When the term "Buddhism" became a buzzword, Chinese Buddhism did not use it to stimulate interest; in an era when the world was talking about Zen, the research on the history of Zen remained calm. However, amidst the subtle darkness, some aspects that deserve attention have emerged in the research on the history of Zen Buddhism in the past ten years. One of the manifestations is the intervention and cooperation of multiple disciplines. In addition to traditional Buddhist doctrine, history and literature, social studies Disciplines such as science, philology, and human geography also participated, thus opening up a lot of analytical space that can be cultivated. The second manifestation is the broadening and deepening of the distribution of topics, touching on many aspects that have not been discussed before in academic circles. This feature is especially evident in the fields of Zen in the Song Dynasty and Zen history in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The third manifestation is that some scholars have begun to reject or are not satisfied with the old thinking mode, which is similar to the formulaic reproduction of student compositions, and they intend to make innovations in the interpretation of Zen history materials, perspective, writing methods, etc.
The above-mentioned cutting-edge explorations undoubtedly require Zen historians to abandon the habit of "working behind closed doors", effectively participate in international dialogue, and conduct solid and detailed discussions on specific issues with researchers from different academic and cultural traditions. Under the current academic ecological situation, this kind of The discussion should especially take the form of a dialogue with Japanese and North American scholars. Based on this, the 2019 "Zen History Research" workshop was held in Guangzhou (Sun Yat-sen University, Xichang Hall) on November 9-10. It was hosted by the Buddhist Research Center of the Department of Philosophy, Sun Yat-sen University. The theme was "The historical formation and development of Zen Buddhism in East Asia." Thought construction". This workshop was hosted by Professor Gong Jun and Professor He Yansheng. 10 Chinese scholars and 3 Japanese scholars including Ogawa Takashi, Tsuchiya Taisuke and Yanagi Ganyasu established a cutting-edge, short, intensive and efficient "academic dialogue" platform . This workshop was divided into two parts: "Paper Presentation" and "Zen History Discussion". Scholars conducted fruitful and quite novel explorations on a series of focus topics and research methodologies. Here, we first sort out the paper publications and related discussions for the benefit of the academic community.
Some participants took a group photo in front of Chen Yinke’s former residence
What is “Chinese Zen”
This compilation will be based on the own context and time coordinates of the history of Zen Buddhism. First of all, what is "Chinese Zen" and what is the relationship between Chinese Zen and "meditation". With the deepening of research, academic circles have also provided quite unique answers to the fundamental nature and characteristics of these "Zen". It seems that the study of the history of Zen needs to constantly return to such questions about the nature of "Zen" and "Zen".
Professor Ogawa Takashi of Komazawa University, known as the most important scholar in the current study of Japanese Zen (especially quotations), gave a new answer to this. In the paper "Characteristics of Chinese Zen Buddhism: Genealogy, Rules, Questions and Answers", Professor Ogawa does not regard "meditation" as a characteristic of Zen Buddhism. In his view, other sects of Buddhism and even many other non-Buddhist religions and thoughts also It emphasizes "sitting quietly", so Zen Buddhism cannot be regarded as a religion of zazen. The characteristics of Chinese Zen can be defined from three other aspects: the religion of genealogy, the religion of clear rules and the religion of "question and answer". Zen monks all believe in a genealogy of Dharma transmitted from a certain sutra "from heart to heart". There is no specific "founding" ancestor, and there is no unique and absolute holy scripture. What they share is the genealogical consciousness. Through this, Zen monks live in "imagined communities" of genealogical consciousness, and believe that their enlightenment has the same value as the founder, because they are convinced that they can achieve the same enlightenment experience as the Buddha. So you can become a Buddha. The beginning of Zen Buddhism began with the sharing of consciousness with Bodhidharma as the first ancestor. Secondly, in addition to the precepts since India, Zen Buddhism created a new unique standard of "pure rules" and lived a unique group practice life based on it. Traditional Buddhism does not allow farming and digging because it will harm the little life in the soil, while Zen Buddhism especially encourages productive labor and manual labor in the wild, which are "general invitations" and "work". Zen masters believe that the labor scene is the scene of Buddhist practice. In Yu Yingshi’s view, the strict rules of Zen Buddhism are the origin of the spirit of “inner-worldly asceticism” in modern China. Finally, Zen Buddhism in the Tang and Song Dynasties relied on quotations or "questions and answers" as the mainstream. On the surface, these "questions and answers" appear to be difficult to solve like "riddles".Since most of the quotations were written in spoken language after the mid-Tang Dynasty and even during the Five Dynasties, Zen scholars could only make some general and vague explanations before. However, since the second half of the last century, the Japanese Yoshitaka Irya pioneered the Chinese language based on quotations. Learning to interpret the tradition, they regarded Zen quotations as Chinese classical documents in specific situations, and conducted precise studies from the perspectives of linguistics and philology. It was precisely because they moved the study of Zen quotations from the field of Buddhism to the field of Sinology that a method for reading and interpreting Zen quotations was obtained. Here, Mr. Takashi Ogawa cites the most famous Zen "question and answer" "The Patriarch's Intention to Come to the West" and conducts a thorough interpretation of it based on quotations and literature.
Professor Takashi Ogawa of Komazawa University, Japan
However, in a sect such as Zen that uses "Zen" as its self-identity, criticism of "zazen" or " meditation" is inexhaustible in the " Tansutra " " and various quotations after the mid-Tang Dynasty, gradually led to the conscious criticism and elimination of the tradition of meditation. This is a typical "Southern School" thought. In their classics such as the Dunhuang version of the "Tan Sutra", they denounced "someone teaches people Sit down, look at the mind and see clearly. If you don't move, you will become obsessed with it. "Shenhui's so-called "determination of right and wrong" is also denied by the founders. "Concentrate the mind and see clearly. "Illuminating the outside of the heart, capturing the inner evidence of the heart" is the banner. In the "Zitangji", the Zen monk Horita Tripitaka also believes that the meditation method practiced by Shenxiu's disciples is "the method practiced by the bad pagans in the Western world." In addition, criticism of zazen resounded in the Song Dynasty's "Jingde Chuan Leng Lu".
Regarding this conflict between name and reality, Gong Jun (Sun Yat-sen University, "The Concept of "Zen" in the History of Chinese Zen - Focusing on the Early Zen History") found that the concept of "Zen" in history and thought has actually experienced The process of "paradigm transfer" is quite complicated, so there are different types of zazen concepts. The Beizong, who was mainly active before and after Wu Zetian came to power, paid great attention to the way of Zen meditation to understand the fundamentals of Zen. Their classic texts such as "Lengjia Teacher Ji", "Chuan Dharma Treasures" and "Dharma Treasures of All Dynasties" are all Sitting in this way, the criticism of "zazen" in the world of Zen monks in the Southern Sect and even after Mazu Daoyi cannot be simply understood as a denial of zazen, but is intended to lead meditation away from the focus on external appearance or the obsession with formalism. "Mind Dharma" to understand. The "sacred" concept associated with sitting meditation is the concept of "one line of samadhi" in the "Maha Prajna Paramita Sutra" by Manjushri. This sutra calls for "reciting the name of the Buddha" in an upright position in a "free" place. This concept had a profound influence on the Buddhist scriptures of the Six Dynasties, as well as on Tiantai, Pure Land and Zen Buddhism. Japanese scholars Shiina Hiroio and Kobayashi Enteru, as well as French-American scholar Bernard Faure, have all discussed this in depth. Gong Jun also saw the complexity of this meaning and believed that "Yixing Samadhi" cannot be understood in an essentialist way, but its multiple meanings should be understood from the perspective of "family resemblance". This article focuses on the explanation of "One Practice Samadhi" from each branch of Zen from Daoxin to Hongren in the "early stage of Zen". Interestingly, it seems that it is not satisfied with the interpretation of the concept of "One Practice Samadhi" in Buddhist scriptures. The Southern Sect promoted the concept of "Game Samadhi" with a color of "confrontation". The latter is biased towards Seeking peace of mind in all giving activities leads Zen to daily life. Therefore, the new concept of "game samadhi" is more inclined to invent some kind of "moving Zen" idea. In Indian classics, "playing samadhi" often refers to the unfettered changes in supernatural powers after the Buddha became enlightened. Only in Zen Buddhism does this concept gain a more spiritual and de-enchanted development, specifically referring to a certain free and unrestrained artistic conception. The mystery contained in the "Game Samadhi" of Chinese Zen cannot simply be explained from laissez-faire behavior. Rather, it is aimed at dismantling the programmed or formulaic systematic rules formed by tradition and returning to the understanding of one's own nature. . The impact of "Game Samadhi" induces Zen monks to adjust the relationship between sitting meditation and "precepts". Sometimes, Zen monks give people the impression that they do not mean to "break the precepts". This is actually a serious misunderstanding. In fact, Chinese Zen attaches great importance to the unity of precepts and self-nature, and its sect is to make self-requirements at the internal spiritual level rather than expressing them in external forms.
When the term "Buddhism" became a buzzword, Chinese Buddhism did not use it to stimulate interest; in an era when the world was talking about Zen, the research on the history of Zen remained calm. However, amidst the subtle darkness, some aspects that deserve attention have emerged in the research on the history of Zen Buddhism in the past ten years. One of the manifestations is the intervention and cooperation of multiple disciplines. In addition to traditional Buddhist doctrine, history and literature, social studies Disciplines such as science, philology, and human geography also participated, thus opening up a lot of analytical space that can be cultivated. The second manifestation is the broadening and deepening of the distribution of topics, touching on many aspects that have not been discussed before in academic circles. This feature is especially evident in the fields of Zen in the Song Dynasty and Zen history in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The third manifestation is that some scholars have begun to reject or are not satisfied with the old thinking mode, which is similar to the formulaic reproduction of student compositions, and they intend to make innovations in the interpretation of Zen history materials, perspective, writing methods, etc.
