The corporeal bodhisattva in Chinese Buddhism is a peculiar phenomenon. What is its significance? What ideas does it convey, and what kind of discourse does it form? This paper explores this issue from eight angles in order to reveal characteristics of the indigenous culture it embodies. The first angle gives rise to a speculation about the occurrence of the corporeal bodhisattva from an historical background including the traditional ethical view of life and immortality, and the Taoist corporeal immortality. The second and third angles reveal that this phenomenon is closely related to the prevalence of The Lotus Sūtra with its idea of the incorruption of the tongue and the term ＂whole-body relic＂. The fourth angle investigates several accounts of non-decaying flesh-bodies. The fifth angle explores the doctrinal foundation for the legitimacy of, and reasons for, the non-decaying body of flesh. The six and seventh angles discuss the many causes for the emergence and fabrication of the corporeal bodhisattva.
1. An Ethical View of Life and Death and the Spiritual Need for Immortality 156 2. The Lotus Sūtra and the Incorruption of the Tongue 158 3. The Lotus Sūtra and the Concept of Whole-body Relics 159 4. Accounts Concerning Non-decaying Corporeal 161 5. An Exploration of Non-decaying Flesh-body 165 (1) A Doctrinal Foundation for the Non-decaying Flesh-body 165 (2) The Reasons for the Non-decaying Flesh-body 166 6. Causes for the Emergence of the Flesh-body Bodhisattva 169 7. The Fabrication of the Corporeal Bodhisattva 172 Bibliography 173
