Daoji (?-1209) was an eccentric Buddhist monk who became posthumously a popular literary and dramatic hero as well as a god. (As a literary protagonist and as a god he is generally referred to as Jidian or Jigong.) This thesis examines his human and posthumous career through the seventeenth century. It analyzes the available information on the historical Daoji, works of fiction that celebrate him, and the emergence of his religious cult.
The thesis is divided into three sections reflecting three areas of investigation. The first section examines the historical man Daoji and his religious background. Daoji was an eccentric monk who violated monastic regulations. The thesis analyzes the historical background for his antinomian behavior. The second section surveys the growth of Jidian lore. Particular attention is given to his portrayal in works of fiction. Different novels depict Jidian in different lights, and they mirror varying conceptions of him. The thesis's third section examines the emergence of Jigong's cult. Both his popular cult and his appropriation by the monastic community are examined. Under the laity's pressure, the monastic establishment, which in his own days granted Daoji neither title nor position, vindicated him and admitted him into its gallery of saints.
The thesis aims both to clarify Jigong's career and to use this career as a prism through which larger questions will be addressed. Three questions underlie this investigation. Firstly, the relation between Chinese religion, (sometimes referred to as Chinese popular religion), and Chinese Buddhism (defined here as Chinese monastic Buddhism). A study of Daoji's career reveals a complex pattern of interaction between the laity's piety and monastic beliefs, between popular literature and canonical scripture. Secondly, the role of vernacular fiction in the transmission of the Chinese pantheon. These were popular novels written by professional writers that brought Jigong's image to the lay devotee. I argue that these novels served as a vehicle for the dissemination of his cult. Thirdly, the upside-down dimension of the Chinese pantheon. I suggest that Jigong belonged in a class of eccentric and humorous deities, whose cult offered liberation from accepted social and cultural norms.
