cleary, jonathan christopher - zibo zhenke

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The undersigned, appointed by the

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have examined a thesis entitled

Zibo Zhenke: A Buddhist Leader of

Late Ming China

presented by Jonathan Christopher Cleary

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Zibo Zhenke: A Buddhist Leader in Late Ming China

A thesis presented

by

Jonathan Christopher Cleary

to

The Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations

in partial fulfillment of the requirements

for the degree of

Doctor of Philosophy

in the subject of

East Asian Languages and Civilizations

Harvard University

Cambridge, Massachusetts

May, 1984


Zibo Zhenke: A Buddhist Leader in Late Ming China

c 1984 by Jonathan Christopher Cleary All rights reserved.


Zibo Zhenke: Buddhist Leader in Late Ming China

ABSTRACT

Zibo Zhenke (1543-1604) was an influential figure in the

reinvigoration of Buddhism in late sixteenth century China.

Coming forth from within the Chan tradition, Zibo travelled

and taught widely, and had contacts with members of the

social elite as well as with the commoners. He organized

patronage for the restoration of many Buddhist temples,

and for the printing of the Buddhist Canon in book form

that could circulate more widely. Zibo emphasized the

practical and theoretical unity of Chan and the Scriptural

Teachings. Besides the Chan classics, his teaching drew on

such scriptures as the Surangama and Avatamsaka, and made

use of the study systems and analyses of the Tiantai and

Consciousness Only traditions. Zibo also accepted the

reciting of dhara~r and Pure Land buddha-namf' invocation

as legitimate approaches when carried on in the proper frame

of mind. Teaching in a time when notions derived from Bud-

dhist ideas were very widely diffused throughout Chinese

society, Zibo worked to clarify the true Buddhist essence

to be found within a variety of current religious forms. He

criticized certain misguided derivatives from Buddhism then

prevalent, such as repudiating the Buddhist scriptures in

the name of Chan, or accepting conditioned subjective

awareness as the mind of enlightenment. Zibo knew

Confucianism and Taoism, and was not averse to making use


of their terminology to advance Buddhist ideas or to point

out commonalities among the three teachings. The guiding

framework of Zibo's teaching was thoroughly Buddhist, and

he thought that Buddhism went beyond the other two by far as

a practical method for transcendence and compassionate

return. Nevertheless, Buddhism in its many forms, Confucian-

ism, or Taoism could all be effective, in Zibo's view,

depending on the true sincerity of the learner and contact

with true teachers. From Zibo's teaching words, showing

the state of the art of Chinese Buddhism circa 1600, no

"qualitative decline" or "loss of intellectual vigor" is

obvious in comparison with earlier greats in the tradition.


TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgement

Abbreviations

PART ONE: BACKGROUND . Chapter One: Introduction.

Chapter Two: Overview of Ming

Chapter Three: Zibo's Life

Chapter Four: Zibo's Buddhism

PART TWO: ZIBO'S TEACHING WORDS

Bibliography .

Buddhism

i

ii

1

2

18

101

137

171

414


i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Thanks are due to my thesis advisor Masatoshi Nagatomi,

and to Tu Wei-ming for serving on the readers' committee.

While preparing to undertake this study, I was fortunate

enough to receive the instruction of many teachers at

Harvard: J. R. Hightower, Benjamin Schwartz, J. R. Rosenfield,

Edwin Cranston, Patrick Hanan, Rulan C. Pian, Yori Oda,

Takai Tsuneyoshi, Ronald Egan, Joshua Fogel, Peter Bol, and

Sakamoto Tadashi. Special thanks to Loh Wai-fong and

Robin Yates for doing most to acquaint me with Chinese culture.

This study has also benefitted from the expertise in

Indian and Tibetan Madhyamika and Yogacara of my fellow

student Nguyn Tu CUdng, and from the researches of the

translator Thomas Cleary.

I would like to thank the staff of the Harvard-Yenching

Library for their kind help.


BCR

CDL

HSNP

JPM

MSJL

MYQL

ABBREVIATIONS

Blue Cliff Record

Chuan Deng Lu [The Transmission of the Lamp]

Hanshan Dashi Nianpu [Autobiography of Hanshan]

Jin Ping Mei, translated by Egerton as The Golden

Lotus

Huang Ming Ming Seng Ji Lue [Outline Studies of

Eminent Monks of the Ming by Yunqi Zhuhong]

Meng You Quan Zi 'Dream Wanderings' [Hanshan's

Complete Works]

ii

Ryuchi (1940) refers to his article on Yoga monks in the

Ming, Toyogakuho, Vol. 11, No. 1

SY Shiyong Foxue Cidian [Practical Use Buddhist Studies

Dictionary]

T

WDHY

XYJ

YQFH

ZBBJ

ZBJ

ZG

ZJL

ZW

ZZ

Taisho Canon

Wu Deng Hui Yuan [Five Lamps Meeting at the Source]

Xi You Ji, translated by Anthony Yu as Journey to the

West

Yunqi Fa Hui [Complete Works of Zhuhong]

Zibo Zunzhe Bie Ji [Separate Record of Zibo]

Zibo Zunzhe Quan Ji [Complete Works of Zibo]

Zengaku Daijiten [Great Zen Studies Dictionary]

Zong Jing Lu [The Source Mirror]

Zhongwen Da Cidian [Great Dictionary of Chinese]

Dainihon Zokuzokyo [Continuation of the Canon]


PART ONE:

BACKGROUND


CHAPTER ONE:

INTRODUCTION

This study has grown out of curiosity concerning the

later history of Buddhism in China. This study focuses on

Ming period Buddhism in general, and in particular on the

life and work of one ot its leading proponents, Zibo Zhenke

(1543-1604). The aim is to provide data to contribute to

attempts to estimate the trajectory of Buddhist concepts

and practices over time through the multiple dimensions of

Chinese social, cultural, and.religious history.

Just to set out such data, and to relate the data to

the broad scope of Chinese Buddhist history, raises certain

theoretical issues in the study of religion. First is the

question of how information on Buddhism should be presented

to preserve intact the semantics of the Buddhist teachings.

Second is the question of how the qualitative level of the

religion at different periods in history can be seen and

judged.

*

The issue of fidelity to their semantic richness and

subtlety when presenting Buddhist materials involves combined

consideration of the structural characteristics of the

materials and also of the intent behind them. Fortunately

the Buddhist tradition itself is not entirely reticent on

these crucial matters.


2

In Buddhism it has been a truism that there is no fixed

doctrine, and indeed the religion has existed in a profuse

variety of forms. There is no fixed doctrine because the

teaching of enlightenment must adapt to the potentials of

the listeners, their place and time and cultural

predispositions. The Chan Teacher Long Ya pointed out:

When we speak of 'cultivating the Path,'

these are words to encourage and instruct

people, these are words to receive them

and lead them onward. There has never

been any doctrine to give to people. It's

just that we have taken up all sorts of

expedient means in order to express cur

message and let people recognize their

own inherent mind. l

Thus the view that a religion can be characterized by a

doctrinal core of defined truths to which allegiance is owed

is foreign to Buddhism. It is wrong to interpret Buddhist

materials as if they were meant to present dogmatic definitions

of philosophical tenets. There is a danger of reductionism

in grouping complex, multivalent Buddhist teaching devices

under the rubrics of their supposed philosophical positions.

The intent was not to establish a fixed verbal definition

of truth--a deluded enterprise, in Buddhist eyes--but to

make contact with the mentalities of the audience, in order

to communicate truth to them by degrees, and open the way for

them to realize it. What Buddhist texts show us is not

primarily the intellectual history of rival doctrines, but

rather a history of past method used by Buddhist teachers.


