Laughing at the Tao : debates among Buddhists and Taoists in medieval China
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Bibliographic Information
Laughing at the Tao : debates among Buddhists and Taoists in medieval China
Princeton University Press, c1995
- Other Title
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笑道論
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Note
Bibliography: p. [245]-265
Includes index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
In the early centuries after the introduction of Buddhism to China, the new religion had to come to terms with the worldview of the Confucian elite, the inherent Chinese sense of ethnic superiority, and China's indigenous higher religion of Taoism. The Xiaodao lun (Laughing at the Tao) is an important document of the debates among Buddhists and Taoists, debates that contributed to the process of cultural adaptation. Written by the Taoist renegade Zhen Luan in the year 570, this text aims to expose the absurdity and inconsistency of Taoist doctrine, mythology, ritual, and religious practice. In a complete and fully annotated translation of the Xiaodao lun, Livia Kohn draws on rich Japanese scholarship to place the work within the context of the debates and expose the political schemes behind the apparently religious disputes. Kohn's work offers rare insight into an important and hitherto largely unexplored episode in Chinese intellectual history. She examines the complexities of medieval Buddhism's relationship to Chinese statecraft and society and shows how the shifting fortunes of varying factions and values figured in this polemical confrontation.
Three appendices complete the work, summarizing materials of both earlier and later debates and analyzing the Taoist sources cited in the Xiaodao lun, which brings together many Taoist materials that would otherwise be lost. Richly informed and highly relevant to an understanding of medieval China, Kohn's work greatly enhances the study of medieval Buddhist and Taoist myth, rhetoric, and ideology.
Table of Contents
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xi ABBREVIATIONS xiii INTRODUCTION The Xiaodao lun in the Medieval Debates 3 Areas of Buddhist Adaptation to Chinese Culture 3 Kinds and Phases of Debates 6 The Barbarians 8 The Conversion of the Barbarians 11 The "Conversion" in Taoism 14 Buddhist Reactions 16 The Debates in the South 17 Buddhism and Taoism in the North 21 The Court Debates 24 The Emperor's Vision 29 The Xiaodao lun 32 The Tang Debates 34 Main Anti-Taoist Arguments 37 Argumentation in the Xiaodao lun 41 TRANSLATION Laughing at die Tao, by Zhen Luan 47 Preface 49 1. The Highest Lord of the Tao Created Heaven and Earth 52 2. Fictitious Reign Titles 58 3. Primordial Energy Turned into Heavenly Beings 62 4. Humanitv Was Created from Earth 66 5. Five Buddhas Appear Simultaneously 69 6. Revival of the Dead through Fivefold Purification 74 7. Avalokitesvara Serves on the Tao 76 8. The Buddha Was Born in the West, in Yin 79 9. The Size of the Sun and the Moon 83 10. The Floating of Mount Kunlun 85 11. Taoist Heavenly Bureaucracy 87 12. The Appellation "Nanwufo" 89 13. Birds' Tracks as the Earliest Form of Writing 91 14. Zhang Qian Acquires Buddhist Sutras 93 15. Suns and Moons Assembling 95 16. The Highest Lord Is the Most Venerable 98 17. The Five Grains Chisel Life Away 100 18. Laozi Became the Buddha 102 19. Gautama as a Messenger 106 20. Offerings of Meat and Wine and Service to Deviant Spirits in Pursuit of the Tao 107 21. Buddhist Deviant Teachings Disturb the Political Order Ho 22. Trees Wither upon Hearing the Precepts 113 23. In Worship, the North Is Venerated First 117 24. Harming One's Kin to Pursue the Tao n8 25. The Life-Giving Talisman 120 26. A Kalpa Lasts as Long as a Chun Tree 122 27. Arising and Dying with the Kalpas 123 28. Taking Cinnabar Brings a Golden Complexion 127 29. Plagiarizing Buddhist Sutras for Taoist Scriptures 130 30. Imitating the Buddhist Principle of Cause and Effect 132 31. Taoist Scriptures: Revealed and As Yet Unrevealed 136 32. Five Hundred Million Lavers of Heaven 139 33. Taoist Formalities of Entering and Leaving 34. Taoists Worship the Buddha 144 35. The Taoist Harmonizing of Energies 147 36. Philosophical Works as Taoist Texts 150 APPENDIXES 157 APPENDIX 1 The Texts of the Medieval Debates 159 1. The Debate on Zhang Rong's Menlii 159 2. The Debate on Gu Huan's Yivia lun IN 3. The Bianhuo lun 16g 4. The Debate on the Sanpo lun 171 5. The Debate on Chronology 176 6. The Debates under the Northern Zhou 177 7. The Debate Surrounding Fu Yi 180 8. The Debate Surrounding Li Zhongqing 184 APPENDIX 2 Taoist Texts Cited in the Xiaodao lun 187 1. Chuji 187 2. Dajie wen 188 3. Duohi Igo 4. Daozhai jing Igo 5. Dayou jing 191 6. Dongxuan dongfang qingdi song 191 7. Du quowang pin 192 8. Duming miaojing 192 9. Duren benvingjing 193 10. Duren miaojing 193 11. Dusben pin 194 12. Fuzbai jing 194 13. Guangsbuo pin 195 14. Huabu fing 195 15. Huangsbu 197 16. jiku jing 198 17. jiunan sbengshen zbangjing 199 18. Laozi baibasbi jie 201 19. Laozi xiaobing jing 201 20. Laozi xu 202 21. Miaozben jing 204 22. Nanji zhenren wensbi pin 205 23. Nfiqing wen 205 24. Sanbuang jin ,g 207 25. Santian zbengfajing 208 26. Sanyuan pin 209 27. Sbengxuan jing 210 28. Sbenxian jinye jin ,q 212 29. Shenxian zbuan 213 30. Skijie jing 24 31. Wensbi zbuan 24 32. WUfU jing M6 33. Wulian fing 217 34. Xuandu jingmu 218 35. Xuanmiao neipian 219 36. Xuanzhonq ling 220 37. Xuanzi 220 38. Youwu sbengcbeng pin 220 39. Zbenren neichao Iii 220 40. Zhutian neiyin 221 41. Ziran jing 221 42. Zuigen pin 222 APPENDIX 3 Titles of Texts Cited 225 GLOSSARY 235 BIBLIOGRAPHY 245 INDEX 267
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