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Śarīra and Scepter. Empress Wu's Political Use of Buddhist Relics

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Śarīra and Scepter. Empress Wu's Political Use of Buddhist Relics JIABS Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies Volume 25 Number 1-2 2002 Buddhist Histories Richard SALOMON and Gregory SCHOPEN On an Alleged Reference to Amitabha in a KharoÒ†hi Inscription on a Gandharian Relief .................................................................... 3 Jinhua CHEN Sarira and Scepter. Empress Wu’s Political Use of Buddhist Relics 33 Justin T. MCDANIEL Transformative History. Nihon Ryoiki and Jinakalamalipakara∞am 151 Joseph WALSER Nagarjuna and the Ratnavali. New Ways to Date an Old Philosopher................................................................................ 209 Cristina A. SCHERRER-SCHAUB Enacting Words. A Diplomatic Analysis of the Imperial Decrees (bkas bcad) and their Application in the sGra sbyor bam po gnis pa Tradition....................................................................................... 263 Notes on the Contributors................................................................. 341 SAR IRA AND SCEPTER: EMPRESS WU’S POLITICAL USE OF BUDDHIST RELICS* JINHUA CHEN Introduction ....................................................................................... 33 (I) The Veneration of the Famensi Relic between 659 and 662 ............ 37 (II) The “Discovery” of the Guangzhai Relics in 677 and Their Distribu- tion in 678 ................................................................................... 48 (III) Empress Wu’s Relic Veneration in the Early Period of Her Reign (690-694) .................................................................................... 61 (IV) Songshan, the Qibaotai and Famensi: Empress Wu’s Relic Venera tion in Her Late years (700-705) ......................................................... 80 (V) Empress Wu and the Dharma-relic Veneration ........................ 103 (VI) Ties by Blood and Dharma: A Comparative Study of Emperor Wen and Empress Wu’s Political Use of Buddhism ................................ 117 Some Concluding Remarks ................................................................... 128 Wu Zhao (623 or 625-705), or Wu Zetian (literally, “Wu who took heaven as a model”) as she is better known, was unique in Chi - nese history. As the only female monarch in the history of imperial China, she ruled, with remarkable success, for one-sixth of the almost three hun - dred years of the Tang dynasty (618-907), first as the empress of the third Tang emperor Gaozong (r. 649-83) (655-83), then as the regent of her emperor-son Ruizong (684-690) and finally as emperor in her own right (690-705) 1. This fascinating woman is remembered (and sometimes hated) * The author of this article wants to express his gratitude to T. H. Barrett, James A. Benn, Antonino Forte and an anonymous reviewer for their detailed and inspiring comments. Cristina A. Scherrer-Schaub, JIABS Editor, also provided some very useful suggestions on how to improve the article. The author is also grateful to Eugene Wang for generously allowing him to use a photograph of the Renshousi stele. 1 Ruizong was preceded by his older brother Zhongzong (r. 684, r. 705-10), who ruled for a mere fifty-five days following the death of his father Gaozong, from 1 January to 26 February 684, when he was dethroned by his mother. Zhongzong was not re-enthroned until twenty-one years later, on 23 February 705, one day after her mother’s forced abdica tion. Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies Volume 25 • Number 1-2 • 2002 34 JINHUA CHEN for many things, including her strong personality, her unique political character and her colorful private life (which has also been distorted and exaggerated by her venomous critics). What has continued to intrigue scholars of Chinese Buddhism is her apparent fondness for the religion, which derived from her family, her personal piety and her political needs. Hard work by scholars all over the world has done much to reveal some crucial aspects of Empress Wu’s religious life 2. However, it seems that very little scholarly attention has been paid to one significant aspect of her complicated relationship with Buddhism; that is, her veneration of Buddhist relics 3. This article attempts to make some long overdue compensation for this deficiency. In any historically founded religion, enthusiasm for “holy relics” is aroused by the followers’ desire to decrease, if not to erase, the distance separating them from their deceased patriarch — the more remote the This time he ruled longer, until 3 July 710, when he was poisoned to death by his wife Empress Wei (?