Monk poetry as external learning in the Middle and Late Tang, exemplified by the poetry and lives of Guanxiu and Qiji.

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U N IV E R S IT Y O F L O N D O N Abstract o f T hesis

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This thesis is concerned with moulc shi In poetry within the context o f the political, intellectual and literary history focusing on the M iddle and Late Tang.

Buddhist monies engaged in non-Buddhist studies as external learning (waixue f f l p ) to assist their interactions with non-Buddhists. Shi poetry was one o f these non- Buddhist studies. This thesis introduces the rise o f poet-monks from the M iddle Tang period (from 785 onwards) as a literary and social phenomenon. One focus is to investigate why the Buddhist clergy tolerated the poet-m onks’ prolific unreligious poetry writing. The monastic code Shis on g lit ~ (Sarvastivada-vinaya) as well as the teachings of Southern Chan Buddhism are examined as Buddhist teachings relevant to the monies’ shi poetry writing. It is argued that these teachings facilitated the monies’ external learning, however, without directly inspiring the rise o f poet- monks. The function o f external learning is examined in the context o f the clergy’s position in the socio-political environment and their political relationship with Confucian scholar-officials. It is concluded that the rise o f poet-monks was mainly inspired by the Buddhist monies’ political desire to maintain a peaceful relationship with non-Buddhists. Furthermore, the poet-monks wrote poetry to advance their personal career prospect and as an artistic self-expression. The lives and poem s o f two poet-monks, Guanxiu JtT'fjc (832-912) and Q i j i ^ c i (864-c. 943) are examined as a case study. It is demonstrated that their religious careers and the stylistic characteristics o f their poetry were shaped by the function o f external learning. Their poetry is analysed and compared to their contemporary literati poetry. It is concluded that, although the motivation for monks to write shi poetry may have been pragmatic, their distinct background allowed them to nevertheless make an independent contribution to the greater shi poetry tradition in its own right.

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M on k Poetry as E xtern al L earning in the M iddle an d L ate Tang

exem plified by the poetry and lives o f Guanxiu and Oiji

Yun-Chung Li

The School of Oriental and African Studies

PhD in the Department of the Languages and Cultures of China and Inner

Asia

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Thesis Abstract

This thesis is concerned w ith m onk shi f # poetry w ithin the context o f the political, intellectual and literary history focusing on the M iddle and Late Tang.

Buddhist monies engaged in non-Buddhist studies as external learning (waixue to assist their interactions w ith non-Buddhists. Shi poetry w as one o f these non- Buddhist studies. This thesis introduces the rise o f poet-monks from the M iddle Tang period (from 785 onwards) as a literary and social phenomenon. One focus is to investigate why the Buddhist clergy tolerated the poet-m onks’ prolific unreligious poetry writing. The m onastic code Shisong Hi -pfjijfijt (Sarvastivdda-vinaya) as well as the teachings o f Southern Chan Buddhism are examined as Buddhist teachings relevant to the m onks’ shi poetry wilting. It is argued that these teachings facilitated the m onks’ external learning, however, w ithout directly inspiring the rise o f poet- monks. The function o f external learning is examined in the context o f the clergy’s position in the socio-political environm ent and their political relationship with Confucian orientated scholar-officials. It is concluded that the rise o f poet-m onks was mainly inspired by the Buddhist monies’ political desire to m aintain a peaceful relationship w ith non-Buddhists. Furthermore, the poet-m onks wrote poetry to advance their personal career prospect and as an artistic self-expression. The lives and poems o f two poet-m onks, Guanxiu (832-912) and Qiji (864-c. 943) are examined as a case study. It is dem onstrated that their religious careers and the stylistic characteristics o f their poetry w ere shaped by the function o f external learning. Their poetry is analysed and compared to their contem porary literati poetry.

It is concluded that, although the m otivation for monies to write shi poetry m ay have been pragmatic, their distinct background allowed them to nevertheless make an independent contribution to the greater shi poetry tradition in its ow n right.

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Dedication

To my Parents, M ei-Ling, And my personal Faith.

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Acknowledgements

I am deeply grateful to the many people who helped m e to com plete this thesis and w ithout whose support this study would not have been possible. I w ould like to acknowledge m y parents and my husband Gert Westermann for their selfless support all these years for my education and life in the UK. Their love for me has always been the prime force to pull me through all the difficult times along my studies. I w ould like to thank Gert in particular for his patience and time to discuss m y research w ith me and for proof-reading my thesis. His academic insights and open m ind have been a great inspiration for my studies. I am also deeply grateful to my supervisors. Dr.

A ndrew Lo had the patience to train my chaotic mind to receive and appreciate knowledge systematically and analytically. Throughout m y studies he tirelessly read my thesis drafts o f m assive quantity and discussed them w ith me in great detail.

W ithout his hard drill as well as kind encouragement this thesis w ould not have been possible to complete. Dr. Bernli rd Fuehrer has been a fantastic m entor to m y studies and research. His honest criticism as well as his positive attitude was o f the greatest help to improve the scholarly quality o f my thesis. I am also im m ensely grateful to Prof. M ichel Hockx, whose enduring encouragem ent and kind w ords have always motivated me to plod on in this academic journey. Indeed, sometimes a few gentle words can help one a long way. I am also very thankful to Prof. Tzi- Cheng Wang, who coached m y studies in the early stages and nurtured my interest in textual studies and Chinese poetry. I w ould also like to thank my fellow PhD student Pei-Ying Lin and Dr.

Wolfgang Schwabe for assisting me in finding research materials. The encouragem ent from my fellow PhD students— Pei-Ying, Kiriko Tokura, M aid K omori, and the late M ei-Ling Chen— w ere also crucial to lift me up from the downs. I am enormously indebted to their friendship. I am truly thankful to all other people who helped my studies in various ways and feel sorry that I cannot list them here. Finally, I w ould like to express m y gratitude to the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation for International Scholarly Exchange whose scholarship was a great help for m y w riting up stage. For all the love, friendship and generous help I have received, I shall always rem em ber that any success o f this study is a production o f collective force rather than one w om an’s lonely struggle.

