Poetry, Emotionality and Enlightenment Neo-Confucian Influences on ‘Poetry-Chan’ in Ming ‘Loyalist’ Monastic Communities

Corey Lee Bell 중앙대학교 외국학연구소 2018 외국학연구 Vol.- No.44

The idea that poetry can be identified with Chan constitutes one of the most iconic symbols of Chinese Buddhist literary theory. It is arguably most commonly associated with the view that indigenous genres of nature or reclusion poetry can be imbued with religious power, and in particular, the notion that conveying the serene ambience of a secluded setting can transmit the inner tranquility or 'stillness' of the enlightened poet. This view reflected beliefs about the type of environments conducive to Buddhist cultivation, and ostensibly sacrosanct Buddhist eremetic ideals. These factors were linked by some scholars to a tenet loosely associated with Mahāyāna Mind-Nature Theory - that stilling the phenomenal mind, principally through cultivating detachment from worldly affairs, can enable the practitioner to discern with clarity his primordial Buddha nature. During the 17th century, however, many new views on the Buddhist value of non-Buddhist poetry began to proliferate in some Buddhist monasteries. This trend arose against the backdrop of a chaotic period of dynastic transition, and was particularly prominent in Buddhist communities which featured many monks renowned for being loyal to the Ming dynasty, which was overthrown by the Manchu Qing. One view in particular marked a radical departure from the more conventional Buddhist emphasis on stillness and detachment - the notion that religious benefits can be derived from cathartic poems which depict traumatic events, and the intense emotional responses they evoke. The development of these new ideas was related to the formation of a new, syncretic Mind-Nature Theory paradigm, one whose core conceptual foundations were drawn from the famous Song neo-Confucian Zhu Xi's notion of 'the mutual incorporation (or interfusion) of stillness and (e)motion'. This theory was intimately connected in these monks’ writings with the idea that poetry's enlightening power stemmed from its facility for venting and modulating e-motion - in particular, its capacity to facilitate psychological amelioration and restore 'stillness' or mental tranquility for those living through trying times. This article examines the writings of four so-called 'loyalist' Chan monks who adapted Zhu's paradigm of the interfusion between stillness and motion to promote the idea that intense 'worldly' emotions, when expressed in poetic form, can have religious value for Buddhist disciples. The monks in question are: 1. the Caodong Tianjie lineage founder Juelang Daosheng, who first developed this rubric, and whose ideas will be the subject of special emphasis; 2. his principle disciple Fang Yizhi; 3. the Caodong Haichuang lineage leader Jinshi Dangui, and; 4. the Linji sect monk Jishan Chengjiu. In addition to discussing how the development and evolution of this rubric reflected the specificities of these authors' historical situation, I aim to show how this evolving model could be seen to constitute an approach to literature and emotionality that reflected the syncretic, humanist and socially engaged brand of Buddhism which was a prominent feature in the religious landscape of late imperial China.

For the Triratna and for Samyak-saṃbodhi-The 'Quasi-poetry' of Tianran Hanshi-

Corey Lee Bell 한국불교연구원 2018 불교연구 Vol.49 No.-

This article discusses the meaning of the eminent early Qing monastic leader Tianran Hanshi's 天然函昰 concept of “quasi poetry” 似詩, its relationship with contemporary debates on the relationship between Chan and poetry, and its impact on poetic ideas and practices in Buddhist monasteries. It will begin by addressing how, in the backdrop of a shift in gentry-monastic relations in the late Ming / early Qing, some monastic writers, such as the renowned late Ming reformer Hanshan Deqing 憨山德清, articulated a more radical identification of Chan with poetry. I will then briefly introduce Tianran and the core principles he associated with his concept of “quasi poetry”, focusing on the ways in which this concept constituted an alternative – and possibly an implicit critique – of the radical identity theory. The third section shows examples of the application of Tianran’s “quasi poetry”, focusing on a response poem Tianran composed for the lay disciple Xie Jiu 謝揪. This is followed by a discussion on quasi poetry’s application and impact in and beyond Tianran’s Haiyun school. In a brief afterword I will discuss this how this concept was associated with new modes of literary interaction between gentry and clerical interlocutors, and summarise some of the core reasons for this phenomenon’s growth, and eventual decline, during the Qing dynasty.

