Wutai Shan During the Ming Dynasty.

Abstract

Historians of Ming period Chinese Buddhism have tended in past to concentrate on monastic Buddhism of economically dominant Lower Yangzi, or on Buddhism of capital, Beijing. By contrast this thesis investigates management of monastic establishments on Wutai Shan during Ming dynasty. A review of Wutai Shan Buddhist history and general characteristics of Ming Buddhism is provided as essential background for understanding conclusions of research. By 15th-16th centuries Indian Buddhist influence on Wutai Shan had a long established history. There is little awareness, however, that Wutai Shan was still attracting Indian Buddhist visitors as late as this period. This thesis focuses on activities of two great Indian Buddhist masters who came to Wutai Shan. Their visits reveal that although it had weakened as a result of decline of Buddhism in India, bond between Indian Buddhism and Wutai Shan continued to exist during this period. Following these two great masters other South Asian Buddhists came to this holy mountain throughout Ming period. In contrast to these visitors from the west, in this period we hardly see any Japanese and Korean Buddhist pilgrims on Wutai Shan. Many Wutai Shan monk officials are mentioned in inscriptions in regard to various events. Through a careful study of monk official system on Wutai Shan we conclude that power of Ming Wutai Shan monk officials was very limited. This was due to unique character of Wutai Shan, where many celebrated monks were given honorific titles which co-existed with Buddhist offices. This created overlaps in jurisdiction which frequently resulted in no one having authority to take charge. Elsewhere, however, Ming monk official system was not merely honorific. In most areas system still functioned, and we use Nanjing monk official system as example to prove this. Many Buddhologists believe that four eminent monks in late Ming China played important roles in revitalising Chinese Buddhism. Among these, three had been to Wutai Shan. In this research we compare monastic reforms led by two of these monks with those on Wutai Shan in late Ming. As one of most important sacred Buddhist sites, Wutai Shan gained considerable support from Ming imperial family. Some members had political motives but most acted out of genuine concern for flourishing of Buddhism. As compared with both previous dynasties and with later Qing dynasty, relatively more Ming imperial support came from members of imperial family's personal purse than from state funds, reflecting weakened condition of imperial power under Ming. In contrast to well-documented imperial patrons there are hardly any records relating to lay patrons of Wutai Shan, and we analyse reasons behind this. All these aspects of Wutai Shan Buddhism reveal a Ming Buddhist culture significantly different from that which has occupied scholarly attention so far.