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Abbreviations

Prim ary Sources:

BJJ: BaiJuyi j i A JA JIItl (Bai Juyi collection) BLJ: Bailicm j i A SiiA (White lotus collection)

CYJ: Chanyue j i jiaozhu pp jpj (Chanyue collection with corrections and notations) GSZ: Gaoseng zhucm AfsjW- (Biographies of the eminent monks)

JDCDL: Jingde chuandeng hi A I S f A l l t i (The record of passing the lamp during the Jingde period)

J T S : Jin Tang shu (Old history o f the Tang) OTS: Qnan Tang shi (Complete Tang poetry)

SGSZ: Song gaoseng zhuan APSjffHW- (Song biographi es of the eminent monks)

XGSZ: Xu gaoseng zhuan IftA flA I (Continuation of biographies of the eminent monks) T: Taisho Shinshii Daizdkyo A A A f iA C /lllI (New edition of the tripitaka in Chinese during the Taisho period)

TCZZ\ Tang caizi zhuan jiaojian JlfAAflllSClS (Corrections and notations of Biographies of the Tang talents)

TRLSJZJP: Tang ren liishi jian zhu j i ping Iff A f A s ^ ilA A IFF (A collected commentaries and notations of Tang regulated verse)

TRXTS: Tang ren xuan Tang shi xin bian (New edition of Tang poetic anthologies compiled in the Tang)

XQHWNBCS: Xian Qin Han Wei Jin Nanbei chao shi A -lFW A (Pre-Qin, the Han, the Wei, the Jin and the Northern and Southern dynasties poetiy)

X T S : X in Tang shu i/fUfllF (New history o f the Tang)

ZHDD: Zhonghua dadian wenxue dian Sui Tang Wudai wenxue fendian A A A A A A 'A IA J lfS 'A (Great Chinese works: literature of the Sui, Tang and Wudai periods)

Secondary Sources:

TCO: “This Culture o f Ours Intellectual Transitions in T ang and Sung China DSY: Jiang Yin AflA Dali shiren yanjiu A )S f# A W A (A study of Dali poets) JN: Jiaoran Nianpu lA A A lltf A Chronology of JiaoraiTs Life)

LT: The Late Tang: Chinese Poetiy o f the Mid-Ninth Century (827-860)

ZFS: Zhongguo fojiao sengtuan fazhan j i qi guanli yanjiu A ® WIBIIIMA A (A study of the development of Chinese sahgha and its management)

WTSQ: “ Wan Tang shiseng Oiji de shi chan shijie A h'P f 3 A nAW A A (Late Tang poet-monk Qiji’s view to poetry writing and meditation)”

ZCS: Zhongguo chanzongyu singe A S W A A id ’l l (Chinese Chan Buddhism and poetiy)

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Monk Poetry as External Learning in the Middle and Late Tang

exem plified by the p o etiy and lives o f Guanxiu and Qiji

Chapter One: Introduction

Buddhist monks started writing poetry from the fourth century onwards, and m onk poetry constituted two m ajor forms o f poetiy: j i f f| verse and shi f # poetry. Shi poetry was the poetic forms—yuefu (music bureau poetry), gushi if f f# (ancient- style poetry) and liishi Qtiht (regulated verse)— derived from the Chinese literary traditions and com monly practiced am ong the literati. Shi poetry was defined by its intrinsic rules. Each form o f shi poetry had clear rules o f rhym ing patterns and, in the case o f liishi, pairings o f words in the couplets. Except for yu efu , gushi and liishi were m ostly composed w ith lines o f equal length o f syllables— four, five, six or seven characters. M onk shi poetry was regulated by the intrinsic rules o f shi form s, and its content was not required to be religious.

The formal definition o f j i verse, however, was m uch looser than shi poetry. Ji verse had its origin in the verse in the Buddhist sutras. There w ere two m ajor forms o f verse in the Buddhist sutras: curnika (changheng J l f j ) and gatha (ji fH or song fjt).

Curnika was a long rhym ed prosy verse, usually accounting a story; gatha was short stanza o f a few lines. Curnika and gatha were both rhymed in the original Indian language. However, w hen the Buddhist sutras were translated into Chinese, the translators adapted the verse in the sutras into lines o f equal length o f syllables— four, or five, or six, or seven characters— so as to m ark its genre as poetry to Chinese reader.1 On the appearance the Chinese translation o f Buddhist verse resem bled shi

1 Zhou Y ukai M ifrlfr, Z hongguo chan z o n g y u sh ig e T (C h in ese Chan B uddhism and poetry) (Shanghai: R em nin chubanshe, 1992), 27. This title is referred to as Z h ou afterwards.

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poems, but it had no rhym ing restriction. From the Eastern Jin (317-420) the Buddhist monies started writing j i verse as a creative composition,2 The monies followed the style o f the translated gatha to compose new j i verse, that is, j i verse was composed with lines o f equal length o f syllables but was not bound to any rhym ing rule. In other words, j i verse might rhym e like shi poem s,3 or rhyme randomly, or not rhyme at all.4 There was no specific stylistic requirement for j i verse, either.

There was no absolute intrinsic rule to define j i verse, but there w ere some major characteristics to distinguish j i verse. However, these characteristics w ere not fixed, and the recognition o f a poem as j i verse largely depended on the extrinsic context.

Firstly, the easiest way to distinguish j i verse was title. Ji verse usually had j i f j|, or song fp[, or zan W in the title. However, j i verse did not always have a title, for example, Hanshan (d- u 0 and Shide’s J p f # (d. u.) poems in Onan Tang shi fvp (Complete Tang poetiy).5 W hat determined Hanshan and Shide’s untitled poems as j i verse was that Hanshan and Shide were generally perceived as Buddhist monks, and

their poem s also often had a strong Buddhist m essage.6

2 Tan Z haow en W-'TiJC, C han y u e sh i him ftp fj (Chan m oon and poetry spirit) (H on g Kong:

Saniian shudian, 1994), 5.

J See the j i verse o f KumarajTva (Jiiim oln osh i f) as an exam ple, pp. 11-12.

4 S ee the j i verse o f L ingyun Zhiqin (fl-c. 8 6 0 -8 9 8 ) as an exam ple, p. 11.

5 Peng D ingqiu f j j f j f i , ed., (Juan Tang Shi (C om plete Tang poetry) (Shanghai: Zhonghua shuju, 1960). T liis title is henceforth referred to as QTS.

5 The identity o f H anshan rem ains a m ystery, but he w as generally perceived as a B uddhist m onk in the Song already. Shide w as usually recogn ised as H anshan’s com panion and a B uddhist m onk, too. T. H.

Barrett, “Introduction,” in P o e m s o f H anshan, trans. Peter H obson, 122-31 (W alnut Creek, Lanham, N e w Y ork, and Oxford: A ltam ira Press, 2 0 0 3 ).

