Commissioned by Jessica Zu (USC Dornsife, School of Religion) Eric M. Greene's simultaneous publi... more Commissioned by Jessica Zu (USC Dornsife, School of Religion) Eric M. Greene's simultaneous publication of two groundbreaking companion books in the Kuroda Institute's Studies and Classics in East Asian Buddhism series is nothing less than a monumental achievement.[1] For almost forty years, these two series, in association with the University of Hawai'i Press, have produced some of the finest English-language scholarship on premodern East Asian Buddhism, including several landmark volumes devoted specifically to the topics of Chan, Zen, and meditation.[2] Greene's Chan Before Chan and The Secrets of Buddhist Meditation stand among the very best of these and indeed
, published in 1964. 2 Ch'en intended his book for students with some background on the topic, so... more , published in 1964. 2 Ch'en intended his book for students with some background on the topic, so it is perhaps too long, detailed, and narrowly historical for introductory courses. Yü thus offers a much more concise and simplified "thematic history," which covers topics like scriptures, devotional cults, festivals, rituals, and gender in synchronic fashion, and includes standard classroom props like "Discussion Questions" for each chapter and a glossary at the end. Otherwise, Yü's textbook is quite similar to Ch'en's. Both exemplify the intellec tualist, elitist orientation of twentiethcentury Western Buddhist studies-foregrounding written texts, philosophical discourses, doctrinal "schools," and the activities of eminent monks, emperors, and literati scholars-even when discussing the social, material, and embodied practices of "common" Buddhists. Both authors emphasize how Buddhism was domesticated in China, thereby reifying socially and historically constructed categories like "India," "China," and "Buddhism" as bounded, timeless essences that somehow influence and transform one another. Thus, Yü's Chinese Buddhism helpfully updates and consolidates the contents of Ch'en's Buddhism in China for undergraduate readers-and incorporates more materials from lateimperial and modern periods-but it otherwise leaves unchanged and unexamined Ch'en's underlying approach, structural framework, and theory of transregional religion. Yü's "Introduction" and chapter 1 on "Major Buddhist Sutras and Treatises" pres ent the main histories, doctrines, texts, and personages of Chinese Buddhism during the 1 As opposed to the many recent textbooks on Buddhism or Chinese religions more broadly. 2 Another important predecessor worth noting, although Yü does not compare her book to it, is Arthur F. Wright's Buddhism in Chinese History (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1959).
In the early years of the Song 宋 dynasty (960-1279), after decades of internecine warfare and pol... more In the early years of the Song 宋 dynasty (960-1279), after decades of internecine warfare and political division, architects of the new imperial order sought reunification under a banner of civil and literary 'culture' (wen 文). The question of how precisely to define this culture-whether to emphasize or include classicist, ethical, or religious models-was hotly contested, and many Chinese cultural and literary traditions had gone missing over the previous decades of sociopolitical turmoil. Buddhism in particular was situated precariously, having just been brutally suppressed by the Later Zhou 後周 regime in 955-following similar persecutions under the Northern Wei 北魏 (in 446), Northern Zhou 北周 (574), and Tang 唐 dynasties (ca. 845)-and leaders of the Chinese saṃgha sought to secure pride of place for Buddhism in the newly emerging Song imperial culture. Perhaps the most prominent Buddhist representative of the time was Zanning 贊寧 (919-1001), who achieved the highest official rank of any contemporary Buddhist cleric and was reportedly appointed to the prestigious Hanlin Academy 翰林院, where he served among elite scholar-officials who authored dictates of state (13). These officials were also charged with reconstituting Chinese literary histories Welter, Albert. The Administration of Buddhism in China: A Study and Translation of Zanning and the Topical Compendium of the Buddhist Clergy (Da Song Seng shilüe 大宋僧史略).