The above-mentioned cutting-edge explorations undoubtedly require Zen historians to abandon the habit of "working behind closed doors", effectively participate in international dialogue, and conduct solid and detailed discussions on specific issues with researchers from different academic and cultural traditions. Under the current academic ecological situation, this kind of The discussion should especially take the form of a dialogue with Japanese and North American scholars. Based on this, the 2019 "Zen History Research" workshop was held in Guangzhou (Sun Yat-sen University, Xichang Hall) on November 9-10. It was hosted by the Buddhist Research Center of the Department of Philosophy, Sun Yat-sen University. The theme was "The historical formation and development of Zen Buddhism in East Asia." Thought construction". This workshop was hosted by Professor Gong Jun and Professor He Yansheng. 10 Chinese scholars and 3 Japanese scholars including Ogawa Takashi, Tsuchiya Taisuke and Yanagi Ganyasu established a cutting-edge, short, intensive and efficient "academic dialogue" platform . This workshop was divided into two parts: "Paper Presentation" and "Zen History Discussion". Scholars conducted fruitful and quite novel explorations on a series of focus topics and research methodologies. Here, we first sort out the paper publications and related discussions for the benefit of the academic community.
Some participants took a group photo in front of Chen Yinke’s former residence
What is “Chinese Zen”
This compilation will be based on the own context and time coordinates of the history of Zen Buddhism. First of all, what is "Chinese Zen" and what is the relationship between Chinese Zen and "meditation". With the deepening of research, academic circles have also provided quite unique answers to the fundamental nature and characteristics of these "Zen". It seems that the study of the history of Zen needs to constantly return to such questions about the nature of "Zen" and "Zen".
Professor Ogawa Takashi of Komazawa University, known as the most important scholar in the current study of Japanese Zen (especially quotations), gave a new answer to this. In the paper "Characteristics of Chinese Zen Buddhism: Genealogy, Rules, Questions and Answers", Professor Ogawa does not regard "meditation" as a characteristic of Zen Buddhism. In his view, other sects of Buddhism and even many other non-Buddhist religions and thoughts also It emphasizes "sitting quietly", so Zen Buddhism cannot be regarded as a religion of zazen. The characteristics of Chinese Zen can be defined from three other aspects: the religion of genealogy, the religion of clear rules and the religion of "question and answer". Zen monks all believe in a genealogy of Dharma transmitted from a certain sutra "from heart to heart". There is no specific "founding" ancestor, and there is no unique and absolute holy scripture. What they share is the genealogical consciousness. Through this, Zen monks live in "imagined communities" of genealogical consciousness, and believe that their enlightenment has the same value as the founder, because they are convinced that they can achieve the same enlightenment experience as the Buddha. So you can become a Buddha. The beginning of Zen Buddhism began with the sharing of consciousness with Bodhidharma as the first ancestor. Secondly, in addition to the precepts since India, Zen Buddhism created a new unique standard of "pure rules" and lived a unique group practice life based on it. Traditional Buddhism does not allow farming and digging because it will harm the little life in the soil, while Zen Buddhism especially encourages productive labor and manual labor in the wild, which are "general invitations" and "work". Zen masters believe that the labor scene is the scene of Buddhist practice. In Yu Yingshi’s view, the strict rules of Zen Buddhism are the origin of the spirit of “inner-worldly asceticism” in modern China. Finally, Zen Buddhism in the Tang and Song Dynasties relied on quotations or "questions and answers" as the mainstream. On the surface, these "questions and answers" appear to be difficult to solve like "riddles".Since most of the quotations were written in spoken language after the mid-Tang Dynasty and even during the Five Dynasties, Zen scholars could only make some general and vague explanations before. However, since the second half of the last century, the Japanese Yoshitaka Irya pioneered the Chinese language based on quotations. Learning to interpret the tradition, they regarded Zen quotations as Chinese classical documents in specific situations, and conducted precise studies from the perspectives of linguistics and philology. It was precisely because they moved the study of Zen quotations from the field of Buddhism to the field of Sinology that a method for reading and interpreting Zen quotations was obtained. Here, Mr. Takashi Ogawa cites the most famous Zen "question and answer" "The Patriarch's Intention to Come to the West" and conducts a thorough interpretation of it based on quotations and literature.
Professor Takashi Ogawa of Komazawa University, Japan
However, in a sect such as Zen that uses "Zen" as its self-identity, criticism of "zazen" or " meditation" is inexhaustible in the " Tansutra " " and various quotations after the mid-Tang Dynasty, gradually led to the conscious criticism and elimination of the tradition of meditation. This is a typical "Southern School" thought. In their classics such as the Dunhuang version of the "Tan Sutra", they denounced "someone teaches people Sit down, look at the mind and see clearly. If you don't move, you will become obsessed with it. "Shenhui's so-called "determination of right and wrong" is also denied by the founders. "Concentrate the mind and see clearly. "Illuminating the outside of the heart, capturing the inner evidence of the heart" is the banner. In the "Zitangji", the Zen monk Horita Tripitaka also believes that the meditation method practiced by Shenxiu's disciples is "the method practiced by the bad pagans in the Western world." In addition, criticism of zazen resounded in the Song Dynasty's "Jingde Chuan Leng Lu".
Regarding this conflict between name and reality, Gong Jun (Sun Yat-sen University, "The Concept of "Zen" in the History of Chinese Zen - Focusing on the Early Zen History") found that the concept of "Zen" in history and thought has actually experienced The process of "paradigm transfer" is quite complicated, so there are different types of zazen concepts. The Beizong, who was mainly active before and after Wu Zetian came to power, paid great attention to the way of Zen meditation to understand the fundamentals of Zen. Their classic texts such as "Lengjia Teacher Ji", "Chuan Dharma Treasures" and "Dharma Treasures of All Dynasties" are all Sitting in this way, the criticism of "zazen" in the world of Zen monks in the Southern Sect and even after Mazu Daoyi cannot be simply understood as a denial of zazen, but is intended to lead meditation away from the focus on external appearance or the obsession with formalism. "Mind Dharma" to understand. The "sacred" concept associated with sitting meditation is the concept of "one line of samadhi" in the "Maha Prajna Paramita Sutra" by Manjushri. This sutra calls for "reciting the name of the Buddha" in an upright position in a "free" place. This concept had a profound influence on the Buddhist scriptures of the Six Dynasties, as well as on Tiantai, Pure Land and Zen Buddhism. Japanese scholars Shiina Hiroio and Kobayashi Enteru, as well as French-American scholar Bernard Faure, have all discussed this in depth. Gong Jun also saw the complexity of this meaning and believed that "Yixing Samadhi" cannot be understood in an essentialist way, but its multiple meanings should be understood from the perspective of "family resemblance". This article focuses on the explanation of "One Practice Samadhi" from each branch of Zen from Daoxin to Hongren in the "early stage of Zen". Interestingly, it seems that it is not satisfied with the interpretation of the concept of "One Practice Samadhi" in Buddhist scriptures. The Southern Sect promoted the concept of "Game Samadhi" with a color of "confrontation". The latter is biased towards Seeking peace of mind in all giving activities leads Zen to daily life. Therefore, the new concept of "game samadhi" is more inclined to invent some kind of "moving Zen" idea. In Indian classics, "playing samadhi" often refers to the unfettered changes in supernatural powers after the Buddha became enlightened. Only in Zen Buddhism does this concept gain a more spiritual and de-enchanted development, specifically referring to a certain free and unrestrained artistic conception. The mystery contained in the "Game Samadhi" of Chinese Zen cannot simply be explained from laissez-faire behavior. Rather, it is aimed at dismantling the programmed or formulaic systematic rules formed by tradition and returning to the understanding of one's own nature. . The impact of "Game Samadhi" induces Zen monks to adjust the relationship between sitting meditation and "precepts". Sometimes, Zen monks give people the impression that they do not mean to "break the precepts". This is actually a serious misunderstanding. In fact, Chinese Zen attaches great importance to the unity of precepts and self-nature, and its sect is to make self-requirements at the internal spiritual level rather than expressing them in external forms.Therefore, the difference between respecting the precepts and being hesitant about the precepts does not lie in whether the formal behavior is consistent or not, but in the degree of one's own mind's understanding of the precepts and the degree of violation.
However, we also see the following fact: Zen is a sect that emerged hundreds of years after Buddhism was introduced to China. Before that, there were also a large number of documents mentioning "Zen". Huijiao's "The Eminent Monk's Biography" and Daoxuan's "The Eminent Monk's Biography" both had "Zen Practice Chapters", which recorded a large number of monks who were famous for their Zen practice. They basically All lived before Zen Buddhism. Generally speaking, academic circles refer to this type of research field as early Zen Buddhism in China, which is the "prehistory" of Zen Buddhism. In this regard, Xue Yu (Chinese University of Hong Kong, "The Paradigm Shift in the Expression Forms of Early Chinese Zen") thought about the "paradigm shift" of early Zen Buddhism in China before the establishment of Zen Buddhism, which is from spirituality to prajna metaphysics. ization process.
