Submit to Religions Review for Religions Edit a Special Issue

Journal Menu

Journal Browser

► Journal Browser

Special Issue "Social Life History of Chinese Buddhist Monks"

Print Special Issue Flyer
Special Issue Editors
Special Issue Information
Published Papers

A special issue of Religions (ISSN 2077-1444).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 March 2023) | Viewed by 12613

Share This Special Issue

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Jinhua Chen

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Department of Asian Studies, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada
Interests: trans-regional narratives in the history and contemporary practice of East Asian Buddhism; Buddhist transmission narratives across Asia; East Asian church-state relationships; Buddhist monasticism; monastic (hagio-)biographical literature; Buddhist sacred sites; relic veneration; technological innovations within the Buddhist tradition; Buddhist translations; manuscript cultures
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Prof. Dr. Kai Sheng

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Department of Philosophy, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
Interests: Chinese Buddhism; Buddhist philosophy; medieval China; Chinese philosophy

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to invite you to submit original research articles to our special issue Social Life History of Chinese Buddhist Monks. For long monastic communities in the history of Chinese Buddhism had been labelled as “elitist” or a distinct social group, but in fact, the identities and social life of Buddhist monks in Chinese historical records are much more complex and diverse. Accordingly, Buddhist monks’ relations and interactions with the multi-layered Chinese cultural life and other social communities in different periods require more nuanced academic investigation. From a perspective of “the social life of the monk masses in China”, we need to reevaluate the social landscape and dynamics of Chinese monastic communities and explore more possibilities in understanding Chinese Buddhist “monasticism”. We need to rethink the seemingly over-studied questions such as “Is Buddhism systematically sinicised as a social institution?”, “how does Chinese Buddhism spread socially?”, “how to understand the religiosity in Chinese monks’ daily life experience?” with more case analyses and discussions in depth. Here, “Chinese monk masses” and “social life history” will be our main focuses. We wish to use new methods, texts and archeological evidence to challenge extant dichotomies in interpreting the social life of the monk masses in China, such as the doctrinal vs. the popular, localization vs. globalization, or secularisation vs. consecration.

In this context, this special issue aims to recruit exciting original papers about all possible historical periods, geographic regions and subjects salient to our focus. We call for research that problematise existing opinions and impressions on Chinese Buddhist monastic communities and look at the monk masses as innately multivariant and socially mobile. Topics about Chinese monks’ religious life, institutional life, political life, culture life, material life, ritualistic life, monastic economics, monastic spaces and social life, etc. are all welcome. We particularly encourage research with an interdisciplinary spirit and liaising existing material with new theoretical developments in other academic fields to establish new understandings, including sociology, anthropology, religious studies, philosophy and art history.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Jinhua Chen
Prof. Dr. Kai Sheng
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Religions is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Published Papers (12 papers)

Download All Papers

Order results

Result details

Show export options Show export options

Select all

Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

Open AccessArticle

Struggling to Restore a Lost Identity: Hanshan Deqing’s 憨山德清 (1546–1623) Reforms at Nanhua Temple 南華寺, 1600–1610

Dewei Zhang

Religions 2023, 14(4), 498; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14040498 - 04 Apr 2023

Viewed by 662

Abstract

During the ten years from Wanli 28 to 38 (1600–1610), Hanshan Deqing, then an exiled leading Buddhist master, managed to launch large-scale reforms in Nanhua temple in an attempt to reinvigorate the ancestral temple of Chan Buddhism. Strategically significant though it was, this effort proved eventful and finally came to a tragic end, including the suicide of the temple’s incumbent abbot. How deeply the process of the reforms and their significance can be understood hinges upon the extent to which two puzzles can be tackled. First, how could it have been possible for Deqing, as an exile, to initiate the reforms in such a significant temple in the first place? And how and why did Deqing’s efforts evolve into such a life-and-death confrontation? Keeping these questions in mind, this article reveals how Deqing was able to mobilize resources for initial success by adjusting his strategies according to the situation; how his efforts were conditioned both by domestic situations on the local, regional, and national levels, respectively, and by international elements that characterized the dawn of the global age; and how the reform efforts failed halfway amid the escalating tensions between the new group led by Deqing and Nanhua’s existing monks. This study highlights both the uniqueness of Buddhism in the often-overlooked Lingnan region—which, to a large part, determined the fate of Deqing’s reform—and the vitality and fragility of the ongoing late-Ming Buddhist renewal. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Social Life History of Chinese Buddhist Monks)

