Lives of the nuns biographies of Chinese Buddhist nuns from the fourth to sixth centuries : a translation of the Pi-ch'iu-ni chuan |
 |
|
 | 1. | 1. The Chin Dynasty
(265-317 / 317-420) |
| 1. |
| 2. |
| 3. |
| 4. |
| 5. |
| 6. |
| 7. |
| 8. |
| 9. |
| 10. |
| 11. |
| 12. |
| 13. |
| 2. |
| 3. |
| 4. |
|
|
|
|
 | 1. The Chin Dynasty
(265-317 / 317-420) Lives of the nuns |  |
1. The Chin Dynasty
(265-317 / 317-420)
1. Chu Ching-chien
[OMITTED]
The nun Chu Ching-chien (Pure Example) (in the lineage of an
Indian monk) (ca. 292-ca. 361)[1] of Bamboo Grove Convent of
Lo-yang in the Chin dynasty[2]
Ching-chien's secular surname was Chung and her given name was
Ling-i. Her family was originally from P'eng-ch'eng in northeastern
China.[3] Her father, Chung Tan, served as administrator of Wu-wei
Commandery [in far northwestern China].[4] As a small child Ching-chien
had been very fond of learning. She was still quite young when
the death of her husband left the family impoverished, and to earn a
living she often taught lute and calligraphy to the children of noble
families.
When Ching-chien first heard about the Buddhist teaching she felt
faith and joy, but there was no one from whom to receive detailed
instruction. Later she met the Buddhist monk Fa-shih who was thoroughly
versed in scripture and practice. In the chien-hsing reign period
(313-317) of Western Chin he established a monastery at the West
Gate of the imperial city [of Lo-yang].[5] When Ching-chien visited
there, Fa-shih explained the teachings to her. As a result she had a
great awakening and grew firm in her resolve to seek the benefits of
the religion of the Buddha. Borrowing a scriptural text from Fa-shih to
study, she proceeded to master its contents.
On another day she said to Fa-shih, "In the scriptures it says, `Bhikshu
and bhikshunī aspire to deliverance.' [What are bhikshu and bhikshunī?]"
Fa-shih replied, "In the western regions there are two monastic
assemblies, that of bhikshu, or monks, for men and that of bhikshunī,
or nuns, for women; but in this country the books of rules for the
monastic life are not complete."
Ching-chien asked, "Because the scripture speaks of the two terms,
monk and nun, can it be that the rules for each group are different?"
Fa-shih said, "Foreign Buddhists say that nuns have five hundred
rules to follow as compared to fewer for monks, and that must be the
difference.[6] I asked the instructor about this, and he said that the rules
for nuns are highly similar and only slightly different from the monks'
regulations, but, if I cannot get the complete texts of these rules, then I
certainly cannot bestow on women the obligation to observe them. A
woman aspiring eventually to become a nun may, however, receive the
ten fundamental precepts from the Assembly of Monks only, but,
without a [female] monastic instructor to train her in the practice of all
the rules, a woman has no one on whom to rely [for that training
which prepares her to accept the obligation to observe all the rules of
monastic life]."[7]
Ching-chien, nevertheless, received the tonsure [required of all who
leave the household life], cast off secular garb and accepted the ten
fundamental precepts from the instructor. There were twenty-four
other women of like mind, and together they established Bamboo
Grove Convent at the West Gate of the imperial city. They had as yet
no female teacher, so they all consulted Ching-chien, whose instruction
and advice were superior to those already recognized as accomplished
[in religious thought and practice].
The instructor [who had bestowed the ten fundamental precepts]
was the Buddhist monk Chih-shan from Kashmir [in the western
regions of central Asia].[8] Gentle in wisdom and elegant in thought, he
cultivated both meditation and chanting. He supported himself by
begging for alms, and his preaching surely spread the Buddhist Way.
At that time in China, however, faith was shallow, and no one knew
enough to request instruction from him. Therefore, in the first year of
chien-wu (317) he returned to Kashmir.[9] Later, when [the Buddhist
magician monk from Kucha, Chu] Fo-t'u-teng, returned [to the Lo-yang
region], he recounted Chih-shan's virtues; everyone felt great
remorse [for having lost the opportunity to learn from the monk of
Kashmir].[10]
Ching-chien supported and cared for her community of disciples;
she observed the monastic rules with purity and distinction. The influence
of her preaching of the Buddhist teaching was [in Mencius'
words], like wind moving grass.[11]
In the hsien-k'ang reign period (335-342) of Eastern Chin the Buddhist
monk Seng-chien,[12] when in the land of the Scythians in central
Asia, got hold of a nuns' rites and rules book of the Mahāsānghika
Buddhist sect.[13] In the first year of the sheng-p'ing reign period (357),
the translation of the text was completed in Lo-yang[14] on the eighth
day of the second month [in honor of the Buddha's entry into final nirvana].[15]
The foreign Buddhist monk T'an-mo-chieh-to set up a ceremonial
dais [on which Ching-chien and her disciples were to accept all
of the monastic rules for women as found in the newly translated
text]. The Chinese monk Shih Tao-ch'ang objected to this action,
however, on the basis of scriptures on the origins of monastic rules
that said that, because there was no Assembly of Nuns in China to
bestow the rules on the women as the scriptures required, the ritual
should not be carried out.[16] His objections were not acknowledged
and, as a result, [Shih Tao-ch'ang] took a boat down the Ssu River to
the south.[17] Ching-chien and the others, four altogether, became Buddhist
nuns by accepting, from the Assembly of Monks only, the obligation
to observe all the monastic rules. Ching-chien is thus the first of
the Buddhist nuns in China.
On the day of that ritual, remarkable fragrance and perfume [filled
the air]. Everyone smelled it, and there was none who did not rejoice
and marvel; respect for her increased all the more. Ching-chien well
cultivated the monastic rules and resolutely studied without ceasing.
Although the gifts of the faithful were many, she distributed everything
she received, always putting herself last and others first.
At the end of the sheng-p'ing reign period (357-361) Ching-chien
once again smelled the same fragrance [that had graced the ritual of
her becoming a nun], and she saw a red, misty cloud. Out of that
cloud a woman holding a five-colored flower in her hands descended
from the sky. Ching-chien was delighted to see her and said to the
nuns, "Manage your affairs well in the future. I am taking leave of you
now." Clasping their hands she bid them farewell and then rose up
into the air.[18] The path she traveled looked like a rainbow going
straight up to heaven. At that time she was seventy years old.[19]
The early Buddhist missionaries from India and central Asia were given
surnames in China that indicated the country of their origin: Chu for India,
An for Parthia, K'ang for Sogdia, and Chih for Scythia. For several centuries
their Chinese disciples took religious surnames from their masters until the
custom arose of using the first character of the Buddha's own name, Shā-kyamuni—or
Shih-chia-mou-ni in Chinese transcription—thus giving rise to
the practice of all monks and nuns taking the religious surname of Shih.
P'eng-ch'eng was in the present-day region of northwest Chiangsu Province
and southern Shantung Province. P'eng-ch'eng was a very early and
important center of Buddhism in China, with evidence for Buddhist practice,
of a sort, dating to mid-first century a.d. It remained a flourishing center
lying as it did in a pivotal section of a trade route that connected the Silk
Road, with P'eng-ch'eng lying at the extreme eastern end, and southern
China, the areas of Kuei-chi and modern-day Nanjing, the capital, under different
names, of the succession of Southern dynasties beginning with the Eastern
Chin dynasty (a.d. 317). See Maspero, "Les Origins," pp. 87-92.
Lo-yang served as the capital of the Chin dynasty until the fall of Western
Chin in 317. See map.
This means only that the nuns have more rules than the monks. The
number of rules for nuns in the various schools: Dharmaguptaka, 348; Mahīshāsaka,
373; Sarvāstivāda, 354; Mahāsāmghika, 290; Pali canon, 311;
Tibetan canon, 364; Mūlasarvāstivāda, 309. See Mochizuki, Bukkyō-daijiten
5:4292.
These are the ten basic rules that the novice in training is to observe—
namely, to refrain from (1) harming living beings; (2) stealing; (3) wrong sexual
conduct; (4) false speech; (5) intoxicating substances; (6) wearing perfumes
or garlands; (7) participating in entertainments or going to observe
them; (8) using a high or wide bed; (9) eating at improper times; and (10) carrying
or using silver, gold, or other precious objects (which prohibits the use
of money).
