Buddha-nature, Critical Buddhism, and Early Chan

Journal of Chinese Philosophy (U. of Hawaii; Blackwell P., UK), 2004

Classical Indian and Chinese Madhyamaka are NOT "world-negating" in any sense that precludes the positive fullness of mundane life. My argumentation is intended as a response to Kuang-ming Wu's depreciation of Buddhism in general and the Madhyamaka in particular, in his otherwise impressive book, _On Metaphoring_ . To make my case, passages from Nagarjuna's _Mulamadhyamakakarikas_ are examined carefully, as are passages from Chi-Tsang's _Fa-hua Hsuan-lun_ and _Ehr-ti I_ . It is shown that Chi-tsang rejects the progressive "discarding" of the "Three Levels of the Two Truths." Rather, they are all retained simultaneously, which is a key to my argument in terms of Chi-Tsang's appreciation of the mundane world. I also take the occasion to defend Jacques Derrida, whom Kuang-ming Wu accuses, in _On Metaphoring_, of an "anything goes" attitude towards hermeneutics. Rather, Derrida treasures the "remainders" that survive "objectivity as deconstructed," and supply clues to how the world goes on. Regarding my work in dialogue between Buddhists and Christians, Wu accuses me very falsely of syncretism, whereas I argue that dialogue is most fertile when it examines the samenesses and differences that are appointed by the founding "irreducible differences" between Buddhism and Christianity.

The Journal of Asian Studies, 2004

Bhasha, 2022

This article is conceived as an introduction to questions concerning the relationship between various versions of a Buddhist text known in its Pāli variant as Milindapañha, and in its Chinese versions as Nàxiān bǐqiū jīng (那先比丘經; T 1670 versions A and B). After a brief account of the conjectures about its redactor(s) and its public of the original Indian environment, the Chinese versions of the text will be dealt with in more detail, with particular attention to the Western reception and the problem related to the reconstruction of a possible archetype. The guidelines provided by Gérard Fussman will be taken into consideration, with some additional comments regarding the suggestion, in the case of the Chinese versions, of taking the Chinese audience into account. To confirm this point, a passage with an eristic dialogue, attested in both Pāli and in Chinese, will be analysed in detail to show how the Chinese translator(s) modified the text for the benefit of the public.

This dissertation investigates the transformation of Chan Buddhism in seventeenth-century China through the lens of a series of controversies motivated by the claim of orthodoxy. The particular case examined here is the Huangbo lineage within the Linji school. Because the third Huangbo master Yinyuan Longqi emigrated to Japan in 1654, this lineage spread throughout Japan and led to the establishment of the Ōbaku (Huangbo) school in Japan. In this study, I focus on three Huangbo masters: Miyun Yuanwu (1566–1642), Feiyin Tongrong (1593–1662) and Yinyuan Longqi (1592–1673). All three masters had been abbots of Mount Huangbo in Fuqing, Fujian province and were bonded by the relationship of dharma transmission. My study suggests that Chan Buddhism in seventeenth-century China was a systematic reconstruction and reinvention of a Chan ideal that was characterized by the performance of encounter dialogue and a hierarchy of dharma transmission. Motivated by the Linji school's forceful claim of orthodoxy (Linji zhengzong), the Huangbo masters engaged in three major controversies in seventeenth-century China. The controversy between Master Miyun Yuanwu and his disciple Hanyue Fazang, taking place around 1635, concerns the authenticity of the Chan enlightenment experience. Interestingly, this controversy was finally judged by the Yongzheng Emperor a hundred years later. The second controversy, about the legitimacy of dharma transmission, led to a lawsuit in which Feiyin Tongrong, the second Huangbo master, lost the case and his book Wudeng yantong was ordered to be burnt in 1654. In addition, the Huangbo master's orthodox position also propelled them to play a leading role in anti-Christian polemics. As a result, Miyun Yuanwu and Feiyin Tongrong organized an anti-Christian campaign from 1634 to 1640. I conclude that significant transformations of Chan Buddhism took place in seventeenth-century China. Chan Buddhists revitalized ancient Chan ideals embodied in the lively performance of encounter dialogue and the practice of dharma transmission. The result of this re-invention was the emergence of a new orthodoxy within Chinese Buddhism. The establishment of the Japanese Ōbaku school through emigration and overseas missionary work of the third Huangbo master Yinyuan Longqi was a direct result of the transformation of Chan Buddhism in seventeenth-century China. Note: This is the dissertation I completed at Harvard in 2002. Since then, two books derived from it. However, I never went back to the issue of Buddhist-Christian debate which I wrote in Chapter 4. I am going to Rome to see the Jesuits archive and will see if there are potentials to developed this theme.

