Buddhism in the Sung

Buddhism in the Sung

Religious Studies 294 /East Asian Languages & Cultures 450

Spring, 1996

Instructors:

Peter N. Gregory, 3014 FLB Room 104, 333-9667, pgregory@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu, OH Tues 1-2, Thurs 10-12

Patricia Ebrey, 608 S. Mathews, 244-5943, p-ebrey@uiuc.edu, OH Mon 4-5, Weds 11-12

Course Description:

The Sung Dynasty (960-1279) has long been recognized as a major water-shed in Chinese history. In addition to representing a momentous transition in the structure of Chinese society, the Sung was also a period of great cultural flowering in literature, art, and thought. This seminar will investigate the contribution of Buddhism to Sung social and cultural life. The first four weeks will be devoted to a review of the historical, political, social, religious, and intellectual background that formed the context of Sung Buddhism, which will be the central focus of the rest of the course.

The seminar will coincide with a conference on "Buddhism in the Sung" to be held at the University of Illinois on April 20th, 21st, and 22nd. The conference will be the first to bring together the far-flung group of western scholars working on Sung Budhhism in the United States, Canada, Europe, and New Zealand. Papers for the conference will be available to the seminar participants, who wl also be able to sit in on the conference sessions. Preparation/participation: All students are expected to attend all regularly-scheduled class meetings. Reading assignments are challenging enough to provoke good discussion but short enough that you should be able to read them closely, making notes in the margins or in a notebook. Not only should you have read them carefully before coming to class, but you should also take time to review your notes the morning of the class so that you will be prepared to discuss them. For most sections, groups of students will be responsible for introducing the readings and leading a discussion on them. Students in charge of the discussion for the week should distribute topics and questions for class to the other students via e-mail by 9pm the night before.

Assignments: Assignments include both class presentations and papers. Each student will be required to be part of the group in charge of leading the class discussion of the readings twice (once for sessions 3-5 and once for sessions 7-10). In addition, each student will write a book critique and a research paper. The critiques should be 4-5 pages in length and analyze a book or dissertation dealing with Buddhism in the Sung (a list of titles is attached). During the March 28th and April 4th meetings, students will make a 5-10 minute presentation of their critique to the class (the presentation should include a 1-2 page handout summarizing some of the main points). The written form will be due one week after the oral presentation. The research papers, due May 1, should be on some aspect of Buddhism in the Sung (12 pages for undergraduates and 15-20 pages for graduate students). Each student will give a fifteen to twenty minute oral presentation of the main themes of the papers during the week of April 22-26 (the April 25th meeting plus another meeting to be scheduled that week). There will be no exams.

Grading: Class participation = 25%; critique = 25%; research paper = 50%.

Required Readings:

Arthur Wright, Buddhism in Chinese History

Ebrey and Gregory, eds., Religion and Society in T'ang and Sung China

Gregory and Ebrey, eds., Packet of Selected Readings available from Notes-n-Quotes

* * *

Schedule of Classes

1. Introduction (1/11):
I. The Sung Period in Chinese History
2. Basic Contours (1/18):

	Gregory and Ebrey, "The Religious and Historical Landscape," from Religion and Society in T'ang and Sung China.
	Gernet, "The Chinese Renaissance," from A History of Chinese Civilization.

3. The Examination System and the Literati Elite (1/25):

	Hartwell, Robert M., "Historical Analogism, Public Policy, and Social Science in Eleventh- and Twelfth-Century China," American Historical Review 76 (1971).
	Hartwell, Robert M., "Demographic, Political, and Social Transformations of China, 750-1550," Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 4 (1982).
	Ebrey, Patricia B., "The Dynamics of Elite Domination in Sung China," Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 48.2 (1988).