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Secondly, the content o f j i verse usually earned an explicit Buddhist or moral message. However, not all j i verse had an explicit Buddhist m essage, for example, the Chan monk Lingyun Zhiqin M f t/e f llj (jl.c. 860-898) was enlightened when seeing

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the peach blossoms, and he recited a j i verse to mark this spiritual occasion:

Throughout the thirty years I had been look in g for a swordsman;

H o w m any tim es 1 cam e across the fallen leaves,

and h o w m any tim es the lea v es grew on the branches ! A fter I saw the peach blossom s,

U p to n ow I still have no doubt.

There is no explicit m ention o f enlightenment in this j i verse, and the content was about one’s long search for a swordsman. Taken this poem out o f the context o f spiritual experience, there w as no religious message on its own. Its Buddhist relevance em anated from the context o f Lingyun Zhiqin’s spiritual experience.

Thirdly, m ost o f j i verse had a religious relevance. However, some j i verse did not have a direct religious relevance, but the)' w ere included in the B uddhist literature.

Below is a j i verse o f the Indian Buddhist master KumarajTva (Jium oluoshi ftlrJIPMff') (334-413). This poem was written to a m onk called Fahe Lfe'SCI (fl-c. 350-394) and recorded in Gaoseng zhuan [WjMfll (Biographies o f the em inent m onks):8

The m ind and the m ountains nurture the great virtues, ’

That spread lon g and w ide. ifFT. °

7 D aoyuan M M , J in g d e ch u an den g lit (T he record o f passing the lam p during the Jingde period), in T aisho Shinshii D a izo k yo j \ i L f l (N e w edition o f the tripitaka in C hinese during the T aisho period), ed. Ono G en m yo 51: 2 8 5 a (Tokyo: N ih o n T ok yo D a izo k y o Kankokai, 1990). The tripitaka is henceforth referred to as T. J in g d e ch u an den g hi is henceforth referred to as JD C D L .

8 Huijiao H&sL G a o se n g zhuan (B iographies o f the em inent m onks) in T, 50: 332b . G a o sen g zhuan is henceforth referred to as GSZ. G SZ records this poem to be a s o n g (ji verse).

*

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The sad phoenix on the solitary dryandra tree,

Her clear v o ic e is heard over the h ighest place o f the sky.

This verse proclaims that the monk Fahe’s great virtues would be know n widely. It follows the formal requirements o f gushi and used a Chinese allusion. KumarajTva employed the Chinese allusion o f a phoenix perching on the dryandra tree, meaning that the country was w ell ruled, to reinforce the power o f the spreading virtues.9 There was no definite religious or moral message other than K um arajlva’s praise to F ahe’s high morale, and obviously this verse was written for a social purpose, not for spreading the Buddhist teachings. The Buddhist relevance o f this poem is emanated from KumarajTva’s religious background and its inclusion in the Buddhist work Gaoseng zhuan.

Fourthly, m ost o f j i verse was written by Buddhist monks or nuns. However, there were a few lay Buddhists also writing j i verse too. Bai Juyi C lM M (772-846), for example, was a devoted Buddhist, and he also wrote a j i verse to explicate the Buddhist teachings.10 Based on the discussion o f j i verse above, one can conclude that j i verse presum ed a strong connection to Buddhism, but its religious relevance did not

always exhibited in its text and depended on the extrinsic context to provide it.

The concept o f religious j i verse versus religion-artitrary m onk shi poetry was

9 C .A .S. W illiam s, C hinese Sym bolism a n d A r t M otifs: A C om preh en sive H a n d b o o k on S ym bolism in C hinese A r t through the A g e s (B oston , Rutland, V erm ont, Tokyo: Tuttle Publishing, 2 0 0 4 ), 324.

H ow ever, it is odd that the p hoenix should be described as a i (sad) during a w ell ruled tim e. A p o ssib le interpretation is that, in spite o f his great virtue, m onk Fahe w as not w e ll a ck n ow led ged by the governm ent, and therefore the p hoenix is sad about this m istreatm ent

10 J D C D L , 285a. See B ai Juyi’s j i verse in B ai Juyi C l/F ill, B a i J u y ij i C J H I I iii (B ai Juyi collection ) (B eijing: Z honghua shuju, 1979), 4: 1502-3. B ai Ju yi j i is henceforth referred to as BJJ.

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defined with a cultural contrast. For instance, the author o f G SZ Huijiao U K (497- 554) defined shi poetry as Chinese culture learning in contrast to j i verse as religious works in GSZ. He wrote, “The lore o f the eastern country [China] is a com position o f the emotional expressions; the song o f the West is to compose j i verse and m atch it with m usic1'...T h erefore the sutras say to use the subtle music and song to praise the virtues o f the Buddha.”

5 r ° ... ’ HI S t 'W"m W ° ] ’2 Huijiao explained that shi poetry

developed from the Chinese culture and was composed to express o n e’s emotion.

Huijiao traced the origin o f j i verse in Buddhist sutras, and j i verse was written to praise the virtues o f Buddha. In other words, j i verse was religious work, but shi poetry in general should follow its Chinese tradition. M onk shi poetry therefore was not required to be religion relevant.

The difficulty to define the intrinsic qualities o f j i verse is obvious. To m ake the issue more complicated, there was a growing tendency to adopt shi rhyming patterns in j i verse from the M iddle Tang onwards, and the language o f j i verse also turned to be more sophisticated like shi poetry.13 Because o f the convergence o f forms and

11 M onk Sengrui ffh K [fl-c. 4 0 0 -4 1 3 ) w as KumarajTva’s d iscip le and assisted KumarajTva to translate the B uddhist sutras into C hinese. H e recorded h o w KumarajTva explicated the cultural custom s o f com p osin g j i verse in India, “KumarajTva often talked about the rhetoric and form s in the w estern language and com pared the sim ilarities and differences o f those [in C hinese]. It is said that the Indian custom s em phasised on the literary com p osition very m uch. It is good that the m usical m etre and rhym es o f verse can fit in the string m usic. There w ould be praise o f virtues w henever one is to have the k in g ’s audience. A s for the custom s o f paying a v isit to the Buddha statue, sin gin g verse w ould be great. J i verse in the B uddhist sutras all fo llo w s the cu stom s.” ’ 5? ’

• f u h h i * ° m m j z m 1 m i m * ■

° ] GSZ, 332b.

