Integrating Buddhism into Chinese Culture: Literati Monks as Buddhist Junzi (“Confucian” Gentleman) –– Implications for Understanding the Nature of Buddhism and Its Role in Society, Past Present
literati monks; Buddhist Junzi; Zanning; Da Song Seng shilüe; Buddhism and Society; secular Buddhists
摘要
The question of Buddhism’s role in Chinese culture and society was raised when Buddhism first entered China in the first century and has persisted down to the present day. Throughout its history in China, Buddhism endured the vicissitudes of imperial politics, courting the favors of the emperor and well-placed members of the cultural elite, on the one hand, while inviting the wrath of its detractors, on the other. My presentation explores a Buddhist response to these challenges through an examination of the Buddhist literati-monk Zanning’s 贊寧(919-1001) Topical Compendium of the Buddhist Clergy (sometimes translated as Brief History of the Sangha) compiled in the Great Song dynasty (Da Song Seng shilüe 大宋僧史略; CBETA T vol. 52, no. 2126), written at the request of Song emperor Taizong (r. 976-997). The paper details Zanning’s argument for accepting Buddhism as a Chinese (rather than foreign) religion, as reflecting and enhancing native Chinese values rather than conflicting with them (as its detractors claimed). A number of subjects addressed in the Topical Compendium are addressed-- the performance of Buddhist rituals at state ceremonies, the inclusion of Buddhist writings in Chinese wen 文 (letters or literature), proper Buddhist customs and practices and their contributions to the aims of the Chinese state, and the epitome of integration of Buddhist elite into the Confucian ideal of gentlemanly civility, the Buddhist junzi 法門君子.
In addition, I would like to use Zanning’s proposals for integrating Buddhism into Chinese culture to ask questions about the nature of Buddhism itself and its modern study, both in terms of how it often regards the nature of its subjects (i.e., monasteries as havens for monkish recluses), and the ways in which so-called “secular” Buddhists are marginalized against the norm of a hypothetical and essentialized spiritual quest.