Open AccessArticle

Whence the 8th Day of the 4th Lunar Month as the Buddha’s Birthday

Meiqiao Zhang

Religions 2023, 14(4), 451; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14040451 - 27 Mar 2023

Viewed by 587

Abstract

Two dates, the 8th day of the 4th lunar month (Date A) and the 8th day of the 2nd lunar month (Date B), are found in Chinese Buddhist translations as the Buddha’s birthday. However, how to understand the simultaneous existence of both of these dates remains an unresolved problem. This paper proposes a rather new interpretation to try to solve this puzzle, and provide an answer to the question: whence the 8th day of the 4th lunar month as the Buddha’s birthday? It is argued that: (1) The date of the Buddha’s conception and the date of his birth were both translated variously as Date A or Date B in early Chinese Buddhist literature. However, many later texts referring to the Buddha’s birthday do not include reference to an auspicious junction star (puṣyanakṣatra), which is critical for understanding these dates; (2) Both the Indian and Chinese traditions regard an individual’s life to begin at the moment of conception; therefore, the so-called Buddha’s birthday could be argued as the date of his conception; (3) The date of conception of the Buddha was specified as the 8th day of the śuklapakṣa of the month Vaiśākha, the day of the vernal equinox. This corresponds to Date A in the Chinese Xia calendar. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Social Life History of Chinese Buddhist Monks)

Open AccessArticle

The Number and Regional Distribution of Chinese Monks after the Mid-Qing Dynasty

Xuesong Zhang

Religions 2023, 14(3), 317; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14030317 - 27 Feb 2023

Viewed by 485

Abstract

The total number of ordination certificates issued between 1736 and 1739 was 340,112. Analyzing the amount and regional distribution of ordination certificates during the early Qianlong period is helpful for us in clarifying the amount and regional distribution of Chinese monks since the mid-Qing Dynasty. The total number of Buddhist monks did not change measurably during the two hundred years from Qianlong’s reign until the Republic period, remaining between 600,000 and 700,000. Although the census in the 1930s did not cover Taoist monks, as previously discussed, their number may have been similar to that during Qianlong’s reign. As a result, the number of monks (both Buddhist and Taoist) did not changed much after the mid-Qing Dynasty, despite many historical changes since the 19th century, such as population growth, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement, the promotion of education with temple property, and the warlord conflicts. The number of Buddhist monks in Northern China declined significantly from 1742 to 1936, while that in the regions along the midstream and downstream of the Yangtze River and in Southwestern China, it increased significantly. However, the geographical layout of Chinese Buddhism did not changed much, as there was neither a noticeable decline nor a noticeable revival in the number of monks and nuns. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Social Life History of Chinese Buddhist Monks)

Open AccessArticle

Research on the Interdependence and Interaction between Sacred Space and Religious Personality—Centered on the Political and Religious Image of Wanhui 萬回 (632–712)

Jiajia Zheng

Religions 2023, 14(2), 149; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14020149 - 27 Jan 2023