This paper presents a comparative analysis of early Buddhist philosophy as it developed in the regions of Gandhāra and China from the 1st century BCE to the early centuries CE. Rooted in a shared foundation of core teachings such as the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path, the philosophical trajectories in these two regions diverged significantly due to distinct historical, cultural, and doctrinal contexts. Gandhāran Buddhism, shaped by Indo-Greek, Scythian, and Kushan influences, emphasized early scholastic schools such as Sarvāstivāda and Dharmaguptaka, with a focus on Abhidharma analysis and realist ontologies of dharmas. By contrast, Chinese Buddhism, transmitted through Central Asia and translated into classical Chinese, underwent a process of adaptation in a Confucian-Daoist environment, leading to a metaphysical reinterpretation centered on emptiness (śūnyatā), Buddha-nature (tathāgatagarbha), and non-duality. This study explores key philosophical themes, textual traditions, and institutional developments to highlight how Gandhāra served as a conduit for early doctrine and Mahāyāna thought, while China became a site for doctrinal synthesis and innovation. Through this comparative lens, the paper illuminates how Buddhist philosophy was transformed across cultural frontiers, laying the foundation for diverse Buddhist traditions across Asia.

The Journal for Asian Studies, 72 no. 2 (2013): 457-458., 2013

2013

Chinese challenges to Buddhism Buddhist interactions with Confucianism and Daoism; and Chinese Mahāyāna by Piya Tan ©2008 (2 nd rev), 2009 (3 rd rev) There are means by which the linguistic genius of a nation defends itself against what is foreign by cunningly stealing from it as much as possible. Karl Vossler, The Spirit of Language in Civilization, 1932 2.1 FACTORS THAT CHALLENGED BUDDHISM IN ANCIENT CHINA When Buddhism began entering China shortly before the Common Era, she was an ancient and wellestablished culture with her own indigenous philosophy and religion [1.1]. As such, Buddhism faced these special conditions following its introduction into China: (1) Daoism was China's own popular religion, but it did not have the rational and philosophical depth that gave Buddhism greater prestige. (2) Confucianism emphasized family values, obedience to authority and social stability. Confucian scholars constituted the most influential sector of society. They generally disapproved of-barbar-ian‖ religions. (3) Antecedents. Confucianism and Taoism had long provided the Chinese people with a vocabulary and philosophy of something beyond the daily grind. The cultural and intellectual bedrock helped Buddhism tremendously to express itself by means of contextualization. (4) The discipline and standard of moral virtue of Buddhism, as exemplified in the early Buddhist missionaries inspired the thinking Chinese. But, on a general level, the ancient Chinese were attracted to what they perceived as the magical powers of these missionaries. 2.2 DAOISM IN CHINESE BUDDHISM 2.2.1 How the early Chinese viewed Buddhism. When Buddhism first arrived in China in the 1 st century (or earlier), it remained within the community of foreign traders, and had no significant impact on the Hàn Chinese. Around 150 CE, translators such as Ān Shìgāo 安世高 (?-170) 1 began to produce Chinese translations of Buddhist texts. Most of his translations were of the Hīnayāna,-inferior vehicle‖ (a Mahāyāna term for the early Indian scripture and system), and as such served more as a curiosity and diversion for the leisurely elite, but had no impact whatsoever on the common people, who were mostly illiterate, anyway. Almost all of the Buddhist texts translated into Chinese were philosophical (eg the Wisdom texts), legalistic (the Vinayas) or mythical (the Lotus Sutra), and with the sidelining of early Buddhist teachings and meditation-and with the dominant influence of indigenous philosophies and beliefs-the Buddhism that grew on Chinese soil and filled the Chinese mind was effectively a Chinese religion. Whalen Lai, in-Buddhism in China: A historical survey,‖ for example, notes: For the Han Chinese, the doctrine of karmic rebirth entailed the transmigration of the soul-a presumption they could not do away with even when they accepted the doctrine of emptiness. Since nirvana was seen as a return to a pure origin, it was believed to be achieved by discarding the defilements. Refining one's inner self was thought to be a process of attaining a sublime shen (spirit) that would realize nirvanic immortality or nondeath. (2002:10 digital ed) 1 Ān Shìgāo was a prince of Parthia (ancient Iran) who renounced his claim to the throne to become a missionary monk. In 148, he arrived in China at the Luòyáng (洛阳), the Hàn capital, where he set up a centre for translating Buddhist texts. He translated 35 texts, mostly from the early Pali texts. Ān Shìgāo is the first Buddhist missionary to China to be named in Chinese sources. Another Parthian monk named Ān Xuán 安玄 is said to have joined Ān Shìgāo at Luòyáng around 181 CE. 2 SD 40b 2 Chinese Challenges to Buddhism http://dharmafarer.org 24 2.2.2 The Huàhú controversy: Lǎozi vs the Buddha. Around 300, Wáng Fú 王浮, a Daoist, fabricated the Huàhú jīng 化胡經 (Classic on the Conversion of the Barbarians) in which they claimed that the Buddha was a reincarnation of Lǎozi, or that he went to India and became Shakyamuni (or the teacher of Shakyamuni). 