Chih-shan from Kashmir: The table of contents to the Ming seng chuan
(Lives of famous monks) (of which only fragments remain) lists in chap. 19 a
Chih-shan in the category of foreign meditation masters. Because he is listed
whether he is the same as Ching-chien's instructor. The book Lives of Famous
Monks was also compiled by Pao-ch'ang. See appendix A.
This is the most likely date because it refers to the chien-wu reign period
of Chin (317), rather than to the chien-wu reign period of the Latter Chao
(335). The biographies are dated according to the reign periods of the Southern
dynasties. This means he left the same year that the Chinese dynasty of
Chin had to flee south from the non-Chinese invaders.
According to the records Chu Fo-t'u-teng lived from the year 232 to the
year 348. He has a biography not only in the Buddhist collection of biographies,
Kao seng chuan, vol. 50, chap. 9:383.b-387.a, but also in the official
history of the dynasty, the Chin shu, chap. 95. His biography from Kao seng
chuan has been translated by Wright, "Fo-t'u-teng." Fo-t'u-teng, a central
Asian of Indian ancestry and hence surnamed Chu, carried out his missionary
work in northern China, arriving from Kucha in a.d. 310 in time for the
calamitous loss of north China to invading non-Chinese tribes. He remained
in north China using his considerable magical powers to ameliorate the harsh
rule of the barbarian emperors. His Chinese disciples, in particular the monk
Shih Tao-an (whose biography appears in Kao seng chuan, 5:351.c-354.a,
and has been translated into English by Link, "Biography of Shih Tao-an"),
established the intellectual and institutional foundations not merely of Buddhism
in China but also of Chinese Buddhism.
The allusion is to Mencius, book 3, part A: "The virtue of the gentleman
is like the wind. The virtue of the common man is like the grass. When
the wind blows the grass will surely bend." See also the translation by Lau in
Mencius.
In the year a.d. 317 barbarians took control of north China, forcing the
imperial court to flee south where it set up another capital city at Chien-k'ang
(present-day Nanjing), on the south bank of the Yangtze River. Many refugees,
especially among the upper classes, fled south at the same time. Ching-chien,
however, was not among them, remaining instead in or near Lo-yang.
The city of Lo-yang had been sacked in a.d. 311 (Ch'en, Buddhism in China,
p. 57; Zürcher, Buddhist Conquest, pp. 59, 84).
Land of the Scythians, lit. Yüeh-chih people, in present-day Kashmir,
Afghanistan, and Pamir. The Yüeh-chih are known in the west as Scythians.
The Yüeh-chih Buddhist missionaries were very active in bringing Buddhism
to China, and colonies of Yüeh-chih lived in the northwest section of China,
e.g., Kansu and the Tun-huang region. The translator monk Dharmaraksha,
the "bodhisattva from Tun-huang," for example, was of Yüeh-chih ancestry.
The importance of central Asians of several groups such as the Kucheans,
Khotanese, and Sogdians in transmitting the Buddha's law from India to
China cannot be overemphasized.
We have used the variant reading as it appears in the Sung, Yüan, and
Ming editions of the Buddhist canon. This makes our interpretation somewhat
different from others. For example, Tsukamoto Zenryū, Chūgokubukkyō-tsūshi,
p. 438, states, "The foreign monk T'an-mo-chieh-to set up an
ordination platform in Lo-yang using the Mahāsānghika Ritual and Rule
book brought back from Yüeh-chih by Seng-ching." In Mochizuki, Bukkyō
daijiten, p. 4292b., we read, "In the hsien-k'ang period of Latter Chin, Seng-ching
got the Mahāsānghika Ritual and Rule book, and in the first year, second
month of the sheng-p'ing period requested T'an-mo-chieh-to to set up a
bhiksunī ordination platform." We do not see any way to reconcile these differing
versions, and we have chosen our interpretation for the reason that the
date of the completion of the translation is given.
The eighth day of the second month (or, according to some sources, the
fifteenth day of the month) was celebrated as the Buddha's nirvana day; i.e.,
the day he passed into final nirvana. See, e.g., Fa yüan chu lin [Forest of pearls
in the garden of the law] T. 53, 371.c.-372.c.; and Nirvāna Scripture, T. 12,
365.c.8-9.
The Chinese text for the phrase "scriptures on the origins of monastic
rules" could also be interpreted as the title of a specific book. There is such a
book, the Origin of Monastic Rules Scripture, translated in the northern capital
of Ch'ang-an (see map) between 379 and 385. This date, however, places
the translation too late for use by the monk Shih Tao-ch'ang because the nun
Ching-chien died no later than 361. It is always possible that an earlier, but
now-lost, translation that used the same title could have been available. A text
called Pi-nai-yeh (i.e., Vinaya) in ten chüan was translated by Chu Fo-nien of
the Yao Ch'in. He went to Ch'ang-an in the chien-yüan reign period (365384)
and was part of the translation team headed by Tao-an who had been
taken by force to Ch'ang-an in 379. The text was translated between 379 and
385. See Hirakawa Akira, Ritsuzō-no-kenkyū, pp. 155-160, for a discussion
of the date of translation. This date means that the text was translated some
years after Ching-ch'ien's full ordination and therefore could not be the one
specified in the biography. It is possible that the words chieh yin-yüan ching
refer to Vinaya texts in general because in the body of these texts the circumstances
that lead to the creation of a new rule are referred to as yin-yüan. See,
e.g., T. 22, no. 1425, 522.a.10, 522.c.17. Waley, in Buddhist Texts through
the Ages, p. 292 n.3, suggests that it is referring to the Ta-ai-tao pi-ch'iu-ni
ching (The scripture of Mahāprajāpatī's Vinaya). But the date of translation
of this text is approximately 412-439, thus being too late. See Répertoire,
p. 126. Another possibility is that it is the title for a text now lost.
This sentence is admittedly difficult to interpret. Tsukamoto Zenryū in
his book Chūgoku bukkyō tsūshi, p. 438, says that Ching-chien and her companions
received the precepts on an ordination platform on the boat.
at times, the circumstances in this instance seem not to warrant that interpretation.
The Ssu River was not located conveniently near Lo-yang. Waley, in
Buddhist Texts through the Ages, p. 242, says that the foreign monk went
south on the river. Regardless of who went south, the goal of such a trip might
well have been P'eng-ch'eng, a thriving center of Buddhism since at least the
first century (see Zürcher, Buddhist Conquest, pp. 26-28), or even Chien-k'ang.
The lower reaches of the Ssu River were "stolen" when the Yellow River
changed course in the late twelfth century and flowed into the Yellow Sea
south of the Shantung peninsula until the mid-nineteenth century when the
Yellow River once again changed course to flow north of the Shantung peninsula.
The Ssu River was not restored.
Rising bodily to the sky is a Taoist way of death. See Le Lie-sien
tchouan, p. 112; Yün chi ch'i ch'ien (Seven tallies in a cloud satchel), e.g., pp.
1619-1620.
Thus she was in her late twenties when she received the ten precepts and
in her late sixties when she finally received full admission to the Assembly
of Nuns.
2. An Ling-shou
[OMITTED]
The nun An Ling-shou (Esteemed Leader) (in the lineage of a
Parthian monk) of Founding of Wisdom Convent of the
Northern, non-Chinese dynasty of Chao[20]
An Ling-shou's secular surname was Hsü. Her family was originally
from Tung-huan [in northeastern China]. Her father Hsü Ch'ung
served the non-Chinese dynasty of Latter Chao (319-350) as an
undersecretary of the provincial forces.[21]
When she was young, Ling-shou was intelligent and fond of study.
Her speech was clear and beautiful; her nature modest and unassuming.
Taking no pleasure in worldly affairs, she was at ease in secluded
quiet. She delighted in the Buddhist teachings and did not wish for her
parents to arrange her betrothal.
Her father said, "You ought to marry. How can you be so unfilial?"
Ling-shou said, "My mind is concentrated on the work of religion,
and my thought dwells exclusively on spiritual matters. Neither blame
nor praise moves me; purity and uprightness are sufficient in themselves.
