Videos by Mariia Lepneva
This is the recording of my presentation at the European Association of Chinese Studies Conferenc... more This is the recording of my presentation at the European Association of Chinese Studies Conference in 2021. It discusses the use of lineage poems for consolidating a distinct lineage for the newly established Vinaya tradition of Baohua Mountain in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. 7 views
This is my presentation (in English) at the conference 'Religions and Local Society in the Histor... more This is my presentation (in English) at the conference 'Religions and Local Society in the Historical, Comparative, and Theoretical Perspectives' , August 12–14, 2022, University of British Columbia. It introduces the history of Baohua Mountain in the eighteenth century, with a further discussion of the time frame of late Ming - early Qing revival of Chinese Buddhism. 2 views
這是我于2022年8月12日至14日在英屬哥倫比亞大學舉行的“歷史、比較學與理論視閾下的宗教與本土社會:卜正民先生榮休致敬國際研討會”會議上的演講（中文）， 介紹十八世紀寶華山的歷史，進一步探討... more 這是我于2022年8月12日至14日在英屬哥倫比亞大學舉行的“歷史、比較學與理論視閾下的宗教與本土社會:卜正民先生榮休致敬國際研討會”會議上的演講（中文）， 介紹十八世紀寶華山的歷史，進一步探討明末清初中國佛教復興的時間框架。 4 views
Papers by Mariia Lepneva
Journal of Chinese Buddhist Studies, 2024
The late Ming and early Qing periods witnessed a massive revitalization of Chinese Buddhism, part... more The late Ming and early Qing periods witnessed a massive revitalization of Chinese Buddhism, particularly the booming rise of Chan lineages in the southern Jiangnan region throughout the seventeenth century. To date, scholarship has emphasized the continuity of this trend, largely uninterrupted by the dynasty transition. This paper supplements this picture by shifting the focus towards Beijing in the north and inquiring into the unusual two-lineage model that emerged at Guangji Monastery, which is nowadays well-known as the seat of the Buddhist Association of China, shortly after the establishment of Manchu rule. Quite different from the main institutional innovation of the late Ming-the dharma transmission monastery with a single Chan lineage at the head-this temple developed a power structure with the division of labor between an indigenous tonsure lineage and an invited ordination lineage. Based on a close reading of the gazetteer of Guangji Monastery, supplemented by other relevant sources, this paper traces the origins and evolution of this diarchic system. The findings show the members of the two lineages assumed three key roles in the monastery leadership. The tonsure lineage controlled the position of the prior, who was responsible for the general operation of the monastery. Moreover, it supplied informal leaders, who did not assume any administrative positions but became influential due to their asceticism, Chan lineage affiliation, and literary talent. This allowed them to significantly improve the wellbeing of the monastery through their ability to attract the patronage of 1 This research was supported by the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO) within the framework of the postdoctoral project "Vinaya Revival on Baohua Mountain in Ming-Qing China" (file no. 1254524N).
Religions and Local Society in the Historical, Comparative, and Theoretical Perspectives: A Festschrift in Honour of Timothy Brook, 2023
Baohua Mountain 寶華山 is well known in scholarship as a standard model of Buddhist ordinations duri... more Baohua Mountain 寶華山 is well known in scholarship as a standard model of Buddhist ordinations during the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. This paper argues that the history of Baohua Mountain in the eighteenth century also deserves academic attention, as it can shed new light on the pattern of Buddhist revival of the late Ming and early Qing. Through the textual analysis of gazetteers and genealogies, this paper shows that the Vinaya tradition of Baohua Mountain was not only revitalised in the seventeenth century but continued to flourish in the eighteenth century. It was previously argued that the revival of Chinese Buddhism ceased around the end of the seventeenth century due to decreased lay patronage. By contrast, this paper demonstrates that the Vinaya tradition of Baohua Mountain sustained vibrancy throughout the eighteenth century due to renewed imperial support combined with uninterrupted involvement of scholar-officials and the active role of a prominent abbot. This mode of development proved viable as it was similar to the mechanism of the first stage of Buddhist revival in the late sixteenth century.
