the Buddhist rites and their symbolic contents to continual superscription from indigenous ritual systems. This sort of permeability of horizon further ensured that these rites became a site of continual contests between "orthodoxy" and "depravity." Given the complex nuances of meaning that attended these rites, Tsun-shih's motives in promoting them must have been multifarious. With their strong resemblance to established Chinese motifs of ritual culture, the Golden Light and Food Bestowal rites could be a powerful medium for reaching out to the local populace, winning their conversion, and reaping the rewards—financial, social, and spiritual —of their confidence. Yet, just as these rituals could be seen as a vehicle of socioeconomic empowerment, so could they equally be seen as a sanctioned Buddhist medium for properly handling relations with non-Buddhist gods and demonic beings.

Protocols of Ritual Performance Ocho Enichi has characterized the institutional establishment of the Buddhist sangha in early medieval China as a process driven by a keen concern on the part of local sovereigns for the concrete benefits that Buddhist mastery of occult processes could provide their realms. What began as a reverence for the thaumaturgical charisma of individual persons, Ocho surmises, was in time transferred to the institutions and lore of Buddhist tradition, becoming routinized as the "laws" (fa) of moral reciprocity and the "arcane arts of the Tao" (tao-shu) that enabled thaumaturgy to operate. The linchpin of this lore was Buddhist cultic and ritual technology, the formalities of which received a steady infusion of attention from state clerics and

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their court patrons over the course of the Six Dynasties, Sui, and Tang periods.118 Although one might argue with his model of routinization, what Ocho says of the cultural dynamics shaping Buddhism in the early medieval period continues to be strikingly applicable to Tsun-shih and the Northern Sung. Despite the transcendent and Salvationist cast of their ideology, Buddhists dealt with all of those areas of "worldly" fortune that religion has characteristically addressed in China, from protection of the nation, maintenance of natural cycles, and collective well-being, to individual health, prosperity, and negotiation of the afterlife. The same dharma or law that points the way to freedom from the world also provides power over that world, its transcendentalism becoming the source or marker for effective living in all its forms. According to Ocho, what ensured the success of the Buddhist sangha in China was the widening perception that its ideology, culture, and institutions were as effective in safeguarding everyday fortune and misfortune as those of indigenous traditions. And for Ocho this sacred technology reached its epitome in the distinctive ritual culture that developed during the late Six Dynasties period, a culture to which T'ang Buddhists and Sung figures such as Tsun-shih were themselves heir. Two points are particularly compelling about Ocho's view. The first is that the transcendent aims of salvation and the mundane ends of "worldly benefit" were served by one and the same system of efficacy, even though as goals they may have been weighted differently. The second is that ritual was a key technology through which both of these ends were negotiated, a fact that, in turn, made the habitus of ritual performance foundational to the discourse of sanctity, thaumaturgy, and efficacy as a whole. The rites for worship of Kuan-yin and Amitabha could be applied equally to pursuit of the most lofty experience of samadhi as to everyday protection of the household. The Golden Light and Food Bestowal offerings, although ideologically centered on the Three Jewels as the effective source of power, also sought the good fortune of the local community by normalizing relations with the shen and kuei, the traditional foci of popular religion. As a repertory for lay practitioners, this set of rites promised to deliver the full range of protections and blessings that the customary practices of blood and wine offering were thought to bring and more. As Tsun-shih's reputation as a thaumaturge grew and his ritual reforms gained wider acceptance in Chekiang, one might assume

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that the conventions of ritual performance highlighted in these liturgies entered popular consciousness as a part of the general culture that defined efficacious ritual action. Valerie Hansen, in her Changing Gods in Medieval China, points to ritual performance and oral miracle tale narrative as the chief vehicles through which popular religious culture was disseminated: "It seems that people talked to each other constantly about the miracles of individual gods. It was through these oral accounts that people learned the principles by which the gods were thought to behave. And it was on the basis of these accounts that they decided to which gods to pray."119 Local gods were not the only beneficiaries of this oral culture. Buddhist cults devoted to reciting the Diamond and Golden Light sutras, intoning Amitabhas name for rebirth in the Pure Land, or appealing to the power of Kuan-yin to heal or alleviate misfortune were also promoted through the populace by means of the tale of miraculous response, as the sheer number of such narratives contained in Sung miracle tale collections demonstrates. 120 Along with the usual references to "power" (li) and "benefit" (i or li), Tsun-shihs ritual tracts are laced with the distinctive language of "stimulus" (kan) and "response" (ying), a feature that links these rites directly with the copious Sung "miracle tale" (ying-yen chi) literature preserved in such works as Hung Mais Record of the Listener (I-chien chih) or dedicated collections such as Tsung-hsiao s Record of Numinous Responses Connected with the Lotus Sutra (Fa-hua ching hsienying lu). In at least one instance, that of the Pure Land cult, Tsunshih himself produced both a manual for ritual practice (his Two Teachings on the Pure Land [Ching-t'u erh-menj) and a collection of exemplary tales (Abbreviated Accounts of Rebirth [Wang-sheng hsifang lueh-chuanj) to promote its benefits. Both were geared to laity. Throughout his ritual manuals Tsun-shih consciously invokes the kan-ying structure as a foundational concept for articulating the dynamics of ritual efficacy. Unlike the Western notion of the "miracle," which generally entails an impromptu and unilateral intrusion of sacred power into human life, numinous "manifestation" or "response" (ying) is understood to be a transactional process that is initiated by "stimulation" or "arousal" (kan) of the sacred on the part of the devotee or beneficiary. Typically this transaction is described as a "coming into sympathetic accord" (hsiang-ying) or an establishing of "causal nexus" (chi, chi-yiian) between the aspirant and the sacred order. Metaphorically likened to the establishing of common cause and identity by the joining of "tallies"

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(ch'i), this concept of sympathetic influence implies the existence of hermetic patterns of behavioral expectation and principle (li) that precede and enable the flow of stimulus and response. Within the field of cultural practice, these patterns of expectation become none other than the complex culture of symbolic gesture and ideological valuation that constitute the heart of ritual performance. Thus the norms of ritual procedure set down in Tsun-shih s manuals are understood to be the medium through which the sacred powers are accessed and efficacy is manifested. Without them, miracles are impossible. As norms, they also become the field of scrutiny when ritual falls short or relations with the sacred are called into question. By way of illustration, I take a typical theoretical representation of efficacy from Tsun-shihs Rite for the Invocation of Kuan-yin Samadhi. Following the lead of Chih-i's ritual writings, Tsun-shih conceptually organizes the liturgical content of his manuals according to a common twofold rubric of "phenomenal ritual action" (shih-i) and "contemplation of noumenal principle" (li-kuan), also referred to as "contemplative insight" (kuan-hui) or simply "mental visualization and actualization" (yiin-hsiang, ts'un-hsiang, kuan-hsiang). Phenomenal ritual action refers to the orchestrated sequences of physical and verbal gesture that constitute the manifest ritual performance. These are organized into a series of discrete phases—incense offering, veneration, confession, vow, and so forth—the unitary design of which is often euphemistically conveyed by the designation "tenpart phenomenal procedure." Contemplation of principle and visualization refer to interiorized meditations that thematically parallel and animate the outer ritual activity. In the opening chapter of his Rite for the Invocation of Kuan-yin Samadhi, Tsun-shih explains the link between ritual performance and the dynamic of efficacious response as follows: "Phenomenal [ritual] activity" (shih) entails performance of the ten-part phenomenal [ritual procedure] [described] here. "[Contemplation of] principle" (li) involves two aspects. The first is conformity with the true contemplation of the middle way, which is [the essence of] the dharanl [that is recited at the central juncture of the rite]. The second is cultivation of contemplation in the midst of phenomenal [ritual] activity (li-shih hsiu-kuan). [The two general dimensions of] phenomenal activity and [contemplation of] principle by necessity encompass the three modes of activity [i.e., of body, speech, and mind]. When the three modes of activity work together to form a causal nexus (chi), [noumenal] principle

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is sure to respond (ying). When there is response, the [three] modes of activity are purified. When the [three] modes of activity are purified, obstacles are eliminated. When obstacles are eliminated, one comes into full conjunction with the meritorious powers [of Buddhahood].121 Statements of this sort, which are commonplace in Tsun-shih's writings, indicate the extent to which Tsun-shih's understanding of efficacious response was rooted in a ritually nuanced relationship with the sacred. They also suggest that his liturgies as a whole were informed by a high level of theoretical and practical systematization. Both points are borne out by the ritual contents of the manuals themselves. The description of Tsun-shih's lay rites provided above should already suggest some measure of this uniformity, particularly in the use of such conventions as ritual purification, the opening incense offering, veneration of the Buddhas through prostration and praising of their names, recitation of confession and vow litanies, ritual circumambulation and chanting of sutras, and so forth. The paradigmatic role that Chih-i's Repentance Rite for the Lotus Samadhi played in the construction of Tsun-shih's manuals is particularly apparent in the case of the Kuan-yin, Pure Land, and Golden Light liturgies. Although an examination of the contents of this generic ritual program is beyond the scope of this chapter,122 for the sake of illustrating the continuities of concept and structure that pertain between Tsun-shih's rites, I present select examples in tabular form to allow for easy comparison (see appendix). Wherever possible, the descriptive headings used in the table have been taken directly from the texts themselves, reflecting the nomenclature and principles by which they employ their own contents. Although each manual has its particular cultic orientation, comparison of their ritual contents reveals them to be remarkably uniform in structure. They display a common grammar and syntax of ritual procedure, and they organize this structure with a consistent set of terminological markers and literary conventions. Thus individual rites and their manuals ultimately become little more than variant idiomatic expressions— or, in some cases, expansions and shifts in emphasis—of an underlying template of uniform ritual structure. At the same time that individual manuals promote the form of their specific cults, they also reinforce awareness of an architectonic program of ritual orthopraxy that extends across all fields of ritual performance. Tsun-shih deliberately sought to highlight and normalize this liturgical com-

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monality through production of his manuals. Looking back to ritual structures evident in classic T'ien-t'ai liturgical tracts such as Chih-i s Repentance Rite for the Lotus Samadhi, he extracted these patterns and made them the template for organizing Buddhist liturgy of all forms. The growing success of this ritual program over the course of the Northern Sung contributed to a general strengthening of Buddhist liturgical presence among the lay populace, shaping concepts of ritual efficacy and, ultimately, preparing the way for the rise of nonclerical liturgical specialists and religious confraternities in the Southern Sung and Yuan. It also made Chih-i's Repentance Rite for the Lotus Samadhi possibly the single most influential liturgical manual in Chinese Buddhist history. The Politics of Ritual Protocol: Points of Encounter and Tension T'ien-t'ai lay and monastic ritual was informed by a highly integrated system of liturgical principles and formalized gestures. Through the dissemination of this program in the form of different lay cults, one can also surmise that it helped to foster a broad reshaping of ritual authority and efficacy discourse at the local level, providing new codes for everything from narrative tropes of miraculous response to the symbolic determinants of ritual authority. One might also surmise that this cultural transformation did not take place in a vacuum, that it did not entail a unilateral imposition of new ritual lore on an otherwise ritualless landscape. Buddhist ritual specialists like Tsun-shih had to establish the viability of their traditions in a process of continual interaction with existing efficacy discourses, the culture of wine and blood sacrifice to gods and ghosts being one such discourse or system. Insofar as T'ien-t'ai ritual forms, litanies of recitation, and ritual visualizations are laced with ideological ramifications, ritual performance alone must have promoted a certain level of ideological awareness and exclusivity in Chinese lay communities. At the same time, following Valerie Hansen's argument for a populace in the Sung that was essentially "practical" and performative in its religious orientation, the concrete language of ritual gesture may have served more as a primary denominator for negotiating boundaries of religious identity and valuation than as abstract doctrine. Miracle tale collections such as Hung Mai's Record of the Listener display a keen sensitivity to the discreteness of different ritual cults and traditions—and even to their constituent ritual forms, provided that one is familiar

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enough with Buddhist and Taoist ritual to read the signals. All of this holds even though many ritual clients tended to shift eclectically and easily among different ritual specialists. Different ritual traditions and specialists offered solutions to the same problems, but they seem to have taken care to reinforce the discreteness of their individual systems.123 A full century or so before Hung Mai, Tsun-shih was intensely concerned with the demarcation of cultic boundaries through a dominant idiom of ritual performance. This concern is evident in the extraordinary attention that he gave to establishing a normative tradition of ritual training and practice for T'ien-t'ai priests in his model T'ien-chu Monastery, in the prescience that he shows in his deliberate use of ritual text and the medium of printing as a means for actively ensuring the future transmission of ritual orthopraxy, and in his choice of the idiom of ritual culture—for example, the cult practice of blood and wine sacrifice—as the arena for mounting his campaign to ideologize and restructure popular religious practice. The point here is not so much whether or to what extent these different ritual and religious systems persisted as intrinsically bounded and ideologically ramified cultural entities. In fact, the ubiquitous concern for efficacy, the diversity of human experience and Chinese social life, and the disparate symbolic cultures that supported them must all have encouraged a continual deflection and permeation of any such boundary, even within the cognitive life of a single individual. But rather than framing our discussion today in terms of monolithic ideological and cultic essences, we might take a more processual approach to culture and look to the mechanisms and motives through which cultic and ideological boundaries were reproduced in Chinese social practice. Such an approach, I would suggest, is itself commensurate both with Tsun-shih's modus operandi as a religious reformer and with the tenor of his ritual works. Tsun-shih's emphasis on the Golden Light offering and the Food Bestowal rites itself resonates unmistakably with existing ritual and symbolic systems of Chinese religion, drawing considerable power from the traditional role of food in community celebrations and offerings to gods and ancestors. Conventions of hierarchization in the construction of altar space and the charting of ritual choreography also share commonalities with indigenous Chinese counterparts. Any of these elements—together with most all of the microscopic formal gestures that make up

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ritual procedure—could simultaneously foster a polysemic blurring or overlay of ritual codes and serve as a demarcator of ritual exclusivity and difference. For ritual specialists who had a keen ideological investment in a given system, close attention to these areas of overlap and differences must have been an instrumental part of maintaining the integrity of their respective traditions. The Significance of Tsun-shih's Liturgical

Program

Tz'u-yun Tsun-shih was a cleric whose mission encompassed a wide range of religious projects, the bulk of which found a common focus in his propensity for Buddhist liturgies. Whether it be the establishment of a model public monastic system to transmit the T'ien-t'ai teachings or a comprehensive program to transform the lay populace Tsun-shih looked to ritual as the main vehicle for realizing his goal of the routinization of Buddhist tradition. In his construction of a ritual repertory for laity, Tsun-shih drew on T'ien-t'ai tradition and the prevailing cultic interests of his age, astutely adapting this program to the indigenous ritual and symbolic culture of the gods, ghosts, and ancestors. As a template for organizing and fleshing out the ritual content of these different cults, he looked back to paradigmatic ritual structures evident in the ritual writings of T'ien-t'ai patriarchs such as Chih-i and Chan-jan (711-782). Promoted among the Buddhist clergy and laity through model ritual manuals and routinized ritual practice, Tsun-shih's recodified liturgical curriculum contributed to a broad transformation of the discourse and culture of efficacy in Sung China, the impact of which was felt in both the nonclerical Buddhist lay movements and the mainstream liturgical culture of the Buddhist monastery for generations to come. Chikusa Masaaki, following leads initiated by Suzuki Chusei's ground-breaking studies of Pure Land lay societies in the Sung, has suggested that the Southern Sung marked a watershed in the emergence of a semi-autonomous, lay-centered devotional tradition. Hampered by government policies restricting ordination and public activity, the Buddhist clergy of the period lost ground among the populace to a new class of lay liturgist and confraternity, which coopted and began to displace the ritual authority of the Buddhist clergy. This domestication of Buddhist liturgy by religious specialists on the margins of the clerical community was most strongly felt in the emergence of autonomous lay confraternities such as the People of the Way (tao-min), the so-called White Lotus (Pai-lien)

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and White Cloud (Pai-yiin) movements, founded by the charismatic evangelists Mao Tzu-yuan (1086/88-1160) and K'ung Ch'ing-chueh (1043-1121).124 This picture suggests that there was a close symbiotic resonance with the Buddhist clergy (especially the T'ien-t'ai clergy) in all phases of this historical process. Patterns of lay practice were initially inspired by and modeled on clerical institutions; and the competition for ritual authority that persisted, unabated, between Buddhist monks and lay specialists through the latter part of the Sung devolved as a struggle over "orthodoxy" (cheng) and "heterodoxy" (hsieh) rooted in the common idiom of clerically sponsored norms and practices. These movements exemplify the penetration of clerically sponsored liturgical and devotional forms into nonclerical and nonelite society, with the former becoming so successfully assimilated as to assume a life of its own quite independent of the Buddhist monastic system. With this shift in ritual demographics came an intensification of the struggle for religious authority between the state-sanctioned clergy and these emergent lay movements. It is no mere coincidence that the intense effort on the part of the T'ien-t'ai clergy during the thirteenth century to firm up clerical orthodoxies through production of monumental historiographical and doctrinal compendia such as Tsung-hsiao's Compendium of the Land of Bliss or Chih-p'an's Comprehensive History of the Buddhas and Patriarchs came at a time when lay sectarian activity was at an all time high. As is already well known, Mao himself had deep ties to T'ien-t'ai teachers and institutions in the Che-hsi circuit, having allegedly studied under the T'ien-t'ai master Pei-ch'an Ching-fan (d. 1128), a figure associated with the Ch'ao-kuo Monastery in Hua-t'ing, one of the most influential T'ien-t'ai monasteries and lay Pure Land centers in northern Chekiang and Kiangsu. Mao's spiritual awakening itself came through the practice of T'ien-t'ai "calming and contemplation" (chih-kuan); and when he began his evangelical career at Tien-shan Lake, he founded a White Lotus Society and constructed a White Lotus Repentance Hall (pai-lien ch'an-t'ang) "for collective Pure Land practice" not unlike those known to have existed at Ch'ao-kuo Monastery and elsewhere in T'ien-t'ai circles. Not coincidentally, fragments of his works display a keen orientation to T'ien-t'ai doctrine and practice, particularly as formulated in the Pure Land tracts of Tsun-shih and Chih-li. Vegetarianism and avoidance of taking life were foundational norms. For daily devotion he advocated ritual repentance and recitation of the Buddhas name,

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for which he himself compiled a Morning Rite of Veneration and Repentance (Ch'en-ch'ao li-ch'an). Although the source is a late and possibly biased one, Chih-p'an claims in the Comprehensive History that "as far as the Rite for Morning Repentance is concerned, [Mao] abridged Tz'u-yiin [Tsun-shih] s Seven Day Repentance and circulated it as an independent text without acknowledging the ritual tract on which it was based."125 If the Comprehensive History's account of Mao's spiritual pedigree is to be believed, the historical association with Tsun-shih is not a fortuitous one. The T'ien-t'ai master Ching-fan, under whom Mao is said to have studied, was a disciple of Ch'ao-kuo Wei-chan (10091073) and Shen-wu Ch'u-ch'ien (1011-1075), both of whom were grand-successors of Tsun-shih through Shen-chao Pen-ju. Ching-fan was himself an ardent practitioner of the Lotus and Golden Light repentances as well as the author of several penance manuals, one for the Golden Light Repentance and a second for practice of the Pure Land three-year or "long-term repentance" (ch'i-ch'an). While serving as abbot of Ch'ao-kuo Monastery in Hua-t'ing, Ching-fan's teacher Wei-chan carved a statue of Amitabha and constructed a special Pure Land Repentance Hall (ching-t'u ch'an-t'ang) to house its worship. Through his efforts the T'ien-t'ai teachings are said to have thrived for the first time in the Che-hsi circuit.126 Yet this picture will remain incomplete until full account is taken of (1) the field of ritual praxis and discourse that served as the generative ground for this dialogic process and (2) the hard institutional mechanisms and the conventional social sites through which this ritual culture was made available to the lay public. Along with Tsun-shih's efforts to reestablish the T'ien-t'ai order, he evangelized actively to convert the local populace into an ideal lay community. To this end he structured the liturgical routines of his model T'ien-chu and Ch'eng-t'ien monasteries to accommodate the religious needs of the extended local community; he also produced and disseminated specific ritual manuals to serve as a foundation for an active lay ritual program. The upshot of all this, I would suggest, is that Tsun-shih's model liturgical program did achieve a high degree of penetration among the Chekiang populace, indirectly laying the sociocultural groundwork for the unleashing of popular liturgical culture that came with the semi-autonomous vegetarian societies and lay devotional fraternities of the Southern Sung. To substantiate this claim would require more direct evidence

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from records of Sung lay life and thick descriptions of the liturgical cycles and the socioeconomic circumstances of the institutions and communities that staged public ritual. It would be impossible, not to mention premature, to attempt such a sketch here. But in the interest of future research let me suggest some possible areas for further scrutiny. One area of promise is the much neglected and maligned monastery itself (anathema, unfortunately, to all too many scholars of Chinese "popular religion"). By the Southern Sung most major monasteries, irrespective of sectarian affiliation, housed permanent halls for devotion to Kuan-yin and Amitabha; sites for performance of the Water and Land rite (shui-lu fa-hui) and its close cousin the FoodBestowal rite for hungry ghosts; altars to the Buddhist guardian deities, deva-kings, and arhats; and shrines to local community gods.127 Moreover, the published monastic codes of the Sung and Yuan—together with their Japanese replications—demonstrate a common liturgical cycle that offered the public a regular menu of cultic programs in these halls, many of them presented in conjunction with the traditional Chinese calendar of monthly ordinances and festivals. These included various rites familiar from the T'ien-t'ai ritual treatises, such as the Ullambana, the rite for Bestowing Food on Hungry Ghosts, Kuan-yins Repentance of Great Compassion, the Amitabha Repentance, and the ceremony for Releasing Living Creatures, to name a few.128 Many of the larger monastic institutions, such as the Upper T'ienchu Monastery in Hang-chou, became famous centers of pilgrimage in their own right. Renowned for its numinously potent statue of Kuan-yin, Upper T'ien-chu drew throngs of devotees and onlookers during major annual festivals or in the event of community rites for rain and aversion of calamity.129 Along similar lines, detached halls were often constructed in and around monasteries for the specific purpose of serving as centers to promote these cults to laity. The best example is the independent Amitabha or Pure Land cloisters that were constructed to house the activities of lay Pure Land societies at such well-known T'ien-t'ai centers as the Ch'engt'ien/Pai-lien Cloister on Mount Tung-i, the Ch'ao-kuo Monastery in Hua-t'ing, the Ching-chu Monastery in Hang-chou, and the T'ien-hua Monastery near Mount T'ien-t'ai.130 (These edifices should be distinguished from similar structures such as the Yen-ch'ing and T'ienchu "Halls for the Sixteen Contemplations," which were constructed for intensive monastic ritual retreat.) Another example might include the public-oriented chapels for Kuan-yin (Kuan-yin

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t'ang) that sprouted up throughout the southeast around the same time, many of which were doubtlessly inspired by similar halls at major cultic centers such as the Upper T'ien-chu Monastery in Hang-chou. Although often housed in and around monasteries, some of these halls (such as the Pure Land Hall used by Mao Tzu-yiian and his successor, Little Mao) came to be funded and administered under independent lay auspices. The better-documented chapels tend to be those associated with major institutions, usually monasteries that had size and influence sufficient to receive sanction from the court. Of possibly even greater import are the numerous unregistered "hermitages" (an), "halls" (t'ang), and clan-sponsored "mortuary or merit cloisters" (fen-ssu/an) that, according to Chikusa, proliferated in the Southern Sung. What was the concrete plan of these structures? What sort of activities were carried out there, and by whom? What actual evidence can be mustered for its liturgical cycle and program of religious teaching and practice? To whom was it directed? How was the congregation organized and composed? What were the structures of patronage and religious authority? And finally, to what extent did regularized centers and public events such as these contribute to a dissemination of Buddhist values and ritual forms, and to what level of understanding and participation? Questions of this sort remain to be answered. But I would suggest that in T'ien-t'ai-related institutions, there is a strong likelihood that the ritual programs enacted in these halls were based on norms set down by the likes of Tsun-shih and Chih-li.

APPENDIX Comparative Table of Tsun-shih's Rites Fa-hua san-mei ch'an-i: Chih-is Lotus Repentance

Ch'ing Kuan-yin i: Emended Invocation of Kuan-yin Repentance

Chin-kuang-mingpu-chu i: Emended Golden Light Repentance

1. Chapter encouraging practice

1. Chapter introducing rite and text

Five Prefatory Chapters on origin, aim . ..

2. Chapter explaining correct aim of the rite

.. . correct approach to rite, etc.

2. Chapter on preparatory expedients 3. Chapter explaining aim and singleminded perseverance

(continued)

Fa-hua san-mei ch'an-i: Chih-is Lotus Repentance

Ch'ing Kuan-yin i: Emended Invocation of Kuan-yin Repentance

Chin-kuang-ming pu-chu i: Emended Golden Light Repentance

4.1 Main Rite: Adorn sanctuary and altar

3.1 Main Rite: Adorn sanctuary and altar.. . . .. purification of participants

1. Main Rite: Adorn sanctuary and altar

4.2 Purification of participants

2. Purification of participants

3.2 Venerate deities 4.3 Incense and flower offering to 3 Jewels

3.3 Incense and flower offering to 3 Jewels

3. Incense and flower offering to 3 Jewels

3.4 Meditation on breath 4.4 Invitation of 3 Jewels (deities of rite)

3.5 Invitation of 3 Jewels (deities)...

4. Invitation of 3 Jewels/ deities, with recitation of dharanl

4.5 Praise of Buddhas, dedicatory prayer

.. . with praise and dedicatory prayer

5. Praise and dedicatory prayer

3.6 Prepare willow sprig and water offering

6. Homage to 3 Jewels and presentation of offerings

3.7 Recite 3 dhàranïs 7. Sequential veneration of deities, i.e., 3 Jewels

4.6 Sequential veneration of deities, i.e., 3 Jewels 4.7 Confession and vow sequence (T'ient'ai fivefold penance sequence)

3.8 Confession and vow sequence

8. Confession and vow sequence (T'ien-t'ai fivefold penance)

4.8 Circumambulation of altar (with recitation of sutra); Refuge in 3 Jewels

3.9 Veneration, then recitation of deities' names, with ritual circumambulation

9. Circumambulation with recitation of deities' names; Refuge in 3 Jewels

3.10 Ascend high seat and recite sutra

10.Recite sutra on seats at separate site

4.9 Explanation of sutra recitation 4.10Seated Meditation or sutra recitation (at separate site)

5. Chapter explaining 3. Chapter encouraging signs of success practice of the rite

392

Fang-sheng tz'u-chi fa-men: Releasing Living Creatures Rite

Shou p'u-sa chieh i: Rite for Giving Bodhisattva Precepts

1. Arrange site; address creatures on purpose of rite

1. Explain significance of precepts; generate faith

Shih-shih wen/fa: Food Bestowal for Hungry Ghosts

2. Empower holy water with dharanl; sprinkle creatures

Purify vessel, food, and water for offering; Engender compassion

2. Invite 3 Jewels and 3. Invite the deva/divine protectors 3 Jewels and announce purpose of rite Request 3 Jewels to purify and transform creatures' forms Venerate Sakyamuni, Ratnasikhin, Kuan-yin, and Maitreya; Prayer to transform beings

Venerate 3 Jewels and Kuan-shih-yin; Prayer to nourish and transform beings

4. Grant 3 Refuges to creatures

3. Give 3 Refuges

5. Recitation of names of Ratnasikhin Buddha

4. Request 5 Saints (Sakyamuni, Manjusri, Maitreya, etc.) to act as preceptors and witnesses

6. Preach twelvefold chain of causation

5. Request precepts from Buddhas and masters

Intone spell over offering seven times Recite names of 4 Tathagatas (with their spells)

7. Confession of sins Dedicatory vow of rebirth on behalf of creatures

6. Profession of 4 boundless vows of compassion

Prayer of offering, with dedication of merit and vow for salvation of beings

7. Interrogation on violations that prohibit receiving precepts 8. Threefold karmavacana recitation and visualization seals precepts

Place food on pure ground outside for ghosts; snap fingers

9. Request Buddhas to confirm receipt of precepts 10. Explanation of observance and violation (continued)

393

Ching-t'u ch'anyuan i: Seven-day Large Amitâbha Repentance

Ching-t'u erh-men: Morning Confession or Small Amitâbha Repentance

Chih-sheng-kuang niensung i: Tejoprabhä Rite

1. Adorn and purify ritual sanctuary; purification of participants

Properly dress and purify oneself; proceed to regular altar for household offerings

1. Establish the ritual sanctuary

2. Correct Meaning of Rite 2. Preparatory expedients: Memorize liturgy; prior purification, etc.

3. Purification of participants; Preparatory procedures

3. Clarify correct intent/meaning of rite

4. Explanation of prodecure for dhàranï

4. Main Rite: Incense Opening incense and and flower offering flower offering to 3 Jewels to 3 Jewels

5.1 Main Rite: Incense and flower offering to 3 Jewels

5. Invitation of deities (3 Jewels) 6. Praises of Buddha with dedicatory prayer

5.2Invitation of deities (3 Jewels) Praises of Buddhas, prayer for rebirth

5.3 Praises of Buddhas with dedicatory prayer 5.4Recitation of dhâranï

7. Sequence of veneration of deities

Sequence of specific venerations

5.5 Sequence of specific venerations

8. Confession/Vow sequence: (a) confess sins (b) implore Buddha (c) celebrate merit (d) transfer merit (e) vow for rebirth

Confession and vow sequence (includes only confession, followed seamlessly by line of dedication and vow of rebirth

5.6Confession and vow sequence

9. Circumambulation and recitation of sutra (with closing 3 Refuges)

Circumambulation and recitation of the line "Homage to the Pure Oceanlike Assembly of Bodhisattvas"

5.7 Circumambulation with recitation of sutra and closing refuges

394

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Ching-t'u ch'anyuan i: Seven-day Large Amitabha Repentance

Ching-t'u erh-men: Morning Confession or Small Amitabha Repentance

Chih-sheng-kuang niensung i: Tejoprabhä Rite

10. Seated meditation (visualization, contemplation, or recitation of name)

Retire to separate seat; recite Amitabha Sutra, Contemplation Sutra, or intone the Buddha's name

(Main rite ends)

6. Appendix on resolving doubts 7. Appendix on cautions to donors

Notes Research for this chapter was supported by a grant from the Committee on Chinese Studies of the American Council of Learned Societies, with funds provided by the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation. 1. Both the Shih-men cheng-t'ung and Fo-tsu t'ung-chi hold that Chih-li and Tsun-shih were fully "equal in spritual attainment" but construct a lineal history of the T'ien-t'ai patriarchy that traces the "orthodox transmission" (chengt'ung) exclusively through Chih-li. Tsun-shihs biography is relegated to chapters for "collateral branches" (p'ang-ch'u) or "individuals who lent splendor to root and branch." See Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.417b; and Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.207a. 2. Beginning with Wang Jih-hsius (d. 1173) Lung-she tseng-kuang ching-t'u wen and Tsung-hsiao's Le-pang wen-lei (dated 1200), Tsun-shihs Pure Land ritual manuals are invoked, cited, and summarized in a stream of Yiian, Ming, and Ch'ing period Pure Land works. Among them, P'u-tu's Pao-wang san-mei nien-fo chih-chih (ca. 1395) (T 47.369a-372b), Ch'eng-shih's Ching-t'u shih-yao (HTC 108.343b-352c), and various Pure Land tracts by the eminent Yiin-ch'i Chu-hung (1535-1615) stand out for their formative impact on clerical Pure Land in the late imperial period. 3. Biographical accounts of Tsun-shih begin to appear in Pure Land compendia within decades of his death, one of the earliest being Wang Ku's Hsinhsiu wang-sheng chuan (dated 1084), HTC 135.85b-86a. He is also included in the influential Lu-shan Lien-tsung pao-chien (T 47.325a-b) of the Yiian monk P'u-tu (1255-1330), where he is elegized as one of the historical luminaries in the "orthodox line of nien-fo practice." On the basis of P'u-tu's text, accounts of Tsun-shih have found their way into a succession of Ming and Ch'ing Pure Land compendia, Chu-hung's immensely popular Wang-sheng chi (dated 1584) being one of the more important examples (see T 51.134a-b). For discussion of P'u-tu

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and his influence on Yuan and Ming Pure Land, see Barend ter Haar's The White Lotus Teachings in Chinese Religious History (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1992), pp. 72-76. 4. The loyalist official Ts'ao Hsun (d. 1174) wrote the commemorative record and the memorial requesting the title for Tsun-shih; see his Sung-yin chi, in Ssuk'u chuan-shu chen-pen, series 7, vol. 203 (Taipei: Shang-wu yin-shu-kuan, 1977), 30.4a-b. 5. See Wu-lin hsi-hu kao-seng shih liieh, HTC 134.474b. 6. For discussions of the ritual repertoire of Chinese monasteries in the late imperial period, see Kamata Shigeo, Chugoku no bukkyo girei (Tokyo: Daizo shuppan, 1986); Holmes Welch, The Practice of Chinese Buddhism, 1900-1950 (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1967); and Johannes Prip-M0ller's monumental Chinese Buddhist Monasteries (Copenhagen, 1937; reprint Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 1967). As an example of the importance of Tsunshih's manuals, see the popular Ming/Ch'ing Ch'an-men jih-sung (Taipei: Hsinwen-feng ch'u-pan kung-ssu, 1988), which contains redactions of various ritual tracts by Tsun-shi and Chih-li. 7. See Chikusa Masaaki, Chugoku bukkyo shakaishi kenkyu (Kyoto: Dohosha, 1982); Chikusa Masaaki, "So-Gen ni okeru an do," Toyoshi kenkyu 46.1 (1987): 1-28; Suzuki Chusei, "Sodai bukkyo kessha no kenkyu," Shigaku zasshi 52.1, 2, and 3 (1941): 65-98, 205-241, and 303-333; Sasaki Kujo, "Byakurenja fukko undo" Ryukoku daigaku ronso 261 (1925): 198-215 and 262 (1925): 351373; Daniel Overmyer, Folk Buddhist Religion: Dissenting Sects in Late Traditional China (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1976); and ter Haar, The White Lotus Teachings. 8. The earliest and most reliable chronicle of Tsun-shih's career is the Hangchou Wu-lin T'ien-chu ssu ku ta fu-shih Tz'u-yiin shih-kung hsing-yeh ch'ii-chi (hereafter shortened to Hsing-yeh ch'ii-chi), an independent epitaph for Tsunshih that was penned in 1063 by the Ch'an master Ch'i-sung (1007-1072). See Ch'i-sung's T'an-chin wen-chi, T 52.713b-715c. Ch'i-sung's Hsing-yeh ch'ii-chi is itself a revision of an earlier "Veritable Record" (shih-lu) narrative compiled by Tsun-shih's foremost disciple Ming-chih Tsu-shao (dates unknown) shortly after Tsun-shih's death. Tsu-shao urged the Ch'an master to polish the tract into a full biographical piece, which Ch'i-sung finally completed in 1063. For Tsu-shao, see Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.210a-b. Biographies of Tsun-shih in the Shih-men cheng-t'ung and Fo-tsu t'ung-chi rely heavily on Ch'i-sung's Hsing-yeh ch'ii-chi as their principal source but mention the existence of additional records, such as a Hsiu san-mei chi and a Ch'an-chu hsing-yeh chi. The Hang-chou fu-chih, in Chung-kuo fang-chih ts'ung-shu, no. 199 (Taipei: Ch'eng-wen ch'u-pan-she, 1974), 6.5b (citing an earlier gazetteer, the Hsi-hu chih), also lists a T'ien-chu ssu Tz'uyiin shih kung hsing-yeh tsan-chi, which was compiled by the Han-lin academician Wu Yu and erected on the grounds of T'ien-chu Monastery in 1043. For information on later epitaphs, see Takao Giken, "Ji'un Junshiki to sono zuikoto," Nikka bukkyo kenkyu nempo 2 (1937): 87 and Bukkyo daijiten 3.2522. 9. See Chen Ch'i-ch'ing, Chia-ting ch'ih-ch'eng chih, in Sung-Yiian ti-fang chih ts'ung-shu, no. 11 (Taipei: Ta-hua shu-chii, 1987), 19.5a. 10. Mount T'ien-t'ai is located in Chekiang province, approximately 200 kilometers southeast of Hang-chou and 140 kilometers southwest of Ning-po. Known as Hsiu-ch'an Monastery during Chih-i's day, the monastery itself was

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built for Chih-i by Emperor Hsiian of the Ch'en between 577 and 558. It functioned as the main center for his community until Kuo-ch'ing Monastery was completed through the support of Emperor Yang of the Sui in 598. In 747 Hsiuch'an Monastery was renamed Fo-lung Monastery, and not long thereafter its name was changed further to Ch'an-lin. Abandoned during the Hui-ch'ang persecution, it was rebuilt in 867. See Chia-ting ch'ih-ch'eng chih 28.19a-b; see also Ch'uan-teng's T'ien-t'ai shan fang wai chih (Taipei: Hsin-wen-feng ch'u-pan kungssu, 1987), 44b. 11. The Japanese pilgrim Jojin reports that in 1072 Kuo-ch'ing Monastery housed numerous icons and copies of scripture that had once been the personal property of Chih-i. See also Chia-ting ch'ih-ch'eng chih 28.14a-15b. During his youth Chih-i twice made vows to dedicate himself to the propagation of the Buddhist teachings, both of which produced prophetic dreams. One was before the famous Buddha-image enshrined at Ch'ang-sha Monastery in Ching-chou; the other before a sandalwood image (the identity of the deity is not specified) that Chih-i carved himself (see Kuan-ting, Sui T'ien-t'ai Chih-che ta-shih piehchuan, T 50.191M4-20). For background on Mount T'ien-t'ai and a complete translation of Jojin's account of his visit to T'ien-t'ai, see Charlotte von Verschuer, "Le voyage de Jojin au Mont Tiantai," T'oung Pao 87.1-3 (1991): 1 ^ 8 ; see also Hirabayashi Fumio, San Tendai-Godaisan ki, kohon narabi ni kenkyu (Tokyo: Kazama shobo, 1978). 12. In 968 the Ming-chou layman Ku Ch'eng-hui turned his mansion over to I-t'ung to use as a monastery from which to propagate the T'ien-t'ai teaching. Originally dubbed the Ch'uan-chiao yuan (Cloister for the Transmission of the Teachings), in 982 the monastery was officially sanctioned and renamed Paoyiin Cloister. For I-t'ung's career and the founding of Pao-yiin, see Pao-yun chentsu chi, in Ssu-ming tsun-che chiao-hsing lu, T 46.928c-929b. Also see Daniel Getz, Jr., "Siming Zhili and Tiantai Pure Land in the Sung" (Ph.D. dissertation, Yale University, 1994), pp. 42-A6. 13. A foundation in theoretical understanding (chieh) is specified in T'ient'ai treatises as a prerequisite for intensive meditative practice (kuan-hsing). See Mo-ho chih-kuan, T 46.48c-49a; see also Chan-jan's Chih-kuan ta-i, T 46.459bl0-14. 14. For the four samadhis, see Daniel Stevenson, "The Four Kinds of Samadhi in Early T'ien-t'ai Buddhism," in Peter N. Gregory, ed., Traditions of Chinese Buddhist Meditation (Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 1986), pp. 45-97. See also Neal Donner and Daniel Stevenson, The Great Calming and Contemplation: A Study and Translation of the First Chapter of Chih-is "Mo-ho chih-kuan" (Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 1993), pp. 219-334. 15. According to the root sutra, Ch'ing Kuan-shih-yin hsiao-fu tu-hai t'o-lo-ni chou ching (T 20.34b-c), the rite was preached by Buddha Sakyamuni in order to heal a deadly malady contracted by the populace of Vaisall. 16. Shih-men cheng-t'ung and other later Sung sources characterize Tsunshih's cure as a total physiological transformation (chuan-pao), not unlike the spontaneous manifesting of the auspicious physical attributes of a Buddha: "The crown of his head rose up into [an usnisa] of an inch in height; his arms extended past his knees; his voice had the tone of a deep bell; his limbs were pure white like polished jade" (HTC 130.417cl7-dl). Fan-chen, a disciple of

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Chih-li and junior contemporary of Tsun-shih in Hang-chou, explained the incident to his disciples as "a total transformation (chuan) of his retributive [i.e., physical] endowment (pao)" (Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.417dl-2). 17. For the experiences of Hui-ssu and Chih-i, see Sui T'ien-t'ai Chih-che tashih pieh-chuan, T 50.191c; and Leon Hurvitz, "Chih-i (538-597): An Introduction to the Life and Ideas of a Chinese Monk," Melanges chinois et bouddhiques 12 (1962): 109. 18. For Tsun-shih s letter of invitation to Shen, see Ch'ing Hang-chou Shen San-lang [Ching-yueh] tiao Ta-pei hsiang-hsiang shu, in T'ien-chu pieh-chi, HTC 101.152b. 19. Three dharanis of the Ch'ing Kuan-shih-yin hsiao-fu tu-hai t'o-lo-ni ching compose the heart of the Invocatiion of Kuan-yin Repentance, the rite that effected Tsun-shihs miraculous cure and enlightenment several years earlier. The Sutra for the Bejeweled Casket was translated by Amoghavajra (Pu-k'ung) during the T'ang and again by Shih-hu during the Sung. See I-ch'ieh ju-lai mimi ch'uan-shen she-li pao-ch'ieh yin t'o-lo-ni ching (T 19.710a-712b). 20. See Tsun-shih, Ta-pei Kuan-yin ch'en-t'an hsiang chi ping shih-ssu yuan wen, in T'ien-chu pieh chi, HTC 101.138d. The Pao-yiin chen-tsu chi (compiled by Tsung-hsiao in 1203) locates the statue and its production specifically at Pao-yiin Monastery (see Ssu-ming tsun-che chiao-hsing lu, T 46.932a). 21. Ta-pei Kuan-yin ch'en-t'an hsiang chi, in T'ien-chu pieh-chi, HTC 101.138al4. Projects to print the Buddhist canon and to regularize the Buddhist clergy through a system of exams and ordinations administered by the Ministry of Rites were initiated during the reign of the first Sung emperor, T'aitsu (r. 960-976). The Buddhist sangha suffered a minor setback under his successor T'ai-tsung (r. 976-997), who believed himself to be the recipient of a new Taoist dispensation and showed a distinct preference for Taoism over Buddhism. With the accession of Chen-tsung the sangha returned to a more secure footing, although Chen-tsung himself continued in strong support of Taoism. Shortly after ascending the throne in 997, Chen-tsung made an official visit to the Confucius Shrine at Ch u-fu. In 998 he ordered the Confucian classics and their commentaries to be recodified. See Sung shih 6.103-108 and the discussion of the reigns of these three emperors in Fo-tsu t'ung chi, T 49.394a-408b. 22. Ta-pei Kuan-yin ch'en-t'an hsiang chi, HTC 101.138b2-6. 23. Ta-pei Kuan-yin ch'en-t'an hsiang chi, HTC 101.138b6-8. 24. Ta-pei Kuan-yin ch'en-t'an hsiang chi, HTC 101.138al-2 and 138b4-6. 25. The term "habitus" is used here in keeping with Pierre Bourdieu's Outline of a Theory of Practice, Richard Nice, trans. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1977), pp. 72-83. As a set of socially and historically generated "structuring structures," habitus designates "a system of lasting, transposable dispositions which .. . function at every moment as a matrix of perceptions and actions" (p. 83) and which "[produces] a commonsense world endowed with the objectivity secured by consensus on the meaning of practices and the world" (p. 80). Applied to Buddhist ritual, I use the term to refer to the idiom of symbol, gesture, narrative, and cognition, through which religious efficacy is mediated as experience and practice. 26. According to Chia-ting ch'ih-ch'eng chih 27.11b, in Sung-Yuan ti-fang chih 11.7267a, Ch'eng-t'ien/Neng-jen Monastery was located 45 kilometers north-

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east of the Lin-hai district seat. Originally known as Ch'eng-t'ien Cloister or Monastery, its name was officially changed to Neng-jen in 1117. The date for the monastery's founding is given as Yuan-fu 2 (1098); but this is clearly an orthographic error for Hsiang-fu 2 (1008), for Tsun-shih trained students there since 1002 and, furthermore, appointed Pen-ju to succeed him as abbot of a burgeoning monastic community when he moved to Hang-chou around 1014. The Fo-tsu t'ung-chi states that during the three decades that Pen-ju taught at the Ch'eng-t'ien Monastery his assembly reached a size of some five to six hundred monks in residence (T 49.214a-b). See Takao Giken, "Ji'un Junshiki to sono zuikoto," Nikka bukkyo kenkyiikai nempo 2 (1937): 93. 27. The Chao-ch'ing Monastery was the same monastery where Shengch'ang formed his Pure Land society ca. 990-995, as discussed by Chi-chiang Huang and Daniel Getz elsewhere in this volume. 28. These events are recounted by Tsun-shih in a letter to Chih-li. See T'ienchu ch'an-chu shang Ssu-ming fa-shih shu, in Ssu-ming tsun-che chiao-hsing lu, T 46.906c-907a. According to inscriptional records, the site was first established during the Eastern Chin and later expanded and given the name T'ienchu Monastery by Chen-kuan during the Sui. It continued to be active throughout the T'ang dynasty but was all but destroyed during the turmoil of the ninth century. The king of Wu-Yiieh, Ch'ien Liu (852-932), later built a small complex on the site known as the Five Hundred Lo-han Cloister. At the time when Tsunshih moved to Hang-chou, it was commonly known as Ling-shan Monastery. The original name of T'ien-chu was not restored until 1020, when Tsun-shih's petition to have it declared a T'ien-t'ai monastery was finally approved. See Hsien-ch'un Lin-an chih 80.4a, in Sung-Yuan ti-fang chih ts'ung-shu 7.4635, especially the citation of Hu Su's Ling-shan T'ien-chu chiao ssu chi therein (80.6b). For Chen-kuan, see Hsu kao-seng chuan, T 50.701c; and Kuo-ch'ing pai-lu, T 46.800c. 29. Tsun-shih, like Chih-li before him, was following new precedents for patronage and religous sanction charted initially by the Ch'an school a decade or so earlier—especially the institution of the court-sanctioned "public or ten directions abbotship" (shih-fang chu-ch'ih) and the procedures for having indigenous Chinese scripture officially admitted into the court-sponsored Buddhist canon. On this subject see Takao Giken, Sodai bukkyoshi no kenkyu (Kyoto: Hyakka'en, 1975), pp. 57-74; and Chikusa, Chugoku bukkyo shakaishi kenkyu, pp. 83-110. 30. See Sung-jen chuan-chi tzu-liao so-yin (Taipei: Ting-wen shu-chii, 1976), pp. 350-351; and Sung shih 283.9559. The revelatory events in question revolved around a series of prophetic dreams on the part of the emperor, followed by the miraculous appearance of several "heavenly documents or writs" (t'ienshu). These events began to take place in 1008 and continued in conjunction with Chen-tsung's performance of the Feng and Shan sacrifice at Mount T'ai. Wang, himself an ardent Taoist, served as both a key consultant for interpretation of the revelations and architect of the Taoist ritual protocols by which the cult of this new heavenly dispensation was instituted at court. See Yang Chia-lo, ed., Sung hui-yao chi-pen (Taipei: Shih-chieh shu-chii, 1964), vol. 5, pp. 20792081; Sung shih 104.2527-2541 and 7.135-136; Kubo Noritada, Ddkyoshi (Tokyo: Yamagawa shuppansha, 1985), pp. 269-274; and Suzanne E. Cahill, "Taoism at

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the Sung Court: The Heavenly Text Affair of 1008," Bulletin ofSung-Yiian Studies 16 (1981): 23-44. 31. See Hsien-ch'un Lin-an chih 80.4a, in Sung-Yuan ti-fang ts'ung-shu 7.4634b, especially the contents of Hu Su's Ling-shan T'ien-chu chiao ssu chi, in Hsien-ch'un Lin-an chih 80.6b. 32. For Empress Chang-i, see Sung shih 242.8612-8616. On the matter of the canonical sanction of the T'ien-t'ai scriptures, see Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.208a, 406b-408c. Takao Giken gives the date as 1026, presumably on the basis of Wang Ch'in-jo's accepted date of death being 1025, together with references in Tsun-shih s Sung ch'ien-t'ang T'ien-chu ssu seng ssu-wu i-shen tsan (T'ien-chu pieh-chi, HTC 101.153a). However, this attribution is problematic, especially in light of statments in T'ien-t'ai chiao sui-han mu-lu (T'ien-chu pieh-chi, HTC 101.132c), compiled by Tsun-shih and submitted to the court through Yang Huai-chi in 1023. See also Takao, "Ji'un Junshiki to sono zuikoto," p. 95. 33. For Hu Su, see Sung-jen chuan-chi, p. 1565, and Sung shih 299.9941; for Ch'ien Wei-yen, see Sung-jen chuan-chi, p. 4083, and Sung shih 317.10,340; for Chang Te-hsiang, see Sung-jen chuan-chi, p. 2094, and Sung shih 311.10,204; and for Hu Tse, see Sung shih 299.9941-9942. 34. On the refurbishment and groundplan of T'ien-chu, see Hu Su's inscription, Ling-shan chiao ssu chi, as cited in Hsien-ch'un lin-an chih 80.4a-6b. 35. See T'ien-chu ssu shih-fang chu-ch'ih i and Pieh-li chung-chih, in T'ienchu pieh-chi, HTC 101.153c-156c. Together these tracts represent the earliest extant Sung monastic rule, predating Tsung-tses Ch'an-yuan ch'ing-kuei by some seventy years. 36. Ch'i-sung, Hsing-yeh ch'u-chi, T 52.715c7-8. For Tsu-shao's biography, see Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.210a-b. 37. Various independent ritual manuals by Tsun-shih are preserved in vol. 46 of the Taisho canon. These are joined by some four different collections of Tsun-shih miscellanea. Ch'i-sung mentions the existence of three such compendia that were published around the time of the master's death in 1032: the Chin-yuan chi (The Golden Garden Collection) in three fascicles, the T'ien-chu pieh-chi (Separate or Special Collection from T'ien-chu Monastery) in three fascicles, and a collection of the master's poems, now lost, titled Ling-yuan chi (Collection of the Numinous Garden). Later Sung sources list a second collection of poems, the Ts'ai-i chi (Collection of Select or Variegated Gleanings), which also no longer survives. See Ch'i-sung, Hsing-yeh ch'u-chi, T 52.715a2324. The Chin-yuan chi and T'ien-chu pieh-chi are included in HTC 101, in a 1141 edition published by Tz'u-ming Hui-kuan (dates unknown), a fifth-generation descendant of Tsun-shih, eighth in the line of Lower T'ien-chu abbots. See Shihmen cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.837b. For the Ts'ai-i chi, see Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.208c5-6 and Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 101.837a. 38. On the Upper T'ien-chu Monastery as a center for the Kuan-yin cult during the Sung, see Chun-fang Yii, "P'u-t'o-shan: Pilgrimage and the Creation of a Chinese Potalaka," in Susan Naquin and Chiin-fang Yii, eds., Pilgrimage and Sacred Sites in China (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1992), pp. 196202.

39. See Su Ch'e's epitaph for Yiian-ching, Pien-ts'ai fa-shih t'a-pei, in Lungching chien-wen lu, in Chung-kuo fo-ssu shih chih hui-k'an, series 1, vol. 22 (Taipei: Tsung-ch'ing ch'u-pan kung-ssu, 1994), 8.5a.

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40. For late Sung and Yuan lists of abbots of Upper T'ien-chu, with capsule biographies, see Fo-kuang Fa-chaos Shang T'ien-chu ssu-chu-ch'ih t'i-ming peichi and Chu-shih Ching's Shang T'ien-chu ssu li-tai chu-ch'ih t'i-mingpei hsti, in Kuang-pin, ed., Hang-chou shang T'ien-chu chiang-ssu chih, in Chung-kuo fossu shih chih hui-k'an, series 1, vol. 26 (Taipei: Chung-kuo fo-ssu shih chih huik'an, 1994), 3.1b-13a. 41. See Ch'i-sung, Hsing-yeh chu-chi, T 52.715cll-12. 42. Ch'i-sung, Hsing-yeh chu-chi, T 52.714M8-20. See Chieh chiu-jou tz'uhui fa-men, in Chin-yuan chi, HTC 101.121a-122d. 43. Ch'i-sung, Hsing-yeh ch'il-chi, T 52.714b. 44. Hsing-yeh chu-chi, T 52.714al7-23. 45. For the Kai-chi hsiu-chai shu-wen, Kai-chi hsiu-kai chiieh-i sung, and Yeh-miao chih, see Chin-yuan chi, HTC 101.124a9-l 1, 124bll, and 125a2, respectively. The term "chai" traditionally carries a twofold meaning in Chinese Buddhist liturgical works: the first is the individual ritual restraints and "fasts" associated with lay observance of the uposatha, of which avoidance of meat and wine was a feature; the second is the sponsoring of large-scale merit-making "feasts" for clergy and special rites of "worship and offering" to Buddhist deities (also generally vegetarian), ceremonies which were likewise held on special occasions such as the uposatha. 46. See, for example, Tsun-shih's Chieh chiu-jou tz'u-hui fa-men (Exhortations on the Loving and Wise Teaching That Avoids the Use of Wine and Meat), in Chin-yuan chi, HTC 101.121a-122d; Chieh wu-hsin p'ien (Tract against Using the Five Pungent Leeks), in Chin-yuan chi, HTC 101.123a; Chih-sheng-kuang tao-ch'ang nien-sung i chung chieh ch'iian t'an-yiieh wen (Text on Cautionary Exhortations to Donors, from the Rite of Recitation for the Tejoprabha Liturgy/ Altar), in Chin-yuan chi, HTC 101.123c-124a and Chih-sheng-kuang tao-ch'ang nien-sung i, T 46.982b-c; and San i pien-huo pien (Tract Clarifying Confusion over the Threefold Robe), in Chin-yuan chi, HTC 101.127b-128a. 47. According to Chen Ch'i-ch'ing's (ca. 1180-1236) Chia-ting ch'ih-ch'eng chih (19.4b, 31.1a, and 31.2b-4a), the god of the White Crane (pai-ho) was a local deity who came to be connected tenuously with the legend of Lord Mao's ascent to immortality from Mount T'ien-t'ai astride a divine white crane. During the T'ang period numerous local landforms were identified with the god's mythic cycle; and shrines to the deity—both large and small—proliferated throughout the area, posing a continual challenge to local T'ai-chou officials and Taoist missionaries in residence at Mount T'ien-t'ai. 48. Yeh-miao chih, in Chin-yuan chi, HTC 101.127a7-8. 49. See the classic article by Rolf Stein on this subject, "Religious Taoism and Popular Religion from the Second to the Seventh Centuries," in Holmes Welch and Anna Seidel, eds., Facets of Taoism (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1979), pp. 53-81; as well as Judith Boltz, "Not by Seal of Office Alone: New Weapons in Battles with the Supernatural," in Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Peter N. Gregory, eds., Religion and Society in T'ang and Sung China (Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 1993), pp. 241-305. 50. For events surrounding the founding of Yii-ch'iian Monastery, see Sui T'ien-t'ai Chih-che ta-shih pieh-chuan, T 50.195a26-b5; for Mount T'ien-t'ai, see ibid., T 50.193b29-c28. For Chih-i's contest with the spirit of Mount Yu-chuan and its later embellishment, see Prasenajit Duara, "Superscribing Symbols: The

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Myth of Guandi, Chinese God of War," Journal of Asian Studies 47.4 (1988): 778-795. 51. So successful was he in emboldening his own campaign with the legendary measures of Wu-ti that, in later Buddhist chronicles, beginning with the Shih-men cheng-t'ung and the Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, he and Wu-ti together become the two historical figures who are cited as classic exemplars of the Buddhist ethic of not taking life. Liang Wu-ti's policies and institutes are detailed in Kamata Shigeo, Chugoku bukkyoshi, vol. 3 (Tokyo: Tokyo daigaku shuppankai, 1984), pp. 204-218. For Yen Chih-t'ui and his Yen-shih chia-hsiin, see Teng Ssuyii's Family Instructions for the Yen Clan, Monographies du T'oung Pao, vol. 4 (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1968). For Fa-lin's Pien-cheng lun, see T 52.489c-550c. 52. Kai-chi hsiu-chai shu-wen, in Chin-yuan chi, HTC 101.124al4. 53. Kai-chi hsiu-chai shu-wen, HTC 101.124c5-9. 54. Kai-chi hsiu-chai shu-wen, HTC 101.124bl 1-17. 55. Kai-chi hsiu-chai chiieh-i sung, HTC 101.126c9-10. 56. See Kai-chi hsiu-chai chiieh-i sung, HTC 101.126b9-10. For lists of benefits that accrue from reciting the name of Kuan-yin, also see Tsun-shih's Kuanshih-yin p'u-sa ch'u ch'i nan kan-ying chuan, in T'ien-chu pieh-chi, HTC 101.141d. 57. See Kai-chi hsiu-chai chiieh-i sung, HTC 101.126d5-127a2. 58. Kai-chi hsiu-chai chiieh-i sung, HTC 101.125a8-b9; see also the list of worldly benefits and protections applied to nien-fo in Tsun-shih's Wang-sheng ching-t'u chiieh-i hsing-yiian erh-men, T 47.147c; and Wang-sheng hsi-fang liiehchuan hsii, in Chin-yuan chi, HTC 101.143c-144c. 59. For a review of Yen-shou's career and extant hagiography, see Albert Welter, "The Contextual Study of Chinese Buddhist Biographies: The Example of Ytin-ming Yen-shou (904-975)," in Phyllis Granoff and Koichi Shinohara, eds., Monks and Magicians: Religious Biographies in Asia (Oakville, Ontario: Mosaic Press, 1988), pp. 247-268. Yen-shou was probably the most influential figure in the Chekiang region during the Five Dynasties period. Many of the traditions that Tsun-shih encountered during his early years in T'ai-chou and later in Hang-chou doubtlessly bear Yen-shou's stamp. See Yen-shou's list of 108 ritual practices as recorded by Wen-chung in Chih-chueh ch'an-shih tzu-hsing lu, HTC 111.77b-83d. 60. Tsun-shih, Ch'ing Kuan-shih-yin hsiao-fu tu-hai t'o-lo-ni ching san-mei i, T 20.34b-38a. Chih-i himself produced a short repentance manual, Ch'ing Kuan-shih-yin ch'an-fa (Rite of Repentance for the Invocation of Kuan-yin), based on the Ch'ing Kuan-shih-yin hsiao-fu tu-hai t'o-lo-ni ching (see Kuo-ch'ing pai-lu, T 46.795b). Tsun-shih's manual is an expansion of Chih-i's original tract, which Tsun-shih began shortly after his enlightenment experience on Tung-i and finalized on Mount Ta-lei in 1001. For a discussion of Chih-i's text, see Stevenson, "The Four Kinds of Samadhi in Early T'ien-t'ai Buddhism," pp. 7275; and Donner and Stevenson, The Great Calming and Contemplation, pp. 274285. Tsun-shih's revision of the text is recounted in Ta-pei Kuan-yin ch'en-tan hsiang chi ping shih-ssu yuan-wen, in T'ien-chu pieh-chi, HTC 101.138a-b. 61. Chih-li, Ch'ien-shou yen ta-pei hsin-chou hsing-fa (Ritual Procedure for Using the Spell of the Heart of Great Compassion of Thousand Armed and Eyed [Kuan-yin]), T 46.973a-978a. For a study of the text, see Maria Reis-Habito, "The

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Repentance Ritual of the Thousand-Armed Guanyin," Studies in Central and East Asian Religions 4 (1991): 42-51. 62. Yuan-ching is said to have exorcised the possessed son of T'ao T'uan, magistrate of Chia-hsing county in Hsiu-chou, and cured Su Shih's disabled son Su Tai through the use of the Kuan-yin dharanl, for which "the people of Wu [Hang-chou] revered and served him greatly." See Yuan-ching wai chuan 2.4a, in Chung-kuo fo-ssu shih chih hui-k'an, series 1, vol. 26, p. 496. 63. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.208c. 64. Su Ch'e, Pien-ts'ai fa-shih t'a-pei, in Lung-ching chien-wen lu 8.5a. 65. The group convened twice a year in the lecture hall of Pao-yun Monastery for a marathon session of sutra chanting and meditation on Amitabha Buddha. For details, see Tsun-shih's Nien-fo san-mei shih (Verses on the Buddhamindfulness Samadhi, with Preface), in T'ien-chu pieh-chi, HTC 101.145d146a, and Le-pang wen-lei, T 47.221b. 66. Several of the more significant tracts include Shih jen nien-fo fang-fa ping hui-yiian wen (Method for Practicing Nien-fo, with Dedicatory and Vow Litany) in Chin-yuan chi, HTC 101.113c, and Le-pang wen-lei, T 47.210b; Shih Hua-yen ching Hsien-shou p'u-sa tsan-fo chi (Explanation of Hsien-shou's Verse in Praise of the Buddha), in T'ien-chu pieh-chi, HTC 101.144c, and Le-pang wen-lei, T 47.215b; Hsiao-liang nien-fo kung-te (Measuring the Merit of Nienfo), in Le-pang wen-lei, T 47.211a. For discussion of Tsun-shih's Ming-chou Pure Land society and his major Pure Land manuals, see Getz, "Siming Zhili," pp. 295-331. 67. For Tsun-shih's postscript, see Wang-sheng ching-t'u ch'an-yiian i, T 47.494c27-29. 68. See Fukushima Kosai, "Ji'un Junshiki no jodo shiso," Otani gakuhd 70.3 (1991): 4; see also Wang-sheng ching-t'u ch'an-yiian i, T 47.590c. 69. Wang-sheng ching-t'u chiieh-i hsing-yuan erh-men, T 47.146b-147a. Common assumption holds that Tsun-shih wrote the Ching-t'u erh-men together with the Wang-sheng liieh chuan (Brief Accounts of Rebirth [of Pure Land Devotees]) in Hang-chou in 1017, at the behest of the eminent lay devotee Ma Liang (959-1031). However, Sung records indicate that only portions of the work were composed on that occasion and that various subsections circulated as independent tracts before Tsun-shih finally brought them together as the complete Ching-t'u erh-men. See Ch'i-sung, Hsing-yeh chu-chi, T 52. 714cl6-18; Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 101.418cl5; Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.207c29-208a3; and Le-pang wen-lei, T 47.203c-204c and 210b. 70. For an English translation and discussion of the rites of "veneration and repentance" and the "ten moments," see Daniel B. Stevenson, "Pure Land Buddhist Worship and Meditation in China," in Donald S. Lopez, Jr., Buddhism in Practice (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1995), pp. 371-375. For identification of the Ching-t'u erh-men rite for "veneration and repentance" (li-ch'an) and the Ch'an-yiian i as the "Larger" and "Smaller Amitabha Repentance," respectively, see Tsung-hsiao's Le-pang i-kao, T 47.232b; and Chin-yuan chi, HTC 101.128a. 71. See Wang-sheng ching-t'u chiieh-i hsing-yiian erh-men, T 47.147a, and Ch'en-ch'ao shih-nien fa (Rite for Morning Practice of the Ten Moments), in Lepang wen-lei, T 47.210b. Also compare procedures for morning lay practice out-

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lined in Tsun-shihs Hsiao-liang nien-fo kung-te, in Le-pang wen-lei, T 47.211a. The concept of the ten moments comes from the Visualization Sutra (Kuan wuliang-shou-fo ching, T 12.346al9) and the Larger Sukhavatlvyuha Sutra (Wuliang-shou ching, T 12.272c6), where it is introduced in conjunction with the salvation of the lowest of the inferior (hsia p'in hsia) class of devotee. 72. See Wang-sheng liieh-chuan [hsin] hsil, in T'ien-chu pieh-chi, HTC 101.144a-b and Le-pang wen-lei, T 47.167b. 73. The five tracts include Shih-shih cheng-ming (The Correct Meaning of the Term Food Bestowal), in Chin-yuan chi, HTC 101.118c; Shih-shih fa (Procedure for Food Bestowal), in Chin-yuan chi, HTC 101.118d; Shih-shih wen (Document on Food Bestowal), in Chin-yuan chi, HTC 101.119c; Shih-shih kuan-hsiang (Discourse on Meditative Visualizations for the Food-Bestowal [Rite]), in Chin-yuan chi, HTC 101.119d; and Shih-shih fa-shih (Rite for Food Bestowal), in Tsung-hsiao, Shih-shih t'ung-lan, HTC 101.215c. Only the Shihshih kuan-hsiang bears an indication of provenance, having been written at the request of Tsui Yii-ts'un (dates unknown), a former vice director in the Bureau of Operations of the Ministry of War, who retired to a hermitage near Ling-yin Monastery in 1031. See Hsien-ch'un Lin-an chih 60.19b. The five tracts are close in content, several of them referring specifically to the Shih-shih cheng-ming by title. 74. Hsiu yii-lan-p'en fang-fa chiu men, in Chin-yuan chi, HTC 101.114a. The tract may have been compiled in T'ai-chou during the summer rains retreat of 1011, when Tsun-shih was asked to give a special discourse on the Ullambana rite. See Ch'i-sung, Hsing-yeh ch'ii-chi, T 52.714a26-27. 75. For a history of the Ullambana before the Sung, see Stephen Teiser's The Ghost Festival in Medieval China (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1988), esp. pp. 43-112. Scriptural origins and a brief historical review of the food bestowal (shih-shih) rites are provided in Charles Orzech, "Esoteric Buddhism and the Shishi in China," SBS Monograph of Buddhist Studies 2 (1993), pp. 51-71. 76. Hsiu yii-lan-p'en fang-fa chiu-men, in Chin-yuan chi, HTC 101.115c6-7. 77. Shih-shih cheng-ming, in Chin-yuan chi, HTC 101.118c. 78. See Teiser, The Ghost Festival in Medieval China, pp. 3-42; see also Stephen Teiser, The Scripture of the Ten Kings and the Making of Purgatory in Medieval Chinese Buddhism (Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 1994), pp. 1-19. 79. Tsun-shihs views on cosmology, the dead, and the afterlife conform closely to such mainstream medieval clerical works as Pao-ch'ang's Ching-lii ihsiang (T 53.1a-268c), Tao-shihs (d. ca. 668) Fa-yuan chu-lin (T 53.269a1030a), and Fa-lins (572-640) Pien-cheng lun (T 52.489c-550c), several of which he cites. See especially the sections on gods, hungry ghosts, and hells in Ching-lii i-hsiang, T 53.238c-244a; and Fa-yuan chu-lin, T 53.31 la-317c and 753b-755b. 80. See Shih-shih kuan-hsiang, in Chin-yuan chi, HTC 101.120a-b; and Kaichi hsiu-chai sung, in Chin-yuan chi, HTC 101.125a-b. 81. Along with the Ullambana Sutra (Yii-lan-p'en ching), Tsun-shih's Nine Points on the Ullambana Offering draws heavily on commentaries to the sutra by Tsung-mi (780-841) and Hui-ching (578-ca. 645). Although select points of procedure are discussed, the text itself is not really a manual for the rite's performance.

