History of the Development of Chinese Chan Thought

ISBN-13: 9789819956852 / Angielski / Twarda / 2023

Tianxiang Ma

Opis

The book aims to describe the history of Chan (Japanese Zen) School thought from the standpoint of social history. Chan, a school of East Asian Buddhism, was influential on all levels of societies in the region because of its intellectual and aesthetic appeal. In China, Chan infiltrated all levels of society, mainly because it engaged with society and formed the mainstream of Buddhism from the tenth or eleventh centuries through to the twentieth century. This book, taking a critical stance, examines the entire history of Chan thought and practice from the viewpoint of a modern Chinese scholar, not a practitioner, but an intellectual historian who places ideological developments in social contexts.  The author suggests that core elements of Chan have their origins in Daoist philosophers, especially Zhuangzi, and not in Indian Buddhist concepts. Covering the period from the sixth century into the twentieth century, it deals with Chan interactions with neo-Confucianism, Quanzhen Daoism, and Gongyang new text philology, as well as with literature and scholarship, its fusion with Pure Land Buddhism, and its syncretic tendencies. Chan’s exchanges with emperors from the Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing Dynasty, as well as the  motives of some loyalists of the Ming Dynasty for joining Chan after the fall of the Ming, are described. The book concludes with an examination of the views of Chan of Hu Shi, D.T. Suzuki, and the scholar-monk Yinshun.

Spis treści

Preface. 

Forward. 

Section 1 The Formation and Branching of Chan Thought 

Chapter 1: An Investigation of Chan.

Chapter 2: The Foundations and Formation of Chan Thought 

Chapter 3: The Branching of Chan Thought 

Section 2  The Synthesis and Infiltration of Song-period Chan Thought 

Chapter 4: An Outline of the Song-dynasty Chan School 

Chapter 5: The Tolerant Cooperation and Interpenetration of Chan Thought 

Part 1: Yanshou’s Convergence of Chan, Pure Land, and Doctrine. 

Part 2: Qisong’s Chan Thought that Unified Confucianism and Buddhism.

Chapter 6.  From Shanzhao to Chongxian’s Songgu baize (Hundred Old Cases with Hymns)

Part 1:  Shanzhao and the Beginnings of Hymns on Old Cases (songgu).

Part 2. Chongxian’s Hymns on Old Cases and Their Successes and Failures.

Part 3. Keqin’s Biyan lu (Blue Cliff Record) and the Deluge of Lettered Chan.

Part 4.  Huihong and Lettered Chan.

Chapter 7.  The Branch Roads in the Development of Chan Thought: Kanhua Chan and Silent Illumination Chan 

Part 1. Zonggao and kanhua Chan.

Part 2.  Zhengjue and Silent Illumination Chan.

Part 3. Criticisms of kanhua Chan and Silent Illumination Chan.

Chapter 8. Researches on Chan History and Chan Learning.

Part 1.  Zanning’s Chan History and Chan Learning.

Part 2.  Puji and the Wudeng huiyuan. 

Appendix. The Disputes over the Change of Affiliation to the Legitimate Lineage of Yunmen 

Chapter 9.  The Attractive Force of Chan Learning and Its Outwards Diffusion.

Part 1.  The Chan Learning of the Gentry.

Part 2.  The Chan Learning of the Lixue Neo-Confucians. A.

Part 3. The Chan Learning of the Lixue Scholars B.

Part 4. Poetry, Poetics, and Chan Learning.

Section 3 The Changes in Yuan and Ming Chan Thought

Chapter 10. The Vicissitudes of Chan Learning in the Early Yuan. 

Part 1. Wansong Xingxiu and the Evaluations (pingchang) of the Yuan Period. 

Part 2. The Chan of the Early Yuan Gentry and the Sanjiao pingxin lun.

Part 3. The Dispute Between the Chan-influenced Quanzhen and the Chan Way. A.. 

Part 4. The Dispute Between the Chan-influenced Quanzhen and the Chan Way. 

Chapter 11. The Origins and Spread of Nianfo Chan.

Part 1.  Mingben’s This Mind is Buddha Nianfo Chan.

Part 2. Weize’s Outward Chan and Inward Pure Land of the Imperishable Soul 

Part 3. Fanqi and His Pure Land Faith.

