C. Pierce Salguero Assistant Professor, Asian History & Religious Studies The Abington College of the Pennsylvania State University
關鍵詞
Buddhist medicine; Categories; Encyclopedias; Paul Demiéville
摘要
Texts related to healing are abundant in the Chinese Buddhist corpus, with hundreds of relevant treatises or chapters extant today from all periods of Chinese history. Generations of authors from the medieval period to the present day have ascribed a great degree of importance to codifying and anthologizing this particular area of Buddhist knowledge. This paper discusses the organizational categories and textual canons that have predominated in this exegetical tradition. I outline the emergence of the first syntheses in the medieval period, continuities in later authors’ treatment of the topic, and the modification of those approaches to fit with modern scientific medicine. I then critique the reinscription of these exegetical approaches in Western scholarship, and identify several ways to move beyond these traditional categories and canons in future research.