In what is said, the intent is prior to the

words. The fundamental intent of the

buddhas and ancestral teachers has been to

let people illuminate Mind and consummate

the Path. They make temporary use of

verbal meanings, directly pointing to the

mind-source. How can you cling to the

explanation and miss the message?2

3

Characterizations of Buddhist teachings from within as

'turning words' and 'living words' suggest that the messages

in these teachings are conveyed by the dynamic use of

structure. It becomes crucial that Buddhist materials are

presented in a way that does not fragment, distort, or lose

sight of the structural dynamics inherent in them. For this,

whole units of the teachings must be presented, so that

structure and message are preserved. Since all formulations

of the Buddhist teaching were intended as provisional tools

for specific purposes, it is clear that a static summary of

their "philosophical tenets" cannot be true to their meaning.

In translating Buddhist teaching words, I accept the

insights of transformational grammar. Since sentence meaning

resides at the level(s) of deep structure, and transformational

rules specific to each language shape the surface form of the

sentence, literal translation does not entail mimicking the

grammar of the original. Obviously, eloquent Chinese is not

adequately rendered by stilted or artificial English. On the

lexical side, I follow the precedent of the classic Buddhist

translators: "technical terms" are fitted with longer and

shorter alternative semantic translations, employed according


4

to the rhythm of the discourse, and at times kept as trans-

literated versions of their foreign names. The translations

that are the heart of this study adhere strictly to the

meaning of the originals. I also attempt to follow the

style and tone of the teachers' language: sometimes

earthy and blunt, sometimes refined and ornate, sometimes

direct and challenging, sometimes aloof and timeless.

By respecting the semantic integrity of the teaching

materials and the intent behind them, I aim to make

available accurate information on how the Buddhist teaching

was actually being carried on in Ming China, which can become

data for researchers in the fields of Buddhist history and

Chinese religion.

* The issue of the quality of Buddhism in any given time

and place is by no means a straightforward question that can

be answered simply and unequivocally. Part of the problem

in making qualitative judgments is inherent in the

multiplicity of levels at which Buddhism operated. Part

of the problem comes from the limitations on the information

at our disposal concerning the full range of Buddhist

activities. Nevertheless, historians of Chinese cultural

and religious history desire to form some broad notion of

the ups and downs of Buddhism in China, and the issue should

be addressed.

Buddhists in China did many different kinds of things.

At times they consorted with rulers and sought political


5

influence. At times they worked in the sphere of high

culture, composing philosophical treatises to rationalize

Buddhism to the intelligentsia, or spreading Buddhist

influence through literary and artistic forms. Working

among the social elite, they arranged patronage for various

Buddhist projects and institutions. Among high and low

they preached appropriate forms of morality and good

conduct, for both social and transcendental goals. They

devised popular forms or worship and meditation and

implanted them widely throughout the country. They

communicated Buddhist ideas at the popular level by means

of story telling, drama, colorful imagery, and ceremonies.

They formed groups of religious seekers, and created

practical techniques and conceptual tools and forms of

companionship suitable for advanced adepts. Whether in the

palaces of the mighty or in peasant villages, in market towns

or mountain retreats, they upheld the Buddha Dharma in a

variety of forms. Any assessment of the "rise and fall"

of Chinese Buddhism would have to take into account all

these aspects of the Buddhist enterprise: it would entail

judging the level of Buddhist activities in all these

fields, and somehow summing they up to arrive at an estimate

of the qualitative level of Buddhism for the time and place

in question.

A broad view of Buddhist history calls for a wide and

deep acquaintance with Buddhist writings over many

centuries. Even then, study of leading teachers and classic


6

texts does not tell the full story of Buddhism, because its

impact occurred at many levels of social and cultural life,

not all of them equally well documented. In general, the

closer the inquirer would like to come to the sociology

and social psychology of Chinese Buddhism "on the ground,"

the more fragmentary the available information becomes.

Obvious criteria by which to judge the relative

standing of Buddhism at different periods of Chinese

history would be: the scope of its influence in popular

religion and culture, the extent of its acceptance among the

social elite and in the ruling circles, or again, its own

inner creativity as demonstrated in the production of

religious and social forms. In practice, it remains

problematical how to measure the qualitative and quantita-

tive standing of Buddhism in Chinese history in terms of

any of these criteria.

The nature and scope of Buddhist influence in popular

religion is hard to measure reliably over time. Throughout

much of Chinese history, little was recorded of the manners

and mores of the people below the social elite. Beyond what

can be inferred from the Buddhist teachings themselves,

little can be known concerning the psychological climate or

religious needs of those to whom the teachings were addressed.

From the Ming period, with the rise of vernacular written

literature, more information does come to light on the

attitudes and mentalities of the common people, but the

dearth of comparable data from earlier periods makes


7

qualitative comparisons over time very speculative.

Even for readily quantifiable indicators of the

position of Buddhism in China, such as the numbers of monks

and nuns, or the number of temples and monasteries and the

extent of their wealth, available information varies in

reliability and is scattered unevenly across place and time.

And it is traditionally taught within Buddhism that material

affluence of Buddhist institutions is not automatically to

be equated with qualitative flourishing of the religion. 3

Relations between Buddhism and the state of Chinese

history are comparatively well documented, and it is possible

to discern perennial issues as well as trends of historical

change in the standing of Buddhism on the field of Chinese

ideology and politics. But once again, if we move toward

the level of concrete local practice, there is an ever

imponderable gap between government policy pronouncements

and the realities of the local scenes. Likewise, there is

much evidence concerning the attitudes of the elite towards

Buddhism at different periods, but the religious quality of

elite Buddhism and its practical influence on their conduct

are not always so apparent. The historian must beware of

simply equating official acceptance and elite patronage of

Buddhism with the overall standing and role of the religion

in society, and its qualitative level.

Faced with the partiality of the record when it comes

to information for a full social history of Buddhism, many

scholars have found it easier to discuss the "rise and fall"


8

of Buddhism in China in terms of the level of doctrinal

creativity and sophistication revealed by the religion in

different periods. Here there is no lack of "data." In

fact researchers are faced with an embarrassment of riches,

so much so that it is a great challenge to enter into the

material deeply enough at enough points to acquire any

comparative perspective or firm sense of developmental trends.

For this project of evaluating the history of religious

reativity within Chinese Buddhism, certain caveats are in

order.

Obviously we must ask: what criteria are to be used to

judge quality in this dimension? From the Buddhist point of

view, all varieties of the correct Teaching are in principle

equal, as appropriate responses to differing needs. Since

the potentials of those to be saved are infinitely variable,

the methods by which to save them are limitless. 4 Chinese

Buddhist thinkers accounted for the multiplicity of

Buddhist teachings by saying that they had been given at

different periods of the Buddha's teaching career to serve

different teaching purposes.

Within this perspective on quality, there is no room

for the old notion that religion exists in its purer form

in its abstract, refined, and rationalistic philosophical

expression among the social elite, but is constantly

threatened with corruption by the downward pull of the

superstitious mentality of the masses. 5 According to this

view, philosophy is the highest form of religion, by


9

which its intellectual creativity and quality can be judged.

This shows up as the idea that Chinese Buddhism was on the

wane after the ninth century, when the elite turned back

to Confucianism, the great days of Chinese Buddhist

philosophy were over, and only Chan and Pure Land remained,

supposedly indicative of antirationalism and gross

emotionalism. 6

The Buddhist objection to this theory of a Tang peak

for Chinese Buddhism is that popularization per se does not

equal qualitative decline, once it is recognized that the

Buddhist teachings were meant as skillful means, and aimed

at people in many walks of life, with practices and goals

varying according to the circumstances. From this viewpoint,

the work of the great Chinese Buddhist philosophers answered

the needs of a time. If it was necessary work, this does

not imply that it should be mechanically imitated, repeated,

or made th~ standard for all time. Other types of Buddhist

teachings in other environments that were equally effective

must be rated equal in quality. There is no saying that

buddha-name invocation must be a debased form because

uneducated people can do it as well as intellectuals.

