A Pure Mind in a Clean Body: Bodily Care in the Buddhist Monasteries of Ancient India and China by Ann Heirman, Mathieu Torck (review)

Abstract

Hugong Dadi 胡公大帝. While the first two cases constitute separate chapters (7 and 10), the latter one is embedded in chapter 8 on ‘‘the religious dimension.’’ From my point of view as an ethnographer, these case studies are the highlights of the book. The vast amount of data on local cultural knowledge presented therein is well summarized from Chinese sources and is certainly useful as general information and as guidelines for future research. The discovery of the resacralization process reveals an important aspect of modern Chinese religious life. Possibly because of the dominance of Communist ideology in contemporary China, the revival of public religious practices such as temple fairs and sacrificial rituals often begins under the cover of diverse secular events serving cultural, commercial, or touristic ambitions of local governments. In some cases people attempt to establish an authentic atmosphere by adding or tolerating religious symbols and activities. In a concluding chapter Cooper repeats his obligation to the Maussian concept for his regional study; however, this does not reach beyond the simple fact that religion is traditionally embedded in culture and society, and plays an important role in rural Chinese economy and social life. In two appendices he summarizes the content of five Daoqing 道情 performances and nine Wuju operas. A comprehensive bibliography and a general index help the reader to find items of interest easily, since many names of authors and concepts are given in Chinese characters beside their English or Pinyin equivalents. Throughout the book eight maps and eight statistical tables, mainly created from official sources of local authorities, as well as thirty-seven photographs taken by the author, are presented. This book is unique insofar as it makes regional specific sources in modern temple fairs studies accessible, which can be used for regional comparison and general studies. Furthermore, it provides a good introduction to the rural economy, popular culture, and religion of the Jinhua region for students and scholars who are interested in Southeastern China. XIAOBING WANG-RIESE Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou ANN HEIRMAN and MATHIEU TORCK, A Pure Mind in a Clean Body: Bodily Care in the Buddhist Monasteries of Ancient India and China. Gent: Academia Press, 2012. 194 pp. J27 (pb). ISBN 978-90-382-2014-7 Heirman and Torck’s new monograph A Pure Mind in a Clean Body is a welcome addition to the growing body of scholarship that spotlights Buddhist material culture, specifically the development of Buddhist monks’ everyday bodily care and related utensils, and the changing values associated with them that were transmitted from India to China. The primary sources are Chinese translations of the Dharmaguptakavinaya, M ulasarv astiv adavinaya, and other monastic texts, such as the Chinese commentaries, the ‘‘rules of purity’’ or qinggui 清規, and travelogues by Chinese monks such as Yijing 義淨 (635–713), who visited Southeast Asia and India. Chinese historical, literary, medical, Daoist, and visual BOOK REVIEWS 151 sources are used to examine various bodily practices and attitudes that existed before and after Buddhism’s introduction to China. These are all Chinese sources. In other words, the monograph is not a simple comparative study of how Indian practices impacted China. Rather, it focuses on the complex process of Chinese reception and accommodation of Indian monastic ideals. It reveals Chinese cultural values and attitudes towards objects that both produce and are the products of the ideal Buddhist body. For the past two decades or so, a new wave of Buddhist scholarship has shifted Buddhology away from attention restricted to doctrinal issues, prescriptive claims, and systems of belief. Now many scholars use interdisciplinary, anthropological approaches to study Buddhism, and they use visual, archeological, and certain textual sources to excavate its material dimensions. This monograph on bodily care in monastic sources lies firmly in this new body of scholarship. The monograph is clearly divided into four main areas: bathing facilities, toilet facilities, cleaning the mouth and teeth, and shaving hair and trimming nails. Each area consists of a chapter, bracketed by an introduction and a conclusion. Each chapter begins with an analysis of Indian vinaya literature as preserved in the Chinese. This is followed by an analysis of Chinese vinaya commentaries beginning in the fifth century onwards as well as other monastic...