Building Bridges between Chan Buddhism and Confucianism

Diana Arghirescu

Description

In Building Bridges between Chan Buddhism and Confucianism, Diana Arghirescu explores the close connections between Buddhism and Confucianism during China's Song period (960–1279). Drawing on In Essays on Assisting the Teaching written by Chan monk-scholar Qisong (1007–1072), Arghirescu examines the influences between the two traditions. In his writings, Qisong made the first substantial efforts to compare the major dimensions of Confucian and Chan Buddhist thought from a philosophical view, seeking to establish a meaningful and influential intellectual and ethical bridge between them.

Arghirescu meticulously reveals a "Confucianized" dimension of Qisong's thought, showing how he revisited and reinterpreted Confucian terminology in his special form of Chan aimed at his contemporary Confucian readers and auditors "who do not know Buddhism." Qisong's form of eleventh-century Chan, she argues, is unique in its cohesive or nondual perspective on Chinese Buddhist, Confucian, and other philosophical traditions, which considers all of them to be interdependent and to share a common root.

Building Bridges between Chan Buddhism and Confucianism is the first book to identify, examine, and expand on a series of Confucian concepts and virtues that were specifically identified and discussed from a Buddhist perspective by a historical Buddhist writer. It represents a major contribution in the comparative understanding of both traditions.

Acknowledgments
Abbreviations and Conventions
Introduction
1. Chan Scholar-Monk Qisong on the Affinities and Differences Between Chan Buddhism and Confucianism in Inquiry into the Teachings (Yuanjiao )
2. An Eleventh Century Confucianized and Cohesive Form of Chan: Qisong's Interpretation of "Teaching" (jiao ) in the Extensive Inquiry into the Teachings (Guang Yuanjiao )
3. Qisong's Letter of Advice (Quanshu ): An Examination and Correction of the Deficiencies of Confucianism
4. Qisong on Buddhist Filial Devotion (xiao ): A Buddhist-Confucian Comparative Perspective
5. Heart-Mind (xin), Emotions (qing) and Nature-Emptiness (xing) in Qisong's Thought: A Song-Dynasty Interpretation of Cohesive Chan Practice Intended for Confucian Scholars
6. Qisong on Universal Principle (li), Nothingness (wu) and the Encomium of the Platform Sutra (Tanjing zan): Answers avant la Lettre to Zhu Xi's Twelfth-Century Criticism
7. Spiritual Discipline, Emotions and Behavior during the Song Dynasty: Zhu Xi's and Qisong's Commentaries on the Zhongyong in Comparative Perspective
Conclusion
Notes
Bibliography
Index

Sujets

• Philosophie
• Philosophie de la religion
• Buddhist
• PHILOSOPHY
• Philosophie et théologie
• Buddhism
• Neo-Confucianism
• General officer
• Confucianism
• Religion
• General

Informations

• Publié par: Indiana University Press
• Date de parution: 06 décembre 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780253063700
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

BUILDING BRIDGES BETWEEN CHAN BUDDHISM AND CONFUCIANISM
WORLD PHILOSOPHIES
Bret W. Davis, D. A. Masolo, and Alejandro Vallega, editors
BUILDING BRIDGES BETWEEN CHAN BUDDHISM AND CONFUCIANISM
A Comparative Hermeneutics of Qisong s Essays on Assisting the Teaching

