The Great Fuxian Monastery (Da Fuxian si 大福先寺) held a highly favored political and religious position in Luoyang, one of the twin capitals of the Tang and interregnum Zhou dynasties. The monastery’s early rise to significance is most intimately associated with Wu Zhao, the only woman in Chinese history to rule in her own right. Under her patronage, Da Fuxian si hosted several translation projects, overseen by eminent monks such as Divākara, Yijing, and Bodhiruci. Further, a committee headed by the monk Huaiyi – and including several eminent monks affiliated with the Da Fuxian si (Faming, Chuyi, and Huiyan) – compiled a piece of propagandist Buddhist literature justifying Wu Zhao’s rule. Yet, due in part to its relationship with the controversial female ruler, the monastery is intriguingly underrepresented in the historical records and, as a result, has yet to be fully explored in scholarship. Antonino Forte mends this oversight, providing a more complete history of the monastery by reconstructing its integral first thirty years in two parts: 1) from its establishment in 675 to the dissolution of the Tang in 690; and 2) the fifteen years of the successive Zhou dynasty, until the restoration of the Tang in 705.
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From the foundation of the Taiyuan si in 675 (or early 676) to 690 49 690–705: From ‘Principality Monastery’ (guosi 國寺) to ‘Great Monastery’ (dasi 大寺) 54 Acknowledgments 61 Disclosure statement 61 Notes 61 Bibliography 64 A. primary sources 64 B. modern studies 65 Appendix. Provisional table of monks affiliated with the Great Fuxian Monastery 大福先寺 in the years 675–705 67