Viewed by 716

Abstract

As a famous “miraculous monk” dating from the Tang Dynasty, Wanhui (632–712) was favored by four emperors, Gaozong (r. 649–683), Empress Wu (regency: 684–690; reign: 690–705), Zhongzong (r. 683–684, r. 705–710) and Ruizong (r. 684–690, r. 710–712). Relying on his special religious status as a Buddhist palace chaplain, he was alleged to have created religious momentum and to have advocated political opinions to maintain the “legitimacy” of the Li-Tang imperial family, but he was unfailingly able to avoid political persecution. Although there have been some academic publications on Wanhui and the group of “miraculous monks” and “mad monks” in the Tang Dynasty, there are still ambiguities in the understanding of Wanhui’s political and religious image. This article firstly conducts textual research on the interdependence and interaction between the sacred space of the Tang Buddhist palace chapel on the one hand and religious personality as represented by Wanhui on the other. The former gave the latter a rich religious sacredness, mystical charm and strong political support; while the latter, in turn, strengthened the religious and political functions of the unique Buddhist institution in the service of imperial power, manifesting itself in the consolidation and elevation of the former. Secondly, by investigating the reasons for shaping the political and religious images of Wanhui in monastic biography and Buddhist hagiography, this article argues that this was a conscious arrangement due to the political purposes or religious intentions of the compilers. Finally, by exploring how Wanhui exerted various subtle political and religious impacts on the Tang emperors by virtue of his status as a miraculous Buddhist palace chaplain—partly imparted by sacredness of the Buddhist palace chapel—this article attempts to shed new light on several key aspects of the complicated state–saṃgha relationship during this special period of the Tang Dynasty. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Social Life History of Chinese Buddhist Monks)

Open AccessArticle

The Creation of Jiansi: Study on the Buddhist Monastic Supervision System during the Sui and Tang Dynasties

Jing Guo

Religions 2022, 13(12), 1156; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13121156 - 28 Nov 2022

Viewed by 1248

Abstract

Besides the internal monastic supervision system of the “Three Principal Monks” already prevalent in the Sui and Tang dynasties, an additional lay-involved supervision system of jiansi was further added to the state religious policy to strengthen the control over the autonomy of the Buddhist community. This jiansi system can be seen once in the period of Gaochang Kingdom (449–640) in the Turpan region, and is traceable to the role of the Lay Rectifier of Monks created by Emperor Wu of Liang (r. 502–549) in the Southern dynasty. It is then officially created by Emperor Yang of Sui (r. 604–618) but failed quickly in the Tang dynasty. In the late Tang dynasty, it re-emerged in response to the state’s need to strengthen the control over Buddhist affairs and extended to new grassroots monastic officials such as Monastic Minister and Saṃgha Regulator in the Dunhuang area during the Tibetan occupation period and the Guiyi Army period. Thus, the development and evolution of the jiansi system in this period was both a reflection of the state-religion tension and a sinicization process of Buddhism. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Social Life History of Chinese Buddhist Monks)

Open AccessArticle

Techniques of the Supramundane: Physician-Monks’ Medical Skills during the Early Medieval China (220–589) in China

Dawei Wang

Religions 2022, 13(11), 1044; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13111044 - 02 Nov 2022

Viewed by 850

Abstract

Hagiographical tales tell us that some Buddhist monks who lived during the Early Medieval China (220–589) possessed considerable medical skills. Some were proficient in foreign medicine, while others had mastery over traditional Chinese medicine. The outstanding medical practitioners among these monks included Yu Fakai 于法開, Zhi Facun 支法存, Sengshen 僧深, and Shi Daohong 釋道洪. In addition to having a background in traditional Chinese medicine, these individuals are said to have had access to foreign medical knowledge due to their status as monks. However, the literature on these physician-monks’ medical skills is limited, which is why the present paper aims to explore this matter further, especially by introducing and elaborating upon some modern Chinese research which has generally gone unnoticed in international scholarship. To this end, this paper critically analyzes various historical records detailing these monks’ lives. It shows that, in addition to having extraordinary medical skills, some of these physician-monks mastered methods to cure specific diseases (such as beriberi [jiaoqi bing 腳氣病] (This is the name of the disease in traditional Chinese Medicine. It refers to a disease characterized by numbness, soreness, weakness, contracture, swelling, or muscle withering in the legs and feet.)). It also shows that they were usually more accurate in syndrome differentiation, while the treatments they prescribed were unique. However, given the lack of information, further research is required to clarify how these physician-monks learned methods as well as the impact of their foreign medicine knowledge on their methods. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Social Life History of Chinese Buddhist Monks)

