The seventeenth century is generally acknowledged as one of the most politically tumultuous but culturally creative periods of late imperial Chinese history. Scholars have noted the profound effect on; and literary responses to; the fall of the Ming on the male literati elite. Also of great interest is the remarkable emergence beginning in the late Ming of educated women as readers and; more importantly; writers. Only recently beginning to be explored; however; are such seventeenth-century religious phenomena as "the reinvention" of Chan Buddhism―a concerted effort to revive what were believed to be the traditional teachings; texts; and practices of "classical" Chan. And; until now; the role played by women in these religious developments has hardly been noted at all.Eminent Nuns is an innovative interdisciplinary work that brings together several of these important seventeenth-century trends. Although Buddhist nuns have been a continuous presence in Chinese culture since early medieval times and the subject of numerous scholarly studies; this book is one of the first not only to provide a detailed view of their activities at one particular moment in time; but also to be based largely on the writings and self-representations of Buddhist nuns themselves. This perspective is made possible by the preservation of collections of "discourse records" (yulu) of seven officially designated female Chan masters in a seventeenth-century printing of the Chinese Buddhist Canon rarely used in English-language scholarship. The collections contain records of religious sermons and exchanges; letters; prose pieces; and poems; as well as biographical and autobiographical accounts of various kinds. Supplemental sources by Chan monks and male literati from the same region and period make a detailed re-creation of the lives of these eminent nuns possible.Beata Grant brings to her study background in Chinese literature; Chinese Buddhism; and Chinese women’s studies. She is able to place the seven women; all of whom were active in Jiangnan; in their historical; religious; and cultural contexts; while allowing them; through her skillful translations; to speak in their own voices. Together these women offer an important; but until now virtually unexplored; perspective on seventeenth-century China; the history of female monasticism in China; and the contributionof Buddhist nuns to the history of Chinese women’s writing.
#2976891 in Books University of Hawaii Press 1990-06-01Ingredients: Example IngredientsOriginal language:EnglishPDF # 1 1.09 x 6.49 x 9.49l; 1.50 #File Name: 0824812530342 pages
Review
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful. "All that is well said is the speech of the Buddha"By Crazy FoxTwo decades have passed since this excellent and groundbreaking collection of scholarly articles was published; and Buddhist Studies has developed apace in many ways in the meantime; and yet "Chinese Buddhist Apocrypha" remains fresh; relevant; and eye-opening to this day. The various essays differ in style and specific object of study; though all take up the often deplorably ignored Buddhist scriptures composed in China; those remarkably influential texts that Buddhologists have traditionally dismissed as inauthentic even as Sinologists ignore them as extraneous. Some of the articles kind of shake up such notions of textual authenticity to begin with; but even those that don't touch on this assumption per se demonstrate amply how such "made in China" sutras may very well tell us a lot more about Buddhism in the Middle Kingdom than "authentic" Sanskrit translations gathering dust in monastic libraries. Indeed; study of these apocryphal texts swiftly leads Buddhist Studies into considerations it had previously tended to ignore to its detriment; especially social history and political entanglements. Definitely a milestone in the field and highly recommended.Essays included in this volume:1. "Introduction: Prolegomenon to the Study of Buddhist Apocryphal Scriptures" by Robert E. Buswell2. "The Evaluation of Indigenous Scriptures in Chinese Buddhist Bibliographical Catalogues" by Kyoko Tokuno3. "The 'Consecration Sutra': A Buddhist Book of Spells" by Michel Strickmann4. "Stages of Transcendence: The Bhumi Concept in Taoist Scripture" by Stephen R. Bokenkamp5. "The Textual Origins of the 'Kuan Wu-liang-shou ching': A Canonical Scripture of Pure Land Buddhism" by Kotatsu Fujita (Translated by Kenneth K. Tanaka)6. "The 'Chan-ch'a ching': Religion and Magic in Medieval China" by Whalen Lai7. "The Suppression of the Three Stages Sect: Apocrypha as a Political Issue" by Mark Edward Lewis8. "The Relativity of the Concept of Orthodoxy in Chinese Buddhism: Chih-sheng's Indictment of Shih-li and the Proscription of the 'Dharma Mirror Sutra'" by Antonino Forte9. "The 'Fan-wang ching' and Monastic Discipline in Japanese Tendai: A Study of Annen's 'Futsu Jubosatsukai Koshaku'" by Paul Groner10. "Appendix: An Introduction to the Standards of Scriptural Authenticity in Indian Buddhism" by Ronald M. Davidson