12 T, 50: 4 14c.

13 Zhou, 2 8 -3 0 .

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expressions, shi poetry and j i verse were sometimes hard to distinguish from each other. The literature review in this chapter will reveal some studies o f m onk poetry do not separate shi poetry from j i verse. However, shi poetry derived from Chinese tradition and had its cultural purposes; j i verse developed from the Buddhist tradition and was bound to religion. The Buddhist monies were aware o f the different sources to the two poetries. They distinguished the study o f shi poetry belonging to the non- Buddhist studies as waixue (external learning) in contrast to j i verse innate o f the Buddhist studies as naixue p ^ lp (internal learning). N evertheless, as the discussion in the thesis will reveal, m onk shi poetry was not entirely out o f religious context.

1.1. The Rise o f Poet-M onks from the M iddle Tang

During the second h alf o f the eighth century, the Tang society w itnessed an increasing num ber o f poet-m onks (shiseng 14 devoted to shi poetry. These so- called poet-m onks w ere m ainly known for their shi poems and their seriousness about poetic a it.15 The modern scholar Zhou Yukai in his Zhongguo Chan zong Yu Shige r:|:| ^ (Chinese Chan Buddhism and poetry) observes that there was an increasing num ber o f poet-m onks from the Dali period (766-779) o f the

14 The term sh isen g (poet-m onk) appeared approxim ately during the M iddle T ang period; the earliest appearance o f this term can be traced to the p o em C hou bie X ia n g y a n g sh ise n g S h a o w ei jfl'ISO

(A parting p oem to poet-m onk Shaow ei from X iangyang) w ritten by Jiaoran (c.7 2 0 - c .7 9 8 ) in the year 775. Japanese scholar Ichihara R youkichi T p J ij l^ P published this find in Tchihara R youkichi “Chitto shoki kosa teki shiso d11 J S f r J J f f l < T f f r t f j ( T h e poet-m onks at the left side o f low er Y angtze river during early M iddle T ang),” Toho gaku h o ifrTYfTfla 28 (1 9 5 8 ), 21 9 . Cf. Jia Jinhua dates this p o em in the year 775 in Jia Jinhua 5 f I fijS , Jia o ra n n ianpu (A chronology o f Jiaoran’s life ) (X iam en: X iam en daxue chubanshe, 1992), 82-3. Jia Jinhua’s title is henceforth henceforth referred to as JN.

15 T he term “p oet-m onk” in this th esis applies to all B uddhist m onks w ho w rote poetry in general, either sh i poetry or j i verse.

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Middle Tang period:16

A lthough there w ere Buddhist m onks w riting p o etiy before the Tang, but there w ere only a few. D in in g the roughly three hundred years b etw een the Eastern Jin and the Sui, there w ere only about thirty or so poet-m onks, and they did not have m any w orks. H ow ever, according On an Tang sh i there w ere m ore than a hundred poet-m onks. T hey had forty-six ju a n o f poetry. M ost o f the poet-m onks and m onk sh i p oetiy w ere concentrated in a

hundred and som e years after the D ali period.

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Zhou Yukai’s observation is based 011 the record o f QTS and generally acknowledged in the modern studies o f m onk poetry.

M onk shi poetry in com parison to literati shi poetry (wenren shi A A A f ) was not the representative mainstream poetry. Its preservation is therefore likely to be poorer than literati poetry. For instance, prior to the Tang dynasty (618-907), the poetry anthology Xian Qin Han Wei Jin N anbei chao shi A ll? A f jtlg 1^'4bAHlA (Pre-Qin, the

» 1R

Han, the Wei, the Jin and the N orthern and Southern Dynasties Poetry) record forty- two poet-monks across a period o f about three hundred years. For example, the Buddhist master D aoan M S (312-385) was know n to be good at literary writing, and at the height o f his influence all the sons o f the great clans in C hang’an cam e to study

161 fo llo w the general separation o f the Tang literary periods: Early Tang (7 th century), H igh Tang (7 0 0 -7 8 5 ), M iddle Tang (7 8 5 -8 3 5 ) and Late Tang (after 835). W ilt Idem a, and L loyd H aft, A G uide to C hinese L itera tu re, (A nn Arbor: Center for C hinese Studies, The U niversity o f M ichigan, 1997), 125.

17 Z CS, 39.

18 Lu Q inli ed. X ia n Q in H an W ei Jin N a n b e i chao sh i J (Pre-Q in, the Han, the W ei, the Jin and the Northern and Southern dynasties p oetiy) (B eijing: Z honghua shuju, 1983) This work collects s h i p o e tiy before the Tang period, excluding the p oem s in S h i j i n g f f - l l (C la ssic o f P o e tiy ) and Chu c i (C hu v e rse ). This edited title is henceforth referred to as XQH JVNBCS.

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literary writing w ith h im .19 However, there are only a few lines o f D aoan’s w ork recorded in X O H W N BC S. D aoan’s disciple Huiyuan =§ jj§ (334-416) was also renowned for his literary writing. His disciples compiled m ore than fifty literary works including poetry into a ten ju a n Yb (chapter) collection. However, there is only one poem o f H uiyuan recorded in X O H W N B C S 21 The preservation o f M iddle Tang monk shi poetry is not ideal, either. The Song scholar Ye M engde (1077-

1148) m entioned the poor preservation o f M iddle Tang monk shi poetry, “The nam es o f the poet-m onks from the M iddle Tang onwards were widely known. M any o f their contemporaries praised their poems, but their poem s did not pass dow n.”

M U i k ’ ° ]22 However, Ye M engde

was not entirely right. Tang monk shi poetiy did pass down to the Song period. Song shi Tfcjfe (History o f the Song) records about thirty Tang and W udai poet-m onks and their works circulating during the Song period,23 but many other m onk poem s were already lost by the tim e w hen Song shi was compiled in the fourteenth century. The M iddle Tang m onk Lingche l l S t (745-816), for instance, had ten ju a n o f his poems recorded in X in Tang shu ifrlffiif (New history o f the Tang),24 but only onq ju a n o f his works was left in Song shi.2:> In spite o f the generally poor preservation o f m onk shi

19 T, 50: 352a.

20 GSZ, 361b.

2'X O f f l m B C S , 2 :1085.

22 W ei Q ingzhi M M X , ed. Shiren y u x ie A d iiW (A P o et’s Jade C rum bles) (Taipei: Shijie shuju, 2 0 0 5 ), 443.

2j Feng G uodong “S o n g sh iy iw e n zh i sh ish i b ie jiz o n g ji kao { .X X i * S A A O )

f f t A (A textual study o f individual and anthological co llectio n s o f B uddhist m onks in the literature treaties o f H istory o f the S o n g ),” C hung-H w a fo jia o y a n jiu 41 X i ’X W '-W X (C hung-H w a B uddhist Studies), no. 1 0 (2 0 0 6 ): 175-98.