The author has seen that early Zen classics include Anshigao's translation of "Anpan Shouyi Sutra", Zhiluo Jiacheng's translation of "Panzhou Samadhi Sutra", Kumarajiva's translation of "Zazen Samadhi Sutra", etc., "Preface to the Zen Sutra" ”, and the “Zen Practice Chapter” of “The Biography of the Eminent Monk” and “The Continuation of the Biography of the Eminent Monk”. The Zen method in the early Chinese Mahayana classics is reflected in the "two kinds of nectar" such as "impure thoughts" and "Anapana" in the Hinayana classics, and the "four Brahma dwellings" of "kindness, compassion, joy and equanimity". And the four bases of mindfulness of "body, feeling, mind, and dharmas", and the five cessation centers. It is reflected in the Mahayana Sutra translated by Kunabhadra, that is, "The Meditation of a Fool", "The Zen of Observation", "The Zen of Climbing" and "The Zen of the Tathagata" in the second volume of the four-volume "Langha Sutra". These Zen methods are summarized in the sect's secrets as four types: "foreign Zen, ordinary Zen, Hinayana Zen, and Mahayana Zen." In modern times, Hu Shi used early Chinese translations of Zen scriptures, especially the "Zazen Samadhi Sutra" as the object, to introduce the early Zen methods introduced to China from India, and divided them into five categories: the view of impurity, the view of loving-kindness, the view of cause and condition, and the view of mindfulness. Breathing meditation, reciting the Buddha's name, calming the mind and relaxing the mind.
This article believes that early Buddhist literature often used magical powers or miracles to present personal meditation enlightenment. Meditation and magical powers complement each other and work together to achieve self-interest and altruism. The eminent monks in the early history of Chinese Buddhism, such as An Shigao, Fotu Cheng, Zhixie, Kang Senghui, etc., each made great achievements in the three disciplines of precepts, concentration, and wisdom, and they all had supernatural powers. Miraculous powers are not only the product of meditation practice, but also the form of presentation of meditation. Using supernatural powers to present meditation skills not only makes meditation mysterious and sacred, but also reveals the function of meditation in the Buddhist cultivation system and the activities of promoting Dharma and benefiting living beings. . The expressions of these magical powers include defeating heretics, subduing demons and ghosts, predicting the future, divination of bad luck, calling for wind and rain, healing diseases and praying for blessings, taking refuge and preventing disasters, bringing back the dead, etc. However, in the "Biography of Eminent Monks·Zen Practice", there is less introduction to Zen practice methods and more expressions of the magical powers of meditation. One exception is Huisi, a famous Zen master of early Chinese Buddhism who spoke in detail about meditation, especially the relationship between breath concentration and the six connections.
After this, we can also see another development trend, which is reflected in "Biography of Eminent Monks" and "Extended Biography of Eminent Monks", which is to use Taoist or metaphysical language to describe Zen, meditation and Zen thoughts. Such changes reveal People's views on supernatural powers have changed, and this change may be related to the metaphysics of the Eastern Jin Dynasty and the study of moral principles in the Sui and Tang Dynasties. People are increasingly inclined to use Taoist or metaphysical language such as freedom, tranquility, mystery and sublimity to describe Zen or the Zen state. Zen monks seem to have become real people who have achieved Taoism. Zen practice is synonymous with refining Qi, calming the mind, and keeping oneness. The use of metaphysical language to describe the state of meditation has become a major feature of the development of Zen from "skills" to "Tao" during the Eastern Jin Dynasty and the Southern and Northern Dynasties.
About "Initial Zen"
The papers submitted in this workshop also discussed "Initial Zen". In the genealogical consciousness of the "imagined community" of Zen monks, Bodhidharma is recognized as the first ancestor of Zen Buddhism in the East and the twenty-eighth ancestor of the West. This "Western" Sanskrit monk is the medium of Zen Buddhism's "heart to heart" , is regarded as a medium for spreading the spirit of Indian Buddhism to China. However, the records of Bodhidharma in historical documents are very vague and contain many legends. If we look at the gap in history from a positive perspective, we can think that its importance and ambiguity create a fictional and extremely malleable space.Faced with this fundamental issue in the field of Zen history, Jiang Hainu (Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, "The Four Lives of Bodhidharma: A Case Study of Imagination in the History of Zen Buddhism in the Tang Dynasty") carefully examined the century-old history of Bodhidharma in the international academic community Based on historical research, this article uses the perspective of "Imagining Bodhidharma" to outline four images of Bodhidharma created by the monks in the Tang Dynasty: the "wandering monk", the "author" of a large number of Zen documents, and the "ancestor" of Eastern China and India. , and the "mind" as the basis for liberation. This paper strives to prove how "imagining Bodhidharma" promoted the development of Zen thought and Zen history in the Tang Dynasty in different ways. This not only means the "ideological nature" of "imagination" in the history of Zen, but also further reveals the history of thought. The "imagination" of itself.
The article pointed out that when Daoxuan wrote the biography of Bodhidharma in "The Continuing Biography of the Eminent Monk", he was actually faced with a series of materials that were problematic from a historical perspective, including the literaryization of "Luoyang Jialanji" Notes and "memory history" works such as "Two Entries and Four Elements". And judging from the purpose of writing and the nature of the text, the purpose of writing texts such as "The Biography of Eminent Monks" is not mainly to give a faithful record of the characters, but to provide a "religious paradigm" of "eminent monks" rather than "famous monks". A certain "concept of idealized monks", "The Continuing Biography of Eminent Monks" also faces the problem of "how to shape Bodhidharma". Daoxuan's narration of Bodhidharma hides the writing strategy of "confrontation" between "Zen and law", "Zen and Tiantai", and "Dharma and Sangchou"; while at the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, the Zen monks felt that "the classics" When their "texts" and "ideological resources" could not satisfy their own practice, they began to create many texts in the name of Bodhidharma. These numerous text groups constructed some kind of fictitious "Dharma Zen". This kind of "Dharma Zen" that only exists "on paper" has indeed enriched the connotation of Zen thinking in the Tang Dynasty, or shaped the development trend of many Zen thoughts. The shaping of Bodhidharma's thoughts was carried out simultaneously with the description of the image of his ancestor. The Zen monks in the Tang Dynasty continued to add various elements of the patriarch's image to Bodhidharma according to their own needs, and revered him as the first ancestor of the East and the twenty-eighth ancestor of the West. Until the Qisong period of the Northern Song Dynasty, the interpretation of Bodhidharma was politicized and ethical. Bodhidharma became a model monk: he came from the royal family and was compassionate to all living beings. He represented the Chinese emperor as a metaphor for the righteousness of Buddhism. He was far away from politics and yet A hermit who cared about politics, he educated his disciples as a role model, and his death was extremely sad and honorable. The Zen monks created this image and used this image to promote the politicization and ethical trend of Buddhism in the Song Dynasty. In the middle and late Tang Dynasty, early Zen gradually transformed into the classical Zen stage. In this process, the consciousness of "imagining Bodhidharma" of the Zen monks was expressed as asking "the intention of the ancestors to come to the West." In this on-the-spot situation, as a historical Bodhidharma, his appearance, family background, mentorship, and travel deeds are no longer important to the practice of Zen. What is really relevant is his "spirit of coming from the West" (spirit). That is, "ancestral intention". When this kind of questioning is implemented in the "present self", the practitioner's "heart" will become one with Bodhidharma's "heart". This "unity" is the "body and mind", "things and self", "history and the present". "The integration of. Bodhidharma eventually comes to the heart of every Zen monk—in a manner that appropriately satisfies Zen’s tenet of “heart to heart.”
For a long time, the fragmented nature and complexity of classical Zen texts such as the Zutangji have introduced ambiguity to many researchers. Through the efforts of some scholars in this field, a large number of undiscovered aspects of the Zen sayings of that era have gradually come to light, presenting issues such as Zen masters and supernatural powers, Zen and female roles, etc. As far as the latter is concerned, the relationship between women and Buddhism is a hot and controversial issue in the international Buddhist community. Theoretically, the non-duality principle of traditional Mahayana Buddhism implies equality between men and women. In fact, in monastic life, nuns are still lower than monks. The relationship between women and Buddhism is characterized by “symbolic and religious violence”.Corresponding to the various forms of exclusion of women from public life in traditional East Asian society, traditional Buddhism has long imposed various prohibitions on women, including both nuns and lower-class women. Similar problems also exist in the "classical Zen" stage of Zen history. Xuan Fang provided an important paper to the conference (Renmin University of China, "Mother-in-law and Wife Zen: An Ambiguous Page in the History of Zen Buddhism in the Tang and Song Dynasties"). He believed that there was a special group in the Zen sayings of the Tang and Song Dynasties - the mother-in-law. Their outstanding monastic experience is not inferior to that of male monastics, and sometimes they even become snipers that frighten male monastics. However, they are intentionally or unintentionally ignored in the writing of the history of Zen Buddhism.
The most famous koans in which the mother-in-law becomes the protagonist are: "Zhaozhou Survey of the Po", "The Po-zi Shao'an", "The Po-zi's Desserts", "Yantou Dance", "Linji Encounter with the Po", "Touzi Divination" ox". In the above-mentioned koan, these female ascetics all made the male ascetics speechless with their outstanding meditation experience. If you pay a little attention, it is not difficult to find that most of these outstanding female Zen practitioners lived in the late Tang Dynasty. If female Zen practitioners with clear identities such as Upasika Pang's daughter and nuns such as Deng Yinfeng's sister are also brought into view, the period will be extended to the mid-Tang Dynasty, but the group of portraits will be more vivid. Why did such a group of outstanding female Zen practitioners appear in the late Tang Dynasty, especially around Zen Master Zhaozhou? Historical records record: During the Huichang legal calamity, Yanzhaozhou Town, which played an important role in the politics of the late Tang Dynasty, clearly refused to implement the imperial order to eliminate Samanas and still respected and protected Buddhism. Possibly for this reason, those nuns who were forced to return to secular life gathered near Zhaozhouyuan (which was rich in resources because Zhaozhou Zen Master was the most respected and trusted by King Zhao) in order to continue to survive and to some extent continue their practice.