The social historical objection to the theory of the

Tang peak for Chinese Buddhism is that it is wedded to the

invalid "two-tier'! conception of religious sociology. The

Sui-Tang period is made the peak because it marked the

maximum extent of the acceptance of Buddhism among the

social elite, and the production of many masterpieces of


10

Chinese philosophical treatments of Buddhism. After that,

persecution and official ideological opposition,

popularization, and hence decline. The two-tier theory of

the sociology of religion may indeed have accorded well with

the social experience and the self-conception of the

eighteenth century European Enlightenment thinkers who

devised it, but it should not determine our conclusions

on Chinese Buddhist history. Above all, the two-tier theory

is open to the simple factual objection that the supposed

superior rationality and immunity to "vulgar" superstition

cannot be demonstrated for the average members of the social

elite of Europe or China from late antiquity (3rd century

C.E.) up past the sixteenth century at least. Ritual

mechanically repeated in hope of gain, charms for luck, ways

to tell the future--these things flourished up and down the

social scale. Not every well-born son becomes a Thomas

Aquinas or Zhu Xi.

The factual objection to the assertion that Chinese

Buddhism lost its intellectual vigor after the Tang is the

production in later years of Buddhist writings that show

an "intellectual level" plainly equal to earlier greats

like Zhiyi or Xuanzang: namely, the Source Mirror Collection

Zong Jing Lu in the tenth century, the Blue Cliff Record

Bi Yan Lu in the twelfth, and the Book of Equap.imity

Cong Rong Lu in the thirteenth, to give obvious examples.

Therefore it follows that the interpretation of Chinese

Buddhist history which sees a Sui-Tang peak followed by a


11

long qualitative decline, cannot be regarded as firmly

established. Rather judgments of the history of the

qualitative level of Chinese Buddhism should be left open,

pending more detailed work on later periods. We should

also pause to reconsider by what criteria the quality of

religion in society is to be searched out and judged.

* Qualitative criteria are suggested within the

tradition itself, as part of a comprehensive paradigm for

comprehending the diversity and unity of the Buddhist

teachings. This paradigm is found in explanations of the

role of teachers and the characteristic debilitating ten-

dencies running through worldly life into the religious

quest, both by the great Buddhist teachers of China,

including Zibo himself, and in authoritative Sufi sources.7

According to this paradigm, truth is formless: the

forms of the teaching devised by those with experience of

the truth naturally vary to suit the needs of particular

people in particular places and times. All forms of

religious teaching--scriptures, philosophical concepts,

symbols, images, methods of practice--can become objects

of attachment, mechanical repetition, and emotional

allegiance, to the point where their efficacy is vitiated,

and then remain in society as fossilized forms.

Therefore for the teaching to operate effectively it

requires timely renewal of teaching forms by those who are

in touch with the source and with the potentials of the


12

current situation. Guided by knowledge of things as they

are, by true cause and effect, the teachings work at many

levels of social life and mental activity, often in indirect

ways untraceable to the outsider. The teaching may serve

many goals: to promote morality and social harmony, to

counsel the mighty in justice and clemency, to feed the

starving, to direct meditation practice, to open the way for

vows of universal compassion and service. In Buddhist terms,

compassion linked to wisdom leads to action in the world.

This paradigm suggests a "core & periphery" model of

religious history. The core is comprised of adepts with

experience of the truth, who renew and propagate the teaching

as needed. Influences from the core radiate through various

froms with varying degrees of clarity and power, reaching

into the various departments of social life and cultural

belief. The periphery, comprised of many 'regions,'

consists of those inspired in varying degrees by the

messages emanating from the core. The various 'regions' of

the periphery represent the different outcomes of religious

and worldly (that is, cultural, social, and psychological)

impacts working throughout the social structure. The

periphery includes all the degrees from sincere but blocked

followers to misguided imitators to all those in society at

all influenced by the "cultural impact" of Buddhism.

The characteristics of religion, and the qualitative

standards that are expected, vary from the core to the

periphery. At the core the standard is direct communication


13

with the source, and ability to project the teaching.

Teachings are employed with great flexibility to suit

circumstances. The workers of the core are "on the out-

side looking in" vis-a-vis "their own" culture, the better

to enter society freely to achieve a wide range of exoteric

and esoteric aims.

On the periphery, religion is characterized by

allegiance and belief in particular symbols and concepts,

and imbued with group feeling. Many forces in social and

cultural history impinge on the particular history of the

forms. Often names escape their original sense and lose

their intended usefulness: the medicine becomes a disease.

On the periphery religion is made to serve in the quest for

social status, and becomes a matter of fashion and taste.

Certain ideas may be fetishized as absolute verities.

Often there is a strong sense of dogmatism, partisanship,

and rivalry with other groupings.

The core and periphery distinction also shows at the

structural level. Those at the core use structures

consciously to devise the forms of the teachings. Often

they bring out the latent tension within conceptual

structures, or reveal structures by taking them to their

limits. The semantic structures lodged in the teachings

are meant to make contact with a latent potential in the

hearers and exercise a transformative influence.

In contrast, those toward the periphery normally

experience mind from within the semantic structures in which


they have been trained and to which they give their

allegiance. The religious discourses they create are

unwittingly guided by these structures; generally the

cognitive project is to reconcile contradictions and to

mediate tensions within the structure. Concepts and

formulations are seen as representing real entities.

Apologetic answers a felt need to reconcile divergent

doctrinal allegiances.

14

This kind of core & periphery view of religion has

implications for what criteria should be used to judge the

qualitative level of religion through history. To arrive at

a comprehensive view of the social history of religion, we

would like to be able to reach qualitative and quantitative

judgments of the various phenomena of the religious

periphery through time. Obviously the sources upon which to

base such judgments are fragmentary and at best only sug-

gestive. If we must judge the extent of Buddhist influence

in Chinese popular religion and culture, we can note that

the vernacular literature of the Ming period shows the

pervasiveness of concepts and beliefs drawn from Buddhism.

At this level, neither quantitative nor qualitative decline

compared to earlier periods is in evidence.

The qualitative level at the core, strictly speaking,

requires the enlightened eye to judge. Provisionally we may

use the criteria implied by the paradigm for the core: the

'living' quality, the ever-fresh flavor, the clear-eyed

adaptability. Decline at the core would show up as rote


15

repetition, as dogmatism and inflexibility. Twisted

doctrines, misapplied practices, false intellectualism,

emotional partisanship--in every period these have been

castigated as true signs of the decline of the Dharma, and

barriers to the correct teaching. The fundamental criterion

of quality in religious teachings was ~ogently expressed by

the Chan Master Baizhang:

All verbal teachings just cure disease.

Because the diseases are not the same, the

medicines are also not the same. That is

why sometimes it is said that there is

Buddha, and sometimes it is said that there

is no Buddha. True words cure sickness.

If the cure manages to heal, then all are

true words. If they cannot effectively

cure sickness, all are false words. True

words are false words insofar as they give

rise to views. False words are true words

insofar as they cut off the delusions of

sentient beings. 8

*

By adhering to the foregoing considerations, the present

study aims to present some sound data on Chinese Buddhism

in the Ming period, focusing on the Buddhism of an

infuential religious leader of the time, Zibo Zhenke. We

can find a fine record of the teachings of Zibo in the book

Zibo Laoren Ji (preface 1621), a collection assembled in the

years after his death by those who had come in contact with

him, and fortunately edited by Zibo's friend and contemporary,

the great Buddhist teacher Hanshan Deqing. In this


collection are preserved many intimate views of the

situation within Chinese Buddhism in the late sixteenth

century. We are also shown the teaching style of one of

its great exponents, Zibo himself.

16

Zibo's teaching words are presented here as a kind of

landmark in later Chinese Buddhist history. They are

introduced by a general background view of Ming dynasty

Buddhism leading up to Zibo's time, and a treatment of

Zibo's life story. There is also a section to point out

certain obvious themes in Zibo's teachings, and their

bearing on the religious scene of his times and Zibo's

affiliations within Buddhism. With this much orientation,

the reader can proceed to the rich source of "data" in

Zibo's teaching words.