Why must I submit thrice [to father, husband, and son], before
I am considered a woman of propriety?"[22]
Her father said, "You want to benefit only one person—yourself.
How can you help your father and mother at the same time?"
Ling-shou said, "I am setting myself to cultivate the Way exactly
because I want to free all living beings from suffering. How much
more, then, do I want to free my two parents!"[23]
Hsü Ch'ung consulted the Buddhist magician monk from Kucha,[24]
Fo-t'u-teng, who said, "You return home and keep a vegetarian fast,
and after three days you may come back to see me again."[25] Hsü
Ch'ung obeyed him. At the end of the three days, Fo-t'u-teng spread
Hsü Ch'ung's palm with the oil of sesame ground together with safflower.[26]
When he ordered Hsü Ch'ung to look at it, Ch'ung saw a
person who resembled his daughter dressed in Buddhist monastic
robes preaching the Buddhist teachings in the midst of a large
assembly.
When he told all of this to Fo-t'u-teng, the monk said, "This is a former
incarnation of your daughter, in which she left the household life
and benefited living beings—such were her deeds. If you consent to
her plan, she indeed shall raise her family to glory and bring you blessings
of the great ocean of suffering known as the incessant round of birth
and death."
Hsü Ch'ung returned home and permitted his daughter to become a
nun. Ling-shou thereupon cut off her hair, discarded secular ornaments,
and received the rules of monastic life from Fo-t'u-teng and the
nun Ching-chien. She established Founding of Wisdom Convent, and
Fo-t'u-teng presented her with a cut-flower embroidered vestment, a
seven-strip monastic robe,[27] and an elephant-trunk-shaped water
ewer[28] that Shih Lo (274-319-333),[29] first emperor of the Latter
Chao dynasty, had given him.[30]
Ling-shou widely perused all kinds of books, and, having read a
book through only once, she was always able to chant it by heart. Her
thought extended to the depths of the profound; her spirit intuited the
subtle and divine. In the religious communities of that time there was
no one who did not honor her. Those who left the household life
because of her numbered more than two hundred. Furthermore, she
built five or six monastic retreats.[31] She had no fear of hard work and
brought her projects to completion.
The Emperor Shih Hu (?-335-349),[32] nephew of the late Emperor
Shih Lo, honored her and promoted her father Hsü Ch'ung to the official
court position of undersecretary of the Yellow Gate and administrator
of Ch'ing-ho Commandery.[33]
The traditional conception of a woman's duty was to obey first her
father or elder brother, then her husband, and finally her son. See Wright,
"Biography of An Ling-shou," p. 195, where he quotes James Legge's translation
of the Li Chi: ". . . In her youth, she follows her father and elder brother,
when married, she follows her husband; when her husband is dead, she follows
her son." This describes an ideal situation. An Ling-shou was obeying a
higher authority that included her duty to her parents.
Buddhist monastic life ran counter to traditional values and was the
biggest obstacle to Chinese acceptance of Buddhism. This is standard Buddhist
apology. The theme is central to Dudbridge, The Legend of Miao-shan,
pp. 89-91.
Kucha was an oasis city kingdom of central Asia along the Silk Road
some distance from northwest China.
See biography 1. In reading his reply to Chung, one must keep in mind
that he was a magician as well as a monk and used this very successful expedient
means to influence the rulers in north China at the time, Shih Lo and Shih
Hu. Evidence indicates that he ameliorated some of the very harsh aspects of
the rule of these two. See Wright, "Fo-t'u-teng."
See Wright, "Fo-t'u-teng," pp. 337-338. Fo-t'u-teng could also hear
prophesies from the sound of bells and could interpret dreams. The early Buddhist
missionaries to China often were wonder workers and healers.
Traditionally a garment made from rags collected from the dustheap
and patched together. The Chinese passage could also be interpreted to mean
that the vestment and the robe were the same garment.
There is also a vestment tie known as a hsiang-pi (elephant trunk),
which would make the sentence read "elephant-trunk tie, and a water ewer."
The interpretation in the translation was chosen because of the structure of
the sentence.
The Latter Chao, 319-350, was one of many non-Chinese dynasties
that rose and fell in the north after the legitimate Chinese dynasty was forced
to flee south in a.d. 317. This dynasty, under Shih Lo, and especially under
his nephew Shih Hu, (who killed Shih Lo's son) has been described as a reign of
terror and Shih Hu in particular as a psychopath. Their capital sites were
Hsiang-kuo and Yeh in north China. See Zürcher, Buddhist Conquest, pp.
85, 181.
Ching-sheh was not originally a Buddhist term. It derived from Han
times and was used by both Confucianists and Taoists. There are several alternate
combinations of characters. See Stein, "Remarques," p. 38.
3. Chih-hsien
[OMITTED]
The nun Chih-hsien (Wise Virtue) (ca. 300-ca. 370+) of West
Convent of Ssu Province in north China
Chih-hsien's secular surname was Chao. Her family was originally
from Ch'ang-shan Commandery [in north China, north of the Yellow
River].[34] Her father Chao Chen was the magistrate of Fu-liu County
in the same territory.[35]
While still a child, Chih-hsien was both principled and virtuous,
and, after she grew up and put on the dark robe [of a Buddhist nun],
her observance of the monastic rules was perfect. Her spirit was concentrated
and far-reaching, encompassing all things without being
confused by any particular matter.
The administrator of the commandery, Tu Pa, staunchly believed in
the Taoist system known as the Way of the Yellow Emperor and Lao-tzu.[36]
He detested the Buddhist monks and nuns. Because of his
hatred, he issued an order that the assemblies of both monks and nuns
were to be investigated [with regard to the quality of their practice,
and those found unworthy] were to be sifted out.[37] The standards
used in the investigation were very severe and could scarcely be met by
ordinary persons. The younger [monks and nuns] quaked in fear; anticipating
the administrator's hostility, they fled. Chih-hsien alone was
unafraid and remained at ease. Only the elderly nuns dared to gather
outside the city walls at the archers' practice hall where the investigation
was to be held. On the day of the examination, of the able-bodied
nuns, only Chih-hsien remained.
The administrator first examined Chih-hsien with regard to the
monastic regulations and found that her practice was more than adequate.
Because of her refined beauty and eloquent speech the administrator
harbored depraved intentions, and he forced her to remain
alone [with him]. Chih-hsien, recognizing his intentions, vowed not to
break any of the monastic rules concerning relations between the
sexes. Disregarding her own safety, she protested and resisted strongly.
Angered by her rejection of his advances, the administrator stabbed
her over twenty times with his dagger. She fell unconscious to the
ground, not reviving until after the administrator had left.
This event behind her, Chih-hsien redoubled her zeal in the practice
of vegetarian fasts and austerities. She and her disciples, who numbered
more than a hundred, always dwelt in accord.
When Fu Chien (339-357-385) took the throne of the non-Chinese
dynasty of the Former Ch'in (351-394), he heard of her reputation
and showed her great respect.[38] He had made for her finely embroidered
outer robes, whose preparation required three years and whose
value was one million in cash.
Later she lived in West Convent of Ssu Province [in north China],
where she propagated the true teaching and spread the belief and practice
of Buddhism.[39] During the t'ai-ho reign period (366-371) of the
[southern, Chinese] dynasty of Chin she was seventy-some years old.
Chih-hsien had made a specialty of chanting the Flower of the True
Law Scripture.[40] Even in her advanced age, she could still chant it in
its entirety in only one day and one night.[41] [Another sign of her spiritual
accomplishments was that] the many birds that roosted in the
whenever she engaged in the [ritualized] walking exercise [between
periods of meditation.][43]
It should be noticed that in the biographies Confucianism as such is
never the subject of polemics. Huang-Lao Taoism evolved during the Han
dynasty and concerned obtaining long life and immortality. It is possible that
the administrator of the commandery was a consciously practicing Huang-Lao
devotee, but he was more likely to be a Confucian.
See Zürcher, Buddhist Conquest 2:414 n. 27, where he lists five
instances of the investigation of the assemblies of the monks and nuns, one of
which is mentioned here.