This article raises a topic worthy of reflection: except for a few cases (Pozi Shaoan, Yantou Wucha), these outstanding female Zen masters were written as foils and foils to the more outstanding male Zen masters. Their personal deeds are not recorded. It is further worth reflecting that all these records were written by men in the Buddhist community and were viewed and interpreted from a male perspective. What is particularly thought-provoking is that, compared with the endless lineage of male monks in Zen literature, female Zen masters have never been presented in a continuous lineage. They only appear as individuals in the history of Zen, passing by like meteors. The beauty does not belong to their gender group. On the contrary, it is written and interpreted as an alternative special case because "although she is a woman, she seems to have her husband as her guide." The historical encounter of Zen Wife makes us reflect on the frustrations of gender justice: Is gender justice still just a luxury rather than a necessity in the consciousness of most people in the Buddhist community? Are the male Zen masters who preach the equality of all beings really willing to give the same respect to female Zen masters? Or even go so far as to put the Dharma first and bend down to ask for advice? Do Buddhist women since the Tang and Song Dynasties naturally tend to think that male Zen masters are more authoritative than female Zen masters who are also "women's generation"?
The historical encounter of Zen Wife makes us think about the way to realize gender justice: If women cannot develop their own Buddhist discourse, actively enrich conscious historical writing, and even establish their own inheritance system, then even if there are more outstanding people today, The birth of female Zen masters, for the history of Buddhism, a hundred years later they will still be like those great female Zen masters of the Tang Dynasty, just as dazzling meteors crossing the night sky, left for the world to praise and remember, but the land of female monks will still be shrouded Under the silence and darkness of the night.
Li Tong (Shenzhen University, "Night Writing" in Zen Lamp Records) also examined Zen Lamp Records. The author believes that Zen lantern records record many stories that happened at night, and they are often related to monks' enlightenment or teachings and other behaviors. For the characteristics of Zen Buddhism's "separate teachings," enlightenment and teaching are very core behaviors, and the special time background of night further highlights their mystery. Among the complex texts left by Zen Buddhism, the number written at night is not very large, but they demonstrate the methods used by Zen historians to construct the history of Zen and shape the image of Zen.Different from the use of magical elements in traditional Buddhist histories and biographies, Zen historians use the special period of night to express the secretive nature of Zen masters' enlightenment and acceptance of the Dharma, and in this way highlight the characteristics of Zen Buddhism's "external transmission". For example, in the "Tan Sutra", the element of night plays an important role in the development of the plot, that is, "not known to others." The conflict between Huineng and Shenxiu regarding the right to inherit the legal heir was almost entirely conducted in secret, and it was the special time background of night that made secret operations possible. The distinction between day and night divides the characters in the story into two camps, namely Hongren, Huineng and Shenxiu who are parties to the dispute over the dharma lineage, and ordinary disciples who are marginalized figures. The existence of marginal characters not only highlights the main characters' excellence in practice and knowledge from a literary perspective, but more importantly, it highlights the "secret" characteristics of Zen Buddhism. Throughout the entire process, marginalized figures can only see the surface, but cannot touch the essence, while the parties involved can act secretly from the essential level, and their actions can isolate everyone's eyes and ears. Because whether it was Shenxiu and Huineng composing verses (in different versions), or Hongren's private conversation with the two, or even Hongren's teaching Huineng, it all happened at night. Ordinary disciples had no knowledge of it, so they had no contact from beginning to end. Go to the core of the Dharma transmission incident. This also illustrates the elitist tendency shown by Zen Buddhism to a certain extent because it advocates "external transmission": Although Zen Buddhism has well implemented the philosophical thought of Buddha nature and believes that all living beings can become Buddhas, it fails to describe specific events. At that time, Zen historians were good at shaping the opposition between main characters and peripheral characters, so that only a few people could understand the Zen method.
The focus of this article then shifts to Zen in the Song Dynasty. The author believes that the use of "night writing" in Denglu is a manifestation of Zen Buddhism in the Song Dynasty using rhetorical historical writing to shape its own image. The number of "night writings" in the lantern records is negatively correlated with the relationship between the author of the lantern records and the imperial power and the power of the author's sect: the closer he is to the imperial power and the more prominent his sect, the less "night writings" appear in the book. The reason for this phenomenon may be that the characteristics of "external transmission" advertised by Zen itself have a strong mystical color and anti-traditional spirit. Its original purpose was to combine Southern Zen with Northern Zen and Northern Zen. distinguish it from other Buddhists. This mysticism and anti-traditional spirit indeed helped Zen Buddhism become unique and attracted many scholar-bureaucrats. However, when Zen Buddhism got closer to the center of secular power, it was unlikely to be accepted by the rulers.
The "Zen Revival" during the Ming and Qing Dynasties is closely related to the Japanese Zen
academic circles. It is also the common view of many scholars from the West and Japan, which is that the creativity of Chinese Zen has basically disappeared after the Song Dynasty. In fact, since the mid-Ming Dynasty, Zen has slowly recovered, until it grew into the "Zen Revival" during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and further influenced the development of Japanese Zen. And if we examine it from the perspectives of Buddhism and society, Buddhism and politics, we can analyze many new aspects of the development of Zen Buddhism during this period. Among the older generation of scholars, Mr. Chen Yuan has made profound research on this issue. In overseas academic circles, this period has also become the research object of some scholars (such as Wu Jiang). In recent times, domestic academic circles have also made new explorations into this period of Zen history based on the discovery of new documents.
Cheng Qing (Shanghai University, "Tian Tong Zhi Shuo and Miyun Yuan Wu, and Han Yue Fa Zang's Commentary Reexamination") tried to clarify the ultimate master of Han Yue Fa Zang and Mi Yue Fa Zang through the newly discovered "Tian Tong Zhi Shuo" written by Mi Yun Yuan Wu. Passing by in vain. Miyun Yuanwu, as a representative of the Linji orthodox sect in the late Ming Dynasty, although on the one hand tried to "win over" the Sanfeng system of Hanyue Dazang, he expressed extremely strong opposition to the "Linji purpose" advocated by Hanyue that teaching and Zen are inseparable."Tian Tong Zhi Shuo" contains Miyun's correspondence in Han Yue's later years. Cheng Qing pointed out that Han Yue's letter to Miyun Yuanwu in the seventh year of Chongzhen was the key turning point in the final break between Han Yue and Miyun. "Tian Tong Zhi Shuo" The "After Record" included in "The Aftermath" presents some historical details of the break between Miyun and Hanyue. In the last stage of his life, Hanyue Fazang defended the position of "the purpose of the five schools" and did not hesitate to fight against Miyun Yuanwu and the Linji he represented. The complete rupture of the sect's orthodoxy put the Sanfeng sect into a very embarrassing orthodox predicament, and also laid the foundation for the imperial power's intervention in the dispute between Tendo and the Sanfeng monks. From the perspective of the history of Zen thought, the ideological dilemma of Ming Dynasty Zen Buddhism revealed in the Han Dynasty cannot be continuously thought and discussed, while the Zen sect of the Qing Dynasty continued the Zen tradition of "opposing words" and promoting "stick drinking".
The academic study of Zen history in the modern sense was born in the twentieth century. When we return to the development of Zen itself in the twentieth century from the perspective of intellectual history, we will be surprised to discover the branches and leaves of Zen in the East and the West during this century. The prosperous situation of Fushu. Within the scope of "Zen" itself, Suzuki Dazhuo is undoubtedly a central figure. Suzuki spread a certain Zen philosophy with a strong personal color to the West. He was surrounded by passionate people and inspired a new type of "Zen" called "European and American Zen". With the huge influence of Western society, Suzuki Zen thought returned to Japan and China after the 1980s, and is still flourishing today. How did Suzuki himself, as well as his supporters and opponents of his time, view "China", "Japan" and "the West", as well as the Zen thought of these three regions, and what did they see in this multiple mirror relationship? "self". Between "self" and "other", what is their respective intellectual sociological stance? The question of raising this question undoubtedly requires opening up an extremely complex analytical perspective. Therefore, when Lin Peiying (Fu Jen Catholic University in Taiwan; Imagination of Religious Communities through Zen Rationalities: The Case of D. T. Suzuki) reported her recent research results on Suzuki Suzuki, it triggered a heated discussion among the participating scholars.
Lin Pei-ying (Fu Jen Catholic University, Taiwan)
Her discussion takes as the object of analysis a text that has not yet received widespread attention in the academic community, namely the collection of Suzuki Ojo's essays "Oriental No Kanata" edited by Ueda Kanteru. This paper believes that Suzuki's Zen thought has gone through four stages: the Protestant imagination of Zen, the opposition between "experience" and "science" shaped by imagination, the interpretation of so-called universal truth, and his so-called Japanese The “atheistic” tradition. Furthermore, the philosophical structure of "Suzuki Zen" is based on a series of dualistic opposition models, specifically represented as "West/East", "reason/wisdom", "God/sage", "intelligence/state of mind", "truth" / non-duality", "science / experience", etc. This reminds us of Robert Sharf's comment: In his "On the Japanese", Suzuki Dashi first set up a strange image of the East and the West, and then let them fight - and both images were It's very strange and not a real thought.
Lin Peiying’s further analysis shows the different responses of three groups to Suzuki’s Zen thoughts, namely (1) Suzuki himself and the group of Japanese scholars of his contemporaries or later, including Kitaro Nishida, Kakuzo Okakura, and Shinichi Hisamatsu and others, and (2) supporters of Suzuki thought, including Chinese scholars Li Zehou, Ge Zhaoguang, and (3) completely exclusive positions, including Hu Shi, Fan Wenlan and their students.
In the following discussion, this article attempts to analyze the interpretations of Zen Buddhism by these three intellectual groups, as well as the modes of "reproduction" and "self-reproduction" of "China" expressed in such interpretations. In other words, when different groups imagine themselves, they unconsciously use "imagination" as a medium to position themselves as a group and express what they are and what the other party is. China, Japan and the West each have What is it. The author intends to express the idea that scholars often explore the world in their minds rather than social and religious facts, and that the knowledge genealogy is established from the cultural imagination space.In terms of methodology, it can be said that this paper is based on the "post-Suzuki era" and conducts a "history of effect" review of Suzuki's Zen thought.
