Die Erleuchtung des Nordens: Zum Disput zwischen Sengzhao und Liu Yimin über die Bodhisattva-Idee des Mahāyāna von Christian Streif (review)

Abstract

points such as these, scattered throughout the book as they are, lends an unfortunate impression of carelessness to the work as a whole. It may be hoped that the author, who makes an original and significant contribution to the field, will address the bedeviling details more closely in future publications. In all events, The Spread of Tibetan Buddhism in China must be considered essential reading for all who are interested in Chinese and Tibetan religious life at the present time. MATTHEW T. KAPSTEIN École Pratique des Hautes Études, Paris The University of Chicago CHRISTIAN STREIF, Die Erleuchtung des Nordens: Zum Disput zwischen Sengzhao und Liu Yimin über die Bodhisattva-Idee des Mah ay ana. Lun Wen: Studien zur Geistesgeschichte und Literatur in China, Band 15. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2013. ix, 199 pp. J38 (pb). ISBN 978-3-447-06879-6 There are still many facets unstudied in the history of the introduction of Mah ay ana to East Asia. In the present study the author takes up a dispute between the learned monk Sengzhao 僧肇 (374–414) and Liu Yimin 劉遺民 (ca. 360–416), a lay follower of Huiyuan 慧遠 (334–416), on the bodhisattva ideal in the Mah ay ana tradition, and tries to shed more light on the conceptual world of Sengzhao, referring especially to his commentary on the Vimalak ırti-nirde sa s utra (Zhu Weimoji jing 注維摩詰經). Before dealing with Sengzhao’s treatise Bore wuzhilun 般若無知論 (‘‘Abhandlung über die prajñ a, die nicht etwas zu erkennen bedeutet,’’ abbreviated as BWZL) and the letters exchanged between Liu Yimin and Sengzhao, Streif outlines the aims of his research. He emphasizes that he will not follow earlier research agendas led by the differentiation between original Buddhist doctrine on the one side and sinicization of Buddhism on the other. Instead he wants to analyze the BWZL under a variety of respects in order to get a fresh look at Sengzhao’s thought and argumentation. He relates this work to the context of the reception of Mah ay ana doctrine by the Sarv astiv adins (chapter 2) as well as to the most important translation projects in northern China at this time (chapter 3). The following chapters 4 and 5 deal with the political implications of the new concepts conceived by Sengzhao and with the structure and style of the arguments as well as the presumable impact on the contemporary audience or the readers. The book is completed by a biographical study on Liu Yimin and some passages on the hermitage on Lushan 廬山 and the situation around the establishment of the Liu Song-Dynasty. Streif comes to the conclusion that the BWZL is more than just a sinified Buddhist text or an isolated philosophical treatise; it is entwined in a complex network consisting of an intellectual as well as a religious and an institutional setting. Thus this study is more than a mere study on a few texts. It sheds new light on the process of the early implementation of the Mah ay ana in China. It becomes clear that the BWZL can only be understood when the participation of Sengzhao in the translation group with Yao Xing 姚興 and Kum araj ıva (350–409) is taken into account. A crucial role is here played by the commentary on the Great BOOK REVIEWS 251 Prajñ ap aramit a, the Dazhi du lun 大智度論, explaining the scholastic thinking of the Sarv astiv ada school pertinent at that time in Central Asia. In addition to the central part of the study in chapter 3, discussing the BWZL and thus giving the reader some insight into the intellectual debate on crucial aspects of early M adhyamika thinking in China, it must be regarded as a great achievement of this study that Streif also focuses on the political context, mainly in chapter 4. We learn about the interest of certain regional rulers, as well as of gentry families, in legitimating their position by means of Buddhist concepts, especially the bodhisattva ideal, as well as about the opportunities of exchange during times of peace between northern and southern China. Of utmost importance is the part (chapter 5) on the reflexive use of language and on the relation between language...