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
Kung, however, had a partisan named Yin Chung-k'an (d. 399/
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]
[97]
In the lineage of Kushanan or Indo-Scythian missionaries.
[98]
Grand tutor, Tao-tzu, prince of Kuei-chi (Chin shu, chaps. 64, 84,
passim).
[99]
Wang Ch'en (d. 392). See Zürcher, Buddhist Conquest, p. 199; Chin
shu, chaps. 5, 75; Liu, Shih-shuo hsin-yü, pp. 583-584.
[100]
Wang Kung (d. 398). See Zürcher, Buddhist Conquest, p. 151; Chin
shu, chap. 84; Liu, Shih-shuo hsin-yü, p. 590.
[101]
Huan Hsüan (369-404). Chin shu, chap. 99; Liu, Shih-shuo hsin-yü,
p. 535.
[102]
Yin Chung-k'an (d. 399/400) (Chin shu, chaps. 84, 85; Liu, Shih-shuo
hsin-yü, p. 604).
[103]
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.
[104]
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.
[105]
Within and without Buddhist circles. Miao-yin is one of the very few
Buddhist nuns mentioned in the dynastic histories; she is mentioned, e.g., in
Chin shu, chaps. 64, 75.