24 O uyang X iu and S on g Qi SfAIk X 'n Tang shu tFfJftllr (N e w history o f the Tang) (Beijing:

Zhonghua shuju. 1975), 5:1 6 1 5 . T his title is referred as X T S afterwards.

25 Tuotuo jjkJfk S o n g s hi X X (H istory o f the Song) (B eijing: Z honghua shuju, 1977), 16: 5387.

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poetry, if we believe that OTS indicates an inaccurate but nevertheless rough quantitative overview o f the poet-monks, the number o f the poet-m onks did increase towards the Late Tang and Wudai periods. Table 1.1 below shows the num ber o f the poet-monks recoded in O TS in three sections o f the 342 years o f the Tang and Wudai periods.

Table 1.1. The N um ber o f the Poet-Monlcs during the Tang and W udai Periods Time From the 7th-mid 8th

century

From the m id 8Ul-mid 9th century

From the m id 9tft-mid 10th century

Period Division

Roughly the Early and High Tang periods

Roughly the M iddle Tang period

Roughly the Late Tang and Wudai periods

Duration 150 years 100 years 100 years

N um ber o f Poet-Monlcs in QTS

20 15 79

The num ber o f the poet-m onks surged m ost significantly during the Late Tang and W udai periods. However, Ye M engde’s comment reminds us that m any poet-m onks were already prolific in writing poetry from the M iddle Tang.

The M iddle Tang poet-m onks’ seriousness about poetry was also asserted in the M iddle Tang literati’s works. Liu Yuxi IflfiWjfl/ (772-842) w rote a rem ark (ji f t ) for Che Shangren wenji W - h A o C M (Lingche’s literary collection) and described that a group o f poet-m onks— Lingyi (726-762), WLM (fl-C- 743-774),26 Qingjiang 'M lL (c. 8 l l ) , 27 Fazhen SjJJjl (fl.c. 766-804),28 Jiaoran (c.720-798) and Lingche—

2 61-Iuguo wrote the p o em Z en g Z h a n g fitm a banzhu zh n zhan g |Jjr ( Pres ent i ng

C om m andant-escort Zhang w ith a m arked-bam boo staff) to Zhang W ei fMIS (fl.c. 7 4 3 -7 7 4 ). Therefore H uguo w as proxim ately active dui'ing the sam e tim e. Fu X uancong ed., T ang c a izi zhuan jia o jia n (C orrections and n otations o f B iographies o f the Tang talents) (B eijing:

Z honghua shuju, 1987), 2: 5 3 4 -5 . This title is referred as TCZZ afterwards.

27 Q ingjiang already enjoyed poetic fam e during the early D ali period (7 6 6 -7 7 9 ). TZC C , 2 :5 3 7 -4 0 .

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already enjoyed poetic fame during his time.29 (See an analysis o f this w ork on p p . 33- 4.) Liu Yuxi’s observation was not a coincidental observation. His contemporary scholar Bai Juyi also mentioned the same poet-monks rising to poetic fame in the preface o f his poem Ti D aozong shangren shi yun M M t h J l A H 'I S (Writing ten rhymes to monk Daozong).30 (See an analysis o f the preface and the poem on pp. 22- 5.) Based on Zhou Yukai’s observation on the records in OTS and the Tang literati’s comments on the M iddle Tang poet-monks it is therefore reasonable to conclude that the num ber o f the poet-m onks serious about poetic art increased from the M iddle Tang.

The Buddhist monks devoted their lives to spiritual cultivation and lived a communal life regulated by the monastic codes.31 Their poetry w ilting was therefore guided by the monastic codes. A ccording to Huijiao there w ere at least eighteen

» *39 *

monastic codes deriving from five m ajor schools o f Buddhism. The monasteries usually followed one m ajor m onastic code and consulted other m onastic codes.33 The monastic code Shisong lit -p U jfli (Sarvastivada-vinaya) allows the monies to study non-Buddhist studies (external learning) to defend and promote Buddhism. Shi poetry derived from Chinese culture, and the m onks’ shi poetry w ilting should follow the

28 Fazhen and Q ingjiang liv ed in the roughly sam e period. Fazhen also enjoyed p oetic fam e during the early D ali period. TCZZ, 2: 546.

29 “Che sh an gren w en ji j i _h A Y H L tZ (Rem ark on L in gch e’s literary w ork c o lle c tio n )” in Liu Y u xi Liit Yuxi j i jia n z h e n g §flj (N otation and textual studies o f L iu Y u x i’s work collection ) (Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, 1989), 1: 519-20.

30 BJJ, 2: 470.

jl S ee a d iscu ssion on the life and organisation o f a B uddhist m onastery in Charles S. Prebish, and D am ien K eow n , In tro d u cin g B u ddh ism (N e w Y ork and London: R outledge, 2 0 0 6 ), 6 0 -7 0 . 32 G SZ, 403 ab.

3j S ee the exam ple o f m onk X uanyan A l l (7 4 3 -8 0 0 ), w ho m ainly observed Sifen lit but also consulted other m onastic cod es, p. 55. M ore relevant discu ssion on the major m onastic co d es, pp. 5 2-5.

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teachings o f external learning. Below is a quoted passage from Shisong Hi:

Buddha w as in the k ingdom SravastT. There w ere m onks abandoning Sutra and Abhidharma and failed to observe the m onastic codes. T hey recited the books, literary w orks and military strategies o f other teachings and left the B uddhist sutras behind. Buddha said, “From n ow on, it w ill be a sin i f anyone learns to recite the books, literary w orks and m ilitary strategies o f other teach in gs.” B efore Buddha established this rule, the senior Sariputra and M aham augalyayana sat on the high seat and lectured the n ew m on k s and m ale n o v ices about the Dharma and taught them h o w to study and recite the b ook s o f other teachings so as to defeat the attacks o f other teachings. A fter Buddha established the rule, the seniors Sariputra and M aham augalyayana then did not sit on the high seat and lectured the Dharma and taught other teachings to the n ew m onks and m ale novices. A t the tim e p eo p le o f other te a c h in g s.. .arrived [at the lod gin g place o f die m onks] and debated w ith the n ew m onks and m ale n o v ices. The n ew m onks and m ale n o v ices could not answ er their questions. This w as because firstly they ju st started learning the teachings o f Buddha, and secon d ly they did not study other teachings due to the rule. A t the tim e p eop le o f other teach in gs laughed at the lay Buddhists and said, “Your great masters, the on es you provide, the on es y o u respect, the ones w ho sit up there and eat first are ju st like this.” The lay B uddhists heard this and w ere worried and unhappy. T hey told Buddha about this. Buddha said, from n o w 011 you study b ooks o f other teachings so as to defeat the attacks o f other teachings.

m E & m m • ' n m m * ■ m m m • m

w ■ • s S iS a • « « ! ! * » # ■

* S i e e ± ’ s t t f f t f c f i M i s i i s ■ °

B E • SWrfctfi.