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82. See Amoghavajra's Chiu-pa yen-k'ou o-kuei t'o-lo-ni ching (T 21.464b465c). Tsun-shih carefully assesses the strengths and weaknesses of both the Amoghavajra and éiksânanda (T 21,465c-466b) translations of the FlamingMouths Sutra. See his Shih-shih fa, in Chin-yuan chi, HTC 101.118d-119c; and his Chiu-pa yen-k'ou ching hsti, in T'ien-chu pieh-chi, HTC 101.129b-c. Certain aspects of Tsun-shih's rite also bear the unattributed imprint of Amoghavajra's acccompanying manual, the Shih chu o-kuei yin-shih chi shui fa (Procedure for Bestowing Water, Food and Drink on the Hungry Ghosts, T 21.466c-468b). 83. Kai-chi hsiu-chai chiieh-i sung, in Chin-yiian chi, HTC 101.127a. 84. Shih-shih fa, in Chin-yuan chi, HTC 101.119b. 85. See both the Dharmaksema version, Chin-kuang-ming ching, T 16.352b353c, and the I-ching version, Chin-kuang-ming tsui-sheng wang ching, T 16.448c-450c. For an English translation of the Sanskrit, see R. E. Emmerick, The Sutra of Golden Light (London: Luzac and Co., 1870), pp. 77-85. 86. Kuan-tings Sui T'ien-t'ai Chih-che ta-shih pieh-chuan contains a lengthy account of the event (see T 50.193b29-c25). By imperial edict, stele were erected to commemorate institution of the rite, the contents of which are preserved in Kuo-ch'ing pai-lu, along with related correspondence (see T 46.801c, 822b-823a). On releasing living creatures rites and vegetarianism, see Michihata Ryôshû, Chûgoku bukkyô shisôshi no kenkyu (Kyoto: Heirakuji shoten, 1979), pp. 225-248. 87. See the entry on the Hang-chou site for releasing living creatures in Hsien-ch'un Lin-an chih 32.12b. 88. An inscriptional record for the event was compiled by the prefect Liu Yiin that same year. See Ch'ih Yen-ch'ing yuan fang-sheng ch'ih pei, in Ssu-ming tsun-che chiao-hsing lu, T 46.864b. For Chih-li's Fang-sheng wen, see Ssu-ming tsun-che chiao-hsing lu, T 46.863a-864a. For a survey of the history of the releasing living creatures sites and Chih-li's patronage of the cult, see Getz, "Siming Zhili," pp. 171-174. 89. See Wang Sui, Hang-chou lu fang-sheng ch'ih pei, in Wu-lin chin-shih chi 7.18b-21a, Shih-k'o shih-liao hsin-pien, vol. 15 (Taipei: Hsin-wen-feng ch'u-pan, 1977). 90. See Fang-sheng tz'u-chi fa-men, in Chin-yiian chi, HTC 101.116a. See also Tsun-shih's Liang-ch'ao kao-seng fang-sheng wen (Tract on Releasing Living Creatures from Eminent Monks of the Liang Dynasty), in Chin-yiian chi, HTC 101.118b. 91. Fang-sheng tz'u-chi fa-men, HTC 101.116d3-7. 92. Fang-sheng tz'u-chi fa-men, HTC 101.118b5-6. 93. Kai-chi hsiu-chai chiieh-i sung, in Chin-yiian chi, HTC 101.126b6-cll5. 94. Kai-chi hsiu-chai chiieh-i sung, in Chin-yiian chi, HTC 101.126cl8-dl. 95. See Chih-i's Fa-hua san-mei ch'an-i, T 46.951a-b, as well as his Chinkuang-ming ch'an-fa and Ching-li fa, in Kuo-ch'ing pai-lu, T 46.796a-b and 794b-c. For further discussion of this feature in Chih-i's manuals, see Li-ying Kuo, Confession et contrition dans le bouddhisme chinois (Paris: Publications de l'École Française d'Extrême-Orient, 1994), pp. 80-96. 96. See Tsun-shih's Chin-kuang-ming ch'an-fa pu-chu i (T 46.959b24-29), Ch'ih-sheng-kuang tao-ch'ang nien-sung i (T no. 1951), Shou p'u-sa chieh i (Chin-yuan chi, HTC 101.109d-110a and l l l d ) ; Chih-li's Ch'ien-shou yen ta-pei chou hsing-fa (T 46.974al8-22), Chin-kuang-ming tsui-sheng ch'an-fa

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(T. 46.962a8-14), and Shou p'u-sa chieh i (Ssu-ming tsun-che chiao-hsing lu, T 46.860a). 97. See Chih-li, Shou p'u-sa-chieh i, T 46.860a7. 98. On the subject of the Sung titling of gods, see Valerie Hansen's Changing Gods in Medieval China, 1127-1276 (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1990), pp. 79-104. 99. Ibid., p. 26. 100. See Tsun-shih's Shou p'u-sa chieh i, in Chin-yuan chi, HTC 101.11 ld6— 10. The Marquis of Wind, Master of Rain, Duke of Thunder, and Lightning Mother are all gods of the Han dynasty pantheon whose worship was reinstated during the Sung. Provincial altars to the Masters of Thunder and Rain were established by Chen-tsung in 999. See Sung hui-yao chi-pen 1.464 and 2.734b. 101. Ch'ih-sheng-kuang tao-ch'ang nien-sung i, T 46.980b7. 102. Kenneth Dean, Taoist Ritual and Popular Cults of Southeast China (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1993), pp. 21-53; Kristopher Schipper, "Vernacular and Classical Ritual in Taoism," Journal of Asian Studies 45 (1985): 21-57. 103. Matsumoto Koichi, "Dokyo to shukyo girei," in Dokyo, vol. 1: Dokyo wa nani ka, ed. Fukui Kojun (Tokyo: Hirakawa shuppansha, 1983), pp. 218-229; see also Judith Boltz' Survey of Taoist Literature, Tenth to Seventeenth Centuries, China Research Monograph 32 (Berkeley: Center for Chinese Studies, Institute of East Asian Studies, University of California, 1987), pp. 23-53. 104. See Emmerick, Sutra of Golden Light, p. 49. 105. See especially the Yaksa chapter, Emmerick, Sutra of Golden Light, pp. 65-69. 106. See the discussion of Golden Light rites (Saisho-o) in Marinus Willem de Visser, Ancient Buddhism in Japan: Sutras and Ceremonies in Use in the Seventh and Eighth Centuries A.D. and Their History in Later Times, vol. 1 (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1935), pp. 5-85. 107. Chih-i's Chin-kuang-ming ch'an-fa (Rite for the Golden Light Repentance) appears in Kuo-ch'ingpai-lu, T46.796a. 108. See Chin-kuang-ming ch'an-fa pu-chu i, T 46.957b-961c. The textual history of Tsun-shih's emended manual is too complicated to pursue in depth here, but the text probably went through several editions, one of which was put together by Tsun-shih around 1015, shortly after settling at T'ien-chu. Differences between the title of the current text and that of the Chin-kuang-ming hu-kuo tao-ch'ang i, said to have been compiled and submitted to Empress Dowager Chang-i and the court in 1022, have led scholars to posit that they were two totally different manuals and that the latter is no longer extant. But descriptions of Hu-kuo tao-ch'ang i in Tsun-shih's Sui-han mu-lu (HTC 101.133b5-10) and a citation in Fo-tsu t'ung-chi (T 49.208cl7-20) indicate that they are basically the same work. A further problem of attribution arises from the fact that Tsun-shih's Chin-kuang-ming ch'an-fa pu-chu i and the Chin-kuangming tsui-sheng ch'an-i (Rite for the Sublime Repentance of Golden Light, T 46.96 lc-963c) by Chih-li are virtually identical in their liturgic content, with Tsun-shih's Pu-chu i incorporating the body of Chih-li's Tsui-sheng ch'an-i, making changes only in the dharanl. That Chih-li authored a manual for the Golden Light Repentance is corroborated by the Fa-chih tsun-che shih-lu (Ssu-ming

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tsun-che chiao-hsing lu, T 46.919c), but the relationship to Tsun-shih's text remains problematic, especially since Tsun-shih states that he personally made the emendations to the litanies (see T 46.957b27-cl, 957c8-ll). 109. Tsun-shih's successor, Tsu-shao, is himself described as one who "made the four samádhis his constant regimen" (Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.210al8). While residing on Mount Tung-i, he once engaged in a one-hundred-day retreat for the Golden Light Repentance, during which Sarasvati appeared to him and announced that wherever he took up residence he would transmit the Great Vehicle and benefit countless beings (T 49.210a22-26). The prophecy was realized when he succeeded Tsun-shih at the flourishing T'ien-chu Monastery in 1031. 110. Tsun-shih, Chin-kuang ming ch'an-fa pu-chu i, T 46.959b26-27. 111. See Tzu-ch'ing (Yiin-wai), Tseng-hsiu chiao-yüan ch'ing-kuei, HTC 101.389a; and Wu Tzu-mu, Meng liang lu (Taipei: Wen-hai ch'u-pan-she, 1985), 19.9a. Both works, which record traditions connected with Upper T'ien-chu in Hang-chou, mention a three-day Golden Light Offering performed at the New Year. 112. For example, in the early twelfth century, the T'ien-t'ai master Pei-ch'an Ching-fan (d. 1128), a devotee of the Golden Light Repentance and teacher to Mao Tzu-yüan, compiled a manual for his own version of the rite. The project is said to have been motivated out of objections to the list of deities used in Tsunshih's text. A controversy ensued that lasted for the better part of the century, resulting in a host of treatises on the topic of the Indian and Chinese dharmaprotecting gods and their respective status and function. The literature of this controversy is summarized in the preface to Hsing-t'ing's Ch'ung-pien [chu] t'ien-chuan (Recompiled Biographical Accounts of the Gods, dated 1173), HTC 150.127a, as well as by Chih-p'an in his entry on "offering to the gods" (kungt'ien) in Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.321a-b. The Ch'ung-pien t'ien-chuan is itself a republication of an earlier work by the late Northern Sung T'ien-t'ai master Shen-huan (dates unknown), a resident of Upper T'ien-chu Monastery in Hangchou. 113. Chin-kuang-ming ch'an-fa pu-chu i, T 46.958al-3. 114. Chin-kuang-ming ch'an-fa pu-chu i, T 46.957c-958a and, especially, T 46.959b28-29. 115. Chin-kuang-ming ch'an-fa pu-chu i, T 46.959c27 and 960al2-13. 116. Chin-kuang-ming ch'an-fa pu-chu i, T 46.958b2-5. 117. Chin-kuang-ming ch'an-fa pu-chu i, T 46.961a22-27. 118. Ocho Enichi, "Chügoku bukkyo ni okeru kokka gishiki," in Ocho, Chügoku bukkyo no kenkyü (Kyoto: Hózókan, 1958), pp. 326-381, esp. pp. 327-339. 119. Hansen, Changing Gods in Medieval China, p. 13. 120. See, for example, ter Haar's brief survey of some of the more prominent examples of Buddhist cult mentioned in Hung Mai's I-chien chih in The White Lotus Teachings in Chinese Religious History, pp. 16-63. 121. Ch'ing Kuan-yin san-mei i, T 46.968bl8-25. 122. That is the concern of a forthcoming study. 123. For Hansen's discussion of Hung Mai's I-chien chih and evidence for Sung lay religion and ritual specialists, see Changing Gods in Medieval China, pp. 29-47. Compare her findings with ter Haar's review of lay Buddhist prac-

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tices as reported by Hung Mai in The White Lotus Teachings in Chinese Religious History, pp. 16-63. 124. See Chikusa's Chügoku bukkyö shakaishi kenkyü, pp. 261-321, and "SöGen ni okeru an dö," pp. 1-28. See also Valerie Hansen's helpful review of these two works in Bulletin of Sung-Yüan Studies 20 (1988): 99-108. Ter Haars White Lotus Teachings in Chinese Religious History also draws extensively on Chikusa. 125. For Mao's activities, see Fo-tsu-t'ung-chi, T 49.425a; Shih-men chengt'ung, HTC 130.412d; and especially P'u-tu's Lu-shan Lien-tsung pao-chien, T 47.326a-b. Summaries are provided in Overmyer, Folk Buddhist Religion, pp. 9095; and ter Haar, White Lotus Teachings in Chinese Religious History, pp. 65-71. 126. For Pei-ch'an Ching-fan, see Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.22 la-b, and Shihmen cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.432d-433a; for Wei-chan, see Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.217b, Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.429b-c, and especially the epitaph by Yüan-chao Hsiu-chou Ch'ao-kuo Wei-chan fa-shih hsing-yeh chi, in Chih-yüan chi, HTC 105.292b; for Ch'u-ch'ien, see Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.217c, and the epitaph by Yüan-chao Hang-chou Nan-p'ing shan Shen-wu fa-shih t'a-ming, in Chih-yüan chi, HTC 105.289a. 127. See the ground plans of prominent Ch'an monasteries from Southern Sung and Yüan reproduced in Gozan jissetsu zo, reprinted in Zengaku daijiten (Tokyo: Taishükan, 1978), vol. 3, pp. 10-32. See also T. Griffith Foulk, "Myth, Ritual, and Monastic Practice in Sung Ch'an Buddhism," in Ebrey and Gregory, eds., Religion and Society in T'ang and Sung China, pp. 167-191. 128. See, for example, the schedule for yearly liturgical events and the summer rains retreat in the second fascicle of Tzu-ch'ing's Tseng-hsiu chiaoyüan ch'ing-kuei (Expanded and Revised Rule for [T'ien-t'ai] Teachings Monasteries), published in 1347 (HTC 101.389a-c and 376a-382c). Tzu-ch'ing's repertory of rites corresponds closely with those found in Chih-p'an's Fo-tsu t'ung-chi (T 49.318a-324a) and Tsung-chien's treatises on "benefiting living beings" and "conforming with popular ways" in Shih-men cheng-t'ung (HTC 101.400a-402a and 402a-405d). Records of Japanese pilgrims such as Eisai's (1141-1215) Közen gokoku ron, T 80.414b-15c, and Shunjö's (1166-1237) writings on Sung monastic culture, as well as indigenous Chinese gazetteers such as Wu Tzumu's Meng liang lu (1274) offer further confirmation of continuity between Tzuch'ing's Revised and Expanded Rule and the ritual program of Sung T'ien-t'ai institutions. For Shunjö, see Ishida Shöshi, ed., Shunjö risshi (Kyoto: Hözökan, 1972); for Wu Tzu-mu, see Meng liang lu, fascicles 3 and 19. 129. See documents on celebrations and activities at Upper T'ien-chu Monastery preserved in Hang-chou Shang t'ien-chu chiang-ssu chih 1.3b-2.4b. 130. See Chikusa, "Sö-Gen ni okeru an dö," pp. 1-28; and Suzuki Chüsei, "Södai bukkyö kessha no kenkyü," pp. 65-98, 205-241, and 303-333.

Chapter 10

Chih-li (960-1028) and the Crisis ofTien-t'ai Buddhism in the Early Sung CHI-WAH CHAN

was one of the major indigenous Buddhist traditions to develop in China. It emerged in the Sui (581-618) and, after a period of eclipse in the first part of the T'ang (618-906), experienced a revival during the mid-eighth century. The Hui-ch'ang persecution (842-845) and the ensuing political and social disorder of the Five Dynasties (907-960), however, threatened the continued existence of the tradition. The loss of crucial T'ien-t'ai texts, to a certain extent, crippled the intellectual growth of the community and, at the same time, invited diverse interpretations of T'ien-t'ai doctrine. The situation reached a point of crisis in the early Sung, when Ssu-ming Chih-li (960-1028), the leader of the Shan-chia (Home Mountain), and his Shan-wai (Off Mountain) counterparts engaged in a series of exchanges that unfolded over the first three decades of the eleventh century. Through these so-called Shan-chia/Shan-wai debates, Chihli argued for a T'ien-t'ai orthodoxy and orthopraxy, attempting to restore what he took to be the true T'ien-t'ai teachings developed by Chih-i (538-597), the de facto founder of the tradition, and elaborated by Chan-jan (711-782), the putative ninth patriarch. The Shanchia/Shan-wai debates thus marked a turning point in T'ien-t'ai history by precipitating a crisis of identity and definition. This chapter will accordingly try to define the intellectual context of the debates, clarify their central issues, and evaluate Chih-li's role in them. 1

T'IEN-T'AI

Some Fundamental Teachings of T'ien-t'ai The T'ien-t'ai tradition traces its origin back to the Buddhist teachings formulated by Hui-wen (fl. 530-550) and Hui-ssu (515-577).2 Inheriting Hui-wen's and Hui-ssu's teachings on the Lotus Siitra and Nagarjuna's Madhyamaka philosophy, Chih-i constructed a grand

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system of Buddhist theory and practice, emphasizing the interconnection of doctrine (chiao) and contemplation (kuanJ.3 Chih-i's teachings of the perfectly integrated three truths (yuan-jung san-ti), the three thousand worlds in an instant of thought (i-nien sanch'ien), and inherent evil (hsing-o) established the doctrinal basis of the T'ien-t'ai theory and practice. These three doctrines had farreaching impact on later generations of T'ien-t'ai scholars such as Chan-jan, Chih-li, and the Shan-wai masters. The doctrine of the perfectly integrated three truths characterized Chih-i's view of reality (shih-hsiang). Chih-i contended that discerning reality is the very essence of practicing contemplation. Based on his reading of a verse on the two truths in Nagarjuna's Middle Treatise (Chung-lun; Madhyamakakarika), Chih-i claimed that reality must be discerned through three integrated perspectives, namely, emptiness or nonsubstantiality (k'ung), provisional positing (chia), and the middle (chung).4 For Chih-i, there is no reality beyond the phenomenal world. All phenomena, as they are manifest, come into existence based on different causes and conditions. They are therefore empty of any defining essence or inherent substance (svabhava). Although empty or nonsubstantial, at the same time they do exist provisionally. The simultaneity of the nonsubstantiality and the provisionally of all phenomenal being is designated as the middle truth. These three truths are thus not viewed as separate or sequential but as three integrated and simultaneous ways of understanding the inconceivable reality, which is a perfectly integrated whole. 5 Chih-i elaborated the doctrine of three thousand worlds in an instant of thought to establish the theoretical basis of contemplation. He contended that every instant of thought (i-nien) inherently includes (chu) "three thousand worlds" (san-ch'ien), a term coined by Chih-i to denote the totality of phenomenal being. 6 The textual sources of this term are the notion of "ten dharma realms" (hells, hungry ghosts, animals, asuras, humans, gods, sravakas, pratyekabuddhas, and Buddhas) found in the Hua-yen (Avatamsaka) Sutra, the notion of "ten suchnesses" (ju-shih) (appearance, nature, entity, power, activity, cause, condition, effect, retribution, consistency from beginning to end) found in the Lotus Sutra,1 and the notion of "three spheres" (of the five aggregates, sentient beings, and physical environment) found in the Great Perfection of Wisdom Treatise (Ta-chihtu lun). Each of the ten dharma realms inherently includes the others (10 x 10 = 100); each is also marked by the ten suchnesses (100 x 10 = 1,000); and each is further constituted in terms of the

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three spheres (1,000 x 3 = 3,000). The various permutations of these categories therefore form the three thousand worlds, which signify the totality of phenomenal being. For Chih-i, there is no form of existence outside of these three thousand worlds, which are included in every instant of thought. Thus mind, as it is manifested in each instant of thought, is the focal point where the inconceivable reality, manifested as the totality of phenomenal being, is to be discerned. Chih-i characterizes this kind of contemplation, which is unique to T'ien-t'ai, as "perfect and sudden" (yuan-tun). Phenomena and mind are therefore ontologically nondual in the sense that mind as an instant of thought does not claim an ontological primacy over manifold phenomena and vice versa.8 In fact, Chih-i argued that the idea of the three thousand worlds in an instant of thought does not mean "the production (sheng) of three thousand worlds in an instant of thought" or "the embodiment (han) of three thousand worlds in an instant of thought." Rather, the idea of "inclusion" (chii), said Chih-i, should be understood in the sense of "mutual inclusion" (hu-chii).9 It is not only that every instant of thought includes all phenomena, but also that any phenomenon in any moment includes all other phenomena. This assertion implies that each phenomenon and each individual being intrinsically includes all other phenomena and beings, an idea that came to be referred to as "nature inclusion" (hsing-chu). The T'ien-tai notion of nature inclusion is thus not a reductive "mind-only" (wei-hsin) idealism that maintains that all phenomena and beings are dependent on and appropriated by the mind. The mutual inclusion of all phenomena and beings is often expressed through the concept of mutual inclusion of the ten dharma realms, which holds that each dharma realm inherently includes all nine other dharma realms. It implies that not only do Buddhas possess Buddhahood, but hungry ghosts, animals, and hell dwellers possess Buddhahood as well. By the same token, Buddhas inherently possess the same "evil" nature as hungry ghosts, animals, and hell dwellers. The idea that the Buddha is inherently evil revolutionized the traditional view of Buddha-nature inherited from Indian Buddhism, and it became a central issue in the Shan-chia/Shan-wai debates. T'ien-t'ai teachings underwent a transformation in the middle of the eighth century with Chan-jan's reinvigoration of the tradition after a long period of stagnation. In the interval, the Hua-yen tradition had risen to prominence as a major form of scholastic Bud-

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dhism, bringing to the fore a series of doctrinal issues either not addressed or not fully dealt with by Chih-i.10 In order to assert the superiority of T'ien-t'ai over Hua-yen, Chan-jan had to address these issues and, in the process, incorporated elements of Hua-yen thought —especially its ontology of mind based on the Awakening of Faith (Ta-sheng ch'i-hsin lun)—into his reformulation of T'ien-t'ai. Hence, along with elaborating the idea of the mutual inclusion of all phenomena, Chan-jan also highlighted the idea of "mind inclusion" (hsin-chu), by which he meant that phenomena are inherently included in one's own mind. Shan-wai exponents held that this mind referred to the intrinsically pure, true mind of the Awakening of Faith. However, the Shan-chia exponents could cite passages in which Chan-jan resolutely rejected identifying the mind with the intrinsically pure, true mind (chen-hsin).n This ambiguity in Chanjan's writings also led to a debate over the proper object of contemplation. Whereas Chih-li insisted that the ordinary, defiled mind is the proper object of contemplation, the Shan-wai proponents held that it is the enlightened, true mind. Based on the T'ien-t'ai view of mutual inclusion, Chan-jan further argued that insentient beings possess Buddha-nature. This idea diverged from the prevalent understanding of Buddha-nature in T'ang China. Through this notion, Chan-jan tried to elaborate the nondiscriminative view of reality implied in the notion of nature inclusion and to criticize the discriminative thought of Hua-yen Buddhism, which maintained that only sentient beings possess the Buddha-nature. In order to distinguish the T'ien-t'ai teaching from those of other schools, particularly Hua-yen, Chan-jan characterized Huayen ontology in terms of "apprehending the principle by cutting off the nine dharma realms" (yilan-li tuan-chiu), according to which the attainment of Buddhahood entails the exclusion of all other unenlightened realms of existence. Chan-jan claimed that this position erroneously privileged the true mind as the foundation for realizing enlightenment to the exclusion of all others. Consequently he identified the Hua-yen tradition with the "separate teaching" (pieh-chiao), which in the T'ien-t'ai classification system reflects the understanding of bodhisattvas who only see enlightenment in terms of the true mind. For Chan-jan, then, the teaching that privileges the Buddha-realm while discriminating against the other nine dharma realms is not a "perfect teaching" (yuan-chiao). Despite his criticisms of Hua-yen thought, Chan-jan's reformula-

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tion of T'ien-t'ai, by giving a new emphasis to the notion of mind inclusion, introduced an ambiguity into the T'ien-ta'i tradition, and its repercussions divided the T'ien-t'ai community in the Sung into two factions with conflicting interpretations of the central import of T'ien-t'ai teachings. Each faction could find justification for its position in Chan-jan's writings.

The Shan-wai Faction The Shan-wai (Off Mountain) faction consisted of a group of T'ient'ai monks represented by Wu-en (912-988), Ytian-ch'ing (d. 997), Chih-yuan (976-1022), Ch'ing-chao (963-1017), and their immediate disciples based in Ch'ien-t'ang (present-day Hang-chou) in the early Sung.12 The term "Shan-wai" is not an appellation they applied to themselves; rather, it was a pejorative label, with the semantic force of "heterodox" or "outside the fold," coined by Chih-li's descendants, who characterized themselves as the "Shan-chia" (Home Mountain) faction.13 The use of "Shan-chia" and "Shan-wai" as opposing terms is thus the product of the schismatic struggle that unfolded within the T'ien-t'ai community during the first decades of the eleventh century. The construction of the T'ien-t'ai lineage found in the Orthodox Lineage of the Buddhist Tradition (Shih-men cheng-t'ung) and the Comprehensive History of the Buddhas and Patriarchs (Fo-tsu t'ungchi), both of which were compiled in the thirteenth century, intensified the schismatic connotation of these two terms.14 In fact, these two designations have been central to the way the T'ien-t'ai tradition has constructed its history and defined its orthodoxy from the Sung dynasty on. The sheer volume of writings produced by the Shan-wai proponents indicates that their position represented a powerful intellectual current within the T'ien-t'ai community during the early Sung. Shan-chia advocates like Chih-li argued that Shan-wai masters distorted the original T'ien-t'ai teachings by injecting the interpretation of mind found in the Awakening of Faith, the apocryphal Surarigama Sutra (Shou-leng-yen ching),15 and the Hua-yen teachings, especially as they were represented in the writings of Ch'eng-kuan (738-839) and Tsung-mi (780-841). These two later figures gave a decidedly ontological thrust to Hua-yen teachings by emphasizing "nature origination" (hsing-ch'i), a term that was subsequently contrasted with the T'ien-t'ai teaching of "nature inclusion" (hsing-chu) emphasized by Chih-li in the T'ien-t'ai debates.16 The Hua-yen teach-

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ing of nature origination held that all phenomena were a manifestation (ch'i) of the nature (hsing), which was equated with the true mind (chen-hsin) of the Awakening of Faith. Although pure (ch'ingching) and immutable (pu-pien) in its true essence, this mind nevertheless adapts to conditions (sui-yuan) to give rise to all states. The true mind, moreover, is the basis of both enlightenment and delusion. The focus of practice is thus on transcending defiled and deluded states of mind in order to return to the true mind, which is intrinsically pure and enlightened. Defiled and deluded states therefore cannot provide access to enlightenment. Wu-en, the first proponent of what was to become identified as the Shan-wai position, drew on Ch'eng-kuan's Commentary to the Hua-yen Sutra (Hua-yen ching ta-shu) to interpret the T'ien-t'ai notion of an instant of thought (i-nien) as referring to the true mind (chen-hsin).17 Wu-en's attempt to interpret T'ien-t'ai via Hua-yen metaphysics was elaborated and systematized by his disciple, Yiianch'ing, who applied Tsung-mi's idea of "pure, numinous awareness" (ch'ing-ching ling-chih) to elucidate the T'ien-t'ai concept of an instant of thought (i-nien). He argued that the three thousand worlds are intrinsically embodied in numinous awareness as an instant of thought that, in essence, is pure, empty, and tranquil. 18 The basis for his position can be found in Tsung-mi's Preface to the Collected Writings on the Source of Chan (Ch'an-yuan chu-chuan-chi tu-hsu): All dharmas are like a dream, as the various sages alike have explained. Thus deluded thoughts are originally tranquil and sense objects are originally empty. The empty and tranquil mind is numinous and unobscured. This very empty, tranquil awareness is one's own true-nature. Whether deluded or enlightened, the mind is originally aware in and of itself. It does not come into existence dependent on conditions nor does it arise because of sense objects. The single word "awareness" is the gateway of all mysteries.19 Chih-li charged that, in using the term "numinous awareness" in an ontological sense, Yuan-ch'ing broke away from the doctrinal foundation of the T'ien-t'ai teaching and practice. Failing to embrace the T'ien-t'ai concept of nature inclusion (hsing-chii), Yuan-ch'ing adopted the Hua-yen idea of nature origination (hsing-ch'i). He argued that the T'ien-t'ai doctrine of three thousand worlds in an instant of thought should be interpreted in terms of suchness adapting to conditions (chen-ju sui-yuan), through

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which the three thousand worlds are manifested. Yiian-ch'ing's explication of the T'ien-t'ai doctrine in terms of ideas borrowed from the Awakening of Faith was embraced by all Shan-wai masters as the doctrinal model for the T'ien-t'ai teaching. Translating this theoretical position into meditative praxis, Shan-wai masters such as Ch'ing-chao advocated the "contemplation of the true mind" (chen-hsin kuan) and the "contemplation of principle" (li-kuan), which took the true mind as the basis of all dharmas and hence the true object of contemplation. Focusing on one's own innate enlightened mind, according to Shan-wai proponents, is the perfect and sudden form of T'ien-t'ai contemplation. The Shan-wai masters thus rejected the view that the deluded mind, which includes the three thousand worlds, is the proper object of contemplation. For them the goal of T'ien-t'ai practice was therefore to realize that the true nature of beings is pure and enlightened.

Chih-li and the Shan-chia Faction Chih-li saw the T'ien-t'ai tradition of his time as being in a state of crisis, and he accordingly devoted his life to restoring its fortunes. Since he was convinced that a critical part of this crisis lay within the tradition itself, he embarked on a lifelong campaign to restore what he took to be T'ien-t'ai orthodoxy and orthopraxis. Chih-li's sense of mission may have been inherited from his teacher, I-t'ung (K. Uit'ong, 927-988), and his master, Hsi-chi (919-987), who began the revival of the T'ien-t'ai tradition in the midst of the politically unsettled tenth century. Hsi-chi had studied under the Ch'an master Te-shao (871-972) on Mount T'ien-t'ai, but he dedicated his life to the promotion of T'ient'ai. Not only did Hsi-chi try to search out vital texts lost during the upheavals of the ninth and tenth centuries, he also urged the king of Wu-Yueh to send envoys to Korea and Japan to obtain and bring back missing T'ien-t'ai texts.20 I-t'ung, a Korean national, was Hsichi's most versatile successor. During his two-decade residence in the Pao-yiin Monastery in Ming-chou, I-t'ung turned it into a center of T'ien-t'ai studies. Hsi-chi and I-t'ung can thus be seen as the precursors of the revival of the T'ien-t'ai tradition in the Northern Sung. In 996 Chii-ming (dates unknown) and Hsien-t'ung (dates unknown), two former abbots of the Pao-en Monastery in Ssu-ming (present-day Ning-po), turned over that facility to Chih-li and his

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fellow monk I-wen (dates unknown) for the explicit purpose of making it into a center for the study and transmission of T'ien-t'ai teachings.21 After renovation of the monastery was completed in 1009, the court conferred the new title of Yen-ch'ing yuan on the monastery in 1010.22 At the end of that year, it was established as a public monastery dedicated to the T'ien-t'ai tradition in perpetuity. In a later directive to his disciples, Chih-li laid down the guidelines by which its future abbots would be chosen: (1) the candidates should have studied the T'ien-t'ai teachings for a long time and should avoid lecturing on the teachings of the other schools, (2) they should study and examine intensively the T'ien-t'ai teachings and avoid superficial and pretentious understanding, (3) they should be well respected for their observance of the precepts and upright in their treatment of others, (4) they should be free from vanity and not distort the T'ient'ai teachings, and (5) they should be polished at writing and debate and be sensitive to the needs and abilities of those under their guidance.23 Chih-li warned that anyone who illegally took over Yen-ch'ing Monastery or anyone who abandoned its mission as a center for T'ien-t'ai studies would receive severe retribution. 24 Not only did Chih-li make every effort to lay a firm institutional foundation for the perpetuation of the T'ien-t'ai tradition, but he was also concerned with maintaining the orthodoxy of its teachings. His correspondence with disciples is full of reminders of the importance of studying the "authentic" T'ien-t'ai teachings and preserving the tradition. 25 In order to ensure the orthodoxy of tradition, in 1017 and 1023 he even made up a series of examination questions for his students. 26 Nowhere was Chih-li's concern for orthodoxy more apparent than in the Shan-chia/Shan-wai debates. For Chih-li, the ideas of Shanwai faction had brought the tradition to a crisis. Rejecting the Shanwai interpretation of T'ien-t'ai teachings in a series of exchanges lasting from 1000 to 1028, Chih-li aimed at restoring the authentic T'ien-t'ai teachings that he thought should be preserved from generation to generation. For Chih-li, the aberrant views of the Shan-wai masters and their practical implications signified more than a misinterpretation of T'ien-t'ai Buddhism. By adulterating T'ien-t'ai orthodoxy, the Shan-wai adherents threatened the survival of the authentic tradition. One of the ways in which Chih-li sought to clarify the errors of the Shan-wai view was to employ the rubric of "doctrinal classification" (p'an-chiao). Doctrinal classification was a standard feature of

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medieval Chinese Buddhist scholasticism. It provided a method by which Chinese Buddhists could classify, and thereby make sense out of, the diverse array of teachings represented in the canonical literature inherited from the "western lands." At the same time that doctrinal classification "organized into a coherent and internally consistent doctrinal framework the diverse corpus of sacred scriptures to which Chinese Buddhists were heir," it also "legitimated the claims of different Chinese Buddhist traditions to represent the supreme, orthodox, or most relevant teaching of the Buddha." 27 Doctrinal classification was thus intimately connected with Chinese Buddhist polemics and sectarian politics as it provided one of the major means by which different traditions vaunted their claims to authority. Chih-i had used a variety of different classificatory rubrics for different purposes throughout his various writings. One of the major schemes to which he resorted ranked the Buddhist teachings into four categories according to their doctrinal content, which Chih-i referred to as (1) the tripitaka teaching (tsang-chiao), (2) the common teaching (t'ung-chiao), (3) the separate teaching (pieh-chiao), and (4) the perfect teaching (yuan-chiao).2S Particularly important for the Shan-chia/Shan-wai debates are the last two categories, the separate and perfect teachings. These two terms were used to contrast the exclusive nature of the Huayen teachings with the universal scope of the T'ien-t'ai teachings. As these categories were applied to the Shan-chia/Shan-wai debates, "perfect" revealed the all-inclusive character of the T'ien-t'ai teachings, which saw all modes of existence as imbued with Buddhahood, and thus provided a valid Buddhist ground for practice. By contrast, "separate" emphasized the Shan-chia view that the Hua-yen (and, by extension, Shan-wai) teachings privileged certain modes of existence over others as the proper focus for practice. The separate teaching identified absolute, pure suchness (chen-ju; tathata) as the basis for realizing Buddhahood, whereas the perfect teaching saw all modes of existence, including defiled and deluded ones, as affording access to Buddhahood. The perfect teachings thus did not distinguish suchness ontologically from ignorance (wu-ming; avidya) and true mind from deluded mind, whereas the separate teaching did. The perfect teaching conceived of reality as an ontologically integrated whole, with every aspect within that whole giving equal access to its inconceivable totality, as expressed in such quintessential T'ien-t'ai doctrines as "three thousand worlds in an

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instant of thought" and "inherent evil."29 Some of the philosophical ramifications of this view are explored in the following chapter by Brook Ziporyn.

Nature Inclusion as the Perfect Teaching In his engagement with Shan-wai scholars, Chih-li sought to draw a clear line of demarcation between T'ien-t'ai and Hua-yen teachings. The controversy became crystallized in its quintessential form—in which Chih-li identified the perfect teaching with the T'ien-t'ai doctrine of nature inclusion (hsing-chii) and the separate teaching with the Hua-yen doctrine of nature origination (hsing-ch'i)—in a debate over the meaning of Chan-jan's Ten Gates of Nonduality (Shih pu-erhmen).1,0 In 1004 Chih-li wrote Exposition of the Essentials of Ten Gates of Nonduality (Shih pu-erh-men chih-yao ch'ao) in response to the commentaries on Chan-jan's work by Yiian-ch'ing, Pointer Revealing the Pearl of the Ten Marvelous Gates of Nonduality in the Lotus (Fahua shih-miao pu-erh-men shih-chu chih), and Tsung-yii, Exegesis of the Ten Gates of Nonduality (Chu shih pu-erh-men).31 Chih-li believed that both of these works had been swayed extensively by Fa-tsang s and Tsung-mi's Hua-yen thought. In his commentary to Chan-jan's work, Chih-li accordingly coined the phrase "the separate principle that adapts to conditions" (pieh-li sui-yiian) to characterize the Hua-yen understanding of reality in contradistinction to that of T'ien-t'ai.32 This phrase traces back to Fa-tsang's influential commentary to the Awakening of Faith (Tasheng ch'i-hsin lun i-chi), in which he introduced the concepts of "adapting to conditions" (sui-yiian) and "immutability" (pu-pien) to elucidate the ontology of "the one mind and its two aspects" set forth in that text. "Adapting to conditions" refers to the conditioned aspect of the suchness, whereby the originally pure and undifferentiated suchness adapts to conditions to give rise to all defiled and differentiated states of being. "Immutablility" refers to the essential character of suchness, which remains pure and undisturbed. The process by which the defiled phenomenal world emerges from the pure undifferentiated suchness is what, in other contexts, the Huayen tradition referred to as "nature origination." The problem for Sung T'ien-t'ai exegetes was to account for Chanjan's use of these two phrases in his various writings. For instance, in his Outline of the Great Calming and Contemplation (Chih-kuan ta-i), Chan-jan says: "Nature (hsing) adapts to conditions and yet is

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immutable. Mind (hsin) is immutable and yet adapts to conditions."33 In his Diamond Scalpel (Chin-kang pei lun), to cite another example, Chan-jan says: "The myriad phenomena are suchness, because they are immutable. Suchness is the myriad phenomena, because it adapts to conditions." 34 Although Chan-jan used the term "suchness," he did not ascribe to it the Hua-yen signification in which a distinction was made between pure, undifferentiated suchness and myriad phenomena. On the contrary, he held that suchness is identical to myriad phenomena because they are consubstantial. It is the consubstantiality of suchness and myriad phenomena that justifies the manifestation of myriad phenomena via the conditioning of suchness. In this sense, suchness is not taken as the undifferentiated and immutable suchness that distinguishes itself from the differentiated and deluded myriad phenomena. Rather, suchness, according to Chanjan, refers to the differentiated and deluded myriad phenomena. Chan-jan's effort to assimilate Hua-yen metaphysics into the T'ien-t'ai system, to a large extent, inspired the Shan-wai scholars to interpret the T'ien-t'ai doctrine of reality (shih-hsiang) from a Hua-yen perspective. When Chih-li proposed the notion of "the separate principle that adapts to conditions" to brand the Hua-yen ontology, he was challenged by the Shan-wai scholars. He responded by explaining the origin of this notion. In his Exposition of the Essentials of Ten Gates of Nonduality, Chih-li states: "People see that I have set forth the meaning of the separate teachings 'principle that adapts to conditions.' They feel astonished, because they cannot discern Chan-jan's intent."35 "People" here probably refers to the Shan-wai followers. Chih-li s statement indicates that the doctrine of the separate principle that adapts to conditions had already been suggested in Chan-jan's works, though it was not yet clearly formulated. Chan-jan proposed the idea of "apprehending principle by cutting off the nine dharma realms" (yuan-li tuan-chiu) to designate the ontology presented in the Awakening of Faith and the Huayen teachings. 36 Chih-li complained that those who felt shocked when they realized that Chan-jan had taught this idea had no real insight into his intent. Chih-li thus seemed to be claiming that Chanjan's formulation of the T'ien-t'ai teachings via Hua-yen terminology should not be taken at face value. Chan-jan, in fact, had been very critical of Hua-yen doctrine, particularly Fa-tsang's teaching. Contrasting the Hua-yen and T'ien-t'ai teachings, Chih-li contended that the Hua-yen understanding of "suchness adapting to

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conditions" (chen-ju sui-yuan) should be classified under the separate teaching (pieh-chiao) and not the perfect teaching (yuan-chiao). For Chih-li, the Hua-yen concept of "suchness" is a "separate principle" (pieh-li), since it is, in essence, immaculate and devoid of differentiation. Defining the meaning of "separate teaching," Chihli quoted from Chan-jan's commentary on Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sutra (Fa-hua wen-chu chi): "Merely apprehending principle/ nature (li-hsing) while cutting off the nine dharma realms is the doctrine of the separate teaching." 37 In his Exposition of the Essentials of Ten Gates of Nonduality, Chih-li contended that the concept of adapting to conditions is shared by both the separate and the perfect teachings. Yet he argued that the difference between the meaning of "adapting to conditions" as taught by the perfect teaching and that embraced by the separate teaching lay in the idea of "the identity of essence and function" (t'iyung hsiang-chi). Essence and function were two metaphysical concepts commonly used by Chinese philosophers to denote the ontological relation between the noumenal and phenomenal realms. To Chih-li, "essence" (t'i) meant the inclusion of the three thousand worlds in the intrinsic nature of each individual being, while "function" (yung) meant the manifestation of the three thousand worlds as myriad phenomena. The entire essence of principle (li-t'i) arises from the functioning of phenomena (shih-yung). This is the meaning of "adapting to conditions" [explicated in] the perfect teaching. Therefore, [Chanjan's] commentary [to Chih-i's Great Calming and Contemplation] states: "There are two meanings of'mind-creation' (hsin-tsao): (1) in terms of principle, [mind]-creation means inclusion (chu); (2) in terms of phenomena, [mind-creation] illustrates the transformations of the three periods [of past, present, and future], the unenlightened ordinary beings, and the enlightened sages." It then concludes: "Because of the inclusion of principle (li-chii), the phenomenal function is made manifest."38 According to Chih-li, when the essence of the three thousand worlds adapts to conditions, the function of the three thousand worlds is made manifest. When the essence of the three thousand worlds does not adapt to conditions, the three thousand worlds exist as such, and there is no distinction between the essence and the function of the three thousand worlds. Agreeing with Chan-jan's explication, Chih-li held that "the identity of essence and function" could be

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apprehended through the concept of "the nonduality of essence and function." He further observed: "As for saying that all dharmas [i.e., phenomena] are identical to principle, it is valid to say that they are identical if the entire function [of the three thousand worlds] is identical to the essence [of the three thousand worlds.]" 39 This statement defines the meaning of the T'ien-t'ai perfect teaching, which makes no ontological discrimination between the noumenal and phenomenal realms. Having characterized the T'ien-t'ai perfect teaching, Chih-li proceeded to argue that the Hua-yen teaching of suchness adapting to conditions did not measure up to the T'ien-t'ai perfect teaching. The other school [i.e., Hua-yen] makes clear that the unitary principle, when it adapts to conditions, engenders differentiated dharmas (ch'a-pieh fa). Differentiation (ch'a-pieh) is the characteristic of ignorance (wu-ming). Pure unity is the characteristic of suchness. When [suchness] adapts to conditions, it has [the characteristic of] differentiation. When [it] does not adapt to conditions, it lacks [the characteristic of] differentiation. Therefore, we know that when the nature [i.e., suchness] and ignorance combine, the characteristic of differentiation is engendered. This is the meaning of "combination" but not of "nonduality of essence," because when ignorance is removed, there is no characteristic of differentiation.40 The Hua-yen doctrine of adapting to conditions presented in the above passage derives from Fa-tsang's commentary to the Awakening of Faith (Ch'i-hsin lun i-chi).41 Chih-li maintained that Fa-tsang's teaching had presumed that pure unity is the characteristic of suchness, while differentiation is the characteristic of ignorance. Differentiation is created in the process of conditioning. When suchness combines with ignorance—that is, when suchness adapts to conditions—differentiated dharmas are engendered. In contrast, when suchness and ignorance are separated—that is, when suchness is not adapting to conditions—suchness is in a state of pure unity. Suchness or the fruition of Buddhahood (fo-kuo) is realized only when ignorance ceases. If ignorance ceases, then the nine dharma realms are cut off. All these statements imply that suchness and ignorance are not consubstantial. In other words, suchness and ignorance are ontologically different. In the above passage, Chih-li precisely demonstrated how the Hua-yen doctrine of suchness adapting to conditions fell short of the perfect teaching by failing to grasp the nonduality of myriad phenomena and principle.

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In contrast to the Hua-yen teaching, Chih-li presented the T'ient'ai approach: Our [T'ien-t'ai] school elucidates [the idea] that the essence of the three thousand worlds that adapts to conditions engenders the function of the three thousand worlds. When it is not adapting to conditions, the three thousand worlds exist as such. In this case, differentiated phenomena and their essence are nondual, because when ignorance is removed, the characteristic of differentiation still exists. When we examine the idea of identity as explicated by the other school, their concept of identity cannot be established. This is because [Hua-yen] regards the attainment of Buddhahood as being singular suchness, in which the differentiation of the [other] nine dharma realms is eliminated so as to return to the unitary nature of the Buddha-realm. [The teaching of] our school, which makes a distinction between the perfect teaching and the separate teaching through the ideas of "identity" (chi) and "separation" (li) [respectively], is not easily fathomed. We should know that simply explicating "suchness adapting to conditions" without discussing the concept of the "inclusion of principle" (li-chu) is still a doctrine of "separation." Therefore, the first fascicle of the Commentary on the Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sutra (Fa-hua wen-chu chi) says: "Since the principle in the separate teaching does not embody the essential qualities of the nine dharma realms, the self [i.e., the Buddha-realm] and [each of the] other [nine dharma realms] all eliminate the other nine dharma realms."42 If the three thousand worlds are the essential qualities, then the nine dharma realms have nothing to be destroyed. This is because they are identical to the realm of the Buddha. Only now is the meaning of "identity" established and the perfect principle (ytianli) made manifest. Therefore, the Diamond Scalpel says: "The idea of transformation (pien) [of mind] is only in the [last] two [doctrines of conversion, that is, the separate and perfect teachings]. As for [the notions of] 'identity' (chi) and 'inclusion' (chii), [they] are only implied by the perfect teaching."43 [We,] therefore, recognize both the meanings of "inclusion" and "transformation." This, then, can be designated as "identity." If any one of the meanings is left out, then the meaning of "perfect ultimate" (yuan-chi) cannot be established. Chan-jan says: "The other school cannot understand [the concepts of] cultivation (hsiu) and nature (hsingJ."44 If the absolute principle of suchness is taken to mean nature, while differentiated phenomena engendered by the process of "adapting to conditions" is taken to mean cultivation, then there already had been many people explicating this idea

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before Chan-jan came on the scene. Thus we know that "the ultimate perfect" (chi-yuan) of the other school merely expresses [the concept of] "nature origination" (hsing-ch'i) but not "nature inclusion." This must be pondered deeply.45 According to Chih-li, the perfect teaching as characterized by the concept of nature inclusion means that the nine dharma realms are ontologically identical to the Buddha-realm and that each dharma realm is ontologically identical to the other nine dharma realms. More precisely, the Buddha-realm is intrinsically endowed with the other nine dharma realms, just as each dharma realm is intrinsically endowed with all of the other nine dharma realms, including the Buddha-realm. This is the meaning of perfect principle implied by the T'ien-t'ai teaching of nature inclusion. For Chih-li, only principle as presented in the perfect teaching can be taken as the "perfect principle." The T'ien-t'ai doctrine of adapting to conditions that was promulgated by Chan-jan thus is more appropriately designated as being "the perfect principle that adapts to conditions" (yuan-li sui-yuan). Adapting to conditions, according to this perfect teaching, then means that when the essence of the entire three thousand worlds adapts to conditions, the function of the three thousand worlds manifests itself. Unlike the perfect teaching, the separate teaching holds that the Buddha-realm (i.e., suchness or principle) is distinct from the other nine dharma realms. Principle in the separate teaching is identified as the "separate principle" (pieh-li), because it is not intrinsically endowed with the other dharma realms. Only when the separate principle comes into contact with conditions are the other nine dharma realms engendered. In this sense, the Hua-yen teaching only advocated the doctrine of nature origination but not that of nature inclusion. Against the Hua-yen doctrine, Chih-li asserted: "If [the concept of] 'essence [nature] inclusion' (t'i-chu) [i.e., the essence of the three thousand realms intrinsically includes the function of the three thousand realms] has not been explicated, the doctrines of 'adapting to conditions' (sui-yuan) and 'not adapting to conditions' (pu sui-yuan) belong to the separate teaching."46 Throughout the Shan-chia/Shan-wai debates, Chih-li discredited the Shan-wai understanding of the T'ien-t'ai doctrinal teachings. For Chih-li, the Shan-wai identification of the Hua-yen advanced teaching (chung-chiao) represented by the doctrines of the Awakening of Faith with the T'ien-t'ai perfect teaching was an unforgivable mis-

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take, because it implied that T'ien-t'ai doctrinal teachings were inferior to those of Hua-yen school. In his Essay Concerning the Harmonization of the T'ien-t'ai Teachings and the Awakening of Faith (T'ien-t'ai chiao yiX Ch'i-hsin lun jung-hui chang), Chih-li resolutely insisted that T'ien-t'ai and Hua-yen teachings were two different systems that could not be harmonized (nan-k'o ho-hui). In this essay, Chih-li declared: "Although Fa-tsang employed the term 'perfect' [to refer to the meaning of 'suchness that adapts to conditions and yet is immutable'], he actually formed a 'separate' doctrine."47 Chih-li held that the T'ien-t'ai perfect teaching was defined by nature inclusion, which differed entirely from the Hua-yen concept of nature origination. Upholding the doctrine of "nature inclusion" as the T'ien-t'ai orthodoxy, Chih-li directly rebuffed the Shan-wai interpretation of the T'ien-t'ai teachings, which was permeated by the thought of the Tathagatagarbha tradition.

The Mutual Inclusion of Phenomena In 1021, seven years before his death, Chih-li completed his Subcommentary on the Subtle Teaching Expounded in [Chih-i's] Commentary on the Visualization Sutra (Kuan-ching shu miao-tsung ch'ao; hereafter Treatise on the Subtle Teaching), a subcommentary on the Pure Land Visualization Sutra (Kuan wu-liang-shou-fo ching).48 This work led to another debate between the Shan-chia and Shan-wai schools over the doctrine of "the inclusion of the three thousand worlds in the intrinsic nature of each individuated material form" (se-chii sanch'ien). The controversy was precipitated by divergent approaches to Chih-i's concept of the inclusion of the three thousand worlds in an instant of thought. Hsien-jun (dates unknown), a student of Ch'ing-chao, wrote an essay Pointing Out the Flaws (Chih-hsia) to refute Chih-li's nondiscriminative approach to T'ien-t'ai thought, which limited the significance of mind. Hsien-jun's purpose was also to promote the idea that the mind alone is endowed with the three thousand worlds (hsin-chu san-ch'ien), an idea for which he was obviously indebted to Chan-jan's notion of mind-inclusion. The significance of this controversy was twofold. For one, Chih-li tried to rectify the Shan-wai misperception caused by Chan-jan's overemphasis on the mind. Furthermore, he rejected the Shan-wai "mindonly" (wei-hsin) approach to the T'ien-t'ai concept of nature inclusion that epitomized T'ien-t'ai orthodoxy. Inheriting Chih-i's view on the ontological relation between mind

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a n d phenomena, Chih-li maintained that "the m i n d is in fact all phen o m e n a and all p h e n o m e n a are in fact the mind." 49 In other words, p h e n o m e n a and mind are ontologically nondual. Based on the T'ient'ai holistic view of reality, Chih-li conceived of the entirety of reality (i.e., the d h a r m a d h a t u ) as an inconceivable interpenetrating whole. Each individuated material f o r m is a manifestation of d h a r m a d h a t u as a whole. Thus it is true that the mind in an instant of thought is nothing b u t the entire manifold d h a r m a d h a t u . But it is equally true that even a dust mote contains reality in its entirety. In Chih-li's words: The dharmadhatu is a perfectly integrated, inconceivable essence. . . . A mind, a dust mote, or an atom is nothing but the functioning of the whole dharmadhatu. Since each dharma is the functioning of the whole dharmadhatu, singling out one [dharma], in fact, [presents] the totality of the perfectly integrated dharmadhatu. Since [one dharma] represents the totality of the dharmadhatu, there is not a single dharma that does not include all dharmas. 50 Taking the above statement as the premise, Chih-li asserted: If those who inherit the teachings of our [T'ien-t'ai] school say that mind alone intrinsically includes [the three thousand worlds] while material form (se) does not intrinsically include [the three thousand worlds], they, just like the other [school], erroneously establish a gradual-perfect teaching, while looking up to the sudden-sudden teaching of the other [school]. There is a big gap [between these two kinds of teaching], and such a teaching is still inferior to that of the other school. Why can they not understand that our [T'ien-t'ai] school [holds] that each and every single dharma [phenomenon] intrinsically includes all dharmas [phenomena]? This is the reason that our school establishes the doctrine of "material form only" (wei-se), of "smell only" (wei-hsiang), and so forth. 51 Following the above line of reasoning, Chih-li concluded that not only is the m i n d endowed with the whole d h a r m a d h a t u , b u t each individuated p h e n o m e n o n is also endowed with the entire dharmadhatu, since all p h e n o m e n a mutually include each other. Once again, Chih-li emphasized that only such an understanding could be properly regarded as the perfect teaching. 5 2 By 1021 w h e n the Subcommentary on the Subtle Teaching appeared, the Shan-wai school h a d lost its strength. Chih-yuan, a pro-

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lific proponent of the Shan-wai school, was in the last year of his life. Ch'ing-chao, who died in 1017, did not even have an opportunity to review Chih-li's work. Nevertheless, Hsien-jun, as Ch'ingchao's successor, carried on the cause, as is known from Jen-yuehs polemic Removing Obscurations (Chueh-mo shu). According to Jenyiieh (992-1064), Hsien-jun's Pointing Out the Flaws sought to refute Chih-li's Subcommentary on the Subtle Teaching. Hsien-jun took special issue with Chih-li's notion that each individuated phenomenon intrinsically includes the three thousand worlds (se-chu sanchien), which was a direct challenge to the mind-only standpoint of the Shan-wai school. Against Chih-li's position, Hsien-jun argued that the concept of "mind-inclusion" (hsin-chu) entails the concept of "material-form-inclusion" (se-chu). "Whenever we say phenomenon-inclusion, we mean mind-inclusion (hsin-chu). Why? Phenomena are created by the mind. The totality of phenomena is mind. Therefore, we know that phenomenon-inclusion is identical to mind-inclusion."53 Hsien-jun adopted the view that the mind alone embodies all dharmas since it creates them. Hsien-jun further questions: "If each of the insentient phenomena beyond the mind intrinsically includes the three thousand worlds, and the phenomenon and the mind each intrinsically includes the three thousand worlds, then does the mind as an instant of thought intrinsically include the six thousand worlds?"54 He insisted that the mind alone intrinsically includes the three thousand worlds. Supporting his view, Hsienjun quoted Chih-i's Great Calming and Contemplation: "Where there is no mind, there is the end of matter; if mind comes into being to the slightest degree whatever, it immediately includes the three thousand worlds."55 Influenced by the notion of mind-only advocated by the Hua-yen school, Shan-wai masters such as Hsien-jun regarded the mind as the "creator" of the dharmadhatu. Such a view conceives the mind as the "subject" that has power to create and to integrate its objects. Furthermore, the doctrine of mind-only asserts that there is no existence of any kind outside of the mind. For the Shan-wai faction, mind, or to put it more precisely, true mind, is the only reality. This doctrine of mind-only adopted by the Shan-wai masters is radically different from the T'ien-t'ai holism embraced by Chih-li, which emphasized the notion of "mutual inclusion of all phenomena" (chu-fa hu-chii). Though Chih-li read Hsien-jun's criticism, he did not respond to it in writing. In his Removing Obscurations, Jen-yiieh records Chih-

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lis reaction to Hsien-jun's work: "Master [Chih-li] read Pointing Out the Flaws and sighed deeply: 'One cannot talk about ice with a summer insect. Nor can one talk about the Way with a bumpkin. This is the advice from Chuang-tzu. Forgiving [Hsien-jun] for not yet understanding the meaning of T'ien-t'ai perfect teaching, how can I discuss the right or wrong of his view?' "56 Jen-yiieh, who was still a loyal disciple of Chih-li at that time, launched a counter-attack on behalf of his mentor. According to Jen-yueh's understanding, Hsien-jun's concept of mind-inclusion meant "to absorb phenomena into the mind."57 Based on this perception, Hsien-jun argued that mind-inclusion entailed phenomenon-inclusion. Jen-yiieh pointed out that Hsien-jun's view was, in fact, derived from his Shan-wai predecessor Yuan-ch'ing, who held that mind is the creator, while sentient beings and the Buddha are the created.58 Hsien-jun's teacher Ch'ing-chao in his Treatise on Five Issues (Wu-i shu) also claimed that the mind that creates is neither tainted nor pure.59 Both Yuan-ch'ing and Ch'ing-chao maintained that phenomena do not intrinsically include all dharmas. They contended that only the mind intrinsically includes all dharmas, because mind creates all dharmas. For Jen-yiieh, who supported Chihli's view, Hsien-jun and his forerunners had all lost sight of the T'ien-t'ai perfect teaching, which conceives of the dharmadhatu as a perfectly integrated whole. Once again, through this debate concerning Chih-li's teaching that each individuated phenomenon intrinsically includes the three thousand worlds, the Shan-chia made clear that the Shan-wai faction had failed to recognize the perfect teaching of the T'ien-t'ai school.

The Poison of Principle and Inherent Evil In 1009, Chih-yuan wrote Subcommentary to [Chih-i's] Commentary on the Invocation of Kuan-yin Sutra (Ch'ing Kuan-yin ch'an-i ch'ao) as a subcommentary to Chih-i's exegesis (Ch'ing Kuan-yin ching shu) on the sutra.60 From Chih-i's time on, this scripture had an impact on both the cultic and the doctrinal life of the T'ien-t'ai school. It served as the basis for the T'ien-t'ai Invocation of Kuan-yin Repentance discussed in Chapter 9 by Daniel Stevenson. It also provided grist for the discussion of doctrinal issues. The scripture's discussion of the dissipation of poisonous afflictions forms the theme of Chih-i's exegesis. At the beginning of his commentary, Chih-i listed three kinds of

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poisonous afflictions that can be dispelled by chanting the scriptures incantation invoking Kuan-yin. These poisonous afflictions are obstructions that prevent sentient beings from generating good deeds and realizing the path. The three types of afflictions are (1) the poison of phenomena (shih-tu), constituting physical threats from wild animals and weapons; (2) the poison of volition (hsingtu), characterized by the five fundamental defilements (wu-chu fannao); and (3) the poison of principle (li-tu), which is defined as "the unobstructed dharmadhàtu that is not polluted and yet polluted."61 The interpretation of the poison of principle and the issue of whether it refers to inherent evil touched off another major exchange of polemics in the Shan-chia/Shan-wai controversy. In his discussion of the dissipation of poison, Chih-yiian stated that chanting the sutra's incantation would dispel the poison of phenomena. 62 Cultivating the three discernments within a single moment of consciousness (i-hsin san-kuan) would destroy the five fundamental delusions (wu-chu huo) by means of wisdom (chih) and thereby dissipate the poison of volition.63 Chih-yiian went on to elucidate Chih-i's notion of the poison of principle, saying that the dharmadhàtu means "the three discernments grasped in a single moment of consciousness" (san-ti i-hsin).64 He then interpreted the meaning of "unobstructed" as referring to the interpénétration of sentient beings and the Buddha (sheng-fo hu-jung). Explicating the notion of "not polluted yet polluted" (pu-jan erh jan), Chih-yiian quoted Chih-i's Commentary to the Vimalakïrti Sutra (Wei-mo ching hsuan-shu): "The innate pure mind of the middle way is not polluted by defilements. It originally is neither bound nor liberated. That it is not polluted and yet polluted is difficult to understand. Hence sentient beings are deluded about true nature and liberation and give rise to the sixty-two [erroneous] views."65 Explaining "not polluted yet polluted" in terms of this passage from Chih-i's Commentary to the Vimalakïrti Sutra, Chih-yiian wrote: "When the dharma-nature comes into contact with ignorance, it creates myriad phenomena. [This is the meaning of] not polluted yet polluted."66 Chih-yiian here identified the dharma-nature with ones intrinsically pure true nature. His point was that because of the pollution of ignorance, the dharma-nature, which is now in the state of being deluded, is polluted and yet ultimately is not polluted. This, according to Chih-yiian, is the meaning of Chih-i's notion of poison of principle. In his own words, "the entire nature of principle [i.e., dharma-nature] turning into 'poison' [i.e., the deluded

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dharma-nature] is called the poison of principle." 67 Clarifying the relationship among these three kinds of poison, Chih-yiian stated: "The poison of volition and the poison of phenomena exist because of the poison of principle." 68 In other words, the poison of principle is the fundamental poison that includes the other two poisons. Chih-yuan maintained that the poison of principle could be eliminated through the practice of contemplation in which the myriad phenomena were subsumed within the mind, thereby returning the polluted dharma-nature to its original pure state. Realizing that all dharmas can be reduced to the one mind and that pollution is in essence pure is tantamount to the sutras incantation that eliminates poison. 69 Chih-yiian claimed that both ways can help us to enter the realm of absolute reality. Distinguishing the difference between the dissipation of poison of volition by means of wisdom and the dissipation of poison of principle through the contemplation of the pure mind, Chih-yiian maintained that the former is predicated on the dichotomy between the subject who eliminates the poisons (neng-tuan) and the object (the poison) that is eliminated (so-tuan). In this dichotomous approach, the wisdom that is cultivated serves as the power to sever the five fundamental defilements that form the object to be dissipated. The dissipation of the poison of principle, in contrast, cannot be understood through such a conceptual dichotomy. In terms of absolute principle (ti-li), principle [i.e., dharmanature] is beyond [the dichotomy of subject] doing the eliminating and [the object] being eliminated. Only because the principle includes (chil) delusions (huo), is it not polluted yet polluted. This is called poisonous affliction. [Since the principle includes delusions, it means that] delusions are the dharma-nature [i.e., principle], [It also means that the principle] is polluted yet not polluted. This is called the dissipation (hsiao-fu) [of the poison of principle.] 70 Chih-yiian explained the elimination of the poison of principle from the absolute perspective. In doing so, he concluded that since the dharma-nature (or principle) is intrinsically pure, there is no subject to eliminate the poison nor is there any poison to be eliminated. For the sake of explication, however, the dissipation of poison of principle needs to be expressed provisionally in terms of the opposition of pure dharma-nature and the deluded dharma-nature. For Chih-yiian, becoming aware that the deluded dharma-nature is in-

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trinsically pure is what is meant by the dissipation of poison. Chihyuans interpretation implied that the pollution of ignorance can be removed, since, ontologically speaking, ignorance is not inherent in the nature of beings. Chih-yuan then went on to examine the issue of whether or not the poison of principle implies inherent evil (hsing-o). He argued that if inherent evil refers to the poison of principle, then the meaning of poison is established while the meaning of dissipation is missed. That is, if the poison of principle is equated with inherent evil, its innate nature would make its dissipation impossible. He observed: "If the meaning of [the poison s] dissipation is not established, how can [we] understand [the concept of] the functioning [of the incantation that dissipates that poison]? If [the meaning of the poisons] dissipation is established, then [the concept of] inherent evil should be discarded." 71 Simply put, if the poison of principle can be dissipated, then the concept of inherent evil makes no sense. Chih-yuans argument asserts that the poison of principle cannot refer to inherent evil. For Chih-yuan, the dharma-nature (or principle) is intrinsically pure. Because of ignorance, the dharma-nature is polluted. The polluted dharma-nature is called the poison of principle. Since ignorance, the pollutant, is not intrinsic, it can be eliminated by practicing the contemplation of the pure true nature (or mind). Hence the poison of principle can indeed be eliminated. Chih-yuan further contends that the originally pure dharma-nature is distinct from ignorance. It is, therefore, impossible that the dharma-nature is inherently evil. The theoretical foundation of Chih-yuans explication on the poison of principle came from the Awakening of Faith, which proposes that because of ignorance, the pure suchness transforms itself into the store consciousness (alayavijnana), through which all phenomena are engendered. 72 Chih-yuans refusal to the identify the poison of principle with inherent evil invited Chih-li's criticism. In the fall of 1017, Chih-li wrote two treatises repudiating Chih-yuans interpretation of the poison of principle by arguing that it is indeed inherent evil.73 Continuing to be consumed with the preservation of the orthodox T'ient'ai teaching as he saw it, Chih-li in the preface to one of these treatises condemned Chih-yuans interpretation of this issue as "heresy" (i-tuan).1A From Chih-li's perspective, Chih-yuans failure to take account of nature inclusion (hsing-chu) distorted his reading of Chih-i's teaching, leading him to the false conclusion that the poison of principle was not inherent evil.

