pui-ming tsui b - li ch'un-fu and his discussions of the 'collected plaints of tao

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Li Ch 'un-fu and His Discussions of the "CollectedPlaints on Tao"

Bartholomew Pui-ming Tsui

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U CH t UN-FU AND HIS DISCUSSIONS OF THE

.. "COLLECTED PLAINTS ON TAO"

..

By

BARTHOLOMEW PUI-MING TSUI, A.B., M. DIV.

A Thesis

Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies

in Part ia l Fulfilment of the Requirements

for 'the Degree

Doctor of Philosophy

McMaster University

January 1982

..



y

L1 CH'UN-FU

' I '

J

I

"



DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (1981)

' (Religious S t ~ ~ i e s )TITLE I

AurHORt

Li Ch 'un-fu and His Dis'cussionS ofthe ..Collected Plaints. on Tao"

Bartholomew Pui-ming Tsui, A.B.

McMASTER UNIVERSITY

Hamllton, Ontario

(Ate ne o de ManilaUniversity)

SUPERVISOR a Professor Y.-h. Jan

M. Div. (St. Mary's University)

.'

NUMBER OF PAGES I vi i i . 543

:',/

i i

/



...

~ B S T R A C !

This thesis is an ana ly si s of Li Ch'un-fu's ( ~ f;8' ) chief

extant work, the- Ming-tao-chi shuo (I?tt 1!, 1t Discussions of the

"Collected Plaints on Tao") Two foci have arisen from this book. The

f i r s t is the defence of Buddhism from N e o - C o n f u c ~ a n crit icisms. The

,second ' is a theory of harmonization of the Three Teachings. Li 's in -

volvement with the f irs t earned him the more widely known reputation of

being a defender of Buddhism ~ h i l e his contribution to harmonization has

,

often been neglected. 6ur study has shown that Li's life-work had been

harmonization and that the defence of Buddhism should be regarded as an

intermediate step tOwards the identi ty of the Three Teachings.

The 9hief accusation o f Neo-Confucianists is that Buddhism ne-

gleets involvement with world ly affa irs , customs and human relat ionships.

L i ' ~ reply is that from the point of view of Mahayana, one should not and

could not make a distinction between rel igious practice and worldly,'af-

. ,

fairs, between the Absolute and the phenomenal, between N i r v ~ Q a and

$ ~ s a r a . Hence, the Buddhis t does not neglect worldly affa i rs . Then,

Li turns around and say that this Buddhist truth i s exactly what Confu-

cianism and Taoism teach original ly. In order t o subst an ti at e his claim,I _

\/

he draws parallels of the main philosophical and cult ivational concepts

from each tradit ion. The guiding principles of interpretat ion of these.

paral lels have .often been taken from Buddhism. Among these pr ir lcip les ,

the most important has been the identity of the Absolute Truth anQ the

i i i



· \c·

worldly t r u t ~ . Thus, the Mahiyana teaching of Truth provides the

s t r u c ~ u r e on which Li ~ p out Chinese concepts ,and from this mapping

Ian identity of the Three Teachings comes into view. C ~ m p a r e d to pre-vious theories of harmonization, Li's is the most elaborate and pro-

vides a most outstanding example of how an harmonizer attempts to find..

an intellectual unity among the d i v e ~ g e n t t radi t ions he has inherited.

\,

j(

{ .

iv

, .

\

f



ACXNOWLEDGEMENrS

c In undertaking th i s stUdy, I am deeply indeb ted to Professor

Y-h. Jan, 1Jho not only introduced me to Li Piing-shan but also guided

me through every step of my research with p er sona l in te res t . For his

advice and fr iendship I am most grateful . To Professor Koichi Shinohara

i s due my thanks fo r his pat ien t ef fo r t a t suggesting solutions to

· s t ructural problems o fmy

thes i s .'To fr0fessor

G r a e m ~MacQueen

I owe

my thanks fo r his invaluable comments on the thes i s ' content and s ty le .

I should also thank Rev. Carl T. Smith for his suggest ions on the Eng-

1·ish s ty le of my t rans la t ions . My research would not have been possi-

ble without the kind permission of th e L ib ra ria n of the

Toyo Bunks Kenkyiijo to make copies ~ the Ming-tao-ehi sptw. To him

\

4

and his ins t i tu te I am great ly indebted. To a l l my fr iends, the Tsui

clan and my parents who in obvious and subtle ways have supported me I

owe my t h a n k s ~ Last but not the least lowe my grat i tude to the Cana

dian people who make th is academic venture possible •..

v



r'.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

THE CONTEXT OF THE HISTORY OF H A R M O N I Z A T I O ~ OF

THE THREE. 'RELIGIONS • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

ChapterI . INrRODUCTION

I I .

. .

PART I

. . . . . . . . .