17

Notes

1 ZJL, p. 1489.

2 ZJL, p. 125-126.

3 For example, Bodhidharma telling Emperor Wu that

there was no merit in his building temples and ordaining

monks. See BCR Case 1. The sixth century masterpiece

Record of the Temples of Loyan~ contains the story of a

monk who while temporarily dead encounters the patrons of

Buddhist magnificence mired in hell. See Luoyang Jialan

Ji, p. 79-81.

4 ZJL, p. 165.

5 So ably refuted by Peter Brown, The Cult of the

Saints, pp. 12-22.

6 For example, Kenneth Ch'en, Buddhism in China, pp.

325-26, 389-403.

7 Idries Shah, The Way of the Sufi, pp. 156-57, and

~earning How to Learn, pp. 145-46.

8 Thomas Cleary, translator, Sayings and Doings of

Pai-chang, p. 71.


CHAPTER TWO:

OVERVIEW OF MING BUDDHISM

This chapter presents a brief overview of the situation

of Chinese Buddhism during the fourteenth, fifteenth, and

sixteenth centuries, in order to provide the historical back-

ground for the career of Zibo Zhenke. This presentation

proceeds from the 'periphery' in towards the 'core.' First

we consider the government's policy toward Buddhism, its

motivations and effects. Next we consider Buddhism at the

popular level in this period, the 'lowest common denominator'

of Buddhist doctrines and practices, and the religion's image

in the public eye. Finally we briefly survey the Buddhism of

some of the leading teachers of these centuries, arriving in

the end at the period of Buddhist revival in the later

sixteenth century when Zibo himself was active.

* The Ming regime emerged out of the nearly twenty years of

political fragmentation and warfare that marked the downfall

of Mongol rule in China. Zhu Yuanzhang, the founder of the

Ming dynasty, built his original power base within the ranks

of the armed forces of a millenarian religious movement that

was part of the broad trend in Chinese popular religion called

---the White Lotus Religion.1

As a destitute orphan faced with starvation, the young

man Zhu Yuan zhang had sought refuge in a Buddhist monastery,


19

but before long he was driven out. 2 Wandering the Western

Huai region in the guise of a monk, Zhu must have had ample

opportunity to witness the venality and desperation on the

underside of the religious life of the times, where religious

pretensions were chiefly a means for seeking material gain

and community influence for some, brute survival for others. 3

Zhu Yuan zhang found a place among the supports of Peng

Yingyu, a religious leader who in the 1340's was spreading the

message of the impending birth of Maitreya and the fall of the

ruling Yuan dynasty.4 In the waning years of the Yuan regime,

such millenarian beliefs and secret communities organized

around them were prevalent in various parts of China. 5 As

Wu Han observes:

Ever since Tang and Song, whenever the

current political situation caused the

people to lose hope, there appeared

spontaneously propaganda about the coming

into the world of a 'King of Light' or of

Maitreya, and on its heels rebellions of

ill-armed peasant armies. Though all of

them were suppressed and slaughtered by

the regular army, even to the point of

being wiped out, nevertheless, the

peasants would never submit: having

fallen, they would lick clean their

bloody wounds, crawl back up and

resist anew. 6

Peng Yingyu himself had fled into the Western Huai region after

the failure of a revolt at Yuanzhou in Jiangxi in 1338--a

revolt in which the rebels wrote the word 'Buddha' on their


20

backs for protection. 7

By 1351 various groups of White Lotus believers were

in open revolt all across central China, revolt prepared by

years of clandestine organization and propaganda, and

inspired by millenarian religious notions. Under the White

Lotus chief Han Shantong, the rebels set up the Song state

in the upper Huai region. In the central Yangzi valley,

White Lotus partisans proclaimed the Tian Wan state under

their leader Xu Shouhui. The shifting fortunes of the

various leaders of these uprisings is beyond our concern

here. S Zhu Yuanzhang rose to prominence as the lieutenant

of Guo Zixing, who was entrenched around Haozhou (near

Fenyang, Anhui) and was nominally the subordinate of Han

Shantong's son, Han Liner. Chen Youliang and Ming Yuzhen,

who were later to be among Zhu Yuanzhang's major rivals,

established their power as lieutenants of Xu Shouhui. It is

worth noting that by origin none of these leaders were from

the land-owing class that made up traditional China's social

and political elite.

By 1360 there was a series of regional rebel regimes

established across central China in which the White Lotus

Religion played a prominent role in politics. On the other

hand, Zhu Yuanzhang already showed a basically pragmatic

orientation toward the mechanics of power and organization

through the 1350's as he rose to independent command under

Guo Zixing's Song regime in Anhui. 9 By the time he crossed

the Yangzi with an armed nucleus to set up his base at


21

Nanking in 1355, the army he led was no longer a loosely

organized White Lotus / Red Army type force. lO He began to

accept the tutelage of local Confucian scholars: as he

added territory to his domain he courted the local educated

elite both for their political expertise and for the local

political influence among the people. ll Bidding for the

support of locally influential great families, who had

everything to lose from mass uprisings and who had often

organized local resistance against the millenarian rebels,

Zhu Yuanzhang increasingly found his White Lotus / Red Army

connections to be a political liability.12

Zhu gradually consolidated his regional base politically

and economically, following the strategy suggested by the

Huizhou Confucion Zhu Sheng: "Build your ramparts high,

store up a lot of grain, and take your time proclaiming

yourself king.,,13 By 1364 Zhu Yuanzhang had defeated his

major rival to the west, Chen Youliang, and had extended his

control into the central Yangzi valley. The rebel Song state

in the Huai valley had been smashed by Yuan forces, and Han

Liner, the 'Little King of Light,' nominal leader of the

northern White Lotus groups, was a puppet in Zhu Yuanzhang's

hands. As Zhu turned in 1365-66 to attack his rival to the

east, Zhang Shizheng, in his proclamations he vehemently

denounced the White Lotus type sectarians, their religious

practices, and their belief in the coming of Maitreya. 14

"Once heterodox slogans (yao yan) are circulating, evil

plots arise--they burn cities and suburbs and slaughter


22

learned gentlemen (shi fu).,,15 Zhu guaranteed the security

of the property and possessions of those who would accept

h . d . d t t . 16 1S reg1me, an prom1se no 0 1ncrease taxes. He accused

the sectarian rebels of using "heterodox words to confuse

the masses," and maintained that they could not please

Heaven above or the people below, and so could only produce

chaos and destruction. 17 Before launching his campaigners

into North China in 1368, Zhu issued similar disavowals of

heterodoxy to allay the fears of the landholding elite. 18

Zhu Yuanzhang had completed his evolution from a leader of a

movement challenging the social order to a self-proclaimed

protector of that order. 19

Nearly twenty years of tortuous political and military

struggle had brought Zhu Yuanzhang and his supporters mastery

of China. Having repudiated its sectarian beginnings, the

new regime nevertheless harked back to them in its choice of

'Great Ming' as its dynastic name--perhaps this was meant to

coopt remaining millenarian loyalties to the new order. At

the same time, the new regime soon moved to prohibit heterodox

religious sects, which still commanded widespread allegiance

across China. 20

From his own personal experience, Zhu Yuanzhang knew

well the explosive potential for political subversion of

popular millenarian religious groupings like the White Lotus.

The policy he adopted toward them once in power reflects

this concern. The section of the Ming Code 'Prohibiting

Sorcery and Heterodoxy,21 forbids the typical practices of


23

such popular religious groupings--talismans, charmed waters,

charts and images, assemblies for burning incense, "gathering

at night and dispersing at dawn." The White Lotus Society,

the Religion of the Mani Light Buddha, the White Cloud

societies, as well as various groups with Buddhist-derived

names, along with those falsely invoking Mid treya, are

uniformly condemned as the 'Left Path,' as means of disorder.

