As the most important Buddhist school in the history of Chinese Buddhism, the philosophy of Chan Buddhism and its agricultural Chan practice have had a profound influence on the lives of the literati and scholars. Both historically and logically, the term “Chan Dharma 禪法” is extremely rich in connotations. The so-called “agricultural Chan 農禪” is a transformation of Chinese farming culture into the “Chan practice” by practising meditation through farming activities. The “garden farming 園耕” refers to the farming activities of the literati and scholars in the gardens, which were driven by the style of agricultural Chan. Under the influence of agricultural Chan, “garden farming” took on a new spiritual attitude towards crops and created a natural aesthetic realm of life in the act of farming. This article consists of three main sections. I start with an introduction to the religious thoughts and practices of Chan Buddhism, pointing out that the underlying colour of Chan Buddhism is the aesthetics of life, while gradually evoking its special practice of Chan. The second section discusses the concept of agricultural Chan and farming activities in gardens, to figure out the characteristics of agricultural Chan and how farming activities in gardens are carried out. In the third section, I argue for the beauty of farming in gardens, pointing out the essence of the beauty in garden farming and what aesthetic possibilities the act of farming in gardens may embody.
目次
Abstract 1 Keywords 1 1. The Religious Thought and Practice of Chinese Chan Buddhism 1 1.1. Religious Thought in Chinese Chan Buddhism 1 1.2. Spiritual Practices of Chan Buddhism 3 1.3. The “Farming” Vocabulary Associated with Chan Practices 6 2. Agricultural Chan and Farming in the Garden 7 2.1. What Is “Agricultural Chan”? 8 2.2. The Necessity of “Farming” in the Garden 9 2.3. Early Monastic Groups and “Farming” in the Garden 11 3. The Agrarian Aesthetic in the Garden 12 3.1. The Aesthetic Essence of Farming in the Garden 12 3.2. The Aesthetic of “Agricultural Chan” in Garden Farming 12 4. Conclusions 16 References 16