4. Local Society, Popular Religion, and Taoism (2/1):

	Hymes, Robert P., "Temple Building and Religious Life," from Statesmen and Gentlemen.
	von Glahn, Richard, Review of Hansen, Changing Gods in Medieval China, Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 53.2 (1988).
	Kleeman, "The Expansion of the Wen-ch'ang Cult," from Religion and Society in T'ang and Sung China, pp. 45-73.
	Boltz, "Not by the Seal of Office Alone," from Religion and Society in T'ang and Sung China.

5. Neo-Confucianism (2/8):

	de Bary, Willian Theodore, "A Reappraisal of Neo-Confucianism," from Arthur F. Wright, ed., Sudies in Chinese Thought.
	Chan, Wing-tsit, "Chu Hsi's Completion of Neo-Confucianism," from Chu Hsi: Life and Thought.
	Liu, James , "How Did a Neo-Confucian School Become the State Orthodoxy?" Philosophy East and West 23 (1973).
	Bol, Peter K., "Ch'eng I and the New Culture of Tao-hsüeh," from "This Culture of Ours": Intellectual Transitions in T'ang and Sung China.
	Walton, "Southern Sung Academies as Sacred Places," from Religion and Society in T'ang and Sung China, pp. 335-363.

II. Buddhism in the Sung

6. Buddhsm in the Sung (2/15):

	Wright, Arthur, Buddhism in Chinese History.
	Ch'en, Kenneth, "Memories of a Great Tradition: Sung Dynasty," from Buddhism in China.
	Dumoulin, Heinrch, "The Sung Period: A Time of Maturation," from Zen Buddhism: A History, vol. 1, India and China.
	Huang, Chi-chiang, "Imperial Rulership and Buddhism in the Early Northern Sung," from Frederick P. Brandauer and Chun-chieh Huang, eds., Imperial Ruership and Cultural Change in Traditional China.

7. Chan (2/22):

	Buswell, Robert E., Jr., "The 'Short-cut' Approach of K'an-hua Meditation: The Evolution of a Practical Subitism in Chinese Ch'an Buddhism," from Gregory, ed., Sudden and Gradual: Approaches to Enlightenment in Chinese Thought.
	Foulk, T. Griffith, "Myth, Ritual, and Monastic Practice in Sung Ch'an Buddhism," from Religion and Society in T'ang and Sung China.
	Yü, Chün-fang, "Ch'an Education in the Sung: Ideals and Procedures," from William Theodore de Bary and John W. Chaffee, eds., Neo-Confucian Education: The Formative Stage.
	Hsieh, Ding-hwa Evelyn, "Yüan-wu K'o-ch'in's (1063-1135) Teaching of Ch'an Kung-an Practice: A Transition from Literary Study of Ch'an Kung-an to the Practical K'an-hua Ch'an," Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 17:1 (1994).

8. T'ien-t'ai (2/29):

	Donner, Neal, "Doctrine and Practice in Chih-i's Thought" abridged from Gregory, ed., Sudden and Gradual: Approaches to Enlightenment in Chinese Thought.
	Stevenson, Daniel B., "The Four Kinds of Samådhi in Early T'ien-t'ai Buddhism," abridged from Gregory, ed., Traditions of Meditation in Chinese Buddhism.
	Stevenson, Daniel B., "The Problematic of the Mo-ho chih-kuan and T'ien-t'ai History," from The Great Calming and Contemplation: A Study and Annotated Translation of the First Chapter of Chih-i's Mo-ho chih-kuan.
	Ziporyn, Brook, "Anti-Chan Polemics in Post Tang Tiantai," Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 17:1 (1994).

9. Popular Buddhism (3/7):

	Ter Haar, Barend J., "Lay Buddhism in the Song and Yuan" and "The White Lotus Movement," from The White Lotus Teachings in Chinese Religious History.
	Teiser, Stephen F., "The Growth of Purgatory," from Religion and Society in T'ang and Sung China.
	Gimello, Robert M., "Chang Shang-ying on Wu-t'ai Shan," from Susan Naquin and Chün-fang Yü, eds., Pilgrims and Sacred Sites in China.
	Yü, Chün-fang, "P'u-t'o Shan: Pilgrimage and the Creation of the Chinese Potalaka," from Susan Naquin and Chün-fang Yü, eds., Pilgrims and Sacred Sites in China.
	Levering, Merriam, "Ta-hui and Lay Buddhists: Ch'an Sermons on Death," from David W. Chappell, ed., Buddhist and Taoist Practice in Medieval China.