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The notion of inherent evil—more precisely, the evil inherent in the Buddha—first appeared in Chih-i's Profound Meaning of the Chapter on the Universal Gateway of the Bodhisattva Kuan-yin in the Lotus Sutra (Kuan-yin hsuan-i). When asked about good and evil in regard to an icchantika, the most defiled of human beings, and a Buddha, the most pure, Chih-i answered that although an icchantika cuts off the cultivation of good (hsiu-shan), he still retains his inherent good nature (hsing-shan). The term "cultivation of good" here simply refers to good deeds. As for a Buddha, although he cuts off the cultivation of evil (hsiu-o), he retains his inherent evil nature (hsing-o). Chih-i further claimed that the inherent good and evil natures cannot be destroyed. He then pointed out that although the icchantika, on the one hand, is not aware of his own good nature, he is still by nature good, and it is still possible for him to cultivate his good nature through good deeds. Unfortunately, the icchantika commits bad deeds that bring out his own evil nature. On the other hand, even though a Buddha is inherently evil, he would never manifest his own evil nature by committing evil deeds. On the contrary, the Buddha performs good deeds that bring out his own good nature. 75 As far as nature (hsing) is concerned, then, the icchantika and the Buddha are no different. Since they are innately good and evil, each has the potential for doing both good and evil. The Buddha, always aware that he has the potential to be evil, directs his attention to do good rather than evil. Unlike the Buddha, the icchantika does not recognize that he has the potential to be good and thus continues to commit evil deeds. Seen from the absolute perspective, the inherently good and the inherently evil nature (hsing-o) are nondual. Empirically, however, there is a difference between the cultivation of good and the cultivation of evil. Adopting Chih-i's notion of inherent evil in the Buddha, Chih-li elaborated on this notion by means of the concept of nature inclusion in his Record of the Profound Meaning of Kuan-yin (Kuanyin hsiian-i chi). He emphasized that since each individual being by nature includes the three thousand worlds (i.e., the myriad phenomena), such individuals are therefore intrinsically both good and evil. Chih-li insisted that only because of the existence of inherent good and inherent evil do good deeds and evil deeds have the potential to arise in response to different conditions. That is to say, good deeds and evil deeds are ontologically dependent on the inherent good and inherent evil. Chih-li perceived such an ontological dependence in terms of "essence" (t'i) and "function" (yung). The manifestations of good and evil deeds (i.e., function) ontologically imply

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the existence of the inherently good and evil nature (i.e., essence). Chih-li asserted that inherent good and inherent evil serve as the ontological ground of good and evil deeds. Here again for Chih-li the concept of nature inclusion, which justifies the nonduality of inherent evil and inherent good, defines the T'ien-t'ai perfect teaching. In repudiating Chih-yuan's interpretation of the poison of principle, which is characterized as the pollution of ignorance, Chih-li pointed out that if one assumes that ignorance is not intrinsically included in the dharma-nature, which is by nature pure, then the notion of the poison of principle loses its force. According to Chihyiian, when the pure nature of suchness adapts to conditions, it is polluted or tainted. That is, it becomes infected with ignorance, resulting from the process of conditioning. In order to reveal ones own original pure nature, then, one must dispel ignorance. From the absolute perspective, the pure nature is always distinct from the ignorance. Chih-li labels such an understanding of the poison of principle as the separate teaching (pieh-chiao).76 To Chih-li, Chihyiian's understanding of the poison of principle amounts to no more than saying that the poison of principle is essentially the same thing as the poison of phenomena and the poison of volition. If the poison of principle refers to the other two types of poison, then the notion of poison of principle per se does not make sense. In explicating the meaning of the poison of principle, Chih-li argued that because the dharma-nature intrinsically includes the three hindrances (of passions, karma, and retributions), it makes the pollution of three hindrances possible. For Chih-li, the poison of principle refers to the inherence of the three hindrances. Given that the dharma-nature (or principle) is endowed with the three hindrances, when that nature follows unwholesome conditions, it activates and manifests the three hindrances and thus becomes deluded. In this sense, "poison" (the pollution of the three hindrances) is not something being created. It is always there in a state of potentiality. When poison exists in its potential form, it is poisonous and yet not poisonous. In this sense, poison of principle is dissipated. For Chih-li, the poison of principle refers to the inherent deluded nature of the dharma-nature. He thus claimed that the poison of principle is identical to inherent evil. In the end, by asserting the identity between inherent evil and poison of principle, Chih-li again defended the notion of nature inclusion as the foundation of his view of T'ien-t'ai orthodoxy.

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Contemplation of the Deluded Mind as the Orthopraxy Chronologically, the Shan-chia/Shan-wai controversy began over a dispute about the authenticity of the extended version of Chih-i's the Profound Meaning of the Golden Light Sutra (Chin-kuang-ming hsuan-i).11 Chih-li's Ten Points of Criticism (Ssu-ming shih-i shu) is the only source that documents this early stage of the controversy that took place between 1000 and 1007.78 In a series of exchanges Chih-li argued with Ch'ing-chao and Chih-yuan over the issue of the contemplation of mind (kuan-hsin), commonly referred to as "calming and contemplation" (chih-kuan), that had always been at the heart of the T'ien-t'ai cultivational program. The early Sung figures were faced with the question of clarifying the exact nature of the mind that should constitute the object of contemplation. Inheriting Wu-en's view as presented in his Elucidation of the Profound Meaning of Golden Light Sutra (Chin-kuang-ming hsuan-i fa-hui chi), Ch'ing-chao denounced the doctrine of contemplation of mind, or, more precisely, the contemplation of the ordinary deluded mind, claiming that such contemplation is unnecessary for accessing reality and attaining enlightenment.79 He contended that the contemplation of principle alone is necessary for apprehending reality and realizing the T'ien-t'ai religious ideal. Furthermore, Ch'ing-chao argued: "There is nothing beyond the dharma-nature that is one's own [true] mind (i-hsin). If one recognizes one's own [true] mind, then one will realize the [reality of] all dharmas."80 Ch'ing-chao clearly maintained that the true mind is the object of contemplation. By realizing that the true mind is the dharma-nature, the distinction between nature (hsing) and cultivation (hsiu) becomes meaningless. Ch'ing-chao insisted that one can attain enlightenment, which means the realization of dharma-nature, simply by apprehending the true mind. There is no need to go through a progressive path of spiritual cultivation by contemplating the mind as an instant of thought endowed with myriad phenomena. Soteriologically speaking, Ch'ing-chao and his Shan-wai colleagues took a sudden approach to enlightenment, thereby bypassing the traditional regime of T'ien-t'ai cultivational practices.81 In the Ten Points of Criticism, Chih-li charged that Ch'ing-chao and his Shan-wai predecessors totally misinterpreted the T'ien-t'ai doctrine of calming and contemplation by taking the true mind as the object of contemplation. To Chih-li, the perfect teaching of the T'ien-t'ai tradition is characterized by the idea of the three thou-

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sand worlds in an instant of thought. The mind as an instant of thought, in Chih-li's understanding, is not the true mind, but the ordinary deluded mind that intrinsically includes myriad phenomena. Mind as an instant of thought and the myriad phenomena, as it is understood by the T'ien-t'ai ontology, are consubstantial. If the mind, as the Shan-wai masters argued, is the true mind, which is pure and tranquil in and of itself, then the true mind and the myriad phenomena are ontologically different. As discussed earlier, the idea that the true mind is ontologically different from myriad phenomena was relegated by the Shan-chia to the category of separate teaching, which focuses on apprehending principle (i.e., the Buddha-realm) by cutting off the nine dharma realms (yuan-li tuan-chiu). Chih-li maintained throughout this part of the disputation that Ch'ing-chao and his Shan-wai predecessors had failed to understand Chih-i's and Chan-jan's exposition of the T'ien-t'ai teachings. Upholding the T'ien-t'ai perfect teaching, Chih-li declared that the ordinary mind as an instant of thought, which intrinsically includes myriad phenomena, should be the proper object of contemplation. There is, for Chih-li, no other reality or true mind beyond the myriad phenomena (the three thousand worlds) included in an instant of thought. The myriad phenomena themselves, which are the sources of delusions and defilements, are true reality itself. Having pointed out that the deluded mind is the object of contemplation, Chih-li insisted that the doctrine of contemplation of deluded mind is crucial in providing a way for all sentient beings, whatever their aptitude, to attain enlightenment. For Chih-li, only through contemplating the deluded mind as it is manifested in each instant of thought can one actualize the true T'ien-t'ai practice.

Impact of Chih-li's Discourse on T'ien-t'ai Orthodoxy For Chih-li, the Shan-chia/Shan-wai controversy marked a doctrinal crisis for the T'ien-t'ai tradition in early Sung. Chih-li accordingly set forth his vision of a T'ien-t'ai orthodoxy by elucidating the meaning and the content of the T'ien-t'ai perfect teaching. Simply put, he contended that the T'ien-t'ai perfect teaching is encapsulated by the doctrine of nature inclusion, the inherence of all phenomenal beings in the intrinsic nature of each individual being. Since the nature of each individual being intrinsically includes all phenomenal beings, it is inherently evil. Based on this idea, Chih-li

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highlighted the doctrine of inherent evil through the concept of the poison of principle. For Chih-li, the T'ien-t'ai perfect teaching does not pursue an absolute and pure principle in which the Buddharealm (i.e., suchness or principle) is separated from the other nine dharma realms. He argued that the principle explicated in the Huayen system is a separate principle, which is by nature pure and immutable and yet adapts to conditions to generate defiled phenomena. For Chih-li, the principle unveiled by the T'ien-t'ai system is a "perfect principle," which is in essence not polluted yet polluted. Accordingly, Chih-li insisted that the deluded mind rather than the pure mind should be the object of contemplation, the basis of spiritual cultivation. Though Chih-li positioned himself as the inheritor of the "authentic" T'ien-t'ai tradition, dissent toward Chih-li's construction of T'ien-t'ai teachings emerged from within the Shan-chia faction. Jen-yiieh, Chih-li's disciple, and Ts'ung-i (1042-1091), a fourthgeneration T'ien-t'ai monk in Chih-li's line, attempted to overturn Chih-li's interpretation. Their discussions of T'ien-t'ai doctrine brim with iconoclastic sentiment. They openly rejected Chih-li's view that the phenomenal world as such is reality. In proposing their own views, they claimed that there are two different ontological aspects of the reality, namely, principle and phenomena. Privileging the primacy of principle over phenomena, Jen-yiieh and Ts'ung-i denounced Chih-i's restatement of nature inclusion. Like other Shan-wai masters, they maintained that the contemplation of principle—rather than the contemplation of phenomena—should be the guiding focus of practice. Their controversies over the meaning of T'ien-t'ai teachings extended throughout the eleventh century. Because of their divergent views, Jen-yiieh and Ts'ung-i were branded the "later Shan-wai faction." By the end of the eleventh century, systematic attacks on Chih-li had gradually subsided, since neither Jen-yiieh nor Ts'ung-i had produced a "dharma heir" equal to the task of carrying on his cause. Throughout the Southern Sung (1127-1279), loyal Shan-chia adherents from Shang-hsien's, Fan-chen's, and Pen-ju's lines stepped up their counterattacks on Jen-yiieh's and Ts'ung-i's teachings in order to preserve and promote the T'ien-t'ai perfect teaching as defined by Chih-li. They too insisted that the ontological concept of identity and the doctrine of nature inclusion highlighted by Chih-li best characterized the T'ien-t'ai orthodoxy. By the end of the Southern Sung, Chih-li's rendition of T'ien-t'ai teachings was insti-

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tutionalized as the dominant and standard paradigm of T'ien-t'ai Buddhism. Chih-lis orthodox status in the T'ien-t'ai tradition was ultimately legitimatized by the compilation of the Orthodox Lineage of the Buddhist Tradition (Shih-men cheng-t'ung) and the Comprehensive History of the Buddhas and Patriarchs (Fo-tsu t'ung-chi), which presented universal histories of Buddhism in which Chih-li was accorded the final place of honor in the patriarchal succession descended from the Buddha.

Notes 1. The Shan-chia/Shan-wai debates are the focus of my 1993 Ph.D. dissertation, "Chih-li (960-1028) and the Formation of Orthodoxy in the Sung T'ien-t'ai Tradition of Buddhism" (University of California, Los Angeles). They also receive extended discussion in Daniel Getz' dissertation, "Siming Zhili and Tiantai Pure Land in the Song Dynasty" (Yale University, 1994), pp. 71-128. See also Brook Ziporyn, "Anti-Chan Polemics in Post Tang Tiantai," Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 17.1 (1994): 26-65. 2. See, for example, Kuan-ting's introduction to the Mo-ho chih-kuan, T 46.1b20-27 (translated in Neal Donner and Daniel B. Stevenson, The Great Calming and Contemplation: A Study and Annotated Translation of the First Chapter of Chih-i's Mo-ho chih-kuan [Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 1993], pp. 106-107), or Chih-p'an's summary in Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.177cll178a8 (translated in Donner and Stevenson, The Great Calming and Contemplation, pp. 31-32). 3. For recent studies on Chih-i's T'ien-t'ai thought, see Paul Swanson, Foundations of T'ien-t'ai Philosophy (Berkeley: Asian Humanities Press, 1989); Ng Yu-Kwan, T'ien-t'ai Buddhism and Early Madhyamika (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1993); and Donner and Stevenson, The Great Calming and Contemplation. 4. See Chung-lun, T 30.33bll-12: "Whatever dharma arises on the basis of the myriad causes and conditions, that I declare to be identical to inexistence (wu) [or emptiness (k'ung)]. It is also provisional designation (chia-ming). This, furthermore, is the meaning of the middle way (chung-tao)" (as translated by Donner and Stevenson, The Great Calming and Contemplation, p. 11). Modern scholars have frequently pointed out that the Sanskrit version of Nagarjuna's verse did not imply a third truth in addition to the ultimate and conventional (see, for example, the translation of Richard H. Robinson, Early Madhyamika in India and China [Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1976], p. 40). For a full discussion of this passage and its interpretation within T'ien-t'ai, see Swanson, Foundations of T'ien-t'ai Philosophy, pp. 1-17. 5. For Chih-i's construction of the "perfectly integrated three truths," see Fa-hua hsuan-i, T 33.693b8-23; and Mo-ho chih-kuan, T 46.55a30-bl5.

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6. See Mo-ho chih-kuan, T 46.54a5-10. 7. Chih-i's elaboration of the ten suchnesses (shih shih-ju) is based on Kumarâjîva's translation of the Lotus Sutra (T 9.5cl 1—13); it would be clearly impossible in the Sanskrit version of the text—see Leon Hurvitz' note to his translation of this passage, The Scripture of the Lotus Blossom of the Fine Dharma (New York: Columbia University Press, 1976), pp. 349-350. 8. See Mo-ho chih-kuan, T 46.54al3-18. 9. See Mo-ho chih-kuan, T 46.54a5-8. The term "mutual inclusion" (hu-chii) was coined by Chih-li in clarifying Chih-i's notion of "inclusion" (see Kuan-yin hsueh-i chi, T 34.907b5; and Shih pu-erh-men chih-yao ch'ao, T 46.707bl8). 10. One of the major events affecting the Chinese Buddhist scholastic world in the years after Chih-i's death was Hsuan-tsang's return to China in 645, and his "new" translations of Yogâcàra texts permanently altered the Chinese Buddhist lexicon. The new version of Yogâcàra he introduced was in many ways at odds with the earlier Chinese tradition associated with Paramârtha and others. The impact of Hsuan-tsang's influence, moreover, acted as a catalyst against which the early Hua-yen tradition coalesced. In light of these developments, Chih-i's writings may have seemed outmoded. 11. See, for example, the passage in his Chin-kang pei lun (Diamond Scalpel) that says that since mind inherently includes the three thousand worlds, it must be the defiled mind (fan-nao hsin) of all possible states of being (T 46.783b2123; cf. the translation in Linda Penkower's dissertation, "T'ien-t'ai during the T'ang Dynasty: Chan-jan and the Sinification of Buddhism" [Columbia University, 1993], p. 490). 12. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.204c9-10. 13. The two terms thus function much as the appellations "Hïnayâna" and "Mahâyàna" within Chinese Buddhist discourse at large. See Shimaji Daitô, Tendai kyôgakushi (Tokyo: Meiji shôin, 1929), pp. 167-175; see also Andô Toshio, Tendai shôgu shisôron (Kyoto: Hôzôkan, 1953), pp. 147-166. 14. For further discussion, see Chapter 13 by Koichi Shinohara. 15. For discussion of the impact of the èûrangama Siitra on Sung T'ien-t'ai, see Ômatsu Hironori, "Sôdai Tendaigaku to Shuryôgongyô," Indogaku bukkyô kenkyû 37.1 (1988): 122-125. 16. Fa-tsang (643-712), by contrast, had given more emphasis to the "conditioned origination of the dharma realm" (fa-chieh yuan-ch'i). The shift that occurred in Hua-yen thought around the middle and the second half of the eighth century has often been characterized as one that displaced the unobstructed interpénétration of all phenomena (shih-shih wu-ai) in favor of the unobstructed interpénétration of principle and phenomena (li-shih wu-ai). Whereas the earlier paradigm of shih-shih wu-ai is closer to the Shan-chia position articulated by Chih-li, the paradigm of li-shih wu-ai provided the basis on which Shan-wai thinkers developed their interpretation of T'ien-t'ai teachings. 17. Shih pu-erh-men chih-yao ch'ao, HTC 100.165al2-16. 18. K'o-tu's Shih pu-erh-men hsiang-chieh points out that the term "numinous awareness" was used exclusively by Tsung-mi (see HTC 100.202a8-9). Hotu asserts that Tsung-mi probably had a great influence on Yiian-ch'ing. See also Shôjun Suehiro, "Gensei no kyôgaku ni tsuite," Indogaku bukkyôgaku kenkyû 28.1 (1985): 180-181. Having tracked down the sources of the term

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"awareness," Suehiro concludes that Hui-neng, Hsiian-chiieh, Shen-hui, Ch'engkuan, and Tsung-mi had a strong influence on Yuan-ch'ing's thought on "numinous awareness in an instant of thought." 19. Ch'an-yuan chu-ch'iian-chi tu-h.su, T 48.402c27-403a2, based on the translation of an almost identical passage from Tsung-mis Chung-hua ch'uanhsin-ti ch'an-men shih-tzu ch'eng-hsi-t'u (HTC 110.436M4-18) by Peter N. Gregory in his "Tsung-mi and the Single Word 'Awareness' (chih)," Philosophy East and West 35.3 (1985): 250-251. Cf. the translation of the passage from Tsung-mi's Preface in Kamata Shigeo, Zengen shosenshu. tojo, Zen no goroku, vol. 9 (Tokyo: Chikuma shobo, 1971), p. 95; and Jeffrey L. Broughton, "Kueifeng Tsung-mi: The Convergence of Ch'an and the Teachings" (Ph.D. dissertation, Columbia University, 1975), pp. 153-154. 20. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.190c21-191a7. 21. For details of the event, see Shih t'ieh Yen-ch'ing ssu, T 46.909a-910a. 22. When Chung-li (1046-1114), a T'ien-t'ai monk from Chih-li's line, was the abbot of Yen-ch'ing yuan during the reign of Ytian-feng (1078-1085), a monk named Chieh-jan (dates unknown) practiced Pure Land Buddhism at Yen-ch'ing yiian. Chieh-jan helped Chung-li to raise money to erect some sixtyodd buildings in the proximity of Yen-ch'ing yiian. This project was completed in 1110. In 1143, Yen-ch'ing yuan was granted a tablet by the Sung court. From that time on, Yen-ch'ing yiian was formally known as Yen-ch'ing ssu (Yen-ch'ing Monastery). Unfortunately, Yen-ch'ing ssu was destroyed by fire sometime between 1127 and 1130. Tao-ch'en (dates unknown) rebuilt it. In 1220, 1289, and 1324, Yen-ch'ing ssu was burnt down and rebuilt several times. For sources on the history of Yen-ch'ing ssu, see Pao-ch'ing Ssu-ming chih (1227), Yen-yu Ssu-ming chih (1320), and Chih-cheng Ssu-ming hsii chih (1342). 23. Ssu-ming tsun-che chiao-hsing lu (hereafter cited as Chiao-hsing lu), T 46.908a24-27. 24. Chiao-hsing lu, T 46.908cl3-19. 25. As revealed in the letters that Chih-li sent to one of his favorite students, Ch'ung-chii (dates unknown), Chih-li encouraged Ch'ung-chii to take up the responsibility to preserve and to disseminate the T'ien-t'ai tradition. See Chiaohsing lu, T 46.904cl7-18, 905a5-6, and 905b7-8. 26. See Chiang-wei wen-ta san-shih chang, T 46.877c-879a; K'ai-wei shihwen ssu-shih-erh chang, T 46.881b-882c; and Chiao-men tsa wen-ta ch'i chang, T 46.882c-884c. 27. Peter N. Gregory, Tsung-mi and the Sinification of Buddhism (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1991), p. 115. 28. The understanding of Chih-i's doctrinal classification system has been substantially revised by the research of Sekiguchi Shindai; for a summary of its significance see Sekiguchi, "Goji hakkyo no kigen," Taisho daigaku kiyo 61 (1975): 1-15; and David Chappell, "Introduction to the T'ien-t'ai ssu-chiao-i," The Eastern Buddhist 9.1 (1976): 72-86. Sekiguchi has demonstrated, for example, that Chih-i used different classificatory rubrics in different works. It is only in his Ssu-chiao i (T 46.721a-769a) and his commentary to the Vimalakirti Sutra (Wei-mo ching hsuan-shu, T 38.519a-562b) that Chih-i elaborated the scheme of the four teachings. 29. For a precise explication of T'ien-t'ai Chih-i's concepts of "perfect teach-

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ing" and "separate teaching," see Komatsu Kenju, "Tendai daishi Chigi no 'bekkyo,'" Taisho daigaku daigakuin ronshu 3 (1979): 167-177, and "Tendai daishi Chigi no 'enkyo,'" Indogaku bukkyogaku kenkyu 29.2 (1981): 122-123. For a subtle and philosophical explication of the T'ien-t'ai perfect teaching, see Mou Tsung-san, Fo-hsing yil po-jo, vol. 2 (Taipei: Hsiieh-sheng shu-chu, 1979), pp. 763-907. 30. This work was originally a part of Chan-jan's commentary to Chih-i's Fa-hua hsuan-i; see Fa-hua hsiian-i shih-ch'ien, T 33.815b-963c. The Shih pu-erh-men later circulated separately; see T 46.702c-704c. 31. For the Fa-hua shih-miao pu-erh-men chih-yao ch'ao (hereafter cited as Chih-yao ch'ao), see T 46.705a-720a; for the Shih pu-erh-men shih-chu chih, see HTC 100.54c-70d; and for Chu shih pu-erh-men, see HTC 100.71a-85d. 32. Chih-yao ch'ao, T 46.705a-720a. 33. Chih-kuan ta-i, T 46.460b8. 34. Chin-kang pei lun, T 46.782cl9-20; cf. Penkower, "T'ien-t'ai during the T'ang Dynasty," p. 463. 35. Chih-yao ch'ao, T 46.715c3^. 36. See note 37. 37. Chih-yao ch'ao, T 46.709b4-5. For the original passage, see Fa-hua wen-chii chi, in T 34.171b3-4. 38. Chih-yao ch'ao, T 46.710M8-21. For Chan-jan's statements, see Chihkuan fu-hsing ch'uan hung-chiieh, in T 46.293a8-10 and 293al6. 39. Chih-yao ch'ao, T 46.715bl0-ll. 40. Chih-yao ch'ao, T 46.715bl4-18. 41. Fa-tsang connects the doctrine of adapting to conditions (sui-yiian men) with the fact that, according to the Awakening of Faith, the mind of suchness (chen-ju hsin), which is subject to neither birth nor death (pu-sheng pu-mieh), interfuses with the mind that is subject to birth and death in such a way that they are neither one nor different (see Ch'i-hsin lun i-chi, T 44.254c20, commenting on Ch'i-hsin lun, T 32.576b8-9). Fa-tsang goes on to identify the enlightened and unenlightened aspects of the alayavijnana in the Awakening of Faith with immutability (pu-pien) and adapting to conditions (sui-yiian) (see Ch'i-hsin lun i-chi, T 44.255c20-21, commenting on Ch'i-hsin lun, T 32.576bl0). 42. Fa-hua wen-chu, T 34.171a27-28. 43. Chin-kang pei lun, T 46.785bl8-19. Chih-li here seems to be quoting Chan-jan out of context—cf. Penkower, "T'ien-t'ai during the T'ang Dynasty," p. 530. 44. The exact statement, which Chih-li claims to be quoting from Chan-jan, does not occur in Chan-jan's work. The possible source could be the following passage from Chan-jan's Fa-hua wen-chii chi: "Although the three qualities of the nature have three appearances [i.e., absence of samsara, absence of nirvana, and absence of both samsara and nirvana], they are merely one appearance. . . . Speaking in terms of the Buddha, the nature can be cultivated. The nature originally has no name and yet includes all names. For this reason, it cannot be explicated and yet is explicated. To explicate it is to present the teaching [of one flavor]. To practice in accord with the teaching [of one flavor] is called cultivation of the three appearances of the three qualities of the nature. If one who studies this teaching does not understand [the meanings of] the cul-

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tivation [of the three qualities of the nature] and the nature, how can one understand [Chih-i's] commentary [on the Lotus Sutra]? [I, Chan-jan,] respectfully invite readers and practitioners to think and to illustrate this issue" (T 34.292a25-bl). Chih-li here seems to be quoting Chan-jan out of context and to have changed Chan-jan's statement. 45. Chih-yao ch'ao, T 46.715bl8-c2. 46. Chih-yao ch'ao, T 46.715cl6. 47. Chih-yao ch'ao, T 46.871cl0-l 1. 48. For Chih-li's subcommentary, see T 37.195a-233b; for the commentary, attributed to Chih-i, see T 37.186b-194c. 49. Miao-tsung ch'ao, T 37.195bl4. 50. Miao-tsung ch'ao, T 37.197c20-25. 51. Miao-tsung ch'ao, T 37.197c28-198a3. "Smell-only" recalls Kuan-ting's definition of the "perfect and sudden calming and contemplation" (yuan-tun chih-kuan) in his introduction to the Mo-ho chih-kuan: "There is nothing that is not true reality (chen-shih). When one fixes [the mind] on the dharmadhatu [as object] and unifies one's mindfulness with the dharmadhatu [as it is], then there is not a single sight or smell that is not the middle way" (T 46.1c24-25, as translated in Donner and Stevenson, The Great Calming and Contemplation, pp. 112-113). 52. Miao-tsung ch'ao, T 37.219b8-10. 53. Chiieh-mo shu, in Ssu-ming Jen-yueh i-shuo ts'ung-shu, HTC 95.426d8-10. 54. Ibid., HTC 95.426dl0-l 1. 55. Mo-ho chih-kuan, T 46.54a8-9. The translation is taken from Leon Hurvitz, "Chih-i: An Introduction to the Life and Ideas of a Chinese Monk," Melanges chinoises et bouddhiques 12 (1962), p. 311. 56. Chiieh-mo shu, in Ssu-ming Jen-yiieh i-shuo ts'ung-shu, HTC 95.425d8-10. 57. Ibid., HTC 95.426dl8. 58. Ibid., HTC 95.427c4-5. 59. Ibid., HTC 95.427c5-6. 60. For Chih-yiian's subcommentary, see T 39.977b-1004b; for Chih-i's commentary, see T 39.968a-977a; for the Sutra of the Dharani that Invokes the Bodhisattva Kuan-yin to Dissipate Poison and Harm (Ch'ing Kuan-shih-yin p'u-sa hsiao-fu tu-hai t'o-lo-ni chou ching), see T 20.34b-38a. 61. Ch'ing Kuan-yin ching shu, T 39.968al3-16. The five fundamental defilements are (1) defilements arising from erroneous views of the three realms, (2) defilements arising from attachment in the realm of desire, (3) defilements arising from attachment in the realm of form, (4) defilements arising from attachment in the formless realm, and (5) defilements arising from ignorance in the three realms. 62. Ch'ing Kuan-yin ching ch'an-i ch'ao, T 39.978a8-10. 63. Ch'ing Kuan-yin ching ch'an-i ch'ao, T 39.978al5-16. The term translated here as "delusions" (huo) is often used interchangeably with "defilements" (fannao); both can translate the Sanskrit klesa. 64. Ch'ing Kuan-yin ching ch'an-i ch'ao, T 39.978al7. 65. Ch'ing Kuan-yin ching ch'an-i ch'ao, T 39.978al8-20; Chih-i's commentary can be found in T 38.519b-562b. 66. Ch'ing Kuan-yin ching ch'an-i ch'ao, T 39.978a21-22.

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67. Ch'ing Kuan-yin ching ch'an-i ch'ao, T 39.978a22-23. 68. Ch'ing Kuan-yin ching ch'an-i ch'ao, T 39.978a23. 69. Ch'ing Kuan-yin ching ch'an-i ch'ao, T 39.978a23-24. 70. Ch'ing Kuan-yin ching ch'an-i ch'ao, T 39.978a27-29. 71. Ch'ing Kuan-yin ching ch'an-i ch'ao, T 39.978bl-2. 72. See Ta-sheng ch'i-hsin lun, T 32.576b7-10. 73. The two treatises are the Nineteen Questions on Distinguishing the Three Functionings of the Dissipation of Poisons Addressed to Chih-yiian's Ch'an-ich'ao (Tui Ch'an-i-ch'ao pien san-yung i-shih-chiu wen), in Chiao-hsing lu, T 46.873a-874b; and the Explication on the Three Functionings of the Dissipation of Poisons in the Invocation of the Kuan-yin Sutra (Shih Ch'ing Kuan-yin ching shu chung hsiao-fu san-yung), in Chiao-hsing lu, T 46.872a-873a. 74. See Chiao-hsing lu, T 46.873a28. 75. Kuan-yin hsiian-i, T 34.883a3-ll. It is precisely because evil is inherent in the nature of the Buddha and good is inherent in the nature of the icchantika that the Buddha is able to communicate with the icchantika, and the icchantika, with the Buddha. The intersubjective nature of this relationship is explored in detail in the following chapter by Brook Ziporyn. 76. Chiao-hsing lu, T 46.872c4-7. 77. The Chin-kuang-ming hsiian-i is located in T 39.1a-12a. There were two versions of this text in circulation at the beginning of the Northern Sung. ChihIi argued for the authenticity of the extended version, while the Shan-wai proponents maintained that the shorter version was authentic. For a full discussion of this issue, see Getz, "Siming Zhili," pp. 76-89. 78. The Ssu-ming shih-i shu is located in T 46.831a-856a. 79. Wu-en's Chin-kuang-ming hsiian-i fa-hui chi is no longer extant. Nor are any of Ch'ing-chao's works. Their content must therefore be gleaned from ChihIi s Ssu-ming shih-i shu. 80. Ssu-ming shih-i shu, T 46.854cl6-17. 81. This issue is discussed sensitively by Daniel Stevenson in "The Problematic of the Mo-ho chih-kuan and T'ien-t'ai History," in Donner and Stevenson, The Great Calming and Contemplation, pp. 62-96.

Chapter 11

What Is the Buddha Looking At? The Importance of Intersubjectivity in the Tien-t'ai Tradition as Understood by Chih-li BROOK ZIPORYN

of reconstructing the T'ien-t'ai tradition and adapting it to the new intellectual environment in the early Northern Sung dynasty (960-1127), two different theoretical orientations came to be applied toward the interpretation of the writings of Chih-i (538597) and Chan-jan (711-782), the two defining sources of T'ien-t'ai doctrine. The background and general contours of the lively schism that resulted between two groups of exegetes—retrospectively known as the Shan-chia and the Shan-wai—have been discussed in the previous chapter by Chi-wah Chan. In this chapter I will argue that one especially useful way of understanding what was at stake philosophically in these debates is to pay special attention to the way in which these two opposing factions treated the question of what I shall here call "intersubjectivity." In particular, I hope to show that the Shan-chia polemics, spearheaded by Ssu-ming Chih-li (9601028), can profitably be viewed partly as an attempt to preserve an interpretive approach to Chih-i and Chan-jan that would maintain the centrality of a particular intersubjective vision. I N T H E PROCESS

Intersubjectivity—by which I mean the impact of the existence of other consciousness on the structure of any given consciousness 1 —is an aspect of experience that seems to be underrepresented not only in current scholarship on Buddhism but even in Buddhism itself. Current reconstructions of early (Pali) Buddhist doctrine, especially as witnessed in abhidharmic dharma analysis, reveal an approach to consciousness that can be described as atomistic and empiricist, if not almost solipsistic. Whether experience is analyzed into skandhas (constituents of existence), ayatanas (sense organs and sense objects), and/or dhatus (fields of experience), or whether it is reconstructed as a result of the four material elements or of the

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nidana chain of psychophysical causality, there seems to be no room for a constitutive role for other consciousnesses in the structuring of experience. The same can be said of Indian Mahayana doctrine, at first glance, for quite another reason; in one way or another, most Indian Mahayana schools actually deny the ultimate existence of "other" minds, either because all minds are really manifestations of one essence (tathagatagarbha, suchness, and so forth) or because the category of "otherness" (like "sameness") belongs to the realm of those delusions that are dispelled by an insight into emptiness. The Yogacara school, which might constitute an exception to both of these claims, remains an ambiguous case (since there appears to be a considerable margin of disputability over the collective or individual status of the alaya-consciousness), but in any case it does not seem to take any notice of the question of other minds in its practical theorizing. The Indian Mahayana schools admit the "provisional" existence and importance of other consciousnesses; what is denied is the existence of these presences in "ultimate truth." Therefore one might expect that, when the relation between provisional and ultimate truth is reevaluated, the consideration of other minds might come to play a different role as well. This expectation, I will argue, is indeed the case, and it is one reason intersubjectivity assumes a constitutive role in the T'ien-t'ai school, which elevated the status of provisional truth to a level of equality with ultimate truth and even with the "middle," the relation of nonduality between these two truths. 2 Hints of the theoretical potentials of intersubjectivity that the T'ien-t'ai school developed were indeed already present in Indian Mahayana. They were to be found in the devotional writings of Indian Buddhism, generally theorized into the framework of provisional truth: the key lay in the bodhisattva ideal. The relation between a bodhisattva (or a Buddha like Amitabha or Sakyamuni in the Lotus Sutra) who had expressed a specific thought about deluded sentient beings that guided his actions and those sentient beings themselves, as they remembered or contemplated that bodhisattva or Buddha, came to be the fundamental axis of intersubjectivity that T'ien-t'ai theorists used as a cornerstone not only of their devotional writings but also of their entire ontology. The bodhisattvas experience the world in a way that always references other experiencing beings and that constitutively takes into account those other experiences. This principle may be conceived as simply one additional

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thing they do after realizing the truth through purely "solipsistic" or individualistic means, as a preparation for teaching and leading beings to salvation; however, T'ien-t'ai takes the case differently, so that the referentiality-to-another-consciousness on the part of both deity and worshiper is constitutive of the experience and the truthrealization of both. The unique consequences of this approach can be analyzed by adding to the standard quasi-theistic deity/being I-Thou relation the three further T'ien-t'ai doctrines of (1) the relation of "nonduality" (also described, more emphatically, as identicalness, sameness [chi]) obtaining between provisional and ultimate truth (chuan and shih); (2) the mode of action of the deity in question (nonintentional kan-ying); and (3) the relation of "nonduality" between subject and object—or between any living being and its environment—realized in the perceived world of the deity in question, predicated on the claim that both subject and object are themselves the whole dharma realm (i.e., the totality of all that exists), that each part is equal to the entire whole. In the pages that follow, after first trying to establish the basis of this view in Chih-i and Chan-jan, I will examine the specific angle of interpretation from which Chih-li deployed the concepts, with particular emphasis on the conceptual model provided by stimulus and response (kan-ying). In so doing, I will be reading Chih-i and Chanjan through the lens of Chih-li's reading, as I understand it. In other words, my stress will be less on what I think Chih-i and Chan-jan thought than on what I think Chih-li thought they thought.

Self-practice as Identical to the Teaching and Transformation of Others The foundation of the T'ien-t'ai conception of intersubjectivity is rooted in Chih-i s understanding of the Lotus Sutra. Chih-i states that the "essence" (t'i) of that sutra's teaching embodies the truth that "the provisional teachings and ultimate truths involved in the transformation of others are precisely the provisional teachings and ultimate truths involved in one's own practice."3 That is, the contents of the expressions used provisionally by the Buddha to point to the ultimate truth, in his interaction with other sentient beings, are precisely the contents of his own realization, and indeed this teaching of others is itself the fulfillment and completion of that realization. This point also means that "the provisional teachings employed in one's own practice are identical to the ultimate truth of one's own

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practice," 4 or, as Chih-i puts it from another angle, "the two forms of wisdom [provisional and ultimate] involved in one's own practice are identical to the two forms of wisdom employed in transforming others." 5 This way of expressing the matter opposes the idea that the personal realization of the Buddha is one thing, while his subsequent teaching of various expedient (i.e., not literally or ultimately "true") doctrines to enlighten deluded beings is something entirely different, bearing no intrinsic relation to his inner experience. But this stance is more than just an opposition to the conception of expedient means (upàya; fang-pien) as totally separate from a formless, wordless inner truth; it is also an assertion of the nonduality between the two apparently opposite realms of the personal realization of ultimate truth, on the one hand, and the practical problem of trying to convey it, on the other. Chih-i's claim that these two realms are one and the same means that practicing meditation is dealing with others and vice versa. This position implies that the self is intersubjective from the beginning, which is not surprising in light of the general theory of dependent origination. Intersubjectivity is really nothing more than the familiar T'ien-t'ai doctrine that all things are inherently included in each other (hu-chu, hsing-chu) from the very beginning: we are not only ourselves as opposed to others; others inherently and constitutively include us, just as we inherently and constitutively include others. We are, besides being ourselves, also others. To become enlightened to one's own being is to teach (and be taught by) others and vice versa. As Chan-jan says, "if one comprehends the marvels of the traces [i.e., the Buddha's teachings, his interactions with others], the marvels of the root [i.e., his own experience] are not far off. It must be understood that the only difference between the two is the way they are classified. Since cause and effect are one in meaning, how could self and other differ?" 6 The actual contents of the Buddha's being for others ("traces")7 and his being in himself ("root") are the same—they are simply organized differently in the two cases. This claim is simply an expansion of the more abstract concept of the nonduality and interpénétration of the three truths. As Chanjan says, initially "one's own practice is exclusively a matter of the truths of emptiness and the middle," whereas it is the truth of provisional positing (chia) that concerns "helping others, which is all the three thousand forms of responding to objects." 8 It is important to realize that, according to the T'ien-t'ai conception of the three

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truths, the existence of multiplicity, differentiation, and determination is strictly a function of the existence of intersubjectivity: only because there are sentient beings and the Buddhas responding to them—that is, only because there is "provisional positing" (chia)— are the three thousand determinate forms inherent in ultimate reality. Because this intersubjectivity is inherent in reality, the three thousand forms are also inherent. The particular determinations of the universe exist only because intersubjectivity exists.9 Chih-li puts the matter succinctly: "In one's own practice, both pure and impure are utterly destroyed, since all three thousand are identical to emptiness and the middle. In benefiting others, Indra's net of interconnections and interactions is replete, since all three thousand are identical to provisional positing. Since the three truths are one while being three, self and other are also undivided while divided."10 Provisional positing, the second of the three truths, is itself intersubjective, being understood most fundamentally on the model of the Buddhas "provisional" creation of "false" expedients (upaya) in order to relate to other sentient beings, as expounded in the Lotus. By the nonduality between the three truths, therefore, one's own practice and interaction with others are identical. But what does this really mean?

Stimulus and Response

(Kan-ying)

To understand how Chih-li read the Chih-i/Chan-jan tradition as characterizing this intersubjective relation between the enlightened being and deluded beings, I must start with a discussion of the concept of stimulus and response, kan-ying.n Chih-i adopts the traditional categories of kan-ying, stimulus and response, to describe the intersubjective relation between a deluded sentient being and an enlightened being. Kan-ying is an indigenous Chinese quasi-naturalistic dyad deployed broadly in Han cosmology (and earlier—the terms date back to the Hsiin-tzu). On the one hand, the traditional context and usage of this pair of categories bring with them a set of semantic resonances that already go a long way toward effacing any conception of the interaction in question as being a deliberate theistic interference. On the other hand, Chih-i uses the terms in such a way that their usual "naturalistic" unidirectional nature is completely avoided,12 a step that is deployed in such a way that it too ends up emphasizing a distinctive T'ien-t'ai conception of the intersubjective confrontation between deity and prac-

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titioner, in which neither exists independently of the other and in which each plays both roles simultaneously at all times and places. This complexly balancing synthetic concept once again brings us to the action of the intersubjective matrix itself, which, indeed, is the mechanism by which the significance of this concept is extended beyond the strictly devotional sphere and made to apply to all intersubjective relations and thereby to all experience of any kind. Chih-i specifies in the Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra (Fahua hsuan-i) that, while ordinary responses to stimuli are fallible, the responses of the Buddhas and bodhisattvas of the highest teachings are responses of the dharmakaya, the "marvelous" or ultimate form of response to the stimuli provided by all the actions of sentient beings. These responses can be characterized as both infallible and nonintentional or effortless. This kind of response is compared to the image of the moon appearing in all the different waters, according perfectly with all their various parameters without the least error, but never descending from the sky or moving in the least, without choice or effort. 13 This simile may appear to have gone beyond any analogy to human interaction as it is normally conceived, although the dharmakaya's form of response does sound suspiciously like the responsiveness of a Taoist or Confucian sage, who also has reached a degree of responsiveness beyond choice and cogitation. However, the specification that the ultimate form of response is infallible and nondeliberate is not a way of effacing its intersubjective character but rather a way of making a point about intersubjectivity itself. The ultimate form of sentient response, then, is nonintentional, while all other, lesser forms of sentient interaction are deliberate. However, in typical T'ien-t'ai fashion, this distinction between the ultimate form of response and the lesser (fallible, deliberate, and effortful) forms exhibited by finite and particular beings is deconstructed in the following section of the Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra, which describes "opening the provisional to reveal the real" (k'ai-ch'uan hsien-shih): If we just say that one form of stimulus [and response] [i.e., that of the realm of Buddhas] is marvelous and that the other nine [all deluded sentient beings] are coarse, we have not yet gotten to the concept of the dharmakaya responding even to the coarse.... In fact, the stimuli of all the other nine dharma realms are precisely the stimulus of the Buddha-realm, and there are no responses in all the four sagely realms that are not the marvelous responses.14

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The perfect form of response is thus not only infallible and nondeliberate but also pervades all times, places, and activities, including both the (deluded) stimuli that provoke this perfect response and the inferior deliberate forms of response to these stimuli. In reality, all these things are equally the perfect response. In other words, all the stimuli and responses taking place among all the nine realms of deluded sentient beings are themselves the stimuli and responses of the Buddhas, and thus they are also actually infallible, effortless, omnipresent, and continuous. They are not only built into the nature of all things themselves but are also salvific, like the responses of the Buddhas. Thus, the very actions of all beings that provoke the Buddhas to respond are actually the actions of the Buddhas themselves. This point also implies its converse, that the responses of the Buddhas to those sentient beings are actually also the actions of the sentient beings themselves. That this should be so is implied by the structure of the stimulus/response dyad itself: the response is a corrective and remedial measure matched to a particular stimulus and in that sense depends on the deluded partial stimulus for its existence. This position already militates against conceiving of this "everything is Buddha" in a straightforward, unidirectional Godcontrols-all manner. But the mutuality goes much farther. In fact, the situation is such that each stimulus and each response is solely the work of the Buddha, but at the same time each stimulus and each response is solely the work of each sentient being. Chan-jan puts this point explicitly: "All sentient beings are able to provide the stimuli because of the inclusion of the three thousand in the principle. All Buddhas are able to respond because they have realized this principle of the three thousand. The stimuli pervade all places, and the responses also pervade all places—thus there is never any disparity between them, they never miss."15 Since stimulus and response each pervade all times and places, it follows that everything is stimulus and also that everything is response. That is, kan-ying, the interaction between the enlightened and the deluded, is a process where the whole16 meets the whole; the two are identical because each is identical to the whole, and it is for this reason that they correspond and interact so perfectly; each is in the other, and indeed each is precisely the totality of itself and its other. Thus each event that occurs is both a stimulus (a deluded act, proper to the "deluded beings" half of the equation, the nine deluded realms) and a response (the enlightened remedy for that

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deluded act, proper to the "enlightened beings" half of the equation, the Buddha-realm); since each half is in reality the whole, both stimulus and response pervade all points of space and time. As Lang E. Ra puts it, "The beneficiary (beings) and the benefactor (Buddha) are in the same retinue by their own nature from the very beginning. In short, all the three thousand realms are simultaneously the beneficiary and the benefactor. The two are nondual and encompassed in a single thought-instant." 17 Since each term pervades all that exists, any given thing must always be both. The notion that all things can be described as "solely" any particular thing (i.e., as ultimately reducible both to "only" this as well as to "only" that—any reference point chosen at random can be accurately viewed as the explanation and source of all other phenomena) is really a restatement of the famous T'ien-t'ai principle of "the three thousand worlds in each moment of experience" (i-nien san-ch'ien), that any particular dharma is merely a way of focusing on the entire dharma realm, the totality of all that exists. Chih-li s writings make this point especially clear, placing it in a position of central importance. Commenting on a passage in Chih-i's Profound Meaning of Kuan-yin (Kuan-yin hsuan-i), for example, he elaborates this idea in the following manner: Material form (se) and mind (hsin), environment and organism are all identical to the nature [i.e., the three truths], and so any dharma chosen at random incorporates all others, and the same goes for every other dharma. Since each dharma pervades all others, they are each without border or limit and take this limitlessness as their defining limit. This realm of all dharmas melds and includes all—that is, all the hundred realms, the thousand suchnesses, the hundred suchnesses, and the thousand realms. Thus it is equally true to say all is material form, or all is mind, or all is environment, or all is living being. Otherwise what we have is not the realm of perfect interpénétration and inclusiveness. . . . This entire inconceivable substance [i.e., the universe as a whole, as seen from every possible perspective] is what gives rise to the form [of the bodhisattva] that comes as a response (ying) [when Kuan-yin responds to sentient beings]. It is a case of the entire dharma realm as response coming before the entire dharma realm as stimulus, or we could say it is the entire dharma realm as stimulus bringing forth the entire dharma realm as response. 18 That is, since all things inhere in each thing, the response of the deity to the sentient being is the whole responding to itself, and the stim-

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ulus of the deluded being to the deity is the whole stimulating the whole. This conception has important implications for the theory of intersubjectivity. As Chih-li says later, applying a typical T'ien-t'ai formulation: How can this type of stimulus and response be comprehended with thought conceived in terms of self, other, both, or neither? At the same time, if sentient beings can be benefited by saying stimulus and response is all a matter of self, it is accurate also to say that the process is self-stimulating and self-responding [i.e., that stimulus and response are one, that a deluded beings action and the divine response are one]. Likewise if any of the other three perspectives yields benefits to sentient beings, we can say that stimulus gives rise to response, or that response gives rise to stimulus, or that both together give rise to the stimulus or to the response, or that apart from both one or the other arises—all of this can be said. Free from attachment to any of the four, one can say whichever of the four is appropriate to the capacities of the listener.19 Chih-li's stress on the irreducibly intersubjective nature of all experience is founded on this logic that treats all four descriptions of the origin of a given experience on equal terms—i.e., as coming from self, other, both, or neither, none of which is more or less true or false than the others. 20 Ultimately nothing can be said, but provisionally anything can be said, and since the provisional is identical to the ultimate, this also means that ultimately anything can be said and is ultimately true. 21 To the extent that it can be said that anything is done, that there is any acting or reacting going on, however, then the very thinking of the Buddha is an act of the Buddha. At the same time, the Buddha's response to one's devotion is one's own act. The mutual nonduality of Buddha and beings is constituted in this irreducible mutual embrace, not in the reduction of both to one or the other, or to some indeterminate third substance. Agency is located in the intersubjective matrix itself, or in both loci, or in any given place in the network; it is not restricted to any one place. Everything everyone does is also, by its nature, done by the other. To act oneself is to have the other act in oneself. This position does not undermine the efficacy of the action but rather constitutes it. It is the domain of intersubjectivity in a peculiarly thorough sense, where each is entirely constituted by the others. It is not only that "man's desire is the desire of the Other," as certain moderns have claimed; any act, human or otherwise, is the act of the Other, or

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of all others—including, perhaps, momentary, virtual, and mythical beings. That this conclusion is not merely Spinozistic or theocentric is ensured by the fact that it must be read not only to mean "everything one does is really the Buddha's will, the Buddha controls everything" but equally "everything the Buddha does is done by oneself." In the T'ien-t'ai context this view is predicated on the notion that the enlightened being sees all things simultaneously as (1) empty, the universal, as a lack of any particular self-nature or independent exclusive identity, owing to the thorough interpénétration of the matrix of causal relations; (2) provisionally posited as some particular form or identity in some particular position in this matrix; and (3) the middle, the simultaneity and nonduality between these two aspects of pure abstract universality and concrete particularity, the fact that to be some particular thing is also not to be that thing. The middle is often characterized as that which has no outside, which transcends and includes the pairs of opposites, in this case the opposites of presence and absence, of universality and particularity, of any X and the negation of that X. But for any X, the negation of that X is all that is non-X, that is, all else that exists, the rest of the universe. By this reasoning, each particular thing is simultaneously nothing, something in particular, and everything. It is thus that all things are reducible to any one thing, chosen at random, and equally reducible to its opposite or any other thing. The interaction of two particular beings is thus the interaction of the whole with the whole, and what is more, as I shall show in more detail below, salvifically in both directions.22 It is in this way that Chih-li would like to read the "nonduality of subject and object" of the enlightened being—not as some phenomenological absorption of the observer in the object nor as the Tsung-mi/Shan-wai realization that the object is merely a projection of the nonobjectified perceiving pure mind (i.e., the absorption of the object in the observer), but rather as the simultaneous absorption of each in the other, such that each side simultaneously includes in itself both sides, ultimately reducible to neither one side nor the other—a model that corresponds very neatly with the fundamental structure of intersubjectivity as such. The world is neither objective nor subjective; it is intersubjective.

The Pervasiveness of the Intersubjective Chih-i s claim that everyone's self-practice is identical to the bodhisattva s interaction with others23 is an expansion of the claim in the Lotus that everyone is actually "practicing the bodhisattva path"

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without knowing it. Chih-i construes this to mean that whatever one is doing and has ever done turns out also to be a way of doing everything a bodhisattva is believed to do and that there is therefore no need to adopt any other set of behaviors to accomplish the practice of the bodhisattva path. 24 Whatever anyone does is the activity of a bodhisattva; but to be a bodhisattva means (at least) two things: to be striving toward enlightenment and to be assuming various forms so as to enlighten other sentient beings. If all sentient beings are actually practicing this path, it follows that all beings are always engaged in progressing in self-practice toward their own enlightenment and Buddhahood and that they are simultaneously (and indeed by virtue of the very same activities) already assuming various forms, including this form of a benighted seeker, in order to help other sentient beings reach Buddhahood. Hence any encounter between two sentient beings can be analyzed into at least four levels: (1) A and B are both deluded, and each is totally enmeshed in greed, anger, and delusion, trying to harm the other for his own profit, and so forth; (2) A is a bodhisattva who is assuming the form of someone totally enmeshed in greed, anger, and delusion so as to educate, enlighten, and help B; (3) B is a bodhisattva assuming this benighted evil form to enlighten A; and (4) both A and B are bodhisattvas, enacting this scene as part of the eternal drama for the edification of all other sentient beings and as an expression of their own enlightenment. Chih-i's concept of the mutual inherence of all possible states would complicate the arithmetic of this equation, but the idea remains focused on the inherence of the enlightening and the deluded states in any single act; each act of any sentient being is both a deluded act wholly conditioned by karma and a provisional transformation of a bodhisattva (who has temporarily forgotten his ancient vows) for the sake of all beings, a form of enlightened/ enlightening activity. The concept of "overdetermination" may be applied to this situation, especially in considering the question of karma and the soteriological "transformations" of a bodhisattva. Any particular event (in order to be strong enough to emerge into being, like a symbol in a Freudian dream) must be significant to both sides. There is not only one meaning. Hence As murder of his friend B is, on the one hand, a karmically conditioned and conditioning act. But at the same time it is also a token in the opposite language, the language of salvation, of growing awareness, of the three truths, of Buddhahood, a cause toward enlightenment. Neither perspective is more

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true than the other, neither ultimately reduces to the other; nor is it the case that eventually one will turn out to be an illusion and the other the truth. There are always these two (or more) accurate ways of reading this event. 25 Again, this point is made most explicitly in the Shan-chia school, for example, in Chih-li's exam questions in the Records of Teaching and Practice of the Venerable Ssu-ming (Ssuming tsun-che chiao-hsing lu): Q: All living beings and their environments are sometimes said to be the karma of sentient beings and their stimuli (kan) and sometimes said to be the transformative appearances of the Buddhas. How is the matter to be settled between these two? A: These two senses require one another, and the matter is not to be judged one-sidedly in favor of one or the other. The thousand different types of living beings and environments, the ten thousand levels of joy and suffering—these are indeed the karma of sentient beings as stimuli.... But this karmic stimulus is itself the marvelous response of all the Buddhas, who transform and manifest in accordance with the minds of sentient beings, to cut off and subdue, to receive and embrace them, to help them mature and attain liberation.... Although the scriptures put it in these two opposite ways according to circumstance, from the ultimate point of view neither sense can be lacking for an instant. This is because the three thousand worlds existing in the minds of sentient beings are no different from the three thousand worlds existing in mind of the Buddhas, so tainted and pure interpenetrate, and stimulus and response never fail to correspond. Because sentient beings are deluded, they conceive of differentiations, even though they are always constitutively within the Buddha's world, and because the Buddhas are enlightened, they are free and at ease, even though they are always constitutively within the world of sentient beings. Thus we know that the supreme function at the stage of the final fruit is no different from the churning flux of the three paths [of karma, afflictions, and ignorance]. Moreover, the [enlightened and enlightening] creations of the sages in their transformations are nothing but the temporal transformations and creations of sentient beings.26 Deluded karma is thus identical to compassionate use of expedient means (upaya), with neither ultimately reducible to the other, which in T'ien-t'ai terms means that either can provisionally be said to be reducible to the other, to be wholly included in the other, equally.27 Every act or condition is both being ensnared by one's deluded

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karma and being saved by one's own enlightening expediency (upaya) and compassion. Thus one is nondual with the bodhisattva one has forgotten one is (being provisionally transformed into this deluded form of one's present self) and with the person one will become, which is not separate from one's present moment of experience, nor from all Buddhas of all times and places. Because every act is constitutively intersubjective, it is perceived and hence brought into being by more than one perceiver, and it is indeed regarded as part of the self of more than one self, hence acting as a token in two contrary holistic meaning-structures that nonetheless have identical contents. 28 In other words, the perfect fit between suffering and compassion, between stimulus and response, is possible because they are in fact one and the same moment of experience, the same token read in two different meaning-contexts. Only this interpretation will account for a response that is both nondeliberate, all-pervasive, and infallible. Because the response is the stimulus itself, nothing additional need be added (nondeliberateness); wherever there is stimulus, there is response (all-pervasiveness);29 the stimulus perfectly matches the response, since they are one and the same token (infallibility).30 All acts, if contemplated as identical to the threefold truth, reveal themselves to be stimuli that bring about Buddha-effects, and the effects are themselves identical to the stimuli that incited them. 31 Every possible action, then, is simultaneously (1) an instance of deluded karma, (2) a stimulus bringing about Buddha-responses, and (3) a salvific transformative Buddha-response brought about by this stimulus. Since an expedient transformation of a Buddha is (given the nonduality of provisional and ultimate) also the ultimate truth, any token may also be said to be (4) the ultimate being of the Buddha in himself. All four of these viewpoints are contained in one and the same moment of experience, read simultaneously in four different interpretative contexts. This simultaneity of multiple interpretative perspectives on each token of experience brings into focus the fundamental intersubjective situation assumed by the T'ien-t'ai writers to be inherent in reality. As Chan-jan says at the climax of the Diamond Scalpel (Chinkang pei lun), in explanation of the Hua-yen (Avatamsaka) Sutra's claim that "there is not the slightest difference between one's own mind, all sentient beings, and Buddha": My own mind, and each and every sentient being, in every moment of experience without exception, interpenetrates with

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and mutually enters into the virtues of Vairocana's enlightenment, body and mind, living being and environment, self and others, in perfect equality. I and all other sentient beings equally possess this nature, which is thus called the Buddha-nature. This nature creates everywhere, transforms everywhere, subsumes everywhere. . . . Once it is understood that this nature pervades everywhere without exception, it becomes clear that the result of Buddhahood includes the causal nature of self and other, and equally that my own mind possesses the virtues of the result of Buddhahood. From the point of view of the result, the Buddhaeye and Buddha-wisdom contemplate me and see only the Buddha's own unbornness. In the position of the cause [sentient beings], if we see things in occult correspondence with this true vision and true wisdom, we also see that all sentient beings are nothing but Buddha, and there is no other resultant Buddha than this. Thus outside of sentient beings there is no Buddha.... Thus when one Buddha attains enlightenment, nothing in the entire dharma realm is not part of this Buddha's constitutive environmental field. The same is true for all Buddhas. Sentient beings are from the beginning within the Buddha's own constitutive environmental field, and yet they give rise to views of difference such that joy and sorrow alternate, and each one thinks it is his own body and environment alone.32 Note how the proposition "there is no Buddha but sentient beings" hinges on the putative fact that at least one sentient being has attained Buddhahood; it is the mythic assertion of the existence of Buddhas that itself accounts for the superfluity of Buddhas. We are Buddhas because somewhere, someone attained Buddhahood, which meant seeing us as Buddhas. The Buddha sees us as identical to himself; casting his eye over the entire universe, he perceives nothing but himself, his own unborn essence, his own constitutive environmental field. He and his environment are not two, and we are part of his environment; therefore, we are the Buddha.33 The T'ien-t'ai doctrine of the nonduality of provisional and ultimate means that this proposition is reversible. The Buddha sees that we all have the Buddha-nature, which means also that each of us shall become a Buddha. What we are doing right now is a cause of our future Buddhahood. But Buddhahood is the kind of result that includes its cause; from the perspective of that result, we shall look back and see this other who is the sentient being we are right now, and identify with him, and realize that the ignorant karmic activities we are currently engaging in actually turn out, via "opening the provisional to reveal the real," to be stimulus/response acts of the

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Buddha we have eventually become (who is identical to all the Buddhas of past, present, and future). Hence there is no Buddha outside the sentient beings who are struggling toward Buddhahood in ignorance and karma-creating confusion. This position does not amount to a psychologizing reduction whereby we therefore no longer need any Buddha, since our own mind is Buddha; the fact that our own mind is Buddha, that there is no Buddha outside our own mind of this moment, is constituted by the view of the Buddha, the Buddha we will become, and all the other Buddhas, with whom, needless to say, he is identical. It is indeed true that both mind and Buddha are mind, but it is equally true that both mind and Buddha are Buddha. By being regarded by this Other as identical to that regarding Other, we are constituted as not needing any Other, for this Other is inherent in our own being, as is our being-viewed-by-the-Other. Indeed, there is no self of ours before this, we have been intersubjective from the beginning, and all our self-practice was also interactive. The Buddha-mind we are to realize, then, is not the one looking out of our eyes at the world, as, for example, Tsung-mi and the Shan-wai writers would have it, but the one that is looking at us, seeing us as itself, and seeing that we are looking out at the world and also thinking of the Buddha who is thinking of us; the intersubjective moment is crucial and never dispensed with, as is the concept and name "Buddha" as looker who sees us this way, existing in our own minds. It is the thought "Buddha" within our own mind that makes this situation possible. We are to experience the world through the mediation of our being experienced by a Buddha, to see as one who is seen by a Buddha, one who sees himself in what is seen, even in the deluded seeing of others, including their deluded seeing of himself seeing. To a certain degree, then, the use of the word "Buddha" is a performative utterance; by entertaining the idea of the existence of such a being viewing us, we see ourselves as he would see us, and our actions thereby become tokens in that alternate semiotic network, which is precisely that in which our own Buddhahood consists.34 Here we discover the distinctive basis of the T'ien-t'ai conception of the nonduality between deluded beings and the Buddha: to be a Buddha is to appear to be a bodhisattva, which is constantly to be appearing, for the sake of the salvation of sentient beings, to be a sentient being who is struggling with a certain form of karma. A sentient being already appears to be so, and a Buddha is also someone who appears to be so—perhaps even to himself, since the Lotus claims that one can be a bodhisattva without knowing it.

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Indeed, since self-practice and interaction with others are the same in content, and since every interaction is really the whole confronting this whole in mutual inherence, that is, intersubjectively, this intersubjective vision can be seen as the basis even for the nonduality of opposites in one's own private practice of meditation: the relation between any two thoughts, any two mental events, can be analyzed into the four levels described above. That is to say, each mental event is equivalent to a sentient being. As Chih-i puts it: Each mental event is identical to emptiness, to provisional positing, to the m i d d l e . . . . To contemplate it in this manner is to open up the Buddha's wisdom and experience in sentient beings. "Sentient beings" here refers to the mental events of greed, anger, and delusion, each of which clings to the notion of self. What has a "self" [in this manner] is what is meant by "sentient beings." When mental states that chase after the notion of self arise, giving rise to the three poisons—these are what are called "sentient beings."35 Kuan-ting indicates this idea with the term "chung-sheng hsin-shu," the sentient beings [known as deluded] mental events. 36 When each mental event is thus viewed, as a sentient being in its own right, all thinking, and especially all internal conflict, may be viewed as the intersubjective interaction of these beings, conceived as the four levels of mutual kan-ying described above, in that each has within it the three thousand worlds and subsists in the same complex intersubjective matrix. For example, a moment of anger meets the thought "One must not be angry (because this event is empty or in order to realize emptiness, and so on)." By the even application of the three truths, in one sense both the anger and the moral imperative are deluded thoughts, in another sense the anger is being corrected and enlightened by the moral imperative, in another sense the moral imperative is being corrected and enlightened by its encounter with the anger. The anger is a bodhisattva, as is the moral restriction, both assuming deluded forms to enlighten the other and all else. Each is biased in its own way, and the bias of the one corrects the bias of the other; the anger is biased to the provisional, the six mundane realms; the moral injunction is biased toward the Two Vehicles, the other-worldly transcendence of the passions. Either in itself is a biased delusion, but each delusion is a remedy for the opposite delusion—since delusion, in a T'ien-t'ai context, means fundamentally "bias." A moment of anger is both an instance of delusion and an expedient bodhisattva transformation responding

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to the stimulus of the Two Vehicle delusion of the moral injunction, in order to enlighten it, and the opposite is also true.37 One could thus address any moment of lust or rage in one's own mind (and equally, any moment of bigoted puritanical moralism) just as Bodhisattva Never-Disparaging addresses all beings in the Lotus Sutra: "I dare not disparage you; you are practicing the bodhisattva path and will one day be a Buddha." Each moment of thought itself will become a Buddha. It also follows that even hedonistic pleasing of oneself is actually an interactive, intersubjective activity. All experience is constituted by this irreducible intersubjective relation—oneself alone with oneself no less than oneself with others. For in both situations all experienced contents are "neither self, nor other, nor both, nor neither," but provisionally equally self, other, both, and neither—that is, if grammar forces the naming of an agent38—the working of the universal intersubjective matrix itself, or any point within it. There is no atom of experience anywhere that is not thoroughly intersubjective. All activities in the universe are in this tradition (as read by Chihli) considered relationships, specifically the intersubjective relationship working both ways between a transforming bodhisattva and a deluded sentient being, both of whom are the entire universe, are identical to their entire environmental field, and inherently include all possible ways of viewing the world and each other, including, at least in Chih-lis reading,39 all divisions in themselves, including the division between self and other.

