Esoteric Buddhism and the Tantras in East Asia

(Ben Green) #1

446 charles d. orzech


of homas of subjugation.^30 What constitutes transgression, in short, is
part of a “cultural system.”^31


Confucian Objections and the Rise of Linji Chan


Emerging in parallel with the vision of a continental Buddhist ecumene
was a movement that became an increasingly prominent feature of the
religious and political landscape of tenth- and eleventh-century China.
The “Ancient Culture” movement (guwen ), based on Ruist
(Confucian) ideology, was strongly nativistic and anti-Buddhist.^32
Indeed, it repeatedly raised objections to the Institute on economic
and ideological grounds.^33
At the same time, the first half of the eleventh century saw the com-
position of the major Chan “Lamp” chronicles. During the height of the
Song translation and canon projects, the government issued the Record
of the Transmission of the Lamp from the Jingde Era ( Jingde chuandeng
lu , T. 2876), a work first composed by Daoyuan in
1004, which was heavily revised by the courtier Yang Yi (974–
1020). Albert Welter has argued that the original appears to have been
written along accomodationist lines to embrace the spectrum of tra-
ditional Buddhist teachings and the emerging varieties of Chan. Yang
Yi’s revised version leaned toward the anti-accomodationist teachings
connected with Linji Yixuan , exemplified by the slogan
“a teaching outside of the scriptures” (jiaowai biechuan ).^34
Proponents of the Linji teaching denigrated the traditional approach
of scriptural learning. By the time the Expansive Lamp Record from the
Tiansheng Era (Tiansheng guangdeng lu , X 1553) edited


(^30) The iconography of the vidyārājas and their role in homas for subjugation was a
prominent selling point of Tang esoteric Buddhism. See Orzech, 1998, 160–62, 169–
205; Orzech and Payne, “ 31 Homa,” in this volume.
In some cases texts proclaim and perform their own transgressiveness. A good
example is the opening scene of the Buddhakapāla-yogini-tantra-rāja, in which the
Buddha dies during intercourse with his consort, scandalizing and confounding the
assembled audience. For a discussion of this text see Davidson 2002a, 247–52. 32
For an overview of the wen movement see Bol 1992.
(^33) As early as 999, Chen Shu (944–1022) of the Ministry of Rites complained
of the great cost of the Institute and advocated its abolishment. Tian Kuang
(1005–1053) castigated Taizu for his Buddhist extravagance and Vice Censor-in-Chief
Kong Fudao (fl. 11th c.) pressed Emperor Renzong (r. 1022–1063) to shut
down the Institute. See Sen 2002, 38, 42; Fozu tongji, T. 2035.49:402a18–19, 410a18–
19; Huang 1994, 165–66.
(^34) Welter 2008, 38.

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