In 357. His uncle Fu Chien (different character) (r. 351-355) declared
himself emperor in 351, founding the Former Ch'in dynasty, one of the Sixteen
Kingdoms of non-Chinese rulership in north China, 304-463. Former
Ch'in (351-394) united north China during Fu Chien's reign (357-385). He
was strangled to death in 385. The seat of the Former Ch'in government was
at Ch'ang-an within the province of Ssu-li, and this is probably the Sus Province
given as the location of Chih-hsien's convent home. She presumably
moved from her hometown in Hopei to the capital, or the biography is giving
her ancestral home, a common practice in Chinese Buddhist biographical
writing. She is thus located in Ch'ang-an during approximately the same time
as Ching-chien (biography 1). On Fu Chien, see Rogers, Chronicle of Fu
Chien; Chin shu, chap. 113-114; Wei shu, chap. 95.
The Chinese title indicates that Chih-hsien used the translation by
Dharmaraksha (Chu Fa-hu), done in the year a.d. 286 in Ch'ang-an in northwest
China. T. 9, no. 263. See Répertoire, p. 36.
This is a tour de force in terms of the length of the text. It would require
chanting about fifty words per minute nonstop for a twenty-four-hour period.
If she took any rest, she would have to have chanted much faster.
Concourse with animals is frequently the indication of a holy person of
whatever tradition. See Eliade, Shamanism, p. 99, passim. One is reminded of
St. Francis of Assisi, who preached to the animals, and St. Seraphim of Sarov,
who associated with the bear and other animals.
Ritualized walking, ching hsing, a Buddhist term referring to a ritualized
walking exercise often used as a break to punctuate the hours of sitting in
meditation. See Oda, Bukkyō-daijiten, p. 249.c.
4. Miao-hsiang
[OMITTED]
The nun Miao-hsiang (Subtle Characteristic) of North Peak
Convent of Hung-nung [Commandery in north China, west of
Lo-yang along the Yellow River]
Miao-hsiang's secular surname was Chang, and her given name was
P'ai-hua. She was from Hung-nung,[44] and the family of her father,
Chang Mao, was very wealthy.[45] While yet very young, Miao-hsiang
became well versed in the teachings of the [Confucian] classics, and
this set the tone of her character. She was married at age 15 to Huang-fu
Ta of Pei-ti in northwest China,[46] who was a secretary in the crown
prince's grand secretariat of the right.[47] When her husband was
mourning for his parents, he did not behave according to [Confucian
propriety].[48] [Because of his lack of filial piety] Miao-hsiang disliked
him and sought to end the relationship and subsequently to become a
Buddhist nun. Her father consented to both requests.
Miao-hsiang assiduously kept to a vegetarian diet. Her mind
roamed in the scholarly explanations of the Buddha's discourses; she
clearly understood the difficult Buddhist doctrine and analysis of the
characteristics of existence.
She lived on North Peak in Hung-nung in a shady forest facing the
open countryside, where she and her many disciples led a life of joyful
resolve in the quiet retreat. [In this manner she withdrew from the
world for] over twenty years, strengthening her ascetic practice more
and more as the years passed by.
Whenever she preached the [Buddhist] teaching, she saved people.
Because she often feared that those listening to her would be unable to
concentrate their resolve to attain freedom from birth and death, she
would at times weep to exhort them to greater efforts. Thus her
preaching always brought about great benefits.
During the yung-ho reign period (345-356) of the Chin dynasty the
administrator of Hung-nung Commandery requested her to carry out
a seven-day vegetarian religious feast. A lay guest sitting on the dais
his words were presumptuous and his attitude disrespectful. Miao-hsiang,
very serious, said, "Not only do you treat me arrogantly, but
also you are showing contempt for an official of the country. How can
you be so rude when appearing in public?" Thereupon, the man
feigned illness and withdrew; both religious and laity marveled in
admiration of her.
Later she was seriously ill for many days. As she neared death, she
was in a joyful mood, and she advised her disciples, "Regardless of
poverty or success, anyone who is born must also die. This very day I
am leaving you." Having spoken, she died.
Hung-nung in north China. Probably the town located on the Yellow
River to the west of Lo-yang, halfway between Lo-yang and the north bend of
the Yellow River. See map.
Chang Mao, otherwise unknown. He is not likely to be one of the four
persons whose names appear in the dynastic histories because the locations do
not conform to the biography. Chin shu, chaps. 30, 78, 86, 107, refer to the
four different individuals, and there is no evidence identifying any of them as
Miao-hsiang's father.
Grand secretariat of the right. See des Rotours, Traité, p. 595. "Les
quatre secrétaires du grand secrétariat de droit de l'héritier du trone (T'ai-tseucho-jen)
etaiant mandarins du sixiéme degré, primiére classe."
Confucian propriety, i.e., observing all the rules and rites associated
with the death of a parent. A clear explanation is given in Waley, Analects of
Confucius, pp. 62-64; Thompson, Chinese Religion, pp. 51-52.
5. K'ang Ming-kan
[OMITTED]
The nun K'ang Ming-kan (Bright Influence) (in the lineage of a
Sogdian monk) of Establishing Blessings Convent
Ming-kan's secular surname was Chu, and her family was from Kao-p'ing
[in northeast China].[49] For generations the family had venerated
the [Buddhist] teachings known as the Great Vehicle.[50]
A bandit who wanted to make her his wife abducted her, but, even
though she suffered increasing torment, she vowed not to give in to
him. She was forced to serve as a shepherdess far from her native
home. Ten years went by and her longing for her home and family
grew more and more intense, but there seemed to be no way back.
During all this she kept her mind fixed on the Three Treasures, and
she herself wished to become a nun.[51]
One day she happened to meet a Buddhist monk, and she asked him
to bestow on her the five fundamental precepts [of a Buddhist householder].[52]
He granted her request and also presented her with a copy
of the Bodhisattva Kuan-shih-yin Scripture, which she then practiced
chanting day and night without pause.[53]
Deciding to return home to build a five-story pagoda, she fled to the
east in great anxiety and distress. At first she did not know the road
but kept traveling both day and night. When crossing over a mountain
she saw a tiger lying only a few steps away from her. After momentary
the tiger led the way for her, and, after the days had grown into weeks,
she finally arrived in her home territory of Ch'ing Province [in the
northeast]. As she was about to enter the village, the tiger disappeared,
but at that moment, having arrived in the province, Ming-kan
was again abducted, this time by Ming Po-lien. When word reached
her family, her husband and son ransomed her, but the family did not
let her carry out her wishes [to enter the life of a Buddhist nun]. Only
after three years of cultivating stringent religious practices was she
able to follow her intention. As a nun, she especially concentrated on
the cultivation of meditation, and she kept all the regulations of a
monastic life without any transgressions. If she happened to commit a
minor fault, she would confess it several mornings in a row, ceasing
only after she received a sign or a good omen. Sometimes as a good
omen she saw flowers rain down from the sky or she heard a voice in
the sky or she saw a Buddha image or she had auspicious dreams.
As Ming-kan approached old age, her moral cultivation was even
more strict and lofty. All the men and women north of the Yangtze
River honored her as their spiritual teacher in whom they could take
refuge.
In the spring of the fourth year of the yung-ho reign period (348) of
the Chin dynasty,[54] she, together with Hui-chan (no. 7) and others—
ten in all—traveled south, crossed the Yangtze River, and went to see
the minister of public works, Ho Ch'ung (292-346), in the capital of
the Eastern Chin dynasty.[55] As soon as he met them, he showed them
great respect. Because at that time there were no convents in the capital
region Ho Ch'ung converted one of his private residences into a
convent for them.
He asked Ming-kan, "What should the convent be named?"
She replied, "In the great realm of the Chin dynasty all the four Buddhist
assemblies of monks, nuns, and male and female householders
are now established for the first time.[56] Furthermore, that which you
as donor have established will bestow blessings and merit. Therefore,
let us call the convent Establishing Blessings Convent." Ho Ch'ung
agreed to her suggestion. Not long afterward Ming-kan took sick and
died.
This refers to Mahāyāna, or Great Vehicle, Buddhism, the type of Buddhism
prevalent in East Asia. Great Vehicle Buddhism teaches that the religious
ideal is the bodhisattva, or Buddha to be, who helps living beings attain
final nirvana ahead of them by accumulating vast stores of spiritual merit and
donating that merit to any and all who ask. The followers of the Great Vehicle
contrast this ideal with that of the Small Vehicle, which holds that the religious
ideal is the arhat or enlightened individual who, after death, will be
reborn no more, having attained final nirvana, and who is not, according to
the teachings of the Small Vehicle, able to grant spiritual merit to another.