The seemingly benign community functions of such groups are

banned as means to incite and mislead the people. The

leaders are to be killed, the followers beaten and exiled.

The subversive potential of such groups is condemned as

ranging from making people forget their families and kin to

forming political groups (dang) and organizing rebellion. 22

Decentralized, with deep local roots and long histories

of clandestine activity, such heterodox religious groups

could not be eradicated by government fiat, even by the

redoubtable Zhu Yuanzhang. Throughout the 1370's, 80's

and 90's 'Left Path' popular religious uprisings were noted

in Hubei, Fuhian, Jiangxi, Sichuan, and Shaanxi. 23 In the

nineteenth year of his reign, Zhu Yuanzhang admonished the

people of the dangers of such groups: "This type I have

seen with my own eyes." He regrets the persistence of

Jiangxi of 'ignorant people' (yu min) who continue to

invoke Maitreya, and urges the 'good people' (liang min) for

th . f t t . th t h th found. 24 elr own sa e y 0 wlpe em ou w erever ey are

*


24

With this background of religious groups' participation

in political turmoil in mind, the basic motivations behind

early Ming policy towards Buddhism can be readily appre-

ciated. This policy aimed to concentrate Buddhist monks

and nuns in officially recognized centers where they could be

registered and supervised. The intention was to minimize

contacts between Buddhist monks and nuns and lay society

outside the sphere of ritual performances, to sanitize

Buddhism and give it a defined and delimited place in the

newly consolidated social and political order.

Thus in its own way the Ming regime attempted to address

the perennial dilemma of Chinese governments faced with the

presence of Buddhist believers and Buddhist institutions

within their borders. In the eyes of Confucian critics,

Buddhism had always been the object of suspicion, not only

as an economic drain on the resources of the country, but

preeminently as a rival ideological center within Chinese

society. Too deeply entrenched to be simply eradicated,

Buddhism had to be tolerated and somehow controlled. For

the orthodox, Buddhism presented a double threat. On the

elite level, it could seduce the 'good people' away from

their proper vocation of 'managing the world' (jing shi).

On the popular level, it could supply the masses of the

'ignorant people' with a rival cosmology pointing the way

toward rebellion; the history of the fourteenth century

indeed posed this issue in stark and urgent form. No amount

of apologetic writings by Buddhist avowing the fundamental


25

harmony of Buddhism with Confucian values could allay this

chronic suspicion.

However much 'orthodox' Buddhists might repudicate them,

the repeated outbreaks by sectarian rebels in the name of

Amida, Maitreya, or the Unborn Mother and the Home of

Emptiness, gave concrete testimony of the subversive

potential of Buddhist-derived popular beliefs (the 'Left

Path') and seditious arts (yao shu). In the Ming period,

the strict prohibitions against such groups and tendencies

in force from 1370 onwards did not prevent a long series of

sectarian revolts:

-1409 in Shaanxi, by the followers of the 'Diamond

Slave,' who "deceived the masses using the Buddha

Dharma. ,,25

e1416 in Shanxi, under the 'heterodox rebel' (yao

zei) Liu Zijin. 26

e1420 in Shandong, under the 'heterodox priestess'

(yao fu) Tang Sailer. Despite the fall of her

fortress and the death or capture of some eight

thousand of her followers, she was never

apprehended. 27

e1455 in the Huai Nan region, under the White Lotus

leader Zhao Yushan. 28

e1465 in Shandong: a revolt by garrison troops led

on by leaders using 'heterodox slogans' (yao yan).29


e1505 in Henan, led by the White Lotus rebel Zhao

Jing. 30

e1520 in Shanxi, led by Li Fuda, who proclaimed

himself to be Maitreya. 31

ern the 1550's, White Lotus groups in the northwest

were in contact with the Mongols under Altan Khan. 32

e1557 in Zhejiang, led by 'Patriarch' Ma, a White

Lotus leader with connections reaching back to

Li Fuda. 33

-1566 in Sichuan, led by the 'heterodox rebel' (yao

zei) Cai Boguan, a White Lotus leader who was

captured along with some seven hundred followers. 34

e1577 in Guangdong, led by Bao Shixiu using

'subversive religious arts' (yao shu).35

e1585 in Guangxi, a revolt led by (non-Han) native

chiefs, aided by 'heterodox monks' (yao seng).36

e1600 at Xuzhou in northern Jiangsu along the Grand

Canal, led by one Zhao Yiping, who rallied seven

26

thousand troops in revolt using 'subversive religious

arts' (yao shu).37

.A memorial from around 1600 reported that the

potential for disorde~ was great, due to the

widespread formation of White Lotus societies. 38

e1622 in Shandong: a major White Lotus uprising led


by Xu Hongru, prepared for by more than twenty years

of proselytizing in North China by Wang Sen and

others. Xu and some forty-seven thousand of his

supporters were captured after a three-month siege

of their stronghold at Zou. The remaining

partisans of the White Lotus in Shandong continued

to cause the government trouble until the end of

the dynasty. 39

.1630's and 40's across North China White Lotus-

type groups eventually tended to merge into the

large-scale peasant rebellion that engulfed the

Ming regime in the north in those years. 40

This partial list of political incidents involving

members of heterodox popular religious groups shows that

the Mind regime's suspicion of unregulated monks in

unregulated contact with the populace was not unfounded.

27

The word yao (as in yaoyan, yao shu, yao seng, yao zei)

combines the sense of weird and condemnable heterodox

religion with overtones of political subversion: it reflects

the close link that was perceived between the two. The

administrative regula.tions that were developed in the early

Ming period to control Buddhism can be seen as attempts to

forestall this threat. In a wider sense the early Ming

restrictions on Buddhism are of course consonant with the

overall policy ideal of the early Ming, a newly

reconstructed social order in which all elements had been


28

properly classified and fixed in their places. 41

Zhu Yuanzhang himself was not inimical to Buddhism per

se. He participated in Buddhist rites and convened

gatherings of leading Buddhist monks; monks were honored

and received within the palace to lecture on the Dharma. 42

Some officials who ventured to express criticism of the

favorable treatment accorded to certain Buddhist monks were

executed for their temerity.43 In the fifth year of his

reign as Emperor, Zhu Yuanzhang called a conclave of leading

Buddhist monks at Jiang Shan Temple in the capital to edit

the canon: subsequently an edition came out in over six

thousand juan. 44

On the other hand, measures were instituted to bring

Buddhist monks and nuns and Buddhist establishments under

closer government supervision. In 1368, the first year of

Zhu Yuanzhang's reign, a kind of supervisory office (then

called the Shan Shi Yuan) was established at Tian Jie Temple

in the capital, to which all Buddhist monasteries and

temples were officially subordinated. 45 This institutional

arrangement was continued throughout the early Ming,

although the name of the office was changed several times. 46

In 1372 ordination certificates (du die) were issued at the

capital to over fifty-seven thousand Buddhist and Taoist

monks and nuns, "in order to prevent an overabundance of

false ones.,,47 The previous practice of government sale of

ordination certificates for grain or money 'payments in

lieu of corvee' was ordered ended. 48 In theory the new


29

criterion for receiving an ordination certificate was being

able to pass an examination on the scriptures. 49

Furthermore, the central office overseeing Buddhism was to

issue 'Comprehensive Supervision Booklets' (zhou zhi ce)

to all the temples in the country, in which all monks were

to be registered, along with the locality of registration

of their fathers and the date they were ordained.

Unregistered monks were declared false and illegitimate. 50

Gradually the controls on Buddhism were made more

stringent, at least in theory. In 1372 the ordination of

women as nuns was formally prohibited. 5l "At the time the

Emperor thought that in recent times respect for the two

religions Buddhism and Taoism had become excessive, and

the number of their disciples was increasing day by day,

sitting idly by yet consuming food--there is nothing worse

than this for wasting wealth and draining the people.

