永明延寿と「教禅一致」——調停者としての延寿像の変遷=永明延壽與「教禪一致」――作為調和者的延壽形象之變遷=Yongming Yanshou and the “Unity of Doctrinal and Meditative Approaches”: The Evolution of Yanshou’s Image as Harmonizer
In this paper I will clarify how the image of “unifier of doctrinal and meditative approaches” was bestowed upon Yongming Yanshou (904-976) and how it changed throughout history. There are four stages in brief, as follows: First, I will examine two biographies of Yanshou written by the figures Zanning (919-1002) and Daoyuan (dates unknown) who knew Yanshou directly and another biography written a little over a century after his death by Huihong (1071-1128). In none of these three early biographies is Yanshou regarded as a unifier of meditative and doctrinal approaches. Secondly, moving on to the Yuan dynasty, where the emperors were in support of placing doctrinal traditions (such as the Tiantai, Consciousness-Only, or Huayan traditions) as superior to the Chan (or meditation) tradition, the famous Chan monk Zhongfeng Mingben (1263-1323) put forth the idea that Yanshou had harmonized doctrinal and meditative approaches but did not use the term “unity of doctrinal and meditative approaches.” Third, in the late Ming dynasty, during the revival period of Buddhism, one of the four most eminent monks of that time Hanshan Deqing (1546-1623) put forth the idea that Yanshou’s representative work, Zongjing Lu (Record of the Axiom Mirror), is a work that unifies doctrinal and meditative approaches. However, Hanshan believed that the Zongjing Lu not only reflected the ideology of the “unity of doctrinal and meditative approaches,” but was also a work which syncretized all Buddhist teachings in a revival. Fourth, by the Qing dynasty the most powerful figure the nation, the Yongzheng emperor (who reigned from 1722-1735), praised Yanshou as the “greatest master in China,” and the Zongjing Lu as the “greatest work ever written by a Chinese master.” The Yongzheng emperor’s high evaluation of Yanshou was beneficial to the peace and unification of the empire and at that time definitively solidified Yanshou’s status. In conclusion, the image of Yanshou in each era is deeply reflective of the background of the Buddhist communities throughout history as Yanshou’s image as a unifier of doctrinal and meditation approaches was born in the Yuan and fully established by the end of the Ming。
