Yongming Yanshou’s Conception of Chan in the Zongjing lu: A Special Transmission Within the Scriptures by Albert Welter (review)

Abstract

Book Reviews 151 Yongming Yanshou's Conception of Chan in the Zongjing lu: A Special Transmission Within the Scriptures ALBERT WELTER. New York: Oxford University Press, 2011. vii, 381 pages. ISBN 978-0-19-976031-2. US$74.00, £45.00 hardcover. Albert Welter’s informative and well-researched book represents a welcome addition to the growing corpus of critical studies that address various aspects of the far-reaching transformations that Chinese Buddhism underwent during the Tang-Song transition. It is especially noteworthy for its focus on the crucial Five Dynasties period (907–960), which is usually skirted or casually passed over by most scholars in favor of the Tang or the Song eras. Following in the wake of the author’s two excellent books on Chan history and literature (also published by Oxford), The Linji Lu and the Creation of Chan Orthodoxy: The Development of Chan’s Records of Sayings Literature (2008) and Monks, Rulers, and Literati: The Political Ascendancy of Chan Buddhism (2006), this is arguably Welter’s best book so far. The historical person and the text that are at the center of Welter’s comprehensive, rigorous, and nuanced study—Yongming Yanshou 永明延壽 (904–975) and his seminal Zongjing lu 宗鏡錄—are fairly well-known within the pertinent scholarly circles. Among the relevant studies is the author’s first book (based on his dissertation), The Meaning of Myriad Good Deeds (Peter Lang 1993). Yet, he manages not only to provide a wealth of new information and unique perspectives on this important text and its illustrious author, but also to initiate a far-reaching reassessment of key elements of the religious and intellectual landscapes of Five Dynasties and early Song China. A prolific writer and leading cleric in the pro-Buddhist kingdom of Wuyue 吳越 (907– 978), Yanshou is a major figure in Chinese Buddhist history. Because of his ecumenical stance, wide-ranging interests, and multifaceted thought, in later East Asian Buddhism Yanshou came to be represented in a variety of guises: as a Chan/Zen master, a Pure Land patriarch, a proponent of devotional practice, a scholar of Buddhist doctrine (especially Tiantai 天台 and Huayan 華嚴), and even as a “promoter of blessings.” In addition to pointing to the socioreligious milieus, historical exigencies, and ideological agendas that shaped a series of retroactive reimaginings of Yanshou and his approach to Buddhism, the book goes a long way towards illuminating the life, identity, thought, and literary output of this fascinating figure, as well as the important changes in the Buddhist landscape that marked a fascinating epoch in Chinese history. That also serves as a springboard for considering larger issues in the scholarly study of Chinese Buddhism, including the relationship between Chan 禪 and the canonical tradition, as well as more broadly the study of Chinese religious and intellectual history. 152 Journal of Chinese Religions Besides the short Introduction, the main body of the book consists of six chapters (of varied length) and a translation of the Zongjing lu’s first fascicle. Chapter 1 tackles the complexities of Yanshou’s multifaceted religious persona and the varied identities that were ascribed to him, especially in reference to his complex relationship with Chan. By examining the main hagiographical records about his life, Welter shows how later generations of writers and practitioners created peculiar images of Yanshou in light of their own objectives, biases, and horizons of expectation. After examining the key images of him, including those of a Chan master and an advocate for Pure Land practice, he argues that Yanshou was a promoter of a comprehensive and non-sectarian vision of Buddhism, an “advocate of bodhisattva practice,” which was grounded in canonical formulations but also included Chan teachings and practices, as is to be expected given Yanshou’s self-identification as a “Chan master” (chanshi 禪師). The second chapter explores Yanshou’s conception of zong 宗 , which somewhat inelegantly is translated as “implicit truth.” Yanshou’s focus on this key concept underscores his central view about the essential harmony and complementarity between Chan and the broader Buddhist tradition, primarily represented by canonical or scholastic Buddhism (jiao 教). By postulating that zong—the essential meaning of which he equates with the underlying truth of the universal mind—is the core principle...