The Ultimacy of Intersubjectivity as a Focus of the Shan-chia/Shan-wai Debate This vision of each moment of experience as intersubjective and as the multidirectional relation between a bodhisattva and a deluded being is at the center of Chih-lis reading of the T'ien-t'ai tradition and stands as one of the crucial points of dispute with the Shan-wai thinkers. This concept of intersubjectivity and mutual inherence of the kan-ying relation comes to the fore in Chih-lis writings, usually taking the form of symmetrical formulas on bidirectional relatedness and mutual reducibility, which are one of the most prevalent and distinctive stylistic features of his works.40 It is on such a basis that Chih-li can state: "This is the contemplation that the three thousand worlds in one's own mind are identical to the three thousand worlds in the Buddha's mind. Hence with every moment of experi-

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ence one is receiving [the Buddha's miraculous transformative kan-ying] nourishment (nien-nien shou-jun), constantly soaked in the wondrous benefit." 41 Since the three thousand worlds include all the determinations of both the Buddha and oneself, the division between the two and the relation between the two, and since this three thousand is replete here as there, no one is ever not in the embrace of this intersubjective matrix, which includes the compassionate assumption of all forms of response in the interest of enlightening all beings. Chih-li states: The dharmas of Buddhas and sentient beings are what are called "other"; but each inherently includes both all Buddhas and all sentient beings. If the sentient beings and Buddhas inherent in oneself become manifest, they are identical to the sentient beings and Buddhas that are inherent in any Buddha who stands as an other to oneself and in this instance play the role of "the one who transforms" [in taking on various forms so as to guide and enlighten all beings]. The sentient beings and Buddhas inherent in sentient beings in that case play the role of "the ones who are transformed." Since all this takes place in one moment of experience, how can self and other be considered only different?42 In other words, every sentient being and every Buddha equally has the entire system of "Buddhas taking on various forms to enlighten all sentient beings" replete and inherent in himself or herself. Both the guide and the guided are replete in each the guide and the guided. Thus every moment of experience is interpretable as the stimulus/response experience, and every encounter allows both agents to play both roles. Since the three [i.e., mind, sentient beings, and Buddhas] have no difference among them, stimulus and response absorb each other. Sentient beings stimulate the response of the other Buddhas existing in their own minds; at the same time, the Buddhas respond to the other beings existing in their own m i n d s . . . . [As in Chan-jan's metaphor of the mirror], the three thousand worlds [in the minds of] the Buddhas are the principle of manifesting any form, while the three thousand worlds [in the minds of] the sentient beings are the nature that is able to reflect any form. [The three thousand worlds are the same in both cases.] Otherwise, it would be impossible for the stimulus to be identical to the response, and the transformations would not be nondeliberate. 43 Note that this interaction does not mean that everything goes on solipsistically in someone's head, that there is nothing else out there,

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no other minds or beings. Rather, the interaction happens "only" in the mind of both of the two real partners, and either way of putting it is equally accurate. If anything, the interaction itself is in this sense more real than either of the participants as such, since the interaction (i.e., the "three thousand") precedes the being of any one particular being. Any being is really already the whole interaction, so each act is both a deluded stimulus and an enlightened response. The privileging of the dharma of mind in Shan-wai thinking 44 undermines the foundation of this vision, based on the mutual inherence of two real minds engaging and referencing each other, by creating a situation that is unilateral and one-directional. In the Shan-wai vision, all dharmas are nothing but "mind"—mind inherently possesses all dharmas. There is no further reference point that includes this mind-that-includes-all-dharmas. Hence Yiian-ch'ing (d. 997), representing the earliest Shan-wai position, explains the lack of distinction between sentient beings, Buddhas, and mind by flatly stating that "Buddha means the true contemplation, sentient beings means delusion, and the mind is the mind in these two states, not separate from them. But the mind is the root of both Buddha [enlightenment] and sentient beings [delusion]."45 The irreducible intersubjective triangle is here reduced to a one-way emanation of various states from a single hypersubjectivity; there is no more looking back and forth between them as a fundamental aspect of the state of things. At most, any looking back and forth is one more manifestation or emanation of this one markless, all-embracing mind. The notion of the three thousand worlds as an irreducible dialogue between the deluded and the enlightened, conditioned thus omnicentrically from each possible determination within the matrix, is lost here. Thus in discussing the last six of Chan-jan's "Gates of Nonduality," all of which deal with the concept of stimulus and response, Yiian-ch'ing is able to conceive of "response" as a pure function of only enlightened mind per se, untainted by delusion, rather than as something that is always determined both as enlightened and deluded. This point is made most clear in the different interpretations of a line in the fifth gate, the nonduality of taint and purity (jan-ching pu-erh-men), given by Yiian-ch'ing and Chih-li. The issue is complicated by the fact that several alternate versions of Chanjan's text were in circulation at the time. Yiian-ch'ing's version of Chan-jan's text gives the following interpretation (according to his

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reading of the character chih "The dharma-nature goes to [becomes] ignorance and creates all dharmas everywhere, and this is called taint; ignorance goes to [becomes] the dharma-nature and responds to all conditions everywhere, and this is called purity" (fahsing chih wu-ming pien tsao chu-fa, ming chih wei jan; wu-ming chih fa-hsing pien ying chu-yuan, ming chih wei ching).46 Yiian-ch'ing comments: Another version of the text adds the character yu H [together with] here, yielding "The dharma-nature together with ignorance creates all dharmas everywhere" (fa-hsing chih yti wu-ming pien tsao chu-fa) and "ignorance together with the dharma-nature responds to all conditions everywhere" (wu-ming chih yu fa-hsing pien ying chu-yuan). This is taken to mean that the dharma-nature joins together with ignorance in creating evil.... If the dharmanature joins in with ignorance to create all dharmas, then the following line about purity must be read to mean that ignorance joins together with the dharma-nature to create responses.... How could the pure nature of the result [Buddhahood] need to join together with ignorance before it can give rise to responses? In that case, tainted and pure are inseparable, and there is no way to distinguish between delusion and enlightenment—truly laughable!47 Chih-li's version of Chan-jan's text has the two yus in it, but Chihli states in his commentary that either version of the text makes sense—though not the sense Yiian-ch'ing would like to see in it. Chih-li writes: Whether or not the two yus are there, the text makes sense. . . . [Without the two yws] it reads simply as meaning "ignorance that is identical to the dharma-nature is the tainted function, dharma-nature that is identical to ignorance is the pure function." . . . But with the two yiis the meaning is even clearer. Yu means to lend, to bestow, which is to say, to help. When ignorance and the dharma-nature transform back and forth in the two functions [of suffering and enlightenment], there is a sense in which they are mutually supporting and helping each other in both cases. The subordinate at any time lends its power to the dominant. If the dharma-nature's inherent influence is powerless, and the tainted function of ignorance is dominant, then the dharma-nature lends power to ignorance in order to allow it to create all dharmas as tainted. If ignorances clinging effect is powerless, and the inherent influence of the dharma-nature is strong, then ignorance lends power to the dharma-nature to give rise to all pure responses. This

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is because although ignorance has the function of bringing things to completion, since it is empty in its essence, it cannot transform and create on its own but must borrow power from the dharma-nature in order to bring about all tainted dharmas. Although the dharma-nature inherently possesses all three thousand worlds, the pure function manifests only through practice. Even if one insists that the late stages of practice do not depend on ignorance, how could the early stages of practice do without [ignorant emotions like] preferences, likes and dislikes? 48 ... Only if ignorance lends its strength to the dharma-nature can the pure function appear.49 Purity can only function in conjunction with taint and vice versa. How are readers to understand this? We must recall that this entire discussion takes place in the context of the concept of kan-ying, stimulus and response between the deluded and the enlightened. The response, the pure function, cannot occur without the stimulus, the tainted function. The stimulus also possesses the three thousand worlds, including the Buddhas and their pure response—without all three thousand determinations, it cannot exist as the tainted stimulus. Indeed, the stimulus is identical to the response. There is also a question of the relative strength of the elements in the organization of the two participants, both of whom are irreducibly involved. This talk of relative strength and weakness is best thought of as a question of focus and field, of figure and ground. The enlightened is the three thousand worlds with the dharma-nature as figure, as the dominant center that includes and is identical to its ground of ignorance (i.e., they are determined by, indeed are nothing but, the same defining outline); the ignorant is the same three thousand with the focus on taint, which is also inseparable from the enlightened background. 50 In another example, Chan-jan says in the "Gate of the Nonduality between Inner and Outer": First one must comprehend that the outer bodies and minds are all one moment of experience, which is identical to a nonmoment-of-experience. It is nothing but the three thousand worlds inherent to the inner essence, identical to emptiness, provisional positing, and the middle; thus external dharmas are nothing but the nature of one s own mind. There is nothing outside the nature of this mind, nothing it does not integrate into itself. All the Buddhas of the ten directions, all sentient beings in all the dharma realms, do not differ in the least in this essential nature. All of

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them equally pervade everywhere. So who is there to refer to as inner, outer, material form, mind, self, other? 51 Yuan-ch'ing comments: "Outside the dharma realm there is nothing, sentient beings and Buddhas are all one suchness, because emptiness has no inner and outer, and the nature has no self and other to it."52 This interpretation of Chan-jan's text obliterates the ultimacy of intersubjectivity in favor of a conception of emptiness that is devoid of the marks of self and otherness, rather than containing and sublating them. Compare Chih-li's commentary to the same passage: Buddha and sentient beings, each one pervades and absorbs everything else. Moreover, this "essential nature" does not refer to "the one nature." It means, rather, the nature of the three thousand worlds, the three-thousand nature. Only because Buddhas inherently include in themselves the three thousand worlds are they able to integrate into themselves all minds and sentient beings. Only because sentient beings inherently include the three thousand worlds can they integrate into themselves all minds and Buddhas. And since all minds inherently include in themselves the three thousand worlds, how could they be divided off from Buddhas and sentient beings? If the mind lacked the "Buddhanature," how could it integrate Buddhas into itself? If Buddhas lacked the "sentient beings nature," how could they integrate sentient beings into themselves? Thus a statement like "they do not differ in the least in this essential nature" is known and admitted by everyone, but the following line, "All of them equally pervade everywhere," must be carefully contemplated. As for those who explain "nondual" in this case simply to mean absorbing the outer into the inner and nothing more, how limited this is! How then do they understand the claim that "all of them equally pervade everywhere"? Moreover, the way [these same exegetes] explain the other nine gates using this principle of making everything reducible to one side [of any given dyad, especially to mind] thoroughly damages the overall structure [of the teaching]. Next, [Chan-jan's text says:] "Who is there to refer to?" and so on. The negation of them all is meant to show that, once they all interpenetrate, there is no longer any fixed division or identity for any of them. This contemplation accords with principle, so who could say they are dual? But the three dyads [of inner and outer, material form and mind, self and other] are just a general way of indicating that relative pairs of opposites have now all been negated by means of mutual interpénétration. [Chan-jan says

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outer material form and mind are all nothing but oneself], but he could equally say inner material form and mind are nothing but oneself, or outer material form and mind are nothing but the other."53 Here Chih-li explains "nondual" as meaning "interpenetrating" (jung, melting into one another) as opposed to "divided" (fen), not as meaning the blank emptiness Yuan-ch'ing suggests, in which no determinations of any kind can be made. This sort of nonduality between self and other, or inner and outer, does not mean that there is a neutral substratum that is the true nature of both and which in itself has no determinations of self and other, but rather that self always includes other and other always includes self; no matter which side of the dyad is selected, both are there, so their "nonduality" actually makes them omnipresent ("pervading everywhere") rather than eliminating them altogether. There is no atom anywhere that is devoid of self-and-other, nor any third substratum that is blank with respect to them. Such is the all-pervasiveness of the intersubjective (and any other differentiation) in Chih-li s understanding of his tradition. Indeed, Chih-li quite often uses "interpenetration" as opposed to "division" to pinpoint the distinctive doctrine of the Perfect Teaching. For example, commenting on a passage from Chan-jan (to be translated and discussed below), Chihli explains the meaning of the term "illusory" (huan) as follows: "This is not illusory in the sense of principle-only adapting to conditions [as in the Separate Teaching], much less does it mean illusory in the sense of having no essence of its own because it arises from causes and conditions [as in the Common Teaching]. Rather, [Chanjan] is here showing that since each element inherently includes [all the others], they are all originally interpenetrating, but their temporary separation is as an illusion."54 In other words, as Chih-li puts it in his famous explanation of the metaphor of water and ice, the ten realms are really interpenetrating like water, but deluded thinking clings to them as separate like chunks of ice. It is not that there really are not ten different realms, but simply that they are simultaneously ten and not ten, simultaneously separate and inseparable— that is, they are interpenetrating. This concept of nonduality as interpénétration, far from eliminating intersubjectivity, only intensifies it. The interchange between elements is made all the more central, unobstructed, and ultimate; indeed, it is hard to know how else to conceive of this "melting" into one another that nonetheless

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does not destroy the individual determinacy of what is melted if not as a description of the intersubjective relation discussed above. Hence Chih-li makes a point of even reading Chan-jans final comment, which seems to eliminate all contrasting determinations (self, other, inner, outer, material form, mind), as readable in any direction, with the other five reducible to any of these six elements, so that self and other are not eliminated but rather all the more irreducibly embroiled in one another. In contrast, the Shan-wai masters' reduction of all to one side, usually mind conceived as emptiness and as absolutely indeterminate, completely eliminates this sense of the ultimacy of intersubjectivity, the irreducible back-and-forth that can never settle on any one side. In this sense, Chih-li's insistence on explaining nonduality as interpénétration may be seen as a strategic way to maintain the importance and ultimacy of the intersubjective reading of the T'ien-t'ai tradition. The passage on illusion in Chan-jan (on which Chih-li was commenting in the last quoted citation) is worth considering in making final comments on this issue: It is in the nature of each thing from the beginning to include both the provisional and the ultimate. Because of their various conditionings from the beginningless past, some manifest as provisional and some as ultimate. Their appearance as one or the other is due to this conditioning, but in principle they are all equally both. They differ according to conditioning, not nature. But although their nature is not different, this nature necessarily depends on illusions to manifest itself. Illusory triggering preconditions, illusory stimuli (kan) [of sentient beings], illusory response (ying), illusory arrival [of compassionate deities]. The one who responds and the one who is transformed thereby are both equally neither provisional nor ultimate [in nature]. But because sentient beings have this neither-provisional-nor-ultimate [nature], they can take on the form of the provisional and ultimate stimuli, and because the Buddhas in the result position have this neither-provisional-nor-ultimate [nature], they can take on the form of the provisional and ultimate response. Thus the stimuli provided by beings is matched by the responses [of the Buddhas], and body and environment match without going askew. Both are equally the eternal land of quiescent light; all without exception are the entire dharma realm. 55 From this point of view, as described earlier, any being or Buddha is always both Buddha and deluded being in its nature; it

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includes both deluded stimulus and enlightened response in every motion and thought. Any can be called provisional, ultimate, neither, or both. Any can be called deluded, enlightened, neither, or both. Thus it cannot be said simply that the Buddha-realm is the truth and all the other, deluded realms are falsehood or that the true meaning of any token is its meaning as conceived from the point of view of Buddhahood alone, that is, that all dharmas are originally pure, enlightened, nirvanic. That is only part of the truth. At the same time, all tokens are also always deluded, provisional, impure. They must always be both, always capable of being read from all points of view. That is, the deluded realms cannot be thought of as simply mistakenly ascertaining the truth that is correctly perceived by the Buddha. All the alternate interpretive systems, enlightened and deluded, ultimate and provisional, must always exist and always inhere in each other. The "true" reading is not something separate from the "false" readings; instead, the truth depends on the false to manifest itself and includes these falsehoods in itself (as Chan-jan says, "this nature necessarily depends on illusions to manifest itself"). This kind of interpretation is all well and good; but when all is said and done, how is one really to understand such a situation? In the context of the observations above about the primacy of the intersubjective model, I might suggest that one helpful way to comprehend what is meant here is to conceive of the universe, the three thousand worlds, as first and foremost a dialogue or conversation between the enlightened and the deluded. This approach would seem to provide a way concretely to grasp the manner in which the Buddha and sentient beings are both able to embrace the opposite subjective states in their own subjectivity and not just a collection of diverse objective data. How is it possible subjectively to feel both sad and happy at once, both enlightened and deluded, both free and bound? Consider the everyday example of an ordinary conversation. Every single word spoken in a conversation between two subjective beings must be predicated on two types of understanding at once; when I address you, my words cannot be understood only in terms of me or only in terms of you. On the one hand, since at the moment I am the one who is speaking and expressing an idea, my subjective state will be the dominant focus, but as my words are directed at you, they are also thoroughly conditioned by your state of mind, your interests, your beliefs, what language and experiences I think we have in common, and so on. Your understanding of

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my words, on the other hand, will be a function of your own mental state; your position will serve as the focus undergirding your interpretation, but this mental state of yours will also have to take into account your conception of me and my state of mind, interests, and knowledge. Although we may share an objective world and also mutually embrace in our conception of that world the existence of the subjectivity of the other, your understanding of my words will differ from mine, as you comprehend the same totality with your present state as determining focus. Similarly, when a Buddha "speaks" to me, everything he says takes as premise the entire universe as I see it, that is, all dharmas as tainted, the entire experience of delusion. Given the T'ien-t'ai notion of all experiences as provisional pedagogic transformations of the Buddha addressed to deluded beings and the nonduality of the provisional transformation of others and the ultimate self-practice, there emerges a picture of ignorance and enlightenment as always both operative in every token of experience. Herein lies the fundamental break between the Shan-wai and the Shan-chia positions. The former say in effect "being is perception," while the latter say, "being is interpellation." That is, all experience is addressed to someone, nay, to everyone, and everyone is always answering. To experience a thought is to address that thought to every other subjective experience; to contemplate it is to see all others as responses to it. The subject-object division of experience is thus transcended not by elimination but by sublation into mutual address. 56 Only thus is it possible to get beyond a position that says, in effect, "objectively everything is equally pure, but subjectively there are two ways of viewing it, either enlightenedly, which means seeing the truth that all are pure, or deludedly, which means mistakenly seeing everything as tainted or making a distinction between purity and taint." Such a premise would still make it impossible to be both enlightened and deluded at the same time, for in such a view, although the objective realm may contain the potentiality to be seen in either the enlightened or the deluded way, any given subjectivity or any given moment of subjective experience must be either one or the other. The dichotomy would then be overcome in the case of the objective realm, but the subjective realm would continue to be viewed dichotomously. Chih-li explicitly and emphatically rejected the view that "if one is deluded all is impure afflictions, if one is enlightened all is pure bodhi," where there is an objective fact susceptible to being viewed in two opposite ways (so that the objective realm is nondual), but

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any particular subjective state is always one way or the other (hence dual).57 In Chih-li's view, to realize the Buddha-mind does not mean suddenly to see the "truth" that the world is purity-only, as a Buddha supposedly sees it. The Buddha-mind Chih-li's readers are to contemplate is the one described above, which sees our delusion and our deluded world, and whose every response (that is, all our experiences) is thoroughly conditioned thereby, not a pure view looking out through our eyes and finally seeing the world as purity. In this way we can understand why all functions are determined by the working together of the pure dharma-nature and tainted primal ignorance, in such a way that neither side can ever be lacking. As in a conversation or any other intersubjective encounter, both sides are eternally present in every word and gesture that is produced.

Notes 1. Intersubjectivity is to be understood here in the sense that was introduced into Western accounts of human subjectivity by Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit (1807), especially, but far from exclusively, in the famous Master-Slave section so important to Marx, in which was embedded the dialectical claim that a selfconsciousness can only be constituted (come into being) through the mediation of (at least the belief in) another self-consciousness. For an influential semimodern account stressing the intersubjective aspect, see Alexandre Kojeve, Introduction to the Reading of Hegel (New York: Basic Books, 1969), esp. pp. 3-30. 2. In the other Chinese schools, in spite of the indigenous traditions that located so much meaning in the intersubjective matrix, there was no development of similar proportions, as far as I can tell, until the devotional writers begin incorporating T'ien-t'ai theoretical strategies into their works—indeed, the emphasis on intersubjectivity explains why T'ien-t'ai theory has worked so effectively as a buttress for Pure Land thought. 3. Fa-hua hsiian-i, T 33.683a2-3. 4. Fa-hua hsiian-i, T 33.683a5-6. 5. Fa-hua hsiian-i, T 33.68327-28. 6. Shih pu-erh-men, T 46.702c25-26. 7. This term is apparently derived from its extensive use in Six Dynasties hsuan-hsiieh ("abstruse learning," i.e., metaphysics), particularly the work of Kuo Hsiang (d. 312), where it has approximately the same meaning, i.e., the way something or someone influences something outside itself (its "being-forothers"). It is indicative of the philosophical differences between Kuo Hsiang and the T'ien-t'ai thinkers that in the thought of the former, these "traces" are in fact given a purely negative value and bear no intrinsic relation to the self-so from which they derive (even the self-knowledge of this self-so is classified by

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Kuo as a form of trace, as an other-relation). For a full discussion, see my "The Self-so and Its Traces in the Thought of Guo Xiang," Philosophy East and West 43.3 (1994): 511-539. 8. Shih pu-erh-men, T 46.704al3-14. The original context for this claim is Chan-jan's assertion that this mutual inclusion is precisely what makes kan-ying possible as the salvific interaction of the Buddhas with sentient beings, operative in every actual interaction. It is also what distinguishes an intersubjective relation in general from any other type of relation (an objective relation between two inert things or a chemical reaction where two agents act as mutual catalysts). The two perceptual worlds include the contents of one another, which alone is what makes the interaction possible. It is worth noting in passing that this sense that the content included by both is the whole perceptual and conceptual world in which each is situated has often been regarded as characteristic of the intersubjective relation in general. See, for example, Martin Buber, I and Thou, Kaufmann trans. (New York: Charles Scribners Sons, 1970): "The basic word I-You can only be spoken with ones whole being" (p. 54). "When I confront a human being as my You and speak the basic word I-You to him, then he is no thing among things nor does he consist of things. He is no longer He or She, limited by other Hes and Shes, a dot in the world grid of space and time, nor a condition that can be experienced and described. . . . Neighborless and seamless, he is You and fills the firmament. Not as if there were nothing but he; but everything else lives in his light" (p. 59). Whether or not Chan-jan would take exception to the final qualifier, Buber is pointing here to a sense that the encountered other forms a center of the world that in some sense pulls everything into its own orbit and that what distinguishes the intersubjective relation as such is this annulment of the sense of being one part among many; to encounter another person is to encounter not that person as one part of the whole of existence, but rather the whole of existence qua that person. 9. Indeed, the use of the famous "three thousand" (san-ch'ien) as a way of designating the totality of what is may be regarded as a way of making clear that the universe is not to be conceived as a collection of discrete objects spread out in space but includes also every possible deluded perception of every possible object as well as the mutual perception of perceivers. For "three thousand" means specifically the ten dharma realms (hells, hungry ghosts, animals, asuras, humans, gods, sravakas, pratyekabuddhas, and Buddhas) each inherently including all the others (10 x 10 = 100), each marked by the ten suchnesses (appearance, nature, entity, power, activity, cause, condition, effect, retribution, consistency from beginning to end) (100 x 10 = 1,000), each constituted as skandhas, as sentient beings, and as physical environment (1,000 x 3 = 3,000). By using this formula to indicate all that is, the intersubjective relations between the various dharma realms, including the responses of the bodhisattvas and Buddhas to the beings in the six lower paths, are built into the very definition of reality itself. This is not necessarily the case if when one says, as in Hua-yen, "all" or "the whole" (i-ch'ieh), which might be conceived as an objective totality consisting of a collection of objects laid out side by side or at least embraceable in one particular subjective view from one particular point of view. In contrast, the term "three thousand" has built into it the subjective

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views of the deluded beings in hell, in the human realm, in the two vehicles, and so forth, as well as their views of each other. 10. Shih pu-erh-men chih-yao ch'ao, T 46.718al9-21. 11. For a thorough discussion of the background and meaning of kan-ying, see chapter 3 of Robert F. Sharf's Ph.D. dissertation, "The 'Treasure Store Treatise' (Pao-tsang lun) and the Sinification of Buddhism in Eighth Century China" (University of Michigan, 1991), pp. 162-232. 12. See Daniel B. Stevenson, "The Problematic of the Mo-ho chih-kuan and T'ien-t'ai History," in Neal Donner and Daniel B. Stevenson, The Great Calming and Contemplation: A Study and Annotated Translation of the First Chapter of Chih-i's "Mo-ho chih-kuan" (Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 1993), p. 76, n. 35: "Chih-i pointedly takes the notion of kan-ying beyond its traditional unilateral sense in which the 'stimulus' is initiated by the devotee and the 'response' follows rather mechanistically from the deity. Through the notion of a 'resonantal or symbiotic interaction of stimulus and response' (kan-ying taochiao), Chih-i makes the case for a mysterious immanence of the Buddhadharma itself working undetected within the manifest spiritual efforts or 'stimuli' of the devotee. Various scholars have sought to locate in this concept a theological basis for Chih-i's emphasis on ritual veneration and confession." 13. Fa-hua hsiian-i, T 33.749b-c. 14. Fa-hua hsiian-i, T 33.749cl0-l 1, 23-24. 15. Shih pu-erh-men chih-yao ch'ao, T 46.704al5-17. 16. A term I use advisedly. "The whole" here must not be conceived as the opposite of "a part" or as any particular determination whatsoever, which would always have to be the opposite of something to be determinate to the imagination. "Three thousand" is thus to be understood somewhat as Hegel's "true infinity," a marker for the whole or infinite that is not the opposite of the finite but is identical to it while also distinguished from it. 17. Lang E. Ra, "The T'ien-t'ai Philosophy of Non-Duality: A Study in Chanjan and Chih-li" (Ph.D. Dissertation, Temple University, 1988), p. 161. 18. Kuan-yin hsiian-i chi, T 34.892bl9-26. 19. Kuan-yin hsiian-i chi, T 34.920M7-23. 20. This tact follows the standard T'ien-t'ai adoption of the Madhyamaka treatment of the four propositions (that is, the nonacceptance of any assertion of being, nonbeing, both, or neither, or, in another permutation, the arising of any dharma from itself, from others, from both, or from neither), and the familiar twist that all that cannot be said can also be said in the process of interaction with and transformation of beings, in accordance with the teaching of the Lotus on the function of expedient means (upaya). 21. See, for example, Mo-ho chih-kuan, T 46.55al8-24: "The worldly truth is identical to the ultimate truth. You should know that you can be constantly speaking while being constantly silent and vice versa, constantly transcending both and constantly including both, for destruction is precisely positing and vice v e r s a . . . . If one grasps this meaning, eveiy proposition is acceptable and none is acceptable." 22. As Chih-i says: "When a moment of consciousness arises .. . both the sense organ and its object are each in themselves the entire dharma realm. .. . When a moment of consciousness arises from the meeting of sense organ and object, the organ is a treasury of all eighty-four thousand dharmas, and so

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is the object, and so is the moment of consciousness that so arises. The whole Buddha dharma realm faces the whole dharma realm, and thereby the whole dharma realm arises. Each one, the faced and the facer, is the entire Buddharealm" (Mo-ho chih-kuan, T 46.9a21-24). When the sense organ encounters an object, it is a case of the whole dharma realm (with all its inherent intersubjectivity and the relations of merciful enlightener and deluded sufferer built into the term "three thousand") encountering the whole realm, yielding a moment of consciousness that is also the whole. 23. Chih-i develops this point in presenting his doctrine of the three bodies of the Buddha, each of which pervades all times and places, in the Kuan-yin hsiian-i chi, as follows: "The explanation given by other teachers is that the hidden benefit given by the dharmakaya is what is meant by permanent [benefit], whereas the nirmanakaya [ying-shen, response body] temporarily appears and then vanishes, and this is impermanent. But now we must make clear that, while these teachers are right that the dharmakaya is constantly both quiescent and illuminating, it is also the case that the nirmanakaya is constantly and everywhere appearing and bringing benefit and has never once ceased for a moment—this is also permanent" (T 34.89 lb 18-21). That is, everything that happens "everywhere" (ch'u-ch'u) is not only the passively or objectively pantheistic dharmakaya but also a specific response to a specific stimulus, bringing benefit, as part of a bodhisattvic transformation. Everything is the nirmanakaya, including the stimuli themselves. The pervasiveness of the intersubjective concept of being is clear here as well: each thing that exists is a response, an interaction, an encounter. 24. See, for example, the story of Bodhisattva Never-Disparaging, who says to all whom he meets, "You are all practicing the Bodhisattva path and will become Buddhas" (Miao-fa lien-hua ching, T 9.50c; cf. Leon Hurvitz, trans., Scripture of the Lotus Blossom of the Fine Dharma [New York: Columbia University Press, 1975], p. 279). Chih-i quotes this passage to illustrate the most radical implications of his doctrine of opening the provisional to reveal the real: "To open the provisional to reveal the real—that is to see the Middle Way in every dharma. Thus the text says, 'What you are all practicing—that is the bodhisattva path'—thus there is no further need to change your path or your direction in order to seek the ultimate truth. The marvel may thus be seen precisely in the coarse" (Fa-hua hsiian-i, T 33.740b20-23). See also the Buddha's revelation to Sariputra that he is mistaken in thinking himself a sravaka, that in fact he long ago made the bodhisattva vow and therefore is now just assuming this sravaka form and its forgetfulness as one of the transformations adopted in his practice of the bodhisattva path—which he has forgotten himself to be practicing (T 9.11b; Hurvitz, p. 41). 25. In fact all T'ien-t'ai hermeneutics assume this principle: any token means three thousand different things at once. The tragic aspect of this absolute optimism is developed in the theory of the evil inherent in the Buddhanature, especially as Chih-li presents it: the Buddha's acts are also rape and murder, and he will always be equally on the murderer's path, just as the murder is always on the bodhisattva path—the only difference being that the Buddha knows himself to be on all paths at once, this being the special nature of the path known as the Buddha path. 26. Chiao-hsing lu, T 46.881b6-18 (emphasis mine). This is Jen-yueh's

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answer. Tzu-jen answers the same question at T 46.883c4-ll, making more or less the same point: "Neither of the two senses can be clung to exclusively; the two must ride on each other.... If you cling to the position that it is all done by the karma of sentient beings and not the transformations of the Buddhas, then the Buddhas have no merit in liberating beings. If you cling to the position that it is all done by the transformations of the Buddhas and not the karma of beings, you fall into the heretical view of spontaneity [no cause and effect, no moral retribution, and so on]. For this reason, the transformations of the Buddhas come from the power of the karma of sentient beings, and the power of the karma of sentient beings is completely a transformation of the Buddhas." 27. See Chih-li's response to more or less this same question, posed by the Japanese monk Genshin (942-1017): "When we're talking about how good and evil causes bring about the results of suffering or joy, then we say it is done by sentient beings and not the Buddhas. But when we talk about the same event in the sense of the use of suffering and joy to frustrate and receive sentient beings, then we say it is a manifestation of the Buddhas and is not done by sentient beings. This is because it was needful to use suffering to transform sentient beings, and thus the Buddhas did it. It is like when the former kings applied punishments—this was not done to make the people suffer, but was an example of their benevolence. The Buddhas are like this too. To frustrate and receive them, they force themselves to manifest in this way. Moreover, although sentient beings live in a realm of suffering and joy, they are not free and at ease there, while Buddhas dwell within it and are able to transform it, thus we say it is from the Buddhas. Moreover, Buddhas are sentient-being-Buddhas, and sentient beings are Buddha-sentient-beings. Thus it can be said that with every moment of experience in the minds of sentient beings, all the Buddhas are constantly realizing the truth, while within the minds of all the Buddhas, all sentient beings are constantly creating new karma. Thus we know that if we are talking about sentient beings, then at that time everything can be categorized as sentient beings; if we are talking about Buddhas, then at that time everything can be categorized as Buddha. For this reason the [Lotus] sutra says: 'Now everything in these three realms of existence belongs to me, and all sentient beings within them are my children" (Chiao-hsing lu, T 46.888M9-29). Here Chih-li makes the mutual inclusion of the two sides of the dialogue most explicit; if we wish to speak from the point of view that focuses on sentient beings, it is all sentient beings, while from the point of view that focuses on the Buddhas, the whole belongs to the Buddha side. 28. Thus Chih-li can also say: "It must be understood that there is nothing the practitioner sees that is not the power of the Tathagata. The Tathagatas appraisal of ones capacities is thus never off by even a hairs breadth. Whatever is needful to be manifested is manifested" (Miao-tsung ch'ao, T 37.224a2627). Chih-li understands Buddhist rituals in the same way: "When worshiping the Buddha, one must know deeply that the essence of the Buddha is not separate from one's own mind, that they are the same source of awakening, perfectly illuminating all dharmas. The Buddhas are enlightened to this and thus give rise to compassion for those who are of the same essence as themselves, while sentient beings provisionally take on various forms of delusion. The compassion and the suffering are matched to one another, which

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is how stimulus and response (kan-ying) comes about" (Chiao-hsing lu, T 46.868c20-23). 29. As Chih-i says: "Good connects to [i.e., serves as stimulus to the response of] the great love, evil connects to the great compassion" (Kuan-yin hsiian-i, T 34.891a9-10). 30. As Chih-i says, it is "like a round cover fitting a round base, matching perfectly" (Kuan-yin hsiian-i, T 34.891al 1-12). 31. The Mo-ho chih-kuan metaphorically expresses this perfect matching of the deluded challenge and the enlightened response, conceived as one and the same substance: "It is like fighting bandits. Bandits are the root of glory; it is because a general is able to destroy bandits that he attains fame and reward. Infinite lust is a seed of the Tathagata in just the same way. It makes the bodhisattvas come up with an infinite number of dharma gates in response" (T 46.47a4-7). It is important to notice what is implied by this rhetoric of "seeds" and "roots." Here Chih-i presents the stimulus and response as opposites that are serially related and that are then viewed as cause and effect; but this must be understood in the context of Chih-i's notion that cause and effect are themselves inseparable and ultimately one, that the division between them is merely provisional. The "one" that they are, however, is one that includes both opposite aspects of root and flower. For example, when we say "the root is itself the flower," we mean that "the root is really root/flower, the flower is also really flower/root, therefore root = flower" (rather than, for example, "root and flower are both really nothing but root, flower is nothing in itself, therefore root = flower; since flower is really root, this just means root = root.") Thus it is with stimulus and response as well. A single act is thus both the sin and its overcoming. This does not mean that there is really only the sin or really only the overcoming; either one of them is always both, and both are always replete and present in either. Thus Chih-li can say: "Since we admit that the poisons that are overcome are identical to the principle-nature, how could we deny that the function of overcoming is also identical to principle.... Since the poison itself is identical to the ultimate nature, it is just this poison itself that does the overcoming" (Chiao-hsing lu, T46.872cl6, 26-27). 32. T 46.784c. 13-29; cf. Linda Penkowers dissertation, "T'ien-t'ai during the Tang Dynasty: Chan-jan and the Sinification of Buddhism" (Yale University, 1993), pp. 512-514. 33. Chih-li makes this point about Kuan-yin: "Kuan-yin has realized the dharma-nature of evil and thus is free and at ease within evil. This is why he can freely and effortlessly respond to all difficulties experienced by sentient beings everywhere. The essential point is that all living beings and their environments are Kuan-yin's marvelous body and marvelous mind. All sentient beings create diffculties for themselves there within the sagely mind and matter; even the three types of karma that seek help are Kuan-yin himself. For this reason as soon as a stimulus appears, the response occurs immediately. If you constantly contemplate in this way, how could you fail to benefit all things together with Kuan-yin?" (Kuan-yin i-shu chi, T 34.956c6-l 1). This last rhetorical question points to the reversibility and performative twist to be discussed in a moment. 34. Cf. Chih-li s extensive treatment of this question, in his subcommentary

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to Chih-is comment on the statement "this mind makes the Buddha, this mind is the Buddha" from the Visualization Sutra. Chih-li takes this passage as indicating that the Buddha, like any other particular dharma, can be exclusively characterized neither as created by practice (hsiu) nor as inherent in the nature of things (hsing), and thus it is equally true to say that it is created by practice or that it is inherent in the nature of things, by the familiar T'ient'ai principle of "the nonduality of nature and practice" (see Miao-tsung ch'ao, T 37.220b4-29). 35. Mo-ho chih-kuan, T 46.85a6-8. 36. See Kuan-hsin lun shu, T 46.619a6-27. The term is used in the course of a discussion that amply illustrates the intersubjective situation existing within one's own mind: " 'Keep the company of wise guides.' This means to constantly contemplate the four saintly realms in your own mind. The realms of the Two Vehicles have eighty-four thousand real-dharmas of the transcendent practice of emptiness, contemplated by eighty-four thousand conventionally designated sravakas. The bodhisattva realm has eighty-four thousand bodhisattvas and the Buddha-realm eighty-four thousand Buddhas.. .. This is to focus on the crowd of sages existing within one's own mind. Next, contemplate the destruction of ignorance. This means to see that the nine deluded realms existing within your own mind are identical to the Buddha-realm t h e r e . . . . Externally, request that all the Buddhas turn the wheel of dharma to deliver sentient beings, while internally, intensify contemplation of the mind; as the Buddha preaches the dharma, all sentient beings, both internal and external, receive the benefit of d h a r m a . . . . Externally, feel sympathetic joy for the virtues of Buddhas and bodhisattvas and even for the finite goods of ordinary people; internally, feel sympathetic joy for the virtue of the four saintly crowds [existing within your mind]. 'Transferring Merit': This means, externally, to transfer the goods practiced by three kinds of karma of both ordinary and sagely beings toward the Buddha's enlightenment; and internally, to transfer the goods of the nine realms toward the result of the Buddha realm existing within your mind. 'Five, Vows': Externally, this means to vow that all sentient beings see their Buddha-nature; and internally, to vow that the sentient beings [known as deluded] mental objects quickly return to their original purity" (Kuan-ting, Kuan-hsin lun shu, T 46.619a6-27; emphasis mine). 37. This entire system is possible only because of the specific conception of the content of this enlightenment, inherited from primitive Buddhism: namely, that all dharmas are unsatisfactory, impermanent, and empty of self. Anger teaches this by causing pain, by vanishing, by being causally conditioned. The moral imperative also teaches this; it too causes pain, vanishes, is causally conditioned. Everything teaches this, and thus everything is a bodhisattva; and everything, sentient or insentient, as Chan-jan would later establish, will thus attain Buddhahood. 38. According to this point of view, even this grammar, as a force of communication in a given social group that creates all sorts of determinations, is simultaneously a product of deluded karma and a force of compassionate intersubjectivity, and all the distortions that it creates are themselves salvific upaya. 39. See Shih pu-erh-men chih-yao ch'ao, T 46.715b20, for Chih-li's famous claim that "even without delusion, the distinctions exist."

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40. The general structure of these formulas can be seen, for example, in Chih-li's description of the kan-ying activities of the bodhisattva Kuan-yin, famed for his transformative virtuosity: "Kuan-yin's responses appear to the sentient beings that exist within his own mind, and sentient beings' triggersituations stimulate the Kuan-yin that exists within their own minds" (Kuan-yin i-shu chi, T 34.938a9-10). Or, again in the Kuan-yin i-shu chi: "Each is the entire dharma realm, every one integrates and interpenetrates everything. Sentient beings stimulate the other-Buddhas existing in their own minds, and all Buddhas respond to the other-sentient beings existing within their own minds" (T 34.956al9-20). 41. Shih pu-erh-men chih-yao ch'ao, T 46.719a20-22. 42. Shih pu-erh-men chih-yao ch'ao, T 46.718al0-12. 43. Shih pu-erh-men chih-yao ch'ao, T 46.718b6-8. 44. My understanding of this issue, on which my remark here is predicated, is given at length in "Anti-Chan Polemics in Post-Tang Tiantai," Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 17.1 (1994): 26-63. 45. Yuan-ch'ing, Fa-hua shih-miao pu-erh-men shih-chu chih, HTC 100.111al5-17. 46. Fa-hua shih-miao pu-erh-men shih-chu chih, HTC 100.121b6-7. 47. Fa-hua shih-miao pu-erh-men shih-chu chih, HTC 100.134bl3-135a6. 48. I translate in accord with the interpretation offered in K'o-tu's Shih pu-erh-men chih-yao-ch'ao hsiang-chieh, HTC 100.433bl2-435a2. 49. Shih pu-erh-men chih-yao ch'ao, T 46.716b8-19. 50. This model raises another question, since "focus and field" cannot be conceived without a relation between an observer and an object; the observer's focus changes, while the object remains the same, rendering a different appearance. Whence this division, if we are looking for an initial explanatory principle? But in a T'ien-t'ai context, the oneness of subject and object is not to be privileged above the specific karmically conditioned/expedient divisions of subject and object proper to all particular sentient beings; these two aspects are equal, simultaneous and identical, belonging to the truth of emptiness and the truth of provisional positing, respectively. It is not the case that "originally" or "in actuality" there is no subject/object division and hence no particular perspective, that these things are merely an illusion that will eventually be dispelled; rather, it is always equally true that there is and is not such a division and hence such a perspective, such a choosing of focus and field. Hence, in any moment of experience of any being it is always equally true that there is some subjective perspective with a particular focus obtaining (some emphasis on one element at the expense of the others, some partiality, e.g., to dharma-nature or to ignorance) and that all things are equally weighted with no particularizing distinction between subject and object. 51. Shih pu-erh-men, T 46.703b5-9. 52. Fa-hua shih-miao pu-erh-men shih-chu chih, HTC 100.130b7-8. 53. Shih pu-erh-men chih-yao ch'ao, T 46.712c20-713al. 54. Shih pu-erh-men chih-yao ch'ao, T 46.719a27-29. 55. Shih pu-erh-men chih-yao ch'ao, T 46.704M9-25. 56. Chih-li gives one of the most striking descriptions of this situation in his answers to a Ch'an monk named T'ai in the Chiao-hsing lu: "The ten directions

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are all equally speaking [the dharma], the ten directions are all equally listening. Past, present, and future are all equally proclaiming it, and they are equally listening. As the ancients said, 'Space asks all phenomena, and all phenomena answer space.'.. . You must know that every moment and every speck of dust is always speaking and always listening, and that speaking and listening occur simultaneously; there is no difference between them" (T 46.892c25-27 and 894a27-28). 57. Shih pu-erh-men chih-yao ch'ao, T 46.707a-b. Indeed, all the talk of the nonduality of taint and purity, of enlightenment and delusion, of afflictions and enlightenment, make this point clear, for these are all subjective categories, not objective ones. They all refer to subjective states, and it is these states that are said to be nondual, not just the objective reference of subjectivity, which is beyond good and evil even to Spinoza or the modern scientist.

Chapter 12

Tien-t'ai Pure Land Societies and the Creation of the Pure Land Patriarchate D A N I E L A . G E T Z , JR.

S T U D E N T S OF Chinese Buddhism have long regarded Pure Land devotion and practice in China as constituting an autonomous movement. English sources on Chinese Buddhism typically refer to the Pure Land tradition as a school, thus promoting the impression that the Pure Land tradition functioned as an independent entity, much like other schools (such as T'ien-t'ai, Ch'an, and Vinaya).1 The categorization of Pure Land as a school, presumably glossing the Chinese term "tsung," suggests the possession of one or more distinctive characteristics: a discrete self-contained doctrinal system, a continuous lineage, and/or some form of institutional autonomy.2 An assessment of the various historical manifestations of Pure Land, however, reveals that for much of the history of Chinese Buddhism, Pure Land was not a distinct institutional entity with a self-conscious lineage or doctrinal system. Rather, until the Southern Sung (1127— 1279) Pure Land existed as one facet of religious life alongside others, and with the appearance of various doctrinal and cultivational systems in the Sui (581-618) and Tang (618-907) it became an integrated element functioning within the precincts of institutional settings not exclusively identified with Pure Land. 3

The enormous influence of Japanese scholarship, with its tendency to project Japanese sectarian delineations onto Chinese Buddhism, is partly to blame for this misperception. 4 Yet this allegation overlooks the considerable responsibility that Chinese Buddhist historians themselves share for this notion. In this regard, the creation of a Pure Land patriarchate by Buddhist historians of the Southern Sung period played a formative role in promoting the conception of Pure Land as an independent reality.5 Although the exact impact of the patriarchate on Buddhist historiography of later periods requires further inquiry, there is no doubt that the Sung Pure Land patri-

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Daniel A. Getz, Jr.

archate was uncritically carried forward into later periods. 6 This patriarchate, once posited, contributed to the mistaken perception that Pure Land was transmitted within an autonomous, continuous lineage and therefore constituted a tradition in its own right. The Pure Land patriarchate was the creation of the two T'ient'ai figures of the Southern Sung period: Tsung-hsiao (1151-1214) and Chih-p'an (fl. 1258-1269). In 1199, Tsung-hsiao compiled an anthology of Pure Land materials titled Compendium of the Land of Bliss (Le-pang wen-lei). In the section of this work dedicated to biographies, Tsung-hsiao introduced six figures whom he identified as patriarchs of the Lotus Society (Lien-she).7 At the head of this Lotus Society patriarchate, Tsung-hsiao placed the great scholarmonk Hui-yüan (334-416), renowned for his establishment on Mount Lu of a society of literati figures and monks. This group, which was dedicated to the Buddha Amitábha and seeking rebirth in his Pure Land, later in the T'ang came to be commonly known as the White Lotus Society (Pai-lien she), a title that Tsung-hsiao expropriated for his patriarchate. 8 Likening Huiyüan to Chih-i (538-597), Tao-hsüan (596-667), and Bodhidharma (active first half sixth century)—the founders of the T'ien-t'ai, Vinaya, and Ch'an schools respectively—Tsung-hsiao imputed to Pure Land the same degree of independence possessed by these other traditions. 9 This idea was reinforced later in the thirteenth century, when the T'ien-t'ai historian Chih-p'an set aside three fascicles of his Comprehensive History of the Buddhas and Patriarchs (Fo-tsu t'ungchi) for biographies of clerics and lay people dedicated to Pure Land.10 This section of Pure Land biographies stands as an independent unit, which directly follows the biographies of T'ien-t'ai figures and precedes the biographical sections for the patriarchs of other schools. Although Chih-p'an did not refer to Pure Land as a "school" (tsung), he nevertheless mimicked his treatment of the other schools by providing Pure Land with its own patriarchate. 11 Acknowledging his debt to Tsung-hsiao, Chih-p'an offered an altered list of seven patriarchs to which he too ascribed the heading of "Lotus Society."12 It was no accident that these two men, responsible for creating the Pure Land patriarchate, both belonged to the T'ien-t'ai school. Both were members of a lineage going back to the first decades of the Northern Sung and, as such, were conscious heirs of developments that had taken place within T'ien-t'ai during that time. In

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assigning the title of Lotus Society to their patriarchal lists, both Tsung-hsiao and Chih-p'an were reflecting not only the importance of Pure Land societies within Sung Buddhism but also the crucial role that the T'ien-t'ai school had played in the origins and proliferation of those societies. From the inception of Pure Land societies in the Northern Sung, T'ien-t'ai monks were the principal parties in the establishment and promotion of these societies. Furthermore, although these Pure Land societies took a great many forms and were affiliated with several different schools, the majority for which a record exists had either direct or indirect connections with T'ien-t'ai.13 From the time that Naitó Kónan (1866-1934) first observed that the momentous changes of the Sung period represented a turning point in Chinese history, Sung Pure Land societies have been studied as a window to understanding the transformation taking place in Sung society and in Buddhism. 14 Much scholarly energy has been devoted to the appearance of popular movements like the White Lotus, which in its beginnings was an outgrowth of Pure Land societies that had monastic affiliations. 15 Less attention, however, has been paid to the relationship between Sung Pure Land societies and the T'ien-t'ai school. This chapter thus seeks to illumine the role that the T'ien-t'ai school played both in the development of Pure Land societies and in the subsequent creation of the Pure Land patriarchate. Although a good deal of Pure Land activity in the Sung period fell outside the province of the T'ien-t'ai school, the majority of Pure Land activity associated with the mainline Buddhist establishment for which a record is available had some connection with T'ien-t'ai. At the same time, Pure Land devotion and practice, which had been part of T'ien-t'ai from its beginnings, became even more thoroughly integrated into the T'ien-t'ai doctrinal and cultivational system during the Sung. Indeed, Pure Land belief and practice largely functioned as an integral component within doctrinal and institutional settings that were not identified with Pure Land. The explication of Pure Land in Sung T'ien-t'ai will also reveal doctrinal and cultivational tensions that led to a paradoxical situation in which the T'ien-t'ai school, having initially incorporated and promoted Pure Land, later created a patriarchate for it in recognition of its growing autonomy. This chapter will also touch on the broader Buddhist, historical, and, cultural context that influenced, and in turn was influenced by, T'ien-t'ai.

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The Northern Sung T'ien-t'ai Revival To understand how the increase in Pure Land societies and Pure Land devotion in general during the Sung was contingent on the activities of the T'ien-t'ai school, it is necessary first to recognize that such developments would not have been possible were it not for the revival that took place in the first part of the Northern Sung dynasty (960-1127). Central to this revival were the figures of Tsunshih and Chih-li. As is amply manifest elsewhere in this volume, these men have been recognized traditionally for their inestimable contributions to T'ien-t'ai learning and practice and to the consequent efflorescence of the school throughout the Sung period. The T'ien-t'ai revival, which reached its apogee with the achievements of Chih-li and Tsun-shih, actually began several decades before their appearance on the scene and even before the Sung dynasty itself was established. T'ien-t'ai had not fared well through the multitude of tribulations and upheavals that took place in the latter part of the T'ang and throughout the Five Dynasties (907-960). Many foundational texts had perished, and T'ien-t'ai learning had become largely defunct. This nearly fatal predicament was reversed in the 950s when Ch'ien Ch'u (r. 948-978), the ruler of Wu-Yiieh, a coastal principality comprising the modern provinces of Chekiang and Kiangsu, sponsored the retrieval of T'ien-t'ai texts from Korea and Japan. Ch'ien Ch'u further fostered the revival of T'ien-t'ai by sponsoring monasteries for T'ien-t'ai learning and practice.' 6 These events marked a dramatic turnaround in the fortunes of the school and held important implications for later developments. The Wu-Yiieh region, having provided Buddhism with a stable, beneficial environment throughout the Five Dynasties period, now became the matrix for T'ien-t'ai and, by extension, Pure Land activities in the Sung. The reversal of the school's precarious condition also illustrated the importance of patronage for its welfare. Chih-li and Tsun-shih took this lesson to heart and spent part of their careers actively pursuing government recognition and patronage to solidify their school's institutional status. 17 Lastly, the infusion of texts sparked a renaissance in T'ien-t'ai learning that brought to the fore questions about how to interpret T'ien-t'ai teaching. Divisions arising from differing interpretations largely broke down along lines of lineal affiliation. Chih-li and Tsun-shih, for example, were descendants of Hsi-chi (919-987), who had advised Ch'ien Ch'u in the retrieval of texts and had presided over initial attempts at studying

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them. 18 Hsi-chis most prominent student, I-t'ung (K. Uit'ong, 927988), was a Korean monk who settled at the Pao-yun Monastery in the port city of Ming-chou (modern Ning-po).19 It was there that Chih-li and Tsun-shih became I-t'ung's students and consequently key figures in the T'ien-t'ai revival. From its beginnings, the T'ien-t'ai school had stressed the equal importance of textual learning and cultivational practice. This dual emphasis, likened by the school's founder Chih-i to the two wings of a bird or the two wheels of a cart, became a guiding principle in the Northern Sung revival and is reflected in the way that history has viewed Chih-li and Tsun-shih. Chih-li traditionally has been honored for his learning and articulation of T'ien-t'ai doctrine. In contrast, Tsun-shih has been revered for his intense dedication to T'ien-t'ai cultivation and for his writings that dealt with T'ien-t'ai ritual practice. These characterizations highlight well the respective accomplishments of these two men, but care should be taken not to understand these achievements as exclusive, since each man seriously engaged in both learning and practice. Indeed, this chapter will show that Chih-li's contributions to T'ien-t'ai went far beyond the realm of doctrine. Chih-li's doctrinal contributions arose out of his engagement with other members of the T'ien-t'ai in a series of polemics, known collectively as the Shan-chia/Shan-wai controversy.20 Chih-li and those who sided with him were later called the Shan-chia (Home Mountain) faction, while his adversaries were pejoratively dubbed the Shan-wai (Off Mountain) faction—terms that came to connote orthodox and heterodox. Owing to a variety of circumstances, not least of which was the fact that Chih-li's lineage flourished while that of his opponents did not, Chih-li is acclaimed for clarifying and solidifying the T'ien-t'ai orthodoxy. This controversy and its ideas, which receive in-depth treatment in chapters 10 and 11, arose in part from ambiguities inherited from the thought of the great T'ang T'ien-t'ai figure Chan-jan (711-782).21 These ambiguities led to conflicting interpretations concerning the ultimate nature of reality and the cultivation necessary to contemplate that reality. Chih-li's decision to criticize members of his own school was based on his concern that the core tenets of T'ien-t'ai doctrine were being adulterated by interpretations heavily influenced by Hua-yen and Ch'an thought. Chih-li embraced, as a fundamental principle, the concept of nature inclusion (hsing-chu) that had first been articulated by Chan-jan. According to this principle, each and every aspect of

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reality contained the totality of everything else. This notion was in turn grounded in doctrines proposed by Chih-i. Among these teachings, the most fundamental was the doctrine of the three truths, which maintained that the ultimate nature of reality resided in emptiness, in provisional positing, and in a middle truth that both affirmed and negated the previous two. Chih-i held that enlightenment was attained when these three aspects of reality were apprehended together in a single instant, not as separate but as mutually inclusive truths. For Chih-li, this doctrine (and its correlative principle of nature inclusion) meant that existence in its tainted, multitudinous particulars has to be taken every bit as seriously as the formless absolute principle, that mind does not take ultimate precedence over form, and that in cultivation one can reach enlightenment by contemplation of the ordinary unenlightened mind. These ideas thus provided the theoretical underpinning for the religious validity of Pure Land societies and their practices, which otherwise might seem far removed from the T'ien-t'ai contemplative pursuit of ultimate reality. Tsun-shih staunchly supported Chih-li in this controversy, but Tsun-shih's attention and energies were directed primarily toward the sphere of T'ien-t'ai cultivation. The cornerstone of T'ien-t'ai practice had been laid by Chih-i in the Great Calming and Contemplation (Mo-ho chih-kuan).22 The goal of T'ien-t'ai cultivation was the attainment of contemplative insight in which the three truths were simultaneously grasped as mutually inclusive. The means to this end were set forth in four basic types of practice, known as four kinds of samadhi, which were categorized according to the different postures adopted during cultivation.23 Within these categories, Chih-i situated a variety of cultivational techniques, some of which were more properly contemplative, directly dwelling on the three truths, while others were scripturally based cultic disciplines that required the performance of ritual cycles involving physical activity, invocations, offerings, and concrete visualizations. Some of these latter were cast in the form of repentance rituals that became such vital elements in T'ien-t'ai practice that T'ien-t'ai discipline was often equated with cultic observance of repentance ceremonies. Despite the emphasis on these various rituals, some practitioners held the view that such concrete, particularistic ritual practices were only expedient devices that could be dispensed with in order to contemplate the absolute directly.24 Chih-li and Tsun-shih both emphatically rejected this view in light of the doctrinal stance articulated above. That is, if all reality

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is encompassed by the concrete, particular aspects of that reality, then the absolute sought in T'ien-t'ai contemplation is instantiated in the concrete particulars of ritual practice. Consequently, Chih-li and Tsun-shih not only defended the traditional T'ien-t'ai ritual observances but also assiduously practiced them. Tsun-shih, in particular, was known for his dedication to these ritual disciplines. During the performance of the pratyutpanna samadhi (pan-chou san-mei) centered on the Buddha Amitabha, Tsun-shih is recorded as having burnt off seven of his fingers to stay awake.25 Besides being a fervent practitioner, Tsun-shih contributed to the clarification of rubrics by producing updated versions of manuals for some of the rituals that had been inherited from Chih-i.26 He also produced manuals for new rituals that were not part of the traditional T'ien-t'ai schema. Prominent among these was the Rite for Repentance and Vows for Rebirth in the Pure Land (Wangsheng ching-t'u ch'an-yuan i), which presented a repentance ceremony for rebirth in the Pure Land that was meant primarily, although not exclusively, for a T'ien-t'ai monastic audience.27 He also wrote the Two Teachings for Resolving Doubts and Establishing the Practice and Vow for Rebirth in the Pure Land (Wang-sheng ching-t'u chueh-i hsing-yuan erh-men), ostensibly for the purpose of extending to lay people the opportunity to practice repentance rituals in a Pure Land context.28 Against this backdrop of T'ien-t'ai repentance ritual, Tsun-shih and Chih-li's Pure Land societies can in one sense be understood as providing a concrete setting for lay people to engage in repentance activity. Nevertheless, the founding of Pure Land societies by Tsunshih, Chih-li, and their T'ien-t'ai confreres constituted only one among a constellation of miscellaneous disciplines that included the conferral of the bodhisattva precepts, the feeding of hungry ghosts, the conversion of local deities, the release of living creatures, the burning of fingers, and the vow to self-immolation. At first glance, such practices had little coherence and did not properly fit into the T'ien-t'ai cultivational schema of the four kinds of samadhi. These activities made sense, however, when considered as concrete expressions of the bodhisattva vocation, which was central to the T'ien-t'ai vision from its beginnings. Chih-i himself had actively promoted some of these practices, such as the conferral of bodhisattva precepts and the release of living creatures. In his dedication to such practices, Chih-i thereby became an exemplar for successive generations, and his memory was increasingly invoked with regard to the

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practice of these activities during the T'ien-t'ai revival of the Northern Sung. Prominent in this revival of Chih-i's memory was perhaps the most famous Buddhist figure of the Five Dynasties period, Yenshou (904-975), who during various phases of his monastic career spent time on Mount T'ien-t'ai, where the cult of Chih-i was very much alive. Conscious of Chih-i's legacy, Yen-shou, though he was never identified with the T'ien-t'ai tradition, embraced some of the monastic cultivational disciplines that had been promoted by Chih-i while at the same time undertaking many of the miscellaneous activities that focused on the welfare of those beyond the monastery walls.29 He thereby affirmed the necessity for both assiduous ascetic discipline and active engagement in society as requisites for the bodhisattva vocation. Consequently, Yen-shou s life and practices served as a recent, vital link to the school's initial vision for Tsunshih and Chih-li. Their establishment of Pure Land societies, although not a practice found in either Chih-i's or Yen-shou's biographies, was consistent with the spirit of the tradition and was predicated on the bodhisattva's responsibility for the welfare of all. The emergence of Pure Land societies was inextricably related to a renewed vision of the bodhisattva vocation. The importance of the bodhisattva ideal as a driving force in the founding of Pure Land societies, does not preclude the operation of other motives as well. Chih-li and Tsun-shih were preoccupied with the restoration of the T'ien-t'ai school, and many of their actions—such as cultivating relationships with powerful political figures as well as enlisting popular support for their monastery—can be interpreted in terms of their ambitions for themselves, their monasteries, and their school. Yet such activities took place within a milieu of assiduous religious practice that drew its life and power from the bodhisattva ideal. Just as a preponderance of Sung T'ien-t'ai thought, practice, and institutions benefited from the contributions of Chih-li and Tsunshih, so too could a good number of Sung Pure Land societies trace their roots or inspiration back to these two men. The societies founded by Tsun-shih and Chih-li in 996 and 1013 respectively became the second and third such associations that are known of in the entire Sung. The T'ien-t'ai lineal descendants of Chih-li and Tsunshih followed their lead down through the Sung by instituting new societies and preserving already established ones. The resultant proliferation of Pure Land societies, which occurred primarily in

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Chekiang and Kiangsu (formerly Wu-Yiieh) and was principally associated with T'ien-t'ai institutions, represents one of the most striking aspects of Pure Land practice in this period. The formation of associations was commonplace in T'ang Buddhism, but there are few attested instances of T'ang societies dedicated to Pure Land.30 In the Sung, however, Pure Land societies abounded, emerging not only as loci of Pure Land devotion but also as significant points of interaction between the monastic and lay communities. The importance of Chih-li and Tsun-shih's societies for these later developments, then, is beyond question. Before considering their societies, however, an examination of the first known society of the Sung, that founded by Sheng-ch'ang, is in order.

Sheng-ch'ang's Society Sheng-ch'ang (959-1020) has enjoyed a place of honor in traditional accounts of Pure Land history that is primarily due to the presence of his name on the lists of Pure Land patriarchs compiled by both Tsung-hsiao and Chih-p'an.31 These T'ien-t'ai historians undoubtedly elevated Sheng-ch'ang to the lofty position of Pure Land patriarch for his role in founding the very first Sung society that renewed the memory of the original Pure Land society convened by the tradition's first patriarch, Hui-ylian. The traditional estimation of Sheng-ch'ang as a major contributor to the Pure Land tradition is, however, problematic when evaluated in the light of historical documents contemporaneous with his founding of the society. Although these historical records leave no doubt that Sheng-ch'ang sought to emulate the association founded by Hui-ylian, the evidence is unclear as to what, if any, role Pure Land devotion and aspirations played within his society. The study of Pure Land associations in the Sung nevertheless requires beginning with Sheng-ch'ang's society for several reasons. The founding of his society reveals the general situation in which Buddhism found itself at the beginning of the Sung and consequently provides one clue as to why Pure Land societies appeared at this time. Sheng-ch'ang's society also represented a basic type of association that in its makeup and style was imitated by Tsun-shih's group (but not by Chih-li's). Finally, since Sheng-ch'ang was not a T'ien-t'ai monk, his society serves as a reminder that Pure Land activity in the Sung was not confined to the T'ien-t'ai school. In the early 990s, Sheng-ch'ang brought together an assembly of monks and literati figures at his monastery, the Chao-ch'ing ssu, on

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the West Lake (Hsi-hu) of Hang-chou. 32 His association was created in conscious imitation of the coterie of elite scholar hermits gathered by Hui-yiian on Mount Lu in the fifth century.33 The T'ien-t'ai monk Chih-yuan (976-1022), who was living at a neighboring monastery on West Lake, recorded the following observation made by Shengch'ang to his students in regard to his motivation in founding the society: Since the beginning of the dynasty, high officials have pursued their learning by revering the ancients. For the most part they have modeled themselves after the conduct of T'ui-chih [i.e., Han Yii], their intention being to oust the Buddhists. I have therefore drawn on Venerable [Hui]-yiians legacy to assist in forming a society. [These high officials] are often converted by me and have accumulated stele inscriptions and amassed verses as vows of refuge praising the Buddha dharma. Such are sufficient to censure heterodox paths and protect our teaching. This age does not understand me. It takes me to be someone who performs wonders in order to spread my own reputation. I am not of that ilk.34 Sheng-ch'angs stated purpose for enlisting literati as members in his society was to change the negative attitudes that he perceived to exist among this class toward Buddhism. Although not identified outright, those harboring these anti-Buddhist views were presumably the advocates of the ku-wen movement, among whom were such eminent literati as Liu K'ai (954-1000) and Wang Yu-ch'eng (954-1001). Albert Welter points out in Chapter 2 that these men, in seeking a moral rejuvenation of society through a return to Confucian ideals and classical literary models (ku-wen), regarded Buddhism as a pernicious foreign influence that had contributed to Chinas decline. Considering themselves successors to the great T'ang scholar Han Yii (768-824), these men also inherited Han Yii's antipathy to Buddhism, and their writings betray the influence of his anti-Buddhist polemics. The flames of this distrust and hostility were further fanned on a local level in Hang-chou when a Buddhist monk led a riot in 985 (an event analyzed by Chi-chiang Huang in Chapter 8). Consequently, the Buddhists of Hang-chou, who had previously flourished under the lavish patronage of the ruling family of Wu-Yiieh, were now confronted with a wary officialdom whose help and support were nevertheless essential for the continued welfare of Buddhist institutions. In attempting to ameliorate negative views of Buddhism, Bud-

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dhists of the Northern Sung adopted various strategies to counteract the prejudices of literati-officials. Welter demonstrates how the renowned Buddhist historian Tsan-ning (919-1001) impressed scholars at the court by his broad erudition and in particular by his role as a wen master. Through the power of example, Tsan-ning effectively demonstrated how Buddhism was compatible with the wen tradition. This same approach was also taken later by Chihyiian, Sheng-ch'ang's neighbor on West Lake, as well as by the Chan monk Ch'i-sung (1007-1072) in the latter part of the eleventh century.35 By establishing an association of scholar-officials, Shengch'ang took a different tack, appealing to the lofty reputation that Hui-yiian and his White Lotus Society had come to enjoy among literati since the T'ang period. Hui-yiian's standing among the official class had been recently enhanced in 978, when the emperor T'ai-tsung granted Hui-yiian the title Yiian-wu (Perfectly Enlightened).36 Consequently, Sheng-ch'ang's society was geared to strike a resonant chord among the prominent literati of his time. In its size and composition, Sheng-ch'ang's society was modeled on Hui-yiian's. Imitating the eighteen member cadre that constitued the core of Hui-yiian's society, Sheng-ch'ang's group was reported to have seventeen eminent scholar-officials who, along with Shengch'ang, made up the heart of his society.37 Among these men were such figures as Wang Yii-ch'eng, who, as a proponent of the ku-wen movement, typified the intellectual orientation of the audience that Sheng-ch'ang was trying to win over. Chih-yiian noted that Huiyiian's followers as recluses differed considerably from the members of Sheng-ch'ang's group, who were all prominent notables in society. Nevertheless, in both cases membership consisted of an elite cadre of learned males, which exemplified one type of Pure Land society that would continue through the Sung. Despite this elitist leaning, Sheng-ch'ang's group did appear to engage a broader audience, since its membership is also recorded as including eighty monks and one thousand other people.38 With regard to religious intent, Sheng-ch'ang's position as a Pure Land patriarch would suggest that he and his society were fervently devoted to the Buddha Amitabha and were single-mindedly seeking rebirth in his Pure Land. The sources, however, present a more complicated picture. 39 Sung Po (936-1012), an important literary figure at the emperor Chen-tsung's court and a member of Sheng-ch'ang's society, records that a statue of Vairocana (P'i-lu) was carved for the assembly.40 This choice of Vairocana as the central cultic object of

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this society tallies with biographical information on Sheng-ch'ang, suggesting that he had strong links with the Hua-yen tradition. For this society's foundational text, he produced a copy of the "Pure Conduct Chapter" (Ching-hsing p'in) from the Hua-yen (Avatamsaka) Sutra, which he wrote in ink mixed with his own blood. On writing each character of the text, Sheng-ch'ang made three obeisances, three circumambulations, and three recitations of the Buddha's name.41 This copy was then carved, printed, and distributed to the members of the society. Sheng-ch'ang furthermore appeared to be versed in the Awakening of Faith (Ch'i-hsin lun), a central text of the Hua-yen tradition, which he was invited to lecture on by the prefect of Hang-chou, Chai Shou-su (922-992).42 There is nothing in his textual orientation to indicate that Sheng-ch'ang had the kind of consuming dedication to Amitabha and his Pure Land that one would expect of a Pure Land patriarch. Were it simply for the evidence presented above, it would be easy to dismiss the traditional understanding of Sheng-ch'ang as a contributor to the Pure Land tradition. Other sources, however, suggest that Pure Land played at least some, albeit minor, role in Shengch'ang's society. Chih-yuan, who as Sheng-ch'ang's neighbor possessed credentials as a creditable witness, observed that Shengch'ang had a statue of Amitabha (Wu-liang-shou) produced for the society.43 Sung Po, who as a northerner was better acquainted with the Hua-yen tradition, might have been confused with regard to the statue's identity. Or, to apply similar skepticism to Chih-yiian, he could have mistakenly assumed that the society's emulation of Huiyiian's White Lotus Society necessitated the selection of Amitabha as the society's cultic focus.44 Although Pure Land appears to be almost entirely absent from the contemporary sources, even Sung Po reports that the assembly vowed to strive for enlightenment and to be reborn in the Land of Peace and Sustenance (An-yang kuo— i.e, the Pure Land) when this life was done.45 Since Pure Land did not exist as an independent tradition at this point in Chinese Buddhism, the incorporation of Pure Land elements within another devotional and cultivational system should in no way be surprising. Such a view of Pure Land would qualify Tsung-hsiao and Chih-p'ans assessment of Sheng-ch'ang as a Pure Land patriarch, but it does not detract from the impact that Sheng-ch'ang's society had on later Sung Pure Land societies that followed Hui-yiian's example by recruiting men in positions of power.

