View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Ghent University Academic Bibliography Beyond Buddhist Apology The Political Use of Buddhism by Emperor Wu of the Liang Dynasty (r.502-549) Tom De Rauw ii To my daughter Pauline, the most wonderful distraction one could ever wish for and to my grandfather, a cakravartin who ruled his own private universe iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Although the writing of a doctoral dissertation is an individual endeavour in nature, it certainly does not come about from the efforts of one individual alone. The present dissertation owes much of its existence to the help of the many people who have guided my research over the years. My heartfelt thanks, first of all, go to Dr. Ann Heirman, who supervised this thesis. Her patient guidance has been of invaluable help. Thanks also to Dr. Bart Dessein and Dr. Christophe Vielle for their help in steering this thesis in the right direction. I also thank Dr. Chen Jinhua, Dr. Andreas Janousch and Dr. Thomas Jansen for providing me with some of their research and for sharing their insights with me. My fellow students Dr. Mathieu Torck, Leslie De Vries, Mieke Matthyssen, Silke Geffcken, Evelien Vandenhaute, Esther Guggenmos, Gudrun Pinte and all my good friends who have lent me their listening ears, and have given steady support and encouragement. To my wife, who has had to endure an often absent-minded husband during these first years of marriage, I acknowledge a huge debt of gratitude. She was my mentor in all but the academic aspects of this thesis. To my mother, who has always encouraged my academic explorations and inquired into the progress of my research with the same enthusiasm she would undoubtedly have shown if I had chosen to pursue the career of a circus clown, I can only bow in reverence. Finally, I would like to extend my gratitude to the institutions that provided the indispensable financial means to conduct this research: the Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO) and Ghent University. And of course you, the reader, for taking the time to peruse this work that lies before you. iv CONTENTS INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………..1 CHAPTER I: EMPEROR WU’S ATTITUDE TOWARDS THE CONFUCIAN AND DAOIST TRADITIONS……………………….................6 I.1. Emperor Wu and the Confucian Tradition………………………6 I.2. Emperor Wu and the Daoist Tradition………………………….25 I.3. Assessment…………………………………………………….....36 CHAPTER II: CREATING A FOUNDATION OF LEGITIMACY: REINVENTING THE IDEOLOGY OF EMPERORSHIP……………….…..40 II.1. The bodhisattva ideal……………………………………..…….40 II.2. Final [Period of the] Dharma (mofa)…………………………...56 II.2.1. The Final [Period of the] Dharma at the time of Liang Wudi……….……………………………………..……59 II.2.2. Use of the terms jidai and modai…………………...69 II.2.3. Emperor Wu and his application of mofa thought..84 CHAPTER III: APPLICATION OF THE NEW BUDDHIST IMPERIAL IDEOLOGY IN SOCIETY: KARMIC RETRIBUTION……………………….90 III.1. The theory of karmic retribution……………………………….91 v III.1.1. Transfer of merit in Buddhist thought……………..92 III.1.2. The debates on the existence of the soul and karmic retribution………………………………….....97 III.1.3. Merit as ideology………………….……………….123 III.2. The promotion of vegetarianism……..………………………167 CHAPTER IV: WHERE SECULAR AND SACRED MEET: COOPERATION AND OPPOSITION WITHIN THE SAṂGHA…...………………………….186 IV.1. Liang Wudi’s attempts to control the saṃgha…...…………186 IV.1.1. Personal advisors………………………………….187 IV.1.2. Monks of the [Imperial] Family (jiaseng)………..191 IV.2. Cooperation and opposition: two case studies…………....197 IV.2.1. Baochang………………………………….……….197 IV.2.2. Zhizang………………………………………..……211 CONCLUSION……………………………………………...………………...220 BIBLIOGRAPHY……………………………………………………………...232 vi 1 INTRODUCTION When Xiao Yan 蕭衍 (464-549) ascended the throne of the Liang 梁 (502-557) Dynasty as Emperor Wu 武 (r.502-549), he was faced with some huge challenges. First was the problem of legitimacy. Emperor Wu had seized power from one of his kinsmen, Xiao Baorong 蕭寶融 (488- 502), in revenge for the murder of his older brother. According to traditional Chinese political theory, that would make Emperor Wu a usurper, as the founder of a new dynasty had to come from outside the imperial family. Aside from his personal problem of legitimation, he inherited an empire that was marked by centuries of devolution, which had started with the disintegration of the Han. The political reality of the time was that the emperors of the Southern courts did not possess any real authority, but were in fact no more than a primus inter pares, ruling by the grace and with the support of their fellow literati. There was a delicate equilibrium of power in which the elite of literati families was dependent on the existing Confucian political system (with the emperor as a nominal figure head) for their titles, salaries and legitimacy to govern over society. The emperor in