Lepneva, Mariia. "Refreshed Revival of Chinese Buddhism: The Vinaya Tradition of Baohua Mountain in the Eighteenth Century." In Religions and Local Society in the Historical, Comparative, and Theoretical Perspectives: A Festschrift in Honour of Timothy Brook. Edited by Jinhua CHEN 陳金華 and Dewei ZHANG 張德偉, 446-496. Singapore: World Scholastic, 2023. Hardcover ISBN: 978-981-17282-5-9.
Istoricheskiĭ zhurnal – nauchnye issledovanii͡a (History magazine – researches), 2019
To date, the main sources for researching the history of the revival of the Vinaya school of Chin... more To date, the main sources for researching the history of the revival of the Vinaya school of Chinese Buddhism in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties are genealogies and monastery gazetteers. This paper demonstrates the possibility of expanding the source base with the use of treatises on religious ethics. The example of the Initial Approach to Bodhisattva Precepts of the Brahmā’s Net Sūtra (Fanwangjing pusajie chujin 梵網經菩薩戒初津) by Yijie Shuyu 宜潔書玉 (1645–1722) demonstrates that such writings may contain historical and biographical information. This paper reveals specific historical reasons, methods and purposes of using the form of religious commentary to communicate this kind of information. This research compares the biographies of Vinaya monks included in the aforementioned treatise with their biographies in earlier and later sources. The study shows that Yijie Shuyu innovatively reworked the sources available to him within the framework of his concept of the lineage of the reincarnation patriarchs in order to increase the prestige of the Vinaya school. I draw the conclusion that Yijie Shuyu used the form of a Vinaya commentary to raise the prestige of the lineage to which he himself belonged.
Great Meaning of the Gate to the Mysterious: Religions, Filosophy and Culture of China. To the 60th Anniversary of S.V. Filonov, 2022
This article continues the author’s inquiry in the history of Chinese Buddhism during the Qing dy... more This article continues the author’s inquiry in the history of Chinese Buddhism during the Qing dynasty and focuses on one aspect of the revival of the Vinaya school. The eighteenth century saw the compilation of its first genealogy, which traced its origins and described its new lineages. One of the four prefaces to this genealogy was written by monk Hongjian (洪建, b. ca. 1674). By means of close reading of Hongjian’s preface as well as his biography, this article examines the circumstances of the appearance of the preface as well as the ideas expressed in it by Hongjian. The findings show that Hongjian expressed strong awareness of the importance of lineage structure of the school, while Longjue Monastery 隆覺寺 he headed sustained close ties with Baohua Mountain 寶華山, the main centre of the revived Vinaya school. This is in consistence with the characteristics of Buddhist revival in the seventeenth century identified in scholarship, and thus lends more support to the proposition that the Vinaya school continued to flourish well into the eighteenth century.
Великий смысл врат в Сокровенное: Религии, философия и культура Китая. К 60-летию С.В. Филонова. В 2 т. Т. 1. Древняя религия, конфуцианство, буддизм, 2022
Данная статья продолжает работу автора по исследованию истории китайского буддизма в эпоху Цин и ... more Данная статья продолжает работу автора по исследованию истории китайского буддизма в эпоху Цин и обращается к одному из аспектов возрождения школы Люй-цзун. В XVIII в. была составлена первая генеалогия школы, отразившая её истоки и охарактеризовавшая структуру её новых ветвей. Одно из четырёх предисловий к генеалогии было написано монахом Хун-цзянем (洪建, род. ок. 1674). Текстовый анализ предисловия и биографии Хун-цзяня позволяет раскрыть обстоятельства составления предисловия, а также идеи, заложенные в него автором. В результате исследования было показано, что Хун-цзяня отличало явное осознание важности генеалогической организации школы, а возглавляемый им монастырь Лун-цзюэ 隆覺寺 поддерживал тесную связь с горой Бао-хуа 寶華山, которая являлась главным центром возрождённой школы Люй-цзун. Это соответствует признакам возрождения буддизма, выделенным в литературе применительно к XVII в. А значит, это ещё больше подкрепляет гипотезу о том, что истории школы Люй-цзун период процветания продолжился и в XVIII в.
