Title Pages Monks, Rulers, and Literati: The Political Ascendancy of Chan Buddhism Albert Welter Print publication date: 2006 Print ISBN-13: 9780195175219 Published to Oxford Scholarship Online: October 2011 DOI: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195175219.001.0001 Title Pages (p.i) Monks, Rulers, and Literati (p.ii) (p.iii) Monks, Rulers, and Literati 2006 (p.iv) Oxford University Press, Inc., publishes works that further Oxford University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education. Oxford New York Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto With offices in Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam Copyright © 2006 by Oxford University Press, Inc. Published by Oxford University Press, Inc. Page 1 of 2 PRINTED FROM OXFORD SCHOLARSHIP ONLINE (www.oxfordscholarship.com). (c) Copyright Oxford University Press, 2019. All Rights Reserved. An individual user may print out a PDF of a single chapter of a monograph in OSO for personal use. Subscriber: UC - Berkeley Library; date: 30 September 2019 Title Pages 198 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016 www.oup.com Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior permission of Oxford University Press. Library of Congress Cataloging-In-Publication Data Welter, Albert, 1952– Monks, rulers, and literati: the political ascendancy of Chan Buddhism/Albert Welter. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13 978-0-19-517521-9 1. Zen Buddhism—China—History. 2. Buddhism and state—Zen Buddhism— History. 3. Zen Buddhism—Political aspects—China—History. I. Title. BQ9262.5.W45 2005 294.3′927′0951—dc22 2005040454 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper Access brought to you by: Page 2 of 2 PRINTED FROM OXFORD SCHOLARSHIP ONLINE (www.oxfordscholarship.com). (c) Copyright Oxford University Press, 2019. All Rights Reserved. An individual user may print out a PDF of a single chapter of a monograph in OSO for personal use. Subscriber: UC - Berkeley Library; date: 30 September 2019 Preface Monks, Rulers, and Literati: The Political Ascendancy of Chan Buddhism Albert Welter Print publication date: 2006 Print ISBN-13: 9780195175219 Published to Oxford Scholarship Online: October 2011 DOI: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195175219.001.0001 (p.v) Preface When people first learn of my subject area, they often ask how I became interested in that. Much like the question, “Where are you from?” I am at a loss for the answer. I, of course, know the answers to these questions, but struggle to find a palatable formula, an explanation that does justice to my own experience and meets the understanding of others. People in my line of work often live very hybrid lives and form transnational identities. We live and work in cultures other than our own, trying to adapt to the circumstances we encounter. Although we share our experiences with many expatriates, we have interests in the cultures we study beyond what are considered usual ones. As a consequence, our experiences often diverge. I remember, for example, changing trains at Akasaka- mitsuke, one of Tokyo's notoriously busy subway stations, during evening rush hour. As I crossed the platform in a mad rush to catch my connection, my glance met that of two visiting businessmen, probably staying at one of the posh hotels in the area. At first, they smiled in recognition, but quickly turned aghast as they observed me squeeze myself forcefully into my train, as most natives have long been accustomed to doing, as the station master's whistle blew its warning of imminent departure. Eccentricities dissolve into the commonplace, and become part of normal experience. Having lived in a number of places, the notion of where we are from becomes a blur of these experiences from different places. Many nomads cling, understandably, to their place of origin, but after awhile this, too, may become a faint memory of a time past. As I embarked on the present study, I was often reminded of the disjuncture that occurs between one's experience and the struggle to represent it. (p.vi) Work on this volume began somewhat modestly, as an effort to clarify for myself what I naively presumed was already well-tilled terrain. Surely, I thought, the primary sources for the study of Chan and Zen, the vaunted transmission records that were openly paraded at every turn, had been thoroughly Page 1 of 4 PRINTED FROM OXFORD SCHOLARSHIP ONLINE (www.oxfordscholarship.com). (c) Copyright Oxford University Press, 2019. All Rights Reserved. An individual user may print out a PDF of a single chapter of a monograph in OSO for personal use. Subscriber: UC - Berkeley Library; date: 30 September 2019 Preface investigated. I soon discovered that this was not the case, and I subsequently launched into a series of investigations that are comprised in the present volume. While the studies began as independent projects, the relative proximity in time and place of the texts and figures treated lends itself to comprehensive treatment. I beg the reader's indulgence for any unnecessary repetition that remains. I have long been interested in the role of Buddhism in the Five Dynasties and early Song periods. My curiosity was spurred by earlier studies on Yanshou and Zanning, two Buddhist prelates whose presence looms large over this and subsequent periods. Still, these figures represented only one side of Buddhism during this period, a regional manifestation, and one quite different from the Chan orthodoxy that ultimately prevailed in the Song. No matter how important and influential their scholastic and learned writings were, they represented a far cry from the direct style and rough and ready techniques represented in generic Chan sources. It behooved me to become familiar with this other side of Chan, which established the parameters of normative Chan for many down to the present day. What I discovered was a complex story of well-placed elites, both religious and secular, who quite literally changed the face of Chan history and established Chan as we know it. The road to this place was not simple. This work represents a culmination of sorts, of interests I developed over the years, starting with the study of politics and leading fortuitously to Chinese history, language, and culture. I became aware of Chan (Japanese Zen) as a product of these interests, rather than the other way around, and this is probably a determining aspect of the approach to the subject I am most comfortable with. An understanding of Chan, or any other religious or intellectual phenomenon for that matter, never made sense to me apart from the context and circumstances that produced it. As compelling and inspirational as Zen literature is, I find it foolhardy to divorce it from these circumstances. And while I realize that my own context similarly conditions the work I produce, it remains important to me to situate the texts and figures I study in their own milieus, as representations and representatives of Chan in dialogue with each other. I would not have arrived at this place were it not for the support and encouragement of others. In a work where lineage and support play such a crucial role, I would be remiss if I did not mention those whose contributions over the years helped to make this volume possible. As an undergraduate, Glenn Dealy first made me aware of the importance of religion for shaping social and political values. Leonard Adolf awakened my interest in Chinese and East Asian history. Hee-jin Kim first introduced me to the study of Buddhism, Zen, and East Asian intellectual history. His lectures provoked my interest in Asian religions and my decision to choose the study of them as a career. As a graduate student, I had the great fortune to be guided by Koichi Shinohara, (p.vii) who instilled Page 2 of 4 PRINTED FROM OXFORD SCHOLARSHIP ONLINE (www.oxfordscholarship.com). (c) Copyright Oxford University Press, 2019. All Rights Reserved. An individual user may print out a PDF of a single chapter of a monograph in OSO for personal use. Subscriber: UC - Berkeley Library; date: 30 September 2019 Preface standards of scholarship in me that have continued to guide me and to which I still aspire. The mark of his subtle guidance is still reflected in these pages. To Jan Yün-hua I owe my interest in Yanshou and, by extension, the whole Five Dynasties and early Song period. I have also had the good fortune to study with leading academics in Japan, most especially, Ishii Shūdō of Komazawa University, who has been an unfailing source of support and guidance. He and his late wife, Emi, have extended to me gracious hospitality over the years I can never begin to repay. Tanaka Ryōshō, recently retired from Komazawa, also showered me with attention and kindness during my early years in Japan. I hope that this work might, in some small way, serve as compensation for all the academic debts incurred. In addition, I am indebted to the two anonymous reviewers of the manuscript who offered valuable suggestions for improving the contents and avoiding unnecessary errors. I remain, however, solely responsible for any errors or oversights that remain. More recently, I have been assisted by Okayama Hajime of the Tōyō bunko, Tokyo University, who arranged my stay and generously assisted me in gaining access to the collections there.