DIANA ARGHIRESCU
INDIANA UNIVERSITY PRESS
This book is a publication of
Indiana University Press
Office of Scholarly Publishing
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1320 East 10th Street
Bloomington, Indiana 47405 USA
iupress.org
2022 by Indiana University Press
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information Sciences-Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992.
Manufactured in the United States of America
First printing 2022
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Arghirescu, Diana, author.
Title: Building bridges between Chan Buddhism and Confucianism : a comparative hermeneutics of Qisong s Essays on assisting the teaching / Diana Arghirescu.
Description: Bloomington : Indiana University Press, 2022. | Series: World philosophies | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2022015381 (print) | LCCN 2022015 (ebook) | ISBN 9780253063670 (hardback) | ISBN 9780253063687 (paperback) | ISBN 9780253063694 (ebook)
Classification: LCC BQ9269.4.C65 A74 2022 (print) | LCC BQ9269.4.C65 (ebook) | DDC 294.3/927--dc23/eng/20220404
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022015381
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022015382
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments
Abbreviations and Conventions
Introduction
1. Chan Scholar-Monk Qisong on the Affinities and Differences between Chan Buddhism and Confucianism in Inquiry into the Teachings ( Yuanjiao )
2. An Eleventh-Century Confucianized and Cohesive Form of Chan: Qisong s Interpretation of Teaching ( Jiao ) in the Extensive Inquiry into the Teachings ( Guang yuanjiao )
3. Qisong s Letter of Advice ( Quanshu ): An Examination and Correction of the Deficiencies of Confucianism
4. Qisong on Buddhist Filial Devotion ( Xiao ): A Buddhist-Confucian Comparative Perspective
5. Heart-Mind ( Xin ), Emotions ( Qing ), and Nature-Emptiness ( Xing ) in Qisong s Thought: A Song-Dynasty Interpretation of Cohesive Chan Practice Intended for Confucian Scholars
6. Qisong on Universal Principle ( Li ), Nothingness ( Wu ), and the Encomium of the Platform Sutra ( Tanjing zan ): Answers avant la Lettre to Zhu Xi s Twelfth-Century Criticism
7. Ethico-Spiritual Discipline, Emotions, and Behavior during the Song Dynasty: Zhu Xi s and Qisong s Commentaries on the Zhongyong in Comparative Perspective
Conclusion
Notes
Bibliography
Index
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I DEVELOPED A SIGNIFICANT PART of my interpretive study and hermeneutical translation of Qisong s Essays on Assisting the Teaching ( Fujiao bian ) during an extended period of research in 2017 and 2018. I am most grateful to the Universit du Qu bec Montr al for support during this period. The research grants permitted me time free of teaching and administration.
First, I would like to thank my family for their unwavering support throughout the project. My appreciation goes to my longtime friend Professor Kirill Ole Thompson from National Taiwan University, whose observations have been invaluable. He attentively read and commented on the entire manuscript and raised important issues that enabled me to improve the quality of this volume. I would like to acknowledge the anonymous reviewers for their detailed, valuable feedback and constructive critique, which helped me revise and enhance my research. I thank them for a fruitful review process and for making this book s publication possible. Obviously, any remaining faults of this work are entirely mine.
My thanks go to Indiana University Press and, in particular, Bret W. Davis, coeditor of the World Philosophies Series, for welcoming my manuscript and recommending it to the other editors.
Chapter 7 is a revised version of an article originally published in Philosophy East and West 70, no. 1 (2020): 1-26, Spiritual Discipline, Emotions, and Behavior during the Song Dynasty: Zhu Xi s and Qisong s Commentaries on the Zhongyong in Comparative Perspective. I wish to thank the journal Philosophy East and West for permission to include this article in the book.
Diana Arghirescu
Montr al, Universit du Qu bec Montr al
October 2021
ABBREVIATIONS AND CONVENTIONS
CITATIONS FROM QISONG IN THE CHINESE ELECTRONIC TRIPITAKA COLLECTION, RELEASED BY THE CHINESE BUDDHIST ELECTRONIC TEXT ASSOCIATION (CBETA)
Zhonghua dianzi fodian xiehui . 2016. CBETA dianzi fodian jicheng -CBETA Chinese Electronic Tripitaka Collection. Taipei: Zhonghua dianzi fodian xiehui.
QISONG AND OTHER PRIMARY SOURCES INCLUDED IN CHINESE TRIPITAKA
Collected Works of Qisong , Qisong s Fujiao bian (Essays on assisting the teaching), the anthology of early Chinese Buddhism Hongming ji , Platform Sutra of the Dharma Treasure of the Great Master, the Sixth Patriarch , Brahma s Net Sutra, Heart Sutra, Bodhisattva Syama Sutra , Ullambana Sutra , Sutra in Forty-Two Sections , Fazang s Huayan fa putixin zhang (Essay on the arousal of the bodhi mind in the Huayan), and Zanning s Song gaoseng zhuan (Biographies of eminent monks of the Song).
These texts are cited according to standard numbers in the Chinese Electronic Tripitaka Collection Version June 2016. The latter includes the Taisho Edition Tripitaka (printed Japanese edition) and selected Buddhist materials not contained in the Japanese Tripitaka: Buddhist texts not contained in the Tripitaka, passages concerning Buddhism from the Chinese Official Histories, selections of Buddhist stone rubbings from the Chinese Northern dynasties (386-581), a supplement to the Dazangjing , and Chinese Buddhist Temple Gazetteers ( www.cbeta.org ).
For example, Qisong s articles included in the anthology Fujiao bian ( Essays on Assisting the Teaching ) are shown as follows:

Qisong, Yuanjiao, CBETA T52n2115_001, 0648c25
Qisong, Guang yuanjiao, CBETA T52n2115_002, 0654b07-0660a03
Qisong, Quanshu, CBETA T52n2115_001, 0651c21-0653c13
Qisong, Xiaolun, CBETA T52n2115_003, 0660a25-0662b11
Qisong, Tanjing zan, CBETA T52n2115_003, 0662c06
The following abbreviations are used for cited titles of Qisong s essays, Confucian works, and Buddhist works (full information can be found in the bibliography).
(NEO-)CONFUCIAN WORKS
JSL
Jinsilu ( Reflections on Things at Hand )
ZY
Zhongyong
ZYZJ
Zhongyong zhangju (see Arghiresco/u 2013)
ZZQS
Zhuzi quan shu ( The Collected Works of Master Zhu ; see Zhu 2002)
(CHAN) BUDDHIST WORKS
FJB
Fujiao bian ( Essays on Assisting the Teaching )
ZYJ
Zhongyong jie ( Exegesis of the Mean )
YJ
Yuanjiao ( Inquiry into the Teachings )
GYJ
Guang yuanjiao ( Extensive Inquiry into the Teachings )
QS
Quanshu ( Letter of Advice )
XL
Xiaolun ( On Filial Devotion )
TJZ
Tanjing zan ( Encomium of the Platform Sutra )
BUILDING BRIDGES BETWEEN CHAN BUDDHISM AND CONFUCIANISM
INTRODUCTION
I. QISONG (1007-1072), HIS YUNMEN CHAN LINEAGE AND THE ESSAYS ON ASSISTING THE TEACHING ( FUJIAO BIAN )
The Song dynasty is the historical period when a significant philosophical dialogue was initiated between Buddhism and Confucianism. It represents a pivotal moment not only for Buddhism but also for Confucianism. This work argues that the Chan scholar-monk Qisong (1007-1072) 1 is an important Northern-Song originator of this kind of philosophical dialogue on the Buddhist side. The first Confucian philosophical response to the interpretative challenges he issued during the Northern Song came a generation after him, at the time of the founding of the Neo-Confucian school of principle.
This book translates and explores Qisong s Fujiao bian ( Essays on Assisting the Teaching , hereafter FJB ), an anthology composed during the 1050s, 2 in which he made substantial efforts to philosophically compare major dimensions of Confucian and Chan Buddhist traditions. It consists of several essays: Inquiry into the Teachings ( Yuanjiao ), Extensive Inquiry into the Teachings ( Guang yuanjiao ), Letter of Advice ( Quanshu ), On Filial Devotion ( Xiaolun ), and Encomium of the Platform Sutra ( Tanjing zan ).
The present study focuses on the dynamic process of mutual interaction between Chan Buddhist and Neo-Confucian doctrines and concepts that constitutes a salient feature of Song-dynasty culture. What is more, it argues that this movement is closely related to the individual development of different forms of Chan Buddhism during the Song dynasty-not only those that became emblematic as Song-dynasty Chan but also those that disappeared. This investigation examines the particular perspective of an eleventh-century representative of a nonorthodox form of Song-dynasty Chan, which is described here as a cohesive and Confucianized (i.e., aimed at Confucian scholars and written not in Buddhist style but in Confucian guwen style) interpretation of Chan tradition: the thought of the abovementioned scholar-monk Qisong of the Yunmen Chan subschool, one of the five major Song-dynasty Chan schools (Yunmen, Guiyang , Linji , Caodong , and Fayan ).
Huang Chi-chiang, in his overview of the monks of the Yunmen lineage during the Northern Song, argues that they were responsible for the consolidation of Chan Buddhism during the Song dynasty and developed a new form of Chan known as literary Chan ( wenzi Chan ), which includes poetry and essays (Huang 1986, 115-140). Robert Gimello highlights the inherent polemical character of this term within the context of the Song-dynasty Chan history and advocate