In his subsequent response, Gong Jun pointed out that Suzuki did not propose the use of "Zen" to criticize Western thought from the beginning. In fact, Suzuki initially engaged in using "Mahayana Buddhism" to fight against the popular ideas in Europe since the 19th century. Suzuki's behavior of translating Theravada Buddhism and writing the Compendium of Mahayana Buddhism all illustrate this purpose. Moreover, Suzuki Daijo later proposed the concept of "Oriental Buddhists." The "Oriental Buddhists" here should not be misunderstood by scholars as "East Asian Buddhism." Its specific connotation is actually Japanese Buddhism. In fact, Suzuki's original position has always been Japan. In his theory of East and West, the so-called "soul of East Asia" that he attaches importance to actually refers to Japanese Zen, especially the Japanese Rinzai sect.
"Imagination" and "Zen Meditation"
So far we have also discovered that "Imagination" has become the "keyword" of this conference. Several scholars have accidentally used this concept to describe the historical formation and ideological construction of Zen Buddhism. Content that is too subjective. Xuanfang reminds us that we should limit the use of the word "imagination" from the perspective of the semantic structure of belief - in fact, some "imaginations" have survived in the history of Zen, and some "imaginations" have been abandoned. The reasons should be analyzed in detail and cannot be dealt with simply.
The influence of Zen on the Eastern and Western worlds of the 20th century is especially striking in the "Zen" movement in contemporary popular life culture. This reflects the fact that religion often has a critical impact on social and historical processes. However, we have also seen another aspect, that is, religion often changes itself with social and cultural changes in order to cater to social needs. Therefore, as far as religious practice is concerned, although it has always been used as an important resource to solve physical and mental problems, its role in On the one hand, the application of physical and mental healing in modern society is reflected in drawing resources from religion, but on the other hand, it is gradually "de-religious". Therefore, the application methods of "meditation" in modern Eastern and Western mass societies are also subject to certain choices or changes due to social needs and trends of thought in specific historical time and space. However, it also contains a serious misunderstanding of the basic principles of Buddhism. Deng Weiren (Taiwan Dharma Drum College of Arts and Sciences, "Reflections on the Modernization of Buddhist Meditation Tradition") focused on the phenomenon of "meditation" in contemporary society, reflected on the transformation and even alienation of Buddhist tradition caused by the modernization of Buddhism, and examined the "Buddhism" that caused this transformation modernism". While conducting the above research, the author also raised questions such as whether the Buddhist values of transcending the world and entering the world are still intact and differentiated, and whether the essence of Buddhist practice has become alienated. The author of
has seen the following facts: after nearly two decades of promotion and research, the effectiveness of Buddhist "meditation" in physical and mental healing has almost become an unquestionable consensus. If you search for the words "mediation" and "healing" in the Amazon (amazon.com) e-book store, you will generate thousands of search results for related books. Even if the search terms are limited to "Buddhist meditation" and healing, there are nearly a thousand pieces of information. If you add library bibliographies, academic journals, non-academic magazines, music, videos and other multimedia presentations, documents and reports on meditation and healing will be able to fill the shelves of large supermarkets in categories. Through careful combing of Sanskrit, Pali and other related classics, the author clarifies the basic concept of Buddhist meditation and believes that meditation is the core teaching of the Buddha. Therefore, in the "Four Noble Truths" of Buddha's core teachings, the main practice of the "Tao Truth" of the way to the end of suffering is meditation. If we leave these Buddhist scriptures and talk about the application of Buddhist meditation in physical and mental healing in general, it is useless. Too much meaning.
This article believes that general discussion of the application of Buddhist meditation in physical and mental healing will easily fall into the trend of the meditation movement under the so-called "Buddhist modernism".In other words, on the one hand, the promotion and application of meditation allows Buddhism to be used more widely and to provide the benefits of Buddhism to more diverse sentient beings, but on the other hand, this kind of "user-friendly" meditation (referring to regardless of religious beliefs, The popularization of meditation, which is equally accessible to all genders and ages, will inevitably lower the threshold for using meditation, such as removing teachings, Buddhist cosmology, and Zen practice procedures. The "new meditation" brought about by the emerging Zen meditation movement, such as life Zen, fruit Zen, photography Zen, relaxation Zen, etc., can be regarded as a "convenient method" for modern people who are busy pursuing simple and effective results. But we need to be reminded of the confusion between means and ends in the process of modernizing Buddhism. Will "convenient methods" replace the real purpose? Will Buddhism, which wears "modern clothes" in order to be close to modern society, never be able to take off it? This is worthwhile. Questions we think about. Furthermore, emphasizing "the help of Buddhist meditation in physical and mental healing" may easily lead us to simply regard physical and mental health, especially physical and mental health in the sense of modern medicine, as the goal. But for the Buddhist practice tradition, in the sense of modern medicine, Physical and mental health is a "convenient" for practice, and its real purpose is to understand the shortcomings of our body and mind in reincarnation: duḥkha (suffering), and to remove the ignorance of the separation of body and mind. Therefore, on the one hand, we are happy to see that Buddhist meditation can benefit all sentient beings under the general trend of "Humanistic Buddhism" and be applied in various fields such as mental health healing, disease alleviation or treatment, and even contribute to education, enterprises, sports , the development of secular professions such as military training. On the other hand, it should also be pointed out that the popularization, medicalization, commercialization and globalization of Buddhist "meditation" may obscure traditional meditation and become indistinguishable from non-Buddhist meditation. The correct distinction between Buddhist and non-Buddhist meditation is not a matter of labeling or attachment to pseudonyms.
When we examine the historical evolution of Zen Buddhism from an ideological perspective, its characteristics across regions, countries, and cultural traditions are naturally highlighted. In fact, whether it is the development of Zen in various parts of China and among various ethnic groups, its spread to East Asia such as the Korean Peninsula, Japan, and Vietnam, or its growth in the Western world in the twentieth century, its spiritual transcendence is not limited by space. limits. Therefore, when we study Chinese Zen, we must especially examine it in the East Asian and even global context. As for researchers, they come from all over the world. Various types of Zen are connected in the spatial dimension, especially the close cultural exchanges between China and Japan. From the Tang to the Song Dynasty, and to the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the spread of Chinese Zen classics and sectarian thoughts to Japan showed at least three climaxes. . Among them, Yongping Dogen is a pinnacle figure. Dogen spread China's Soto sect's teachings and ideas to Japan, which had a great influence in Japan. In the 20th century, when Westerners came into contact with Japanese Zen, most of them regarded Dogen's thought as the most sophisticated and profound, and studied his Zen thought from the perspective of comparative philosophy, deriving such topics as Dogen and Existentialism, Dogen and Mysticism, Dogen and the Kyoto School and other issues. It is a pity that, perhaps due to limitations of vision and language, or perhaps due to lack of interest, Dogen research has remained in a lonely place in the world of Chinese Buddhist studies. However, this does not mean that Doyuan is of little significance to the study of Chinese Zen thought. On the contrary, Doyuan Zen can become an important perspective for us to observe the history of Zen in China during the Song and Yuan Dynasties. Dogen's criticism of the shortcomings of China's native Zen thought also played a role in discovering the flaws for us. He Yansheng (Wuhan University, Koriyama Women's University, Japan, "Dogen's Inheritance and Criticism of Chinese Zen") argued that compared with his contemporaries Nichiren and Shinran, Dogen's uniqueness lies in his experience of seeking Dharma in the Song Dynasty. However, when we read Dogen's works, we find that Dogen often dismissed some of his remarks on Chinese Zen as "evil views" and "heretical theories" and did not fully accept Chinese Zen thought. The simple selection of acceptance and criticism constitutes the characteristics of Dogen Zen that gradually and naturally formed in the process of understanding and accepting Chinese Zen thought.
The author believes that Doyuan’s religious experience in seeking Dharma in the Song Dynasty requires us to put it in the historical background of Chinese and Japanese Zen thought when we examine his thoughts, use the method of intellectual history to explore, and analyze specific issues in detail. On the other hand, we should not just stop at the analysis of some fragments or part of the literature. We should also explore Dogen’s Japanese “conversion” and the relationship between it and the language of thought from the perspective of how Dogen understood Chinese Zen thought in his native Japanese. "Interpretation"; only through this kind of historical and ideological and linguistic investigation can we get a more objective grasp.
This method can be concretely practiced in the analysis of three "public cases" such as "The mind is the Buddha", "Don't do any evil" and "Nianhuahua smile". These three "public cases" are scattered in various Chinese Zen literature, and are also topics specifically discussed by Dogen in his Japanese book "Shōbōyanzo". We found that regarding "that is, the mind is a Buddha", Dogen did not consider whether the "mind" is a Buddha or whether the "mind" should be regarded as the "present mind" or the "original mind" like the Chinese Zen masters. Understanding, but grasping it in conjunction with the question of whether or not to practice. This breakthrough interpretation refreshes the previous theory of "that is, the mind is the Buddha" with a tendency of conceptualism, and establishes Dogen's own "that is, the mind is the Buddha" which is characterized by emphasizing practice. "Is Buddha" theory. Regarding "Do not do any evil", Dogen divided "Do not do any evil" into "All evils" and "Do not do" to explain, treating them as words with independent meanings, emphasizing "Do not move" towards all existence. , we should accept it as it is. This is the true meaning of "Don't do any evil". Dogen's understanding of "Don't do any evil" is the same as the aforementioned "that is, the mind is the Buddha". It does not stick to the original meaning of the Chinese text and completely destroys the original meaning of the word. Its interpretation is quite innovative. Regarding "Nian Hua Smiling", Dogen did not understand the "flower" here as the so-called "lotus", but as "the epiphyllum". This understanding can be said to be a pioneering work in the history of Zen Buddhism; this " "Non-Lotus Phenomenon" reflects the uniqueness of Dogen's thought and can also be regarded as a criticism of Chinese Zen thought. Therefore, this article believes that Dogen not only inherited, but also sublated and criticized Chinese Zen, and also had Dogen's own innovation and expansion. It is not the so-called "mechanical transplantation to China", nor is it the so-called "Dogen's original creation". It is not the so-called "mishearing" or "misreading".