Open AccessArticle

A Study on the Literacy Rate of Buddhist Monks in Dunhuang during the Late Tang, Five Dynasties, and Early Song Period

Shaowei Wu

Religions 2022, 13(10), 992; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13100992 - 20 Oct 2022

Viewed by 1091

Abstract

Among the Dunhuang documents, when examining some of the monk signature lists, name list of monks copying scriptures and name list of monks chanting scriptures in monasteries, we can estimate a relatively accurate literacy rate of the Buddhist sangha. Generally speaking, the literacy rate of the sangha during the Guiyi Army 歸義軍 period (851–1036) was lower than that during the Tibetan occupation period (786–851). The reason for this change is closely related to each regime’s Buddhist policy, the size and living situation of the sangha, and the Buddhist atmosphere. The decrease in the literacy rate of the sangha had great negative consequences, but when viewed under the context of the stay at home monks and the secularization of Buddhism, the number of literate monks had actually increased. They were more closely integrated with the secular society and their functions in the regional society were more pronounced. At the same time, the changes in the literacy rate of the monks in Dunhuang can also serve as an important reference for understanding the development of Buddhism in the Central China. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Social Life History of Chinese Buddhist Monks)

► Show Figures

Chart 1

Open AccessArticle

Commentarial Interpretations of the Vimalakīrti Nirdeśa in the Controversy over Requiring Buddhist Monastics to Pay Homage to the Emperor during the Sui and Tang Dynasties

Kai Sheng

Religions 2022, 13(10), 987; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13100987 - 19 Oct 2022

Viewed by 821

Abstract

Once Buddhism had become established in China, one of the central issues in the relations between the Saṃgha and the state was the ongoing controversy over requiring Buddhist monastics to pay homage to the emperor. When this controversy resurfaced at the end of the Sui dynasty and the beginning of the Tang dynasty, the participants in the debate frequently referred to the Vimalakīrti Nirdeśa to support their arguments. In this paper, I discuss these references to the Vimalakīrti Nirdeśa and how they were interpreted by various participants. I argue that the ideas of “the distinction between expedient means and monastic conventions” and “the distinction between individual realization and general ethics” prevalent in the Buddhist circles of the Sui and Tang dynasties are in line with the concepts of “veneration out of gratitude” and “signless veneration” used for interpreting the Vimalakīrti Nirdeśa, indicating that the Sui and Tang Buddhist communities had a common understanding on this issue. A more extreme position was that of Kuiji, who interprets the relevant passages in the Vimalakīrti Nirdeśa in terms of “forgetting decorum out of ignorance” in his arguments against the institutional feasibility of requiring monastics to pay homage to the emperor. The arguments put forth in this debate clearly reflect the interaction between Buddhism, absolute monarchy, and historical events in China, in a fusion of intellectual and social history. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Social Life History of Chinese Buddhist Monks)

Open AccessArticle

Hongzan’s Maitreya Belief in the Context of Late Imperial Chinese Monastic Revival and Chan Decline

Xing Wang

Religions 2022, 13(10), 890; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13100890 - 22 Sep 2022

Viewed by 1066

Abstract

This paper shows that the early Qing Chinese Buddhist monk Zaisan Hongzan’s belief in Maitreya and Tuṣita Heaven pure lands, as reflected in his collection of miracle tales and biographies, should be understood in a broader socio-religious context of Chan decline and monastic revival in late imperial China. It is important to notice that instead of advocating for the combination of Chan and Amitābha’s Pure Land of Bliss practice, Hongzan proposed the most severe criticism of the Chinese Chan tradition since the Song dynasty. Through both his personal doctrinal writings and the narrative strategies applied in his Tuṣita Heaven miracle tales, Hongzan vividly displayed his concerns about literary Chan practice and argued for the pivotal and urgent need for Vinaya among monastic communities. Hongzan’s personal anti-Chan sentiment and his intention to reestablish the study and practice of Buddhist Vinaya disciplines in a time of alleged “crisis” of Chinese Buddhism strongly influenced how he composed and transcribed eminent monks’ biographies related to the cult of Maitreya and Tuṣita Heaven. A “hagiographic” reading of Hongzan’s miracle tale collections is necessary to understand his religious discourse in this special historical stage in China. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Social Life History of Chinese Buddhist Monks)