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Tsun-shih's Society A f e w years after the inception of Sheng-ch'ang's gathering of monks and scholars, Tsun-shih initiated a similar society in Ming-chou. The sparse details on the founding of this group are provided by Tsunshih in the preface to his Poems on the Buddha Mindfulness Samadhi (Nien-fo san-mei shih), four poems composed in imitation of those with the same title written by Wang Ch'iao-chih (dates unknown), a member of Hui-yiian's society:46 The Buddha mindfulness samadhi is the marvelous path for stepping into the enlightened state. Why should anyone striving within the dharma stream not follow this [path]? Master Hui-yiian of the Chin period converted the Hsiin-yang [region] and gathered a circle of illustrious talents. They followed this [practice] as the road to the infinite. Wang Ch'iao-chih of Lang-yeh and a coterie of illustrious men all produced the Poems on the Buddha Mindfulness Samadhi, and [Hui]-yiian wrote the preface. In the ping-shen year (996) of the Imperial Sung, [I] the monk Tsun-shih congregated over a hundred guests of noble aspiration from Ssu-ming in the second and eleventh months, spring and winter, for one day and one night. Convening in the Lecture Hall of the Pao-ytin [Monastery], they thought on (hsiang) the Buddha of Immeasurable Enlightenment (Wu-liang-chueh) and practiced the Han and Wei sutras (hsing Han Wei ching47 In the jen-yin year (1002) [the practice] was abandoned. Arriving at T'ien-t'ai's East Mountain, I suddenly thought of this event that had transpired a short while before, regretting that it was without an account. Thus, emulating the eminent men of the Chin period, I have written poems, committing them to stone to be passed down to later generations.48 Tsun-shih's society lasted for only six years, from its formation in 996 until 1002, when he left Ming-chou for the T'ien-t'ai area, where he took up the abbacy at the Neng-jen Monastery on Mount Tung-i.49 Nevertheless, this society represented the first T'ien-t'ai Pure Land society and the beginning of Pure Land societies in the Ming-chou area. It might well have served as the inspiration and basis for Chihli's society, which was founded a decade later in 1013 at the Yench'ing Monastery in Ming-chou. The site of Tsun-shih's association, the Pao-yiin Monastery in Ming-chou, had been established by I-t'ung, the master of Chih-li and Tsun-shih.50 I-t'ung had been a devotee of Pure Land, and he

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undoubtedly communicated his faith not only to Chih-li and Tsunshih but also to the lay people affiliated with the Pao-yiin Monastery. I-t'ung's biography states that he frequently referred to other people as "fellow countrymen." When asked why, he would respond, "I regard Pure Land as my homeland. Since all people will be reborn there, they are all my fellow countrymen." 51 In 990, at the request of that monastery's community, Tsun-shih took up the lecture seat, and presumably the abbotship, that had been formerly occupied by his master.52 The monastery was situated in the southeastern part of the city of Ming-chou, and the members of Tsun-shih's society were in all likelihood residents of the city, many of them probably having been patrons of the monastery in It'ung's time. The urban nature of this society's membership became a common feature of numerous other Sung Pure Land societies founded by T'ien-t'ai monks. The cities of Ming-chou and Hangchou, in particular, hosted the majority of societies through the Sung. Having one hundred members, Tsun-shih's society had the limited enrollments found in the groups formed by Hui-yiian and Shengch'ang. Tsun-shih's description of those joining his society as "guests of noble aspiration" (kao-shang chih pin) can be interpreted as designating social standing as much as moral rectitude, leading one to infer that his society largely consisted of scholar-officials and figures of local prominence. 53 His society accordingly has been characterized as being elitist, much like the small select circles of monks and gentry/scholar-officials formed by Hui-yiian and Sheng-ch'ang. It is further likely that the members of this group, like those enlisted by Hui-yiian and Sheng-ch'ang, were all men. The participation of women in religious gatherings that lasted through the night had long been, and would continue to be, the object of severe criticism from officials. Anxious to enlist the support of scholar-officials, Tsun-shih was known to curb activities that would elicit a negative response from this group. That he would have risked the goodwill of the men who joined his group by bringing in women to spend the day and the night seems highly unlikely.54 Unlike Sheng-ch'ang's society, where the role of Pure Land devotion is difficult to determine, there can be no doubt about the central position that Pure Land belief occupied in Tsun-shih's society. Yet the brevity of Tsun-shih's description allows for little information on the exact nature of the rituals and cultivational practice undertaken by the society. In the passage cited above, Tsun-shih indicates that his society

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was patterned after Hui-yuan's, in which the main practice was the nien-fo san-mei (buddhanusmrti samadhi).ss Commonly known as the Buddha mindfulness samadhi, this spiritual discipline was centered on mental recollection of the attributes of a Buddha and had as its goal the direct apprehension either of a particular Buddha (such as Amitabha in the Pure Land tradition) or of the ultimate reality embodied in the Buddha's "body of truth" (dharmakaya; fa-shen). While the practice, at least initially, was focused primarily on the cultivation of mental contemplation, it also came to include other activities that contributed to the attainment of the contemplative goal. Foremost among these ancillary practices was the invocation of the Buddha's name. In the Chinese Pure Land tradition, the term "nienfo" consequently came to denote the two activities of meditative recollection of the Buddha and vocal recitation of the Buddha's name. Accounts of this tradition have customarily associated the meditative nien-fo with Hui-yiian and Chih-i, while attributing the invocatory nien-fo to the figure of Shan-tao (613-681). Modern scholarship has called into question the validity of this sharp bifurcation and has furthermore shown the traditional emphasis on Shantao's dedication to invocation to be simplistic.56 Although nien-fo as invocation received more stress in the tradition associated with Shan-tao, the meditative nien-fo was never discarded or treated as a separate and unrelated activity. Through the T'ang and into the Sung the term "nien-fo" continued to exhibit a tension and ambiguity in which one or the other of these two activities of mental contemplation and vocal invocation was emphasized without excluding the other. Tsun-shih's approach to Pure Land practice exemplifies this ambiguity.57 In the materials related to Tsun-shih's society, the accent is clearly on meditative activity. The preface presented above reveals Tsunshih's intention to create a parallel to the nien-fo samadhi practiced by Hui-yuan's society. Hui-yiian's nien-fo samadhi was based on the pratyutpanna samadhi (pan-chou san-mei), a meditative practice aimed at attaining a vision of Amitabha in this life and securing rebirth in his Pure Land in the next.58 Tsun-shih speaks of the biannual congregation thinking on (hsiang) the Buddha Amitabha, thus mirroring the practice of Hui-yuan's group in which the cultivation of mental discipline was emphasized. Tsun-shih's poems collected in the Poems on the Buddha Mindfulness Samadhi contain many references both to Amitabha's image as an object for mental visualization and to the deeper reality behind the material form of

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the image.59 Imagery related to seeing or visualizing dominates the poems, there being not the least allusion to the vocal activity of calling the Buddha's name. The nien-fo samadhi based on the practice of the pratyutpanna samadhi had a significance for Tsun-shih beyond its association with Hui-yiian and his followers at Mount Lu. Chih-i had incorporated the discipline of the pratyutpanna samadhi into the T'ien-t'ai system of ritual practice, categorizing it as the constantly walking samadhi (ch'ang-hsing san-mei).60 This practice entailed a ninety-day ordeal of almost constant circumambulation of an image of the Buddha Amitabha, in which the practitioner engaged in mental concentration on the attributes of Amitabha with intermittent invocation of the Buddha's name as his attention lagged. As mentioned earlier, Tsunshih in the course of observing this discipline had burnt off seven of his fingers in order to stay awake.61 This cultus in turn provided the basis for a new T'ien-t'ai repentance ritual created by Tsun-shih, the Rite for Repentance and Vows for Rebirth in the Pure Land..62 The nature of this ritual, which requires mental visualization and contemplation, appears to have been intended principally but not exclusively for a monastic audience. Ritual practices such as those found in this repentance rite may have been observed by Tsun-shih's Pure Land society. While acknowledging that Tsun-shih's society engaged in some meditative activity, one must remember that Tsun-shih was no less an advocate of vocal recitation of the Buddha's name as an accessible practice leading to rebirth in Pure Land. This point is particularly evident in his Two Teachings for Resolving Doubts and Establishing the Practice and Vow to Be Reborn in the Pure Land, a work that Tsun-shih produced in 1017 for Ma Liang (959-1031), the prefect of Hang-chou. 63 Being primarily created for lay consumption, this work—while not excluding the importance of ritual repentance, meditative concentration, and other meritorious activities—put special emphasis on the practice of vocal recitation. 64 In light of this emphasis, it is possible that invocation was included in the practices engaged in by Tsun-shih's society. Regardless of the exact nature of nien-fo that Tsun-shih advocated for his society, he considered repentance a paramount practice for rebirth in Pure Land. Repentance was a requisite of T'ien-t'ai discipline and remained a central focus throughout Tsun-shih's career. His personal commitment to ritual repentance was also extended to others and, in all likelihood, was a theme that he stressed within his

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Pure Land society. The extension of this practice to a Pure Land context for lay people can be seen in a short formula composed by Tsun-shih that was to be recited by the lay person after the morning practice of invoking Amitabhas name. 65 The title of this particular prescription, the Text of Repentance and Vow for the Daily Nien-fo (Mei-jih nien-fo ch'an-hui fa-yüan wen),66 reflects Tsun-shih s expectation that devotees would recite it each day in conjunction with their practice of nien-fo. Today I utter "Amitábha," The name of the Buddha of true merit. Would only that his compassion descend and encompass me, And that he clearly know of my repentance and vow. The evil actions that I have committed in the past, All have arisen from beginningless greed, anger, and ignorance. That which has been produced by actions, words, and intentions, Today I regret and repent it all. Would that when I am approaching my life's end All obstacles be completely removed That I may see the Buddha Amitábha face to face, Attaining rebirth in the Land of Peace and Sustenance. 67 The assembly of that Buddha is all pure; I will at that time be born on an incomparable lotus, And in person behold the Tathágátha of Limitless Light, And right then he will bestow on me a prophecy of my enlightenment. Having received the Buddha's prophecy, My bodily transformations being innumerable, My knowledge being vast covering the ten directions, I will universally benefit all the realms of living beings.68

This formula represents an accessible practice that could easily be recited on a daily basis. It combines, within the context of rebirth in Pure Land, the elements of repentance and bodhisattva vow, which were integral parts of the T'ien-t'ai ritual practice. This formula and others like it were in all likelihood propagated through Pure Land societies from Tsun-shih's time on. An increasing preoccupation with the afterlife and, by extension, with transgression, karmic retribution, and the need for repentance have been recognized as important and abiding concerns in Sung religion. 69 The beliefs in purgatory and the ten kings that became increasingly prominent during this period are coming to be understood as reflecting as well as articulating these general concerns. 70 The same analysis might be applied to practices of repentance and Pure Land devotion, which continued to grow in influence through-

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out the Sung. In communicating the T'ien-t'ai emphasis on repentance through Pure Land societies, representatives of the T'ien-t'ai school contributed to the preoccupation with sin and the afterlife that pervaded Sung society.

Chih-li's Society Although Chih-li and Tsun-shih were fellow disciples, close friends, and in mutual agreement with regard to basic T'ien-t'ai tenets, Chihli's Pure Land society diverged sharply from Tsun-shih's group in terms of its inspiration and scope. Chih-li articulated his plans for this society in the Announcement of the Formation of the Nien-fo Assembly (Chieh nien-fo-hui shu), composed in the tenth month of 1012, four months before his society's first gathering in the following year on the fifteenth day of the second month on the anniversary of the Buddha's death. 71 This document provides the kind of concrete organizational detail missing in the accounts of the societies founded by Sheng-ch'ang and Tsun-shih. In fact, among the numerous records available about Sung Pure Land societies, this source is unique in its detailing of the actual organization of the society.72 For this reason, it has been cited regularly in discussions on Pure Land societies in the Sung.73 The text is divided into a prologue and the announcement (shu) proper. The prologue describes how the society was to be formed and the functions and responsibilities of the society's leaders and members. The announcement that follows presents in simple terms the doctrinal rationale for establishing the society and stresses the urgency for seeking birth in the Pure Land.74 It is not clear exactly how these two parts are related to each other, but that together they form a single document has not been questioned. Announcement of the Gathering of the Nien-fo Assembly The Nien-fo Pure Society of the Yen-ching yuan in Ming-chou This society broadly gathers together monks and lay persons, men and women, ten thousand people [in all, so that they may] through their whole lives invoke the Buddha Amitabha, give rise to the aspiration for enlightenment, and seek birth in the Pure Land. Every year on the fifteenth day of the second month [the society] will set up the place of practice in the monastery, make offerings to the Three Jewels, and hold a vegetarian feast for the monks. The merit [from this convocation] will extend the emperor's Ion-

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gevity and contribute to the prosperity of the people.75 With regard to the manner in which the assembly is formed, there will be 210 assembly heads, who act as proselytizers (chuan-ch'ing hui-shou: literally, "assembly heads who entreat and invite"). Each one will enroll forty-eight people, with each person [receiving] a copy of the Calendar Exhorting [the practice of] Buddha-Recitation, Repentance, and Vow (Ch'ing nien-fo ch'an-yuan li-tzu).16 Every day, in order to save all beings through the attainment of the Pure Land, they should invoke the Buddha's name for one thousand utterances, repent serious transgressions that obstruct the Way, and make the vow to enlightenment. They are requested to mark the number of recitations on the calendar. On the day of the [annual] assembly, they will bring their calendars and a pure donation of forty-eight coins ahead of time to the monastery [where] these things will be gathered and recorded in a register. On that day, [that which was recorded on their calendars] will be announced. When members die, the assembly heads are requested to follow-up, bringing the names [of the deceased members] along with their calendars to the monastery and reporting [their death]. This [news] will immediately be announced to the other 999 [9, 999?] members, each of whom will invoke the Buddha a thousand times, do repentance for the transgressions [of the deceased], and supplement practice of the vow (yuan-hsing) so as to be born in the Pure Land. Furthermore, on the day of the assembly [the assembly head] will have the society's assemblage invoke the Buddha, recommending the rebirth [of the deceased]. What is more, the assembly head is requested quickly to enroll a new person to replace [the deceased]. It is hoped that there will forever be a gathering of ten thousand people and that together they will cultivate the pure activity [Pure Land].77 Originally, a single moment of consciousness (i-nien) is at its root perfectly interfused [with all others], and all dharmas are without obstruction [among them]. Because the conditioning (hsiln) [that different minds] encounter varies, distinctions arise in karmic consequences. 78 Therefore, if one cultivates oneself following one's nature, then the pure lands of the various Buddhas will appear. [But] if one acts according to [unenlightened] inclinations, one will revolve through the five [transmigratory] paths in the wheel of suffering. 79 So, for those residing in the unenlightened world, ascending [to better incarnations] is extremely difficult, while those falling [into lower types of incarnations] are legion. Hence, the [Nirvana] Sutra says that those acquiring a human body can be likened to the dirt on ones nails, [whereas] those losing human form are like the soil of the great earth. 80 Only

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when the practice of the Three Vehicles is complete will being b o m in the four transmigratory orientations be avoided.81 But when the realm [to which one belongs] is violent and illusions are rife, seeking to extricate [oneself] through one's own power is truly difficult for a person. [However,] if one is born in [the Land of] Peace and Sustenance, the realm is richly adorned, and body and mind are pure. [There] one directly achieves Buddhahood, not falling [back] into the three [undesirable transmigratory] paths.82 The [Amitabha] Sutra says that [the Pure Land] does not even have the names of the undesirable paths, much less their reality.83 It further states that sentient beings b o m [in the Pure Land] are all nonretrogressive (avaivartika).M If one wishes to be b o m there, one should simply invoke that Buddha's name and cultivate that Buddha's compassion. Then without fail one will be embraced by that Buddha's basic vow (pen-yuan), and [when one] sheds this karmic body, one will for certain be b o m in that Buddha's land. [All of this will be] completely as the sutra says; it is not idle talk. Ten thousand people are being formed now into one society. Each and every mind is fixed on the thought [of this society], and every day they look forward to it. In the second month of every year, together they will gather in one place; together they will make offerings, and together they will listen to the voice of the dharma. Their ten thousand minds will meet as a single aspiration so that they carry out the determined course of action (ting-yeh) and vow to attain rebirth.85 How much more so [should this be the case] since this life acquired through karmic consequences is like a candle in the wind. Not even a wisp and the three [undesirable] paths will be before us. How then can we be complacent, not considering our future karmic consequences? We should rely on the word of the Buddha and not follow human inclinations. Quickly putting a stop to external attachments, we should solely exert [ourselves in the practice of] nien-fo. [I] respectfully [submit this] announcement. 86 One of the most important ways in w h i c h this document differs from descriptions of earlier societies is that it does not invoke the inspiration of Hui-yiian. Rather, Chih-li seems to be defining a new model that departed from that of the relatively small, elite gatherings initiated by Sheng-ch'ang and Tsun-shih. The sheer size of Chih-li's proposed assembly suggests the inclusion of people from all socioeconomic strata in contrast to the limited composition of educated elite in the societies founded by Hui-yiian, Sheng-ch'ang, and Tsunshih. Furthermore, whereas these three earlier societies were confined to male membership, Chih-li's preface explicitly mentions the

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inclusion of women. The growing involvement of women (or at least, the growing recognition of women's participation in Pure Land practice) during the Sung is attested to by Chih-p'an s inclusion of fortythree biographies of Sung laywomen (compared to only one before the Sung) in his 262 Pure Land biographies. 87 This trend in Pure Land, which is paralleled by the increased visibility of women in the Chan tradition as noted by Ding-hwa Hsieh and Miriam Levering in chapters 5 and 6, can be credited in part to the vision that Chih-li articulated for his society. Chih-li s goal of ten thousand members is not mere hyperbole, as he discusses in detail how they were to be enlisted. The 210 assembly heads, who might well have been drawn from patrons of the Yench'ing Monastery or from former members of Tsun-shih's society, were each responsible for enlisting forty-eight members. The society was thus envisioned as comprising a total of 10,290 possible members. This two-tiered system, moreover, appears to have mimicked other Buddhist associations of the T'ang, in which the larger groups that congregated at the monasteries once or twice a year would be broken into smaller communities that could meet on a more frequent and intimate basis.88 The double-tiered organization of Chihli's society, by empowering the lay assembly heads, also put into place a structure that provided a framework for the future development of lay-initiated Pure Land societies that operated outside of official Buddhist institutional and ideological control. The extent to which Chih-li succeeded in accomplishing his goal is unclear. A study of eleventh-century census figures in a Ming-chou gazetteer indicates that a society of such magnitude would have drawn at least one out of every ten people living in the Ming-chou area to the Yen-ch'ing Monastery89—a feat that, although not impossible, stretches credulity. It is hard to imagine that a gathering of such size would not have attracted official notice, but I have not been able to find any record of this gathering. The actual size of Chih-li s society thus remains a question. There is little doubt, however, that this plan took place within an urban setting and was directed to a primarily urban audience that could provide a significantly larger cross-section of society as membership compared to the elite gatherings of Sheng-ch'ang and Tsun-shih. Furthermore, Chih-li s goal of greatly expanded membership reflected his vision of universal liberation. From this period to the end of his life, Chih-li undertook a number of activities that would fall within the domain of the bodhi-

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sattva's obligation to help all beings. Besides founding a Pure Land society, he bestowed the bodhisattva precepts and instituted areas for the release of living creatures around his monastery.90 The practice of bestowing the bodhisattva precepts, which the T'ien-t'ai school could trace back to the time of Chih-i, was viewed as a bodhisattva act as well as a positive medium for engaging the lay community. Following a long tradition in the T'ien-t'ai school, Chih-li produced a ritual manual, the Ceremony for Bestowing the Bodhisattva Precepts (Shou p'u-sa-chieh i), for the conferral of these precepts. 91 Chih-li probably wrote this text as a guide for the performance of the Bodhisattva Precept Assembly (p'u-sa-chieh hui), which was held at the Yen-ch'ing Monastery in the second month of every year and at which no fewer than five thousand people were reported to have received the precepts. 92 This rite made explicit reference to rebirth in Pure Land and might well have taken place in conjunction with the Pure Land society that was held in the same month. Chih-li's founding of his Pure Land society must also be situated within the context of his concern for the welfare of the T'ien-t'ai school, a preoccupation that consumed his energies and attention for most of his career. Chih-li spent the first years of the eleventh century locked in controversy with other members of his own school, after which he set about remodeling his monastery, the Yen-ch'ing yuan. 93 Chih-li might have held some small meetings at the Yench'ing Monastery before 1013, but if his intention from the beginning was to establish a large organization like the one depicted in the prologue of the Announcement of the Formation of the Nien-fo Assembly, it would have been necessary for him to wait until the monastery compound could adequately accommodate such a large gathering of people. The expanded complex was not completed until 1009. From that time until 1012, Chih-li appears to have been preoccupied with the problem of setting the monastery on a steady course. Only after gaining governmental guarantees as well as promises from his disciples with regard to the continued status of Yen-ch'ing as a T'ien-t'ai monastery could he turn his attention to the lay community beyond its walls. Though he had won government patronage and recognition for the Yen-ch'ing Monastery, it is not clear how much local support he had secured. The Pure Land society and Chih-li's other activities involving lay people can also be seen to represent an attempt to acquire a broader local patronage for his monastery.

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Besides differing in size, organization, and membership, Chih-li's society also departed significantly from its predecessors on the question of practice. Whereas the societies following the elite model associated with Hui-yiian emphasized the contemplative aspect of nienfo practice, Chih-li's charter specifically calls for the invocation of Amitabha's name. Chih-li thereby not only made membership in his society possible for a wider audience, but he also made rebirth in the Pure Land accessible through an easier practice. In addition to requiring daily invocation, Chih-li also prescribed daily repentance and the renewal of the vow to attain enlightenment for the benefit of all beings. The exact nature of that repentance is not known, since none of the charts on which the penitential formula for daily recitation was printed have survived. Nevertheless, Chih-li's prescribed text for repentance was probably quite similar to the formula composed by Tsun-shih that was cited above. Chih-li, who like Tsun-shih was dedicated to T'ien-t'ai repentance rites, sought through his Pure Land society to extend the same practice to lay people. The vow, as the third component of the practices leading to rebirth, tied the practice of society members to the broader Mahayana ideal of the bodhisattva. By requiring members to make a thousand invocations each day as well as do repentance for their transgressions, Chih-li's society exhibited an approach to Pure Land practice that emphasized the accumulation of merit through repetition. The emphasis on the number of recitations can be found in Tsun-shih's writings on Pure Land as well. This quantitative approach to religious practice, reinforced by the daily act of tabulation and recording, illustrates another prominent aspect of Sung religion related to the preoccupation with karmic retribution and afterlife. The quantification of practice was given concrete form in the calendar charts that were issued to all the members of the society each year. This occasion marked one of the earliest, if not the very first, uses of tally sheets, which in Pure Land Buddhism were commonly referred to as nien-fo t'u (charts for the recitation of the Buddha's name). The employment of such charts as a means for gaining merit was to become a common element in popular religious practice in both China and Japan down through the succeeding centuries and on into the modern era.94 Even in contemporary Buddhism sheets are used to tabulate recitations, although, unlike Chih-li's practice, the custom is not confined to the recitation of Amitabha's name.95 The dependence on printing that the production of

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large numbers of such charts would presume testifies to the increasingly important role that this technology, which had already made a huge impact with the first printing of the Buddhist canon in 983, was beginning to play in spread of Buddhism into popular culture of this period. 96 The merit generated by this practice was believed to help the society's members gain rebirth in the Pure Land, clearly revealing an other-worldly orientation. Yet in the prologue of the Announcement of the Formation of the Nien-fo Assembly, Chih-li speaks of the merit from the assembly increasing the longevity of the emperor and the welfare of the people, benefits that had a decidedly this-worldly nature, and there is little doubt that Chih-li, like Tsun-shih, sincerely believed in the attainment of concrete benefits from such practices. For Chih-li, the benefit was collective in nature, but it is a short leap from this concern with concrete communal welfare to the belief in mundane benefits accruing to individuals. While Tsun-shih and Chih-li accepted, at least in principle, the notion of attaining concrete benefits through the observance of Pure Land practices, this idea became even more pronounced through the Sung as Pure Land belief spread among the people.97 The impact that these practices and orientations associated with Chih-li's society exerted on later religious practice is highlighted in the biographies of the scholar-official Chiu Ting-kuo (dates unknown) and a certain ironsmith Mr. Chi (Chi kung).98 Chiu Ting-kuo was a prefectural school supervisor (chou hsiieh-yu) living in Mingchou in the first years of the thirteenth century.99 He frequently recited the Buddha's name and read Pure Land scriptures. Building a Pure Land Cloister at the Hsiao-chiang Hui-kuang Monastery (located forty li southwest of the Yin county seat in Ming-chou city), he formed a Pure Land society called the Western Refuge Society (Hsi-kuei she) to encourage people in their practice. He furthermore had recitation charts (nien-fo t'u) printed up for merit. Every month on the twenty-eighth day, Chiu would gather together monks and lay people for recitation of the Sutra on the Visualization of the Buddha of Immeasurable Life (Kuan Wu-liang-shou-fo ching, hereafter Visualization Sutra) and invocation of the Buddha's name. Chiu was not the only prominent lay person in the Ming-chou area involved in such meritorious activity. Chu Ju-i (1157-1193), a niece of the Empress Dowager Chu Ch'in-ch'eng (consort of emperor Ch'intsung) with apparently close ties to the Yen-ch'ing Monastery, had, sometime before Chiu's activity, printed recitation charts and ex-

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horted people to recite the Buddha's name. 100 In so doing she is reported to have converted two hundred thousand people. One of the persons affected by Chiu's endeavors was Mr. Chi, an ironsmith from T'ao-yuan township west of Ming-chou. 101 When he was almost seventy, he lost sight in both eyes. Receiving one of Chiu's charts, Chi recited the name for 360,000 invocations. When his recitations filled four charts, his vision was fully restored. He continued this practice for three years, filling up seventeen charts. One day he was reciting the name when suddenly his breathing stopped. Half a day later he came to and said, "I saw the Buddha and bodhisattvas, who made me give six charts to Supervisor Chiu. This is the share for the society head who exhorts and guides (chuan-tao chih shou). One chart was given to Mr. Li Number Two (Li Erh-kung). He was the distributor of the charts." Mr. Chi then sent his son to thank Chiu, after which he bathed, faced west, and expired. These stories, which took place almost two centuries after Chihli, illustrate the development of elements and the articulation of themes that were already present in Chih-li's society. The practice of vocal nien-fo, the use of charts as a means of both recording and gaining merit, the emphasis on quantity of repetition, the attainment of mundane benefits through Pure Land practice, and the realization of rebirth in Pure Land—all of these phenomena are reflected in germinal form in Chih-li's document. That this story took place in the Ming-chou area is testimony to the fact that Chih-li's legacy spread and prospered through the Sung. Although the activities in this story appear to have taken place under the auspices of a monastery, clerical presence is strikingly absent from the account. The founding of the society and all attendant duties were taken care of entirely by lay persons. Here it is interesting to note that the title of society head (chuan-tao chih shou) applied to Supervisor Chiu in this story closely resembles that used for the assembly head (ch'uan-ch'ing hui-shou) in Chih-li's society. This coincidence suggests how the organization of Chih-li's society may have created a framework for the development of layorganized societies in the thirteenth century, and the autonomy of these societies raised a series of questions for the T'ien-t'ai school. Was the influence of the monastic establishment challenged or even diminished by the increasingly active role played by lay persons? The story, moreover, takes place completely within the context of Pure Land devotion; T'ien-t'ai—as either an institutional, cultiva-

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tional, or doctrinal presence—is nowhere to be seen. Had the views expressed in this story become so pervasive as to represent a good portion not only of the lay Buddhist population but of the T'ien-t'ai monastic establishment as well? Was the traditional T'ien-t'ai doctrinal viewpoint challenged, altered, or watered down by the increasing emphasis on Pure Land? Had Chih-li and Tsun-shih initiated a movement that would become problematic for their descendants? These issues, which are also discussed by Daniel Stevenson, will be addressed in the following section, which examines the historical consequences of the early T'ien-t'ai Pure Land societies and the formation of the Pure Land patriarchate.

The Pure Land Patriarchate The evidence suggests that Tsun-shih's and Chih-li's societies led to two different outcomes for the T'ien-tai school, both of which contributed to the creation and articulation of the Pure Land patriarchate. Tsun-shih and Chih-li set in motion a process that their T'ien-t'ai descendants successfully carried forward all the way through the Sung.102 The multiplication of societies that grew from T'ien-t'ai roots made societies one of the most prominent features of Pure Land practice in the Sung and consequently led to the creation of a Pure Land patriarchate that was based on the phenomenon of societies. More important, however, developments in Pure Land societies, which the T'ien-t'ai school had originally inspired and encouraged, as well as contributions to lay ritual that are discussed by Stevenson, seem to have created the framework for a movement whose momentum grew beyond its original T'ien-t'ai institutional and doctrinal context to emerge in the Southern Sung as a lay-organized phenomenon that in some cases was autonomous from the monastic establishment. The creation of a Pure Land patriarchate by T'ien-t'ai historians in the thirteenth century is not only a recognition of the independent status the Pure Land tradition had come to have but also can be regarded as an attempt to reimpose monastic control over a movement grown out of hand. The T'ien-t'ai successors of both Tsun-shih and Chih-li were clearly inspired to continue and expand on the process that the two masters had initiated. Pen-ju (981-1050), who was a disciple of both Chih-li and Tsun-shih, established a Lotus Society on Mount T'ient'ai in conscious imitation of Hui-yiian (and Tsun-shih).103 Chih-li's

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disciple Ch'ung-chii (fl. 1025) instituted a Lotus Society in Ch'iichou.104 Although this group mimicked Hui-yiian's society in title, the size and style of Ch'ung-chii s five-thousand-member association more closely resembled Chih-li's yearly assembly. The list of societies in the appendix reveals the extent to which other T'ien-t'ai figures continued to form such societies down through the Sung. Chih-li's society itself survived through the eleventh century.105 It was discontinued at some point in the early twelfth century but was restarted by Chih-li's descendant Tao-ch'en (d. 1153) in 1142.106 Tsung-hsiao, writing in 1202, observed that it was still in existence.107 The influence of T'ien-t'ai societies was not confined to groups established by T'ien-t'ai monks. Many monks of the Vinaya (Lu) school, which was revived by Yiian-chao (1048-1116), had studied with T'ien-t'ai teachers, and T'ien-t'ai examples informed their practice of Pure Land.108 The same holds true for Ch'an, although to a lesser degree.109 There were also societies founded by lay people who had relationships with T'ien-t'ai.110 Even the founder of the White Lotus sect, Mao Tzu-yuan (d. 1166?), who was denounced by the T'ien-t'ai establishment, was trained in a T'ien-t'ai environment and was beholden to T'ien-t'ai ideas and practices.111 The impact of these societies founded and promoted by T'ien-t'ai monks was so pronounced that when Tsung-hsiao compiled his anthology of Pure Land writings at the end of the twelfth century, he chose Pure Land societies as the defining theme for the Pure Land patriarchate, even though there is no evidence that three of six figures in his patriarchate ever founded Pure Land societies.112 Although Tsung-hsiao's anthology of Pure Land writings contained a broad assortment of genres that presented a rich variety of Pure Land themes and practices, the preeminence of Pure Land societies within this array is evident from the very beginning of the work. In his preface, Tsung-hsiao examined Pure Land through the lens of Pure Land societies. He begins by observing the interest and support shown by the Southern Sung imperial court for Pure Land societies and then proceeds to trace the origins of the Sung societies back eight centuries to the society founded by Hui-yiian.113 Had there not been a host of Pure Land societies generated by the T'ient'ai school in the Sung, the historiographical perspective on Pure Land would have been entirely different. The Sung T'ien-t'ai school was not only central to the propagation and prosperity of Pure Land societies, it also offered basic paradigms for their organization and practice. Some societies,

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following Tsun-shih's example, invoked Hui-yiian's memory and confined their membership to a small group of people, usually consisting of literati and monks.114 The exercises embraced by such groups often emphasized meditation, sometimes requiring a greater commitment of time and a degree of separation from society. Other groups, taking their cue from Chih-li, enlisted large numbers of people and emphasized the universally accessible practice of invocation.115 The paradigmatic role played by these two groups no doubt became associated in Tsung-hsiao's mind with the significance of Hui-yiian and Shan-tao, to whom he assigned the first two positions in the patriarchate. Even though there is no record of Shantao having formed a Pure Land society, his approach to Pure Land, as it was understood in the Sung, became associated with the proselytization of large groups of people through the invocation of Amitabha's name. 116 This image of Shan-tao was reinforced by the late T'ang monk Shao-k'ang (d. 805), who proselytized large numbers of people in city streets, encouraging them to invoke Amitabha's name. He was accordingly regarded as an incarnation of Shan-tao and assigned by Tsung-hsiao to the fourth place in the patriarchate. 117 Chih-li, by adopting this inclusive style and accessible practice for his society, provided another key link that allowed Tsung-hsiao to think of Shan-tao as having contributed to the tradition of Pure Land societies. It may at first seem surprising that neither Tsung-hsiao nor Chih-p'an included Chih-li and Tsun-shih in the Pure Land patriarchate. But their omission makes sense within the broader ideological context of their works. One of their main purposes was to establish the sectarian identity of T'ien-t'ai as national school on a par with Ch'an. The Pure Land patriarchate emerged from the very T'ien-t'ai environment that was in the midst of forging its own sectarian identity. Tsung-hsiao contributed to this formulation by compiling an anthology of Chih-li's work, the Records of Teaching and Practice of the Venerable Ssu-ming (Ssu-ming tsun-che chiao-hsing lu), and he was also undoubtedly aware of recent attempts at articulating an orthodox T'ien-t'ai lineage that eventually culminated in Tsung-chien's Orthodox Lineage of the Buddhist Tradition (Shih-men cheng-t'ung) and Chih-p'an's Comprehensive History of the Buddhas and Patriarchs (Fo-tsu t'ung-chi). This process (which constitutes the focus of Koichi Shinohara's chapter) resulted in a history of Sung T'ien-t'ai that traced its origins back to Chih-li and Tsun-shih as the initiators of the two major Sung T'ien-t'ai lineages. To have included

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Chih-li and Tsun-shih in the Pure Land patriarchate would have distracted from, if not obscured, the sectarian identity that the T'ien-t'ai historians believed these men had played a leading role in creating. The T'ien-t'ai school not only influenced the development of Pure Land societies in the Sung but was also challenged by them. The autonomy of these societies and their widespread number caused problems and tensions that stimulated a reassessment of the original relationship between T'ien-t'ai and Pure Land practice. Two developments in particular that might have encouraged such a reappraisal of that relationship were the appearance of non-T'ien-t'ai societies, particularly lay ones, and debates over the nature of Pure Land and its practice that took place in T'ien-t'ai circles. The creation of a Pure Land patriarchate in the thirteenth century might be understood, then, as being in part a response to these issues. The development of Pure Land societies outside the T'ien-t'ai tradition could well have contributed to a sense that Pure Land devotion transcended the T'ien-t'ai school. The communal nature of these societies also lent to the impression that the Pure Land tradition through these societies possessed an informal institutional validity. In this context, Tsung-hsiao's production of a Pure Land patriarchate represented an acknowledgment of the semi-autonomous status that Pure Land was beginning to enjoy. That these societies warranted having their own patriarchate is one thing. That they required a patriarchate is quite another. I suspect that Tsung-hsiao and Chih-p'an created the Pure Land patriarchate as more than just a nod of acknowledgment to the separate reality of these societies. The appearance of societies founded by lay persons posed a problem for the monastic establishment. Chihli's society had been established to engage as many lay people as possible, and one can assume that subsequent societies were no less committed to this goal. The increased participation of lay followers, however, was surely viewed as a mixed blessing, for there could come a point, as is manifest in the story of Supervisor Chiu and Mr. Chi related above, at which the monastic establishment became superfluous. The negative reaction elicited by the appearance of the White Lotus sect founded by Mao Tzu-yiian in the twelfth century illustrates the defensive position taken by the T'ien-t'ai establishment with regard to the challenges felt from new lay-led and lay-centered movements. 118 The absence of materials by Mao Tzu-yiian in Tsung-

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hisao's anthology and the pointed attacks on Mao Tzu-yüan and his movement by Tsung-chien and Chih-p'an are all indications that these men viewed these developments with alarm, fearing that the traditional monastic establishment was losing control. 119 Although it is difficult to paint an accurate and fair picture of Mao Tzu-ytian's movement from the sparse, polemically colored details provided in the critical accounts made by these T'ien-t'ai historians, it is clear the White Lotus sect as well as the contemporary White Cloud sect largely developed among lay people outside of the purview of the traditional monastic establishment. From the perspective of the defenders of that establishment, one of the unwholesome results of this change of leadership was the development of distorted doctrines and practices, which, though retaining vestiges of the tradition, had come untethered from the mooring of monastic authority.120 Also troubling to these monastic observers were the suspicions that these new associations aroused in the scholar-official class that the Buddhist establishment was dependent on for patronage and ultimately for state sanction. The perceived potential of these groups for political unrest as well as the intimations of sexual improprieties that negatively affected public morals were no doubt feared to reflect negatively on institutional Buddhism, thus discrediting it even more at a time when it was already coming under attack from Neo-Confucians like Chu Hsi (1130-1200) and his followers. In view of these concerns, the establishment of the Pure Land patriarchate under the rubric of the Lotus Society might be construed as an attempt to confirm monastic leadership in Pure Land by invoking the authority of Hui-yüan and other revered monastic proselytizers of Pure Land. The increased Pure Land activity of the Sung not only created a set of external institutional problems for T'ien-t'ai, it was also a factor in generating doctrinal and cultivational disagreements within the school. As was pointed out above, Chih-li in the Shan-chia/ Shan-wai debate maintained that ultimacy could be found in the tainted particulars as well as in the formless absolute principle. This position allowed that liberation was available as much through common invocatory practices like those found in a Pure Land society as through a meditative discipline addressed to the ultimate T'ient'ai truths. There was nothing contradictory, then, in Chih-li's creation of the Pure Land society or in the practices that he espoused for the society. Yet Chih-li's writings that followed the establishment of his society revealed an emphasis that was later interpreted as being incompatible with these practices.

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In 1014, Chih-li wrote a treatise, the Exposition on Identity of the Mind [and Pure Land] in the Visualization Sutra (Kuan-ching junghsin chieh), in which he provided a T'ien-t'ai interpretation of the Visualization Sutra.121 Seven years later, he completed a subcommentary to a commentary on the Visualization Sutra attributed to the school's founder Chih-i.122 Both of these works evidence a pronounced attempt to merge the visualizations of the sutra with the T'ien-t'ai meditational system. Invocation and concrete visualizations were either played down or completely absent, while contemplation of the absolute principle was emphasized. 123 Chih-li advocated contemplation of Pure Land through meditation on the mind, and he further dismissed the viewpoint that regarded Pure Land as an actual place in space and time. The practices promoted by Chihli in these writings were expressly intended for an audience possessing higher spiritual capacities; the traditional Pure Land soteriological concern of how unenlightened beings of ordinary ability could attain rebirth was not addressed. Although Chih-li's approach in this subcommentary has been interpreted as his response to certain mistaken views on Pure Land that he was witnessing in members of his own school, it is possible that his position also arose out of concerns generated by the T'ien-t'ai sponsorship of Pure Land societies and the popular practices that accompanied it. The uneasy coexistence between the Pure Land incorporated into the T'ien-t'ai cultivational system and that observed in the societies is readily evident in considerable discussion and debate that was generated by Chih-li's subcommentary throughout the Sung. In the eleventh century Yu-yen (d. 1101) and Tse-ying (1055-1099), descendants of Pen-ju, both wrote treatises in which they played down the contemplation of the absolute principle propounded by Chih-li, putting emphasis rather on concrete practices like invocation of the name and concrete visualization of Amitabha and his Pure Land.124 Although heavily influenced by T'ien-t'ai thought, Yiian-chao in his commentary on the Visualization Sutra and other writings sharply repudiated Chih-li's approach to Pure Land practice.125 He maintained that Pure Land and the T'ien-t'ai meditation system were distinct practices that should not be identified with each other. Chih-li's position, which was under siege through the eleventh century, witnessed a revival in the twelfth century when Tao-yin (1090-1167) and Tao-ch'en defended Chih-li's emphasis in the subcommentary on the T'ien-t'ai contemplation of the absolute principle, while at the same time accepting the validity of concrete practices used in pursuit of Pure Land.126

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The question of how the disparate practices and approaches to Pure Land fit together was not conclusively resolved. When Tsunghsiao at the end of the twelfth century inherited these controversies, he did not attempt a synthesis but rather placed materials from the divergent positions side by side in his anthology, the Compendium of the Land of Bliss. Tsung-hsiao's sympathy for Chih-li's position did not prevent him from including materials by those who had disagreed with him. Furthermore, he also included materials from the Chan tradition, which had wrangled over similar issues in the Sung. The production of the Compendium of the Land of Bliss perhaps reflected, then, a tacit recognition on Tsung-hsiao's part that Pure Land belief and devotion could not be seamlessly woven into the doctrine of any one school. These doctrinal and cultivational issues, coupled with the prominence of Pure Land societies, might have revealed to Tsung-hsiao a need to recognize the Pure Land tradition as possessing a separate identity requiring its own patriarchate. The autonomy of Pure Land suggested by the Compendium of the Land of Bliss was further reinforced in the thirteenth century by Chih-p'an. Concerned with the establishment of a T'ien-t'ai orthodoxy and the articulation of Buddhist history through the framework of that orthodoxy, Chih-p'an in the Comprehensive History of the Buddhas and Patriarchs set T'ien-t'ai apart from other traditions, including Pure Land. Although Pure Land had close historical ties with T'ient'ai, it nevertheless could not be neatly and inclusively merged with either the doctrine or the lineage of the T'ien-t'ai school. Chih-p'an's separate treatment of Pure Land was strengthened, no doubt, by the genre of Pure Land biographies (wang-sheng chuan) that had proliferated in the Sung.127 The biographical form of the Pure Land rebirth stories offered a parallel to the biographical approach adopted by Tsung-chien and Chih-p'an for their T'ien-t'ai histories. The Pure Land patriarchate that had been devised by Tsung-hsiao provided Chih-p'an with a final formal element by which he could designate Pure Land as an independent tradition alongside T'ient'ai and the other schools included in his history. The Sung historiographical treatment of Pure Land as a separate entity should not be construed as an indication that Pure Land by the end of the Southern Sung had become an actual school. Pure Land devotion and practice continued within the already established monastic institutions. Nevertheless, Pure Land societies that had begun in the Sung largely under the aegis of the T'ien-t'ai establish-

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ment were now forcing the historians of that establishment to create a historical model explaining the growing autonomy of the Pure Land manifested in those societies through the venerable institution of a patriarchate. Future research, then, is left with the task of determining the extent to which the perception of that patriarchate in turn fostered further autonomy of Pure Land in the periods that followed the Sung.

APPENDIX Societies after Tsun-shih and Chih-li The following table arranges the materials related to the legacy of Chih-li's society into a coherent schema to illustrate the extent to which Chih-li influenced later Pure Land practices. It does not pretend to be an exhaustive list of Pure Land societies in the Sung, but it does contain most of the societies found in standard sources and demonstrate the extent to which Chih-li's and Tsun-shih's descendants in the T'ien-t'ai school and those affiliated with it dominated the Pure Land scene of Chekiang and Kiangsu. The table has been arranged chronologically, providing the name of the founder, the locus of the association, and the number of participants, if known. Those societies with an asterisk (*) before the name of the founder represent direct lineage from Chih-li. Those preceded by a dagger (t) represent descent from Tsun-shih's lineage. A double dagger (t) signifies a Vinaya lineage, which had close ties with the T'ien-t'ai school, particularly with Chih-li's lineage. Ch'an affiliation is indicated by the section mark (§). The table also contains several societies founded by lay persons. I have indicated with two asterisks (**) those lay persons who were associated with members of the T'ien-t'ai school or who were likely to have had such associations since their lives are found in T'ien-t'ai biographies. Although the table is intended to demonstrate the extent to which Chih-li and Tsun-shih affected the later formation of Pure Land societies through their descendants, the majority of the sources for these data come from T'ien-t'ai historical works that were produced in the South. Thus, this table does not provide the entire picture of Pure Land activity in the Sung. Even so, there are enough instances in the table to indicate that the formation of Pure Land societies did not fall entirely within the domain of the T'ien-t'ai school, nor was all the activity confined to Chekiang and Kiangsu. 128

Societies after Chih-li Date

Founder

Name

Place

Participants

before 1022

*Ch'ung-chu129

Lien-she

Chu-chou Fu-shih yiian

10,000

Jen-tsung (1041-1063)

§Wen Yen-po130 (Ching-yen)

Ching-t'u hui

K'ai-feng

10,000

1042

*Pen-ju131

Pai-lien she

Tung-i shan Neng-jen ching-she

1078-1085

*Ling-chao132

Ching-yeh she Hua-t'ing 20,000 Ch'ao-kuo ssu

1086

fTs'ung-ya133

1089

§Tsung-tse134

Lien-hua sheng-hui

before 1090

Wei-chien135

Ching-yeh she Hu-chou Pa-sheng ssu

before 1093

**Sun Chung136

Ming-chou

1093

Yung-yiian137

Hang-chou Wu-liang yuan

tHui-heng138 Kuo Miao-yiian

"Various notables"

Hang-chou Ching-chu ssu

Hsi-nien hui

Chen-chou Ch'ang-lu ssu 10,000

1,000

Hang-chou Yen-shou ssu

before 1117

*Fa-tsung139

ca. 11111117

Wang Chung140

before 1119

*Ssu-chao141

1119-1124

*Ch'i-yu142

after 1119

§Huai-shen143

K'ai-feng Hui-lin ssu

10,000

before 1126

fJuo-yii 144

Hang-chou Hsi-hu Chiiehhai ssu

Several hundred

1130

tTsung-li145

Pai-lien she

Ching-t'u hui

Hsi-nien hui

Hang-chou

48

Hang-chou Hsi-hu

Clerics and laity

Hang-chou Te-yiïn an

1,000 clerics and laity

Cha-ch'uan Pao-tsang ssu

K'uai-chi I-hsiang yiian (continued)

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Date

Founder

Name

Place

1131-1153

P'ing Chi146

Hsi-nien hui

Sui-ning (Szechuan)

1142

*Tao-ch'en147

Ching-t'u hsi-nien hui

Ming-chou 10,000 Yen-ch'ing ssu

1145

Fa-yiin148

Lien-she

Su-chou 1,000 Ching-yao ssu

1163

Li Chi 149 Shih-yu

Hsi-tzu she

Hang-chou Hsi-hu

1165

Chang Lun 150

Lien-she

Hsiu-chou

Hsi-kuei she

Ming-chou 18 Yen-ch'ing ssu?

151

Participants Eminent monks and lay recluses

over 100

after 1169

*Hsing-yin Hui-hsiin

1170

**Chung-li Sung 152 Wu K'o-chi

Lien-she

Su-chou Pao-chi ssu

ca. 1201

**Chiu Tingkuo 153

Hsi-kuei

Ming-chou

1205

Sun Yingch'en 154 Sun Yinghsiang

Hang-chou Fu-yang Lung-men

over 30

So. Sung

*Juo-kuan 155

Wu-chen (Hu-chou) Chia-hui ssu

100,000

So. Sung

Tsu-hsin156

Ming-chou Fu-yüan ssu

Notes 1. See Kenneth Chen, Buddhism in China: A Historical Survey (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1964), pp. 338-350; and "Pure Land school (China)," in Jonathan Smith, ed., HarperCollins Dictionary of Religion (San Francisco: HarperCollins, 1995), p. 866. 2. The first two of these characteristics are proposed by Stanley Weinstein in his entry "Buddhism, Schools of: Chinese Buddhism," in Mircea Eliade, ed., The Encyclopedia of Religion (New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1987). I have added the third characteristic of institutional autonomy, which became a distinguishing mark in Sung monastic demarcations.

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3. The exception might be the relatively short period spanned by the lives of T'an-luan, Tao-ch'o, and Shan-tao, who appear to have created a self-enclosed system of doctrine and who self-consciously differentiated Pure Land from other forms of Buddhism. They were not succeeded, however, by a continuous and separate tradition. 4. It is important to note, however, that Japanese scholars with a deeper acquaintance with the Chinese Pure Land tradition do not characterize it as a school. See, for example, Mochizuki Shinko, Shina Jodo kyori shi (Kyoto: Hozokan, 1942). 5. On the creation of an independent Pure Land tradition by Sung Buddhist historians, see Takao Giken, "Sodai shakai to Jodokyo," in Sodai bukkyoshi no kenkyu (Kyoto: Hyakkaen, 1975), pp. 117-119. This issue is observed and discussed by Chun-fang Yii in The Renewal of Buddhism in China: Chu-hung and the Late Ming Synthesis (New York: Columbia University Press), pp. 36-47. 6. Chu-hung (1535-1615), for example, was added to this list of Pure Land Patriarchs in the Ming period, and Sheng-an (1686-1734) was inducted into the patriarchate in the Ch'ing period (Takao, Sodai bukkyoshi, p. 19). On Chu-hung, see Yii, The Renewal of Buddhism in China, p. 37. On various patriarchates in the Ming and Ch'ing periods, see Ogasawara Senshu, Chugoku kinsei Jodokyoshi no kenkyu (Kyoto: Hyakkaen, 1963), pp. 179-185. 7. Le-pang wen-lei, T 47.192b-193c. 8. On various explanations of the term "Lien-she" as well as discussion of its first appearance, see T'ang Yung-t'ung, Han Wei Hang Chin Nan-pei ch'ao fo-chiao shih (1928; rprt. Shanghai: Shang-wu yin-shu-kuan, 1968), p. 368. 9. Le-pang wen-lei, T 47.192b7-12. 10. This is the Ching-t'u li-chiao chih, in the Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.260c290c. 11. Interestingly, Chih-p'an, through the title of the Ching-t'u li-chiao chih (Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.260c), characterized Pure Land as a chiao (teaching), the same category that he applied to his own T'ien-t'ai tradition. See Fo-tsu t'ungchi, T 49.260cl8. 12. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.260c. A comparison of the two lists of patriarchs shows that Chih-p'an added the figures of Ch'eng-yiian and Yen-shou, while eliminating Tsung-hsiao's sixth patriarch, Tsung-tse. Tsung-hsiao's List 1. Hui-yiian (334^16) 2. Shan-tao (613-681) 3. Fa-chao (fl. 785) 4. Shao-k'ang (d. 805) 5. Sheng-ch'ang (95 9-1020) 6. Tsung-tse (fl. 1105)

Chih-p'an's List l.Hui-yiian 2. Shan-tao 3. Ch'eng-yuan (712-802) 4. Fa-chao 5. Shao-k'ang 6. Yen-shou (904-975) 7. Sheng-ch'ang

13. Consult the list of Sung Pure Land societies in the appendix to this chapter. 14. Naito Konan's Shinaron was published in 1922. See Suzuki Chusei, "Sodai bukkyo kessha no kenkyu," Shigaku zasshi 52.1, 2, 3 (1941): 65-98, 205241, 303-333; see also his chapter "Sodai ni okeru bukkyo kessha no kakudai to

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sono shökaku," in Chügoku ni okeru kakumei to shükyö (Tokyo: Tokyo daigaku shuppangai, 1974), pp. 48-65. See also Ogasawara Senshü, Chügoku kinsei Jödokyöshi no kenkyü (Kyoto: Hyakkaen, 1963), p. 1. 15. For background on the White Lotus Movement, see Daniel Overmyer, Folk Buddhist Religion: Dissenting Sects in Late Traditional China (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1976). For a recent and critical look at the traditional interpretations of this movement, see B. J. ter Haar, The White Lotus Teachings in Chinese Religious History (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1992). 16. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.190c21-191a5. For a brief overview of these events in English, see David Chappell, ed., T'ien-t'ai Buddhism: An Outline of the Fourfold Teachings (Tokyo: Daiichi Shobö, 1983), pp. 25-30. 17. See my dissertation: Daniel Getz, "Siming Zhili and Tiantai Pure Land in the Song Dynasty" (Ph.D. dissertation, Yale Univeristy), pp. 130-164. 18. See Hsi-chi's biography, Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.190c-191b. 19. See I-t'ung's biography, Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.191b-c. 20. For an overview of this controversy, consult Chapter 10 by Chi-wah Chan. 21. On the ambiguity in Chan-jan's thought, see Andö Toiliio, Tendaigaku: Konpon shisö to sono tenkai (Kyoto: Heirakuji shoten, 1968), pp. 307-311. 22. The Mo-ho chih-kuan is located in T 46.1a-140c. For a discussion of this work's significance and a translation of the Synopsis chapter of the Mo-ho chihkuan, see Neal Donner and Daniel B. Stevenson, The Great Calming and Contemplation: A Study and Annotated Translation of the First Chapter of Chih-i's "Mo-ho Chih-kuan" (Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 1993). 23. For an overview of the system and its practices, see Daniel Stevenson, "The Four Kinds of Samädhi in Early T'ien-tai Buddhism," in Peter N. Gregory, ed., Traditions of Meditation in Chinese Buddhism (Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 1986), pp. 45-97. 24. See the discussion of this issue within the context of the Shan-chia/ Shan-wai controversy by Daniel Stevenson in "The Problematic of the Mo-ho chih-kuan and T'ien-t'ai History," The Great Calming and Contemplation, pp. 71-96. 25. See Tsun-shih's biography in the Fo-tsu t'ung chi, T 49.208c22-24. 26. Chih-i had composed three ceremonial manuals for the Fa-hua ch'an-fa, Ch'ing Kuan-yin ch'an-fa, and Chin-kuang-ming ch'an-fa respectively: the Fa-hua san-mei ch'an-i (T 46.949a-955c); the Ch'ing Kuan-shih-yin ch'an-fa (in Kuo-ch'ing pai-lu, T 46.795b-796a); and the Chin-kuang-ming ch'an-fa (in Kuo-ch'ing pai-lu, T 46.796a-b). For the Ch'ing Kuan-yin ch'an-fa, Tsun-shih produced the Ch'ing Kuan-shih-yin p'u-sa hsiao-fu tu-hai t'o-lo-ni san-mei i (T 46.968a-972c); for the Chin-kuang-ming ch'an-fa, he wrote the Chin-kuangming ch'an-fa pu-chu i (T no. 1945, 46.957b-961c). 27. The Wang-sheng ching-t'u ch'an-yüan i is located in T 47.490c-494c. On this work see Takao Giken, "Södai Jödokyö ni kansuru ichi kösatsu," Nihon bukkyö gakkai nempö 21 (1938): 32-33. 28. The Wang-sheng ching-t'u chüeh-i hsing-yüan erh-men is located in T 47.144c-147c. See Takao Giken, "Södai Jödokyö ni kansuru ichi kösatsu," p. 31. 29. For a critical study of Yen-shou's biography, see Albert Welter, The Meaning of Myriad Good Deeds: A Study of Yung-ming Yen-shou and the "Wan-Shan t'ung-kuei chi" (New York: Peter Lang, 1993), pp. 39-99.

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30. For a good summary in English of the pre-Sung societies, consult Kenneth Chen, The Chinese Transformation of Buddhism (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1973), pp. 281-303.1 have discovered three instances of Pure Land societies in the T'ang: Chih-yen's (564-634; see Hsu kao-seng chuan, T 50.532a2023), Shen-haos (716-790; see Sung kao-seng chuan, T 50.803a5), and Shents'ou's (744-817; see Sung kao-seng chuan, T 50.807b). 31. See note 12 above. 32. See his biography in Le-pang wen-lei 3 (T 47.193b29-cl), which states that this society was formed during the Ch'un-hua reign period (990-994). The annals of the Fo-tsu t'ung-chi (T 49.400cl9-23) lists the founding of the society under the year 991. 33. On Hui-yiian's society, see Eric Zurcher, The Buddhist Conquest of China: The Spread and Adaptation of Buddhism in Early Medieval China (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1959), vol. 1, pp. 219-223; see also Tsukamoto Zenryu, A History of Early Chinese Buddhism: From Its Introduction to the Death of Hui-yiian, Leon Hurvitz trans. (Tokyo: Kodansha International Ltd., 1985), vol. 2. pp. 844-860. 34. See the Ch'ien-t'ang Pai-lian she-chu pei by the T'ien-t'ai monk Chih-yuan in Le-pang wen-lei, T 47.184a21-26. 35. On Chih-yuan s involvement in the ku-wen movement, see Peter Bol, This Culture of Ours: Intellectual Transitions in T'ang and Sung China (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1992), pp. 165-166. 36. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.397b25-26. In addition to Hui-yiian's being granted a title, his funerary stupa was given the title Ning-chi. On perceptions of Huiyiian through history, see Nogami Shunjo, "Eon to kosei Chugoku Jodokyo: Eon ningenzo no hensen," in Kimura Eiichi, ed., Eon no kenkyii: Kenkyu hen (Kyoto: Sobunsha, 1962), pp. 225-247. 37. The names of these officials are given in the Chao-ch'ing ssu chih 5.4a9a, in Wu-lin chang-ku ts'ung-pien, vol. 2 (1883; Taipei: T'ai-lien kuo-feng ch'upan-she, 1967). 38. See Sung Po's Ta Sung Hang-chou Hsi-hu Chao-ch'ing ssu chieh-she pei-ming, in tJichon (1055-1107), Wonjung mullyu 22, Han'guk pulgyo chonso (Seoul: Tunguk University Press, 1980), 4.642bl5. 39. For a discussion of these problems, see Getz, "Siming Zhili and Tiantai Pure Land in the Song Dynasty," chap. 8. Although I believe the interpretation in my dissertation chapter is still essentially valid, it must be altered to accommodate the fact that some of the sources that I claimed were only extant in excerpts indeed survive intact in a collection that I was unaware of when writing the dissertation. I was alerted to the existence of these sources by Huang Chi-chiangs chapter in the present volume. These sources are as follows: Sung Po, Ta Sung Hang-chou Hsi-hu Chao-ch'ing ssu chieh-she pei-ming; Su I-chien (958-997), Shih Hua-yen ching Ching-hsing p'in hsii (Preface to the Chapter on Pure Conduct in the Hua-yen ching); and Ting Wei (966-1037), Hsi-hu chieh-she shih hsii (Preface of poetry for the West Lake Society). These texts are all included in Wonjung mullyu, Han'guk pulgyo chonso 4, 640-643. 40. See Sung Po, Ta Sung Hang-chou Hsi-hu Chao-ch'ing ssu chieh-she peiming, in Wonjung mullyu, Han'guk pulgyo chonso, 4.642b3. 41. Ibid., in Wonjung mullyu, Han'guk pulgyo chonso, 4. 642a22-642b2.

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42. Ibid., in Wonjung mullyu, Han'guk pulgyo chonso, 4. 642c 16-17. 43. Ch'ien-t'ang Pai-lian she-chu pei, Le-pang wen-lei, T 47.184a8-9. 44. A third alternative is that both men were right and that two different statues were produced for the society. 45. Sung Po, Ta Sung Hang-chou Hsi-hu Chao-ch'ing ssu chieh-she pei-ming, in Han'guk pulgyo chonso 4.642b7. 46 Wang Ch'iao-chih was considered to be among the 123 members of Huiyiian's society. See Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.265b. Wang's poems are contained in Kuang hung-ming chi, T 52.35 lc8-17. 47. According to Nakamura Hajime (Bukkyogo daijiten 1350a), Wu-liangchiieh is synonymous with Wu-liang-shou fo, that is, Amitabha. I have been unable to find out what "hsing Han Wei ching" is referring to. Is it an allusion to Mahayana scriptures that Tsun-shih lectured on during the biannual convocation, or, more appropriate to the occasion, does it refer to some sort of ritual observance carried out by the gathered members of the society that was based on one or more sutras translated during the Han and Wei periods? 48. Nien-fo san-mei shih ping hsii, in Le-pang wen-lei, T 47.22 lb20-27. 49. See his biography in Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.207M3-14, 21-22. 50. See I-t'ung's biography in Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.191b-c. 51. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.191c4-6. 52. See Tsun-shih's biography in Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.207b7-8. 53. See Suzuki Chusei, "Sodai ni okeru bukkyo kessha no kakudai to sono shokaku," in Chugoku ni okeru kakumei to shukyo (Tokyo: Tokyo daigaku shuppangai, 1974), p. 49. 54. It should be noted, however, that the socioeconomic composition of Tsun-shih's society is by no means a closed case and that his extensive activities among the common people throughout his life would leave open the possibility that there were people of lower social status among the members of his society in Ming-chou. For more on this issue, consult Chapter 9 by Daniel Stevenson in this volume. 55. On the meaning and development of nien-fo san-mei in Chinese Buddhism, see Daniel Stevenson, "Pure Land Worship and Meditation in China," in Donald S. Lopez, Jr., ed., Buddhism in Practice (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1995), pp. 359-369. 56. See Julian Pas, Visions of Sukhavati: Shan-tao's Commentary on the Kuan Wu-Liang-Shou-Fo Ching (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1995), p. 338. 57. On Tsun-shih's approach to nien-fo, see Fukushima Kosai, Sodai Tendai Jodokyo no kenkyu (Kyoto: Buneido shoten, 1996), pp. 82-98. 58. The pan-chou san-mei was based on the Pan-chou san-mei ching, which was translated in two versions by Lokaksema: a one-fascicle translation (T 13.897c-902c) and a three-fascicle version (T 13.892c-919c). 59. Nien-fo san-mei shih ping hsii, in Le-pang wen-lei, T 47.22 la-b. 60. On the constantly walking samadhi, see Stevenson, "The Four Kinds of Samadhi in Early T'ien-t'ai Buddhism," pp. 58-61. 61. See note 25. 62. See note 27 above.