■ - m m a m - -

° ° IE® ®

i s • • n km m & m ° < m - ■

34

According to the quoted passage, Buddhists should prioritise the learning o f Buddhist teachings and the observance o f m onastic codes. However, they could study external learning so as to show non-Buddhists that their submission to B uddhism was out o f knowledge instead o f ignorance o f other teachings. External learning therefore was to defend Buddhism and, by defeating the attacks from non-Buddhists, promote

34 T, 23: 274a.

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Buddhism among different teachings. The monies’ shi poetry writing therefore should be for a religious purpose.

However, not all monastic codes allow the monks to write poetry. For example, the monastic code Genben shuoyiqieyou bit binaiye zashi $ 1 ^ 1 ^ —

HI (.Mula-sarvativada-vinaya-ksdraka-vastu) forbids the monks to w rite poetry:

Buddha says the m onks should not go and sh ow up in the p laces o f son g and dance. I f the m onks sin g and dance and recite p oetiy, or teach p eop le to do so, or co lle c t the com positions th em selves, or sh ow up again in such occasion , these doings all violate the c o d e f5

m m m ■ m m m m •

From the quoted passage, the Buddhist monies should not write poetry. This monastic code was translated into Chinese by Yijing m W (635-713) and should have influenced the monks after its translation.36 However, the rise o f poet-m onks from the m id eighth century already made it clear that the prohibition o f poetry writing in Genben shuoyiqieyou bit binaiye zashi was not observed. The discrepancy between the theoretical virtues in Genben shuoyiqieyou bu binaiye zashi and the reality illuminates a gap between two cultural understandings o f poetry writing. Genben shuoyiqieyou bu binaiye zashi, on one hand, treats poetry as an entertainm ent like singing or dancing in the Indian culture, and Buddhist m onks w ere therefore discouraged to write poetry. Poetry in the Chinese culture, on the other hand, served a purpose larger than mere entertainment. On the cultural level, shi poetry as a core

35 P eng Y alin g “ T ang d a i sh isen g de clniangzuo hm y a n jiu —sh ig e y u f o j ia o de zon gh e fe n x i Iff f T i l f f f -n fF ffr (A study o f the m otivation o f the T ang m onk p o e ts’

com p osition —an com b in ed analysis o f religion and B uddhism )” (PhD thesis, N ation al C hengchi U niversity, 1 999), 3 9 -4 0 . T, 24: 2 2 la b .

36 2 4. 207a. The translator is stated at the beginning o f the sutra,

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literary composition was believed to m irror the management o f socio-politics. On 37

the individual level, shi poetry was believed to manifest the w riter’s virtues and capacities. It was an ingrained component in the education o f the secular* scholars, and the skill in shi poetry writing was sanctioned in the exam ination to recruit the government officials.38 The two culture viewpoints to poetry shaped the interpretation o f m onk shi poetry into two divergent ways. The literature review in the next section explicates two readings o f m onk shi poetry and the poet-monks* m otivations to write shi poetry.

1.2. Literature Review: A Construction o f Two Conventional Readings

Historical and m odern receptions o f monk shi poetry from the M iddle Tang have diverged into two conventional readings. One reading based on the social convention separates Buddhist monks from the secular literati. Bai Juyi, for exam ple, viewed the religious responsibilities as the prim e priority o f the monies, and they should w rite poetry for religion instead o f for art. The other reading based on the literary convention, Liu Yuxi’s view for instance, separates j i verse from m onk shi poetry and focuses more on the artistic quality o f m onk shi poetry.

37 See Pauline Y u, and T heodore Huters, “The Im aginative U niverse o f C hinese Literature,” in C h in ese A esth etics a n d L iteratu re: a re a d e r, ed. Corinne PI. D ale, 1-13 (Albany: State U n iversity o f N e w Y ork, 200 4 ); W ilt Idem a, and L loyd H aft, “The Central Tradition in Traditional S o ciety ,” in C h in ese

A esth etics a n d L iteratu re, ed. C orinne H. D ale, 4 1 -5 4 (N e w York: State U niversity o f N e w Y ork, 2 0 0 4 ).

38 S ee D avid M cm ullen, S ta te a n d S ch o la rs in T a n g C hina (Cam bridge, N e w Y ork, N e w R och elle, M elbourne and Sydney: Cam bridge U niversity Press, 1 988), 2 0 6 -1 1 ; 2 2 9 -3 4 ; 2 4 4 -4 9 .

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1.2.1. Reading one: monk poetry to promote Buddhism

Dining the M iddle Tang several poet-monks were famous for their shi poetry, and their poetic fame allured an interpretation o f their m otivation to write shi poetry.

A ccording to the teachings o f external learning, monk poetry in general should be w ritten for a religious purpose. However, the M iddle Tang poet-m onks seriously cultivated poetic ait, but their shi poem s generally lacked an explicit B uddhist message in content. Bai Juyi wrote in the preface o f his poem Ti D aozong shangren shi yun and attacked the poet-m onks’ seriousness about poetic art:

In the Dharraa hall o f m onk D aozon g, an em inent m onk sp ecialised in vin a y a 39 o f the Puji tem ple, there are poem s o f late C ou n sellor-in -C h ief the M inister o f Education Z h en g, 40 Im perial Secretary Gui,4i M inister o f Justice Lu,42 V ice Supervisor o f the H ousehold Yuan40 and tod ay’s Grand C ouncillor Zheng o f the M inistry o f P ersonnel,44 Grand C ouncillor W ei o f the Secretariat45 and A ssistan t D irector o f the L eft Q ian.46 R eading their titles, they all exchanged poetry w ith the m onk. E xam ining the people, they are all the virtuous in the

39 Vinaya ( liixtte flM P) is the study o f the m onastic codes.

40 The late C ou n sellor-in -C h ief the M inister o f E ducation Zheng w as Z heng Y u q in g (7 4 6 -8 2 0 ).

See his biography in Liu X u Jin T ang shit f f j l f l l r (O ld history o f the T ang), 13: 4 1 6 3 -7 . This title is referred as JT S afterwards. A TS1, 16: 5 0 5 9 -6 1 .