Thus he ordered that for the Buddhists and Taoists in each

fu, zhou, and xian, only one great temple be allowed to

remain. ,,52 As usual with such official pronouncements, the

actual extent to which it was carried out is doubtful.

Noting that the gazeteer of Taipingfu lists nine temples

rebuilt during Zhu Yuanzhang's reign for this one fu close

to the heart of the realm, Ryuchi Kiyoshi concluded that

any such limitations on the number of temples allowed per

administrative unit must have been at best temporary and

partial. 53

Further controls on Buddhist institutions were imposed


30

in 1382. 'Buddhist-Taoist Offices' (seng dao yamen) were

set up in each fu, zhou, .and xian, under the overall

control of the central office at the capital, now known

as the 'Monk Registry' (seng lu si). They were ordered to

report in writing when and by whom each officially

sanctioned temple was established and by whom it was

endowed. 54

The same year all Buddhist temples were classified

into three types. Chan temples contained monks concentrating

on the meditation practices of Chan. Jiang temples,

'lecturing' temples, were for those specializing in

expounding the scriptures. The third category, called

jiao or yuga or fuying, 'teaching' or 'yoga' or 'going in

response' temples, was for monks specializing in performing

rituals. All monks had to belong to one of the three

categories: distinctively colored garb was mandated for

each type. 55 The majority of temples and monks belonged to

the third category, specializing in ritual, and they alone

were allowed free contact with the populace. 56 A training

center was established at the capital at Neng Ren Temple,

to which all abbots and monk-officials were summoned for

" t t" 57 lns ruc lon.

In 1391, the twenty-fourth year of Zhu Yuanzhang's Hong

Wu era, Buddhism was ordered purged. The goals were to

reduce the number of Buddhist temples, to prohibit private

ordination and private religious building, and to enforce

the separation of Buddhist monks from the people, except in


connection with rituals. According to the placards

announcing the purge: 58

The proper style for Buddhists has as

its starting point austerities, emptiness,

and solitude. Yet today throughout the

country monks are often mingled with the

lay people. There are many who are not

as good as the lay people--they corrupt

their teaching and ruin their practice.

31

Since the chaotic period at the end of the Yuan dynasty, when

many temples had been destroyed in the fighting, many

Buddhist monks had lived scattered among the populace--

often their discipline was lax, and the respect they

commanded "low. 59

Let the office in charge of monks

investigate the monks in their own

district and determine the true

number of those who dwell mixed among

the people. They should not live

in towns or dwell mixed among the

laiety. 60

The government tried to end this situation by ordering

that all monks gather together into officially approved

institutions.

For the Buddhists and the Taoists in each

each fu, zhou, and xian, only one temple

shall be kept, a large and capacious one

that can hold the whole congregation

of monks, who should all live together

there. It is not permitted for monks

to live outside such temples mixed with


the people. Violators will be severely

punished. Relatives who knowingly

conceal them will be exiled. Those who

wish to return to lay life are allowed

to do so. Furthermore, it is ordered that

throughout the country any Buddhist or

Taoist retreat or hall or temple built

without an old placque granting official

recognition shall be destroyed. 6l

The Ming Code prohibits any further private building for

Buddhist or Taoist purposes: violators are to be beaten

32

and laicized, the monks sent to.border garrisons and the nuns

condemned to be government slaves. 62 The Code also forbids

private ordination of people without ordination certificates:

the family head of the one ordained, together with the abbot

of the temple involved and the teacher who performed the

ordination, are all to be punished with eighty blows of the

whipping club. 63

The limited effectiveness of these ordinances can be

inferred by the fact that they were repeated in detail three

years later. 64 Monks dwelling in towns were ordered to

group themselves into larger units. Practitioners "hidden

in the mountains" were only permitted in small groups:

they could not build any but the simplest shelters, nor

could they build in clusters or farm. As for the officially

sanctioned temples that the law allowed to remain, lay

people were not permitted to enter them, nor were their

monks (except for ritual purposes) allowed to go among the

people and preach, or to make contact with officials. Chan


33

monks and Lecturing monks were commanded to stay put and

stick to their own proper forms of the religion: they were

not permitted to diversify into ritual, to live scattered

among the people, or to enter towns and villages. Only

Yoga monks were permitted to go abroad freely to cater to

the needs of donors by performing rituals: these must be at

the behest of th~ patrons themselves, rather than

commissions sought out by monks needing the business. The

Ming Code adds that if there are officials or army men or

commoners who let their womenfolk frequent Buddhist or Taoist

temples, they are to be whipped forty strokes with the cane,

with the same punishment applying to the abbot and gate-

keeper of the temple involved. 65 Monks were not permitted

to have contacts with officials, to solicit contributions,

or to distribute literature. Monks travelling were not

permitted to beg, but had to supply their own travel

expenses. 66

If Buddhist or Taoist monks have wives

and concubines, the people are

permitted to drive them out. Those

who conceal them will be punished.

Those wishing to return to lay life

are allowed to do so. It is not

permitted to take young boys from

among the people and make them monks.

In case of violations, the boy's father

and mother will be held liable for

punishment. 67

The process of becomming an officially sanctioned monk


was made more elaborate:

Those under twenty who wish to become monks

must have their parents make a full report

to the authorities and the local

authorities make a full report to their

superiors. Only then will it be permitted.

Three years later they must report to the

capital to be examined. Those who have

thorough knowledge of the scriptures will

be given ordination certificates. Those

who do not will be beaten and be made

commoners. 68

In 1395 the government approved a suggestion that all

34

Buddhist and Taoist monks in the country be ordered to the

capital to be examined in the scriptures of their respective

religions: those who cannot demonstrate thorough knowledge

of the scriptures were to be laicized. 69

As part of the strict policy announced in 1394, officials

known as zhan ji dao (or zhan ji dao ren or zhan ji seng dao)

were appointed to the sanctioned temples to take charge

of corvee and taxation, and to handle all contacts between

the temples and officialdom and lay society at large.70

As for the matter of taxation and service obligations on

temple property, the normal state of affairs under the Ming

regime would be a welter of local practices and variations,

with no uniformity.71 An announcement from 1394 states

that "Imperially bestowed lands are entirely exempt from

land tax. The other permanent endowment lands are liable

for land tax but are exempt from the various service


35

obligat ions. ,,72

Whatever the actual extent to which the policies

mentioned above were carried out in practice, they at least

express a policy ideal of Buddhism pressed into a prescribed

role within society at large. The Ming founder's policy

set the pattern for Chinese government policy toward

Buddhism throughout the Ming period.

Zhu Yuanzhang's fourth son and successor, Zhu Di,

continued the main outlines of his father's policy toward

Buddhism. The Veritable Record of the fifth year of his

official reign, 1407, tells of his anger when informed of

the large numbers of military men and commoners in the

Southeast who were being privately ordained and who came

to the capital illegally seeking ordination certificates.

He ordered such men to be remanded to the Bureau of Military

Affairs to be registered as soldiers and dispatched for

garrison duty to far off Liaodong and Gansu. 73 In 1416

quotas were set for the number of monks who were allowed

per administrative unit: forty per fu, thirty per zhou,

and twenty per xian. 74 The same year the government

required that young men under twenty have their parents'

permission before they could be ordained. Those who had

left home previously without such permission were ordered

returned to lay life. 75 Monks and nuns were prohibited

from building unauthorized hermitages and halls on their

own. 76

The government's concerns were well expressed in the


Bureau of Rites in 1412 as follows: 77

There are many Buddhist and Taoist

monks in the country who do not keep

discipline. 'I'hey go among the people

dOing religious exercises and reciting

scriptures, but their actions are

based on considerations of gain--they

are not sincere at all. Some go so far

as to drink wine, eat meat, and live

debauched and dissolute lives without

any restraint. What's more, some

ignorant people falsely acclaim them

as 'men of the Path.' Generally they

corrupt and mislead men and women and

bring them together without any

distinctions. Thus they destroy proper

social norms.