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63. See note 28 above. The second half of this work is translated by Daniel Stevenson in "Pure Land Worship and Meditation in China," in Lopez, ed., Buddhism in Practice, pp. 371-377. 64. See Takao Giken, "Sodai Jodokyo ni kansuru ichi kosatsu," p. 31. 65. This formula was originally part of a treatise written for lay persons on the method of vocal invocation. This treatise was included in one of the collections of Tsun-shihs writings, the Chin-yuan chi. See HTC 101.113c-114a. This tract is also included under the title Nien-fo fang-fa in the Le-pang wen-lei, T 47.210b28-211a4. However, in the Le-pang wen-lei the repentance formula, the Verse of Repentance and Vow (hui-yiian wen), which is attached to the end of the tract in the Chin-yuan chi, is separate, being placed in fascicle 2 (T 47.178cl8-29). This seems to indicate that the verse circulated separately. For a similar formula, see Wang-sheng ching-t'u chueh-i hsing-ytian erh-men, T 47.146cl2-147a6. 66. Following this title Tsun-shih added the following note: "Taken from the text that I produced in the past. The following penitential and other text are from the P'u-hsien p'u-sa shih-ta yuan-wang ching." I assume this is a reference to the last fascicle of the forty-fascicle Hua-yen ching (the Ta fang-kuang fo huayen ching translated by Prajna [T 10.667a-951c]), which appears to have been circulating as a separate volume in Tsun-shih's time. Furthermore Tsun-shihs reference to the past may be an allusion to the period in which he founded the society. The lines of the following verse that correspond to this text will be indicated by notes. 67. The previous four lines correspond to Ta fang-kuang fo hua-yen ching, T 10.878a9-10. 68. These eight lines correspond to Ta fang-kuang fo hua-yen ching, T 10.878al3-16. 69. See Richard van Glahn, "Review of Changing Gods in Medieval China, 1127-1276, by Valerie Hansen," Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 53.2 (1988): 640-642. 70. For a brief overview of the emergence of the idea of purgatory and the ten kings in the Sung, see Stephen F. Teiser, "The Growth of Purgatory," in Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Peter N. Gregory, eds., Religion and Society in T'ang and Sung China (Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 1993), pp. 115-145. 71. There is no date given on this document. The formation of this society is not mentioned in Chih-li's early biographical materials. The date is provided by Tsung-hsiao's Nien-p'u in the Ssu-ming tsun-che chiao-hsing lu, T 46.857c25. 72. Suzuki Chusei stated that this is the only such document of which he was aware. Suzuki Chusei, "Sodai bukkyu kessha no kenkyu (2)," Shigaku zasshi 52.2 (1941): 216, 219. 73. See, for example, Ch'en, Buddhism in China, p. 402, n. 8; and Daniel Overmyer, Folk Buddhist Religion (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1976), pp. 87-88. See also Suzuki, "Sodai bukkyu kessha no kenkyu (2)," pp. 215-219. 74. This document appears by itself without the prologue in the Le-pang wen-lei, T 47.203c9-26. 75. The term "chun-min," literally meaning "the army and the people," seems inappropriate here. Suzuki Chusei, citing this passage, uses the term "wan-min"

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(literally, the "ten thousand peoples"). See his "Sodai bukkyu kessha no kenkyu (2)," p. 216. 76. I have chosen to regard the phrase ch'ing nien-fo ch'an-yiian li-tzu as a single entity, the title of a calendar that encourages recitation of the name, repentance, and vows. Suzuki Chusei reads this text differently, suggesting that the assembly heads entreat each person (chu-jen) to recite the Buddha's name and repent (ch'ing nien-fo ch'an). Each person then asks for one copy of the calendar (yuan li-tzu i-tao); see his "Sodai bukkyu kessha no kenkyu (2)," p. 216. Suzukis reading seems forced. I am basically following Takao Giken, who refers to these calendars as nien-fo ch'an-yiian li-tzu. I have added the verb ch'ing (meaning invite or request) to the head of this title, but it could be argued validly that this verb has chu-jen (each person) as its subject and takes the nienfo ch'an-yiian li-tzu as its object. The translation in this case would then be "each person requests a copy of the calendar for nien-fo, repentance, and vows." 77. This is the end of the prologue. What follows is the text of the announcement (shu) proper. 78. The concept of the perfuming of the mind by external conditions or actions (from which arise the myriad distinctions) is most prominent in doctrines of the Fa-hsiang school. Chih-li's use of the idea, however, was probably not derived from the writings of this school but from the Awakening of Faith (Ch'i-hsin lun), a text to which Chih-li paid considerable attention. 79. The five transmigratory realms are denizens of hell, hungry ghosts, animals, humans, and gods. 80. This is an abbreviated reference to a passage in the Ta-pan nieh-p'an ching (T 12.809c), which describes the ascent from human incarnation to nirvana and likens the rarity of such achievement to the amount of dirt on nails or claws. The commonness of falling into undesirable incarnations and the subsequent inability of those beings to extract themselves from that condition is likened, in contrast, to the vast quantity of earth in all of the myriad lands of the ten directions. 81.1 am unclear regarding what precisely this alludes to. I believe that it is referring to a goal within the T'ien-t'ai Common Teaching in which the members of the three vehicles (pratyekabuddhas, sravakas, and bodhisattvas) cut off delusional views and attachments (chien-ssu huo), thereby transcending rebirth in the three transmigratory realms (san-chieh). I am further uncertain as to why Chih-li, who later in the document employs the term "three paths" (san-t'u) to refer to undesirable incarnations, at this point introduces the "four transmigratory orientations" (ssu-ch'ii, i.e., denizens of hell, hungry ghosts, animals, and asuras). 82. The three undesirable paths are the denizens of hell, hungry ghosts, and animals. 83. A-mi-t'o ching, T 12.347al7-18. 84. A-mi-t'o ching, T 12.347b4-5. This refers to the fact that, when a person is reborn in the Pure Land, there is no chance of slipping back into an undesirable incarnation. Since there is no retrogression, one cannot but progress toward full enlightenment. 85. Ikeda Rosan interprets the term "ting-ye" as an activity or karma that determines rebirth in the Pure Land (Shimei sonja Kyogyoroku no kenkyu [Tokyo: Komazawa daigaku Tendai tenseki kenkyuban, 1982], p. 72, n. 30). This pre-

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sumably is an extension of the common use of the term that refers to the determinative nature of karmic activity: good actions are determined to give rise to desirable results, while evil actions necessarily give rise to undesirable results (see Nakamura, Bukkyogo daijiten, 747d). I have adopted this interpretation, because it would represent the meaning with which the readers of this document would have been most familiar. There is, however, another meaning that offers an interesting alternative. The term "ting-ye" (J. jogo) can also refer to the act (ye) of meditating (ting), which results in the practitioners being able to see the Buddha. This represents one of the four types of nembutsu (nembutsu shigo) found in the Ojoydshu. Although Chih-li is reported to have read the Ojoydshu, would his audience have been familiar with it or this term drawn from it? It is reasonable to conclude that since Chih-li earlier in the document had urged members to perform vocal recitation, he would not have switched expectations for practice later in the document. 86. The preceding translation is based on the version found in the Taisho canon edition of the Ssu-ming tsun-che chiao-hsing lu, T 46.862a-c. The version found in Le-pang wen-lei, T 47.203c, corresponds exactly with this version, except that it is without the prologue and its title is Yen-ch'ing mu-chung nien-fo shu (Announcement Enlisting an Assembly for Nien-fo in the Yen-ch'ing yiian). Following the title Chieh Nien-fo-hui shu in the Ssu-ming tsun-che chiao-hsing lu is a subtitle in small characters: "Together with the Colophon by Layman Lou of Ch'ing-shan." The colophon is attached to the end of the shu in the Ssuming tsun-che chiao-hsing lu. Written in the fifth month of 1162 by Lou Chii (1099-1175), the colophon states that a certain Ju-ch'ing (dates unknown), a ching-jen (lay servant?) in the Yen-ch'ing yiian, acquired an original copy of the Chieh Nien-fo-hui shu and, wishing to carry on the former practice of holding nien-fo assemblies, asked Lou to compose a piece narrating these events. This piece is useful for several reasons. It reveals a tie between the Yen-ch'ing yiian and the Lou family of Ming-chou that rose to national prominence in the twelfth century. Concerning this family and its relations with Buddhism, see Linda Walton-Vargo, "Education, Social Change, and Neo-Confucianism in Sung-Yuan China: Academies and the Local Elite in Ming Prefecture" (Ph.D. dissertation, University of Pennsylvania, 1978), pp. 79-86, 109-111. On Lou Chu, see Chang Pi-te et al., eds., Sung-jen chuan-chi tzu-liao so-yin (Taipei: Ting-wen shu-chii, 1988), vol. 5, p. 3721. Furthermore, the colophon suggests that in 1162, when it was written, there was no society meeting, since Ju-ch'ing wished to restore the previous practice. 87. See the Wang-sheng nii-lun chuan in his Ching-t'u li-chiao chih, in the Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.286a-288c. 88. On this two-tiered structure see Suzuki, "Sodai bukkyu kessha no kenkyu (2)," pp. 215-219. Daniel Overmyer speaks of four levels in this society, citing four different terms: ch'uan-chu (master evangelist), ch'iian-shou (chief evangelist), hui-shou (group leader), and ti-tzu (disciple). I do not believe that this is supported by Chih-li's document. The term "ch'uan-chu" is problematic, because it only appears in Suzuki's citation (p. 216) where the Taisho version (T 46.862b8) of the text has ch'iian-shou. Furthermore, the terms "ch'uan-shou" and "hui-shou" seem to refer to the same function. See Overmyer, Folk Buddhist Religion, p. 88.

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89. See Getz, "Siming Zhili and Tiantai Pure Land in the Song Dynasty," pp. 358-359. 90. Ibid., pp. 165-175. 91. Chih-lis Shou p'u-sa-chie i is found in Ssu-ming tsun-che chiao-hsing lu, T 46.858c-862a. Rebirth in the Pure Land and nien-fo are mentioned in the tenth part of Chih-lis ritual (T 46.861cl3-14). Concerning this text, see Tonegawa Kogyo, "Shimei Chirei no Ju bosatsukai gi," Ind.oga.ku bukkydgaku kenkyu 27.1 (1978): 303-305. 92. Ssu-ming Fa-chih tsun-che shih-lu, T 46.920a24-25. This passage speaks of "those transformed" (pei-hua-che), which I have interpreted as a reference to those receiving the precepts. I do not know if this means that five thousand new people received the precepts every year or whether this number might have included those in the assembly who had already taken them previously. 93. See Getz, "Siming Zhili and Tiantai Pure Land in the Song Dynasty," chap. 4. 94. Takao, "So igo no Jodokyo," pp. 61-62. On the use of these charts in Japan as well as China, see Kamuroji Yusho, "Nembutsuzu no kigen narabini denbatsu," Ryukoku shidan 2.1 (1929): 1-11. 95. There is, for example, currently circulating a recitation chart dedicated to the White-robed Bodhisattva (Pai-i ta-shih, i.e., Kuan-yin). The practitioner, after fifty recitations of the "White-robed Bodhisattva s Incantation (dha.ra.ni)" (Pai-i ta-shih shen-chou), which is printed at the top of chart, marks one of the 240 circles arranged on either side of an image of Kuan-yin situated in the middle of the chart. The bottom section of the chart contains miraculous stories testifying to the effectiveness of the practice as well as a text for the transferal of merit. 96. On the relationship between printing and Buddhism, see Makita Tairyo, Minshu no bukkyo: So kara gendai made, Ajia bukkyoshi, Chugoku hen 2 (Tokyo: Kosei shuppansha, 1976), pp. 29-32. 97. On the Sung Buddhist belief in the efficacy of Pure Land practices for averting calamity and attaining this-worldly concrete benefits such as wealth and longevity, see Suzuki Chusei, "Sodai bukkyo kessha no kenkyu (2)," pp. 236-237. 98. For the sake of coherence, I will combine the accounts from the separate biographies of these two men. 99. See Chiu Ting-kuo's biography in Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.284c5-ll. The biography states that Chiu established the Pure Land Cloister at the beginning of the Chia-t'ai era (1201-1204). 100. See her biography in Le-pang wen-lei, T 47.197al8-19; and Fo-tsu t'ungchi, T 49.286c6-7. Chus biography in the Le-pang wen-lei relates that she embroidered a text of the Lotus Sutra over a ten-year period. She later donated this to the Yen-ch'ing ssu (T 49.286c2-3, 8-9). 101. The biography of Mr. Chi is in Fo-tsu t'ung chi, T 49.285c24-286b2. Compare his biography with that of a Woman Liang (Liang shih in the Wangsheng Hsi-fang ching-t'u jui-ying chuan, T 51.108al-3). 102. See the appendix titled "Societies after Tsun-shih and Chih-li." 103. See his biography, Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.214bl^. The Tiger Creek (Huch'i) marked a boundary of Hui-yuans residence on Mount Lu beyond which he

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would not go when escorting departing guests. One wonders whether the Tiger Creek Pavilion (Hu-ch'i t'ing) near Pen-ju's Pai-lien Monastery really derived its name from the account of Pen-ju having subdued the tiger or whether this event was fabricated as local lore after Pen-ju had named the site in commemoration of Hui-yiian's haunt on Mount Lu. 104. See his biography in Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 101.424d-425a. 105. See the discussion on the fortunes and tribulations of Chih-li's society in Getz, "Siming Zhili and Tiantai Pure Land in the Song Dynasty," pp. 377-379. 106. See Tao-ch'en's biography, Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.231a9-10, and Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.281al2-13. Note that Tao-ch'en's society met on a monthly basis in contrast to Chih-li's annual assembly. 107. Ssu-ming tsun-che chiao-hsing lu, T 46.857c27. 108. Consider, for example, the case of Tsung-li; Getz, "Siming Zhili and Tiantai Pure Land in the Song Dynasty," p. 387. See his biography in Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.221cl9-21. Yüan-chao, besides studying vinaya (Ssu-fen lii), also learned T'ien-t'ai and perhaps Pure Land from Pen-jus disciple Ch'u-ch'ien, who had previously been a student of Tsun-shih. 109. Consider, for example, the case of I-huai; Getz, "Siming Zhili and Tiantai Pure Land in the Song Dynasty," p. 392. On the Pure Land of I-huai and his followers who subsequently lived at the Ching-tz'u ssu in Hang-chou, see Ikeda Eijun (a.k.a. Hattori Eijun), "Kóshü Jójiji ni okeru jóshusha to Muryojusenbo," Jódogaku 12 (1937): 9-19. 110. Consider the case of Wu K'o-chi, who is discussed in Koichi Shinohara's chapter as a formulator of T'ien-t'ai history. Wu's prominent role alongside Chung-li Sung in the society founded at the Pao-chi Monastery is mentioned in the Pao-chi lien-she hua-pi chi, in Le-pang wen-lei, T46.189M3-26. See his biography, Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.236c-237a. 111. For T'ien-t'ai criticisms of Tzu-yüan, see Tsung-chien's Shih-men chengt'ung, HTC 130.412d; and Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.425a. 112. Shan-tao's, Fa-chao's, and Shao-k'ang's biographies make no mention of their having established a Pure Land society. 113. Le-pang wen-lei, T 47.149a-b. 114. For example, the society founded by Tsun-shih and Chih-li's shared disciple Pen-ju apparently fit this model; see his biography in Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.277b8-12. 115. For example, the society founded by Chih-li's descendant Tao-ch'en appears as almost a mirror-image to Chih-li's original except that it convened monthly rather than annually; see Tao-ch'en's biography in Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.231a 9-10. 116. On this question, see Getz, "Siming Zhili and Tiantai Pure Land in the Song Dynasty," p. 249. 117. See his biography in Le-pang wen-lei T 47.193b. 118. On these movements see Overmyer, Folk Buddhist Religion; and ter Haar, The White Lotus Teachings, pp. 16-113. 119. This is suggested by ter Haar, The White Lotus Teachings, p. 68. See note 111 above. This argument is developed more fully in Daniel Getz, "Pure Land Societies and the Pure Land Patriarchate in Tsung-hsiao's Le-pang wen-lei," in Records of the Third Chung-Hwa International Conference (forthcoming).

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120. This is suggested by Chih-p'an in his criticism of Tzu-yiian and the White Lotus Sect. For a list of distorted doctrines developed by the White Lotus movement, see Pu-tu's Lu-shan Lien-tsung pao-chien, T 46.345a-351b. 121. The Kuan-ching jung-hsin chieh is in Ssu-ming tsun-che chiao-hsing lu, T 46.865b. 122. For Chih-li's subcommentary (Kuan-ching shu miao-tsung ch'ao), see T 37.195a-233b; for Chih-is commentary (Kuan-ching shu), see T 37.186b-194c. 123. For a critical study of Chih-i's Pure Land, see Ando Toshio, Tendai shisoshi (Kyoto: Hozokan, 1959), pp. 340-421; see also Fukushima, Sodai Jodokyo no kenkyu, pp. 44-81. 124. See Yu-yens Ching-t'u hsiu-yin huo-tui, in Le-pang wen-lei, T 47.205c206b; see also Tse-ying's Pien heng-shu erh-ch'u, in Le-pang wen-lei, T 47.210a-b; Fukushima, Sodai Jodokyo no kenkyu, pp. 104-115. 125. See especially his Shang Cha-an fa-shih lun Shih-liu-kuan ching so-yung kuan-fa shu, in Chih-yiian i-pien, HTC 105.282c-283c. 126. Consult Fukushima, Sodai Jodokyo no kenkyu, pp. 190-208. 127. On Sung Pure Land biographies, see Takao, Sodai bukkyoshi no kenkyu, pp. 115-117. 128. This is a composite list compiled from the following sources: Kasuga Reichi, "Sodai no Jodokyo kessha ni tsuite," Shugaku kenkyu 18 (1941): 49-74; Mochizuki Shinko, Shina Jodokyorishi (Kyoto: Hozokan, 1942), pp. 390-393; Ogasawara Senshu, Chugoku kinsei Jodokyoshi no kenkyu (Kyoto: Hyakkaen, 1963), pp. 48-49; Sasaki Ktijo, "Hyakurenja no fukko undo," Ryukoku daigaku ronso 261, 262 (1925): 198-215, 351-373; and Suzuki Chusei, "Sodai bukkyo kessha no kenkyu," Shigaku zasshi 52.1, 2, 3 (1941): 65-98, 205-241, 303-333. 129. See Ch'ung-chii's biography, Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.424d. 130. See Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.469b27-28. This account reports that Wen Yen-po along with a certain Chan master Yen organized a society during Jentsung's reign. Mochizuki identifies Yen as Ching-yen ch'an-shih, whose dharma name was Shou-sui (1072-1147) (Chugoku Jodokyoshi no kenkyu, p. 391). This, of course, is problematic since Shou-sui was born after Jen-tsung's era. 131. Pen-jus Pure Land biography, Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.277b. The date for this society is given in Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.410b 14-16. 132. Ling-chaos biography, Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.242M7-19; see also his Pure Land biography, Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.278b. I have indicated that Lingchao stands in Chih-li's line even though his master Jen-yueh was considered to be a renegade from that line. 133. See Yang Chieh's Chien Mi-t'o pao-ko chi, in Le-pang wen-lei, T 47.184c. The year given here is that in which this document was written. The society founded by Ts'ung-ya might well have preceded this date by several years. The place is indicated in Ts'ung-ya's biography in Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.212a20-21. Ts'ung-ya's portrayal of the nine grades of those reborn in the Pure Land at the Ching-chu ssu corresponds to the description in the Chien Mi-t'o pao-ko chi. The group begun by Ts'ung-ya appears to have been a small cadre of monks who gathered in the special hall that he erected in order to practice a long period of penitential rites. This appears to have been a precursor of the groups that were formed around the Sixteen Visualization Hall (shih-liu-kuan t'ang), which was built by Chieh-jan at the Yen-ch'ing yuan in 1099.

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134. Tsung-tses Pure Land biography, Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.278c-279a. The date given for this society represents the date of a dream associated with the formation of the society that was recorded in Tsung-tses Lien-hua sheng-hui luwen, in Le-pang wen-lei, T 47.178a29-b9. 135. See Wei-chien's biography in Hu-chou Pa-sheng ssu Chien ssu-chu chuan, in Chih-yiian chi, HTC 105.294d. Wei-chien died in 1090. Wei-chien can be considered to represent Hua-yen Pure Land, since he was a student of the prominent Sung Hua-yen scholar Tzu-hsüan (965-1038). 136. See Sun's biography, Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.284b25-27. 137. See Yüan-chao's Wu-liang yiian tsao Mi-t'o hsiang chi, in Le-pang wenlei, T47.187M1-15. 138. For Hui-heng's Pure Land biography, see Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.279a-b; see also the biography of his younger sister Kuo Miao-yiian in Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.288al2-13. Hui-heng was a Vinaya master who had studied under Yüanchao. Hui-heng is not recorded to have founded a society, but his biography makes reference to a certain layman Sun who is identified as a she-yu (society member). The biography of Hui-heng's sister Kuo Miao-yüan states that she frequently went to his monastery and established a Hsi-nien hui (Assembly for Fastening Thoughts). This is one of the instances where a woman is reported to have organized a Pure Land society. It is not possible to determine the date of this society, but since Hui-heng was Yüan-chao's disciple and Yiian-chao died in 1116, it can be surmised that Hui-heng was active at this time. 139. Fa-tsung's Pure Land biography, Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.279b-c; see also his regular biography, Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.219c3-5. Fa-tsung died in 1117. 140. See Wang ch'ao-san chüan-hsiu Hsi-fang wen, in Le-pang i-kao, T 47.242c-243a; see also his Pure Land biography, Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.283b23-27. 141. Ssu-chao's biography, Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.222al-3; see also his Pure Land biography, Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.278a9-17. Ssu-chao died in 1119, which becomes the end limit for the founding of his society. The biography states, however, that he led clerics and lay people for thirty years in fastening their minds on Amitábha. 142. Ch'i-yü's biography, Fo-tsu t'ung-chi T 49.222M0-11, and Fo-tsu t'ungchi, T 49.278a. 143. Chung-li Sung, Pao-chi Lien-she hua-pi chi, in Le-pang wen-lei, T 47.189a27-189bl. Huai-shen is recorded here to have become the abbot of the Hui-lin ssu in 1119. 144. Juo-yü's biography, Fo-tsu t'ung-chi 11, T 49.212c21-24; also Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.421M-3. Juo-yü's biography in the Fo-tsu t'ung-chi states that he died in 1126. It also relates that in the thirty years that this society gathered, many of its participants upon their deathbed were met by the Buddha. If Juo-yü's death is taken as the endpoint of this thirty-year period, then the society would have been formed around 1096. 145. Tsung-li's biography, Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.221cl9-21. Tsung-li is said to have entered Mount Tao-wei near K'uai-chi at the end of the Chien-yen era (1127-1130). At that time the laity and clerics of K'uai-chi requested him to head a Pure Land society. Tsung-li as a student of Shen-wu Ch'u-ch'ien was placed within the T'ien-t'ai lineage, but he was referred to as "practitioner"

T'ien-t'ai Pure Land Societies

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(hsing-jen) rather than "dharma master" (fa-shih), perhaps because he also studied under Yuan-chao and can be considered part of the Vinaya school. See Takao, "Sodai shakai to Jodokyo," p. 110. 146. P'ing Chi's Pure Land biography, Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.283cl8-20. For the date, see Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.426b20-21; see also Shih-shih chi-ku lileh, T 49.892a26-28. Both accounts in the Fo-tsu t'ung-chi and the Shih-shih chi-ku liieh recount P'ing Chi's activities between the time the government came south in 1131 and the year of his death in 1153 (i.e., the year of the entry in both works). The Pure Land society was formed sometime in this period. P'ing Chi was affiliated with the Ch'an school, since he had an enlightenment experience under the Lin-chi master Ta-hui Tsung-kao, who is discussed by Morten Schlutter in Chapter 4 of this volume. P'ing Chi was also responsible for sponsoring a printing of the canon. 147. Tao-ch'en's biography, Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.23la9-10; see also his Pure Land biography Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.281a. The date given here represents Taoch'en's ascendance to the abbacy of the Yen-ch'ing ssu. The formation of the society took place sometime after this. 148. Cited by Ogasawara, Chugoku kinsei Jodokyoshi no kenkyu, pp. 48—49.1 have not yet found the primary source on this society. 149. Concerning this society see Shih-yu's, Hsi-tzu she t'ung shih-wen, in Lepang wen-lei, T 47.179a-b; also Shen Hsiian's Yuan fa-shih chai-chi li-wen hsii, Le-pang wen-lei, T 47.174c-175b. The former document is dated 1163, while the latter is 1166. The earlier date then is closer to the founding of the society. The general accuracy of these dates is confirmed by an interlinear note dated 1200, which is placed at the end of Shih-yu's document. It states that the society had been meeting for more than thirty years at that point. 150. See Chang-lun's Chieh Lien-she p'u-ch'ilan wen, in Le-pang wen-lei, T 47.179a; see also his Kao-tsung huang-ti yii-shu Lien-she chi, in Le-pang wen-lei, T 47.l88a-b. This latter document is a record commemorating the retired Emperor Kao-tsung's bestowal on this society of a two-character sign (Lien-she) written in his own hand. The document is dated 1163. 151. See Ytieh-t'ang Hui-hsiin's Hsi-kuei lien-she hsii, in Le-pang wen-lei, T 47.175b-c. This document indicates that a certain Hsing-yin (about whom nothing is known) who had a hermitage (an) in a remote spot was the founder of this society, while the composer of the document Ytieh-t'ang Hui-hsiln (d. 1179), an abbot of the Yen-ch'ing ssu, was the society's recruiter (chuan-yiian). I do not know if Hsing-yin's hermitage was on the grounds of the Yen-ch'ing ssu or if he was a T'ien-t'ai monk. However, because of his close connection with Hui-hsiin, I am considering this society to be derived from Chih-li's line. 152. See Chung-li Sung's Pao-chi Lien-she hua-pi chi, in Le-pang wen-lei, T 47.189a-c; also his biography Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.446c; see also the Pure Land biographies of his family Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.282c-283a. 153. See Chiu Ting-kuo's Pure Land biography, Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.284c6. 154. See Wu K'o-chi's Lung-men Lien-she shih ping hsu, in Le-pang i-kao, T 47.249b-c. This document is dated 1205. 155. See Juo-kuan's Pure Land biography, Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.280cl9. 156. See Tsu-hsin's Pure Land biography, Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.281c.

Chapter 13

From Local History to Universal History: The Construction of the Sung T'ien-t'ai Lineage K O I C H I SHINOHARA

of the Southern Sung (1127-1279) witnessed the production of two works by T'ien-t'ai historians that are indispensable for the study of Buddhism in the Sung. The earlier and less developed of these was Tsung-chien's Orthodox Lineage of the Buddhist Tradition (Shih-men cheng-t'ung; hereafter referred to as Orthodox Lineage), which appeared in 1237.1 Over two decades later, in the period between 1258 and 1269,2 Chih-p'an, building on Tsungchien's contribution, produced the encyclopedic Comprehensive History of the Buddhas and Patriarchs (Fo-tsu t'ung-chi; hereafter referred to as Comprehensive History). Both works were cast as universal histories of Buddhism presented from a T'ien-t'ai perspective. The T'ien-t'ai version of history held that the very essence of Buddhism was embodied in T'ien-t'ai teaching and practice, which had been faithfully transmitted from the Buddha Sakyamuni through the Indian patriarchs and on to the T'ien-t'ai patriarchs of China. In view of this transmission, these histories were structured around the principle of patriarchal succession, in which the lineage of the T'ien-t'ai patriarchs and their descendants occupied a central and dominant position. Although these two texts are invaluable sources of historical data, scholars using them are faced with numerous historiographical issues. One of the most important of these issues is the nature and origin of the T'ien-t'ai lineages that lie at the heart of these histories. The essentially congruent lineages presented by Tsung-chien and Chih-p'an cannot be uncritically accepted as historical givens but rather should be regarded as constructs, products of a process in which historical data was molded not only to create a higher vision of history but also to serve a number of agendas. Griffith Foulk, in Chapter 7, has demonstrated how the Ch'an traT H E LAST DECADES

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dition of the Sung sought to secure prestige, patronage, and special privileges for itself in the Buddhist order through its claim to represent an elite lineage of patriarchs that could be traced back to the Buddha. Consequently, the T'ien-t'ai creation of universal histories that were centered on T'ien-t'ai s own unique patriarchal lineage can in one sense be interpreted as a T'ien-t'ai claim to legitimacy made in response to the Ch'an challenge. Beyond the external pressure of the Ch'an tradition, however, the T'ien-t'ai historians also had to deal with competing claims to authority and status within the T'ien-t'ai tradition itself. In both the Orthodox Lineage and the Comprehensive History, the establishment of Ssu-ming Chih-li (960-1028) as the last of the patriarchs and the unfolding of lineages descending from him marks the culmination of a process in which competing claims were settled in Chih-li s favor and in which different models of lineage succession were blended into a single framework. My purpose in the present chapter is to examine in detail the lineages of the Sung T'ien-t'ai masters presented in the Orthodox Lineage and the Comprehensive History so as to retrace the steps that led to their construction. 3 I seek to demonstrate that this process involved taking as raw materials T'ien-t'ai biographical records that were essentially local in their orientation and transforming them into universal histories based on the idea of dharma transmission, which was borrowed from the Ch'an genealogical histories. By examining this process of lineage construction, one can come to appreciate not only the historiographical agendas of Tsung-chien and Chih-p'an but also some of the complex dynamics that were operative within Sung T'ien-t'ai.

Dharma Transmission and Succession of Abbots The Origins of Sung T'ien-t'ai Lineage

Histories

The Orthodox Lineage and the Comprehensive History are both patterned after the format and categories of Chinese dynastic histories. Thus the extended biographical section of the Comprehensive History, which presents the biographies of "patriarchs" from Sakyamuni through Nagarjuna to Chih-li, is designated as "annals" (penchi or chi), while the section that immediately follows, containing biographies of disciples of Chinese patriarchs from Hui-ssu (515— 577) to I-t'ung (927-988), is referred to as "princely houses" (shihchia). The organization of the corresponding biographies in the

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Orthodox Lineage is similar, though the Chinese patriarchs, from Hui-wen to Chih-li, are listed there in the "princely houses" section. Following these two sections is the largest biographical segment, which is titled "the arranged biographies of masters" (chu-shih liehchuan). The biographies in this section are organized in groups of "dharma heirs" (fa-ssu) descended from a given "dharma master" (fa-shihJ.4 The lineages of dharma masters are presented in two groups; a small collection of Tsun-shih's (964-1032) dharma heirs is followed by a large group of Chih-li s. Occupying the largest part of the biographies of dharma masters, this latter group, consisting of spiritual descendants of Chih-li, is further divided into different branches under prominent masters. In the table of contents that appears at the beginning of the fascicles containing these biographies, these masters and their disciples are arranged according to their descent from one of three of Chih-li's immediate disciples, Shang-hsien (dates unknown), Pen-ju (981-1050), and Fan-chen (dates unknown). 5 Each group is further subdivided into generations numbered by their distance from Chih-li.6 In both the Comprehensive History and the Orthodox Lineage, a lineage diagram containing all of the names of those with biographies and detailing their position in the aforementioned scheme is appended at the end of the biographical sections. A detailed diagram of the T'ien-t'ai lineages relevant to this chapter is provided in Appendix 1. According to the introduction in the Comprehensive History, the origin of T'ien-t'ai historiography in the Sung goes back to a work called the Record of the Origin of the Tradition (Tsung-yiian lu), compiled during the Cheng-ho period (1111-1118) by Master Ying of Wu-hsing.7 This text described the "transmission of the T'ien-t'ai teaching" from the Northern Ch'i period (550-577) to the Ytian-yu period of the Sung (1086-1094), and it included a lineage diagram. During the Ch'ing-yuan period (1195-1200), Wu K'o-chi (1140-1214) expanded Ying's work, giving his own history the title Orthodox Lineage of Buddhism (Shih-men cheng-t'ung). Unfortunately, he died before completing the work.8 Next, Ching-ch'ien during the Chia-ting period (1208-1224) produced a work called Record of the Source of the Tradition (Tsung-yiian lu), which he based on the work of Master Ying and the new diagram produced by Wu K'o-chi, while adding over sixty new biographies. 9 This process culminated with Tsungchien, who recast Wu K'o-chi's work in the style of dynastic histories, with such sections as "annals" and "biographies." Borrowing Wu K'o-chi's title, Tsung-chien called his universal history of Bud-

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dhism the Orthodox Lineage of the Buddhist Teaching (Shih-men cheng-t'ung). Some thirty years later Chih-p'an produced the Comprehensive History, basing his encyclopedic text on Tsung-chien's history, while expanding it greatly. Of all of these T'ien-t'ai histories, only the last two by Tsung-chien and Chih-p'an survive. The effort to document systematically the evolution of T'ien-t'ai lineages thus seems to have begun with Master Ying's Record of the Origin of the Tradition in the early twelfth century and proceeded almost to the end of the Sung. These lineages were represented in the form of diagrams, presumably similar to those now found in Tsung-chien's Orthodox Lineage and Chih-p'an's Comprehensive History. 10 Tsung-chien, however, departed from the earlier approaches by fitting the previous materials into the framework of the dynastic histories. Although this style came to be regarded as a distinctive feature of T'ien-t'ai histories, earlier efforts to record the T'ien-t'ai lineages appear to have been inspired by a model created by the Ch'an tradition. Well before members of the T'ien-t'ai school started compiling their histories, Ch'an historians had comprehensively presented their version of Buddhist history in a series of genealogical histories (teng-lu) that appeared through the Sung.11 The Ch'an genealogical histories were organized around patriarchs, and monks with biographies in these histories were grouped as dharma heirs of succeeding generations of masters. This format was first adopted in the collection that appeared in the Ching-te period (completed in 1004) and was continued in the succeeding genealogical histories, first in the collection compiled by Li Tsunhsii (988-1038) in the T'ien-sheng period (with Emperor Jen-tsung's preface dated 1036), then again in the Chien-chung Ching-kuo period (presented to court in 1101), and finally in the Chia-t'ai period (completed in 1201). This style of Ch'an history had thus been firmly established by the time T'ien-t'ai lineages began to be recorded systematically in the early twelfth century.12 Reflecting this Ch'an model of history, the entries in the Comprehensive History are also organized around the concept of the dharma heir. Those with biographies are listed as dharma heirs of a specific dharma teacher under whom the dharma heir had studied. 13 There are many instances, however, where the subjects of these entries trained in T'ien-t'ai doctrine and meditation under more than one teacher. In such cases where there is a conflict, the listing of the subject under one dharma master implies a judgment about the importance of that particular teacher for the subject, at least for the

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purpose of identifying his lineage. When a subject first studied under one master but later was enlightened under another, the conflict was invariably resolved in favor of the master under whom the subject achieved enlightenment. 14 The nature and significance of this new approach to T'ien-t'ai lineage formation can be appreciated when it is contrasted with older schemes. This contrast can be illustrated by examining an inscription for the T'ien-t'ai master Ch'u-ch'ien (d. 1075), produced by the great Vinaya master, and Ch'u-ch'ien's former student, Yüan-chao (1048-1116) not long after Ch'u-ch'ien's death. 15 In the Comprehensive History, Ch'u-ch'ien is listed as the second-generation dharma heir of Chih-li through Pen-ju.16 Yet Yüan-chao in his inscription, written almost two centuries before Chih-p'an's history, was apparently unfamiliar with this way of describing Ch'u-ch'ien's lineage, suggesting that the larger lineage framework that developed into the scheme presented by Tsung-chien and Chih-p'an had not yet been conceived when Yüan-chao wrote this inscription. Yüan-chao's inscription mentions that Shang-neng (called Ch'ineng in the Orthodox Lineage and the Comprehensive History), under whom Ch'u-ch'ien had studied, was the thirteenth-generation patriarch of T'ien-t'ai. This patriarchal attribution in fact reflects an earlier T'ien-t'ai lineage scheme. The entry on Ch'i-neng in the Comprehensive History affirms the existence of this earlier scheme by stating that he obtained the teaching from dharma master Yü and occupied a place in the lineage as the fourteenth generation in the transmission of the founder Chih-i's incense burner and fly whisk.17 The account goes on to observe that toward the end of his life, Ch'ineng offered them to Chi-chung, but Chi-chung refused, saying that he had obtained his teaching from Shang-hsien of Chih-li s monastery. These ritual implements, used as symbols of transmission, were then stored at Chih-i's monastery, the Kuo-ch'ing ssu, on Mount T'ien-t'ai.18 Disregarding the discrepancy in generational number, this story, which is also mentioned in the Orthodox Lineage, indicates that an independent tradition of T'ien-t'ai lineage had existed at Mount T'ien-t'ai and that this lineage ended at the time Chi-chung refused to accept its symbols of Chih-i's incense burner and whisk.19 The biographies in the Orthodox Lineage and the Comprehensive History reveal that Tsung-chien and Chih-p'an were aware of the earlier materials and lineage schemes and incorporated these materials into their histories. For example, Ch'i-neng's biography in the Comprehensive History, as pointed out above, places him as the fourteenth

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in the transmission of Chih-i's whisk and incense burner. Furthermore, the entries for both Ch'i-neng and Ch'u-ch'ien in the Comprehensive History affirm the relationship between them that was noted by Yiian-chao.20 Nevertheless, since Tsung-chien and Chih-p'an were both concerned with creating a patriarchal lineage around Chih-li, the older information had to be adjusted to fit the new model. Thus Tsung-yii, who was Ch'i-neng's predecessor in the transmission of Chih-i's whisk and incense burner, was now presented in the Comprehensive History as being a second-generation descendant of Hsichi, who in the new patriarchate was the fifteenth leading up to Chih-li, the seventeenth.21 Furthermore, a new home needed to be found for Ch'u-ch'ien, since Ch'i-neng's line supposedly had ended with Chi-chung's refusal to accept the tokens of the old lineage. Yiian-chao s inscription had observed that Ch'u-ch'ien inherited Penju's abbotship on Mount Tung-i in T'ien-t'ai. Incorporating this information, Tsung-chien and Chih-p'an now presented Ch'u-ch'ien as a second-generation successor of Chih-li through Pen-ju. The transmission through Pen-ju was couched in the language of succession at a monastery. The principle of transmission through succession of abbotship is not invoked consistently, however. The T'ien-t'ai center on Mount Tung-i had been founded by Tsun-shih, Chih-li's fellow disciple under I-t'ung. Tsun-shih later chose Chih-li's student Pen-ju as his successor at Tung-i when he left for Hang-chou. Thus the lineage of succession at Mount Tung-i ran from Tsun-shih to Pen-ju and then to Ch'uch'ien. Yet, in the larger lineage diagram in the Orthodox Lineage and the Comprehensive History, Ch'u-ch'ien's lineage is traced through Pen-ju to Chih-li (and not to Tsun-shih). The basis for determining lineage oscillated between the line of abbot succession at Mount Tung-i (as in the case of Ch'u-ch'ien) and the separate story of transmission (as in the case of Pen-ju). The different lineage schemes discussed here can be summarized as follows: Mount T'ien-t'ai Patriarchate

Mount Tung-i Abbot Succession

Chih-p'ans Comprehensive History

Tsung-yu Ch'i-neng Ch'u-ch'ien

Tsun-shih Pen-ju Ch'u-ch'ien

Chih-li Pen-ju Ch'u-ch'ien

The example of Ch'u-ch'ien's lineage illustrates the nature of the Sung T'ien-t'ai lineage system presented in the Orthodox Lineage and the Comprehensive History. Earlier attempts to construct lin-

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eages were superseded by this more comprehensive effort, in which a wide range of separate lineages based on different types of transmission appear to have been brought together around Chih-li and his successors. The Succession of Abbots and Dharma Transmission

The more fully developed biographical entries for prominent figures designated as dharma masters in the Comprehensive History follow a remarkably uniform outline, first describing the subjects background as a student and then his career as a teacher and/or abbot. The part of the biography that focuses on the subjects training begins with a statement giving the surname of the subjects family and the place where his family resided, frequently followed by some comments about the miraculous circumstances surrounding his birth. Next is a section that sketches the subjects training. It includes information about his renunciation of the householders life (ch'u-chia, citing in particular the name of the monastery and the monk under whom this event took place), the official examination through which he obtained the status of a legitimate monk (te-tu), and the teachers, often designated by the names of their monasteries, under whom he studied T'ien-t'ai doctrine and meditation (chiaokuan). The account of the subjects training often concludes by stating that he achieved some form of enlightenment, often providing details of this event. The second half of the biography is devoted to recording the teaching career of the subject. Typically, the monasteries at which he served as abbot are listed, often with some details relating to the appointment and the termination of tenure, either through transference to another monastery or retirement. Sometimes miraculous occurrences during his career are also recounted. The biography concludes with a description of the monk's death and burial, again sometimes with a recital of attendant miraculous signs. Some biographies append lists of the subjects writings and, in a few cases, the names and/or numbers of his disciples. A typical biographical entry in the Orthodox Lineage and the Comprehensive History thus has two foci: the subjects training and his career, including both his teaching and his appointments as abbot. The biographical entries were envisioned as part of a lineage history that had the transmission of teaching and enlightenment as its central premise. Since in the second half of the biographies the historians only infrequently mention the names of a subjects disciples

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and are accordingly silent about the transmission of the dharma to those disciples, the burden of biographical presentation therefore rests heavily on the first part of the entries, which outlines the teachers under w h o m the subject studied. In contrast, the original biographical records of Sung T'ien-t'ai monks, on which the entries in the universal histories were based, had a different function and focus. As is the case with the majority of biographies of Chinese monks, these original records were usually composed after a monk's death at the monastery where he resided, particularly at a monastery where he had served as abbot. These records would have been preserved locally, typically as stupa inscriptions or as records of previous abbots. Such sources, which were largely composed around the subjects role as abbot, must then have provided the basis for the second part of the biographical entries in the Orthodox Lineage and the Comprehensive History, which pays considerable attention to the subjects career as abbot and teacher (but not transmitter), often at several monasteries. 22 My hypothesis, then, is that the lineage history of Sung T'ien-t'ai masters was constructed by rearranging the content of the biographical records preserved locally in major monasteries around the concept of a universal lineage of dharma heirs that was newly borrowed from Ch'an genealogical histories. I will argue for the validity of this hypothesis by tracing this process in reverse order. By examining sections of biographies in the Orthodox Lineage and Comprehensive History that describe the teaching careers of the subjects, one can reconstruct the accounts of abbots' succession at major T'ien-t'ai monasteries that constituted the original sources. Existing inscriptions for these abbots will also be consulted to confirm and supplement this reconstruction. A comparison of the reconstituted lineages of abbot succession at major T'ien-t'ai centers with the lineage of dharma heirs in the Orthodox Lineage and Comprehensive History will then reveal how the application of an entirely different concept of transmission affected the construction of the Sung T'ient'ai lineage in the universal histories. The Lineage Diagram as Universal History When the comprehensive diagram of dharma transmission found in the Orthodox Lineage and the Comprehensive History is contrasted with the lineages of abbot succession at specific T'ien-t'ai monasteries, one can see the larger significance of the Sung T'ien-t'ai project of constructing this massive lineage diagram. The local con-

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cern typified by the appointment of abbots to given monasteries is translated into a universal concern represented through the transmission of the dharma that transcends the specific localities of these monasteries by harking back through the Chinese and Indian patriarchs to áákyamuni Buddha himself. Local histories of T'ien-t'ai monasteries in Southeastern China are thus transformed into an important and integral part of a universal history of Buddhism. I believe that the composition of the T'ien-t'ai lineage histories must have been driven ultimately by this deeper logic. Local patronage of specific monasteries acquired a larger significance when the abbots of these monasteries were recognized as dharma heirs of lineages descended from the patriarchs and the Buddha. More important, a secure place in Buddhist universal history would have implied legitimate claims for state recognition and other forms of patronage. 23 Such claims were no doubt motivated by sectarian rivalry with Ch'an groups. It is not difficult to imagine how, in a world where Ch'an masters came to enjoy state recognition on the basis of universal claims that they were dharma heirs of Buddhist lineages originating with áákyamuni and previous Buddhas, the abbots of T'ien-t'ai monastic centers felt compelled to make similar claims. Yet they could only make such claims successfully by borrowing a good deal of the rhetoric of lineage and transmission from Ch'an. Without the resultant recognition of their place in a universal order, Sung T'ien-t'ai might well have remained a local phenomenon in southeastern China. Thus, to achieve public recognition, leaders and supporters of this community over time resorted to a variety of stratagems. Chih-li, for example, as shall be discussed further below, made a special effort to have his own monastery, the Yen-ch'ing ssu, officially recognized as a "universal abbacy monastery" (shih-fang chu-ch'ih yiian; i.e., public monastery), modeled after large Ch'an monasteries. 24 Tsun-shih secured the same status for his T'ien-chu Monastery at Ling-shan. Chih-li and Tsun-shih's efforts in this regard appear to have been aimed at securing for T'ien-t'ai a place in the universal Buddhist order that was recognized and supported by the state, a position comparable to the one enjoyed by major Ch'an monasteries. Thus the founding figures of the Sung T'ien-t'ai themselves sought to link their new movement directly with the highest level of the larger Buddhist order. The universalist claim of the later T'ien-t'ai lineage history that traced virtually all of Sung T'ien-t'ai to Chih-li and the succeeding abbots at Yen-ch'ing may be understood

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as an evolution of this earlier effort. However, while the earlier institutional contributions by Chih-li and Tsun-shih had focused on securing for their monasteries the official recognition of the court, the linkage between the local T'ien-t'ai monasteries and the universal Buddhist order was secured differently in the lineage histories by presenting T'ien-t'ai masters not so much as abbots of local monasteries but as dharma heirs of the Buddha and the patriarchs. S u c c e s s i o n of Abbots at Major S u n g T'ien-t'ai Monasteries The Formation of Sung T'ien-t'ai Centers in the Comprehensive History In the Comprehensive History, Chih-p'an linked the local histories of Sung T'ien-t'ai monasteries, particularly those associated with Chih-li and his descendants, to the larger T'ien-t'ai universal history by means of a carefully constructed lineage of patriarchs that reflects more the logic of religious legitimacy than that of historical reality. Through Chih-p'an's construction, the Sung T'ien-t'ai monastic centers could thus be traced back largely through Chih-li to a patriarchate that Chih-p'an deliberately tethered to Chih-i's Kuoch'ing Monastery on Mount T'ien-t'ai. This monastery, according to Chih-p'an's interpretation, remained the seat of authority until the focus was shifted to Ming-chou by the sixteenth patriarch I-t'ung and his disciples Chih-li, the seventeenth patriarch, and Tsun-shih. The major T'ien-t'ai centers of the Sung, according to the accounts of the Comprehensive History, could trace their origins back to these men and their descendants. Rejecting other lineage accounts, Chih-p'an traced the patriarchal lineage after the ninth patriarch Chan-jan (711-782), through the tenth Tao-sui (dates unknown), eleventh Kuang-hsiu (771-843), twelfth Wu-wai (d. 885), thirteenth Yüan-hsiu (dates unknown), fourteenth Ch'ing-sung (dates unknown), fifteenth Hsi-chi (919-987), sixteenth I-t'ung (927-988), finally to the seventeenth and last patriarch Chih-li (960-1028).25 All of the monks in this line up through the fifteenth patriarch Hsi-chi were residents of the Kuo-ch'ing Monastery. Chan-jan spent his last years at Mount T'ien-t'ai, and his immediate descendants Tao-sui and Kuang-hsiu led the T'ien-t'ai community before the Hui-ch'ang Persecution (842-845).26 Little is known of Wu-wai, Yüan-hsiu, and Ch'ing-sung, but Chih-p'an presented all as leaders of the Kuo-ch'ing Monastery.27 The Comprehensive History

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thus posits a view of T'ien-tai history that was anchored through a large segment of its patriarchal line to the founders monastery and the mountain from which the school drew its name. Other evidence, though fragmentary, suggests a more decentralized view of T'ien-t'ai history. This evidence points to the existence after Chan-jan of other important T'ien-t'ai centers located at the capital Ch'ang-an, on Mount Wu-t'ai, and even on Mount T'ien-t'ai itself.28 According to Linda Penkower, the T'ien-t'ai community at the Kuo-ch'ing Monastery declined when its library of T'ien-t'ai writings was destroyed during the Hui-ch'ang Persecution. The relative obscurity of Wu-wai, Yiian-hsiu, and Ch'ing-sung, who later came to be listed as the twelfth through fourteenth patriarchs in the Comprehensive History, reflects the moribund state of the monastery in this period. Only after Hsi-chi reintroduced lost T'ien-t'ai texts from Korea and Japan did Mount T'ien-t'ai begin to revive as a T'ien-t'ai center.29 In contrast, the destruction of T'ien-t'ai writings was apparently not as serious in the North. Toward the end of the eighth century, for example, Hsiian-chu (dates unknown), who, as representative of an alternative patriarchal line from Chan-jan, claimed to be the tenth patriarch, led a large community at Ch'ang-an. Hao-tuan (890-961) went to study under him and in turn taught Wu-en, who became associated with the Shan-wai (Off Mountain) faction. 30 In view of these alternative lineages and centers of T'ien-t'ai activity, the patriarchal account of the Comprehensive History, which highlights virtually unkown figures on Mount T'ien-t'ai while obscuring the activities of prominent monks at other T'ien-t'ai centers in the North, appears to be problematic at best.31 This consideration of other centers demonstrates that the appearance of multiple monastic centers in the Sung was not a new phenomenon. Even the T'ien-t'ai historians of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, as they tried to create a centralized vision of the school's history, were forced in their presentation of Sung T'ien-ta'i to reveal the essentially local and decentralized development of the school through monasteries located not in Mount T'ien-t'ai but in the major urban centers of Ming-chou and Hang-chou. The Comprehensive History presents the formation of Sung T'ient'ai centers primarily around the careers of Chih-li, Tsun-shih, and their disciples. Despite the implicit recognition of the local and multiple Sung monastic sources from which it drew its material, the Comprehensive History, by shifting focus from Mount T'ien-t'ai to Ming-chou, continued to present a centralized vision of history

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through Chih-li. Thus Tsun-shih and his lineage were relegated to a minor position. The Shan-wai group, who traced their lineage to the fourteenth patriarch Ch'ing-sung and were based in Hang-chou, were accorded cursory treatment, and alternative lineages such as that represented by the transmission of Chih-i's incense burner and fly whisk through fourteen generations in the area around Mount T'ien-t'ai received only passing reference. These seemingly peripheral materials are reminders, however, that the attempt by the later T'ient'ai historians to center Sung T'ien-t'ai Buddhism on Chih-li and his group at Ming-chou must initially have seemed tendentious at best in an environment where there were various tokens of lineage transmission and multiple monastic institutions with their own lineages based on the succession of abbots. A study of the lineage formation in the universal histories needs then to take into account the Sung monastic centers that provided the materials for those histories. To that end, the following section will present a brief survey, based on materials in the Comprehensive History, of some of the major Sung T'ien-t'ai monastic centers established by I-t'ung, Chih-li, Tsun-shih, and their immediate disciples. These centers presumably produced the lists of abbot succession that will occupy the remaining discussion in this chapter. Major T'ien-t'ai Monastic Centers The major monastic centers from which the universal histories drew were the Pao-yiin Monastery in Ming-chou, the Ch'ien-fu Monastery in Ming-chou, the Yen-ch'ing Monastery in Ming-chou, Mount Tung-i in T'ien-t'ai, and T'ien-chu Monastery in Hang-chou. T H E PAO-YUN M O N A S T E R Y IN M I N G - C H O U . In 968 an official of the state of Wu-Yueh, Ku Ch'eng-hui (dates unknown), donated his residence in Ming-chou to Hsi-chi's disciple I-t'ung for use as a monastery.32 Originally called the Ch'uan-chiao Monastery, I-t'ung's institution acquired official recognition and the new title Pao-yiin Monastery in 982. It was at this monastery that I-t'ung attracted his two most important disciples, Tsun-shih and Chih-li. Two years after I-t'ung's death in 988,33 Tsun-shih was ordered by the assembly to succeed his teacher as the monastery's abbot.34 Tsunshih's activities as abbot of Pao-yiin as well as his contributions in subsequent positions are described by Daniel Stevenson in Chapter 9. Most notable among these was his dedication of an image of Kuan-yin and his founding of a Pure Land society, which is also dis-

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cussed in Chapter 12 by Daniel Getz. After Tsun-shih's tenure, which came to an end with his move to Mount Tung-i in 1002, the monastery remained in T'ien-t'ai hands, receiving occasional mention in the biographies of the Comprehensive

History.35

T H E CH'IEN-FU MONASTERY (ALSO CALLED CH'ENG-T'IEN OR N E N G -

In 9 9 1 , around the same time that Tsun-shih became abbot of the Pao-yiin, Chih-li moved from the Pao-ytin to Ch'ien-fu Monastery, where he lived in a small residence in the western section of the compound. After Tsun-shih's departure for Mount Tung-i in T'ien-t'ai, the center of T'ien-t'ai activity in Mingchou appears to have shifted to Chih-li's monastery.36 The Ch'ien-fu proved inadequate for housing the large numbers of monks drawn by Chih-li's rising popularity. He was therefore forced to move his community to a more spacious and tranquil site, which was to become the Yen-ch'ing Monastery. The Ch'ien-fu continued as a T'ient'ai institution. JEN) IN MING-CHOU.

T H E YEN-CH'ING MONASTERY (ALSO CALLED N A N - H U ) IN MING-CHOU.

The Yen-ch'ing Monastery, originally called the Pao-en yuan, was given to Chih-li and his colleague I-wen in 996 by the two preceding generations of abbots, Chii-ming and Hsien-t'ung, to serve as a public monastery for the perpetuation of T'ien-t'ai teaching.37 Chih-li had moved there in the previous year to house his growing community of monks. 38 After a period of expansion and refurbishment, the monastery was completed in 1009, and the court conferred the name Yen-ch'ing on it in 1010.39 Subsequently, Chih-li secured government recognition of the monastery as a permanent public monastery for T'ien-t'ai learning. Through Chih-li's efforts and the contributions of his successors, this monastery became one of the premier T'ien-t'ai institutions of the Sung. On Chih-li's death, the abbotship was passed to his disciple Shang-hsien. The succession of abbots in this monastery will be examined later in this chapter. M O U N T TUNG-I (THE CH'ENG-T'IEN/NENG-JEN AND PAI-LIEN MONAS-

After twelve years at the Pao-yiin Monastery, in 1002, Tsun-shih returned to his native T'ien-t'ai to serve as the abbot on Mount Tung-i.40 After first living in a small hermitage on the mountain, he later built a monastery and produced a large Amitabha image.41 From this platform, Tsun-shih launched his campaign TERIES) IN T'IEN-T'AI.

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for the conversion of the local populace from blood sacrifice and wine offerings, as examined in detail by Stevenson. The biography of Chih-li's disciple Pen-ju in the Comprehensive History reports that when Tsun-shih was appointed as the abbot at the T'ien-chu Monastery (to be discussed below), Tsun-shih came to Chih-li seeking a candidate to succeed him as abbot. 42 Tsun-shih chose Pen-ju, who then went to the Ch'eng-t'ien monastery.43 Later, Pen-ju formed a White Lotus society (Pai-lien she), after which he named a monastery that he also established on the mountain. This Pai-lien Monastery became a major center of T'ien-t'ai and Pure Land activity in the Sung.44 T ' I E N - C H U MONASTERY (ALSO CALLED L I N G - S H A N ) IN H A N G - C H O U .

In

1014 Tsun-shih accepted an invitation to lecture at the Chao-ch'ing Monastery in Hang-chou. 45 In the following year, the prefect Hsueh Yen (953-1025) summoned him to be abbot of the T'ien-chu Monastery on Mount Ling (Ling-shan) in Hang-chou. 46 This monastery, located on the lower side of Mount Ling, was referred to as the Lower T'ien-chu Monastery to distinguish it from the Upper T'ienchu Monastery situated on the mountain's upper reaches. Over the next sixteen years until his retirement in 1031, Tsun-shih expended great effort in building the Lower T'ien-chu into a vital center of T'ien-t'ai learning and practice, in the process acquiring for it official government recognition as a public monastery perpetually dedicated to T'ien-t'ai teaching. The biography of Tsun-shih's disciple Tsu-shao (dates unknown) relates that, when Tsun-shih retired to a small hermitage in 1031, he tested Tsu-shao by telling him to go to Mount Tung-i to take Pen-ju s place;47 Pen-ju then was to come to the T'ien-chu Monastery as Tsun-shih's successor.48 Seeing Tsu-shao unquestioningly and willingly leave for Mount Tung-i, Tsun-shih called him back and told him to stay at T'ien-chu as its abbot. This story suggests that until the end of his life Tsun-shih considered both Tung-i, where Pen-ju served as the abbot, and T'ien-chu as his own monasteries and felt that the choice of the abbots in both monasteries was his personal responsibility. This evidence of Tsun-shih's influence in the establishment of Sung T'ien-t'ai monastic centers is further corroborated by the fact that the Upper T'ien-chu Monastery on Mount Ling was transformed from Ch'an to T'ien-tai control in 1062 by the prefect Shen Kou (1028-1067), and the monastery's abbotship was ceded

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to Tsun-shih's second-generation descendant Yüan-ching (10111091).49 The Upper T'ien-chu (also known as the Ling-kan Kuan-yin Monastery) during the Sung became a major pilgrimage site because of its miraculous statue of Kuan-yin. Beyond the above-mentioned centers established by the founding figures of Sung T'ien-t'ai, the spread of T'ien-t'ai in the Sung is further reflected in the establishment of other monastic centers by Chih-li's disciples.50 Some of these remained in the major urban centers of Hang-chou and Ming-chou. Chih-li's disciple Fanchen spent his career in Hang-chou, serving briefly (1051-1052) at the Upper T'ien-chu and then for an extended period (1052-1071) at Chin-shan. Finally, he was invited to be the abbot of the Hsingchiao Monastery at Nan-p'ing in Hang-chou (1071-).51 In Ming-chou, besides Shang-hsien, who inherited Chih-li's seat at the Yen-ch'ing Monastery, the disciple Tse-chuan (d. 1045), also a Ming-chou native, stayed for thirty years at the San-hsüeh Monastery in Mingchou.52 Yet another Ming-chou monastery, the T'ai-p'ing hsing-kuo, came under the sway of Chih-li's line when his disciple Wen-ts'an (dates unknown) was appointed lecturer there in 1026.53 The careers of other disciples exhibited the spread of T'ien-t'ai influence beyond the major urban centers of Hang-chou and Mingchou. Chih-li's disciple Ch'ung-chti (dates unknown), returning to his home in San-chu (present day Chu-chou in Chekiang), converted the Fu-shih Monastery there from a Ch'an institution into a permanent public monastery for T'ien-t'ai teaching.54 Chih-li's disciple Huits'ai (998-1083), whom Shen Kou had appointed in 1064 as the abbot of Fa-hui Jeweled Pavilion in Hang-chou, also served briefly at Fu-shih Monastery.55 Elsewhere in Chekiang, Tse-chiao (dates unknown) was appointed abbot when the Hui-yin Monastery in Changan (on the coast near T'ai-chou) was converted into a T'ien-t'ai monastery in 1024.56 Although the monastic centers discussed in this section by no means exhaust the entirety of T'ien-t'ai monastic holdings in the Sung, they provide a sense of the degree to which the T'ien-t'ai school became a major factor in Buddhist institutional, intellectual, and ritual life of the Sung period. As the conservators of the T'ient'ai institutional memory, these local centers supplied the raw materials from which the thirteenth-century historians fashioned their universal histories. OTHER CENTERS.

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Abbot Succession at Sung T'ien-t'ai Centers and Dharma Lineage in the Orthodox Lineage and the Comprehensive History A comparison of lists of abbot succession at major Sung T'ien-t'ai monastic institutions with the lineage diagrams given in the Orthodox Lineage and the Comprehensive History reveals several distinctive features of the newly emergent universal lineage histories. These lists are provided in Appendix 2. For many of the Sung monastic centers, a close correspondence exists between the earlier half of the list of consecutive abbots and the lineage succession presented by the universal histories. These centers include the Ling-shan, Yen-ch'ing (first six abbots), Pai-lien, Upper T'ien-chu (first six abbots), and Fa-ming monasteries. Although the universal histories list many other dharma heirs of these abbots and in some cases the histories delineate branch lineages with yet other dharma heirs descending from those who proceeded from the abbots, the successors who inherited the abbot's position at the home monasteries are presented in the universal histories as the principal dharma heirs who continue the identity of the lineage. This correspondence is illlustrated in the following diagram: Yen-ch'ing Abbots

Lineage Diagram

1. Chih-li 2. Shang-hsien 3. Chien-wen 4. Chung-li 5. Tsung-cheng 6. Chung-li

1. Chih-li 2. Shang-hsien 3. Chien-wen 4. Chung-li

Despite this correspondence, however, when the lists of successive abbots at specific monasteries were incorporated into the universal lineage history, the meaning of the original lists changed. The preceding discussion on biographies in the universal histories suggested that the focus shifted from the subjects' teaching careers as abbots to their experience as students, in which, for some, the circumstances of their enlightenment took on particular import. The logic of this tree of dharma transmission was such that it was the affiliation with the earlier figure in each branch—usually the first but at least in one important case (to be discussed below) the second—that determined the status of succeeding abbots at the same branch mon-

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astery. By linking many of these branches, the local histories of abbot succession in separate monasteries were transformed into one universal history of dharma transmission. Granted the close correspondence between the earlier parts of these lists, anomalies still occur that reveal the true intentions of the later lineage historians. For example, Chih-li's disciple Fan-chen becomes the first figure of a major branch, designated as Nan-p'ing after his monastery. Initially this branch appears to have prospered not at Nan-p'ing but at the Upper T'ien-chu Monastery, beginning with Fan-chen's disciple Ts'ung-chien (1035-1109). A closer examination of Ts'ung-chien, however, suggests that even though he had studied with Fan-chen, his relationship with Yuan-ching, who was Tsun-shih's second-generation descendant at T'ien-chu, was stronger than his tie to Fan-chen. 57 In designating Ts'ung-chien as a dharma heir of Fan-chen, the lineage historians were thereby appropriating for Chih-li's lineage the flourishing line at Upper T'ien-chu descended from Ts'ung-chien. In this case, the first abbot, Yuan-ching, who was Tsun-shih's descendant and Ts'ung-chien's predecessor, was ignored. The case of Pen-ju offers perhaps the most striking example of an incongruity in these earlier lists. Pen-ju was chosen by Tsun-shih as his successor at Mount Tung-i, where Pen-ju later established the Pai-lien Monastery. As the abbot successor of Tsun-shih at Mount Tung-i, Pen-ju would appear to have an especially strong connection with Tsun-shih. Nevertheless, Pen-ju is listed as Chih-li's dharma heir, the lineage historians again laying claim to the prospering community at the Pai-lien Monastery for the benefit of Chih-li's lineage. In both of the preceding examples, the transmission, from Fan-chen to Ts'ung-chien in the first case and from Chih-li to Pen-ju in the second, is marked with a story explaining a transmission. Pen-ju's biography establishes a transmission on the basis of an enlightenment experience that was reported to have taken place under Chihli, while in Ts'ung-chien's biography the transmission seems to have been signified by Fan-chen's pronouncement that his way would continue through Ts'ung-chien.58 Behind these stories lies the apparent intention of lineage historians to claim virtually all of the Sung T'ien-t'ai lineage for Chih-li's group at the expense of Tsun-shih and his lineage. Both of these accounts, then, provide insight on how the many separate local branch lineages of abbot succession were transformed and joined together to form the grand synthetic lineage of the universal histories. The close parallel that characterizes the earlier part of the lists of

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abbot succession and dharma lineage disappears at the Yen-ch'ing Monastery after Fan-kuang (1064-1143), who was seventh in succession, and at the Upper T'ien-chu after Yuan-chih, who was also seventh. Fan-kuang succeeded Chung-li as the abbot at Yen-ch'ing in 1114.59 Yuan-chih was appointed abbot of Upper T'ien-chu in 1153.60 I suspect that, by the time of Fan-kuang's succession, a new conception of dharma lineage had emerged in which dharma lineage was now understood clearly as a separate matter from abbot succession. Lineage historians thus felt free to seek Fan-kuang's dharma lineage outside of the Yen-ch'ing. Even though Fan-kuang had studied at the Yen-ch'ing earlier under Chien-wen (dates unknown), his lineage was now traced through Chih-p'u, who was not an abbot of the Yen-ch'ing Monastery. This separation between dharma lineage and the succession of abbots would have become widely accepted by the time of Yuan-chih. Thus, although he became part of the abbot lineage at the Upper T'ien-chu, Yuan-chih's dharma affiliation resided elsewhere, a fact recognized by the lineage historians and reflected in the universal histories. Although Yuan-chih had a clear and strong affiliation with the Pai-lien Monastery and its line, he was appointed abbot at the Upper T'ien-chu in 1153, and his name was incorporated separately into the lineage history. If this hypothesis, concerning a shift in emphasis in which lineage became independent of abbot succession, is correct, the new conception of the T'ien-t'ai lineage, influenced by the Ch'an model, that emerged in the early twelfth century affected the writing of T'ien-t'ai history in a variety of ways. For earlier figures, lineage historians took existing lists of abbots at major T'ien-t'ai centers, reshaped them, and incorporated them into the new lineage history. For contemporary figures the distinction between abbot succession and dharma lineage was drawn more radically, and the account of dharma lineage was written with less direct reliance on the record of their appointments as abbots. Abbot Succession and Dharma Lineage at Yen-ch'ing Monastery Implications of the hypothesis presented above may be examined in greater detail by a close examination of abbot succession at Yench'ing. SHANG-HSIEN, C H I E N - W E N , CHUNG-LI, AND TSUNG-CHENG. For the first four generations the Yen-ch'ing, abbacy was passed from teacher to

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disciple. Chih-li died in 1028,61 and he was succeeded in the same year by Shang-hsien. 62 Shang-hsien was then followed by his own dharma heir, Chien-wen,63 whose abbacy was passed on to his student Chung-li (d. 1115, or 1045-1114, according to the Orthodox Lineage):64 The Comprehensive History entries for Shang-hsien and Chien-wen are brief, while the Orthodox Lineage does not give them separate entries at all, though they are listed at appropriate places in the lineage diagram. The Comprehensive History entry for Shanghsien is accompanied by a note deploring that the inscription for him had been destroyed when the Yen-ch'ing Monastery was burnt down during the Chien-yen period (1127—1130).65 This destruction of materials might well have intensified the effort to collect biographical details for the T'ien-t'ai lineage history that had begun only a decade earlier with the Record of the Origin of the Tradition (Tsung-yiian lu). According to the Orthodox Lineage and the Comprehensive History, Chung-li served twice as the abbot of Yen-ch'ing, having predicted at the time he first left the monastery that he would return when he became sixty.66 During the interval, Chung-li served as the abbot of the Pao-yiin Monastery, where the sixteenth patriarch I-t'ung had been based. Chung-li rebuilt the halls of the decayed monastery and found inside an image of a deity and the text of a vow, foretelling that after one hundred years a living bodhisattva (jou-shen p'u-sa) would appear and bring prosperity back to this place.67 Since I-t'ung died in 988 and Chung-li died in 1114, the "living bodhisattva" was most certainly Chung-li himself. Chung-li s prediction that he would return to Yen-ch'ing was realized, when he was again asked by the governor of the Commandery to return to Yench'ing on the occasion of Tsung-cheng's (dates unknown) death.68 The succession after Chung-li cannot be reconstructed fully. The record preserved in the Comprehensive History entries appears to be incomplete and possibly contains some confusion. Tsung-cheng, who studied under Chien-wen and became his dharma heir, assumed the abbacy of the Yen-ch'ing at the beginning of the Chih-p'ing period (1064-1067).69 He found the grave of I-t'ung in the northwest corner of Mount Asoka and composed an inscription for it. This event is said to have occurred seventy-seven years after I-t'ung's bones were buried at Mount Asoka.70 These accounts reveal that both Chung-li and Tsung-cheng were concerned with the legacy of I-t'ung, suggesting that before their effort I-t'ung's monastery and grave had been neglected by the T'ien-t'ai community.