41 Imperial Secretary Gui could be either Gui C hongjing (7 1 2 -7 9 9 ) or his son G ui D en g § § |£

(7 5 4 -8 2 0 ). See their biographies in JTS, 12: 4 0 1 4 -2 0 ; ATS1, 16: 5 0 3 5 -3 9 .

42 Y uan C hongjian y c sk ffi’ (d. 8 22). S ee an outline o f Y uan C hongjian’s life in B a i J u yi’s w ork Git Jin gzh ao Yuan sh a o yin w e n jix u T flH IT (Preface o f the co llectio n o f late M etroplitan Junior G overnor Y u a n ’s literary w orks) in B a i, 4: 1424-6.

43 M inister o f Justice Lu w as p o ssib ly Lu Jingchu (6 6 5 -7 3 5 ). H is biography can be found in JTS, 9: 2 8 7 6 -7 ; A T S, 14: 4 2 3 6 -7 .

44 Grand C ouncillor Z heng o f the M inistry o f Personnel w as p o ssib ly Zhen H an (7 7 6 -8 3 9 ), the son o f Z heng Y uqing. See h is biography in JTS, 13: 4 1 6 7 -8 ; ATS, 16: 506 1 -2 .

45 Grand C ouncillor W ei o f the Secretariat w as p ossib ly W ei Chuhou m i l ) ? (7 7 3 -8 2 8 ); he w as prom oted to be m 8 2 6 , and this w as h is final posting. W ei C huhou b eliev ed in B uddhism and particularly d evoted to its teachings during his late years. S ee his biography in JTS, 13: 4 1 8 2 -7 ; ATS,

1 5 :4 6 7 4 -6 .

46 Qian H ui (7 5 5 -8 2 9 ). H is biography can be found in JTS: 13: 4 3 8 2 -6 ; ATS, 17; 5 2 7 1 -3 .

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court. Investigating the contents, they are all w ords o f uprightness. I then k n ow the w ords o f the m onk are written for uprightness, for D hanna, for the w isd om o f u sin g skillful m eans to save others, for deliverance o f Buddha nature, and not for the sake o f poetry. T hose w ho k now the m onk w ould say so. I am afraid that those w ho do not know the m onk w ould think him as one o f th ose p eop le such as H uguo, Fazhen, Lingyi, Jiaoran ! I therefore write tw enty lines to explain for D aozong.

• k j o s * i m ± A n § i H i • » a >

m m

^■ ^■

wmm

^- ^-

umrr-

^■ ^{3 s} ^a ^{i m} ^w ^■

f Ft f i » > s m s r a ' ? » ' » - '

- 47

In the preface Bai Juyi pointed out that monk Daozong exchanged poetry with several high posted officials. From the officials5 poems to Daozong Bai Juyi concluded that Daozong, unlike other famous poet-monks, wrote poetry for religion. It was possible that Daozong exchanged poetry with the scholar-officials to proselytise, but it was also possible that the scholar-officials w ere interested in Buddhism and came to Daozong for religious advice. Bai Juyi did not clarify the exact purpose o f the contact between Daozong and the officials. W hat was important to Bai Juyi w as that monks should write poetry for religion and disapproved o f the poet-m onks composing poetry for art. Bai Juyi explicated his notion o f m onk shi poetiy further in the poem Ti D aozong shangren shi yum

Buddha lectured w ith verse and hymn;

Bodhisattvas w rote treatises.

Therefore the disciplinary m aster D a o zo n g Writes p o etiy for religion.

One phonem e has no [m eaningful] differentiation;

Four lines form layers o f m eaning.

47 BJJ, 2: 470.

48 Zan § f (to assist) here is a variation character o f zcm if f (praise/hym n).

49 C hinese characters are m ono-p h on em ic, so one y in af (sound/phonem e) is one character (a w ord usually).

■4S

i m m m

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You mean to let the first-class p eo p le50 A ll understand the m eaning o f non-duality.51

The essen ce and purity touches the em bodim ent o f the c o d e s;52 The leisure and blend [life] hides the flavour o f Chan.

You indulge language w ith ease;

Ethereally [the m eaning] transcends above the written words.

You invite the elites from the different regions o f the country;

You reach up to the princes, dukes and nobilities.

You attract them w ith verse first;

Afterwards you guide them into the w isd om o f Buddha.

P eople like your verse best;

I alone know your intention.

You are not like the m onk H uixiu,

W ho had m uch thought o f clouds in the blue sky.53

There are two significant points in Bai Juyi’s reading o f D aozong’s poetry. Firstly, in this poem Bai Juyi traced the Buddhist w riting tradition back to Buddha, who added verse and hymn in his teaching, and the Bodhisattvas, who w rote treatises to explain and elaborate the teachings o f Buddha. Bai Juyi did not differentiate the writing of treatises from verse; he considered these writings, regardless o f literary genres, were all for the puipose to teach and spread the Buddhist teachings.

50 In the scripture B ai Juyi m entioned that D aozon g associated w ith several high o fficia ls w h o w ere the elites o f the society.

51 N on-duality is one o f the characteristics o f zh e n n t jL#n (Bhutatathata; B uddha nature), the reality' unchanging or im m utable. Z h en n t, or Buddha nature, is in contrast to the changing form and

phenom ena in the w orld. Peter Harvey, A n In trodu ction to B uddhism : Teachings, H is to iy a n d P ra c tic e s (Cambridge: C am bridge U n iversity Press, 1 990), 99.

52 J ie ti (the em bodim ent o f the m onastic co d es) m eans the B uddhist m onks. T he B uddhist m onks all have to observe the m onastic cod es, and therefore the Buddhist m onks are the em bodim ents o f the m onastic codes. D a o zo n g sp ecialised in the vina)>a studies, and B ai Juyi em p h asized on D a o z o n g ’s religious speciality.