Open AccessArticle

Korean Potalaka: Legends about Naksan Temple Examined through Mountain and Sea Worship

Erika Erzsébet Vörös

Religions 2022, 13(8), 691; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13080691 - 27 Jul 2022

Viewed by 1028

Abstract

Several sites in East Asia have been identified as Potalaka, originally thought to be located near the southern seas of India. The basis of this phenomenon is built upon the nature of Avalokiteśvara as a mediator between sentient beings and buddhas, the nature of Potalaka as a boundary between their worlds, and Buddhist philosophy. The belief in the abode of Avalokiteśvara bodhisattva on Earth incorporates various places into a Buddhist world transcending borders. This paper examines Korean beliefs about Potalaka and Avalokiteśvara through legends about Naksan Temple, with special emphasis on their relationship with mountain and sea worship. At the same time, the study attempts to connect the beliefs with the philosophical background of Hwaŏm tradition, which is in close relation with this ritual site. The aim of this approach is to point out the unique and universal, as well as the local and translocal elements in Korean narratives about Potalaka. In other words, the paper searches for patterns that are to be found in the wider Buddhist world and characteristics that are created by the specific religious environment of Korean culture. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Social Life History of Chinese Buddhist Monks)

Open AccessArticle

On Bonshakuji as the Penultimate Buddhist Temple to Protect the State in Early Japanese History

George A. Keyworth

Religions 2022, 13(7), 641; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13070641 - 12 Jul 2022

Viewed by 1161

Abstract

During the 740s in Japan, the emperor established Buddhist temples in nearly all the provinces, in which three Buddhist scriptures were chanted to avert natural disasters. Tōdaiji, in the recently constructed capital, was the head temple of a network of Temples of Bright Golden Light and Four Heavenly Kings to Protect the State. The principal Buddhist scripture followed in these temples was the Golden Light Sūtra, translated from Sanskrit into Chinese in Tang China at the beginning of the 8th century. This article investigates the history of an understudied example of one of these temples, called Bonshakuji. Emperor Kanmu (r. 781–806) repurposed it in 786 after the introduction from China of novel rituals to protect the state. It had among the most important Buddhist temple libraries, which came to rival perhaps only that of Tōdaiji through the 12th century. I also examine how and why scholar officials and powerful monastics, particularly those associated with the so-called esoteric Tendai and Shingon temples of Enryakuji and Miidera, and Tōji and Daigoji, respectively, utilized the library of Bonshakuji and older and novel state protection texts kept there to preserve early Japanese state-supported Buddhist worldmaking efforts long after that state had become virtually bankrupt. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Social Life History of Chinese Buddhist Monks)

Open AccessArticle

The Astronomical Innovations of Monk Yixing 一行 (673–727)

Jeffrey Kotyk

Religions 2022, 13(6), 543; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13060543 - 13 Jun 2022

Viewed by 1248

Abstract

The Chinese monk Yixing 一行 (673–727) is unique in being an early architect of the Mantrayāna tradition (Esoteric Buddhism) in East Asia in addition to featuring as a significant individual within the history of astronomy and calendrical science in China. His legacy in the Buddhist world is well known, but the enduring appreciation of his scientific work in later centuries is less understood. The present paper will document the achievements of Yixing’s work in astronomy while also discussing the perception and appreciation of his work in subsequent centuries. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Social Life History of Chinese Buddhist Monks)

Show export options Show export options

Select all

Export citation of selected articles as:

Displaying articles 1-12

Journal Menu

Journal Browser

Special Issue "Social Life History of Chinese Buddhist Monks"

Share This Special Issue

Special Issue Editors

Special Issue Information

Published Papers (12 papers)

Research

Further Information

Guidelines

MDPI Initiatives

Follow MDPI