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F A N - K U A N G ( Y U A N - C H A O , 1 0 6 4 - 1 1 4 3 ) . The biography of Fan-kuang notes that in 1114 the prefect Lii Ts'ung (dates unknown) invited him to the Yen-ch'ing Monastery.71 Since Chung-li died in 1114,72 Fankuang would then have directly succeeded him.73 Fan-kuang first studied the monastic rules (vinaya), then the T'ien-t'ai teaching under Chien-wen. He subsequently went to Chih-p'u in Pai-niu and achieved a "great awakening," which event became the basis for his lineage presentation in the Comprehensive History.74 After returning to Ming-chou Fan-kuang was first appointed as the abbot of the Kuang-shou Monastery by the prefect Wang Tzu-shen (dates unknown). He was then called to Yen-ch'ing, which reportedly prospered greatly under him. With the 120 monks that accompanied from him from the Kuang-shou, the Yen-ch'ing community grew to five hundred strong. 75 The monastery's prosperity during this period is said to have surpassed even that of Chih-li's time. 76 In 1129, Fan-kuang retired to Fu-sheng Monastery in Feng-hua. 77 At this point, the entries in the Orthodox Lineage and the Comprehensive History report that the Yen-ch'ing Monastery was destroyed by soldiers and not restored for many years.78 This event undoubtedly refers to the Jurchen incursion into Ming-chou, which Chiehjan's (dates unknown) biography states took place on the seventh day of the first month of 1130, sending all of the monks into flight.79 Years passed as the Yen-ch'ing monastery lay in ruins. The prefect Ch'ou Yu (dates unknown), declaring that only Fan-kuang could bring prosperity back to the monastery, asked him to return as abbot. In 1142, Fan-kuang recommended his disciple Tao-ch'en (Ytian-pien, d. 1153) as his replacement. Fan-kuang is listed as a dharma heir of Chih-p'u in the Comprehensive History.80 This designation appears to have been based on the story of his awakening. Chih-p'u in his turn is presented as a disciple of T'ai-ch'u,81 who is listed as a disciple of Fan-chen. 82 The biographical entries for T'ai-ch'u and Chih-p'u are missing in the Comprehensive History. In the Orthodox Lineage lineage diagram, however, Fan-kuang is classified as a dharma heir of Yixan-ching, whose lineage is traced back through Tsu-shao to Tsun-shih.83 In his biographical entry, Fan-kuang is reported first to have studied T'ient'ai doctrine and meditation under Chien-wen and then to have traveled in the western part of Chekiang (the Hang-chou area), where T'ien-t'ai teaching was prospering. At that time Yuan-ching predicted his attainment of enlightenment (chi-pieh).M Fan-kuang then is said to have gone to Chih-p'u and attained enlightenment.

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The listing of Fan-kuang under Yuan-ching in the Orthodox Lineage lineage diagram appears to be based on this story of Yiianching's prediction. Curiously, this story, also found in Ho Ching's inscription, which provided the raw material for his biography in the universal histories, is missing in the Comprehensive History entry.85 Since the Orthodox Lineage also mentions Fan-kuang's enlightenment under Chih-p'u, Tsung-chien, the compiler of the Orthodox Lineage, apparently used different criteria for detemining Fan-kuang's lineage, deliberately emphasizing the importance of Yuan-chings prediction over the story of enlightenment under Chih-p'u. This example illustrates a trend in the Orthodox Lineage, which often determines lineage by focusing on the prophecy of enlightenment (chi-pieh).i6 Fan-kuang's lineage affiliation thus appears to have been unsettled at the time the Orthodox Lineage and the Comprehensive History were compiled. The Comprehensive History presents Fan-kuang in the branch lineage of Fan-chen, the Orthodox Lineage in that of Tsun-shih. Both histories, however, note his earlier connection with Chien-wen.87 He was thus a fellow student of Chung-li at Yen-ch'ing. Later, when Fankuang was about to leave Chih-p'u, the master told him, "You will prosper in the seat of Fa-chih (Chih-li)."88 Even Chih-p'u saw Fankuang as a monk from the Yen-ch'ing community who was destined to become its abbot. If Fan-kuang was generally regarded as Chienwen's disciple and destined, in the eyes of some, to one day be the abbot of Yen-ch'ing, the succession from Chung-li to Fan-kuang may not have been an unusual one for the Yen-ch'ing. Yet lineage historians Tsung-chien and Chih-p'an, focusing on the stories about prediction and enlightenment, presented Fan-kuang as a "dharma heir" either of Yuan-ching or Chih-p'u, who stood outside of the lineage from which the preceding abbots at Yen-ch'ing had been chosen. Thus their presentation appears to have been based on a new conception of dharma lineage. T A O - C H ' E N (D. I 1 5 3 ) . Tao-ch'en first studied under Tao-yiian at the Fa-ming Monastery in Yung-chia. His biographies state that "he understood the meaning of difficult words as soon as he heard them." 89 He concluded his training by studying under Fan-kuang at Yen-ch'ing.90 Subsequently, he returned to his home region of Wenchou (Yung-chia) and served as the abbot of the Kuang-chi Monastery, moving to the Kuang-tz'u Monastery after twelve years. In 1129, when Lin Ling-su's (dates unknown) old residence was turned

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into a Buddhist monastery called the Tzu-fu yuan, Tao-ch'en was asked to reside there. Probably while Tao-ch'en was at this monastery, his disciple Ch'ing-shun (dates unknown) had a dream in which the successive abbots of the Yen-ch'ing Monastery appeared with an attendant holding their lineage diagram (wei-t'u), on which the eighth position was left blank. When Ch'ing-shun pointed to it, he was told that his teacher would fill in that spot.91 While engaged in Pure Land practice, Tao-ch'en is reported to have achieved a miraculous insight (Ican-wu) in which he perceived that the mind and the Pure Land are one, much in the same way that the moon and the water reflecting it are one. This event indicates Tao-ch'en's dedication to the contemplative practice of Pure Land that occupied an important place in Sung T'ien-t'ai practice. Among his later accomplishments as abbot of the Yen-ch'ing Monastery were his promotion of the traditional T'ien-t'ai Pure Land teaching as well as the establishment of a Pure Land society that emulated the one previously founded by Chih-li at the Yen-ch'ing Monastery.92 The Comprehensive History and the Orthodox Lineage entries on Tao-ch'en contain another story of miraculous vision. One day while meditating, Tao-ch'en had a vision in which Chih-li appeared. Taoch'en requested instruction and achieved enlightenment. After this event, Tao-ch'en became regarded as the spokesperson for the orthodox position represented by Chih-li's Shan-chia (Home Mountain) faction, whose ideas are discussed in the chapters by Brook Ziporyn and Chi-wah Ch'an.93 Tao-ch'en did indeed become "the eighth-generation abbot" when Fan-kuang retired in 1142 and recommended Tao-ch'en as his successor.94 Faced with the task of rebuilding the monastery after its destruction at the hands of invading barbarians, Tao-ch'en within a short time restored the monastery to its former glory. Tao-ch'en's biography contains two or three accounts of his enlightenment. According to the Comprehensive History, and less clearly the Orthodox Lineage, these enlightenment incidents culminated in his visionary encounter with Chih-li. This account of miraculous instruction from Chih-li himself as well Ch'ing-shun's vision of his future appointment as the eighth abbot can be seen as stories of legitimation. These stories are unique in the context of the varying accounts of appointments in the Comprehensive History and the Orthodox Lineage. The Sung T'ien-t'ai tradition appears to have gone to unusual length in legitimizing Tao-ch'en's appointment at Yen-

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ch'ing, Chih-li's home monastery. The appointment itself may have been seen as unusual and may have marked an important turning point in the history of this tradition. In the universal histories Tao-ch'en is presented as a dharma heir of Tao-yüan, whose lineage harked back to Chih-li's disciple Shanghsien.95 Tao-yüan is listed as a dharma heir of Ch'u-yüan (dates unknown), 96 who in turn is classified as a dharma heir of Chi-chung;97 Chi-chung is presented as a dharma heir of Shang-hsien. 98 Chichung was based at the Fa-ming monastery in Yung-chia,99 and he passed the abbacy of this monastery on to his student Ch'u-yüan.100 Tao-yüan was also Chi-chung's student and is said to have taught at the same monastery, possibly as the abbot after Ch'u-yüan.101 The lineage diagram in the Comprehensive History contains a note, the main part of which might be translated as follows: The transmission from Kuang-chih [Shang-hsien] to Fu-tsung [Chi-chung] may be taken as transmission from Ming-chou to Wen-chou. Third-generation dharma heirs of Fu-tsung consist of Ching-she [Ch'u-lien] and Yüan-pien [Tao-ch'en]; Ching-she transmitted [the dharma] in Wen-chou, [but] Yüan-pien [who was originally from Wen-chou] transmitted [the dharma] in Mingchou. [Thus,] Ming-chou and Wen-chou transmitted dharma from one to the other in both directions. Without Yüan-pien the Way of Kuang-chih would have died out. The [lineage of] the four Chih's [i.e., Fa-chih (Chih-li), Kuang-chih (Shang-hsien), Shenchih (Chien-wen), and Ming-chih (Chung-li)] disappeared after one further generation.102 In this quotation Wen-chou refers to Yung-chia, located south of T'ien-t'ai and T'ai-chou in Chekiang. Chih-p'an is here openly acknowledging that Shang-hsien's lineage died out at the Yen-ch'ing Monastery one generation after Chung-li and was supplanted by the dharma heirs from Chi-chung's lineage in Yung-chia. Chi-chung was from Yung-chia and was based at the Fa-ming Monastery there; succeeding abbots at this monastery form the core of his lineage. Ch'ulien remained at this monastery and continued this lineage at the Fa-ming monastery in Wen-chou. Ch'u-lien's fellow student under Tao-yüan, Tao-ch'en, was invited to become the abbot at the Yench'ing monastery in Ming-chou. The Comprehensive History entry on Chi-chung tells an elaborate story about the early years of Chi-chung's life. Chi-chung's family was in Yung-chia. His parents wanted to have a son and prayed at a Buddhist shrine. They then both had the same dream in which a

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monk conferred a child on them, saying, "The honorable one of Lo-ch'i [i.e., Hsi-chi, who came to be listed in the Comprehensive History as the fifteenth patriarch] entrusts this child to you so that you will raise him." When the mother became pregnant, she abhorred eating meat. As noted above, Hsi-chi was himself from Yung-chia, a fact that was widely known.103 This story of miraculous conception appears to have been designed to emphasize Chi-chung s close connection with Yung-chia and particularly his connection with the old T'ien-t'ai tradition there that went back through Hsi-chi to Hstianchiieh. According to this biographical entry, while Chi-chung was an infant, every time he saw a Buddha image, he paid respect to it. At the age of eight, he entered the K'ai-yiian Monastery and eventually was certified officially as a monk. He then went to Yen-ch'ing and studied under Shang-hsien. Becoming ill as a result of austerities, Tao-ch'en undertook the Invocation of Kuan-yin Repentance. 104 The image of Kuan-yin emitted light and poured water over the head of Chi-chung, who was then cured. After this event, he had an enlightened insight into every aspect of the T'ien-t'ai doctrine and contemplation. Shang-hsien deeply appreciated his abilities and from time to time had him serve as substitute lecturer. Chan master Ch'unghsien of Hsiieh-tou (980-1052, Ming-chiieh) saw him and declared, "The Way of Chih-li found its transmission." 105 Chi-chung appears to have maintained a close relationship with Yung-chia all his life. Having completed his training, he returned to Yung-chia, where his family resided. People in Yung-chia invited him to reside at the Eastern Pavilion of K'ai-yiian Monastery.106 This K'ai-yiian was probably the same monastery where he had begun his monk's career. He subsequently moved about to other Yung-chia monasteries, the Miao-kuo, Hui-an, and Chiang-hsin. Finally, he was appointed abbot of the Fa-ming Monastery on the West Lake in Yung-chia.107 It was during this period that the previously mentioned story of Ch'i-neng s offer to bestow Chih-i's incense burner and fly whisk on Chi-chung took place. Chi-chung declined the objects that had been passed down through fourteen generations, saying, "I received the dharma from Kuang-chih [Shang-hsien]." Ch'i-neng then placed these ritual objects at the T'ien-t'ai monastery (tao-ch'ang), and the transmission ceased.108 In the Orthodox Lineage this story about Chih-i's incense burner and whisk appears twice. It is first mentioned at the end of the entry on the fifteenth patriarch Hsi-chi, where Chi-

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chung is simply said not to have accepted the objects, and his relationship to Shang-hsien is not mentioned. 109 The story appears again in the entry on Chi-chung, where Chi-chung is said to have declined because he had received dharma from Shang-hsien. 110 In the Comprehensive History Ch'i-neng is listed as a dharma heir of Tsung-yii, who in turn was a "third-generation" dharma heir of Hsi-chi, the fifteenth patriarch by the Comprehensive History's count. This story needs to be read against the background of Chi-chung s close connection with Yung-chia. Both in the first Orthodox Lineage passage and in the Comprehensive History, the story of Ch'i-neng's offer and Chi-chung s refusal appear in the section of dharma heirs of the fifteenth patriarch Hsi-chi. This placement of the story suggests that it was told primarily to explain how the lineage of the fifteenth patriarch at Mount T'ien-t'ai ended with Ch'i-neng.111 With Chi-chung the loyalty of the T'ien-t'ai community at Yung-chia appears to have been deliberately switched from Hsi-chi to Chih-li. Hsi-chi had resided at Lo-ch'i on Mount T'ien-t'ai, while his thirdgeneration descendant Tsung-yii lived at the Kuo-ch'ing Monastery there.112 That Tsung-yii offered Chih-i's incense burner and fly whisk to Ch'i-neng, who was also from Yung-chia,113 suggests that a close relationship existed between Yung-chia and Mount T'ien-t'ai.114 Chichung's refusal to accept these ritual implements signaled not only the end of this lineage on Mount T'ien-t'ai but also a shift in allegiance to the new version of T'ien-t'ai teaching offered by Chih-li and his group based in Ming-chou. Chi-chung's allegiance to Chih-li went far beyond a verbal announcement. He worked assiduously to promote, protect, and preserve Chih-li's heritage. In this regard, he is widely known for his Compendium in Aid of the Tradition (Fu-tsung chi), a compilation of fifty fascicles, now lost, of polemical works by Chih-li and Jen-yiieh directed at the Shan-wai faction. 115 In the preface, dated 1076, to Chih-li's Ten Points of Criticism (Ssu-ming shih-i shu), which was also directed against the Shan-wai teaching, Chi-chung describes himself as the "grandson [in dharma]" (fa-sun) and mentions that he has studied under Shang-hsien. 116 He also collected the letters from a series of exchanges between the Ch'an monk Tzu-ning of T'ient'ung and Chih-li, the postscript of which is dated 1070.117 Chi-chung appears, then, to have spent the last years of his life, which ended in 1082, collecting and editing important documents from Chih-li's life.118 Elsewhere in the Orthodox Lineage and the Comprehensive His-

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tory, Chung-li is said to have gone to visit Chi-chung in Yung-chia during the Hsi-ning period (1068-1077). When Chung-li was about to leave, Chi-chung predicted that he would succeed in Chih-li's seat as the abbot of the Yen-ch'ing Monastery.119 Chi-chung, based at Yung-chia, appears to have exerted considerable influence on the Yen-ch'ing in his own lifetime. As noted above, Chih-p'an's note in the Comprehensive History lineage diagram observes further that after four generations through the lineage of Chih-li's immediate dharma heir, Shang-hsien, the abbacy at Chih-li's own monastery was handed to Chi-chung's dharma heirs. Without them Chih-li's teaching at Yen-ch'ing might have ceased. Chi-chung's refusal to transmit Chih-i's incense burner and fly whisk and his adoption of new initiatives from Ming-chou (Chih-li) can be taken as an important moment in the evolution of the Sung T'ien-t'ai orthodoxy. The old lineage through Hsi-chi with its close connection to Yung-chia and Mount T'ien-t'ai was replaced with a new one, which traced its connection with Hsi-chi now through I-t'ung and Chih-li, who were based at Ming-chou. Chi-chung appears to have been the first person to use the expression "Shan-wai" (Off Mountain), referring critically to the group based in the Hang-chou area that opposed Chih-li. This group claimed affiliation with the fourteenth patriarch Ch'ing-sung based on Mount T'ien-t'ai.120 By refusing to receive Chih-i's incense burner and whisk, Chi-chung was in effect disclaiming any tie with either Ch'ing-sung or Hsi-chi, who was also a Yung-chia native. In this way, Chi-chung appears to have taken on himself the role of judge, identifying the true T'ien-t'ai school (Shan-chia, "Home Mountain"). As pointed out earlier, both the Shan-wai group, claiming affiliation with the fourteenth patriarch Ch'ing-sung, and the Shan-chia group (i.e., Chih-li, Tsun-shih, and so on), affiliated with the sixteenth patriarch I-t'ung, were based outside Mount T'ien-t'ai, the former group in Hang-chou and the latter in Ming-chou (and later also in Ch'ien-t'ang). While claiming their patriarchal lineage through obscure figures at Mount T'ien-t'ai, Sung T'ien-t'ai leaders left the mountain and established their bases of activity in urban areas apart from this mountain. In rejecting the old lineage of transmission, symbolized by Chih-i's incense burner and fly whisk, in favor of Shang-hsien's teaching, Chi-chung may have been indicating that Shang-hsien at the Yen-ch'ing Monastery in Ming-chou transmitted the true teaching of the T'ien-t'ai patriarchs based earlier at Mount T'ien-t'ai. His use of the term "Shan-wai" (Off Mountain) can also

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be understood in a similar fashion. The views held by the group based at Hang-chou were thought to diverge from the true teaching of the patriarchs at Mount T'ien-t'ai.121 Chi-chung's close relationship with Chung-li can also be understood in the light of this discussion. I observed previously that Chung-li restored the sixteenth patriarch I-t'ung's old monastery and that Tsung-cheng, Chung-li's fellow disciple under Chien-wen, located I-t'ung's grave on Mount Asoka. I-t'ung left Mount T'ien-t'ai to settle in Ming-chou, where he became the teacher of Chih-li and Tsun-shih. Chih-li's followers promoted I-t'ung's cause in order to solidify their relationship with the patriarchal lineage based at Mount T'ien-t'ai. Once I-t'ung's reputation as the sixteenth patriarch succeeding the fifteenth patriarch Hsi-chi at Mount T'ien-t'ai was firmly established, the claim of Chih-li's group as the true "Home Mountain" became more credible.122 This analysis suggests that it was through the mediation of Chichung, to whom the transmission of the old T'ien-t'ai lineage had been offered, that Chih-li's group established their claim to orthodoxy in Sung T'ien-t'ai. This appears to be the significance of Chihp'an's comment in the lineage diagram. The significance of Chichung's compilation of central doctrinal writings from Chih-li's group must also be understood in this larger context. The appointment of Tao-ch'en, a direct heir of Chi-chung's lineage based at Faming Monastery in Yung-chia, as the abbot of the Yen-ch'ing Monastery must also have signified that the status of this monastery had now clearly changed from that of an institution whose reputation was based on its close relationship to Chih-li to that of a universal monastic center representing the orthodoxy of the "Home Mountain" and its patriarchs at Mount T'ien-t'ai. This new understanding of the status of Chih-li's group also lies behind the construction of the universal lineage histories centered on the succession of abbots at Yen-ch'ing. The succession of abbots at Yen-ch'ing was no longer understood simply as a local concern of one monastery but was an event that guaranteed the continuation of the T'ien-t'ai lineage as a whole. This new conception of universal lineage history must have been widely accepted by the time Taoch'en was appointed in 1142. The biography of Chih-lien reports that at the time of his death in 1153, Tao-ch'en was working on the restoraCHIH-LIEN (D. 1 1 6 3 ) .

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tion of Yen-ch'ing.123 It was the Ch'an master Hung-chih (1091-1157) at T'ien-t'ung who recommended Chih-lien to the prefect as Taoch'en's successor.124 During his visit with the Ch'an master, Chih-lien had impressed Hung-chih greatly with an appropriate reply to his challenging comment. Chih-lien had first seen Chung-li and studied under Fan-kuang at Yen-ch'ing, and eventually achieved enlightenment under Chih-yung of Pai-lien (d. 1141).125 Thus it may have been his close association to the Yen-ch'ing, through Chung-li and Fankuang, that made him a likely candidate for the abbotship at Yench'ing. Chih-lien lectured for ten years as the abbot of Yen-ch'ing and completed its restoration. Chih-lien's tenure at Yen-ch'ing appears to have lasted roughly from 1153 to 1163. It is in terms of his enlightenment under Chih-yung that the Orthodox Lineage and the Comprehensive History identify Chih-lien as Chih-yung's dharma heir and as belonging to the group of the fifth-generation dharma heirs in the branch of Pen-ju. TAO-YIN (TS'AO-AN, 1090-1167). Tao-yin studied under Chung-li at Pao-yiin.126 After a series of appointments, toward the end of his life he served as the abbot of Yen-ch'ing.127 The exact date of Tao-yin's tenure is unknown, but it appears to have fallen between Chih-lien's death in 1163 and that of Yu-p'eng (d. 1169), who served as the abbot of Yen-ch'ing late in his life. On account of the confusion about his lineage affiliation, Tao-yin is classified in the "miscellaneous biographies" section in the Comprehensive History. Before his birth, his mother dreamt that Wents'an, who is listed as an immediate disciple of Chih-li,128 came into her bed. The following morning, the message of Wen-ts'an's death arrived.129 Thus everyone regarded Tao-yin as Wen-ts'an's reincarnation (hou-shen),130 and in the Orthodox Lineage his entry is appended to that of Wen-ts'an.131 Though Tao-yin himself is said to have made this claim,132 in the "old diagram" he was listed as a disciple of Chung-li.133

1169). Yu-p'eng is said first to have studied under Yiin-tz'u (dates unknown) 134 and then to have gone to Tsech'ing (d. 1108).135 Though there is no indication that Yu-p'eng had studied at Yen-ch'ing, toward the end of his life he served as the abbot of Yen-ch'ing.136 He might have succeeded Tao-yin. The universal histories list Yu-p'eng as the dharma heir of Tse-ch'ing,137 from YU-P'ENG ( M U - A N , D.

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whom he was reported to have secured a prediction of future enlightenment (te-chi).ni Tse-ch'ing's lineage goes back through Ts'ungchien139 to Fan-chen at Nan-p'ing.140 HUI-HSUN (YUEH-T'ANG, D. I 179). The biography of Hui-hsun notes that he first had an audience with Chtieh-hsien at Yen-ch'ing before he left for Tung-i. He later traveled in the lower Chekiang region and finally returned to Yen-ch'ing to study under Tao-ch'en. Hui-hsun achieved enlightenment under Tao-ch'en141 and is listed as his dharma heir.142 Hui-hsun became the abbot of Yen-ch'ing in 1169.143 Thus he appears to have succeeded Yu-p'eng, who died toward the end of the previous year. Hui-hsiin's later efforts to bring Chiieh-hsien's grave to Yen-ch'ing, mentioned in the entry on Chiiehhsien,144 must have been motivated by his personal acquaintance with this earlier abbot.

According to the entry on K'okuan, it was in 1180 that, following the recommendation Hui-hsiin made at his death, the Prince of Wei appointed K'o-kuan as the abbot of Yen-ch'ing.145 K'o-kuan appears to have succeeded Huihsiin shortly after his death. Hui-hsiin himself appears to have succeeded Yu-p'eng, a fellow disciple of K'o-kuan under Tse-ch'ing at Ch'e-ch'i. K'o-kuan served less than two years in that position and returned to Chu-an.146 There is no indication that K'o-kuan was a student at Yen-ch'ing. In the Comprehensive History and the Orthodox Lineage, K'o-kuan is listed as a dharma heir of Tse-ch'ing (d. 1108) at Ch'e-ch'i.147 K'O-KUAN (CHU-AN, 1094-1182).

CH'U-KUNG AND MING-CHE. The account of the Comprehensive History leaves a gap of nine years after K'o-kuan retired in 1182. The undated tenure of two monks may have fallen within this period. Ch'u-kung, who is said to have followed Tao-ch'en for a long time and grasped the meaning of his teaching, became the abbot of Yench'ing late in his life.148 The entry on Ming-che, who once studied under the Ch'an master Hung-chih, states that Ming-che was asked by the prefect Fan Ch'eng-ta (d. 1192) to serve as the abbot of the Yen-ch'ing Monastery.149 Ming-che studied under Fa-chao of Nengjen and is listed as a dharma heir of Fa-chao in Fan-chen's lineage.150 SHAN-YUEH (1149-1241). In 1191 the abbot's seat became vacant and the prefect Ho Tan (dates unknown) requested Shan-yueh to

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assume it.151 According to his biography, Shan-yiieh first went to the Yen-ch'ing to study under Tao-yin,152 who predicted, "You will promote our school at some other time."153 He then went to Yu-lun at Yiieh-po; Yu-lun had studied for a long time under Tao-yin and served as the abbot of Yiieh-po late in his life.154 Shan-yiieh then returned to Yen-ch'ing, where he encountered Hui-hsiin and achieved enlightenment.155 After Hui-hsiin passed away, Shan-yiieh served as the special messenger who went to K'o-kuan and requested him to become the next abbot.156 Shan-yiieh served as K'o-kuan s head monk.157 He was then appointed as the abbot of Yen-ch'ing. Shanyiieh served in this position for thirteen years and retired in 1204. In 1213 Shan-yiieh was again asked to head the Yen-ch'ing Monastery, but within a month he was called away to the Upper T'ienchu.158 In the Comprehensive History Shan-yiieh is listed as a dharma heir of Hui-hsiin.159

The Evolution of the Sung T'ien-t'ai Lineage History The above study of the succession of abbots at the Yen-ch'ing Monastery has revealed a significant distinction between the line of abbots leading up to and including Chung-li and those leading away from him starting with Fan-kuang. Between these two there existed a period of uncertainty. It is impossible, on the basis of the biographical entries in the T'ien-t'ai universal histories, to reconstruct in detail the abbot succession during the period of Chung-li s repeated appointments as the abbot of Yen-ch'ing. With the appearance of Fan-kuang following Chung-li, the histories evidence a new conception of dharma transmission. The significance of this break is underscored by an examination of Ch'ao Yiieh-chih's inscription for Chung-li. This inscription contained an account of the T'ien-t'ai lineage up to Chung-li, which appears to have been well known. This knowledge was demonstrated by Chih-p'an, who, in compiling the Comprehensive History, explicitly declared that by tracing Chan-jan's successor to Tao-sui rather than to Hsing-man, he was following the account in Tsan-ning's Sung Biographies of Eminent Monks (Sung kao-seng chuan) and not that in Ch'ao Yiieh-chih's inscription.160 In Chaos inscription, the T'ien-t'ai lineage from Chih-i through Chih-li to Chien-wen is explicitly marked as "transmission" (ch'uan). As successors of Chien-wen, the inscription names first Chi-chung of Yung-chia and then Chung-li. Chi-chung is credited for recording

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the teaching of "the three Chihs" (Fa-chih Chih-li, Kuang-chih Shang-hsien, and Shen-chih Chien-wen), thereby averting the T'ient'ai tradition's decay and ensuring its transmission. Chung-li is said to have studied under Chien-wen and to have succeeded him at Yench'ing, fulfilling the prediction that Chi-chung had made earlier in Wen-chou.161 In giving precedence to Chi-chung over Chung-li and emphasizing Chi-chung's contribution in assuring the "transmission," Ch'ao s inscription discloses a new conception of lineage not based on the succession of the abbacy.162 This new emphasis was no doubt beholden in part to Chi-chung himself, who appears to have played an important role in the evolution of the new conception of T'ien-t'ai orthodoxy and its lineage history. The period in which Ch'ao Yueh-chih's inscription was produced appears to have been a turning point in the development of Sung T'ien-t'ai both in terms of a newly emergent self-consciousness, which initiated the formation of lineage histories, and with regard to the appearance of a new conception of lineage transmission. Written shortly after Chung-li's death in 1114, Ch'ao's account of the T'ien-t'ai lineage concludes with Chung-li. This same period witnessed the production of the Record of the Origin of the Tradition (Tsung-yuan lu) to which the Comprehensive History traced the origin of T'ien-t'ai lineage history. This first lineage history, which reportedly presented the transmission of the T'ien-t'ai teaching up to the Yiian-yu period of the Sung (1086-1094), in all probability also traced the lineage of Yen-ch'ing's abbacy only as far as Chung-li. Since the lists of succeeding abbots and the lineage of dharma transmission of the universal histories, which were based on this early attempt, correspond closely until Chung-li at the Yen-ch'ing (and to even later generations in other major centers), this first T'ien-t'ai lineage history appears to have constructed its account of Sung T'ien-t'ai lineage according to the succession of abbots at major centers. The new conception of lineage history, in which the two issues of the succession of abbots and of dharma transmission were clearly separated (for later T'ien-t'ai masters), would have not yet been introduced in this first Sung lineage history. The new conception of lineage history found its proper expression, then, in the presentation of Yen-ch'ing abbots who came after Chung-li. These figures, beginning with Fan-kuang, were introduced through the subsequent constructions of T'ien-t'ai history that followed the Record of the Origin of the Tradition.163 It is with the addition of these figures after Fan-kuang that the more comprehensive

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lineage system as found in the Orthodox Lineage and the Comprehensive History came into being. Despite their comprehensive and synthetic nature, the Orthodox Lineage and the Comprehensive History should not be regarded as finished products that brought to a definitive conclusion the process that has been outlined above. When examined closely, these works reveal that significant differences exist between the lineage diagrams of the two works. Furthermore, the lists of dharma heirs (masters) at the beginning of each fascicle in the Comprehensive History often do not agree with the more detailed presentation in the lineage diagram. The biographies of many of these dharma heirs mentioned at the beginning of the fascicle are missing. Even the more fully developed presentation of the Sung T'ien-t'ai lineage in the Comprehensive History leaves the impression that the account given there is less than complete. Although from our present perspective the Comprehensive History represents a denouement of the process of constructing a comprehensive account of Sung T'ien-t'ai dharma lineage, in reality it remained a "work in progress."164 The Orthodox Lineage and the Comprehensive History will continue to be mainstays for scholars seeking to understand the development of the T'ien-t'ai school in the Sung period. The findings of the present chapter caution us, however, that these invaluable sources of T'ien-t'ai history cannot be taken at face value, nor can they properly be studied without an awareness of the process that led up to their formation. Further exploration of the dynamics of that process will lend not only a clearer understanding of these universal histories but also a deeper insight into the development of Sung T'ien-t'ai itself.

APPENDIX 1 The Universal History Lineage History and Diagram Both the Orthodox Lineage and the Comprehensive History present the T'ien-t'ai lineage system in a biography collection and attached diagram. These four presentations of the lineage agree in broad outline, though they also differ considerably in details and occasionally on points that are of special interest for this chapter. The summary below generally follows the version presented in the Comprehensive History biography section. For each category of dharma heirs, I first give the number of names listed and then reproduce the names of

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the masters whose dharma heirs are listed in subsequent sections. Names of the monasteries where the master was based are given in parentheses. The names of dharma masters who also appear in the list of succeeding abbots at major T'ien-t'ai centers (Appendix 2) are given in bold; the names of these centers as well as the reconstructed standings in the lineages of abbots are given in parentheses. In addition, I reproduce the names of lineage historians (italic). Tsun-shih's Dharma Heirs (at Ling-shan) First generation (11 names): Tsu-shao (Ling-shan, 2d) Second generation (6 names): Hui-pien (Ling-shan, 3d), Ssu-i (Ling-shan, 4th), Yiianching (Ling-shan, 5th; also Upper T'ien-chu, 2d) Third generation (9 names): dharma heirs of Hui-pien (2 names): Ts'ung-ya dharma heirs of Ssu-i (5 names): Te-hsien (Ling-shan, 6th), Chung-yuan (Ling-shan, 7th), Yung-k'an (Ling-shan, 8th), Hui-jih (Ling-shan, 9th) dharma heirs of Yuan-ching (2 names) Fourth generation: dharma heir of Ts'ung-ya (1 name) dharma heir of Chung-yuan (1 name) dharma heir of Yung-k'an: Tzu-lin (Ling-shan, 10th) Chih-li's Followers (at Yen-ch'ing and Other Affiliated Monasteries) First generation (25 names): Shang-hsien (Yen-ch'ing, 2d), Pen-ju (Tung-i; Pai-lien, 1st), Fan-chen (Upper T'ien-chu, 1st; Nan-p'ing), Tse-ch'iian (San-hsiieh), Ch'ung-chii (Fu-shih), Hui-ts'ai (Fa-hui Jeweled Pavilion) Second generation: dharma heirs of Shang-hsien (10 names): Chien-wen (Yench'ing, 3d), Chi-chung (Fa-ming, 1st), Wei-chan (Ch'ao-kuo) dharma heirs of Pen-ju (9 names): Ch'u-hsien (Pai-lien, 3d), Ch'u-ch'ien (Pai-lien, 2d), Yu-yen (Cha-an on Mount T'ien-t'ai) dharma heirs of Fan-chen (9 names): Ts'ung-chien (Upper T'ien-chu, 3d), T'ai-ch'u (Chun-feng), Yung-wen (Nan-p'ing), Hui-hsien (Ch'ao-kuo) dharma heirs of Tse-ch'iian (San-hsiieh) (1 name)

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dharma heirs of Ch'ung-chii (Fu-shih) (4 names): Wen-ch'i (Ching-yun) dharma heirs of Hui-ts'ai (Fa-hui Jeweled Pavilion) (7 names) Third generation: The Shang-hsien lineage: dharma heirs of Chien-wen (3 names): Chung-li (Yen-ch'ing, 4th), Tsung-cheng (Yen-ch'ing, 5th) dharma heirs of Chi-chung (2 names): Ch'u-yuan (Fa-ming, 2d; Ts'ao-t'ang) dharma heir of [Wei]-chan (Ch'ao-kuo) (1 name) The Pen-ju lineage: dharma heirs of Ch'u-hsien (3 names): Tao-ch'ing (Pai-lien), Yuan-hui (Pai-lien, 4th) dharma heirs of Ch'u-ch'ien (7 names): Ching-fan (Pei-ch'an), Tse-ying (Te-tsang), Liang-pi (Shou-an) dharma heirs of Yu-yen (2 names, both at T'ien-t'ai) The Fan-chen lineage: dharma heirs of Ts'ung-ch'ien (12 names): Tse-ch'ing (Ch'e-ch'i), Ch'i-yu (Upper T'ien-chu, 4th), Yiin-tz'u (Neng-jen), Ju-ch'ing (Upper T'ien-chu, 5th), Ying-ju (Upper T'ien-chu, 6th), Tsung-min (Pao-en), Tz'u-yiin, Chih-chien dharma heir of T'ai-ch'u (1 name): Chih-p'u dharma heir of Yung-wen (1 name): Chung-min (Fu-shih) dharma heirs of Hui-hsien (3 names): Yiin-ch'i The Fu-shih lineage: dharma heir of Wen-ch'i (2 names) Fourth generation: The Shang-hsien lineage: dharma heirs of Chung-li (7 names): Chiieh-hsien (Yen-ch'ing, 8th) dharma heirs of Ch'u-yuan (1 name): Tao-yiian (Fa-ming, 3d) (fellow student under Chi-chung, according to the biography) The Pen-ju lineage: dharma heirs of Yuan-hui (3 names): Liao-jan (Pai-lien, 6th), Chih-hsien (Pai-lien, 5th) dharma heir of Tao-ch'ing (1 name) dharma heirs of Ching-fan (5 names): Hui-ming, Hui-tao (Ch'ao-kuo)

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dharma heir of Tse-ying (1 name) dharma heir of Liang-pi (1 name) The Fan-chen lineage: dharma heirs of Tse-ch'ing (3 names): K'o-kuan (Yen-ch'ing, 15th; Chu-an), Yu-p'eng (Yen-ch'ing, 13th; Mu-an), Tao-hsin dharma heirs of Ch'i-yu (9 names): Fa-chiu (Ch'ing-hsiu), Shen-huan, Ju-chan dharma heirs of Yiin-tz'u (4 names): Chung-chiao dharma heirs of Ju-ching (2 names) dharma heirs of Ying-ju (5 names) dharma heir of Tsung-min (1 name) dharma heir of Tz'u-yun (1 name) dharma heirs of Chih-chien (2 names) dharma heirs of Chih-p'u (2 names): Fan-kuang (Yen-ch'ing, 9th), Chih-ch'in dharma heir of Chung-min (1 name) dharma heirs of Yiin-ch'i (2 names) Fifth generation The Shang-hsien lineage: dharma heirs of Tao-yiian (2 names): Ch'u-lien (Chingshe), Tao-ch'en (Yen-ch'ing, 10th) The Pen-ju lineage: dharma heirs of Liao-jan (9 names): Chih-lien (Yen-ch'ing, 11th), Yu-hsien (Pai-lien, 8th), Tzu-mou (Pai-lien, 9th), Pen-k'ung (Pai-lien, 10th) dharma heir of Chih-hsien (1 name): Cheng-wu Yuan-chih (Upper T'ien-chu, 7th) dharma heir of Hui-tao (1 name) dharma heir of Hui-ming (1 name) The Fan-chen lineage: dharma heirs of K'o-kuan (3 names): Tsung-yin dharma heirs of Yu-p'eng (7 names): Huai-pao (Neng-jen) dharma heir of Tao-hsin (1 name): Shan-jung dharma heirs of Fa-chiu (2 names) dharma heir of Shen-huan (1 name): Chien-yen dharma heir of Ju-chan (1 name) dharma heirs of Chung-chiao (4 names): Ming-che (Tse-an) (Yen-ch'ing, 17th), Tao-shan (Neng-jen) dharma heir of Fan-kuang: 1 name dharma heir of Chih-ch'in (1 name): Li-yuan (Yang-chien)

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Sixth generation: The Shang-hsien lineage: dharma heirs of Ch'u-lien (7 names): Fa-chou (Hsiu-an), Wen-chieh (Fa-ming) dharma heirs of Tao-ch'en (7 names): Hui-hsiin (Yen-ch'ing, 14th), Ch'u-kung (I-an) (Yen-ch'ing, 16th), Fa-lien (Chih-an) The Pen-ju lineage: dharma heirs of Chih-lien (2 names) dharma heirs of Cheng-wu Yuan-chih (1 name): Jo-na (Upper T'ien-chu, 8th) The Fan-chen lineage: dharma heirs of Tsung-yin (16 names): Fa-chao (Fo-kuang), Fan-k'uei, Liao-yiian, Huai-t'an, Chiieh-hsien, Wu K'o-chi (K'ai-an) dharma heir of Huai-pao (1 name) dharma heir of Shan-jung (1 name) dharma heirs of Miao-ytin (2 names) dharma heirs of Chien-yen (3 names): Ssu-i, Miao-hsin (Tsung-an) dharma heirs of Tao-shan (2 names): Fa-hsi (Pai-lien, 11th, Pi-an), Fa-hsiung (Pai-lien, 12th, Nan-yen) dharma heirs of Li-yuan (2 names) Seventh generation: The Shang-hsien lineage: dharma heirs of Fa-chou (1 name): Ching-wu (Huo-an) dharma heirs of Wen-chieh (1 name): Tzu-chen dharma heirs of Hui-hsiin (6 names): Fa-teng (I-t'ang), Shan-yueh (Yen-ch'ing, 18th; Upper T'ien-chu, 9th), Ching-hui (Yiieh-an), Tsung-hsiao dharma heirs of Ch'u-kung (3 names) dharma heirs of Fa-lien (3 names): Ching-ch'ien (Ching-an) The Pen-ju lineage: dharma heirs of Jo-na (8 names): Ts'ung-chieh The Fan-chen lineage: dharma heirs of Fa-chao (16 names) (23 names) dharma heirs of Huai-t'an (2 names) dharma heir of Chixeh-hsien (1 name) dharma heirs of Liao-yiian (3 names) dharma heirs of Fan-k'uei (2 names)

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dharma heirs of Ssu-i (6 names) dharma heir of Miao-hsin (Tsung-an) (1 name) dharma heirs of Fa-hsi (Pai-lien, 11th, Pi-an) (1 name) dharma heirs of Fa-hsiung (Pai-lien, 12th, Nan-yen) (1 name) Eighth generation: The Shang-hsien lineage: dharma heir of Ching-wu (1 name): Wen-hu dharma heir of Tzu-chen (1 name): Shih-ch'ang (Fa-ming) dharma heirs of Fa-teng (8 names): Yiin-hsien (T'ung-an), Yuan-ch'i dharma heirs of Shan-yiieh (14 names) dharma heirs of Ching-hui (7 names) The Pen-ju lineage: dharma heirs of Ts'ung-chieh (1 name) Ninth generation: The Shang-hsien lineage: dharma heirs of Wen-hu (7 names) dharma heirs of Shih-ch'ang (2 names) dharma heirs of Ytin-hsien (13 names): Chih-p'an dharma heirs of Yuan-ch'i (1 name)

APPENDIX 2 Succession of Abbots at Major Sung T'ien-t'ai Centers The abbots are numbered below for easier identification. Since the accounts in the Comprehensive History and the Orthodox Lineage are often not complete, these numbers do not necessarily indicate the actual standings of each abbot at his monastery. The Yen-ch'ing Monastery at Nan-hu in Ming-chou 1. Chih-li (960-1028) 2. Shang-hsien, on Chih-li's death in 1028 3. Chien-wen 4. Chung-li (1046-1114) 5. Tsung-cheng, became abbot at the beginning of Chih-p'ing period, 1064-1067 (?) 6. Chung-li (second term), on Tsung-cheng s death 7. Fan-kuang (1064-1143), first appointed in 1114, immediately following Chung-li's death; retired in 1129

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8. Chiieh-hsien (1069-1143), retired in 1138 9. Fan-kuang (second term), retired in 1142 ("the eighth abbot") 10. Tao-ch'en (d. 1153), appointed in 1142; ended tenure in 1153 11. Chih-lien (d. 1163), appointed to succeed Tao-ch'en, probably around 1142, and served until his death in 1163 12. Tao-yin (1090-1167), appointed toward the end of his life, possibly succeeding Chih-lien 13. Yu-p'eng (d. 1169), appointed toward the end of his life, possibly succeeding Tao-yin 14. Hui-hsun (d. 1179), appointed in 1169 and probably served until his death 15. K'o-kuan (1094-1182), appointed in 1180; retired in 1082 16. Ch'u-kung (?) 17. Ming-che (?) 18. Shan-yiieh (1149-1241), appointed in 1191 and again briefly in 1213 The Lower T'ien-chu Monastery at Ling-shan in Hang-chou 1. Tsun-shih (964-1032) 2. Tsu-shao 3. Hui-pien (d. 1073) 4. Ssu-i (d. 1088), appointed in Hsi-ning (1071?) 5. Yuan-ching (d. 1091) 6. Te-hsien 7. Chung-yuan 8. Yung-k'an 9. Hui-jih 10. Tzu-lin According to the Comprehensive History it was Ssu-i's dharma heirs, Te-hsien, Chung-yuan, Yung-k'an, and Hui-jih, who became the succeeding abbots of Ling-shan. The Orthodox Lineage diagram diverges somewhat at this point from the Comprehensive History: no dharma heirs are listed under Ssu-i. Monks listed as Ssu-i's dharma heirs in the Comprehensive History are listed as Ts'ung-ya's dharma heirs in the Orthodox Lineage, 392b. Pai-lien at Mount Tung-i in T'ien-t'ai 1.Pen-ju (982-1051) 2. Ch'u-ch'ien (1011-1075), stayed at Pai-lien for seventeen years 3. Ch'u-hsien (1006-1086) 4. Yiian-hui

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5. Chih-hsien (Chen-chiao) 6. Liao-jan (d. 1138) 7. Yuan-chih (Cheng-wu, d. 1158) 8. Yu-hsien(d. 1163) 9. Tzu-mou 10. Pen-k'ung 11. Fa-hsi 12. Fa-hsiung Upper T'ien-chu in Hang-chou The Sung T'ien-t'ai affiliation of this monastery in Hang-chou begins when Chih-li's disciple Fan-chen was appointed there in 1051 (214cl2). 1. Fan-chen 2. Yuan-ching 3. Ts'ung-chien (Tz'u-pien, 1033-1109) 4. Ch'i-yu 5. Ju-ching 6. Ying-ju 7. Yuan-chih (Cheng-wu, d. 1158) 8. Jo-na (d. 1191) 9. Shan-yueh (1149-1241) Fa-ming in Yung-chia 1. Chi-chung (d. 1082) 2. Ch'u-yuan 3. Tao-yiian (?)

Notes 1. According to the year of the preface—see Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.357al8. 2. See Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.129c. 3. A thorough discussion of the early T'ien-t'ai patriarchal lineage is found in Linda Penkower's "T'ien-t'ai during the T'ang Dynasty: Chan-jan and the Sinification of Buddhism" (Ph.D. dissertation, Columbia University, 1993). 4. In the "princely families" section of the Comprehensive History, biographies listing followers of the third patriarch Nan-yueh Hui-ssu to the ninth

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patriarch Ching-ch'i Chan-jan are called ch'an-shih (meditation masters), while those listed under the tenth to sixteenth patriarchs are called fa-shih (dharma masters). The use of fa-shih for subjects of the biographical section under the seventeenth patriarch Chih-li is consistent with this pattern. In the Orthodox Lineage entries, the names of the subjects are given without any titles. 5. In the sources, Shang-hsien is referred to as Kuang-chih, Pen-ju as Shenchao, and Fan-chen as Nan-p'ing. In order to avoid confusion, the dharma names of these three men will be used throughout this chapter. 6. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.209c27. 7. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.130c25, 132bl. Entries on Ying (Yüan-ying) in the Shih-men cheng-t'ung and the Fo-tsu t'ung-chi mention that in 1112 he compiled the T'ien-t'ai tsung-yüan lu at the Chih-che yuan in the K'ai-yüan Monastery in Wu-hsing (Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.446b6-8; Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.246c9-l 1). This work, in one hundred fascicles, contained the record of orthodoxy (t'ung-chi) for the periods of the True Dharma (cheng-fa) and the Semblance Dharma (hsiang-fa), and ended with a catalogue of canonical works. "Activities of past and present" masters were presented in an orderly manner (Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.246c 12; while the Shih-men cheng-t'ung quotes from the preface of this work, the use of the word "yün," or "it is said," when referring to Yüan-yings text in the Fo-tsu t'ung-chi suggests that Chih-p'an had not seen it). The Fo-tsu t'ung-chi generally refers to the compiler of the Tsung-yüan lu as Ying, rather than Yüan-ying, apparently to distinguish him from another monk with the same name at Mount T'ien-t'ai (Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.244a25, 260b22). 8. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.235a, 236c. 9. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.237cl2. 10. Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.391a-394d; Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.250-258. 11. Takao Giken, Södai bukkyöshi no kenkyü (Kyoto: Hyakkaen, 1975), pp. 139-148, especially p. 140; Helwig Schmidt-Glintzer, Die Identität der Buddhistischen Schulen und die Kompilation Buddhistischer Universalgeschichten in China: Ein Beitrag zur Geistesgeschichte der Sung-zeit (Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner, 1982), pp. 89-122. 12. The name of Li Tsun-hsü, who compiled the second Chan genealogical history in 1036, appears frequently in the Fo-tsu t'ung-chi—see T 49.193a, 214a, 249a, 406a, 410a, 441c, 455a, 466b, 551b, and 663a. 13. The title "dharma master" is restricted carefully to monks who held the position of abbot. Several laymen are listed as "dharma heirs," but without the title "dharma master." Some monks are listed with the title "head monk" (shoutso). These appear to have been monks who did not serve as abbots. Thus Hsi-yen is said to have been remarkable in refusing to "go out into the world" (ch'u-shih) (Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.234all). Fan-chang is said similarly to have refused to "go out into the world" (Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.227b4). Another monk, who lacks an independent entry but is listed in the table of contents at the beginning of fascicle 17, is called "head monk" (Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.234c24). 14. Yüan-ching studied under Tsun-shih for several years but achieved enlightenment under Tsu-shao (Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.21 Ia28-b4; Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.420b9-12). Yüan-ching is accordingly listed as a dharma heir of Tsu-shao. Wei-chan first studied under Pen-ju and then went to Shanghsien, under whom he achieved enlightenment (Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.217b9;

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Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.429b 16). His entry is listed under Shang-hsien. Ch'u-ch'ien is said to have studied under Tsun-shih at Upper T'ien-chu before going to Shang-hsien, under whom he achieved enlightenment (Fo-tsu t'ungchi, T 49.218a3; cf. Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.429cl5-17). His biography is listed under Shang-hsien. Ts'ung-chien first studied under Yiian-ching at Upper T'ien-chu and then went to Fan-chen at Nan-p'ing, who, greatly impressed by his questions, uttered words that may be taken as those of transmission: "My Way will be continued through you" (Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.218cl3). His biography is listed under Fan-chen. Tsung-ming is said to have traveled widely and studied in many major centers, but in the end he achieved enlightenment under Ts'ung-chien (Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.223M6; also Shih-men chengt'ung, HTC 130.433M3-14). He is listed as a dharma heir of Ts'ung-chien. Chihhsien first studied at T'ien-chu, receiving instruction from the head monk Ming-i, but returned to the T'ien-t'ai region and achieved enlightenment at Pailien under Yüan-hui, becoming his successor (Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.227al8; Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.436b7-8). He is listed as the dharma heir of Yüan-hui. After first studying Vinaya, Fan-kuang studied T'ien-t'ai doctrine under Chien-wen at Yen-ch'ing (Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.217a). He then went to Chih-p'u at Fan-tz'u (Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.220a22) and achieved "great awakening" (Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.229c25; Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.431dl6). He is listed as a dharma heir of Chih-p'u. Chih-lien first studied under Fankuang (Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.229c-230a) at Yen-ch'ing but achieved enlightenment under Chih-yung (Liao-jan, Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.226c-227a) at Pai-lien (Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.231a25-26; Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.441a8). He is listed as a dharma heir of Chih-yung. Hui-hsün (Yiieh-t'ang, d. 1178) first studied under Chüeh-hsien (Cheng-chiao, d. 1146, Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.225b-c) at Yench'ing, saw Chung-chiao (d. 1145) at Tung-i (Neng-jen), and, after studying under many prominent masters in northeastern Chekiang, returned to Yen-ch'ing (Nanhu) and achieved enlightenment under Tao-ch'en (Yiian-pien, Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.230c-231a) (Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.235a25; Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.44ldl8-442al). Hui-hsün is listed as Tao-ch'ens dharma heir. Ching-wu, who is listed as a dharma heir of Fa-chou (Hsiu-an, Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.234c 11), first studied T'ien-t'ai doctrine and contemplation under Ting-an, then went to Fa-chou and achieved enlightenment (Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.238a21-27). Shan-yüeh first studied under Tao-yin (Ts'ao-an, d. 1167, Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.243a-b) at Yen-ch'ing, then under Yu-lun (Tzu-an, Fo-tsu t'ungchi, T 49.243b) at Yüeh-po, and finally returned to Yen-ch'ing and achieved enlightenment under Hui-hsün. He is listed as Hui-hsün's dharma heir. Tao-yin studied at Yen-ch'ing, then went to Chung-li (Ming-chih, d. 1115, Fo-tsu t'ungchi, T 49.220b-c). After travel and visits to many monasteries, including Ch'an monasteries, he achieved a "deep awakening" by reading Chih-li's Chih-yaoch'ao (T no. 1928) (Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.243al6; Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.426dl7). As a heterodox teacher Tao-yin is listed without reference to a specific lineage. Miao-yün, who succeeded Fa-chiu (Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.228b-c) at Ch'ing-hsiu, first traveled widely, studying under many teachers. He then stayed for a long time under Fa-chiu before going to the Ch'an teacher Ta-hui, under whom he "was greatly enlightenened" (Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.233c 14). In this case Miao-yün's name appears as the dharma heir of Fa-chiu and not of the Ch'an master Ta-hui.

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The Shih-men cheng-t'ung sometimes mentions that a dharma master predicted the certainty of the subjects future enlightenment, and this event is used to establish the subjects lineage (see the example of Fan-kuang, HTC 130.43 lbl5). As in the case of Chan genealogical histories, the concept of dharma heir in the Fo-tsu t'ung-chi appears to have become closely tied to the idea of enlightenment. The linkage of enlightenment and lineage forms the basis of Ch'an genealogical histories, and frequent references to enlightenment in the Fo-tsu t'ung-chi lineage record provide further evidence that the concept of lineage in this work was shaped by the model of Ch'an lineage. This emphasis is less marked in the Shih-men cheng-t'ung, suggesting that the assimilation with Ch'an lineage histories continued even at this relatively late stage in the evolution of T'ien-t'ai lineage history. 15. Chih-yuan chi, HTC 105.289c-d. 16. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.216cl0, 254c7; Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.393b. 17. A question arises as to whether Ch'i-neng was a thirteenth generation patriarch as Yiian-chao suggests or a fourteenth generation descendant as suggested by Chih-p'an. 18. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.206c-207a. Incense burners and fly whisks are also mentioned in other stories of transmission: in connection with Ch'ing-shao of Fan-t'ien Monastery (Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.205M8), Tsun-shih (Fo-tsu t'ungchi, T 49.208b 19, 215b9-12; Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.425a5-10), Chih-li (Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.215c27-216al, 216al2-14; Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.426c 16-d9), I-t'ung (Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.218c25; Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.427dl2), and Ts'ung-chien (Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.222bl0). Dan Getz has noted that the scriptures brought back from Japan and Korea under the patronage of the Wu-Yiieh king Chung-i are said to have been transmitted from Hsi-chi, through I-t'ung, to Chih-li (Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.206c9-10; personal communication). These scriptures appear here to have served as a symbol legitimizing transmission. Pen-ju, to whom 4,500 fascicles of Chih-i's writings had been conferred by the court (Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.214a29), is also said to have given the physical book of Mo-ho chih-kuan to his disciple Ch'u-ch'ien, in a passage that appears to describe a form of transmission (Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.218a4-5). 19. Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.381cll, 429a3. 20. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.206c27, 217c29. 21. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.201c5. 22. Though biographical collections, such as the three well-known "biographies of eminent monks" collections, generally contain diverse material, biographies of Chinese Buddhist monks were typically written shortly after the death of their subjects and preserved as stupa inscriptions. See Koichi Shinohara, "Two Sources of Chinese Buddhist Biographies: Stupa Inscriptions and Miracle Stories," in Phyllis Granoff and Koichi Shinohara, eds.. Monks and Magicians: Religious Biographies in Asia (Oakville, Ontario: Mosaic Press, 1988), pp. 121-129. Thus these biographies frequently detail their subjects' death and funeral. The entries in the Fo-tsu t'ung-chi appear to have followed this pattern closely. As I shall note more closely below, images of abbots in the Patriarchal Hall and the lineage diagram, listing successive abbots of a monas-

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tery, are mentioned in the Fo-tsu t'ung-chi itself. The cult of the founder and successive abbots, for example, is described in some detail in Tseng-hsiu chiaoyiian ch'ing-kuei (HTC 101.352b). Since the subjects of the majority of entries in the Fo-tsu t'ung-chi were prominent monks who had served as abbots in a variety of monasteries, some record of their lives and activities must have been preserved in the monasteries they presided over and lineage history entries on them would be largely based on these records. 23. In commenting on an earlier version of this chapter presented at the 1996 conference on Buddhism in the Sung, Peter Bol called my attention to the importance of the patronage issue. 24. Takao Giken, Sodai bukkyoshi no kenkyu, p. 62. 25. The Fo-tsu t'ung-chi claims to follow the Sung kao-seng chuan, rejecting the lineage given in Ch'ao Yiieh-chih's inscription for Chung-li (Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.190a20). Ch'ao Yiieh-chih's inscription (mentioned in the Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.90a20, 226al5, and Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.431M6, 439bl5) is preserved in the Sung-shan wen-chi (SPTK), 20.27a-36a. The relationship between Ch'ao Yiieh-chih and Chung-li was discussed in more detail by Robert Gimello in his conference paper. 26. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.189al3-14. See Penkower, "T'ien-t'ai during the Tang Dynasty," pp. 317-318. 27. Ibid., p. 327. 28. Ibid., pp. 300-318. 29. Ibid., pp. 334-336. 30. Ibid., pp. 336-346. According to the Sung kao-seng chuan, before coming to Chih-yin at Ch'ien-t'ang during the K'ai-yiin period (944-946), Wu-en studied under Hao-tuan (Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.246b-c; Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.413d-414a; Sung kao-seng chuan, T 50.750c-751a). Hao-tuan was a disciple of the T'ien-t'ai teacher Hsuan-chu, who claimed to be the "tenth patriarch" (Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.246b26; Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.414al; Sung kao-seng chuan, T 50.750c28). Hsiian-chu represented the T'ien-t'ai community in the northern capital region; Penkower suggests that "Wu-en, at the very least, was a product of the T'ien-t'ai on Mount T'ien-t'ai and in the capital" ("T'ien-t'ai during the T'ang Dynasty," p. 342). 31. This account also leaves out the role of Te-shao (891-972) (Fo-tsu t'ungchi, T 49.190c27-28). Te-shao, a disciple of Wen-i (885-958) taught Yung-ming Yen-shou (904-975), Tao-yiian, who compiled the Ching-te ch'uan-teng lu, and the fifteenth and sixteenth patriarchs Hsi-chi and I-t'ung. See Penkower, "T'ient'ai during the T'ang Dynasty," p. 321-322, n. 425. 32. See the T'ung kung shih-t'a chi, in the Ssu-ming tsun-che chiao-hsing lu, T 46.930a4-12 (hereafter referred to as Chiao-hsing lu). It is not clear when It'ung left Hsi-chi and Mount T'ien-t'ai for Ming-chou, but the date of 968 is given by the Fo-tsu t'ung chi for Ku Ch'eng-hui's bestowal of his house as a monastery. This bestowed probably took place not too long after I-t'ung's arrival in Ming-chou. See Daniel Getz, "Siming Zhili and Tiantai Pure Land in the Song Dynasty" (Ph.D. dissertation, Yale University, 1994), p. 44 and n. 41. 33. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.191c6. 34. Ch'i-sung, Hsing-yeh ch'il-chi, in T'an-chin wen-chi, T 52.713c29; Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.207b7.

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35. For example, see Chung-li's entry, Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.220bl5; Shihmen cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.431al6. 36. According to a note in the Chiao-hsing lu, the name of the monastery changed later to Ch'eng-t'ien and Neng-jen (T 46.857a23). See Getz, "Siming Zhili," p. 48, n. 57. 37. On this monastery, see Getz, "Siming Zhili," Chapter 5. 38. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.192al9-20; Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.382cl0-ll. 39. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.192cl8. 40. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.207b22; T'an-chin wen-chi, T 52.714al4; Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.417dll. 41. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.714al5. This monastery also appears to have been known by the names Ch'eng-t'ien and Neng-jen. Thus there were at least two Ch'eng-t'ien/Neng-jen monasteries: one in Ming-chou, where Chih-li resided for a while before he moved to the Pao-en yiian/Yen-ch'ing Monastery, and another in Tung-i in T'ien-t'ai, where Tsun-shih served as the abbot before he moved to Ling-shan in Hang-chou. The first monasteries that Chih-li and Tsun-shih moved to from the Pao-yiin were both known by these same names. 42. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.214a20-21. The date given for this event is 1011, but Tsun-shih did not go to Hang-chou until 1014. He was appointed abbot of Lower T'ien-chu Monastery at Ling-shan in 1015. See the discussion of this monastery below. 43. The interlinear note indicates that Ch'eng-t'ien is the old name for Nengjen in Tung-shan (Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.214a24). Tung-shan refers to Tung-i in T'ien-t'ai. Pen-jus biography further mentions that in Ch'ing-li 2 (correcting Pao-li) (1042) the court conferred on him 4,500 fascicles of Chih-i's writings; elsewhere in the Fo-tsu t'ung-chi these writings ("4,620 fascicles") are said to have been given to the Tung-i Monastery in the year 1017 (Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.406a2, 466bl). The expression "Tung-shan" appears in two places in the Fotsu t'ung-chi biography of Tsun-shih. Tsun-shih renounced the householder's life under I-ch'iian of Tung-shan (Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.207al8). In the passage describing this event in Ch'i-sung's Hsing-yeh ch'u-chi (T 52.714al4), based directly on Tsu-shao's record (Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.715c7), the name of the monastery is given as Tung-i (Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.713c3; see also Fo-tsu li-tai t'ung-tsai, T 49.663b8). The Fo-tsu t'ung-chi biography also notes that sometime between 1011 and 1014 Tsun-shi organized a ch'an-hui ("repentance society") in Tung-shan (Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.207c6-7). Again, in Ch'i-sung's biography the location is given as Tung-i (Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.714M0). In reporting Tsun-shih's recalling of his lecturing on the Vimalaklrti Sutra earlier in his life, both the Hsing-yeh ch'u-chi and the Fo-tsu t'ung-chi biography give the location as Tung-i (Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.715b3, 208bl5). 44. Vacancies at Neng-jen Monastery are mentioned later in Yiin-tz'u's entry (,Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.222cl0) and in Chung-chiao's entry (Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.229bl 1). 45. Ling-shan is identified as the T'ien-chu Monastery that Chen-kuan had established in the Sui dynasty (Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.207c28-29; Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.418al6-17). In the Hsu kao-seng chuan biography for Chen-kuan, the location is identified as Mount Ling-yin (Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T

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49.702b26-27), where Chen-kuan is also said to have been buried (Fo-tsu t'ungchi, T 49.703all). Chen-kuan was a close friend of Chih-i (Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.702b 15-16). A reference to Chen-kuan s stupa is found in the second fascicle of the Wu-lin Ling-yin ssu chih, in Chung-kuo fo-ssu chih (Taipei: Ming-wen shu-chii, 1980), vol. 23, p. 107. 46. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.207c22, 714b28; Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.4418al6-18. 47. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.208b21. Note that the story of succession is told differently in Tsun-shih's biography. See Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.214cl2-14; Shihmen cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.425dl7-18. 48. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49. 210al4-17. 49. See Yiian-ching's biography, Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.21 la7. 50. Their biographies are found in Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.213c-216b, and Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.424c-427c. 51. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.214cl3; cf. Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.425dl718. 52. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.215al4; Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.424c 12-dl. 53. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.216all; Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.426cl6. 54. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.215b4-5; Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.424dll12. On Ch'ung-chii, see Getz, "Siming Zhili," pp. 151-153. 55. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.215c2^; Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.425b8-9. Yiian-chaos biography of Hui-ts'ai on which the Shih-men cheng-t'ung and Fo-tsu t'ung-chi entries are based is preserved in the Chih-yuan chi (HTC 105.292d-293b). 56. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.215c27. 57. Ts'ung-chien had first studied under Yiian-ching at Upper T'ien-chu, and then he went to Fan-chen at Chin-shan. The statement that Fan-chen is said to have made at that time—"My Way will continue through you" (Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.218cl3; Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.427cl4)—may have been read as marking a transmission. Ts'ung-chien had served over three years at the Shousheng Monastery when Yiian-ching, on account of his old age, insisted on having him as his head monk at Nan-p'ing. Ts'ung-chien succeeded Yiian-ching there as the abbot (Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.218cl6; Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.427dl). In 1090 (or in the beginning of the Ytian-yu period [1186-1094], according to the Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.427dl) the position of the abbot of the Upper T'ien-chu became vacant, and Yiian-ching, who had served as the abbot there from 1062 to 1081, told the prefect P'u Tsung-meng that only Ts'ung-chien was fit to serve in that position (Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49. 218cl7-18). Thus it was Yiian-ching, and not Fan-chen, who shaped Ts'ung-chien's career at Nan-p'ing and Upper T'ien-chu. The stupa inscription for Yiian-ching, composed by Su Ch'e (Tzu-yu, 1039-1112), is found in Luan ch'eng chi (Shanghai: Shang-hai ku-chi ch'u-pan-she, 1997), 3.1439-1442. 58. Pen-ju's biography contains an uncharacteristic Ch'an-style enlightenment story, with an enlightenment verse. See Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.2 H a l 5-20; Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.425cl 1-14. Fan-chen's transmission to Ts'ungchien, mentioned in the previous note, is found in Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.218cl3; Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.427cl4. 59. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.229c28; Shih-men cheng-t'ung HTC 130.431dl8.