These two main branches of Buddhism are distinguished by many other features,
an important one of which is the collections of scriptures. Great Vehicle
Buddhism has vast numbers of texts claiming to be the word of the Buddha as
compared to the relatively modest number of texts belonging to the Small
enough do not consider their Buddhism to be a lesser teaching at all, and the
Great Vehicle is something that, traditionally, they simply ignored. The one
remaining Disciples' Vehicle school, the Theravāda (Way of the Elders), is
prevalent in Sri Lanka, Burma, and Thailand. See, e.g., Robinson and Johnson,
Buddhist Religion, pp. 65ff.
These five are refraining from harming any living beings, from lying,
from wrong sexual conduct, from stealing, and from intoxicating substances.
Robinson and Johnson, Buddhist Religion, pp. 59-60. Also, e.g., Tseng i
a-han ching (Ekottarāgama), T. 2, no. 125, pp. 576-577.
This scripture is chap. 25 of Kumārajīva's translation of the Lotus
Flower of the Wonderful Law (Saddharma-pundarīka-sūtra) (Miao fa lien-hua
ching), T. 9, no. 262; and chap. 23 of Chu Fa-hu (Dharmaraksha), Cheng fa
hua ching (Flower of the true law scripture), T. 9, no. 263. It is also known as
the Universal Gate chapter (P'u men p'in), and it enjoyed wide circulation and
popularity as a separate text. Chu Fa-hu's version is the one she would have
had as Kumārajīva's was not translated until about half a century later. See
Bibliography, Flower of the Law Scripture.
This date cannot be reconciled with the dates of Ho Ch'ung. In the
biography of Hui-chan (biography 7), the date given for the nuns crossing the
Yangtze River is 344.
Ho Ch'ung (292-346) (Chin shu, chap. 77). Ho Ch'ung was an upper-class
influential man who promoted Buddhist interests, and he was likely a
Buddhist himself. See Zürcher, Buddhist Conquest, p. 86, passim, especially
pp. 96-97.
"For the first time" probably means that this is the first time since the
flight of the Chinese court to the south in a.d. 317 that there were nuns in the
south. Ming-kan's arrival in the south is at least a decade before Ching-chien
(biography 1) was fully admitted to the assembly in 357 in Lo-yang. Ming-kan
is treated as one who has received all the rules for a member of the Assembly
of Nuns.
6. T'an-pei
[OMITTED]
The nun T'an-pei (Perfection of the Dharma) (324-396) of
Northern Everlasting Peace Convent[57]
T'an-pei's secular surname was T'ao, and she was a native of Tan-yang
in the city of Chien-k'ang [the capital of the Eastern Chin
dynasty located on the south bank of the Yangtze River].[58] When she
was a young child, she already had pure faith and wished to cultivate
the true teaching of Buddhism. She was an only child and lived with
her widowed mother, whom she served with such filial devotion that
her clan commended her behavior. When T'an-pei grew to marriageable
age, she would not accede to any betrothal plans, and her mother,
unable to go against her daughter's wishes, allowed her to leave
worldly life [and become a Buddhist nun]. With great zeal, T'an-pei
practiced the monastic rules day and night without remiss.
Emperor Mu (343-345-361) of Chin respectfully received her in
audience, and he often praised her, saying, "The more I see her, the
more excellent she seems."[59] To Empress Chang—that is, Madame Ho
[niece of Ho Ch'ung]—the emperor said, "Among the Buddhist nuns
here in the capital there is rarely one who can compare with
T'an-pei."[60]
In the tenth year of the yung-ho reign period (354) the Empress
built a convent for T'an-pei in the Ting-yin Neighborhood, calling it
[Northern] Everlasting Peace Convent (which I, Pao-ch'ang, the compiler,
note is now known as Empress Ho Convent).[61]
Modestly and selflessly T'an-pei guided others and never once gave
any evidence of haughtiness. Her fame spread daily, and women from
far and near gathered about her as disciples until there was a community
of three hundred. T'an-pei was seventy-three years old when she
died in the twenty-first year of the t'ai-yüan reign period (396).
Her disciple T'an-lo was well read in the scriptures as well as in the
monastic rules, and her skills and talents in these subjects were broad
and thorough. By imperial command she filled T'an-pei's position as
teaching master of the convent. Furthermore, she had built a four-story
pagoda, a lecture hall, and living quarters; also, she had made an
image of the Buddha reclining [as he entered final nirvana], and a hall
for the images of the seven Buddhas [of the past].[62]
Dharma is a Sanskrit word that means law, or pattern, that must be followed.
The Way of Buddhism, for example, is called the Buddha's Dharma.
The Chinese translated the word by their word fa, but they also often transliterated
it as T'an-mo. When the transliterated form was used as part of a
name, as in the case of T'an-pei, the second syllable was usually dropped.
City of Chien-k'ang, the capital of Eastern Chin; located in present-day
Chiangsu Province at Nanjing. See map. This is the first biography of a nun
native to the south.
Niece of Ho Ch'ung (see n. 55 above; biography 5). Empress Chang,
age of sixty-six in a.d. 402 or 404, having survived her husband by forty-four
years. She was in her early twenties when the emperor died.
Shākyamuni Buddha, who was born in India in the sixth century b.c.,
was the most recent in a very long series of Buddhas. Soper, Literary Evidence,
p. 13, believes that such halls were intended for the seven Buddhas of the past
who are Vipashyin, Shikhin, Vishvabhū, Krakucchanda, Kanakamuni, Kāshyapa,
and Shākyamuni. Oda, Bukkyō-daijiten, 739.c-740.a.
7. Hui-chan
[OMITTED]
The nun Hui-chan (Deep Wisdom) of Establishing Blessings
Convent
Hui-chan's secular surname was Jen, and her family was originally
from the city of P'eng-ch'eng [long a home to Buddhists, in northeast
China]. Of extraordinary countenance and high moral standards,
Hui-chan took as her vocation the saving of living beings from the suffering
of birth and death. She found great joy in wearing her rough
clothing and eating vegetarian food. Once when she was carrying
rather than wearing her outer robe as she traveled over a mountain,
she encountered a band of robbers. They tried to attack her with
knives, but [as proof of the power of the Bodhisattva Kuan-yin chapter
in The Flower of the Law Scripture, which promises that help will
be vouchsafed to those who call on Kuan-yin in times of distress] the
robbers' hands were paralyzed.[63]
Foiled in the attempt to kill her, they wanted to take the robe she
was carrying over her shoulder. Hui-chan laughed gaily and said to
them, "You wanted a lot, but what you are going to get is worth very
little," and she handed over not only the robe she was carrying but also
her new lower skirt from inside the robe she was wearing. Shamed, the
robbers tried to return both robes to her, but she tossed the clothing
aside and went on.
In the second year of the chien-yüan reign period (344), she went
south across the Yangtze River.[64] The minister of public works, Ho
Ch'ung (292-346), respected her greatly and requested her to live in
Establishing Blessings Convent.
The part of the sentence beginning "as proof" and ending "in times of
distress" does not appear in the Chinese text. Nevertheless, this exact circumstance,
i.e., one who is about to be harmed by a robber wielding a knife or
staff calls on the name of the bodhisattva Kuan-yin and is kept safe from harm
because the robber cannot then raise up his hands, is described in the Flower
of the Law Scripture, the earlier translation by Chu Fa-hu (d. 310+) of the
Western Chin dynasty (T. 9, no. 263, 129.a.11ff). The other translation of
this scripture (T. 9, no. 262), that by Kumārajīva (d. 409 or 413), does not
include the detail that the robber would be unable to raise up his hands against
his victim (T. 9, no. 262, 56.c.16ff).
Chien-yüan reign period (344) is a more likely date than 348 given in
biography 5 because Ho Ch'ung died in 346. See n. 55, above.
