A Study on Imitating Activities of Hanshan Poems by Chan Buddhist Monks in SONG Dynasty

Abstract

Although we have no clear picture of the life of Hanshan, a legendary TANG monk and in Collected Poems of Hanshan (Hanshan Shiji), we can find either unclear ideas regarding his major thoughts or different ideologies from Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism. Hanshan poetry was broadly read by people belonging to various social statuses during the SONG Dynasty. His poetry was also frequently cited in Chan Buddhist literature of the period. Furthermore, SONG Chan Buddhist monks invited Hanshan into their own genealogy and regarded him as a “San Sheng” (a Free Sage). Many Chan Buddhist monks of the SONG Dynasty used Hanshan poetry in various Chan Buddhist texts. Numerous Chan Buddhist monks even wrote so-called “ni Hanshan shi”, which imitated Hanshan poetry as a kind of personal literary creation. It is understandable that when a monk imitated Hanshan poetry, he would simultaneously be both the reader and the creator of Hanshan poetry, and as we understand that every writer produces their works through their own cultural outlook, a newly-formed correlation occurred naturally between the original poetry and imitated poetry through the SONG Chan Buddhist monk’s version. By observing this correlation, this paper will deeply analyze the dissemination and acceptance of Hanshan poetry, within Chan Buddhist society in the SONG Dynasty, as based on Chan Buddhist literature, in order to learn more about image creation and the recreation of Hanshan during the period.