. . . . . 8

The Study of Harmonizing Tendencies

The Nature of Early Theories of Harmonization,

I I I . THE CURRENT STATE OF S ~ ~ O L A R S H I P ON LI 'AND

SOURCES FOR THIS STUDY ." • • •

The Extant Writings of Li Ch'un-fuLost Works

Sourcas for Biography

.Ear ly Secondary SourcesEditorial Work on the Text

,. . . . • • • • 30

IV. THE BIOGRAPHY OF Im CH 'UN-FU . ' .. • • • • • • • • • • • • 39

C h r o n o l o g i c ~ l ChartNotes on Dates

PART I I

V. PRELIMINARY SURVEY OF THE BOOK

Division of the Book

Nature ,of the Book

. . . . . . . . . . . . . • 58

VI. ANrI-BUDDHIST CRITICISMS AND LI'S REPLIES. .. . . . • . 68

I

Are the Criticisms Representative of the AntiBuddhist Views of N e o ~ C o n f u c i a n i ~ t sThe Chief Themes of the Anti-Buddhist Criticisms

Analysis of the Themes and AnswersSome Specific Characteristics of the Anti-BuddhistCriticisms •S truc tu re o f Li 's Replies

t·

vi



\

VII. LI 'S VIEW OF CHINESE TRADITIONS AND THE' PARALLELSOF' THE THREE REUGIONS ,. • . • . • • • · · · · · · · • · · 148

Li'sView

ofChinese

Traditions

Parallels- Among the Three 'TeachingsLi's Two Essays on the MindEvaluation of Li's Harmonization

VIII. C O ~ W S I O N AND' FURTHER QUESTIONS . . · · · · · · · · • · · 173\

PART III\

II

TRANSLATION ot THE MING-TAO-CHI SHUO · · • · · 180

BIBLIOGRAPHY I • •. .-

•. · · · · •

· ·527

\\

\

\

\

vii



.,

CT

,liMC

HIC

lCT

KHMC

KSC

M

SPl'K

Sppy

T

IT

ABBREVIATIONS

Chuang Tzu (:t--t-

, HUIl& -ming-Chi ~ 8,€\ $

Hsu Tsang Ching ~ , ~ Shanghai: Han-fen-1ou repr int ,

1923. 150 vo1s.

I Ching, Ta-chuan

KuaIl§ Hung-ming-ehi

Kao Seng Chuan

Miscellaneous essays in the Ming-tao-chi shuo

Ssu-pu ts 'ung-k:m \'m $F 1 1'1 :fJJ ,'*if:J . ~ 1 hSsu-pu pei-yao (!!}.if 1 Taisho Shinshu dai-zokyo 1... jE.. .fir 1t -j( IJ;, . ~ Tokyo,. 1914-22. 85 vols. '

Tao' Tsang iifi Taipei : ~ - w e n yin-shu kuan, 1962.

v i i i

.



PART I

CHAPTER I

INTR,ODUCTION

While the harmonization of the Three Religions in China (Confu-

"ianism, Taoism and Buddhism) is generally acknowledged to have been

common, detailed analyses of the theor ies support ing-i t are diff icul t

to find.l

The reason is perhaps no t so much the neg ligence Qf scholars

as the nature of mater ia ls themselves. Often, in the pre-Sung attempts

at harmonization, the reasons given are superficial or the theories

deal with only certain aspects of similari ty; sometimes they appear to

be just passing remarks. The paucity of serious thought leads one to

q u e ~ t i o n whether i t is worth the effort to pay attention to them. 1n

~ h term "harmonization" ($}Gj Ja t ' iao-ho) is generally used

to mean three kinds of ' att i tudes towards religions. One of these ist ha t r el ig ions are complementary. They h av e the same goal but theirpractices are different . Though different, the la t ter a re appropr ia tefor different circumstances and are complementarv to one another. The

. s ec on d att i tude is one a d o p ~ e d by an harmonizer ~ h regard s the Three .Religions as one for the reason that a few selected elements from themare similar. The third a ttitud e is one in which the actor takes an

interpretive stand'such that the t each ings o f the Three Religionsappear identical. Any of the h a r m o n ~ z e r s may promote a combination of

these att i tudes, sometimes with a p re do mina nc e of one. Lits thinking

tended towards the third att i tude. What unites th e three att i tudes sothat they may be designated by th e same term "harmonization" is perhaps

a vague notion that an harmonizer is one who chooses to emphasize the, oneness and d o w n p l ~ h e differences of religions. I t will be noted

~ h a t harmonization is always a conscious attempt a t oneness and hencei t has a more specific meaning than syncret ism or eclecticism.

l '



..