2 The Buddhists responded with the Qīngjìng fǎxíng jīng 清淨法行經 (Sutra to Propagate the Clear and True Teaching), 3 wherein the Buddha sent out his three disciples, 4 namely, Confucius (the bodhisattva Judō), his chief disciple Zhāng Yànyuǎn 張彥遠 (the bodhisattva Kōjō) 5 and Lǎozi (Mahā Kaṥyapa), 6 to instruct the Chinese, claiming this to be the true interpretation of the Daoist classic, Qīngjìng jīng 清淨經. [2.5; 2.6.3] Some 200 years later, in 520, in Luòyáng 洛陽, 7 there was a court-sponsored public debate between the Daoists and the Buddhists over the huàhú 化胡 thesis: did Lǎozi leave China and reappear in India as Buddha? Or, did Buddha will his own rebirth in China as Lǎozi? This debate was a product of the Hàn perception of Buddha and Lǎozi as equal sages, and each side sought to absorb the other. (Around the same time, in India, the Hindus were claiming that Vishnu had masqueraded as a heretical-Buddha‖ in order to deceive and weaken the demonic hosts.) In the process of the debate, the Chinese Buddhists and Daoists pushed the relative dates of their respective founders farther and farther back until Buddha was said to have died in 1052 BCE. The Buddhists won the 520 debate, but that also moved the date of the demise of the dharma, set by one popular count as coming 1,500 years after the Buddha's death, which would move the beginning of the last age to 552 C.E. After a debate in 520, was a period when Buddhist and Daoist scholars forged Classics and Sutras, both to prove that their respective founders were anterior to the other. In 552, the prophecy self-actualized, as it were. A civil war raging in Luòyáng, burnt down its temples. One of the darkest hours for Chinese Buddhism was the anti-Buddhist persecution of 574-577, launched by emperor Wǔ of Northern Zhōu [7.4.1]. Yet, out of this trial by fire, the Buddha dharma rose like a phoenix, and a result would be the Chinese Mahāyāna schools that flourished in the Sui and the Táng dynasties. The mature Chinese Mahāyāna synthesis was not like the earlier-concept-matching‖ or géyi 格義 syncretism [2.2.3]. The period of digesting Indian subtleties had ended; a time of independent creativity had begun. But before we consider a philosophical analysis of the Chinese Mahāyāna schools, we need to consider the building blocks of that edifice. 2.2.3 Dàoshēng 道生 (c360-434). Early Buddhism is a gradual teaching. 8 But in China, the dominant schools adopted the official view of-sudden awakening‖ [4.1.27; 5.3.1]. Why did this happen? The Chinese Buddhist theory of sudden awakening was first proposed by the ultra-liberal monk Dàoshēng, who was also remembered for asserting the doctrine of universal Buddha-nature [2.3.2, 4.2.2.3]. Let us exam-2 Also called Lǎozi huàhú jīng 老子化胡經-Lǎozi Converted the Barbarians‖ or Lǎozi kātiān jīng 老子開天經,-Classic of Lǎozi Opening Heaven.‖ According to another such apocryphal account, Siddhartha, on meeting Lǎozi could not understand his philosophy, and as a result the former taught what we know as Buddhism! 3 The extant version prob dates from the 6th cent Northern Celestial Masters (Tiān Shī Dào 天師道). The text is honorifically known as the Tàishàng Língbǎo Lǎozi huàhú miàojīng 太上靈寶老子化胡妙經,-The Supreme Numinous Treasure's Sublime Classic on Lǎozi's Conversion of the Barbarians‖). A copy of the Huàhú jīng was found in the Mògāo Caves near Dūnhuáng. Liu Yi (1997) believes the original text dates from around late 4th or early 5th cent; see International Dunhuang Project Newsletter 7, 1997: http://idp.bl.uk/archives/news07/idpnews_07.a4d. 4 Sānshèng pàiqiǎn shuō 三聖派遣說. 5 Yányuān 顏淵, Confucius' foremost disciple as the bodhisattva Kōjō. 6 Móhē Jiāyè 摩訶迦葉. 7 Located about 300 km east of Xī'ān 西安, the other ancient capital of China.

2014

In this book, an international team of fourteen scholars investigates the Chinese reception of Indian Buddhist ideas, especially in the sixth and seventh centuries. Topics include Buddhist logic and epistemology (pramāṇa, yinming); commentaries on Indian Buddhist texts; Chinese readings of systems as diverse as Madhyamaka, Yogācāra and tathāgatagarbha; the working out of Indian concepts and problematics in new Chinese works; and previously under-studied Chinese evidence for developments in India. The authors aim to consider the ways that these Chinese materials might furnish evidence of broader Buddhist trends, thereby problematizing a prevalent notion of “sinification”, which has led scholars to consider such materials predominantly in terms of trends ostensibly distinctive to China. The volume also tries to go beyond seeing sixth- and seventh-century China primarily as the age of the formation and establishment of the Chinese Buddhist “schools”. The authors attempt to view the ide...

The present essay is focused on assessing the impact of Buddhism on the culture and society of Medieval China. The first part will address the impact of Buddhist religious ideas on the culture and society of medieval China. The second part will focus on the Buddhist sacred power impact on the culture and society of medieval China. The historical framework of the present essay will situate Medieval China in the period from 220 CE to 960 CE.