Inventing Hui-Neng, the Sixth Patriarch: Hagiography and Biography in Early Ch'an (Sinica Leidensia #68) (Hardcover)

Inventing Hui-Neng, the Sixth Patriarch: Hagiography and Biography in Early Ch'an (Sinica Leidensia #68) By John Jorgensen Cover Image
Email or call for price

Description


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 Ch'an/Zen Buddhism, and accepted as the ancestor or founder of all subsequent Ch'an 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 Ch'an 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 Ch'an hagiography and the changing image of Hui-neng.

About the Author


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.


Product Details
ISBN: 9789004145085
ISBN-10: 9004145087
Publisher: Brill
Publication Date: September 23rd, 2005
Pages: 888
Language: English
Series: Sinica Leidensia