8. Seng-chi
[OMITTED]
The nun Seng-chi (Foundation of the Sangha) (ca. 330-397) of
Increasing Joy Convent[65]
Seng-chi's secular surname was Ming, and her family was originally
from Chi-nan [in northeast China].[66]
When Seng-chi was still very young, she had already fixed her mind
on the way of Buddhism, holding fast to her wish to leave the household
life and become a nun. Her mother, however, would not hear of
it and secretly betrothed her, hiding the engagement gifts. Thus the
daughter knew nothing about it until the wedding day drew close [but
as soon as she found out] she immediately refused to eat or drink a
thing. Even though all her relatives tried to get her to change her
mind, she would not be moved.
After Seng-chi had fasted seven days her mother summoned the
bridegroom, a man of devout faith, who, when he saw that his bride
was in danger of death, said to his prospective mother-in-law, "Each
person has his own will that cannot be forced." The mother then
acceded [to her daughter's wishes], and consequently Seng-chi left the
household life. At that time she was twenty-one years old. Relatives
from both sides of the family came to express their best wishes, and
they vied with one another to give fine banquets and other precious
gifts in honor of her becoming a nun. The provincial magistrate presented
gifts, and the commandery administrator attended in person.
Monastics and householders alike marveled [that this degree of honor
given her] was most unusual.
Seng-chi kept the monastic rules in great purity, and she diligently
studied the scriptures. When compared to the nun T'an-pei
(no. 6), her reputation was nearly equal. Her mental faculties were
most concentrated, and she was good at deliberation and decision
making.
The Emperor K'ang (322-343-344) often paid respects to her,[67]
and, in the second year of the chien-yüan reign period (344), the
Empress Ch'u (324-384), consort of K'ang, built for her a convent
named Increasing Joy in T'ung-kung Lane in Chien-k'ang, the capital
of Chin.[68] Seng-chi took up residence there, and more than a hundred
disciples came to her.
Because in her management of all affairs she was clear and intelligent,
both monastics and householders respected her more and more.
She was at least sixty-eight years old when she died in the first year of
the lung-an reign period (397).[69]
Sangha: Seng is the first syllable of the Chinese transliteration, Seng-chia
(in ancient times Seng-ka), for the Sanskrit Sangha, which means the
assemblies of monks and nuns. The character seng may also mean the individual
Buddhist cleric as well as the assembly as a whole.
She was probably older. If she were only sixty-eight when she died, then
she would have been fourteen years old when the consort built the convent for
her, and this is not likely because the biography states specifically that she was
already twenty-one when she became a nun.
9. Chu Tao-hsing
[OMITTED]
The nun Chu Tao-hsing (Fragrance of the Way) (in the lineage of
an Indian monk) of the Eastern Convent of Lo-yang[70]
Tao-hsing's secular surname was Yang. Her family was originally
from T'ai-shan [in northeast China].[71]
Tao-hsing was both scrupulous and firm in character, and she was
able to get along with everyone. During her probationary period
before becoming a full-fledged nun, she practiced chanting the scriptures
while running errands and performing other duties. Therefore,
by the time she was twenty she could recite from memory the Flower
of the Law,[72] the Vimalakīrti, and other scriptures.[73] After she had
accepted the full obligation of the monastic rule and become a nun,
she pursued her study of Buddhist teachings while continuing to maintain
her vegetarian diet and her practice of austerities. As she grew
older, rather than taking more ease, she intensified her rigorously
ascetic way of life.
Tao-hsing lived in Eastern Convent of the old capital city of Lo-yang
[in north China on the south bank of the Yellow River]. She was
particularly adept in the [intellectual acrobatics of the philosophical
discourse known as] Pure Talk,[74] and she was especially competent in
[the Buddhist scripture known as] the Smaller Perfection of Wisdom.[75]
She esteemed the understanding of principles and did not engage in
mere argumentation. All the students of the [Buddhist Way] in the
entire province considered her as their teacher and master. Tao-hsing
was the first of the nuns who specialized in expounding the meaning of
the scriptures.
In the t'ai-ho reign period (366-371) of the Chin dynasty there lived
a woman named Yang Ling-pien, who was an ardent follower of the
[Taoist Way] of the Yellow Emperor and Lao-tzu, and she practiced in
particular the breathing exercise known as swallowing the breath
[designed to strengthen the body's vital essence and lead to physical
immortality].[76] The people of the region had respected the Taoist
woman and her activities very much until Tao-hsing's Way of Buddhism
eclipsed her own arts. Yang Ling-pien pretended distant kinship
with Tao-hsing on account of their having the same last name and,
reality] she harbored great envy and looked for a chance to poison the
Buddhist nun. She eventually succeeded in putting poisonous herbs
into Tao-hsing's food, and, despite many medicines, Tao-hsing did not
recover. Nevertheless, when her disciples asked her in whose house
she had contracted this illness, she answered, "I certainly know who
did this, but all is a matter of karmic connections [and was meant to
turn out this way], so do not ask me any more about it. Even if telling
you who did it would help me, I still would not say; how much less am
I likely to say when there is no cure at all." Tao-hsing died without
revealing the name of her poisoner.
The word way translates the Chinese tao. Although it is used frequently
in these biographies to mean Buddhism, it is not always so used. Whenever the
word is used, the translation will make it clear as to which particular way is
meant.
Flower of the Law. Because she was in the north, she could possibly
have used Kumārajīva's translation.
Vimalakīrti. There are at least two versions she may have used: (1) T.
did his translation work from a.d. 220-252 in Nanjing. See Zürcher, Buddhist
Conquest, pp. 48-50. (2) T. 14, no. 475, by Kumārajīva, a native of
Kucha who worked on translating scriptures in the northwest of China during
the years 385-409/413. See Répertoire, p. 267. The Vimalakīrti is about the
householder bodhisattva who bests in argument all the great bodhisattvas and
disciples of the Buddha. It is very congenial to Chinese literary taste. The climax
of this book is silence, the method of the sage's communication.
Pure Talk was a type of discussion or argument both witty and arcane
that was cultivated among the educated elite. More popular and more widespread
than Pure Talk was the Way of the Yellow Emperor and Lao-tzu, a system
of physical and mental techniques for the prolongation of life and health
with the hope of attaining immortality.
Smaller Perfection of Wisdom (Ashtasāhashrikā-prajñā-pāramitāsūtra).
It is not clear exactly which text is meant. If the nun Tao-hsing died
during the t'ai-ho reign period (366-371), the name cannot refer to Kumārajīva's
translation done in 408 (T. 8, no. 227). The Ch'u san-tsang chi chi (Collected
notes), a sixth-century catalogue (see appendix A) lists a translation by
Chu Shih-hsing, the Fang kuang ching, done in 291. Seng-yu (compiler of the
Collected Notes) appends a notice that says, "It had ninety chapters (p'in) and
was once called the `Old Smaller Prajñā-pāramitā.' It is now lost." (See the
Collected Notes, 7.b.7.) The Collected Notes also lists another text, Keng
ch'u hsiao p'in, now lost with no date of translation (Collected Notes, 8.c.13).
Again the Collected Notes lists a Hsiao p'in and the appended note says that
the scripture was translated by both Kumārajīva and Dharmaraksha (Chu Fa-hu)
who was in Ch'ang-an in 265-313 (Collected Notes, 15.a.22.) Dharmaraksha's
Kuang tsan ching is extant (T. 8, no. 222). Prajña-pāramitā means
perfection of wisdom and designates a cluster of texts exploring the concept of
emptiness. Its tricky logic appealed to many of the Chinese Buddhist literati.
A method for lengthening life. See, e.g., "Les procédés de nourrir le
principe vital," pp. 470-496 in Maspero, Le Taoïsm, esp. p. 485. See also
Ngo, Divination, p. 205.
10. Tao-jung
[OMITTED]
The nun Tao-jung (Look of the Way) of New Grove Convent
Tao-jung originally lived in Black River Convent of Li-yang [southwest
of the capital, along the north bank of the Yangtze River], where
her practice of the monastic rules was lofty and undefiled.[77] She was
good in the arts of divination and could predict fortune and misfortune.
People in the surrounding area passed it about that she was a
holy person.