Vajrayana Buddhism in Russia: Relevant History and Sociocultural Analytics, 2020
This conference paper discusses the esoteric practices of Vinaya monks in the seventeenth and eig... more This conference paper discusses the esoteric practices of Vinaya monks in the seventeenth and eighteenth century. Probing Shengyan’s argument that the revived Vinaya school had ‘a strong esoteric flavour’, this research examines the biographies in the eighteenth-century Lüzong dengpu 律宗燈譜 (Genealogy of the Lamp of the Vinaya School). The findings of research show that there are mainly two esoteric practices explicitly mentioned in the biographies, i.e., the recitation of Ucchuṣma mantra and feeding hungry ghosts. The latter, apart from performing the rites (known as flame-mouth (yankou 燄口), also includes the composition of relevant ritual manuals. However, the cases of esoteric practice among Vinaya monks are few and loosely connected with each other.
Religions, 13(9), 844, 2022
Guxin Ruxin 古心如馨 (1541–1616) is credited with the revival of monastic ordinations, which ranks am... more Guxin Ruxin 古心如馨 (1541–1616) is credited with the revival of monastic ordinations, which ranks among the major breakthroughs of the late Ming Buddhist renewal. Despite the long-standing ban on ordination ceremonies, he managed to win the trust of fellow monastics, attract local patrons, and eventually gain imperial approval. This paper aims to unravel the reasons that this Vinaya master was recognized as legitimate by contemporaries and descendants, focusing on two key episodes in his hagiographies. In the first of them, Guxin Ruxin had a vision of Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī transmitting monastic precepts to him, whereas in the second one his identity as a reincarnation of Upāli was revealed through a miracle he performed during the restoration of Porcelain Pagoda in Nanjing. The research has shown that the second account was a later interpolation designed on the basis of the hagiography of another prominent monk, Xuelang Hong’en 雪浪洪恩 (1545–1607). By contrast, the first of the narratives, although heavily laden with the elements of local lore, could be a reflection of real experience. The inspiration Guxin Ruxin drew from it might explain his commitment to the cause of Vinaya revival and the ensuing charisma.
Chinese Studies in the 21st Century: proceedings of International scientific confer-ence (Ulan-Ude, October 12, 2021), 2021
This article examines the process of compiling general histories (Ch. tongshi, J. tsu:shi 通史) of ... more This article examines the process of compiling general histories (Ch. tongshi, J. tsu:shi 通史) of Chinese Buddhism during the contemporary period. As the study showed, for a significant part of the twentieth century, Japanese scholars played a leading role in revealing the overall picture of the history of Buddhism in China. Academic circles first in Taiwan and then in mainland China translated a number of Japanese works into Chinese. Since the 1980s, China witnessed an upsurge of domestic research, with several multivolume general histories published in the twenty first century.
Istoricheskii zhurnal: nauchnye issledovaniya [History Magazine: Researches], 2017
The research topic of this article is the relationship between secular literati and Buddhist mona... more The research topic of this article is the relationship between secular literati and Buddhist monasteries in China, one of the forms of which was the recruitment of literati by the monasteries for the composition of monastery gazetteers. This paper focuses on the activities on Liu Mingfang (Liu Nanlu), the author of the Gazetteer of Baohua Mountain, in the Jiangnan region in 1740–1750s. The importance of studying the circumstances of the compilation of this gazetteer is justified by the fact that Baohua Mountain was the seat of the patriarchs of the Qianhua school, which claimed dominance within the Vinaya tradition of Chinese Buddhism in the late Ming (1368–1644) and Qing (1644–1912) dynasties. The article examines what place the composition of this Buddhist mountain gazetteer had in the activities of Liu Mingfang, who was a member of the secular literati. This research relies on several gazetteers compiled by Liu Mingfang, as well as the texts of his contemporary associates. The main conclusions of this research are as follows: Liu Mingfang primarily associated himself with poetry and the Daoist culture. Lacking a stable income, Liu Mingfang compiled local gazetteers under commission. Accordingly, on the one hand, the Gazetteer of Baohua Mountain is not supposed to reflect any personal Buddhist ideas of Liu Mingfang, but on the other hand, it is very probable that the text of this gazetteer reflects the wishes of its commissioner – Wenhai Fuju, the abbot of Baohua Mountain.