NB: Students should turn in a statement outlining the topic they have chosen for their research paper with a bibliography

- Spring Vacation -

10. Buddhism, Literati Culture, and Neo-Confucianism (3/21):

	Gimello, Robert M., "Marga and Culture: Learning, Letters, and Liberation in Northern Sung Ch'an," from Robert E. Buswell, Jr., and Robert M.Gimello, eds., Paths to Liberation: The Marga and Its Transformations in Buddhist Thought.
	Grant, Beata, "Like a Whithered Tree," from Mount Lu Revisited: Buddhism in the Life and Writings of Su Shih.
	Fu, Charles Wei-hsun, "Chu Hsi on Buddhism," from Wing-tsit Chan, ed., Chu Hsi and Neo-Confucianism.
	Gregory, Peter N., "Tsung-mi and Neo-Confucianism," from Tsung-mi and the Sinification of Buddhism.

11. Student Critique Presentations I (3/28)

12. Student Critique Presentations II (4/4)

Critiques due from previous week

13. No Class (4/11)

Critiques due from previous week

14. Optional Meeting to Discuss Conference Papers (4/18)

- Conference (4/20-22) -

15. Student Presentations (4/25 and extra meeting to be scheduled)

Reasearch Papers Due (5/1)

Critiques

Students should choose the book or dissertation for their critcal review from the following list. No more than two students may select the same title.

	Chan, Chi-wah, "Chih-li (960-1028) and the Formation of Orthodoxy in the Sung T'ien-t'ai Tradition of Buddhm." Ph.D dissertation, University of California, Los Angeles, 1993 (UMI #9332639).
	Dudbridge, Glen, The Legend of Miao-shan. Oxford Oriental Monographs, No. 1. London: Ithaca Press, 1978.
	Foulk, T. Griffith, "The 'Ch'an School' and Its Place in the Buddhist Monastic Tradition." Ph.D dissertation, University of Michigan, 1987 (UMI #87???).
	Getz, Daniel Aaron, Jr., "Siming Zhili and Tiantai Pure Land in the Song Dynasty." Ph.D dissertation, Yale University, 1994 (UMI #94???), vol. 1.
	Getz, Daniel Aaron, Jr., "Siming Zhili and Tiantai Pure Land in the Song Dynasty." Ph.D dissertation, Yale University, 1994 (UMI #94???), vol. 2.
	Grant, Beata, Mount Lu Revisited: Buddhism and the Life and Writings of Su Shih. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1994.
	Hsieh, Ding-hwa Evelyn, "A Study of the Evolution of K'an-hua Ch'an in Sung China: Yüan-wu K'o-ch'in (1063-1135) and the Fution of Kung-an in Ch'an Pedagogy and Praxis." Ph.D dissertation, University of California, Los Angeles, 1993 (UMI #9321903).
	Huang, Chi-chiang, "Experiment in Syncretism: Ch'i-sung (1007-1072) and Eleventh-century Chinese Buddhism." Ph.D dissertation, Universit
	Stephen Teiser, Purgatory in Medieval Chinese Buddhism. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1994.
	Welter, Albert, The Meaning of Myriad Good Deeds: A Study of Yung-ming Yen-shou and the Wan-shan t'ung-kuei chi. New York: Peter Lang, 1993 (294.3936W467M).

NB: Your critique should include: (1) a summary of the aims and approach of the study, (2) a summary of the contents and main arguments of the study, leading to (3) a critical appraisal of the study, in which you address such questions as: How well does it acoes the approach adopted by the author afford? How might its particular approach limit the usefulness of the study?