From this we need to mention a fact: Twenty years ago, Professor He Yansheng published "Dogen and Chinese Zen Thoughts", which had a great impact on the Japanese religious academic community. He himself became the "first person to study Dogen in the Chinese Buddhist community" ". However, twenty years later, Professor He Yansheng is still the “only person” studying Dogen in the Chinese Buddhist community. When we face this fact, we will have some complex emotions that are both regret and inspiration.
We believe that discussing the history and construction of Zen Buddhism in East Asia requires scholars themselves to cultivate the psychological preparation and even the quality to conduct such research. The ancients once said: "If you want to transcend, you must first understand." That is to say, in terms of research and writing on the history of Chinese Zen, we should also effectively participate in the core dialogue of the international academic circle after absorbing and digesting the important writings of Japanese and Western scholars. In order to form a study on the history of Chinese Zen Buddhism with a real cumulative effect, we must avoid academic self-admiration similar to that of a "monarch in a small room" or digital amplification similar to "weight against copy paper". Only by making more efforts in the three aspects of capability, structure, and quality can we gradually usher in exemplary writings on the history of Chinese Zen and East Asian Zen.
Faced with this fundamental issue in the field of Zen history, Jiang Hainu (Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, "The Four Lives of Bodhidharma: A Case Study of Imagination in the History of Zen Buddhism in the Tang Dynasty") carefully examined the century-old history of Bodhidharma in the international academic community Based on historical research, this article uses the perspective of "Imagining Bodhidharma" to outline four images of Bodhidharma created by the monks in the Tang Dynasty: the "wandering monk", the "author" of a large number of Zen documents, and the "ancestor" of Eastern China and India. , and the "mind" as the basis for liberation. This paper strives to prove how "imagining Bodhidharma" promoted the development of Zen thought and Zen history in the Tang Dynasty in different ways. This not only means the "ideological nature" of "imagination" in the history of Zen, but also further reveals the history of thought. The "imagination" of itself.The article pointed out that when Daoxuan wrote the biography of Bodhidharma in "The Continuing Biography of the Eminent Monk", he was actually faced with a series of materials that were problematic from a historical perspective, including the literaryization of "Luoyang Jialanji" Notes and "memory history" works such as "Two Entries and Four Elements". And judging from the purpose of writing and the nature of the text, the purpose of writing texts such as "The Biography of Eminent Monks" is not mainly to give a faithful record of the characters, but to provide a "religious paradigm" of "eminent monks" rather than "famous monks". A certain "concept of idealized monks", "The Continuing Biography of Eminent Monks" also faces the problem of "how to shape Bodhidharma". Daoxuan's narration of Bodhidharma hides the writing strategy of "confrontation" between "Zen and law", "Zen and Tiantai", and "Dharma and Sangchou"; while at the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, the Zen monks felt that "the classics" When their "texts" and "ideological resources" could not satisfy their own practice, they began to create many texts in the name of Bodhidharma. These numerous text groups constructed some kind of fictitious "Dharma Zen". This kind of "Dharma Zen" that only exists "on paper" has indeed enriched the connotation of Zen thinking in the Tang Dynasty, or shaped the development trend of many Zen thoughts. The shaping of Bodhidharma's thoughts was carried out simultaneously with the description of the image of his ancestor. The Zen monks in the Tang Dynasty continued to add various elements of the patriarch's image to Bodhidharma according to their own needs, and revered him as the first ancestor of the East and the twenty-eighth ancestor of the West. Until the Qisong period of the Northern Song Dynasty, the interpretation of Bodhidharma was politicized and ethical. Bodhidharma became a model monk: he came from the royal family and was compassionate to all living beings. He represented the Chinese emperor as a metaphor for the righteousness of Buddhism. He was far away from politics and yet A hermit who cared about politics, he educated his disciples as a role model, and his death was extremely sad and honorable. The Zen monks created this image and used this image to promote the politicization and ethical trend of Buddhism in the Song Dynasty. In the middle and late Tang Dynasty, early Zen gradually transformed into the classical Zen stage. In this process, the consciousness of "imagining Bodhidharma" of the Zen monks was expressed as asking "the intention of the ancestors to come to the West." In this on-the-spot situation, as a historical Bodhidharma, his appearance, family background, mentorship, and travel deeds are no longer important to the practice of Zen. What is really relevant is his "spirit of coming from the West" (spirit). That is, "ancestral intention". When this kind of questioning is implemented in the "present self", the practitioner's "heart" will become one with Bodhidharma's "heart". This "unity" is the "body and mind", "things and self", "history and the present". "The integration of. Bodhidharma eventually comes to the heart of every Zen monk—in a manner that appropriately satisfies Zen’s tenet of “heart to heart.”
For a long time, the fragmented nature and complexity of classical Zen texts such as the Zutangji have introduced ambiguity to many researchers. Through the efforts of some scholars in this field, a large number of undiscovered aspects of the Zen sayings of that era have gradually come to light, presenting issues such as Zen masters and supernatural powers, Zen and female roles, etc. As far as the latter is concerned, the relationship between women and Buddhism is a hot and controversial issue in the international Buddhist community. Theoretically, the non-duality principle of traditional Mahayana Buddhism implies equality between men and women. In fact, in monastic life, nuns are still lower than monks. The relationship between women and Buddhism is characterized by “symbolic and religious violence”.Corresponding to the various forms of exclusion of women from public life in traditional East Asian society, traditional Buddhism has long imposed various prohibitions on women, including both nuns and lower-class women. Similar problems also exist in the "classical Zen" stage of Zen history. Xuan Fang provided an important paper to the conference (Renmin University of China, "Mother-in-law and Wife Zen: An Ambiguous Page in the History of Zen Buddhism in the Tang and Song Dynasties"). He believed that there was a special group in the Zen sayings of the Tang and Song Dynasties - the mother-in-law. Their outstanding monastic experience is not inferior to that of male monastics, and sometimes they even become snipers that frighten male monastics. However, they are intentionally or unintentionally ignored in the writing of the history of Zen Buddhism.
The most famous koans in which the mother-in-law becomes the protagonist are: "Zhaozhou Survey of the Po", "The Po-zi Shao'an", "The Po-zi's Desserts", "Yantou Dance", "Linji Encounter with the Po", "Touzi Divination" ox". In the above-mentioned koan, these female ascetics all made the male ascetics speechless with their outstanding meditation experience. If you pay a little attention, it is not difficult to find that most of these outstanding female Zen practitioners lived in the late Tang Dynasty. If female Zen practitioners with clear identities such as Upasika Pang's daughter and nuns such as Deng Yinfeng's sister are also brought into view, the period will be extended to the mid-Tang Dynasty, but the group of portraits will be more vivid. Why did such a group of outstanding female Zen practitioners appear in the late Tang Dynasty, especially around Zen Master Zhaozhou? Historical records record: During the Huichang legal calamity, Yanzhaozhou Town, which played an important role in the politics of the late Tang Dynasty, clearly refused to implement the imperial order to eliminate Samanas and still respected and protected Buddhism. Possibly for this reason, those nuns who were forced to return to secular life gathered near Zhaozhouyuan (which was rich in resources because Zhaozhou Zen Master was the most respected and trusted by King Zhao) in order to continue to survive and to some extent continue their practice.
This article raises a topic worthy of reflection: except for a few cases (Pozi Shaoan, Yantou Wucha), these outstanding female Zen masters were written as foils and foils to the more outstanding male Zen masters. Their personal deeds are not recorded. It is further worth reflecting that all these records were written by men in the Buddhist community and were viewed and interpreted from a male perspective. What is particularly thought-provoking is that, compared with the endless lineage of male monks in Zen literature, female Zen masters have never been presented in a continuous lineage. They only appear as individuals in the history of Zen, passing by like meteors. The beauty does not belong to their gender group. On the contrary, it is written and interpreted as an alternative special case because "although she is a woman, she seems to have her husband as her guide." The historical encounter of Zen Wife makes us reflect on the frustrations of gender justice: Is gender justice still just a luxury rather than a necessity in the consciousness of most people in the Buddhist community? Are the male Zen masters who preach the equality of all beings really willing to give the same respect to female Zen masters? Or even go so far as to put the Dharma first and bend down to ask for advice? Do Buddhist women since the Tang and Song Dynasties naturally tend to think that male Zen masters are more authoritative than female Zen masters who are also "women's generation"?
The historical encounter of Zen Wife makes us think about the way to realize gender justice: If women cannot develop their own Buddhist discourse, actively enrich conscious historical writing, and even establish their own inheritance system, then even if there are more outstanding people today, The birth of female Zen masters, for the history of Buddhism, a hundred years later they will still be like those great female Zen masters of the Tang Dynasty, just as dazzling meteors crossing the night sky, left for the world to praise and remember, but the land of female monks will still be shrouded Under the silence and darkness of the night.