Исторический журнал: научные исследования, 2017
Объектом исследования в данной работе является взаимодействие между светской литературной элитой ... more Объектом исследования в данной работе является взаимодействие между светской литературной элитой и буддийскими монастырями Китая, одной из форм которого было привлечение монастырями представителей литературной прослойки для составления монастырских хроник. Предметом изучения в данной статье является деятельность Лю Минфана (Лю Наньлу), автора «Хроники горы Баохуа-шань», в регионе Цяннань в 1740-1750-х гг. Важность изучения обстоятельств составления этой хроники
обусловлена тем, что гора Баохуа-шань служила местом пребывания патриархов школы Цяньхуа, претендовавшей на господствующее положение в традиции Винаи в китайском
буддизме в конце династии Мин (1368-1644) и при династии Цин (1644-1912). В статье рассматривается, какое место занимало составление хроники этой буддийской горы в деятельности Л ю Минфана как представителя светской литературной элиты с
использованием в качестве источников нескольких составленных им местных хроник, а также посвящённых ему текстов знавших его современников. О сновные выводы проведенного исследования заключаются в том, что Л ю Минфан ассоциировал себя
прежде всего с поэтической и даосской культурой и занимался составлением местных хроник под заказ, поскольку не имел постоянного заработка. В силу этого, с одной стороны, в «Хронике горы Баохуа-шань» не должны проявляться какие-либо собственные буддийские представления Лю Минфана, но с другой стороны – текст хроники с большой долей вероятности может отражать пожелания её заказчика – настоятеля горы Баохуа-шань Вэньхай Фуцзюя.
SHS Web of Conferences, 2022
By the first half of the eighteenth century, lineages of the Buddhist Vinaya school (Lüzong) took... more By the first half of the eighteenth century, lineages of the Buddhist Vinaya school (Lüzong) took hold in several monasteries in Beijing. However, when the Yongzheng emperor designed a grand ordination ceremony to be held in 1734 he opted to summon a Vinaya patriarch from a distant Mt Baohua near Nanjing. This article aims to provide an explanation for such a choice by means of exploring the image of relevant Vinaya monasteries in the eyes of early Qing emperors, relying mainly on the evidence in the gazetteers of these monasteries. Our findings show that Vinaya monasteries in Beijing, such as Tanzhe, Guangji, and Minzhong, enjoyed considerable imperial patronage. At the same time, only Minzhong monastery was perceived as a purely Vinaya site, while the image of its counterparts was rather heterogeneous. The main advantage that could have singled out the abbot of Mt Baohua Fuju (1686–1765) was the first full-fledged school genealogy that he compiled in 1733, while other monasteries ...
Синология в XXI в.: Материалы международной научной конференции (12.10.2021 – 12.10.2021, Улан-Удэ), 2021
Объектом рассмотрения в данной статье является ход составления все-общих историй (кит. тунши, яп.... more Объектом рассмотрения в данной статье является ход составления все-общих историй (кит. тунши, яп. цу:си 通史) китайского буддизма в Китае и Японии в современную эпоху. Как показало исследование, японская наука на протяжении значительной части XX в. играла лидирующую роль в познании общей картины ис-тории буддизма в Китае. Академические круги сначала на Тайване, а потом на мате-рике осуществили перевод ряда японских трудов на китайский язык. С 1980-х гг. начался подъём собственных исследований в Китае, а в XXI в. вышло несколько многотомных всеобщих историй китайского буддизма.
