This dissertation examines the death writing of an influential Chinese Buddhist monk named Quyi Zhixu (1599-1655) who lived in the late Ming (1368-1644) and early Qing (1644-1911) dynasties and emphasized both Buddhism theory and application. Through a close analysis of his death writing in Ling Feng Zong Lun (《靈峰宗論》) and Jiang Wen Lu (《見聞錄》) , the death pocesses of the saints, his teachers he revered as well as those of his peers and normal people are found, and their attitudes and treatments towards death are detected, and more, the religious practices concealed in these writings are unfolded. The results are as follows.
First, in Quyi’s writings about death, he emphasizes more on the main characters’ daily practices, disciplines and Buddhism teachings. Secondly, as for his writing about the death of the saints, he might follow the previous writings, but he takes out some contents and keeps those he cherishes. Even so, he never replaces the contents of the previous writings with others.
Thirdly, cocnerning Quyi’s death writings about rebirth in Amitābha’s Pure Land, his writings, unlike the following ones, include the three necessary conditions for those wish to gain rebirth in rebirth in Amitābha’s Pure Land, faith, vows and practice; in addition, different words related to Amitābha’s Pure Land are used in the same writing. And the most important is that most of the characters in these writigns are Quyi’s friends, including monks and female layers. Fourthly, except for the above two special kinds of writings, more other people’s death are writted in Ling Feng Zong Lun (《靈峰宗論》) . In these writings, the emphasis of filial piety as well as different kinds of funeral and burial reveal the customs and concepts concealed in the Buddhist practices followed by Quyi and his friends.
Fifthly, Quyi’s death writings about normal people in Jiang Wen Lu (《見聞錄》) are explored. Two kinds of death, “good death” and “tragic death,” are classified according to the different terms used in these stories. Also, the necessary conditions of rethirth in Amitābha’s Pure Land and karmic retribution are discussed. At last, with all the above death wriitngs are compared, the characeters and the distingulish features of Quyi’s death writings as well as how the Buddhists in the the late Ming dynasty treat death are explored.