Li Tong (Shenzhen University, "Night Writing" in Zen Lamp Records) also examined Zen Lamp Records. The author believes that Zen lantern records record many stories that happened at night, and they are often related to monks' enlightenment or teachings and other behaviors. For the characteristics of Zen Buddhism's "separate teachings," enlightenment and teaching are very core behaviors, and the special time background of night further highlights their mystery. Among the complex texts left by Zen Buddhism, the number written at night is not very large, but they demonstrate the methods used by Zen historians to construct the history of Zen and shape the image of Zen.Different from the use of magical elements in traditional Buddhist histories and biographies, Zen historians use the special period of night to express the secretive nature of Zen masters' enlightenment and acceptance of the Dharma, and in this way highlight the characteristics of Zen Buddhism's "external transmission". For example, in the "Tan Sutra", the element of night plays an important role in the development of the plot, that is, "not known to others." The conflict between Huineng and Shenxiu regarding the right to inherit the legal heir was almost entirely conducted in secret, and it was the special time background of night that made secret operations possible. The distinction between day and night divides the characters in the story into two camps, namely Hongren, Huineng and Shenxiu who are parties to the dispute over the dharma lineage, and ordinary disciples who are marginalized figures. The existence of marginal characters not only highlights the main characters' excellence in practice and knowledge from a literary perspective, but more importantly, it highlights the "secret" characteristics of Zen Buddhism. Throughout the entire process, marginalized figures can only see the surface, but cannot touch the essence, while the parties involved can act secretly from the essential level, and their actions can isolate everyone's eyes and ears. Because whether it was Shenxiu and Huineng composing verses (in different versions), or Hongren's private conversation with the two, or even Hongren's teaching Huineng, it all happened at night. Ordinary disciples had no knowledge of it, so they had no contact from beginning to end. Go to the core of the Dharma transmission incident. This also illustrates the elitist tendency shown by Zen Buddhism to a certain extent because it advocates "external transmission": Although Zen Buddhism has well implemented the philosophical thought of Buddha nature and believes that all living beings can become Buddhas, it fails to describe specific events. At that time, Zen historians were good at shaping the opposition between main characters and peripheral characters, so that only a few people could understand the Zen method.
The focus of this article then shifts to Zen in the Song Dynasty. The author believes that the use of "night writing" in Denglu is a manifestation of Zen Buddhism in the Song Dynasty using rhetorical historical writing to shape its own image. The number of "night writings" in the lantern records is negatively correlated with the relationship between the author of the lantern records and the imperial power and the power of the author's sect: the closer he is to the imperial power and the more prominent his sect, the less "night writings" appear in the book. The reason for this phenomenon may be that the characteristics of "external transmission" advertised by Zen itself have a strong mystical color and anti-traditional spirit. Its original purpose was to combine Southern Zen with Northern Zen and Northern Zen. distinguish it from other Buddhists. This mysticism and anti-traditional spirit indeed helped Zen Buddhism become unique and attracted many scholar-bureaucrats. However, when Zen Buddhism got closer to the center of secular power, it was unlikely to be accepted by the rulers.
The "Zen Revival" during the Ming and Qing Dynasties is closely related to the Japanese Zen
academic circles. It is also the common view of many scholars from the West and Japan, which is that the creativity of Chinese Zen has basically disappeared after the Song Dynasty. In fact, since the mid-Ming Dynasty, Zen has slowly recovered, until it grew into the "Zen Revival" during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and further influenced the development of Japanese Zen. And if we examine it from the perspectives of Buddhism and society, Buddhism and politics, we can analyze many new aspects of the development of Zen Buddhism during this period. Among the older generation of scholars, Mr. Chen Yuan has made profound research on this issue. In overseas academic circles, this period has also become the research object of some scholars (such as Wu Jiang). In recent times, domestic academic circles have also made new explorations into this period of Zen history based on the discovery of new documents.
Cheng Qing (Shanghai University, "Tian Tong Zhi Shuo and Miyun Yuan Wu, and Han Yue Fa Zang's Commentary Reexamination") tried to clarify the ultimate master of Han Yue Fa Zang and Mi Yue Fa Zang through the newly discovered "Tian Tong Zhi Shuo" written by Mi Yun Yuan Wu. Passing by in vain. Miyun Yuanwu, as a representative of the Linji orthodox sect in the late Ming Dynasty, although on the one hand tried to "win over" the Sanfeng system of Hanyue Dazang, he expressed extremely strong opposition to the "Linji purpose" advocated by Hanyue that teaching and Zen are inseparable."Tian Tong Zhi Shuo" contains Miyun's correspondence in Han Yue's later years. Cheng Qing pointed out that Han Yue's letter to Miyun Yuanwu in the seventh year of Chongzhen was the key turning point in the final break between Han Yue and Miyun. "Tian Tong Zhi Shuo" The "After Record" included in "The Aftermath" presents some historical details of the break between Miyun and Hanyue. In the last stage of his life, Hanyue Fazang defended the position of "the purpose of the five schools" and did not hesitate to fight against Miyun Yuanwu and the Linji he represented. The complete rupture of the sect's orthodoxy put the Sanfeng sect into a very embarrassing orthodox predicament, and also laid the foundation for the imperial power's intervention in the dispute between Tendo and the Sanfeng monks. From the perspective of the history of Zen thought, the ideological dilemma of Ming Dynasty Zen Buddhism revealed in the Han Dynasty cannot be continuously thought and discussed, while the Zen sect of the Qing Dynasty continued the Zen tradition of "opposing words" and promoting "stick drinking".
The academic study of Zen history in the modern sense was born in the twentieth century. When we return to the development of Zen itself in the twentieth century from the perspective of intellectual history, we will be surprised to discover the branches and leaves of Zen in the East and the West during this century. The prosperous situation of Fushu. Within the scope of "Zen" itself, Suzuki Dazhuo is undoubtedly a central figure. Suzuki spread a certain Zen philosophy with a strong personal color to the West. He was surrounded by passionate people and inspired a new type of "Zen" called "European and American Zen". With the huge influence of Western society, Suzuki Zen thought returned to Japan and China after the 1980s, and is still flourishing today. How did Suzuki himself, as well as his supporters and opponents of his time, view "China", "Japan" and "the West", as well as the Zen thought of these three regions, and what did they see in this multiple mirror relationship? "self". Between "self" and "other", what is their respective intellectual sociological stance? The question of raising this question undoubtedly requires opening up an extremely complex analytical perspective. Therefore, when Lin Peiying (Fu Jen Catholic University in Taiwan; Imagination of Religious Communities through Zen Rationalities: The Case of D. T. Suzuki) reported her recent research results on Suzuki Suzuki, it triggered a heated discussion among the participating scholars.
Lin Pei-ying (Fu Jen Catholic University, Taiwan)
Her discussion takes as the object of analysis a text that has not yet received widespread attention in the academic community, namely the collection of Suzuki Ojo's essays "Oriental No Kanata" edited by Ueda Kanteru. This paper believes that Suzuki's Zen thought has gone through four stages: the Protestant imagination of Zen, the opposition between "experience" and "science" shaped by imagination, the interpretation of so-called universal truth, and his so-called Japanese The “atheistic” tradition. Furthermore, the philosophical structure of "Suzuki Zen" is based on a series of dualistic opposition models, specifically represented as "West/East", "reason/wisdom", "God/sage", "intelligence/state of mind", "truth" / non-duality", "science / experience", etc. This reminds us of Robert Sharf's comment: In his "On the Japanese", Suzuki Dashi first set up a strange image of the East and the West, and then let them fight - and both images were It's very strange and not a real thought.
Lin Peiying’s further analysis shows the different responses of three groups to Suzuki’s Zen thoughts, namely (1) Suzuki himself and the group of Japanese scholars of his contemporaries or later, including Kitaro Nishida, Kakuzo Okakura, and Shinichi Hisamatsu and others, and (2) supporters of Suzuki thought, including Chinese scholars Li Zehou, Ge Zhaoguang, and (3) completely exclusive positions, including Hu Shi, Fan Wenlan and their students.
In the following discussion, this article attempts to analyze the interpretations of Zen Buddhism by these three intellectual groups, as well as the modes of "reproduction" and "self-reproduction" of "China" expressed in such interpretations. In other words, when different groups imagine themselves, they unconsciously use "imagination" as a medium to position themselves as a group and express what they are and what the other party is. China, Japan and the West each have What is it. The author intends to express the idea that scholars often explore the world in their minds rather than social and religious facts, and that the knowledge genealogy is established from the cultural imagination space.In terms of methodology, it can be said that this paper is based on the "post-Suzuki era" and conducts a "history of effect" review of Suzuki's Zen thought.
In his subsequent response, Gong Jun pointed out that Suzuki did not propose the use of "Zen" to criticize Western thought from the beginning. In fact, Suzuki initially engaged in using "Mahayana Buddhism" to fight against the popular ideas in Europe since the 19th century. Suzuki's behavior of translating Theravada Buddhism and writing the Compendium of Mahayana Buddhism all illustrate this purpose. Moreover, Suzuki Daijo later proposed the concept of "Oriental Buddhists." The "Oriental Buddhists" here should not be misunderstood by scholars as "East Asian Buddhism." Its specific connotation is actually Japanese Buddhism. In fact, Suzuki's original position has always been Japan. In his theory of East and West, the so-called "soul of East Asia" that he attaches importance to actually refers to Japanese Zen, especially the Japanese Rinzai sect.
"Imagination" and "Zen Meditation"
So far we have also discovered that "Imagination" has become the "keyword" of this conference. Several scholars have accidentally used this concept to describe the historical formation and ideological construction of Zen Buddhism. Content that is too subjective. Xuanfang reminds us that we should limit the use of the word "imagination" from the perspective of the semantic structure of belief - in fact, some "imaginations" have survived in the history of Zen, and some "imaginations" have been abandoned. The reasons should be analyzed in detail and cannot be dealt with simply.