Nauchny zhurnal: istoricheskie issledovania, 2017
The subject of this article is the 17th-20th-century sources containing biographical information ... more The subject of this article is the 17th-20th-century sources containing biographical information on Wenhai Fuju (1685-1765), the seventh patriarch of the Qianhua school of Vinaya in China. The revival of the Vinaya school in China in the shape of the “Qianhua school” (“the Thousand Flowers School” or “the Mount Baohua school”) constituted the main change in the structure of Buddhist schools in China during the late Ming dynasty (1368-1644) and the Qing dynasty (1644-1912) as compared to the era of Yuan (1271-1368) and most of the Ming Dynasty. It was precisely Wenhai Fuju who strengthened the Qianhua school, which through his help began to claim to be the only proper school of Vinaya in China. All this motivates the interest in researching the figure of the seventh Qianhua patriarch. By means of researching the contents of sources and their authors, the sources are subdivided according to the chronology of their creation and the fullness of information concerning Wenhai Fuju they contain. The novelty of this article is that it reveals the main sources for conducting a biographical research on Wenhai Fuju based on the fullness and authenticity of their content. At the next stage of research the author offers a comparative analysis and critical review of these sources in order to construct an integral biographical account of the seventh Vinaya Qianhua patriarch.
Istorichesky zhurnal: Nauchnie issledovania, 2019
К настоящему моменту основными источниками для исследования истории возрождения школы Винаи китай... more К настоящему моменту основными источниками для исследования истории возрождения школы Винаи китайского буддизма в конце династии Мин – начале династии Цин служат генеалогии и монастырские хроники. В данной работе демонстрируется возможность расширения источниковедческой базы за счёт сочинений религиозно-этического характера. Н а примере «Н ачального подхода к обетам бодхисаттвы в Сутре сети Брахмы» Ицзе Шуюя обосновывается, что подобные сочинения могут содержать информацию исторического и биографического характера. Раскрываются конкретно-исторические причины, приёмы и цели использования формы религиозного комментария для сообщения данных сведений. В рамках данной работы был выполнен сравнительный анализ биографий монахов школы Винаи, вошедших в состав изучаемого сочинения, с их жизнеописаниями в более ранних и более поздних источниках. И сследование показало, что Ицзе Шуюй новаторски переработал материалы доступных ему источников в рамках разработанной им концепции линии преемственности патриархов-перерожденцев, призванной повысить престиж школы Винаи. Был сделан вывод о том, что Ицзе Шуюй использовал доступную ему форму комментария по вопросам Винаи для поднятия престижа линии преемственности, к которой он сам принадлежал.
Istorichesky zhurnal: Nauchnie issledovania, 2019
This paper revisits the concept of “school awareness”, which in previous scholarship was mostly r... more This paper revisits the concept of “school awareness”, which in previous scholarship was mostly regarded as a result of the penetration of Chinese patriarchal patterns into the Buddhist community against the background of loosened state control during the late Ming Period. Particular attention is directed to the fact that such a viewpoint concerning the Buddhist community existed up to as late as the 18th century. One of the primary examples of "school awareness" at the late stage of its existence is Wenhai Fuju (1685 - 1765), who adopted a series of steps to promote the prestige of the Qianhua branch of the Vinaya school of Chinese Buddhism. In order to examine his activities in detail, this paper synthesizes data from various sources producing a complete, chronologically-arranged biography. The analysis of obtained results demonstrated that the majority of Wenhai Fuju’s endeavors embodying his “school awareness” were in fact driven by the needs and possibilities of interacting with the Yongzheng (1723 - 1735) or Qianlong (1736 - 1795) emperors. This allows the author to conclude that the official authorities expected and approved the aim towards a dominating position of a particular Buddhist school. Hence, it was the impact of imperial policy that had kept up the active support of “school awareness” of the Buddhist monks in China during the 18th century.
