From early on in the history of Buddhism in China, elite Buddhist monks and laymen have demonstrated a profound concern with Buddhism's past. However, while careful attention has been paid to the facts revealed by studying these historians, surprisingly little research has been done on the historiography of their works. And while there is a wealth of scholarship on other forms of historical writing in China, this scholarship has given almost no attention to Buddhist writings. To what extent did Buddhist historians differ from court historians? Did Buddhist doctrines and beliefs inform the understanding of the past for Buddhist writers? Did Buddhist historiography have any influence on non-Buddhist historical writings in China? What, in short, is the place of Buddhism in the Chinese historiographical tradition? In Buddhist Historiography of China, John Kieschnick examines a series of themes in mainstream Buddhist historiographical works from the fifth century to the twentieth, looking not so much for what these works reveal about the people and events they describe as for what they tell us about the understanding of history by those who compiled them, with a particular focus on moments in which the historians attempt to explicitly explain their material.
目次
Introduction 1. India 2. Sources 3. Karma 4. Prophecy 5. Genealogy 6. Modernity Conclusion Acknowledgments Appendix 1. Chronological List of Major Works Appendix 2. Lineage Charts Notes Bibliography Index