The Emperor Ming (300-323-326) of Chin[78] revered her and
secretly spread flowers under her sitting mat to verify whether she was
an ordinary worldling or really was holy—the flower did not wither
[thus her holiness was confirmed].[79]
Many years after that, before the Emperor Chien-wen (320-371372)
ascended the throne,[80] he first honored as teacher the Taoist master
of Pure Water.[81] This Taoist master was known in the capital by
the name of Wang P'u-yang. The future emperor built a Taoist worship
hall in his own mansion, and, although Tao-jung frequently tried
to guide him to the Way [of Buddhism], he did not listen to her. Later,
however, each time the future emperor entered his Taoist worship
hall, he would see spirits in the form of Buddhist monks filling the
whole room. He suspected Tao-jung was responsible, but he could not
prove it.
After Chien-wen's accession to the throne a flock of crows [an evil
omen], nested in the emperor's own palace. He employed a fortune-teller
back to him saying, "Southwest of here lives a female master who can
destroy this evil omen."[82] Therefore the emperor sent an envoy to
Black River Convent to welcome Tao-jung to his presence to consult
about the matter.
Tao-jung said, "Your majesty need only hold a pure vegetarian fast
for seven days and receive and keep the eight fundamental Buddhist
precepts; then of itself the omen will disappear."[83] The emperor, with
proper demeanor and concentrated mind, carried out her orders, and,
before the seven days were over, the crows all flocked together, moved
their nests, and left. The emperor then deeply trusted and respected
Tao-jung and built a convent for her, providing all the necessities. The
convent was called New Grove [Convent] after the grove of trees in
which it stood.
The emperor served Tao-jung with all the rites proper to serving a
teacher, and, furthermore, he honored the True Law [of the Buddha].
That the people of the Chin dynasty in subsequent years respected the
Way of the Buddha was because of Tao-jung's strong influence. By the
time of Emperor Hsiao-wu (362-373-396) [who succeeded Chien-wen
to the throne], Tao-jung was even more respected and honored.
In the t'ai-yüan reign period (376-396), she suddenly disappeared,
and no one knew where she was.[84] The emperor issued an order to
bury the robe and begging bowl that she had left behind, and for this
reason there is a grave mound next to the convent.
Because Chien-wen, youngest son of Emperor Yüan (276-322-323),
was never a crown prince, he is referred to merely as the future emperor. At
the death of his predecessor he was chosen by a group of officials to be the
emperor. Even when he was young, he was especially beloved of his father,
one of whose officials had said that Chien-wen was a man capable of restoring
the fortunes of the Chin dynasty. His third son and successor, Hsiao-wu,
shu, chap. 9; Wei shu, chap. 96).
The text is ambiguous as to whether Pure Water is a place-name, for
there is such a place, or is a type of Taoist practice. "Pure water" (Ch'ing shui)
can also refer to saliva. See Maspero, Le Taoïsme, p. 527, n.2.
Ch'ü An-yüan. See Kao seng chuan 5:356.c.19-20; and Chin shu,
chap. 76, where he is described as a wonder worker (pu shu chih jen).
A common list of the eight is the five precepts described above (in n.
52), plus the sixth, refraining from applying perfume to the body, wearing
adornments, watching entertainments or listening to singing; the seventh,
refraining from sitting or lying on a high and wide bed; and the eighth,
refraining from eating at proscribed times, i.e., after noon.
A Taoist way of death is to disappear and leave behind a sandal or a
robe. See Maspero, Le Taoïsme, p. 335.
11. Ling-tsung
[OMITTED]
The nun Ling-tsung (Esteemed Lineage) of West Convent of
Ssu Province
Ling-tsung's secular surname was Man. Her [family's] original home
was Chin-hsiang in Kao-p'ing Commandery [in northeast China].[85]
While she was yet a child, Ling-tsung had a pure faith [in Buddhism],
and the villagers in the area praised her for it. Her family met
with disaster, being driven away from their homeland by invading
nomadic tribes.[86] Ling-tsung, with utmost sincerity and complete
faith, called on the spiritual power of the Three Treasures for help.[87]
She also received the Universal Gate chapter [of the Flower of the Law
out her eyebrows and pretended to her captors that she had a loathsome
disease. Pleading thus, she attained her release.
Retracing the road they had traveled, she went back toward the
south, but, going through the province of Chi [still far north] of her
home, she was pursued once more, this time by bandits.[89] She climbed
to the top of a dead tree and concentrated all her faculties [in accordance
with the Buddhist Way]. Those seeking to capture her looked all
around but never looked up. Having searched and searched without
finding her, they suddenly left. Ling-tsung climbed down and went on
her way again.
She dared not beg for food and at first did not even feel hungry. One
evening she came to Meng Ford [on the Yellow River], but there was
no boat to ferry her across.[90] In great trepidation she again called on
the Three Treasures. Suddenly Ling-tsung saw a white deer that came
from out of nowhere and crossed over the river.[91] Sand and soil rose
up behind the animal, and there were no waves at all. Following the
deer, she crossed the river without getting wet, walking as easily as on
dry land.[92] Thus she was able to return home.
Ling-tsung then entered religious life. With sincere heart and profound
scholarship her study and practice were the essence of earnestness;
she was widely read in the scriptures, and her deep comprehension
entered the realm of the divine. When Emperor Hsiao-wu of Chin
(362-373-396) heard of her reputation, he sent a letter from [his capital
in the south all the way to her northern home] to communicate his
respect for her.[93]
Later on, during a time when the people suffered a plague and the
destitute were numerous, Ling-tsung unstintingly helped, begging
everywhere for alms. She fled neither obstacles nor distances to do
what she could to help the needy; those who relied on her were many.
Because she herself also endured hunger and privation, her own
appearance became haggard and careworn.
When she was seventy-five years old, she unexpectedly summoned
her disciples one morning to tell them about a dream she had had the
previous night. She said, "I saw a large mountain, the one called
Sumeru, whose unusually beautiful peaks reached as high as the sky.
Decorations and embellishments of precious ornaments glowed like
the shining sun. The drum of the Buddha's law reverberated; fragrant
incense filled the air. When spoken words commanded me to go forward,
from usual. Although I had no pain, it was as though I was in a
swoon."[94] Tao-chin, a companion [in the Way of the Buddha], said to
her, "This is surely the Western Paradise of Amita Buddha."[95] This
conversation had not come to an end when suddenly Ling-tsung's
spirit shifted from this world to the next.[96]
Universal Gate chapter is also known as the Bodhisattva Kuan-shih-yin
chapter, found in the Flower of the Law Scripture.
Province of Chi, in the present-day Hopei and Shansi provinces and
Honan north to the Yellow River. See map.
Meng Ford, a crossing of the Yellow River, is a good distance west of
her home and suggests that she returned by a very circuitous route. See map.
The white deer is an auspicious omen, often associated with Taoists.
Lao-tzu is said to have ridden a white deer. (T'ai-p'ing yü lan, chüan 906, p.
5). The interaction between animals and people indicates the holiness of the
person, or his own immortality. Tigers also often help people who are holy
and sincere.
As on dry land. This, too, is in response to her faith and can be attributed,
at least in part, to the bodhisattva Kuan-shih-yin. (See T. 9, no. 263,
128.c.29-129.a.l.)
The text does not specifically say Amita, but he is implied because as
the Buddha of Infinite Light, Amitābha, or Infinite Life, Amitāyus, he presides
over the Western Paradise, a place from which it is impossible to fall again
into rebirth. One who achieves birth in this paradise waits there, seated in a
lotus blossom, for his final nirvana, but in the popular mind, the Western Paradise
is in itself the final goal. No women come to birth in the Western Paradise
have attained enough merit to be born there in a male body.
One of the several picturesque expressions used in the Chinese Buddhist
biographies to say that a person died. This expression is also Taoist, the character
ch'ien having as one of its components the flapping of wings like a bird,
and one who gets wings and can fly is an immortal. In the early Han dynasty
an immortal is one who becomes a bird. See Kaltenmark's preface to his translation
of Le Lie-sien tchouan, p. 10.
12. Chih Miao-yin
[OMITTED]
The nun Chih Miao-yin (Subtle Voice)[97] of Simple Tranquility
Convent
No one knows where Miao-yin's family originally came from. Having
set her will on the Way [of the Buddha] while yet a child, she lived in
the capital city [of the Chin dynasty]. She studied extensively both
Buddhist and non-Buddhist writings and was especially good at composing
literary essays. Emperor Hsiao-wu (362-373-396) and the
grand tutor, Tao-tzu, prince of Kuei-chi (364-402) [who was the
emperor's brother], both treated her with great respect.[98] Often she
would hold discussions and write compositions in company with the
emperor, grand tutor, and court scholars, whereby her considerable
talent gained a widespread reputation.