Conference Presentations by Mariia Lepneva
The Yongzheng emperor (1678-1735, reigned 1722-1735) of Qing China is well known for his active B... more The Yongzheng emperor (1678-1735, reigned 1722-1735) of Qing China is well known for his active Buddhist involvement, both in terms of his personal practice and his rearrangement of rivaling Chan lineages. A lesser known part of Yongzheng’s Buddhist enterprise is his engagement with Vinaya school (Lüzong) when in 1733-1734 he summoned a Vinaya master from the southern Mt Baohua (near Nanjing) to conduct ordination ceremony in Beijing. One problem pertaining to this historical episode is why the emperor preferred a faraway figure while in the capital close by he could have engaged eminent abbots of monasteries which already housed Vinaya lineages throughout the early Qing. In order to answer this question the current research draws mainly on the hagiographies of eminent monks of relevant monasteries in genealogies and gazetteers, as the accounts of encounters with emperors were highly likely to be included therein. Our findings show that, for the most prominent three Beijing monasteries with Vinaya background, there was no marked contrast with Mt Baohua in terms of imperial visits, receipt of gifts, or possession of ordination platform. What indeed could have mattered is that the abbot of Mt Baohua Wenhai Fuju (1686-1765) articulated the existence of Vinaya school as composed of lineages with himself heading the most orthodox one. This happened in 1732, right on the eve of Yongzheng’s action which is under our scrutiny, while the well-known monasteries extant Vinaya tradition in Beijing failed to provide any such proof of pedigree at that particular time. This may lead to a more important conclusion: Yongzheng might have turned to Vinaya school not only out of desire to undermine uncontrolled ordinations in Chan community, but rather as a potential lineage-organized institution that could be shaped into a full-fledged alternative to structure Buddhist clerics on par with all-pervading Chan affiliations.
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Papers by Mariia Lepneva
Lepneva, Mariia. "Refreshed Revival of Chinese Buddhism: The Vinaya Tradition of Baohua Mountain in the Eighteenth Century." In Religions and Local Society in the Historical, Comparative, and Theoretical Perspectives: A Festschrift in Honour of Timothy Brook. Edited by Jinhua CHEN 陳金華 and Dewei ZHANG 張德偉, 446-496. Singapore: World Scholastic, 2023. Hardcover ISBN: 978-981-17282-5-9.
обусловлена тем, что гора Баохуа-шань служила местом пребывания патриархов школы Цяньхуа, претендовавшей на господствующее положение в традиции Винаи в китайском
буддизме в конце династии Мин (1368-1644) и при династии Цин (1644-1912). В статье рассматривается, какое место занимало составление хроники этой буддийской горы в деятельности Л ю Минфана как представителя светской литературной элиты с
использованием в качестве источников нескольких составленных им местных хроник, а также посвящённых ему текстов знавших его современников. О сновные выводы проведенного исследования заключаются в том, что Л ю Минфан ассоциировал себя
прежде всего с поэтической и даосской культурой и занимался составлением местных хроник под заказ, поскольку не имел постоянного заработка. В силу этого, с одной стороны, в «Хронике горы Баохуа-шань» не должны проявляться какие-либо собственные буддийские представления Лю Минфана, но с другой стороны – текст хроники с большой долей вероятности может отражать пожелания её заказчика – настоятеля горы Баохуа-шань Вэньхай Фуцзюя.
Conference Presentations by Mariia Lepneva
Lepneva, Mariia. "Refreshed Revival of Chinese Buddhism: The Vinaya Tradition of Baohua Mountain in the Eighteenth Century." In Religions and Local Society in the Historical, Comparative, and Theoretical Perspectives: A Festschrift in Honour of Timothy Brook. Edited by Jinhua CHEN 陳金華 and Dewei ZHANG 張德偉, 446-496. Singapore: World Scholastic, 2023. Hardcover ISBN: 978-981-17282-5-9.
обусловлена тем, что гора Баохуа-шань служила местом пребывания патриархов школы Цяньхуа, претендовавшей на господствующее положение в традиции Винаи в китайском
буддизме в конце династии Мин (1368-1644) и при династии Цин (1644-1912). В статье рассматривается, какое место занимало составление хроники этой буддийской горы в деятельности Л ю Минфана как представителя светской литературной элиты с
использованием в качестве источников нескольких составленных им местных хроник, а также посвящённых ему текстов знавших его современников. О сновные выводы проведенного исследования заключаются в том, что Л ю Минфан ассоциировал себя
прежде всего с поэтической и даосской культурой и занимался составлением местных хроник под заказ, поскольку не имел постоянного заработка. В силу этого, с одной стороны, в «Хронике горы Баохуа-шань» не должны проявляться какие-либо собственные буддийские представления Лю Минфана, но с другой стороны – текст хроники с большой долей вероятности может отражать пожелания её заказчика – настоятеля горы Баохуа-шань Вэньхай Фуцзюя.