Part 4.  Zhuhong and His Theory of Rebirth in the Pure Land by the Joint Practice of Chan and Pure Land 

Chapter 12.  The Lettered Chan that Blends the Three Religions 

Part 1. Zhenke’s Lettered Prajñā that Blends the Various Schools 

Part 2.  Deqing and his Mengyu quanji (Complete Works of Dream Travels) that Survey the Three Essentials 

Part 3.  Yuanlai’s Canchan jingyu (Warning Words on Investigating Chan) and Yuanxian’s Yiyan (Dream Words) that is the Chan that Saves Confucianism.

Chapter 13: Wang Yangming Chan and the Escapist Chan of the Gentry. 

Part 1: The Chan Learning of the Early-Ming Grand Confucians and the Vanguard of Yangming-Chan 

Part 2.  The Great Vehicle of Confucianism: Yangming-Chan.

Part 3.  The Descendants of Yangming-Chan.

Part 4: The Delight in Chan of the End of the Ming Confucians and the Gentry Escape into Chan 

Chapter 14.  Lineage Disputes and the Books on Chan Learning. 

Part 1.  Fazang’s Wuzong yuan (On the Origins of the Five Lineages) and Yuanwu’s Three Treatises of Biwang (Exorcising Falsity) 

Part 2.  Luo Qinshun’s Du Foshu bian (Judgements on Reading Buddhist Books) and Qu Ruji’s Zhiyue lu (Records of Pointing at the Moon) 

Part 3.  Monk Biographies and Lamplight Records.

Section 4 The Turn Towards the Human World of Qing-dynasty Chan Thought 

Chapter 15. The Early Qing Monk Disputes and Yongzheng’s Protection of the Dharma.

Part 1. The Linji Chan Masters of the Early Qing (A) 

Part 2. The Linji Chan Masters of the Early Qing (B) 

Part 3. The Caodong Chan Masters of the Early Qing. 

Part 4. Yongzheng’s Chan Learning and His Jianmo bianyi lu. 

Chapter 16. The Qing Confucians’ Sublation and Reformation of Chan Learning. 

Part 1. Early Qing Practical Learning and Dai Zhen’s Criticism of Chan Learning. 

Part 2. The Early Qing Confucians and Peng Shaosheng’s Praise of Chan Learning. 

Part 3. The New Text Classicists’ Use of Their Own Ideas to Promote or Dismiss Chan Learning and Their Use of Chan Learning. 

Chapter 17. The Particpatory Spirit of the Chan Monks of the End of the Qing and the Early Republican Period  

Part 1.  The Four Great Venerable Elders of the End of the Qing, and Others.

Part 2.  Jing’an’s Chan Poetry on Protecting the Teachings and Loving the Country and Taixu’s Buddhist Reform Movement 

Section 5 A Comparison of Research into the Chan School in Recent Times: A Contemporary Explanation of Chan 

Chapter 18.  A Comparison of the Genesis of the Research into the Chan School by Hu Shi, Suzuki Daisetsu, and Yinshun.

Chapter 19. A Comparison of the Core Concepts of the Chan Learning of Hu Shi, Suzuki Daisetsu, and Yinshun 

Chapter 20: A Comparison of the Research Methodology of the Chan Learning of Hu Shi, Suzuki Daisetsu, and Yinshun

Chapter 21. A Comparison of Concrete Problems in the Research on the History of the Chan School of Hu Shi, Suzuki Daisetsu, and Yinshun. 

Postscript 

Conventions. 

Further Reading 

O autorze

Professor Tianxiang Ma is the Director of the Institute of Religion and the Director of the Chinese Buddhism and Buddhism Art Research Centre, and the Faculty of Philosophy at Wuhan University, Hubei Province, China.

Professor Ma is the Chief Expert of the "History of Religion" and "Research of the Academic History of Modern Chinese Religion" sponsored by the Ministry of Education. He has more than 280 academic publications with over 10000 citations. He has published academic monographs and books such as Buddhism in Late Qing Dynasty and Modern Society Ideological Thought, History of the Development of Chinese Zen Ideological Trend, Academic History of Modern China, etc., over 60 volumes and 40 different books. The Ministry of Education awarded him the second and third prizes, respectively, for his outstanding achievements in Humanities and Social Sciences for the publication of "History of the Development of Chinese Zen Ideological Trend" and "History of Chinese Religions".