Despite the control measures promulgated by the early

Ming government, in practice the situation was beyond the

power of the regime to dictate. There remained many monks

without ordination certificates and many monks with little

or no knowledge of the scriptures. Limitations on the

number of ordinations and age limits on monks were only

36

sporadically enforced. Ordination certificates could be

counterfeited; the certificates of dead monks could be re-

used with the names altered; stolen ordination certificates

were for sale. After Zhu Di's reign the quota system

collapsed and the system of registry booklets could not

hold back the rising number of monks. 78 The repetition

of the prohibition of private ordination in 143679

and the


37

prohibition of private religious building in 144180 indicate

that such regulations had little effect. An edict bf 1441

noted the persistence of the very things the government

was out to stop: potentially disruptive monks untrue to

their own proper tradition living mixed with the laiety to

the detriment of social mores. 81 Buddhist and Taoist centers

were criticized as refuges for unregistered desperadoes

and miscreants, people who had abandoned their proper

statuses and social roles to become monks and nuns. 82

During the 1440's, during the youth of the Emperor Zhu

Qizhen and the ascendancy of the eunuch Wang Zhen the

restrictions on Buddhism were eased. Wang Zhen himself

patronized expensive building projects at the capital, and

various major temples were refurbished. Another grand

edition of the Buddhist canon was printed and distributed

83 to temples throughout the realm. Even after the capture

of Zhu Qizhen by the Oirats under Esen and the downfall

of Wang Zhen, the new emperor Zhu Qiyu continued the

patronage of Buddhist building projects. 84

The requirement nominally in force in 1449 that would-

be monks be examined in the scriptures before being issued

ordination certificates85 gave way to the open large-scale

sale of the certificates in the 1450's as the government

tried to raise revenue and gather supplies to meet

emergency military needs. 86 People flocked to the

capital, where ordination certificates werB being sold by

the tens of thousands in these years. 87 This large-scale


sale of ordination certificates was temporarily halted

during the years when Zhu Qizhen was restored to the

throne (1457-1464), but resumed again in the succeeding

reign (1465-1487).88

38

We can surmise that the sale of ordination certificates

(which gave exemption from corvee requirements) promoted

a great influx of people without religius motives into

the ranks of those officially recognized as monks. Critics

like the Han Lin Academy official Ni Yue urged the

government to stop the sale of ordination certificates,

and return to the system of examining would-be monks for

their knowledge of the scriptures. 89 In 1487 the censor

Jiang Hong memorialized that the government should stop

issuing the certificates for ten or twenty years and not

permit the repair of temples, so that the number of

Buddhist monks and temples might decline by natural

attrition. The Emperor's comment was that measures such . 90

as those recommended had already been implemented. In

1486 the Bureau of Rites asked for a province by province

quota for the numbe-r of monks allowed, with a national total

around sixty thousand. 91 Officials in the Bureau of

Population memorialized in 1486 concerning the

unprecedented number of Buddhist buildings around the

capital, and recommended tightening the controls on the

granting of the name-placques that gave official sanction

92 to temples.

The censor Chen Ding reported that from 1466 to 1476


39

over. one hundred forty-five thousand Buddhists and Taoists

had received official ordination certificates: "as for

those privately forged certificates, their number is

unknown." He castigated wandering beggar monks as an

economic drain and as a false and treacherous lot who

would stop at nothing, with the potential to mislead the

masses and threat~n the social order. 93 Yet in those same

years the government was exchanging ordination certificates

for grain supplies delivered to the Northwest for famine

relief. 94 At the accession to the throne in 1506 of Zhu

Houzhou, who was favorably inclined toward Buddhism, forty

thousand ordination certificates were given out. 95

From the late fifteenth into the sixteenth century,

the Ming government reiterated policies based on the

supervision and control principles of the Ming founder.

To its critics, Buddhism always seemed to pose a latent

threat to the social order: "Curb Buddhism in order to

keep customs correct," in the words of a 1495 memorialist;

otherwise illicit Buddhist groups may "incite and mislead

the people's minds, ruining moral norms and damaging

o 01 0 to ,,96 C1Vl lza lon.

The authorities continued to enunciate control

measures along familiar lines. By an ordinance of 1487

monks whose parents had no means of support were ordered

to return to lay life to take care of them. 97 In 1500 it

was stated that:


Any Buddhist or Taoist monk who wrongly

on his own authority accepts disciples,

is to be arrested for interrogation

and exiled beyond the passes to be a

commoner. The abbot (of the place

involved) is to be returned to lay

status. If the officials supervising

Buddhist and Taoist monks do not

report such cases, they are to be

dismissed from their posts. 98

Around the same time an official in Hubei ordered that

40

privately built retreats for Buddhist and Taoist monks were

to be dismantled; those with ordination certificates were

to be sent back to the temples where they originally

became monks; those without certificates were to be

arrested, interrogated, punished, and returned to lay

status; wandering beggar monks without travel permits were

not to be admitted to sanctioned temples. 99 Complaints

continued of Buddhist and Taoist centers as refuges for

the unregistered and the uprooted, who used them as lairs

for plun~er and sedition. lOO In 1521 the prohibition

against private religious building and private ordination

was again repeated. lOl Yet government sale of ordination

certificates continued during the sixteenth century: the

price was quoted at ten taels of silver in 1540 and at

five taels in 1572. 102

Looking back over the course of the Ming dynasty, both

the general nature of the government's policy toward

Buddhism and its characteristic weaknesses are quite


apparent. The Ming regime attempted to reintegrate and

stabilize Chinese society through its system of social

categories to which people were assigned, which defined

41

for them their obligations and social standing. This

classificatory approach was extended to apply to Buddhist

and Taoist monks and nuns. The government sought to control

the numbers and quality of the clergy, and to curb private

initiative in religious building and in ordaining monks

and nuns. By forbidding monks to come in contact with

the people except in the role of ritual specialists, the

government aimed to prevent possible social and political

subversion by unauthorized monks living among the populace

spreading White Lotus-type heterodoxy.103 The threefold

classification of Buddhist monks and temples, and the ban

on Chan and Lecturing monks going among the people, were

means to this end.

Nevertheless, the Ming regime did not have the power

to see to it that its legal restrictions on Buddhism were

enforced uniformly throughout the country. Local patterns

of practice could not easily be uprooted, nor patterns

of popular allegiance altered by fiat. Even in the crucial

area of collecting taxes, the Ming government" found its

authority and initiative severely circumscribed. 104 Thus

it is no surprise that many of the government's enactments

meant to curb Buddhist monks and nuns and temples seem to

have had little or no lasting impact. Moreover, with the

widespread sale of ordination certificates from the middle


42

of the fifteenth century onwards, the government undercut

its own attempts to limit the number of monks and control

their quality. By the sixteenth century Buddhism in China

had moved beyond the categories and restrictions within

which the government had attempted to confine it, and like

Chinese society and culture at large, was in a very

fluid situation. I05

* The great sixteenth century vernacular novels Jin Ping

Mei and Xi You Ji afford us revealing glimpses of Buddhism

in practice as it was perceived at the popular level in

those days. Buddhism is shown deeply embedded in a

matrix of popular beliefs, which it has helped shaped,

and by which it has itself been influenced. While

Buddhist "doctrines" appear for the most part as mere

slogans and typical phraseology, much attention is paid to

the actual character of the monks and nuns who are the

living representatives of the religion. The Buddhist-

derived notions of karmic retribution and rebirth appear

to have become all-pervasive and taken for granted in the

popular culture of the time, though in a shen bu mie ~; ~ ~~ interpretation which traces karmic connections through the

family line.