-710). After an interval of twenty days (5-25 July 710), during which Zhongzong’s youngest son Li Chongmao (698-714), to be posthumously known as Shangdi , was briefly declared as the new emperor, Ruizong succeeded his brother once again. He ruled until 7 September 712, when he abdicated in favor of his son Li Longji (685-761), Xuanzong (r. 712-56). 2 Among the most important studies on Empress Wu’s Buddhist ties are Yabuki Keiki , o u (Tokyo: Iwanami shoten, 1927), pp. 685- 763; ChenSYaningqauikey no ke,n“kWy uzhao yu fojiao” , in (two vols. Taibei: Jiusi chubanshe, C19h7en7)Y, ipnpq.u4e2X1i-a3n6s;hRenaog Zluonnwgeyni ji , “Cong shike lun Wu Hou zhi zongjiao xinyang” , 45.3 (1974), pp. 397- 4B1u8ll;etAinnotofnthineoInFsotirttuet,e of History and Philology, Academia Sinica Political Propaganda and Ideology in China at the End of the Seventh Century: Inquiry into the Nature, Author,(aNnadpFoluin:cItsiotintuotof tUheniTvuenrhsiutarnigo DOoriceunmtaelnet, S.em65in0a2r.ioFodliloSwtueddi bAysiaanticAin, n1o9t7a6te);daTnrdanslation Mingtang and Buddhist Utopias in the History of the A(RstormoneoamnidcaPlaCrislo:cIks:titTuhtoe TItoawliaenr,oSptaetruiel ManeddAiprmedilElasrtyreSmpoheOrerieCnotensatnrudcÉtecdolbeyFEramnpçraeises dW’uExtrême-Orient, 1988); R[ichard] W. L. Guisso, (Program in East Asian StuWdiuesT,sWe-Te’sitenrnaWndatshheinPgotolinticUsnoivf eLresgitiyt -, OimcactaisoinoninalTP’apnegrsC,hVinoa lume 11, 1978). 3 An important exception to this is T. H. Barrett’s recent study, “St upa, S utra and Sar ira in China, c. 656-706 CE,” 18.1 (2001), pp. 1-64. In this article Barrett relates the empress’sBinutdedrehsitstinStBuuddiedshiRstevreieliw cs to the rise (or spread) of wood-block printing technology in seventh century China and also East Asia. The main points of this intriguing study are summarized in his (SOAS Working PapeTrsheinRthiseeSatundySopfreRaedliogfioPnrsi,nLtionngd:oAn,N2e0w01A),cpcpo.u1n5t foff. RI ealmigimouosstFgarcatoterfs ul to Professor Barrett for supplying me with copies of these works. EMPRESS WU’S POLITICAL USE OF BUDDHIST RELICS 35 patriarch’s death becomes, the more keenly the distance will be felt and the more passionately the relics will be sought. In Buddhism, almost immediately after the Parinirv a∞a, the corporeal remains of the Buddha, his belongings and even the places he ever visited all became objects of worship for his followers, hence the rise of the relic-cult in Buddhism 4. In Mah ayana Buddhism “sacred relics” were understood in terms of two categories: one physical and the other spiritual, with the latter denot - ing the dharma, or the Buddha’s teachings. Such an understanding was obviously based on the theory of a (three bodies [of the Buddha]), with physical and spiritual relics tcroik rreysa ponding with the Buddha’s a∞ a (transformation-body) and a (dharma-body) respneicr- tmivelayk. Cyla osely related to the belief thadthoanremwak hoyasees the dharma sees the Buddha, the a theory fostered the sacralization of texts on the one hand anddohnartmheakothyea r, the textualization of relics. Thus, in Mah ayana Buddhism, a pagoda enshrined not only a piece of the physical remains of the Buddha, but also a u or an extract thereof. The text was under - stood as they were as a ws rtirtaten record of the Buddha’s teachings and therefore a demonstration — or a remnant — of the a . This accounts for the cult of the so-called “dharma- s i d,”haorrmdahk aryma a-relic ( ), as was described by the great Budadr hriast translator and pil - gfraismheXli uanzang (602-64). In his famous travels, completed in 646 with the assistance of his disciple Bianji (ca. 618 – ca. 648) 5, Xuan - zang tells us an Indian custom of manufacturing miniature pagodas (six to seven inches high) of scented clay that contained some u extracts. When these miniature pagodas became numerous, a largesr tpraa goda was built to house them. Xuanzang tells us that one of his Indian teachers Jayasena (Ch. Shengjun ) spent three decades in constructing seven † s (= 70,000,000!) of these dharma- s i pagodas, for each † of wko hich he built a great pagoda 6. ar ra ko i 4 David L. Snellgrove, “ Sakyamuni’s Final Nirv a∞a,” 36 (1973), pp. 399-411. Bulletin of the School of Ori - enta5 lFaonrdthAifsrihciagnhlSytucdoinets roversial person, see Chen Yuan , “Da Tang Xiyu ji zhuan - ren Bianji” , in (eds. Chen Yuesu and Chen ZhichCahoen Yuan ,shSihxauneglhuaniz:hSuhxaunagn hai renmin chubanshe, 1980), pp. 266-87. 6 See (Record of the Western World, [Compiled] under the Great DTanTga;ncgoXmipyuletjei d in 646), o u o o (100 vols, Taish shinsh daiz ky 36 JINHUA CHEN Although Xuanzang seems to have been the person responsible for introducing this Mah ayana practice to his Chinese compatriots, there is no evidence that he ever actively promoted it in China. It seems that such a task was first undertaken by Empress Wu and her Buddhist translators. Accordingly, this article will discuss the empress’s involvement in the worship of the physical relics and the dharma
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