abstract: This article examines a Buddhist vinaya (or, monastic code) precept against the use of ... more abstract: This article examines a Buddhist vinaya (or, monastic code) precept against the use of silk; it includes the broader contexts of Chinese Buddhist silk culture and Chi-nese applications of Indian monastic codes. Chinese medieval commentators appropriated this precept to ban silk from the monastic uniform — echoing earlier lay Buddhist anti-silk drives — on the grounds of the Mahƒyƒna ethic of universal compassion. This was similar to broad efforts by Chinese Buddhists to reconcile the social agendas of vinaya codes with the lofty moral ambitions of the bodhisattva path. But with the Chinese sa½gha (monastic establishment) immersed in the ubiquitous sericulture industry, this call to ban silk monastic uniforms appears more socioeconomic than ethical. Elite clerics took a stand against silkworm killing only as it concerned the cassocks, while silk cloth otherwise flowed throughout monastic precincts; their motive chiefly was to fortify lay–monastic distinctions by creating a conspicuous absence of silk. This case illustrates how Indian sources of authority were both indispensable and fungible in medieval China: here they were deployed to demonstrate accordance between Buddhist ethical, social, and commercial interests and culturally embedded traditions of material production.
For thousands of years in China, silk producers have developed ritual technologies and pantheons ... more For thousands of years in China, silk producers have developed ritual technologies and pantheons of deities intended to ensure healthy silkworms and abundant silk crops. Buddhist rites and deities have likewise long served the commercial interests of Chinese religionists, but so far we have little understanding of the relationships between the Buddhist institution and the ubiquitous sericulture industry. This essay represents the initial stages of a larger effort to investigate these relationships in premodern China. Here I examine a specific instance in which Buddhism was promoted as integral to silk production—as the true origin of the sericulture process, as the proper moral and soteriological framework within which to understand silkworm rearing (and killing), and as the ritual tradition most efficacious for sericulturists. These claims were advanced in medieval Chinese sources depicting the ancient Indian Buddhist patriarch A svaghos : a as a local god of silk. Through this figure in particular, whose equine associations linked him with age-old Chinese silkworm myths, Buddhist authors aimed to transform sericulture into an ancient Indian innovation that was fully accordant with traditional Buddhist norms and thus best served by the Chinese Buddhist institution.
Commissioned by Jessica Zu (USC Dornsife, School of Religion) Eric M. Greene's simultaneous publi... more Commissioned by Jessica Zu (USC Dornsife, School of Religion) Eric M. Greene's simultaneous publication of two groundbreaking companion books in the Kuroda Institute's Studies and Classics in East Asian Buddhism series is nothing less than a monumental achievement.[1] For almost forty years, these two series, in association with the University of Hawai'i Press, have produced some of the finest English-language scholarship on premodern East Asian Buddhism, including several landmark volumes devoted specifically to the topics of Chan, Zen, and meditation.[2] Greene's Chan Before Chan and The Secrets of Buddhist Meditation stand among the very best of these and indeed
, published in 1964. 2 Ch'en intended his book for students with some background on the topic, so... more , published in 1964. 2 Ch'en intended his book for students with some background on the topic, so it is perhaps too long, detailed, and narrowly historical for introductory courses. Yü thus offers a much more concise and simplified "thematic history," which covers topics like scriptures, devotional cults, festivals, rituals, and gender in synchronic fashion, and includes standard classroom props like "Discussion Questions" for each chapter and a glossary at the end. Otherwise, Yü's textbook is quite similar to Ch'en's. Both exemplify the intellec tualist, elitist orientation of twentiethcentury Western Buddhist studies-foregrounding written texts, philosophical discourses, doctrinal "schools," and the activities of eminent monks, emperors, and literati scholars-even when discussing the social, material, and embodied practices of "common" Buddhists. Both authors emphasize how Buddhism was domesticated in China, thereby reifying socially and historically constructed categories like "India," "China," and "Buddhism" as bounded, timeless essences that somehow influence and transform one another. Thus, Yü's Chinese Buddhism helpfully updates and consolidates the contents of Ch'en's Buddhism in China for undergraduate readers-and incorporates more materials from lateimperial and modern periods-but it otherwise leaves unchanged and unexamined Ch'en's underlying approach, structural framework, and theory of transregional religion. Yü's "Introduction" and chapter 1 on "Major Buddhist Sutras and Treatises" pres ent the main histories, doctrines, texts, and personages of Chinese Buddhism during the 1 As opposed to the many recent textbooks on Buddhism or Chinese religions more broadly. 2 Another important predecessor worth noting, although Yü does not compare her book to it, is Arthur F. Wright's Buddhism in Chinese History (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1959).
