Genuine Anguish, Genuine Mind ‘Loyal’ Buddhist Monks, Poetics and Soteriology in Ming-Qing Transition-era Southern China by Corey Lee Bell A THESIS SUBMITTED IN FULL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE DEGREE OF Doctor of Philosophy in The Faculty of Arts (Asia Institute) The University of Melbourne June 2016 0000-0003-4549-7308 Printed on Archive-quality Paper Abstract The best known genre of Chinese Buddhist poetry is the ‘nature’ or ‘landscape’ poems, which were seen to have religious value because they promoted ‘detachment’ from society and used the tranquillity of a secluded scene to reveal the monastic author’s inner calm. However, during the tumultuous period of dynastic decline and transition in seventeenth- century China, some monks saw religious value in poems that reflected their ‘entanglement’ with a crisis-ridden society, poems that even expressed agitated emotional states prompted by the moral and political disorder of their era. The monks who developed this type of poetry and the literary theory which justified it did so while serving in temples in southern China. These clerics shared an important attribute – they were ‘loyal’ to the ill-fated Ming dynasty (which ruled China until 1644, after which it was replaced by the Manchu Qing), a loyalty that was manifest during the period of the dynasty’s decline and after its fall. A distinctive characteristic of the poems of these monks and of their writings on poetry is that the authors affirmed in different ways the use of poetry to express ‘indignation’ (yuan 怨), particularly indignation at political injustice and social and moral disorder. This endorsement of the poetic expression of indignation carried the condition that indignation had to be ‘genuine’, a concept generally conveyed by the word zhen (真) which may be translated as ‘authenticity’ or ‘genuineness’ but which can also imply ‘truth’, ‘reality’ and ‘the real’. I argue that monastic writers loyal to the Ming cause contended that poetry expressing genuine indignation could help Buddhist disciples come to terms with the ‘reality’ of living through tumultuous times, and could enlighten them. ‘Genuine’ poetic indignation could help disciples attain insight into what some of these monks called the ‘genuine mind’ (真心). This dissertation focuses on the writings and ideas on poetry of three such ‘loyal’ authors: Hanshan Deqing (憨山德清) from the late Ming, Juelang Daosheng (覺浪道盛) from the Ming-Qing transition era and Tianran Hanshi (天然函昰) from the early Qing. It will show how each author developed new Buddhist interpretations of genuineness to bring emotional ‘engagement’ with a troubled world into the purview of Buddhist practice. I suggest that their ideas drew on late-Ming intellectual innovations and on the new forms of socially-engaged Buddhism that emerged at this time. Each of the three writers (and his associates) responded to a different context within the larger historical process of the decline of the Ming and the rise of the Qing. However, we can argue that the common feature in their work was that they took an approach to literature and its place in religious practice which differed from that of i earlier Buddhist thinkers. In shifting from the eremitic ‘ideal’ of detachment and tranquillity to the ‘reality’ of engagement and emotional honesty, their work marked a new turn in monastic discourse on the relationship between poetry and Chan/Buddhism, a significant new development in Buddhist literary practice and a new phase in late imperial Buddhist intellectual history. ii Academic Thesis: Declaration Of Authorship I, Corey Lee Bell, declare that this thesis and the work presented in it are my own and has been generated by me as the result of my own original research. I confirm that: 1. This work was done wholly or mainly while in candidature for a research degree at this University; 2. Where any part of this thesis has previously been submitted for a degree or any other qualification at this University or any other institution, this has been clearly stated; 3. Where I have consulted the published work of others, this is always clearly attributed; 4. Where I have quoted from the work of others, the source is always given. With the exception of such quotations, this thesis is entirely my own work; 5. I have acknowledged all main sources of help; 6. Where the thesis is based on work done by myself jointly with others, I have made clear exactly what was done by others and what I have contributed myself; 7. None of this work has been published before submission 8. The thesis is fewer than the maximum world limit of 110,000 words as prescribed by my institution (not including tables, maps, bibliographies, appendices, and words in other languages that have been translated into English, where the original has been left to convenience my examiners). Signed: Corey Bell Date: 9 / 06 / 2016 iii Acknowledgements: Prof. Liao Chao-heng of Academia Sinica’s Department of Chinese Literature and Philosophy told me on one occasion that studying late imperial Buddhism is oftentimes a fairly lonely endeavour. If this is the case I have been exceptionally lucky