The predominance of the ritual element in popular

Buddhism stands out clearly. Buddhist ceremonies were used

to allay the enmity of the dead and to lay their spirits


43

to rest--Zhu Yuanzhang participated in such rites in the

1 f h " " 106 Th"t " ear y years 0 1S re1gn. ese r1 es appear 1n

chapters 39 and 100 of Xi You Ji. l07 In Jin Ping Mei an

elaborate funeral for the protagonist's dead baby son and

wife incorporates both Buddhist and Taoist observances. l08

In the same novel we are shown one of the ladies donating

money to a nun so that after her death there will be

sutra-recitations on her behalf. l09 The idea behind such

rites was to enable the dead to improve their karmic

rewards. 110 Even the great teacher Zhuhong performed the

rite of 'feeding the flaming mouths' (of the ghosts of the

dead) and had an altar at his place for the 'water and

land' rite for the souls of the dead. III In the climactic

hundredth chapter of Jin Ping Mei the true monk Rujing

demonstrates his occult powers by summoning forth the ghosts

of those characters who had died in the course of the novel,

and explaining their deaths and rebirths in terms of

karmic retribution for their deeds. 112

Both novels give abundant evidence that the fee-for-

service attitude toward religion was widespread in Ming

times among both monks and nuns and lay believers. In

Xi You Ji even Ananda and K~syapa expect suitably rich

presents from the pilgrims in return for the scriptures

they seek. 113 In chapter 36 we see an arrogant abbot who

will only see rich donors--he is angered by the poor men-

dicants' request for lodging. 114 Throughout Jin Ping Mei


44

we are shown the cash nexus enveloping religion and indeed

all forms of social life. Nuns are shown quarreling over

how the fees they have received should be split. 115 Those

who give donations for Buddhist purposes expect to benefit

in this life and the next. A monk soliciting a contribution

from the wealthy Ximen Qing promises that in return for

his support of Buddhism he will enjoy a long and prosperous

life and worldly blessings for himself and his descendants. 116

One of his wives advises Ximen that he had better give

generously to Buddhism to make up for his past misdeeds and

to insure a good future for his new son. 117 Another of his

wives, the cynical and self-seeking Golden Lotus, thinks

that Buddhist nuns would be fools not to make money off

the rich ladies for whom they read sutras, tell edifying

stories, and provide counsel. lIS In the early Ming the

government even issued a schedule of permissible per diem

charges for monks performing rituals. 119

We also find expressions of skepticism towards the

belief in the mechanical efficacy of rituals. Matteo Ricci

found that many educated Chinese openly admitted to having

no religion at all. 120 Certainly Xi You Ji often expresses

a mocking satirical attitude toward religious pretensions.

At the funeral of her first' husband, Golden Lotus goes

through the motions of the purification ceremony burning

incense in front of an image of the Buddha, but she never

dreamed of abstaining from wine and meat for this holy

occasion, and she retires after the ceremony to make love


45

t h X Q' 121 o er paramour lmen lng. Jade, another of Ximen's

wives, rejects the idea that pious donations for the

printing of Buddhist scriptures will be effective in saving

the life of the donor's sick child: to Jade, the matter is

in the hands of fate, and it is foolish to trust in the

nuns. 122 Ximen Qing maintains that no one really knows ,vhat

happens to people after they die; though he does not

believe in evil spirits, he hires a Taoist exorcist

nevertheless. 123

We are also shown how arguments based on the notion of

karmic retribution could be twisted this way and that to

suit the selfish needs of the occasion. When a sick baby

dies, despite the mother's donations to a Buddhist cause

given in hopes of saving the child, the nun who accepted the

donation explains that the baby was the reincarnation of an

enemy from a previous life; once the mother acquired

sanctity by giving money to Buddhism, the malignant reborn

124 enemy could not but depart. Ximen Qing argues that he

is not to blame for his present debauchery, because all his

misdeeds have been predetermined in former lives; at the

same time he hopes that his almsgiving will buy him

protection from any evil consequences of his present

conduct. 125

Clearly, in the popular religion of Ming China, as in

many other times and places, a principal focus was on

invoking supernatural aid to accomplish worldly aims.

People felt that they could in effect buy aid from beyond


by the performance of the proper ceremony or religious

gesture. This mechanical attitude was opposed by true

teachers like Zhuhong and Zibo, who t.ried to direct

attention back to proper mental, physical and spiritual

alignment as the efficacious kernel of ritual. 126

46

Figures drawn from the Buddhist tradition were objects

of devotion as divine protectors who could bring blessings

to their worshippers in this life and the next. 127 From

the 'Medicine Buddha' (yao shi rulai) people sought

worldly gain. Bodhisattva Guanyin was felt as a protectress

who could save worshippers from the world's ills. Through-

out Xi You Ji, for example, Guanyin plays a major role as

divine savior and merciful protectress. The bodhisattva

Dizang was invoked to gain remission from wrongdoings after

death. Amida Buddha was the object of devotion of those

hoping for rebirth in the Western Paradise. So widespread

was invocation of Amida that Ricci considered it synonymous

with Buddhism. 128 When Sun Wukong plans to disguise a boy

as a Buddhist monk, the boy objects that he doesn't know

how to recite any scriptures. The monkey sage asks him,

"Can you chant the name of Buddha?" "You mean Amida?" said

the lad, "Who doesn't know that?,,129

Popular notions of Buddhist doctrine are reflected in

the vernacular literature, and also in the report of the

intrepid Matteo Ricci. In its ideal, Bdddhism is seen as

a way to purify the hearts of mankind and put an end to


47

hatred and strife. 130 The principle of karmic retribution

is repeatedly emphasized as the main point of the Buddhist

teaching. 131 People strive to serve Buddhism in order to

escape the round of suffering and eventually to enter

Paradise. 132 Leaving home to become a Buddhist monk or nun

is rationalized as a way to bring blessings upon one's

relatives and descendants. 133 In Xi You Ji a verse in the

mouth of Sanzang expresses the essential teaching of

Buddhism like this: 134

For those who are monks

The myriad entanglements are all ended.

For those who comprehend reality-nature

All phenomena are empty.

Great Wisdom rests at ease

Peacefully moored within no-birth.

True potential is silent

Untrammelled and free within nirvana.

The triple world is empty,

The hundred starting points quelled.

The six sense faculties are pure,

The thousand kinds are exhausted

When mind is cleared

The solitary light shines alone.

When mind is kept

Myriad objects encroach .

Acts of merit and sitting meditation

Are the source of entering samadhi.

Spreading benevolence and giving generously

Are truly the basis of cUltivation

Don't let a single thought stir,

And the myriad practices are complete of themselves.


48

A commonly held perception in the sixteenth century

saw Buddhism as fully compatible with Confucianism and

Taoism. 135 Ricci noted that many educated Chinese considered

the three teachings as merging into one. 136 The acceptance

of Buddhist and Taoist practices and symbols side by side

is often seen in Jin Ping Mei. 137 The monkey sage Sun

Wukong recognizes Chan as the basis for the true way,

while advocating respect for the unity of the three

teachings. 138 Wang Yangming, the most influential

Confucian philosopher of the Ming period, consistently

emphasized his differences with Buddhism, which he

criticized for being too inward and unworldly,139 yet in

the end he took a rather favorable attitude toward it. "The

teachings of Chan Buddhism and those of the sages (i.e.,

Confucianism) both seek the complete fulfillment of the

mind. There is only a slight difference between the two.,,140

Later generations of Confucian thinkers inspired by Wang

Yangming embraced Buddhism more openly, for example Hu Zhi,

Luo Rufang, and Jiao Hong. 141 From the Buddhist side, the

great teachers of late Ming, Zhuhong of Yun Qi, Deqing of

Han Shan, and Zhixu of Ou Yi, all made it their business

to expound the essential harmony of Confucian insights

with the Buddhist Teaching. 142 As Zhuhong said: 143

People with intelligence harmonize the

Chan School with the Confucian classics.

Not only is this a fusion of wisdom and

understanding, but it also promotes


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cleary, jonathan christopher - zibo zhenke

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