In the early years of the Song 宋 dynasty (960-1279), after decades of internecine warfare and pol... more In the early years of the Song 宋 dynasty (960-1279), after decades of internecine warfare and political division, architects of the new imperial order sought reunification under a banner of civil and literary 'culture' (wen 文). The question of how precisely to define this culture-whether to emphasize or include classicist, ethical, or religious models-was hotly contested, and many Chinese cultural and literary traditions had gone missing over the previous decades of sociopolitical turmoil. Buddhism in particular was situated precariously, having just been brutally suppressed by the Later Zhou 後周 regime in 955-following similar persecutions under the Northern Wei 北魏 (in 446), Northern Zhou 北周 (574), and Tang 唐 dynasties (ca. 845)-and leaders of the Chinese saṃgha sought to secure pride of place for Buddhism in the newly emerging Song imperial culture. Perhaps the most prominent Buddhist representative of the time was Zanning 贊寧 (919-1001), who achieved the highest official rank of any contemporary Buddhist cleric and was reportedly appointed to the prestigious Hanlin Academy 翰林院, where he served among elite scholar-officials who authored dictates of state (13). These officials were also charged with reconstituting Chinese literary histories Welter, Albert. The Administration of Buddhism in China: A Study and Translation of Zanning and the Topical Compendium of the Buddhist Clergy (Da Song Seng shilüe 大宋僧史略).
abstract: This article examines a Buddhist vinaya (or, monastic code) precept against the use of ... more abstract: This article examines a Buddhist vinaya (or, monastic code) precept against the use of silk; it includes the broader contexts of Chinese Buddhist silk culture and Chi-nese applications of Indian monastic codes. Chinese medieval commentators appropriated this precept to ban silk from the monastic uniform — echoing earlier lay Buddhist anti-silk drives — on the grounds of the Mahƒyƒna ethic of universal compassion. This was similar to broad efforts by Chinese Buddhists to reconcile the social agendas of vinaya codes with the lofty moral ambitions of the bodhisattva path. But with the Chinese sa½gha (monastic establishment) immersed in the ubiquitous sericulture industry, this call to ban silk monastic uniforms appears more socioeconomic than ethical. Elite clerics took a stand against silkworm killing only as it concerned the cassocks, while silk cloth otherwise flowed throughout monastic precincts; their motive chiefly was to fortify lay–monastic distinctions by creating a conspicuous absence of silk. This case illustrates how Indian sources of authority were both indispensable and fungible in medieval China: here they were deployed to demonstrate accordance between Buddhist ethical, social, and commercial interests and culturally embedded traditions of material production.
For thousands of years in China, silk producers have developed ritual technologies and pantheons ... more For thousands of years in China, silk producers have developed ritual technologies and pantheons of deities intended to ensure healthy silkworms and abundant silk crops. Buddhist rites and deities have likewise long served the commercial interests of Chinese religionists, but so far we have little understanding of the relationships between the Buddhist institution and the ubiquitous sericulture industry. This essay represents the initial stages of a larger effort to investigate these relationships in premodern China. Here I examine a specific instance in which Buddhism was promoted as integral to silk production—as the true origin of the sericulture process, as the proper moral and soteriological framework within which to understand silkworm rearing (and killing), and as the ritual tradition most efficacious for sericulturists. These claims were advanced in medieval Chinese sources depicting the ancient Indian Buddhist patriarch A svaghos : a as a local god of silk. Through this figure in particular, whose equine associations linked him with age-old Chinese silkworm myths, Buddhist authors aimed to transform sericulture into an ancient Indian innovation that was fully accordant with traditional Buddhist norms and thus best served by the Chinese Buddhist institution.
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