for the good company and generous assistance I have received over the duration of this project. Firstly I would like to thank my primary supervisor, Dr Lewis Mayo, who has been a teacher, mentor and friend of mine for many years. He embodies, and has done his best to impart to me, scholarly virtues which are old school, yet timeless and absolutely commendable. He has been a constant source of encouragement, and supported me in more ways that it would be fit to mention in such a brief statement of acknowledgements. I acknowledge his careful and substantive assistance with the translations. Prof. Anne McLaren, my secondary supervisor, has been of immense assistance to me as she has counterbalanced Dr Mayo’s encouragement by being forthright when forthrightness was much needed. Her advice has on numerous occasions set me back on the right path when I have diverged from it, and I have been able to feel assured that her kind words on my successes were in all instances sincere. While my home department, the Asia Institute, provided me excellent support, I would like to acknowledge the assistance of other institutions. Firstly, thanks must go to the University of Hong Kong’s Department of Comparative Literature for offering me a position as a visiting scholar early in my PhD candidature. Special thanks must go to Prof. Gina Marchetti who was most hospitable and who provided me all the resources I needed. Secondly, I would like to thank Associate Prof. Qiu Jiang of Guangzhou’s Sun Yat-sen University, and his associate Dr. Li Fubiao, who warmly assisted me, an gave me many important materials, without which this particular study would not have eventuated. Special thanks must also go to the staff at the Australia National University’s Centre on China in the World, as well as library staff from the University’s Menzies Library, and the National Library of Canberra. The visiting scholar’s fellowship hosted by the Centre on China in the World gave me access to rare materials and allowed me to tap into the expertise of accomplished scholars. The brevity of my stay there was more than compensated by the enthusiasm and kind assistance of staff at the Centre and iv the aforementioned libraries. Special thanks must go to Dr. Benjamin Penny for his support and assistance. Lastly, immense thanks must go to Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who provided me a half-year long fellowship which gave me an ideal environment and all the resources I needed to expand and strengthen my thesis. Special thanks must go to the Department of Chinese Literature and Philosophy of Academia Sinica, who were my home institution for the duration of this fellowship. The department’s Prof. Liao Chao-heng, whose work was an important source of inspiration for me, and who supported my application, provided invaluable guidance, and his efforts to make this endeavor less ‘lonely’ by organizing and coordinating study groups and presentations were much appreciated by all who attended them. My second institution, the Graduate Institute of East Asian Studies of the National Chengchi University, also on this front needs special mention. Its director, Prof. David Holm, was one of my supervisors and mentors when I began my PhD, and an inspirational teacher to me during my undergraduate years, and his ongoing interest in my work, as well as his assistance and hospitality, have been much appreciated. Finally, my gratitude goes out to the many people who have looked over my work and offered advice/suggestions. Of these, Dr. Scott Pacey, whom I have known for many years, generously donated some of his valuable time to give my work a reading over, and offered some invaluable suggestions. Special thanks also to my department’s Dr. Du Liping, as well as Ass. Prof. Gao Jia, and my colleague Dr. Anthony Garnaut, as well as Academia Sinica’s Chien Kai-ting and Dr. Shang Haifeng (the latter offered some very valuable suggestions on the translation of some passages). Eternal thanks must go to the person who was my partner throughout much of the duration of this dissertation, Yin, who over an elongated period showed immense patience and supported me selflessly. She endured, for my benefit, more than anyone could ever ask and expect. v Table of Contents Introduction ………………………………………………………………………………pg.1 Chapter 1: Background and Doctrine…………………………………………………………………pg.19 Chapter 2: A Nightmarish Descent into Hell – Hanshan Deqing on on Exile, Zhen Poetry and ‘True’ Chan……………………………………………………………………………..………..pg.44 Chapter 3: A Winter Furnace of Indignation – Historical and Spiritual Transformation and the Idea of ‘Straightforward’ Poetry in the Work of Juelang Daosheng………………………………pg.88 Chapter 4: Real Grievances, Authentic Writing – Tianran Hanshi’s Counsels on Loss, Sincerity and Truth……...…………………………………………………………………………pg.146 Epilogue…………………………………………………………………………………pg.204 Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………pg.214 vi Introduction From Detachment to Genuineness: Anguish, Poetry and Authenticity Long before being introduced into China, Buddhism had made use of poetry, primarily to inspire devotion and as a mnemonic tool.