2

short, analyses are few because early harmonizations lack significant

theories. -- 'J'-- '.\

The above observation is also generally true for s U b s e ~ u e n t:.::.,}

periods. However, i t is not true to say that there was a complete lack.of theories of harmonization. There were times w h e n , ~ a r m o n i z a t i o n was...s e r i o u s l ~ thought about and relatively de ta iled theor ies, however rare,

did appea r. During the Sung Dynasty, there were a number o f f ac to rs

favourable to se rio us attempts a t harmonization. Although the f i r s t

i;:J! . revival of Confucianism as advocated by Han yij ( ~ ~ ~ , 768-824)Owas

c ~ n n e c t e d with the rejection of Buddhism on account of i ts being foreign,

subsequent Neo-Confucian c ~ n c e p t i o n s o f ~ , the Sage and methods of

cult ivat ion were closer to those of the Buddhists than to those of Con-

f · M ' 2c lUS or enc lUS • Neo-Confucianism brought about a s eriousness in

the pursuit of ~ which, in addition to leading to virtues in the

ethical drea, also brought an in ter ior i ty , the possession of which'

required a kind of enlightenment. Interests in metaphysics ~ e r e not

unconnected with this in ter ior i ty , for speculations about the Great

Ultimate a ~ Principle ( ~ were exerciSes in which one attempted..

to conceive of a union of man with the unfathomable universe. As this

interiori ty becomes important, the· t radi t ion through which one a r ~ i v e s

at i t diminishes in importance. In other words, to rather overstate the

2This was pointed out long ago by Fung Yu-lan when he wrote

about Li Ao ( ~ ! J - ~ ~ d. 844). See his History of Chine-se Philosophy,

Vol. II , t rans. by D. Bodde (PrincetonJ Princeton University Press,1953; hereafter rererred to as Fung, Histqry), Pp. 422-424.



3

case, one may say that i t does not matter how one has become a sage as

long as he has become one. or course, a ll Neo-Confucianists drew their

l ines of orthodoxy somewhere and somehow; bu t the prevalenF mood of a ll

the religions was the acquisition of this inter ior ity.

Second, th e Sinicization of Buddhism also contributed to th e

climate for harmonization. The Sui and T'ang Dynasties. saw not only

the final acceptance of Buddhism but also the rise of Chinese schools

/

in the T'ien-t 'a i , H u a - y ~ n and Ch'an. Many, i f not most, of th e

Chinese masters were conversant with Confucian and Taoist wr it ings and

i t was inevitable that they brought their 'Chinese learning into making

this foreign religion understandable. An advanced s ta te of this process

. . ( ..

can be seen Ln th e Flfth Patriarch of Hua-yen, Tsung-ml ~ , ' ~780-841), whose writing is ful l of comparisons of th e Three Religions.

The Sinicization of Buddhism also determined the topics of interest

within Buddhism. One of t h most highly regarded and most widely read

sutras in ~ h Sung Dynasty was the Yuan-chueh-ching (lID . \ j , Stitra

of Complete Enlightenment" T842) ~ This would ~ r i n g chagrin to a Bud-

dhist pur-ist, for the YUan-chueh-ching was probably a Chinese work

falsely attributed to a foreign origin.4

But Chinese Buddhists them-

selves were not the least perturbed. Tsung-ml wrote extensive commen-

taries on i t . Tbat i t was cOnsidered legitimate fo r Chinese to contri-

3Englisb t r a ~ l a t i o n by Charles Luk in Ch'an and Zen T e a c h i ~ ,series 3 (London: Rider & Company, 1962), pp. 1 ~ 9 f f .

4The s a m ~ can be said a b o ~ t the Surangama sutra, ~ 9 4 5 , anotherpopular work. See Galen Sargent, "Tchou Ht Contre Ie Bouddhisme,"

Malanges Publ ies pa r L'Insti tut des Hautes Etudes Chinoises, Tome• •

Premier, 1957., p. 104, note 4.•



---..,

bute the i r th eo rie s to Buddhism was seen in Li Ch'un-fu's saying that

the ~ u a - y e n teaching of dharmadhatu was a Chinese teaChing.S

. Third, one of the prominent character is t ics of Buddhism in th e

Sung Dynasty was th e relaxing of barriers between the different Buddhist

schools. The spec ia l in teres t of the age was the union of Ch "an with

other teachings. ~ h i s merging tendency within Buddhism no doubt con-

tr ibuted to syncretism beyond Buddhism.

Fourth, the syncretic t e n d ~ n c y had become a norm in the New

Taoism which arose towards the end of the Northern Sung p e r ~ o d . New

' ---Taoism was, among o ther t hi ng s, a rebell ion against the excessive

"supersti t ious" beliefs of former Taoism." fA ~ c o r d i n g to Takao Giken, l t

adopted Ch'an pract ices.6

No doubt, the r e n e ~ a l was a response to the.challenge of the age, namely, the quest for interiori ty.