In the tenth year of the t'ai-yüan reign period (385) the grand tutor
built Simple Tranquility Convent for Miao-yin and appointed her to
the position of abbess over her more than one hundred disciples. All
those talented people, both within and without monastic circles, who
wished to use her influence to advance themselves bestowed gifts on
her without end until the convent became the richest in the capital.
Both nobles and commoners revered her as their master, and every day
outside the convent gate there would be over one hundred chariots of
the people who had come to call on her.
At the death of Wang Ch'en (d. 392),[99] who was the governor of
Ching Province [in central China to the west of the national capital],
the emperor wanted to select Wang Kung (d. 398)[100] to take the vacated
position. At the same time, a certain Huan Hsüan (369-404)[101]
in Chiang-ling [the provincial capital of Ching], who had always been
blocked in his own plans by Wang Ch'en, heard that Wang Kung
would be the replacement, and he was already afraid of Kung. Wang
400),[102] an imperial attendant, who, as Huan Hsüan knew, was weak
and easy to manage. Therefore Huan Hsüan wanted [Yin Chung-k'an]
to be appointed as governor [to replace the deceased Wang Ch'en]. He
sent a messenger to the nun Miao-yin to prevail on her to arrange the
governorship for Yin Chung-k'an. Before long, the emperor consulted
Miao-yin on this very matter.
He said, "The position in Ching Province is vacant. Those outside
monastic circles are asking who should fill it."
Miao-yin responded, "How can I, a woman of religion, have the
freedom to discuss worldly matters. Nevertheless, I have heard those
both within and without talking about it, and all are saying that no
one surpasses Yin Chung-k'an. Because he takes a broad view of
things, he is the one needed in the territory of Ching and Ch'u."[103] The
emperor went along with this and replaced [Wang Ch'en] with [Yin
Chung-k'an].[104]
Thus did [the nun Miao-yin's] power overrule the whole court, and
her authority extend both within and without Buddhist circles.[105]
Wang Ch'en (d. 392). See Zürcher, Buddhist Conquest, p. 199; Chin
shu, chaps. 5, 75; Liu, Shih-shuo hsin-yü, pp. 583-584.
Wang Kung (d. 398). See Zürcher, Buddhist Conquest, p. 151; Chin
shu, chap. 84; Liu, Shih-shuo hsin-yü, p. 590.
The province of Ching included the territory of the ancient kingdoms
of Ching and Ch'u—hence, Miao-yin's use of the two names.
This intrigue is corroborated in the dynastic histories. Factionalism
among the powerful families of the Eastern Chin dynasty eventually destroyed
the dynasty and led to the establishment of the Sung dynasty in a.d. 420. The
nun Miao-yin, one of the very few nuns mentioned in official dynastic histories,
obviously played a crucial role in some of the intrigues because of her
access to the ears of those both within and without court circles. That a nun
who meddled in worldly politics—and very sordid politics at that—was
included in a collection of exemplary women seems at first glance ironic, but
it merely reflects the editor's bias in favor of the famous and influential. See
Liu I-ch'ing, Shih-shuo hsin-yü (translated by Richard Mather in A New Account
of Tales of the World), and E. Zürcher, Buddhist Conquest, for clear
expositions of these intrigues and their consequences. The grand tutor, Ssu-ma
Tao-tzu, was a scheming profligate who, together with his faction,
terrorized the court and others. Wang Kung's faction was in opposition to
the grand tutor. The emperor, in consulting with Miao-yin, was attempting
to arrange for help from Wang Kung's faction, but even within that faction
there were rivalries, with Huan Hsüan fearing Wang Kung and wanting
to keep his power and influence in check. Huan Hsüan therefore
had asked Miao-yin to use her influence to select the new governor of
Ching.
Within and without Buddhist circles. Miao-yin is one of the very few
Chin shu, chaps. 64, 75.
13. Tao-i
[OMITTED]
The nun Tao-i (Dignity of the Way) of Empress Ho Convent
Tao-i's secular surname was Chia. Her family was originally from the
town of Lou-fan in Yen-men Commandery [in north China].[106] She
was the paternal aunt of the famous monk Hui-yüan.[107]
Tao-i was married to a certain Hsieh Chih of the same commandery,
who died when he was the administrator of Hsün-yang Commandery[108]
[on the Yangtze River some distance southwest of the
Chin capital of Chien-k'ang]. Tao-i was then twenty-two years old. At
that time she cast off secular bonds and donned the robe of religion.
The nun Tao-i was intelligent, bright, quick-witted, and wise; she
was widely learned and had an excellent memory, being able to chant
by heart the Flower of the Law Scripture[109] and to expound the meaning
of the Vimalakīrti[110] and Smaller Perfection of Wisdom.[111] She
achieved enlightened understanding of the subtle points and transcendent
principles of Buddhist doctrine by means of her own mind [without
was eminent; her spiritual nature was profound.
When Tao-i heard that in the region of the capital of Chin the [Buddhist]
doctrinal scriptures and the texts of monastic rules were gradually
being collected, translated and given explanatory commentaries,
she went there at the end of the t'ai-yüan reign period (376-396) and
took up residence in Empress Ho Convent.[113]
Once there Tao-i devoted herself to the study of the collection of
texts of the monastic rules and regulations, investigating in a most
marvellous way the subtlest of points. All the while she retained her
usual humility and reverence, never relaxing her discipline even in solitude,
wearing rough and ragged monastic robes and carrying with her
own hands the begging bowl and staff [of a Buddhist religious mendicant].[114]
Because of her total lack of arrogance and pride, both
monastics and householders highly esteemed the nun.
When Tao-i was seventy-eight years old, she fell seriously ill. She
even more fervently concentrated her mind and chanted the scriptures
without becoming exhausted, but her disciples requested of her, "We
wish that you would try to find a treatment for this disease so that you
might overcome your debility."
Tao-i replied, "That is not a proper thing [for a Buddhist disciple] to
say." As soon as she had spoken, she died.
This famous nephew of the nun Tao-i was born in a.d. 334 and died
in a.d. 416 (some records give the variants 415 and 417). His biography
appears in the Chinese collection of biographies of Buddhist monks, Kao seng
chuan 6:357.c-361.b, and has been translated by E. Zürcher in Buddhist
Conquest, pp. 240-253. Hui-yüan contributed to the intellectual development
of Buddhism in China, defended the monastic system against anticlerical
officials, and is popularly credited with founding the Pure Land school of Chinese
Buddhism because he led monks and laymen in making a vow to be
reborn in the Western Paradise of the Buddha Amitābha. Although in fact he
did not found that school, he did do much to promote the growth of the Amitābha
cult in China. He was acquainted with the persons involved in the
intrigue described in biography 12. Hui-yüan had a younger brother who also
became a monk and who took the name of Hui-ch'ih and whose biography is
also in Kao seng chuan 6:361.b. In Hui-ch'ih's biography we learn that it was
he who brought his aunt to the capital from Chiang-hsia that lay along the
western reaches of the Yangtze River.
Flower of the Law Scripture. It cannot be determined with any certainty
which translation was used. Chu Fa-hu worked in north China as did
Kumārajīva.
Vimalakīrti. Again it cannot be determined which translation the nun
would have used. Kumārajīva worked in the north and Chih Ch'ien in the
south.
Smaller Perfection of Wisdom (Hsiao p'in). The abbreviation of the
title to Hsiao p'in points to Kumārajīva's translation. T. 8, no. 227.
Without having to rely on teachers. This is possibly a divine revelation
of texts. See Tsai, "Chinese Buddhist Monastic Order," p. 16 n. 51. Divine
revelations of texts occurs among both the Buddhists and the Taoists. Seng-yu's
Ch'u san-tsang chi chi, p. 40.b, gives notice that a nun of Green Garden
Convent (home to several of the nuns in the Lives) chanted "revealed" texts.
These are listed in the section for "suspect" texts.
| 1. The Chin Dynasty
(265-317 / 317-420) Lives of the nuns | |