The influence of Zen on the Eastern and Western worlds of the 20th century is especially striking in the "Zen" movement in contemporary popular life culture. This reflects the fact that religion often has a critical impact on social and historical processes. However, we have also seen another aspect, that is, religion often changes itself with social and cultural changes in order to cater to social needs. Therefore, as far as religious practice is concerned, although it has always been used as an important resource to solve physical and mental problems, its role in On the one hand, the application of physical and mental healing in modern society is reflected in drawing resources from religion, but on the other hand, it is gradually "de-religious". Therefore, the application methods of "meditation" in modern Eastern and Western mass societies are also subject to certain choices or changes due to social needs and trends of thought in specific historical time and space. However, it also contains a serious misunderstanding of the basic principles of Buddhism. Deng Weiren (Taiwan Dharma Drum College of Arts and Sciences, "Reflections on the Modernization of Buddhist Meditation Tradition") focused on the phenomenon of "meditation" in contemporary society, reflected on the transformation and even alienation of Buddhist tradition caused by the modernization of Buddhism, and examined the "Buddhism" that caused this transformation modernism". While conducting the above research, the author also raised questions such as whether the Buddhist values of transcending the world and entering the world are still intact and differentiated, and whether the essence of Buddhist practice has become alienated. The author of
has seen the following facts: after nearly two decades of promotion and research, the effectiveness of Buddhist "meditation" in physical and mental healing has almost become an unquestionable consensus. If you search for the words "mediation" and "healing" in the Amazon (amazon.com) e-book store, you will generate thousands of search results for related books. Even if the search terms are limited to "Buddhist meditation" and healing, there are nearly a thousand pieces of information. If you add library bibliographies, academic journals, non-academic magazines, music, videos and other multimedia presentations, documents and reports on meditation and healing will be able to fill the shelves of large supermarkets in categories. Through careful combing of Sanskrit, Pali and other related classics, the author clarifies the basic concept of Buddhist meditation and believes that meditation is the core teaching of the Buddha. Therefore, in the "Four Noble Truths" of Buddha's core teachings, the main practice of the "Tao Truth" of the way to the end of suffering is meditation. If we leave these Buddhist scriptures and talk about the application of Buddhist meditation in physical and mental healing in general, it is useless. Too much meaning.
This article believes that general discussion of the application of Buddhist meditation in physical and mental healing will easily fall into the trend of the meditation movement under the so-called "Buddhist modernism".In other words, on the one hand, the promotion and application of meditation allows Buddhism to be used more widely and to provide the benefits of Buddhism to more diverse sentient beings, but on the other hand, this kind of "user-friendly" meditation (referring to regardless of religious beliefs, The popularization of meditation, which is equally accessible to all genders and ages, will inevitably lower the threshold for using meditation, such as removing teachings, Buddhist cosmology, and Zen practice procedures. The "new meditation" brought about by the emerging Zen meditation movement, such as life Zen, fruit Zen, photography Zen, relaxation Zen, etc., can be regarded as a "convenient method" for modern people who are busy pursuing simple and effective results. But we need to be reminded of the confusion between means and ends in the process of modernizing Buddhism. Will "convenient methods" replace the real purpose? Will Buddhism, which wears "modern clothes" in order to be close to modern society, never be able to take off it? This is worthwhile. Questions we think about. Furthermore, emphasizing "the help of Buddhist meditation in physical and mental healing" may easily lead us to simply regard physical and mental health, especially physical and mental health in the sense of modern medicine, as the goal. But for the Buddhist practice tradition, in the sense of modern medicine, Physical and mental health is a "convenient" for practice, and its real purpose is to understand the shortcomings of our body and mind in reincarnation: duḥkha (suffering), and to remove the ignorance of the separation of body and mind. Therefore, on the one hand, we are happy to see that Buddhist meditation can benefit all sentient beings under the general trend of "Humanistic Buddhism" and be applied in various fields such as mental health healing, disease alleviation or treatment, and even contribute to education, enterprises, sports , the development of secular professions such as military training. On the other hand, it should also be pointed out that the popularization, medicalization, commercialization and globalization of Buddhist "meditation" may obscure traditional meditation and become indistinguishable from non-Buddhist meditation. The correct distinction between Buddhist and non-Buddhist meditation is not a matter of labeling or attachment to pseudonyms.
When we examine the historical evolution of Zen Buddhism from an ideological perspective, its characteristics across regions, countries, and cultural traditions are naturally highlighted. In fact, whether it is the development of Zen in various parts of China and among various ethnic groups, its spread to East Asia such as the Korean Peninsula, Japan, and Vietnam, or its growth in the Western world in the twentieth century, its spiritual transcendence is not limited by space. limits. Therefore, when we study Chinese Zen, we must especially examine it in the East Asian and even global context. As for researchers, they come from all over the world. Various types of Zen are connected in the spatial dimension, especially the close cultural exchanges between China and Japan. From the Tang to the Song Dynasty, and to the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the spread of Chinese Zen classics and sectarian thoughts to Japan showed at least three climaxes. . Among them, Yongping Dogen is a pinnacle figure. Dogen spread China's Soto sect's teachings and ideas to Japan, which had a great influence in Japan. In the 20th century, when Westerners came into contact with Japanese Zen, most of them regarded Dogen's thought as the most sophisticated and profound, and studied his Zen thought from the perspective of comparative philosophy, deriving such topics as Dogen and Existentialism, Dogen and Mysticism, Dogen and the Kyoto School and other issues. It is a pity that, perhaps due to limitations of vision and language, or perhaps due to lack of interest, Dogen research has remained in a lonely place in the world of Chinese Buddhist studies. However, this does not mean that Doyuan is of little significance to the study of Chinese Zen thought. On the contrary, Doyuan Zen can become an important perspective for us to observe the history of Zen in China during the Song and Yuan Dynasties. Dogen's criticism of the shortcomings of China's native Zen thought also played a role in discovering the flaws for us. He Yansheng (Wuhan University, Koriyama Women's University, Japan, "Dogen's Inheritance and Criticism of Chinese Zen") argued that compared with his contemporaries Nichiren and Shinran, Dogen's uniqueness lies in his experience of seeking Dharma in the Song Dynasty. However, when we read Dogen's works, we find that Dogen often dismissed some of his remarks on Chinese Zen as "evil views" and "heretical theories" and did not fully accept Chinese Zen thought. The simple selection of acceptance and criticism constitutes the characteristics of Dogen Zen that gradually and naturally formed in the process of understanding and accepting Chinese Zen thought.
The author believes that Doyuan’s religious experience in seeking Dharma in the Song Dynasty requires us to put it in the historical background of Chinese and Japanese Zen thought when we examine his thoughts, use the method of intellectual history to explore, and analyze specific issues in detail. On the other hand, we should not just stop at the analysis of some fragments or part of the literature. We should also explore Dogen’s Japanese “conversion” and the relationship between it and the language of thought from the perspective of how Dogen understood Chinese Zen thought in his native Japanese. "Interpretation"; only through this kind of historical and ideological and linguistic investigation can we get a more objective grasp.
This method can be concretely practiced in the analysis of three "public cases" such as "The mind is the Buddha", "Don't do any evil" and "Nianhuahua smile". These three "public cases" are scattered in various Chinese Zen literature, and are also topics specifically discussed by Dogen in his Japanese book "Shōbōyanzo". We found that regarding "that is, the mind is a Buddha", Dogen did not consider whether the "mind" is a Buddha or whether the "mind" should be regarded as the "present mind" or the "original mind" like the Chinese Zen masters. Understanding, but grasping it in conjunction with the question of whether or not to practice. This breakthrough interpretation refreshes the previous theory of "that is, the mind is the Buddha" with a tendency of conceptualism, and establishes Dogen's own "that is, the mind is the Buddha" which is characterized by emphasizing practice. "Is Buddha" theory. Regarding "Do not do any evil", Dogen divided "Do not do any evil" into "All evils" and "Do not do" to explain, treating them as words with independent meanings, emphasizing "Do not move" towards all existence. , we should accept it as it is. This is the true meaning of "Don't do any evil". Dogen's understanding of "Don't do any evil" is the same as the aforementioned "that is, the mind is the Buddha". It does not stick to the original meaning of the Chinese text and completely destroys the original meaning of the word. Its interpretation is quite innovative. Regarding "Nian Hua Smiling", Dogen did not understand the "flower" here as the so-called "lotus", but as "the epiphyllum". This understanding can be said to be a pioneering work in the history of Zen Buddhism; this " "Non-Lotus Phenomenon" reflects the uniqueness of Dogen's thought and can also be regarded as a criticism of Chinese Zen thought. Therefore, this article believes that Dogen not only inherited, but also sublated and criticized Chinese Zen, and also had Dogen's own innovation and expansion. It is not the so-called "mechanical transplantation to China", nor is it the so-called "Dogen's original creation". It is not the so-called "mishearing" or "misreading".
From this we need to mention a fact: Twenty years ago, Professor He Yansheng published "Dogen and Chinese Zen Thoughts", which had a great impact on the Japanese religious academic community. He himself became the "first person to study Dogen in the Chinese Buddhist community" ". However, twenty years later, Professor He Yansheng is still the “only person” studying Dogen in the Chinese Buddhist community. When we face this fact, we will have some complex emotions that are both regret and inspiration.
We believe that discussing the history and construction of Zen Buddhism in East Asia requires scholars themselves to cultivate the psychological preparation and even the quality to conduct such research. The ancients once said: "If you want to transcend, you must first understand." That is to say, in terms of research and writing on the history of Chinese Zen, we should also effectively participate in the core dialogue of the international academic circle after absorbing and digesting the important writings of Japanese and Western scholars. In order to form a study on the history of Chinese Zen Buddhism with a real cumulative effect, we must avoid academic self-admiration similar to that of a "monarch in a small room" or digital amplification similar to "weight against copy paper". Only by making more efforts in the three aspects of capability, structure, and quality can we gradually usher in exemplary writings on the history of Chinese Zen and East Asian Zen.