Thus, i t seems' that the c lim ate was ripe for a more seriqus

attempt at harmonization. In contrast to the fragmentary ~ f f o r t s of

previous times, the new theory would have to be more systematic, more

complete. Some indications of this tendency can be seen in T;ung-mi

and'Li Kang ( ~ ~ ~ 1083-1140), but th e mature attempt real ly belongs

to Li C ~ ' u n - f u . Li spent the major part of his l i fe trying to spread

. fhlS theory of harmonization through commentaries On well-known texts

5See Ming-tao-chi shuo, section 204.

6Takao Gike'n, "Kindai ni okeru Dobutsu Nikyo nQ Tokucho ~ , j ; f i,,{, ,=- 1ft ~ ~ .::- r ~ i - ," Shina§aku

3l1Jf , V, no. 1 (1929), 137-151.



5'

and through arguments with Nor thern Sung Neo-Confuc1anists. Most of

h is writ ings are lost but we have his ~ j o r work, the Ming-tao-chi shuo,

which contains his debates with th e Neo-Confucianists.

The reason for the writin g of th e Ming-tao-chi shuo was Li's

desire to argue with Neo-Confucianists over the quest for Tao. The

la t ter 's views were contained in a book called the M i n g - ~ a o - c h i ( ~ ~ ~t ) which was in c ir cu la ti on in Li's time but is now 10st.

7 Li has

cited from i t 216 passages with which he is in disagreement and has

expressed his ~ i e w s on each of them.

Up to the p r e ~ e n t time, Li C h ' u n ~ f u has been better known as a

defender of BUddhism, and this for three reasons. First , Li was pre

sented as such by Yeh-lii Ch' u- ts ' ai ( ~ *f ~ 1189-12432, the one

who propagated Li' s, maj or works after his death. Sec.ond, the Fo-tsu

! i - t a i

t 'ung-tsai c1qpt..a.et 3 ! - ~ '

AC O m p ~ e t e

Record of Buddhas

and Patriarchs Through th e Ages), by i ts biased selection of quo ta tions

from the Ming-tao-chi shuo, again casts Li in the role of a defender of.

7The existepce .of this book is ~ i n d i c a t e d by the e p i l o g u ~ , section 217. See also the preface by Yeh-lu Ch'u-ts'ai. A t ab le o f' contents of this book is reported to exist in P'an Tsu-yin 's ~ ' a n g - h s i -chai ts'ang shu chi ( ~ $ i L rt ~ t j-- ~ ).C.L Tokiwa Daijo, "Kin n.o Ri Heisan sen, Meido shusetsu ni tsuite" in

Hattor i sense i koki shukuga kinen rombunshu (T?kyo: Fuzambo, 1936),

p. 691. i . Jt ri : rn t Nt J.j ; J q 3!- t t£ c:. ? , J z,.J

W l ~ ~ 1:- # 10L t tG i L 1! ,% J:-I

) .



6

BUddhism. 8 For some time, this material from th e Fo-tsu l i - ta i t 'ung-

tsai was th e only easily accessible record of Li's writings and this

.contributed to g i v i n ~ a false impres sion. Third , the fact that Li was

praised by BUddhists but ignored or belittled by Confucianists 'contri

ted .to the impression that he was a partisan of the Buddhists.9

However,

a close reading of the Ming-tao-chi shuQ and a study of his l ife has

uncovered major facets of his thoughts which, while not destroying his

role as a defender of BUddhism, present him as an outstanding figure in

the harmonization of Chinese religions. While Li in the capacity of an

harmonizer has. been alluded to by Japanese scholars, his theory of har-

monization has not been analysed nor has his position as an harmonizer

been properly evaluated and appreciated. I t is h ~ p e d that th rough an

analysis of th e Ming-tao-chi shuo and other relevant' materials we may

come to a better knowledge of the nature of the book, the man and his

thought.

The Ming-tao-chi shuo appears in a ll the bibliographies of the

dynastic histories beginning from the Chin 'Shih ( History of the

Chin DynastZ)' I t is included in th e Ssu-k'u Ch 'uan-shu (\W

8 . b \ 1Of th'e 19 sections quoted by Nlen-chang ( ~ T' 282-13421),- author of the Fo-tsu l i - ta i t ' ~ n g - t s a i , T2036, eighteen are directly

.?-bout Buddhism.<

'9, For example. the praise of Li found in t he Fo -t su l i - t a i t 'ung-

t sa i , T2 6, 699c, l i n e ~ 13-19. The belit t l ing of Li cari be founQ in 'sung- Uan hsueh-an, ch. 100 (Taipei: Shih-chieh shu-chU, 1973), p. 1874.

-- - ~ - - -

pui-ming tsui b - li ch'un-fu and his discussions of the 'collected plaints of tao

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