Encyclopedia of Buddhism

McRae, John R., trans. The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch.
Berkeley, CA: Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and
Research, 2000.

Yampolsky, Philip B. The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch:
The Text of the Tun-huang Manuscript with Translation, In-
troduction, and Notes.New York and London: Columbia
University Press, 1967.

JOHNR. MCRAE

POETRY AND BUDDHISM

The effect of Sanskrit Buddhist poetics and prosody on
Chinese language and culture is one of the most pro-
found characteristics of the introduction of Buddhism
to East Asia. Indian Buddhist poetry formally begins
with the poet and philosopher AS ́VAGHOS
A(ca. first or
second century C.E.), who composed the earliest sur-
viving examples of the kavyaliterary style of Sanskrit po-
etry, the BUDDHACARITA(Acts of the Buddha) and
Saundarananda. Prior to As ́vaghos
a, Buddhists em-
ployed Pali and other local languages in metrical
arrangement. The Sanskrit used in As ́vaghos
a’s poetry,
however, is highly literary and displays linguistic artistry
more in accordance with later Jaina or Hindu poets of
the Gupta period (320–540). Sanskrit kavyapoetry and
poetics spread to Burma (Myanmar), Thailand, Cam-
bodia, and the Malay Archipelago before affecting the
reception of Buddhism in China, Japan, and Tibet.

Buddhists introduced notions of resonance, repeti-
tion, a system of four tones (as opposed to five or
seven), meter, and poetic defects (Sanskrit, dos
a)—all
of which generated discussion on the mechanics of po-
etics among East Asian aristocrats. Indian and Central
Asian Buddhist literature incorporated religious verse
or gathas(Chinese, jieor jietuo), one of the twelve di-
visions of the tripit
aka according to genre. In addition
to gathas, geya(Chinese, qiye)—the verse summaries of
tenets presented in sutra literature—captivated monas-
tic and lay Buddhists in China because of the ́lokas me-
ter, with four quarter verses of eight syllables each.

Because of the difficulty in dating most Indian texts,
it is nearly impossible to ascertain which specific In-
dian texts or figures were influential in China. But,
scholars do know that the genre of composing poems
of eulogy or praise (Chinese, zanor jiesong) for reli-
gious or secular reasons, with five to seven Chinese
characters to a line, was instigated on the basis of San-
skrit gathas.

During the period of disunion of the Wei, Jin, and

Northern and Southern dynasties (220–589), Buddhist

ideas and literature spread throughout East Asia as

composing poetry became the principal literary art.

While most East Asian poets did not study the Sanskrit

language, many familiarized themselves with the prin-

ciples of accurately rendering the sounds of Sanskrit

into Chinese—using Indian Siddham (Chinese, xitan)

script in order to chant sutras or DHARAN
I. In the

monastic estates, where lay and monastic elites assem-

bled, the massive project of translating Buddhist texts

into Chinese prompted men like the Buddhist poet Xie

Lingyun (385–433) to work on a standardized system

for the transcription of Sanskrit sounds. Xie’s system

was later used by literati to compose standard rhyme

dictionaries for composing poetry.

Chinese literati came to write about poetics and the

mechanics of composition in a genre of writing called

shihua.Although it was not until the Song (960–1279)

dynasty that the genre became pervasive, early authors

in China based their theories on Sanskrit analogues

transmitted through Buddhism. KUKAI (774–835),

the famous transmitter of EXOTERIC-ESOTERIC(KEN-

MITSU) BUDDHISM INJAPAN, composed the most com-

prehensive treatise on both Sanskrit and Chinese

poetics in his Bunkyohifuron(A Treatise [Comprising]

a Mirror for Literature and a Repository of Rare [Verses

and Expressions]). Kukai’s mastery in languages has

made his Bunkyohifuronthe principal reference work

on Buddhist poetry and inspired generations of East

Asian poets.

The Tang (618–907) and Song dynasties are tradi-

tionally recognized for their poets and poetry. During

these dynasties, Buddhist monks and lay officials like

Hanshan, Guanxiu, Juefan Huihong (1071–1128),

Wang Wei (701–761), and Su Shi (1036–1101) all as-

sociated with the emergent CHAN SCHOOL(Korean,

So ̆n; Japanese, Zen) to make poetry a conspicuous and

permanent aspect of Buddhist practice.

See also:Canon; Chinese, Buddhist Influences on Ver-

nacular Literature in; Japanese, Buddhist Influences

on Vernacular Literature in; Languages; Sanskrit,

Buddhist Literature in

Bibliography

Demiéville, Paul. “Le Tch’an et la poésie chinoisie.” In Choix

d’études bouddhiques.Leiden, Netherlands: Brill, 1973.

Lienhard, Siegfried. A History of Classical Poetry: Sanskrit, Pali,

Prakrit.Wiesbaden, Germany: Harrassowitz, 1984.

POETRY ANDBUDDHISM