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60. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.232c4. Yuan-chih, in fact, had a strong connection with the Pai-lien Monastery. 61. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.193cl 1. 62. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.213cl9. 63. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.217a3. 64. Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.431M3-15. 65. The Fo-tsu t'ung-chi and Shih-men cheng-t'ung entries on Shang-hsien's disciple Wei-chan (d. 1073) are based on the biographical inscription written by Yiian-chao (1048-1116) preserved in the Chih-yuan chi (HTC 105.292b-293d). This collection also contains inscriptions for Ch'u-ch'ien (HTC 105.289a-b), K'o-chiu (HTC 105.292a-b), Hui-ts'ai (HTC 105.292d-293b), and Tse-ying (HTC 105.293b-d), among others. 66. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.220M4; Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.431a8-b4. 67. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.220bl6-17; Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.431al718.

68. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.220b22; Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.43 lb4. 69. If Tsung-cheng became abbot of Yen-ch'ing in Chih-p'ing 1 (1064), this would have occurred before Chung-li obtained the official status as a monk during the Chih-p'ing period (Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.220b4-5). Tsung-cheng would have succeeded directly from Chien-wen as the abbot of Yen-ch'ing. In that case Chung-li could not have succeeded Chien-wen directly as it is said elsewhere (Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.220b 10). There appears to be some confusion in the Fo-tsu t'ung-chi's account here. Chih-p'ing 1 (1064) happens to be the seventy-seventh year after the death of I-t'ung in Tuan-k'ung 1 (988). Since very little beyond the story about repairing I-t'ung's grave is found in the entry on Tsung-cheng, the date of Tsung-cheng's appointment at Yen-ch'ing may have been based on this better-known story. 70. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.220cl5-20, 191c9-20; Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.381dl5—16. The text of Wen-hui's inscription is preserved in the Chiaohsing lu, T 46. 929c-930a. 71. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.229c28; Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.431dl8. The tomb inscription for Fan-kuang, written by Ho Ching, is found in Ch'ientao Ssu-ming t'u-ching, in Sung-Yuan ti-fang chih ts'ung-shu (Taipei: Ta-hua shu-chti, 1970), 8.5053-5056. 72. Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.43lbl2. 73. The Fo-tsu t'ung-chi gives the year Cheng-ho 5 (1115) as the date of Chung-li's death (Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.220b29), which appears to be a mistake. Ch'ao Yiieh-chih's inscription dates Chung-li's death to Cheng-ho 4(1114). 74. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.329c25; Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.431dl5-16. 75. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.229c-230a; Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.431al-2. 76. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.229c28-230al; Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.432al. 77. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.230a6; Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.432a4. 78. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.230a7; Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.432a5. 79. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.226a3; see Hsu tzu-chih t'ung-chien, fascicle 107 (Shanghai, 1979), 6.2814. 80. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.229c20, 225b22, and 229c20. 81. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T49.220a21.

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82. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.216cl5, 255c4. 83. Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.392b. 84. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.431dl5. 85. Ch'ien-tao Ssu-ming t'u-ching 8.5054dl. 86. Chi-pieh, translating vyakarana, refers to the Buddha's prediction about his disciples future attainment of Buddhahood. In the Shih-men cheng-t'ung, Chiieh-hsien, listed under Chung-li in the lineage diagram (HTC 130.393a), is said to have studied first under Chung-li, then under others, receiving chi-pieh repeatedly (HTC 130.435bl5; in the corresponding passage in the Fo-tsu t'ungchi, he is said to have "received transmission," T 49.225b28); Yu-p'eng, listed under Tse-ch'ing of Ch'e-ch'i in the lineage diagram (HTC 130.394a), is said to have received a prediction from him (HTC 130.43 8b4; not mentioned in the corresponding passage in the Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.228a5); and Shan-jung, listed under Tao-hsin, who in turn is listed under Tse-ch'ing in the lineage diagram (HTC 130.394a), is said to have obtained a prediction from Tao-hsin (HTC 130.442al0; not mentioned in the corresponding passage in the Fo-tsu t'ungchi, T 49.233b27). These examples suggest that the expression was used to indicate the transmission of dharma lineage in the Shih-men cheng-t'ung. Chih-p'an appears to have generally removed them from the corresponding Fo-tsu t'ungchi entries; instead, he emphasized the circumstances of enlightenment for determining lineage. Sometimes entries in the Fo-tsu t'ung-chi and Shih-men cheng-t'ung report that teachers, and sometimes other prominent figures, made predictions about the remarkable future of their subjects. For example, Tsu-shao predicted that his disciple Ssu-i would stay on his mountain and promote their teaching successfully (Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.21 l a l 1-12). When Ch'an master Hsiieh-tou Ch'ung-hsien saw Chi-chung, he declared, "The Way of Ssu-ming found the transmission [in him]" (Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.217a 12-13; Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.428dl6). When Ch'u-ch'ien went to the T'ien-chu Monastery, Tsunshih marveled at him, saying, "You can be the beam and rafter of my Way" (Fotsu t'ung-chi, T 49.218a2; Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.429cl5); later, Pen-ju conferred on the same monk the Mo-ho chih-kuan, saying, "You will establish a great canopy of dharma. I only regret that I will not see it" (Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.218a5; Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.429cl6-17). Ch'u-hsien told Yu-yen, "Though you appeared late, you will become a Great Vehicle" (Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.218b4-5; Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.430c7). Fan-chen said to Ts'ungchien, "My Way will proceed through you" (Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.218cl3; Shihmen cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.427cl5). Chi-chung told Chung-li, "You will certainly succeed in the seat of Fa-chih (Chih-li)" (Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.220b9; Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.43 la7). Chih-p'u told Fan-kuang, "You will certainly greatly prosper in Fa-chih's seat" (Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.229c26-27; Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.431dl6-17, phrased slightly differently). Tao-yin told Shan-ytieh, "You will be the one who promotes the teaching of our school some day" (Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.238cll). In the case of Hui-pien, it was in a dream that Chang-an (Kuan-ting) appeared, touched him with a golden comb, and told him to instruct others diligently (Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.210c3-5; Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.420all-12). In the Shih-men cheng-t'ung this story is attributed to an inscription by Su Ch'e. Su Ch'e's inscription is found in Luan

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ch'eng chi 3.1445-1446, and the dream story about Chang-an appears on pp. 1465-1466. This inscription and the Shih-men cheng-t'ung mention that Hui-pien also studied under Chih-li's disciple Ch'ung-chu at Fu-shih (p. 1445, line 13; Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.419cl8-bl). The chi-pieh in the Shihmen cheng-t'ung may have taken the form of such a statement, though in the case of Fan-kuang, Yiian-ching's chi-pieh and Chih-p'us prediction are treated separately, and it is Yiian-ching's chi-pieh that determines the lineage (HTC 130.431dl5—17). 87.Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.229c23-24; Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.431dl314. 88. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.329c.26-27; Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.431dl617. 89. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.230cl 1; Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.435dl0. 90. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, 49.230cl2; Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.435dl0. 91. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, 49.230cl9-21; Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.436al618.

92. See Getz, "Siming Zhili," chap. 5. 93. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.23lal-2. 94. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.230cl9-21; Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.436al8. The eight generations of abbots implied here may have been Chih-li, Shanghsien, Chien-wen, Chung-li, Tsung-cheng, Chung-li, Fan-kuang, and Tao-ch'en. I have noted, however, that Chiieh-hsien must have served as the abbot at Yench'ing sometime after Chung-li's first term. Tsung-cheng is also said to have served as the abbot at the beginning of the Chih-p'ing period (1064-1068). At Yen-ch'ing abbots who served only briefly appear not to have been included in the lineage. 95. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.230c8, 253d; Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.393a. The Shih-men cheng-t'ung entry mentions a biographical record compiled by Wang Po-hsiang (1106-1173) (HTC 130.436al8). 96. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.225al0, cf. 226b-c. 97. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.220a3, 220c28-221all. 98. Diagram in Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.253b-c; Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.393a. 99. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.217al6; Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.429al. 100. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.220c29. 101. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.226M3. In his Fo-tsu t'ung-chi entry, Tao-yiian is said to have been based at "Yung-ming monastery on the West Lake (Hsi-hu)" (Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.226M3); "Yung-ming" here appears to be a mistake for "Fa-ming." In the entry on Tao-ch'en, Tao-yuan's monastery is given as "Faming" (Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.230c 11). Ch'u-yiian and Tao-yiian were fellow students of Chi-chung (Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.220c28, 226b 12-13), whom Ch'uytian explicitly is said to have succeeded as the abbot at "Fa-ming" Monastery (Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.220c28-221al). In his biographical entry, Chi-chung is said to have been based at the "Fa-ming in Western Lake" (Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.217al6; Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.428dl8-429al). In the preface to Chih-li's Ssu-ming shih-i shu (T 46.832a8) and in his postscript to the collected letters between Tzu-ning at Mount T'ien-t'ung and Chih-li at Ssu-ming, preserved in the Chiao-hsing lu (T 46.897a9), Chi-chung describes

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his monastery as "Fa-ming yuan in Yung-chia." In his preface to the Shih-i shu, Chi-chung refers to himself as the "first-generation" (ti-i-tai) abbot of the Faming yuan (T 46.832a8). The Shih-men cheng-t'ung entry on Chi-chung quotes from Yeh Shui-hsin's essay Hsi-hu Fa-ming ssu shu (HTC 130. 429bl-l 1). Later figures in Ch'u-liens (see below) lineage, Tzu-chen and Shih-ch'ang, are mentioned in this essay. Thus the Fa-ming Monastery in which Chi-chung was based was located in Yung-chia, and the "West Lake" must also have been located in Yung-chia. In the entry on Tao-yiian, this "West Lake" appears to have been confused with the more famous lake by the same name in Hang-chou and the name of the monastery "Fa-ming" incorrectly read as a mistake for the Yung-ming Monastery on this more famous lake. Tao-ch'en thus was recruited from a well-established community at Fa-ming Monastery in Yung-chia. 102. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.253b-d. 103. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.190cll. 104. Tsun-shih's use of this ritual under similar circumstances is discussed by Daniel Stevenson in Chapter 9. 105. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.217al4; cf. Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.428dl6. This Fo-tsu t'ung-chi account of Chi-chung's enlightenment is based largely on the earlier Shih-men cheng-t'ung entry on Chi-chung (HTC 130.428dl 1-17). The Shih-men cheng-t'ung account, however, differs from the Fo-tsu t'ung-chi account on a number of details, suggesting that Chih-p'an must have revised it carefully and deliberately. Both accounts comment on Chi-chungs enlightenment, but the event is placed at different points in Chi-chungs early life. According to the Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, the enlightenment occurred when Chi-chung was miraculously cured from the illness that developed while he was studying under Shang-hsien. According to the Shih-men cheng-t'ung, Chi-chungs illness and the miraculous cure occurred before he went to Shang-hsien, and the effect of the Kuan-yin repentance was confined to the cure of his illness. Chi-chungs illness and cure appear to have occurred while he was still at the K'ai-yiian Monastery. He then went to Shang-hsien, and Shang-hsien, recognizing his abilities, had him lecture as his substitute. At this point, the Shih-men cheng-t'ung also mentions that Ch'ung-hsien of Hsueh-tou marveled at him but does not reproduce Hsuehtous words, which, according to the Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, predicted that Chi-chung would transmit Chih-li's Way. Chih-p'an thus appears to have added this statement to the Shih-men cheng-t'ung account. In the Shih-men cheng-t'ung account, Chi-chungs enlightenment occurred when Ch'i-chung worshiped the Kuan-yin at the T'ien-chu Monastery, after his study under Shang-hsien and the encounter with Hsiieh-tou. In contrast to the Fo-tsu t'ung-chi account (which presents Shang-hsien's appreciation of Chichung's ability and appointment of Chi-chung as his substitute lecturer, as well as Hsiieh-tou's prediction as consequences of Chi-chungs enlightenment), the Shih-men cheng-t'ung claims that it was Fan-chen of Nan-p'ing who is said to have valued Chi-chung after his enlightenment. Fan-chen had him lecture on the Lotus Sutra at the Upper T'ien-chu Monastery. In revising the Shih-men cheng-t'ung account on these points, Chih-p'an deliberately highlighted Chichung's relationship to Shang-hsien (and Chih-li) at the expense of his other relationship to the T'ien-chu Monastery and Fan-chen of Nan-p'ing. Both the Fo-tsu t'ung-chi and the Shih-men cheng-t'ung list Chi-chung as a

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dharma heir of Shang-hsien. According to the Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, Chi-chung's enlightenment occurred while he was studying under Shang-hsien, though even here Chi-chung's enlightenment is said to have occurred through a miraculous contact with Kuan-yin ("pouring of water," Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.217al2); Shanghsien played no part in it, except to recognize its effect. In the Shih-men chengt'ung account, the enlightenment occurred after his study under Shang-hsien, through contact with Kuan-yin at the T'ien-chu Monastery. It is Fan-chen, rather than Shang-hsien, who is said to have valued him after this enlightenment. As noted above, the Fo-tsu t'ung-chi frequently focused on the circumstances of enlightenment in determining the dharma lineage. The treatment of Chi-chung's enlightenment in the Fo-tsu t'ung-chi entry is in keeping with this general tendency. Chih-p'an clumsily adjusted the Shih-men cheng-t'ung account to present Chi-chung's enlightenment as an event that occurred while he was studying under Shang-hsien. The Shih-men cheng-t'ung is less focused on the enlightenment in determining dharma lineage, often mentioning the prediction of future enlightenment (chi-pieh) as the crucial event that determines the dharma lineage. The fact that the record of Chi-chung's enlightenment did not conform to the claim that he was the dharma heir of Shang-hsien does not seem to have posed a difficulty to the compiler of the Shih-men cheng-t'ung, Tsung-chien. 106. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.217al4-15, 220b8; Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.428dl8. 107. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.217al4-16. 108. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.206c28-207a2; cf. Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.429a3. 109. Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130. 381cl0-12. 110. Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.429a2-4. This second account probably explains why Chi-chung is listed as a dharma heir of Shang-hsien in the Shihmen cheng-t'ung lineage diagram (HTC 130.393a). In the Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, where the two versions of the story of the incense burner and whisk were collapsed into one, this synthetic version is inserted in the entry on Ch'i-neng, in the section on the dharma heirs of the fifteenth patriarch Hsi-chi and not in the entry on Chi-chung. Having removed this story from the entry on Chi-chung and thus made the ground for listing Chi-chung as Shang-hsien's dharma heir somewhat obscure, Chih-p'an may have been led to introduce other readjustments to Chichung's biography to explain this lineage, possibly resulting in a story of Chichung's enlightenment under Shang-hsien. 111. Another student of Ch'i-neng, Ch'u-ch'ien served as Ch'i-neng's successor at Ch'i-neng's Monastery (Ch'ang-ning in T'ien-t'ai, Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.206c28), but he also left the monastery to serve as abbot of various other important monasteries (Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.218a6). The stupa inscription for Ch'u-ch'ien, compiled by Yiian-chao, is preserved in the Chih-yuan chi (HTC 105.289b). 112. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.210c5. 113. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.206c27. 114. The Kuo-ch'ing Monastery on Mount T'ien-t'ai was built for Chih-i by his patron Prince Kuang, who later became the second Sui emperor. Chih-i left a whisk of rhinoceros horn and an incense burner to this prince (Kuo-ch'ing

574

Koichi Shinohara

pai-lu, T 46. 810cl 1). The story of Chih-i's incense burner and whisk may have been based on this earlier account. 115. According to the Fo-tsu t'ung-chi and the Shih-men cheng-t'ung, this text contained such works as Shih-chien, Chih-mi, Chüeh-mo, Shih-men chenan, and Shih-i shu (Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49. 217bl; Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.429al7-18). Although this large collection is no longer extant, the Shih-i shu, with the title Ssu-ming shih-i shu, is preserved separately, with Chi-chung's preface (T 46.831a-856a). According to the preface, this work is a synthesis of Chih-li's exchanges with his opponents over the first seven years of the Shanchia/Shan-wai controversy (T 46. 831c9-10). The Shih-men cheng-t'ung explicitly states that it was Chi-chung who produced this synthesis (HTC 130.383b9). Other titles mentioned in the Fo-tsu t'ung-chi and the Shih-men cheng-t'ung also survived in the Ssu-ming Jen-yüeh i-shuo ts'ung-shu (HTC 95.382-433). Jen-yüeh, who studied under Chih-li and wrote such works as the Shih-men che-nan and the Chüeh-mo to defend his teachers position, later became Chihli's critic. Among the works preserved in the Ssu-ming Jen-yüeh i-shuo ts'ungshu, with a note that they have been collected by Chi-chung, are the Shih-chien (in which Jen-yüeh presented his criticisms of Chih-li), the Chieh-pang shu (in which Chih-li answered Jen-yüeh), and the Hsüeh-pang shu (in which Jen-yüeh responded to this answer). After he broke with Chih-li, Jen-yüeh moved to the Lower T'ien-chu Monastery, where Tsun-shih was abbot. The fact that Chichung's collection contains Jen-yüeh's criticism of Chih-li suggests that Chichung's connection with the Lower T'ien-chu (under Tsun-shih as its abbot) may have enabled him to produce his extensive collection of works by Chih-li and Jen-yüeh. 116. Fa-chih i-pien kuan-hsin erh-pai wen, T 46.832a8-10. The full expression "fa-sun" appears in Chi-chung's postscript to the exchange of letters between Tzu-ning and Chih-li (Chiao-hsing lu, T 46.897a9, and in the Fa-chih ipien kuan-hsin erh-pai wen, T 46.824a5). Fa-sun may not necessarily have meant the second-generation disciple. The same expression is used, for example, by a later abbot of the Yen-ch'ing Monastery, Hui-hsün, to refer to himself in the colophons for Chih-li's letters to earlier T'ien-t'ai leaders, preserved in the Chiao-hsing lu (T 46.906al-19). 117. Chiao-hsing lu, T 46.857a9. See Chapter 7 by T. Griffith Foulk for a discussion of these exchanges. 118. Chi-chung is also said to have compiled a work called Erh-shih k'ou-i (Oral Instruction of the Two Masters) (Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.217b3; Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.429al0). The "two masters" here may refer to Chih-li and Tsun-shih. 119. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.220b6-9; Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.431a7. 120. Chiao-hsing lu, T 46.896cl. See Getz, "Siming Zhili," p. 72, n. 3. 121. The term "Shan-wai" occurs in Chi-chung's postscript for the collected letters between the Ch'an master Tzu-ning and Chih-li, preserved in the Chiaohsing lu. Here Chi-chung lists master [Tsung]-yü of T'ien-t'ai along with [Yüan]ch'ing of Feng-hsien in Hang-chou, a prominent leader of this Off Mountain group, as the object of Chih-li's criticism in the Chih-yao ch'ao (T 46. 896b 1724). In this passage Chi-chung explicitly sides with Chih-li against Tsung-yü, who is listed by Chih-p'an as a third-generation dharma heir of Hsi-chi who transmitted the dharma to Ch'i-neng.

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122. In fact, the lineage of later Tang patriarchs at Mount T'ien-t'ai, represented by obscure monks at Kuo-ch'ing Monastery, in decline after the Huich'ang Persecution, may itself have been an artificial construct designed to connect Hsi-chi and I-t'ung with earlier better-known T'ang T'ien-t'ai leaders (Penkower, "T'ien-t'ai during the T'ang Dynasty," p. 335). In this way an alternative to the earlier T'ien-t'ai lineage symbolized by Chih-i's incense burner and whisk may have been constructed. 123. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.231a28; Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.441all12.

124. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.231b3-4; Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.441al2. 125. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.225al2, 226c-227a; Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.44 la8. 126. Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.427a8-9; Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.243al415. 127. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.243al9; Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.427a4. Tao-yins comments are frequently quoted in the Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.214al0, 229b21, and 238c8. 128. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.216a. 129. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.243a. 130. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.243all. 131. Shih-men cheng-t'ung HTC 130.426dl0^127c8. 132. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.243bl0-12. 133. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.243M8-19. 134. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.222c. 135. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.222a-b. 136. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.228al4; Shih-men cheng-t'ung HTC 130.438M4. 137. Shih-men cheng-t'ung HTC 130.438b4. 138. Shih-men cheng-t'ung HTC 130.394a. 139. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.218c-219a. 140. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.214c. 141. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.235a25; Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.442al. 142. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.234cl5, 235al5, 253c; Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.393a. 143. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.235M; Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.442al. 144. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.225c. 145. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.227c21. 146. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.227cl9-23; Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.438dl2, 439al. 147. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.222a-b, Shih-men cheng-t'ung, HTC 130.394a-c. 148. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.235M9. 149. Sungshih 386.11867. 150. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.225b7, 230c3, and 234b. 151. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.238c23. On Ho Tan, see Sung shih 394.12024. 152. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49. 243b-c. 153. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.238cll. 154. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.236a9, 243b24. 155. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49. 238cl4. 156. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.238cl5-16. The "special messenger" (chuan-shih) is described in Tseng-hsiu chiao-yuan ch'ing-kuei, HTC 101.353a-d.

576

Koichi Shinohara

157. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.238cl8. 158. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49. 238c28-29. 159. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T49.235a-b. 160. Fo-tsu t'ung-chi, T 49.190a20-21. 161. Sung-shan wen-chi 20.29b and 30a. 162. Sung-shan wen-chi 20.29b. 163. The record in the Tsung-yiian lu was expanded first by Wu K'o-chi between 1195 and 1200 and then by Ching-ch'ien between 1208 and 1224. 164. Koichi Shinohara, "The Tiantai Biographies in the Fozu tongji: Some Comments on the Nature of Sectarian Buddhist Biographies in Song China" (paper presented at the International Congress for Asian and North African Studies, Toronto, 1991).

Glossary of Names

A-mi-t'o psfSSK An (monk) An Lu-shan £ i f til An-yang kuo 3cH S Araki Kengo jniTfc JL'lf Cha-ch'uan W l Chai Shou-su W ^ M Chan-jan MM Chan-ju Yuan-chao MiUliM Chan-t'ang Wen-chun S S A ^ i Chan ff Ch'an-lin (monastery) flW Ch'an-t'i Wei-chao l i l l t J i Ch'an-ting ta-shih Chang-an Chang Ch'ien "jflil Chang Chiu-ch'eng (Tzu-shao) ( i fg) Chang-chou i i M Chang Ch'ii-hua Ws Chang Chiin Chang Fang-p'ing ^Ch'^fChang Heng MW Chang-hsien (cltt Chang-i MM Chang Lun Si-Mi Chang Ming-tz'u &BJ1M Chang Shang-ying SliSi^ Chang Shou "l^f Chang Shou-chieh Chang-shui Tzu-hsiian U ^ K ? ® Chang Te-hsiang (Hsiin-kung)

mm

Chang Tun-li Chang Yüan-tao Chang Yung 3ft e|c Ch'ang-ch'ing Ta-an Ch'ang-chou 'ffi'llil Ch'ang-lu ssu (monastery) RUS Ch'ang-lu Tsung-tse HIStk®? Chao-ch'ing B§I6 Chao-ch'ing ssu (monastery) BnSE'íf Chao-chou iEJ'li Chao-chou Ts'ung-shen íIíl'MÍÍÉtt Chao-chüeh ssu (monastery) ÍJpJÉ^f Chao-hsüan ssu Bii^ s] Chao Kai ÍEM Chao Pien i l f t Chao Ting ílfri Ch'ao-kuo ssu (monastery) HJItF Ch'ao-kuo Wei-chan MH'lt'ig Ch'ao-tsung ÍSSí? Ch'ao Yüeh-chih HSÜ2. Che (river) Che-hsi f f H Che-tsung f f £ Ch'e-ch'i Chen-chiang Chen-chou JtM Chen-chou Ch'ang-lu %'}\\ üüt Chen-hsieh Ch'ing-liao Chen-ju MÍÜ Chen-kuan K M Chen-tsung -K-Sr Chen ft Chen Chiieh fttt

577

578 Ch'en Hsiang S H Ch'en Hsuan ^ f f Ch'en Lai Ch'en Yao-tso W M t Ch'en Yuan Bfefi Cheng-ho i&ifl Cheng Shih-san niang-tzu IP+H ifti Cheng-shou JES Cheng-wu Hsiu-yung IffnfilSil Ch'engChu iM{g Cheng Hao g i g Cheng I 6 S I Cheng I-ch'uan g ^ J 11 Ch'eng-kuan MM Cheng Ming-tao SBJjfi Ch'eng-t'ien Ch'eng-t'ien ssu (monastery) Tf^A^f Cheng-tu Ch'eng-yiian is. Chi (prefect) $ Chi-chung Chi-hsiang Chi-hsiang t'ien itf WM Chi kung f t £ Chi-shou Tao-jen A Chi-tsu shan HSlLj Ch'i (state) pp Ch'i-kuo Ch'i-neng Ch'i-sung J ? * Ch'i-yu Chia-hui ssu (monastery) Chia-she-mo-t'eng MiSllMf Chia-t'ai Chia-ting MsE Chiang Chih-ch'i Chiang-hsin Chiang Shao-yii Ki^lM Chiang T'ang Chieh-jan ftPs Chien-chou ^Ijj'H Chien-chung Ching-kuo 5t 41 if S Chien -wen Hi Chien-yen itifc Ch'ien Ch'ien Ch'u i i i S Ch'ien-fu

Glossary of N a m e s Ch'ien I ® J§ Ch'ien Wei-yen (Wen-hsi)

Sltt'iH

(m Ch'ien-t'ang Ch'ien-tzu t'a I 1 ? * ® Chih-ch'ien Chih-chii chih-i %am Chih-li ft]® Chih-lien Chih-p'an J&Hg Chih-p'ing Chih-p'u I? If Chih-t'ung (d. 1124) t f f i Chih-yen (602-668) Chih-yen (564-634) § 3 $ Chih-yuan 1"® Chih-yueh Chih-yung I?'/I Chin (dynasty) & Chin (Later) & & Chin (state) W Chin kuang-ming ch'an-fa isiifc^ Chin-ling Chin-shan ^ l i l Chin-shui Ching-yiian W^jcvf Ch'in Kuei Ch'in-kuo(madame) ^BS A A Ch'in Shih Huang-ti S i p M i f Ch'in-tsung I^tk Ching ® Ching-ch'ien MM Ching-chu ssu (monastery) 7?H3:tF Ching-chii ssu (nunnery) if®tF Ching-chueh Jen-yiieh ? i » j i t i § Ching-hsing she 'if^Tii Ching-hsing ti-tzu fPfT^S'i Ching-hui ch'an-yiian (monastery) Ching, Mount ®li| Ching-she Ching-te Ching-te ssu (monastery) jjli§TF Ching-t'u hsi-nien hui vf Ching-t'u hui if» ± # Ching-tz'u ssu (monastery) ?I»IStF Ching-yao ssu (monastery) jprill Tf

579

Glossary of Names Ching-yeh she if H i t Ching-yen ch'an-shih Ching-yin ch'an-yuan (monastery) Ch'ing (dynasty) ?h Ch'ing-chao fll Bp Ch'ing-liao if T Ch'ing-shun ftJ® Ch'ing-sung înW Ch'ing-yiian 88 7È Chiu-feng Tao-ch'ien Chiu Ting-kuo Chou (dynasty) ffi ChouYing M là Chou Yu tt.it (ttiit) Chu-an i t ï Chu Ch'in-ch'eng ^îkfk Chu Fa-lan ^ S W Chu Hsi fcM Chu-hung ffîfë Chu Ju-i ^ÎP— Ch'u-ch'ien JÉsft Ch'u-kung Ch'u-lien MB Ch'u-yuan ÊJt Ch'uan-chiao yiian (monastery) Chuang-tzu Jîrï 1 Ch'un-hua Wit Chung-i SM Chung-li ^ a l Chung-li Sung Miltfë Ch'ung-chii Sk£§ Ch'ung-hsien S U Ch'ung-sheng ssu (monastery) Chu-chih flUÊ Chu-ming M Chù-na Stft Ch'ii-chou frj'N Chueh-an f ; J f Chtieh-hai ssu (monastery) Chueh-hsien iS5t Ch'iian-chou JiSJ'I'l Chuan-fu Dôgen Kigen îÈJC^i^. Ennin B i t Fa-chao Si®

Tf

Fa-chao Yung-wen & J® X Fa-chen &M Fa-chen Shou-i Fa-chih S ® Fa-hai f£M Fa-hsien fell Fa-hsiu Fa-hua ch'an-fa Fa-hui pao-ko M; H IS Fa-hui yiian (monastery) S S I ISt Fa-lin Fa-ming ft BJ Fa-teng S® Fa-tsang fell Fa-tsung S t r Fa-yen Wen-i Fa-yii ssu (monastery) V&M^f Fa-yiin Fan-chen ^M Fan Ch'eng-ta Fan Chung-yen f g f t l t Fan Hsien-chun fSUff Fan Hsiin ?Sit| Fan-kuang ffiit Fan Mao-shih W&f. Fan-t'ien ssu (monastery) Fan Tsu-yii ?EiES Fan-yang f&M Fan YU Fang-kuang ssu (monastery) ^•JStF Fang kung-chang t'a SJt Fen-yang Wu-yeh Feng (bridge) W.M Feng Chi i i t t Feng-hua ^it Feng Wen-shu if O f Fo-chien Hui-ch'in ffilSHS! Fo Hui-ch'iian ftS^ Fo-jih $ B Fo-jih Ch'i-sung Fo-jih shan (mount) B ill Fo-kuoWei-po ft^H'ltS Fo-teng Shou-hsiin "WSypSj Fo-t'ung B i t Fo-yen Ch'ing-yiian ftBSffS Fu-chou HW Fu-hsing ssu (monastery) f l f t ^ J

580 Fu-jung Tao-k'ai HHjtfii Fu-ning Palace I I ^ K Fu-pei Fu Pi s ® Fu-shan Fa-yuan Fu-sheng fill! Fu-shih Fu-tsung Fu-yang Lung-men mFMntH Fu-yiian ssu (monastery) Hai-hui (monastery) MÛ Hai-ytieh Hui-pien MM Han M HanCh'i » i t Han-lin HanYu Hang-chou Hang-chou Hsi-hu fàWIïSl Hao-tuan tfëffî Hatanaka Jôen jffl + ?f i l HoChing fBJif Ho Tan Mît Ho-tze Hou, Monk fêffl ¡r] Hou Yen-kuang fèiifi Hsi-chi f&M Hsi-chu ssu (monastery) H^^f Hsi-hu MiiJ Hsi-kuei she MSitt Hsi-nien hui Hsi-ning Hsi-t'ang ffi^ Hsi-ti Hsi-tzushe ffiKtt Hsi Wang-mu H m Hsi-yungmen ffifSP! Hsia Sung MM Hsiang-fu ssu (monastery) vf Hsiang-kuo ssu (monastery) ffilH^F Hsiang Min-chung fà Wi + Hsiang-shan ssu (monastery) Hsiang-yen Hsiao-chiang /hil Hsiao-ying ft^è Hsien-ch'un AW Hsien-jun JlKiij Hsien-p'ing JlE^P

Glossary of Names Hsien-shou yuan (monastery) Hsien-t'ung M S Hsing-chiao Hîfc Hsing-chiao ssu (monastery) MHtF Hsing-ch'ing an St Hsing-man fr#S Hsing-p'ing St^p Hsing-yin i f H Hsiu-chou ^¡I'l'l Hsii Ch'ang-ju ^ H S f HsuHsuan fàît Hsu Mao Hsu Shou-yuan fF Hsu-t'ang Chih-yu A .1 Hsiian (King of Ch'i) S l I Hsuan-chi Hsuan-chu Hsiian-chiieh "lijS Hsùan-tsang "ITU Hsueh-feng, Mount gil#l_Ll Hsiieh ta-chien l î ^ t l i Hsiieh-tou Hsueh-tou Ch'ung-hsien S S U IS Hsiieh Yen Hsiieh Ying Hsiin-yang Wéë HuAn-kuo Hu-chou ¡58 #1 HuSu tËfê HuTse ^UJ Hu Tsung-che SJtkIS Hua (mountains) (LU) Hua-t'ing Hua-yen Hua-yen ko Us) Huai-kan 'ItilS Huai-shen HEÎ% Huan-chu ¿ J i î Huang (surname of Tao-en) M Huang Chen "ft"® Huang Ch'i-chiang JilSc£L Huang Chuo-kuei i t i ï i l , Huang Ju-lin "ici&S Huang-lung $ 1 1 Huang-lung Hui-nan Jiti.Tllii Huang-po Hsi-yun filitSJM Huang Shang J t 3 l

581

Glossary of Names Huang Ts'e f i H Hui-an Hui-ch'ang # ü Hui-chao Ü M Hui-chao Yün-ts'ung i t f® H Hui-cheng ft iE Hui-chiao Hui-chü Ü:® Hui-hsiin Ssül Hui-hung Hui-k'o HbJ Hui-kuang Hit Hui-kuang yüan (monastery) M j t ^ Hui-lin ch'an-yüan (monastery) Hui-lin ssu (monastery) Hui-lin Tsung-pen sSWth^ Hui-ming ,18 BJ Hui-ming Yen-shan Hui-neng H i t Hui-pien Ä i f Hui-ssu S Hui-ts'ai Msi' Hui-tsung Ü!^ Hui-wen (fl. 530-550) Hui-wen (nun) S ä . Hui-yen Chih-chao B$ % 08 Hui-yin Hui-yin ssu (monastery) K Hui-yüan S ä t Hunan Man Hung-chih Hung-chih Cheng-chüeh i g ® lEl; Hung-chou Hung-jen §LS> Hung-lu ssu (monastery) J^HStF Hung Mai i'Äiffi Hung-shou Huo-an Shih-t'i ^ J t W H I-chen Wang Shih-lang I-ching I-hsiang yüan (monastery) I-huai HIS I-t'ang Fa-teng i l ^ f t g I-t'ung Ü5Ü I-wen S M Jen-tsung izM Jen-yiieh t ffi-

Jih-kuan an 0 IDS Jikaku Daishi Ju-ch'ing #PlS Ju-chou ftj'l'l Juan Hsiao-hsii HH^Mt Jui-kuang ssu (monastery) iMjt^F Jun-chou iflj'H Juo-kuan ir®! Juo-yii irM K'ai-feng HHii K'ai-pao ssu (monastery) HH^F

K'ai-yiian PItc K'ai-yiian ssu (monastery) Wilt^f Kan-lu Chung-hsiian ^Mi^s. Kao-anTa-yii itjiic^ls Kao-li ssu (monastery) Kao-tsung Ktk K'o-kuan rJH K'o-tu nJjt Koryo i(M Ku Ch'eng-hui H ^ l f c Ku-shan Chih-yuan DUlUI'BI Ku-su H M K'u-mu Fa-ch'eng K'uai-chi -#"ft Kuan Ching-jen HHt Kuan-chung H ^ Kuan-fu MIX. Kuan-hsi Chih-hsien M •I? M Kuan-ting it II Kuan-yin I t Kuan-yin Lao-mu Ms'^M Kuang (the librarian) Kuang-chi iM'i^ Kuang-chiao S i f t Kuang-chih HI? Kuang-chih Shang-hsien JX ® ft K Kuang-hsiu Kuang-shou Kuang-tz'u JH® Kuang-tz'u Hui-ts'ai A W M ^ Kuang-wen ta-shih Tfcit^W Kuang-yen JUlSt Kuang-yin ssu (monastery) IK Kuei-feng Tsung-mi ik^^'SS Kuei-shan & iJLl Kuei-shan Ling-yu fM lil Kuei-sheng Wit

582 Kung-te t'ien ifrfS^: K'ung Ch'ing-chueh ?Lvfl; K'ung-shih Kuo-ch'ing ssu (monastery) KuoMiao-yuan I P M Kusumoto Masatsugu Lang IS Lang Chien BPffi Lang-yeh IflSfP Lang-yeh Yung-ch'i Igf^Xie Lei-an Cheng-shou WJ^iES: Li $ Li Chi ^ R Li-chou LiErh-kung Li Fang Li Hsiao-hsien LiJui LiKang Li Lien Li Mu Li O « S I Li-pu Li Tsun-hsii gj Li Ts'ung Li Tuan-yiian LiTzu Li Wei Li-yang LiYii Liang 'M Liang-che M'9f Liang-che chuan-yiin-shih MiJffli a® Lien-hua sheng-hui Lien-she J t t t Lin-an Lin-chi Lin-chi Chan El'Sff Lin-chi I-hsiian B i i S f i l i Lin Ling-su Ling-an ssu (monastery) MiStF Ling-chao M i l Ling-chih ssu (monastery) M ^ t F Ling-feng ssu (monastery) I W ^ Ling Hsing-p'o Wtt ®

Glossary of Names Ling-kan Kuan-yin ssu (monastery) Miill^ Ling-shan Mill Ling-shan ssu (monastery) Ling-yin ssu (monastery) Ling-yuan Wei-ch'ing Mil'fttn LiuChih-chi f!l« Liu Hsi LiuHsiang §i!j[°] LiuK'ai WKJ Liu Sung IUtR Liu Tzu-hui f!)T* Liu Wo f W LiuYii fUil Lo-an Lo-ch'i i l i S Lo-yang Long-hua, Mount f l ¥ Lou Chii Lu # Lu, Mount Jtlil Lu-chou JS^I'I Lu Chu-yai It^fc i l Lu Pin fi® Lii (old woman) 3 Lu (vinaya) W Lu Chen S Si Lii Hao-wen S Lii Hui-ch'ing S S W Lii Ts'ung S W Lung Lin S I S Lung-ching Pien-ts'ai Lung-hua Wu-sheng Lung-hua Yu-chung f|3jl;fi,1& Lung-t'an Ch'ung-hsin Lung-t'u fllH Lung-yu ssu (monastery) fl®f ^f Ma Liang HiS Ma-tsu . l i i Ma-tsu Tao-i . l i f i s t — MaYii H i f MaYung-i HzkiS Makita Tairyo fefflfftiE Mao Tzu-yiian MenzanZuiho ffililiffi^j" Mi-hu Miao-chan ssu (monastery) j^iM^r Miao-chen

Glossary of Names Miao-chieh kPM Miao-hui ssu (monastery) Miao-kuo t&W: Miao-shan Miao-tao febi* Miao-tsung Miao-yiian Min (prefecture) HHH Ming (dynasty) Ming (emperor) SMÊ. Ming-che BJU Ming-chiao Ch'i-sung Ming-chih BJg Ming-chou Ming-chiieh Ming-shih Ming-wu Win Mo-shan Liao-jan ill 7 Mou Tsung-san ^ t k H Mu, King S i Mu-an ft i f Mu-an Shan-ch'ing Mujaku Reikô ifi^M î t Naitô Kônan ft Nan-ch'ang S H Nan-ch'iian P'u-yuan Nan-p'ing T&M Nan-p'ing, Mount S P lil Nan-p'ing Fan-chen Nan-shan Lii Nan-yang Hui-chung Nan-yiïeh Huai-jang SS'USt Neng-jen t & t Neng-jen ch'an-yiian (monastery)

ma

Neng-jen ching-she f h t f f i t t Neng-jen ssu (monastery) tilt^F Nien-ch'ang Ning-hai Ning-po mfc Ou-yang Fang K U t e Ou-yang Hsiu Pa-sheng ssu (monastery) A £ # Pai-chang W i Pai-homiao 6 ill® Pai-i ta-shih shen-chou 0 # ± 3Z Pai-lien (movement) f=l 51 Pai-lien she 0 i S f i

583 Pai-ma ssu (monastery) Ö SI^F Pai-niu Ö 41 Pai-yün (movement) Ö * Pai-yün Shou-tuan Ö Pao-ch'ang X&1 Pao-chi,ssu (monastery) fifiS^F Pao-en yiian (monastery) ftSISi Pao-sheng ssu (monastery) Jlffil^f Pao-tsang ssu (monastery) ÜÄ^F Pao-yün Ä f f Pao-yün I-t'ung Ä f f Ä S Pao-yün ssu (monastery) X f f # Pao-yün yuan (monastery) Ä S Ist Pei-ch'an Ching-fan i t f f 'S % P'ei Hsiu U f r Pen-ju ^Mfl Pen-ming ^Mü P'i-lu WtÄ Pien-ts'ai Yüan-ching P'ing Chi P'ing-chiang fu T-'ÜJfi P'ing-chiang fu Tzu-shou ni Miaotsung ch'an-shih TEifrÄlf/E» PoChü-i P'u-chi f-'Ä P'u-chou Pao-ch'e P'u-t'o, Mount laPÉLil P u Tsung-meng îBtÎkj£ P'u-tz'u Huan-min San-chu H ® San-hsüeh H^P Seng-cheng ssu IbIEb] Seng-ch'ieh fêftH Seng-fu ssu fêâij^l Shan-chia lil M Shan-ssu #.®> Shan-tao Shan-wai lil Shan-yüeh S E Shang-ch'iu fèiJx Shang-hsien |oj R Shang-neng fn] fa Shang-shu Hu kung Shang-ti i'rfc Shang T'ien-chu ssu (monastery) Shao-k'ang

'J? S

584 Shao-lun ¿Bfra Shao-t'an IS® Shao-t'an Hsi-sou ¿ S S i ^ Shao-wu BPS Shen-chao Pen-ju # JS * 5P Shen-chih Shen-hao Shen Hsiian ifci§ Shen Kou tfcjS Shen San-lang ftHÈP Shen-ts'ou Shen-tsung -fi Ik Shen-wu Ch'u-ch'ien #tnjfis& Sheng-an Hi M Sheng-ch'ang i t # Shih-chi Shih Chieh fift Shih Heng-ch'ing W t l ?t Shih Hua Shih-hui Shih-men Yiian-i S T I t u J I Shih-pi 5 S Shih-shuang Ch'ing-chu Shih-shuang Ch'u-yuan Ç H Î Ë ® Shih-tsung ttì:^ Shih-yu W S Shou-ch'u xp-fU Shou-sui ^fM Shu So Shu-chi fttH Shui-an Shih-i zlc^Bf— Ssu-chao Ssu-hsin Wu-hsin JE'frfêfr Ssu-ma Kuang nL^jfc Ssu-ming H Ssu-ming Chih-li E P j ^ P i i Su Che MM Su-chou SEW Su I-chien MM IS Su Shih fÊW Su Sung MM Su Ti M'B Su-tsung id Si Sui (dynasty) PS Sui-ning Sui-ning fu J£f Sun Ch'ang-ling

Glossary of N a m e s Sun Chung 01®. SunHo Sun Mien M'i^ Sun Ying-ch'en 1&IÊM Sun Ying-hsiang Sung Po ^ â Ta-chueh Huai-lien ^ j t l f SI Ta-hui Tsung-kao À.Htk Jl: Ta-hung Pao-en À S I S ® Ta-pei ko ^C®® Ta pien-ts'ai t'ien Ta-t'ung Shan-pen Ta-tz'u, Mount Ta-yang Ching-hsuan Ta-yii T'ai, Mount UlU T'ai-chou êil'H T'ai-ch'u T'ai-p'ing hsing-kuo i c T K H T'ai-tsu ^CìS. T'ai-tsung Tan-hsia Tuan-yu Tan-hsia Tzu-ch'un fl-ffi Tan-t'u ^ f ê T'an-hsiu I I T'an-luan ft^ T a n g (dynasty) JS T a n g Hsiian-tsung JStTtk Tang Hsun itfft Tao-an iS5£ Tao-ch'en ÌÈ.W. Tao-chien 5ËH Tao-ch'ien 5Ëlft Tao-ch'o i t ^ Tao-fu (464-524) itgij Tao-fu (864-937) Ì S S Tao-ho îtÎD Tao-hsin tlfil Tao-hsiian ÏSJË Tao-hsueh Tao-jung î S I l Tao-shen î S î ï Tao-shih l l t t Tao-sui ili® Tao-t'ing i t i Tao-yin 5ËH Tao-yii ÌIW

Glossary of N a m e s Tao-yiian sSJS T'ao-yiian i-W, Te-chang H * Te-shan Fa-t'ai iililfeU Te-shan Hsiian-chien i^lil Te-shao fggg Te-yun an i t S / f Teng, Monk fPffl Teng-ytin ch'an-ssu (monastery) TerajiJun ^fflif Ti-kuan filR Tien-shan (Lake) S U l T'ien-chu ^ T'ien-chu Kuan-yin ssu (monastery) T'ien-chu ssu (monastery) T'ien-i I-huai ^ic^tS T'ien K'uang T'ien-ning ssu (monastery) J c ^ ^ f T'ien-po Chung-yuan ^cSStc T'ien-sheng ¡JiM T'ien-t'ai ii} T'ien-t'ai, Mount ^ a ill T'ien-t'ai Te-shao XaillS T'ien-t'ung i l T'ien-t'ung, Mount ^ S l i l Ting-kuang ta-shih ¿ E ^ t ^ S F Ting Wei T l i ToshukuRozen XfiLi&ffl To-tzu To-tzu shu To-tzu t'a To-tzu t'a-suo g ^ i g B f To To IM T'ou-fu H i J T'ou-tzu I-ch'ing fiTilff T'ou-tzu Ta-t'ung S i ^cIrI Ts'ai Ching Ts'ai Hsiang H H Ts'ai Yung WM Tsan-ning K ' f Ts'ao-an Ts'ao-ch'i Ts'ao-t'ang Shan-ch'ing Ts'ao-tung W P Tse-chiao Tse-ch'ing # W

585 Tse-ch'iian SOik Tse-ying Tseng Hui Tseng Kung-liang S^JE Tseng Min i i ® Tsu Tsu-chao Tao-ho i&ffistifl Tsu-ch'in iM?, Tsu-ch'ing ii.il Tsu-hsin ffifr Tsu-hsiu ffli^ Tsu-shao fifS Tsu Wu-tse llfttflP Ts'ui Huang-ch'en H i t E Ts'ui Li M S Ts'ui Yuan Tsun-shih Tsung-cheng tkIE Tsung-chien Tsung-ch'ih MW Tsung-hsiao tkB^I Tsung-li i^i'J Tsung-mi i^if? Tsung-tse trEb Tsung-yti z n S Ts'ung-chien Ts'ung-i titll Ts'ung-ya T u H a o ttHi Tu-shun TTJ« Tuan-kung ¡¡¡¡Sift Tuan-ming-tien hsiieh-shih

SjBJIx

T'ui-chih Tung IE Tung Chung-shu S f t S f Tung-i, Mount Tung-kuo Shun-tzu Tung-lin Ch'ang-tsung Tung-shan fi lil Tung-shan (Mount Tung-i) Tung-shan Liang-chieh flP) lil ¡iM/i" T'ung-an (sj $ T'ung-hui ta-shih 5111;*;® Tzu-fu tien i ^ l l ® Tzu-fu yuan (monastery) SflllS Tzu-hsiian Tzu-ning i i s i

586 Tzu-sheng ssu (nunnery) I t S t F Tzu-shou ssu (nunnery) if IBftF Tz'u-hsiao ssu (monastery) Tz'u-pien Ts'ung-chien lllififitii Tz'u-pu WSP Tz'u-wu ta-shih M'tn^W Tz'u-yiin M 9 Tz'u-yiin Tsun-shih i S S i Uich'on H ? ; Wan-an Tao-yen I t ^ i S M Wang An-shih i ^ i f Wang Ch'iao-chih i f t ^ l Wang Chih-yung I l ? f l Wang Ch'in-jo i l f c ^ Wang Ching Wang Chung I S Wang Chung Wang Hua-chi ZEjtS Wang Ku 3EiT Wang Meng-hsiian Wang Po-hsiang l i f l J i WangSui I f ! Wang Tan 3E.fi Wang Ts'un 3E# WangTzu-shao i T f g Wang Tzu-shen 3ESttiS Wang Ying-ch'en 'flUSiR Wang Yu-ch'eng 3E S ffi} Wei SI Wei-chien Wei-chiu 'HX Wei-po ' I t S Wei-shang tS fo| Wei-yin wang i f l Wen-chao Wen-chieh Wen-chou ffijJ'H Wen-chou Ching-chti ni Miao-tao ch'an-shih fflW^gMj^iiffW Wen-ling ¡51^ Wen-mu Wen-sheng Wen-ts'an Wen-tsung WenYen-po XMW Wen-ying X ^ t Wen-yiian 3CM. Wu (Emperor of the Liang) fi;

Glossary of Names Wu-chen Wu-chi 1» II Wu-chu Hi Wu-chung ^ + Wu-en f g . l Wu-hsing ^ i H Wu Ko-chi Wu-liang-chueh i S m l ; Wu-liang-shou SSmII' Wu-liang yuan (monastery) ^ M K Wu-men Hui-k'ai WuMin Wu-ming tp BJ Wu Shih-tu Wu-t'ai shan E S l i l Wu-tsu Fa-yen 2l ill fife M Wu-wai WuWei-ming Wu Yuan-chao ^jnBg Wu Yiian-i ^ituSI Wu-Yiieh iaig Yang-ch'i Yang-ch'i Fang-hui Yang Chieh g ® . Yang Hsiung ffifit Yang Huai-chi tt'18 YangHuai-ku W f l i Yang I (Wen-kung) ® f t Yang Shih W Yang Kuei-shan SMSllj Yang-yii Yao-shan Wei-yen SIlfjItAS Yao Shun-hsieh ttffggf Yen Chih-t'ui W&M YenHui Yen-ch'ing ssu (monastery) MIItF Yen-ch'ing yuan (monastery) MSB Yen-p'ing J i T Yen-shan 5 1 » Yen-shou Yen-shou ssu (monastery) M S ^ Yen-yang 11 Pit Ying I I Ying-t'ien I f i ^ Ying-tsung Yu-chou T'an-k'ung fflWW^ Yu-lun i " » Yu-p'eng WJUJ

587

Glossary of Names Yu-yen W jSc Yii S Yii-ch'iian (monastery) 3s.tR Yii-lan-p'en Yii-ming ¡tPJ Yii Shu T&l Yii Tao-p'o Yu-wang W l y u y u jam Yiian-chao 7U,0.§ Yiian-chao (title) [Hi® Yiian-chao Tsung-pen BIEItk^ Yuan-chi tuHI Yiian-chih Ell? Yiian-ching TCVf» Yiian-ching Pien-ts'ai Yuan-ch'ing W.in Yuan-feng t c I Yiian-fu jiffl Yiian-hsiu 7Gi§ Yiian-pien H ? i Ytian-t'ung ssu (monastery) HliB^f Yiian-wu Hltn Yiian-wu K'o-ch'in Hfp^ltl

Yiian-yu TZ-fi Yiieh-chou ilil'H Yueh-kuo i l ® Yiieh-po M & Yueh-t'ang M ^ Yueh-t'ang Hui-hsun M ^ B i i J Yueh-t'ang Tao-ch'ang M I I I Yun-chou SrJ'I'l Yiin-chii U S Yiin-chii, Mount I I g i l l Yiin-chii Tao-ch'i Yiin-hsien ftM Yiin-men HP1] Yiin-men an (cloister) S H J i ; Yiin-men Ch'an 11PW Yun-tz'u M M Yun-yen T'an-sheng 5? Mi I I U Yung, Great Teacher H ^ S f Yung-an Tao-yiian 7jc5?jfiIF. Yung-chia Yung-chia Hsiian-chiieh Yung-chou 7]cJ'H Yung-ming Yen-shou TMJIiisP Yung-yiian ffl

Glossary of Terms

a-p'i-t'antsang PrJ It I I Ä a-shei Fist an J i an-ch(i cha-tzu I i i ch'a S ch'a-na ch'a-pieh (fa) Ä9J (7&) ch'a-shih ch'a-yüan chai M ch'an IP ch'an-chia WM ch'an-chu H i ch'an-fa KS® ch'an-hui ISMS ch'an-li # 3 ch'an-shih ch'an-ting WAE ch'an-tsung W ^ ch'an-tsung hsin-ti W^'I^Hfc ch'an-yüan #15® chang-fu chang-fu-han chang-lao ch'ang 's" ch'ang-hsing san-mei ^ f t H B i ch'ang-tao chao-ch'ing san-sa SSftSt'S Chao-chou k'an-p'o iliJ'HiS^I ch'ao-jan tzu-te ig^c g % chen-hsin K'll* chen-hsin kuan J l ' k t l

chen-hsing Jt'14 chen-ju HiP chen-ju hsin JtiP'fr chen-ju sui-yiian MinMWcheng (orthodox, true, rectification) IE cheng (punitive war) ffi cheng-fa lEife cheng-fa-yen tsang J E S U I T cheng-hsin IEBP$ chi i tung UBS!) chi jan tun ching SPIfeff??

588

589

Glossary of Terms chi ko jung chi pu k'o ting fen SfcBP^nTSfr chi-pieh IBB1] chi se chi k'ung BP fi §P n? chi-tun mm chi-yiian (causal nexus) chi-yiian (ultimate perfect) ® chi-yiian wen-ta ffiMffiQ ch'i-ch'an ffl'l® ch'i-chia fiWch'i-tsu t'ang -bffi I t chia (family) Mchia (provisional positing) Ifx chia-ch'ih finti chia-i ¥ ZJ chia-i t'u-ti ¥ chia-ming iPi^l chiang IS chiang-hsi t f j S chiang-ssu flf^F chiao (doctrine, teachings) chiao (Taoist rite) H chiao-ch'an i-chih tfcff—Be chiao-fa ^LfÈ

chiao-hua $Ji1t

chiao-kuan fjtM chiao-li t £ i l chiao-men &Cf] chiao-ssu chiao-t'e hsing chiao-wai pieh-ch'uan chiao-wai pieh-hsiu chieh kuei i-pien WÈB—IS chieh-chi $ai$k chieh-chieh ^ f r chieh-lu chieh-shen flXtH chieh-shen hu ch'i so pu tu

ffitt

ch'ien-tzu-t'a ^ P T i f chih (goes to, becomes) ¿1 chih (straight) ÏE chih (to arrive at) 31 chih (wisdom, knowledge) % chih cheng-shih frJiW chih-ch'eng MIS chih ch'i ch'a chih chih (extension of knowledge) gtffl chih-chih (point directly at) i t iif chih-chih jen-hsin JËtlfÀ'k chih chih tsai ko-wu, wu ko erh hou chih chih g t f n i ï f ê t l > t l f ê W f é f t ! chih-chueh (guiding tenet) fê ¡tfc chih-chiieh (immediate awareness) chih-hui chih-kuan i h R chih-kuo ÎPH chih-shih p'u-t'i [jSSH chih-tao M i l chih-yen H? HP* ch'ih-hua shih-chung l^^s^/fchin ching t'i-che t'i hua t'a chih ch'üan-shih chi shih tzu hsing chih chuan-shih ' MitttiZm »BP^gfîZtt» Chin kuang-ming ch'an/kung-yang Chin kuang-ming ch'an-fa

mm

JÌc'Kì1^

chieh-shen k'ung-chu j S t l f S ' H chieh-shih M & chieh-tu-shih chien-hsing ch'eng-fo JL'S.tS'W chien-hsiu iff"® chien-ssu chien-ssu huo jILSiS chien-t'an ch'ien-p'an

¿¿jt^

chin-shih il± chin-wen chia ^ j C M ching-ai '/¥ ching-hsing M f r ching hui chü ching ching hui chü jan ching-i ijj & ching-jen ?¥À ching-shen f f t t ching-shih MÊfif ching-ti /fife ching-tsang MM, ching-tso ching-t'u ch'an-fa ching-t'u chih-yeh àiZM

590 ching-t'u yüan ching-yen MM ch'ing t f ch'ing-ching fa-yen flf??SSI ch'ing-ching ling-chih ?lf ch'ing Kuan-yin ch'an-fa tñMla

m

ch'ing li '»a ch'ing-yen # M ch'iu tao >Rit ch'iu-chung 41 ch'iung-ii mm chou hsüeh-yü j'H^Ws chu i chu-fa hu-chü t t i í ü H chu-jen ISA chu-pu chu-shih lieh-chuan ch'u-chia it) Mch'u-ch'u J8i8 ch'u ta-shih I É A Í ch'u-tsu ÍHÍfi ch'uan fll ch'uan-teng lu chung 41 chung-chiao chung-chieh chung-i ^ijü chung-sheng hsin-shu ^ife'klfe chung-shu she-jen A chung-tao 4a jÄ chung-yu/yin 'P^Z&i chti (inclusion) J l chü-ssu ao-man {SIMMS chu she jo chi chüan # ch'üan ® ch'íian-ch'ing hui-shou ®j|f # # ch'iian-chu f f j i chuan-shou Síjtí chuan-tao chih shou W]>Jf¿.Í3 ch'iian-tu AUS ch'üan-yüan filmt chüeh ta-i IS A l i chüeh-tai miao iEfökP chiin-min W S fa m fa-chieh yüan-ch'i ft f ? - ^ ®

Glossary of Terms fa-hsing chih wu-ming pien tsao chufa, ming chih wei jan; wu-ming chih fa-hsing pien ying chu-yüan, ming chih wei ching

m u > % z m ° m^zm^mm

fa-hsing chih yü wu-ming pien tsao chu-fa S t t £ f l l P J J g j £ f S ? £ fa-lü mw fa-shih fe® fa-shen l é j i fa-ssu ÍÉSH fa-sun S i l fa-tsang '&.M fa-yen S I S fa-yü íém fan >L fan-fu KiA fan-hsin J l ' k fan-nao chi p'u-t'i M U S P # t t fan-nao chi p'u-t'i, sheng-ssu chi niehp'an £ t i í B P ¥ & fan-nao hsin ¡Htl'fr fang-pien ^{Sí fang-pien po-lo-mi ^ f f i í S U S í fang-sheng S ü fang-sheng ch'ih íJcífeilíl fang-sheng hui fang-wai líf^h fang-wai chiao ífí'hií fei-fa i m fei-hsin If-'k fen jY fen-kung fen-sao-i MWt< fen-ssu/an i t ^ / J ® feng-kung feng-shan áíff fo cheng-fa-yen tsang 'WlEfeiSlS fo-chiao fo-hsin fo-hsing tt'l4 fo-kuo fo-yü hsin wei tsung fu Sl fu-ai fu-chang Ifí^ han -g"

Glossary of Terms

591

han-yang '/ills ho in Ho! "i ho tso-ma-sheng {"IfF^it hou-shen iiJfr hou-sheng -flc't hsi-ch'an g f f hsi-nien hui hsi, nu, ai, le & > ' # ' m hsiang (appearance, mark) hsiang (think upon) if, hsiang-fa {$.'& hsiang-pi If if? hsiang-tai miao hsiang-ying ^Si® hsiao hsiao-fu •ffi'K hsiao-ts'an >\ hsieh fP hsieh-chih hsieh-t'ao fPlfl hsien J§Sc hsien-sheng R H hsien-shih sheng-li m hsin 'fr hsin-chii ' ^ H hsin-chu san-ch'ien hsin-fa 'k'ffc hsin-hsiieh iff^P hsin-i f g ^ hsin-shu 'LNifl hsin-tsao 'll-ii; hsing (nature) 14 hsing (practice) fx hsing chili '14 BPS hsing-ch'i '14 hsing chieh ft ft? hsing-chuang ft?R hsing-chii '14 Hhsing-fu Hfil hsing Han Wei ching ft 81mi hsing-jen ft A hsing-o I4H hsing-shan '14 it hsing-shan hsing-o 't4#'l43I hsing sui wu shu pi chieh huan fa

«

hsing-tu ft l |

hsiu ft hsiu-chuan ft IS hsiu kung-te shih ftftilii hsiu-o ft3I hsiu-shan ft# hsiu-shen ft^ hsiu-tao ftifi hsii jM hsii t'ui tao pien-chi Mtf P J i t B hsuan-chieh lift? hsiin H hu-chai shen s l ^ t t hu-chii, hsing-chii lLi\ > 14^ hu-jung 5 St hua (blossom, flower) W hua (saying) 15 hua (transform) it hua-hsiang WlW hua-fa ssu-chiao it, ft E l i hua-i ssu-chiao itfliHti. hua-she hua-t'ou tSSI huan ¿1 huan chi huan kan huan ying huan fu tomarniwaft hui m hui/ching St / hui-san kuei-i # — hui-shou #H* huo huo-jan huo-jan kuan-t'ung f S M j f s I huo-jan yu ko chiieh ch'u SSMiff®

ft«

i (benefit) i i i (rightness, significance) U i-ch'i i-chieh lift? i-ch'ieh —® i-ching MM. i-fa e # i fu-chu (already entrusted) Eft 1 ® i fu-chu (hereby entrusts) 1¿Hi1® i-hsin (one's own true mind) —'k i-hsin (used mind) IM'fr i-hsin ch'uan-hsin lil'frfll'C/ i-hsin ch'uan-hsin, pu-li wen-tzu

Glossary of Terms

592 i-hsin hsiang-ch'uan tU'frffifll i-hsin i-i — M i-hsin san-kuan — 'frHH i hsü shou jen t U j S S A i-kuan —Jf i-nien —^ i-nien san-ch'ien ~ ^ H i 1 i-shen IMA i-ssu i tse i-ch'ieh — f j — ® i-tuan HáSí jan/ching %k / if jan-ching pu-erh men 7? d Fl jen t j en-cheng t ® jen-hsin (human mind) A ' h jen-hsin (humane mind) t ' h jen-yin jen-yü A®; jou-shen p'u-sa IÍ) j t l f l l ju Ü ju-ho ju-seng MI'S ju-shih ÍP/I ju-tao Ail jung Sí k'ai-ch uan hsien-shih UMlW: k'ai-t'ang Hfljjí kan i® kan jen IS A kan-ko iSfé kan-wu (awaken) üSSlF kan-wu (achieve miraculous insight) kan-t'ung kan-ying USfflS kan-ying tao-chiao k'an-hua S I S k'an-hua ch'an I H S f f k'an-hua chih fa ftfS^lfe k'an-hua-t'ou # 1 5 1 1 kao-seng chuan i t í f f f kao-shang chih pin ¡ i fo| ko fé ko ch'i fei hsin Í S K ^ ' I ^ ko ch'ü fé A ko-wu k'o &

f

kou/ching / '/¥ ku-hun ku-shih Ì i f f ku-ti-ku-tung # / £ # J Ì ku-wen "È"3t ku-wen chia k'u tt kuai 'fi kuan H kuan-chao IHM kuan-fo H"W kuan-hsiang t S Ì I kuan-hsin H'k kuan-hui H ® Kuan-yin tang Iff kuei (spirit) % kuei (vessel) HL kuei-shen i&IÌ kuei-shih M S kung-an kung-fu IA kung-ssu kung-te shih ÌÙÌIÌÌ kung-t'ien A kung-yang ffili k'ung $ k'ung-chii S S ' ! k'ung-chu hu ch'i so pu wen k'ung-tsung kuo-nei IH ft kuo-shih il W lao-p'o 3LW; lao-p'o ch'an ^Sllff lao-p'o hsin-ch'ieh ^, '^'ù-ij] lao t'ai-p'o ^A^ lei-t'ui M i l leng-tso li (benefit) fij li (pattern, principle) i l li (power) t i li (propriety) IH li (separation) Si li-ch'an fa Ì H t i É li-ching li-chu i m li-ho li-hsing i l t t

iS'ISì 1

Glossary of Terms

ii-hsüeh mm

li-i li jan chien ching li-kuan MM li-pu shang-shu li-pu shih-lang li-shih hsiu-kuan li-shih wu-ai ÏIÎÎBSI ii-t'i mm li-tu i l l l lien M lien-hua lin-huo 'MX. ling M lu-ch'e JSIÎ lu-chu U t t lii-chiao pieh-hsing IÎT lü-tsang W& lü-tsung lü-yüan lun In lun-chi In IB lung II lung-wang IË3Î mappô ^R'ft mi ^ mi-hsiang ch'uan-shou S Î S f l ï S mi-i BUM Mi-t'o ko 38F6BÏ mi-yü ^TO miao iP miao-chüeh f&M miao-fa-lien ifi&M miao-wu b'Pia ming-i ÏIÎc ming-lii BMW ming-tao mo-chao KM mo-chao ch'an iÖIW mo-chao hsieh ch'an W^SMW mo-ch'i mo-fa nan-k'o ho-hui ït nJfflU' nei ft nei-tien ftÄ nembutsu shigö ^'WHll neng-tuan tblfr ni-ch'a ch'an-lin /E/fffitt

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