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Inventing Hui-neng, the Sixth Patriarch
Hagiography and Biography in Early Ch'an
Series: - Sinica Leidensia, Volume: 68
Author:
It was through the propaganda of Shen-hui (684-758) that Hui-neng (d. 710) became the also today still towering figure of sixth patriarch of Châan/Zen Buddhism, and accepted as the ancestor or founder of all subsequent Châan lineages.
The first part of the book analyses the creation of the image of Hui-neng and the worship of a lacquered mummy said to be that of Hui-neng. Using the life of Confucius as a template for its structure, Shen-hui invented a hagiography for the then highly obscure Hui-neng. At the same time, Shen-hui forged a lineage of patriarchs of Châan back to the Buddha using ideas from Indian Buddhism and Chinese ancestor worship. The second half of the book examines the production of the hagiographies of Hui-neng , how they evolved, and the importance of ideas about authorship and the role of place. It demonstrates the influence of Confucian thought, politics and the periphery in the growth of early Châan hagiography and the changing image of Hui-neng.
The first part of the book analyses the creation of the image of Hui-neng and the worship of a lacquered mummy said to be that of Hui-neng. Using the life of Confucius as a template for its structure, Shen-hui invented a hagiography for the then highly obscure Hui-neng. At the same time, Shen-hui forged a lineage of patriarchs of Châan back to the Buddha using ideas from Indian Buddhism and Chinese ancestor worship. The second half of the book examines the production of the hagiographies of Hui-neng , how they evolved, and the importance of ideas about authorship and the role of place. It demonstrates the influence of Confucian thought, politics and the periphery in the growth of early Châan hagiography and the changing image of Hui-neng.
John Jorgensen, Ph.D. (1990), Australian National University, is Senior Lecturer in Japanese Studies, Griffith University. He has published on Chinese and Korean Buddhism, and Korean new religions.
All those interested in East Asian Buddhism, Zen, Chinese medieval history, saints and the relationship of pre-modern hagiography and biography.