turn needed these powerful literati families to support his claim on the throne. This co-dependence was a constant feature, even though the equilibrium often shifted to favour different families at different times. Emperor Wu was not the first Southern Dynasties emperor who tried to restore the imperial authority. What seemed to make him somewhat more effective than his predecessors, was his unique ability to make reforms in the political, cultural and religious realm which tied different modes of thought together in such an innovative way that it positioned him as ultimate head of a new cosmic order. I am in no way suggesting that Emperor Wu succeeded in becoming an autocratic ruler by his own right, 2 but his amazing skill in reforming state ideology does seem to have brought considerable (if temporary) stability and prosperity to his realm. In this thesis, I will take a closer look at the tactics used by Emperor Wu to reinvent the imperial persona. Despite his reputation amongst later Buddhist and Confucian historiographers, Emperor Wu was not as single- mindedly Buddhist as he is sometimes portrayed to be. He continued to fulfil his Confucian duties as head of state and even made concerted efforts to revive the faltering Confucian tradition. Although he is often stigmatized as a persecutor of Daoism, we will show that there is little basis to this claim. In fact he lavishly sponsored the Daoist community on Mao Shan and relied on the medical and alchemical expertise of some of its most respected exponents. But emperor Wu was a pragmatic politician, and he realized when he ascended the throne that, if he continued down the path of his forerunners, his rule would probably end as untimely as theirs. In the practical matters of bureaucracy and legislation there was no viable alternative to the traditional Confucian system. Yet Emperor Wu also realised that to continue in his role as Confucian head of state would for ever leave him in a vulnerable position, as he was essentially dependant on the Confucian tradition, dominated by the literati families, for his prestige as emperor. For this reason he set out to reform the imperial ritual in such a way so as to create his own legitimacy as a ruler, independent from the existing system. Fully realising the precariousness of his position, Emperor Wu made the first steps towards independent legitimacy in the field of Confucian ritual. He ordered the compilation of a ritual code that would link him directly to the idealized rituals of the Zhou, and return the prerogative of determining proper conduct and ceremony to the imperial figure. Despite this small revival of Confucian scholarship, it was clear from the start that Buddhism was set up to play the most prominent role in Emperor Wu’s reforms. For the day of the coronation ceremony, he chose the eighth day of the fourth month. By the early sixth century, this date was already widely recognized among Buddhists as the 3 birthday of Śākyamuni Buddha. As such, his coronation ceremony was nothing more than a representation of the birth of a Buddha into this world. In the first chapter I shall examine Liang Wudi’s attitude towards the Confucian and Daoist tradition. In Emperor Wu’s Buddhist reform of imperial ideology three concepts played an important role: (1) the bodhisattva ideal, linked to a new view on emperorship; (2) the Buddhist concept of mofa (the decline of the Buddhist Teaching); and (3) the process of karmic retribution. These three elements were all part of a single imperial Buddhist ritual program, but each of them worked on a different level. The bodhisattva ideal was meant to remould the imperial persona into a saviour figure. After decades of constant warfare, most people were preoccupied with survival, not with who was on the throne. Moreover in the traditional Confucian ritual, an emperor was elevated far above the common people, and as such there was no direct contact between them. Everything had to be mediated by the literati. In order to make contact with his subjects directly, Emperor Wu would organise large assemblies which everyone was free to attend, from commoner to aristocracy. At these assemblies, the emperor would strip himself of his imperial regalia and don a monastic robe. The concept of mofa was Emperor Wu’s legitimation for asserting his control over the Buddhist saṃgha. He claimed that in the final period of the Buddhist Teaching, when monks and nuns have lost their way and commit grave sins, it was up to the wise ruler of state to correct their behaviour. In chapter two I will show how these two elements of legitimation in Emperor Wu’s Buddhist reform were theorised and how they played out in reality. The third chapter deals with the concept of karmic retribution. The idea that one’s actions would have direct consequences for oneself and for other was at once meant to create a sense of hope among his people, as well as a new found unity.