53 See the account o f H uixiu BH T {/I.e. 4 5 3 -4 6 4 ) in the footnote 59. Biynn | f ® (C louds in the blue sky) w as his representative p oem , but unfortunately this p oem is lost.

f p f c p f - i i -

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a g a w s t# ? • m m m m ■

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The second point is an irony in the poem. Although Bai Juyi argued that Daozong wrote poetry for religion, D aozong’s poetry m ight be quite rhetorically embellished and not be particularly religious in content. Bai Juyi described that Daozong clearly “indulged language” in his poems, and the m eaning o f his poem transcended above the crafted words in the poem, which means that the assumed religious message m ight be suggested by the artistic expressions but not plainly conveyed. Furthermore, the artistic expressions actually distracts the reader from the true message o f D aozong’s poetry, because “people like your [D aozong’s] verse best;

I alone know your [D aozong’s] intention.” ° ] D aozong’s poetry might be more artistic than Bai Juyi was willing to admit, for the other poet- m onks’ interest in poetic craftsmanship was what precisely Bai Juyi attacked and defended D aozong’s poetry from. Therefore, Bai Juyi em phasised that he knew D aozong’ true intention in poetry writing and excused the em bellished language in D aozong’s poetry as a tool to attract the reader to Buddhism. (See the couplet “You [Daozong] attract them [the readers] with verse first; afterwards you guide them into the wisdom o f Buddha.” [A J Y J A U A ’ A A A f l^ A ° ]) In Bai Juyi’s reading, the artistic expressions in D aozong’s poetry were a means, not an end in itself.

Unfortunately, it is im possible to directly assess the balance betw een religiousness and artistic rhetoric in D aozong’s poetry, for his poetry is lost. We cannot judge if D aozong’s poetry was really different from that o f other poet-m onks. We can only assume that Bai Ju y i’s m ore positive assessm ent o f D aozong was based in their personal acquaintance. In other words, D aozong’s poetry m ight be easily read as non

religious if the reader was a stranger to the poet. Bai Juyi’s religious assum ption o f D aozong’s works m ight have been based on his knowledge o f the p o et’s background.

The two points together indicate that Bai Juyi presumed a religious purpose o f

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monk shi poetiy because the poets were religious devotees, w hich essentially reflects the social convention to distinguish Buddhist monks from other social groups. Bai Juyi argued that all the poet-m onks5 writings, regardless o f genres and forms, should be written for Buddhism. A few Buddhist historians presented a similar' view in the accounts o f the Tang poet-monks. The Tang m onk Fulin jg ? # (//.c. 785)54 wrote the biography o f the M iddle Tang poet-m onk Jiaoran and also treated the artistic expressions in JiaoraiTs poetry as a means to attract people to Buddhism: “Jiaoran expressed his inner feelings in the poetic recitations, and it was said that his poetry expressed the finest craftsmanship o f poetry. His literary works w ere profound and beautiful, and Jiaoran was called a great vessel o f the Buddhist m onasteries...

[Jiaoran’s poetry] was only to attract and persuade the readers w ith verse initially and [then] lead them to the wisdom o f Buddha. It was the basic purpose [of his poetry] to

convert people [to Buddhism ].” Q f tS J ff ° A A A I

w ’ > a a

° ] 35 The Song Buddhist historian Zanning f t S p (919-1001) also defended the M iddle Tang poet-m onk Lingyi similarly, “ [Lingyi] showed people his literary works so as to attract the secular intellectuals.” [ A A A S ' ’ 0 T 6 Interestingly, the poet-m onks defended by Fulin and Zanning w ere the same poet-m onks condem ned by Bai Juyi for writing poetry for art’s sake. Fulin and Zanning used the same argument

54 There is a short account o f Fulin in Zanning I f A S o n g g a o se n g zhuan (S o n g biographies o f the em inent m onks) (B eijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1987), 2: 730. In this account Fulin w a s said to d ie in the second year o f the X in gyu an f f ly c period. There w as on ly one year o f the X in gyu an period (784).

A s Fulin w rote about the death year o f Jiaoran in the year 7 9 8 , Fulin should be still alive in the year 785. Ibid., 739, footn ote 2.

55 F u lin ’s account o f Jiaoran’s biography is included in Z anning f t - p , S o n g g a o s e n g zh u an A r S r ® )!!

(S on g biographies o f the em inent m onks) in T, 50: 891c-2b . S on g g a o se n g zh u an is referred as SG S Z afterwards.

56 S G Z, 799a.

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as Bai Juyi for Daozong to vindicate Jiaoran and Lingyi’s poetry.

N ot all Buddhist monies argued that the poet-monks were w riting poetry for religion. Zongze (c. 1054-1106) criticised the Late Tang poet-m onks Guanxiu J f (832-912) and Qiji (864-c. 943) in Chanyuan qinggui jW3dT/lf®l {Rules o f p u rity fo r the Chan monastery) edited in the year 1103 that they overdid their literary

freedom:

I f the language used by the scribe is refined and elegant and the style is w e ll suited to the m essage, then a letter transm itting a m essage a thousand m iles aw ay can still represent the glory o f the assem bly. H e m ust not use pen and ink to spite or intim idate h is co llea g u es w ith no consideration for the D hanna. M onk C hanyue (G uanxiu) 57 and Q iji w ere but called poet- m onks; Jia D ao and H uixiu drifted am ong the secular officials— but w as this their intention w hen they b ecam e m onks?

■ T - s n g • - m m • ^

ymmmm - mmc * ±mm ■ s mim ■ « • & •58

This passage from Chanyuan qinggui explains a view o f the use o f a Buddhist m onk’s literary skills: literary adequacy was preferable in the monasteries, but literary practice should not be excessive and should be in service to religion. Guanxiu and Qiji were criticised for talcing poetry writing so seriously that they w ere called poet- monks, an attitude unsuitable for the clergy. It further criticised Jia Dao M S (779- 843) and Huixiu (fix. 453-464), who were once Buddhist monies and returned to laity for officialdom, wrote poetry to associate with the officials.39 However, the

57 Guanxiu w as granted the title C hanyue da sh i jjiijlkl ykfip (M aster C hanyue) b y W ang Jian z E i l (8 4 7 - 918) the ldng o f form er Shu during the W udai period.

58 Y ifa ‘s translation w ith som e m oderation. Y ifa, The O rigin s o f B u d d h ist M o n a stic C o d e s in C hina: an A n n o ta te d Translation a n d S tu d y o f the C hanyuan q in ggu i (H onolulu: U niversity o f H a w a fi Press, 2 0 0 2 ), 159.

39 H uixiu enjoyed p oetic fam e w h en he w as a B uddhist m onk. The S on g em peror Liu Jun O'- 4 5 3 - 4 6 4 ) ordered him to return to laity and appointed him to an official post. S ee Shen Y u e fifclG S o n g shu