From the “Cool and Pure” to the “Hot and Bothered” – The ‘Heterodox’ Buddhist Poetics of Hanshan Deqing.

Corey Lee Bell 한국선학회 2018 한국선학 Vol.0 No.50

중국 불교 문학관의 두드러진 특징은 비불교적 시가 종교적 가치를 가질 수 있다는 생 각이 발전한 점이다. 특히 근대 제국시대의 승려들 사이에서는 세속적 시의 종교적인 가치를 이해하려는 다양한 관점이 형성되었다. 이 중 명말의 승려 감산덕청이 제기한 관점은 특별하여, 전통적인 관점과 극명한 대조를 이룬다. 중국 불교 총림의 속시(俗詩) 에 대한 종교적 가치 개념의 다원성과 정교성을 밝히기 위해, 본고는 감산이 유배된 후 의 시선(詩禪)에 대한 논술의 형성과 구조를 분석했고, 이 논술이 후대에 미친 영향을 탐 구했으며, 교리적 연원 이외에도 감산의 개인체험이 그의 논술에 준 영향을 함께 탐구 했다. 이는 시적으로 ‘청정’을 묘사하는 종교적 가치에 대한 전통적인 생각을 논하는 것 으로 시작된다. 이후 감산이 중국 남부의 열대 지역으로 유배된 뒤 지옥처럼 더운 장면 을 묘사하는 시의 종교적 가치를 어떻게 긍정하기 시작했고, 이러한 사상적 변화가 어 떻게 『능가경』과 상호영향을 주고받았는지 분석했다. 그는 지옥·몽경(夢境)·몽어(夢語) 의 3가지 개념으로 유심파 사상에 영향을 받은 새로운 관점을 창조했으니, 유배시와 선의 동일성이다. 마지막으로 감산의 시론이 중국 남부 승려들에게 미친 영향을 설명 하고, 시선(詩禪)에 대한 전통적인 방법론을 벗어나 새롭게 탐구할 것을 주장하였다. A distinctive feature of Chinese Buddhist literary theory was the development of the idea that non-Buddhist poetry can have religious value. This is commonly associated with the idea that the ‘pure and cool’ (清淨) scenes of some landscape/reclusive poems celebrated Buddhist eremitic ideals, and could even reflect the inner ‘coolness and purity’ of the enlightened author. However, especially in the late imperial period, less widely celebrated ways of understanding the Buddhist value of secular poems were proposed by monastic writers. Of these, the rubric advanced by the eminent late Ming cleric Hanshan Deqing (憨山德清) is particularly marked on account of its stark contrast with more established conventions – he proposed that poems which depicted agitated emotions prompted by ‘steamy’ and defiled scenes were ideal resources for enlightening Buddhist disciples. These ideas emerged after Hanshan was exiled to Lingnan (Guangdong), and were attributed to religious insights he developed as a result of this bitter experience – in particular, revelations in relation to the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra. These ideas arguably exerted some influence on monastic writers – especially those who were similarly exposed to political violence as a result of the collapse of the Ming dynasty. Aiming foremost to contribute to a greater awareness of the diversity and sophistication of monastic discourses on the religious utility of poetry, this article discusses the formation and constitution, and tentatively explores the influence of, the post-exile writings on poetry-Chan of Hanshan Deqing. Its methodology is somewhat unconventional in that, in line with the approach to Hanshan’s thought of Sung-peng Hsu, it seeks to uncover both the doctrinal and experiential influences that shaped Hanshan’s unique approach to poetryChan. It begins by briefly discussing conventional ideas on the religious value of poetically depicting ‘pure and cool’ settings. It then discusses how, subsequent to Hanshan’s exile to the tropics of southern Lingnan, he began to affirm the religious utility of poems which depict steamy, “hellish” settings, and analyzes how this transformation was related to Hanshan’s post-exile revelations regarding the Laṅkāvatāra. It explores, in particular, how the notions of “hell”, “dreamlike-ness” and “dream-speech” were drawn upon to construct new, Mind-only school-inspired theories on how genres such as frontier/exile poetry can be radically identified with Chan. The last section briefly explores the influence of Hanshan’s unorthodox emancipatory poetics in Qing dynasty southern Chinese monastic orders, and encourages further studies aimed at challenging the relatively narrow purview of conventional approaches to poetry-Chan.