Sengzhao (sic)(sic)(374/384-414) is regarded as one of the most important figures in the history of Chinese Buddhism, and his writings are frequently referenced in Buddhist exegetical literature throughout the Tang, Song, and Ming dynasties. However, with few exceptions, his works were largely ignored in the first two centuries after his death. Sengzhaos'marginal position during this time is documented in the preface to the Zhaolun <<(sic)(sic)>> by Huida (sic)(sic)(fl. c. 557-589), which presents Sengzhao as neglected and misunderstood by the majority of Buddhist exegetes. Huidas'preface, an annotated translation of which is presented here for the first time in English, also provides us with some of the earliest evidence ofSengzhaos'essays being treated together as a single work. I also discuss the attribution of the earliest extant commentary on the essays of Sengzhao to Huida and conclude that it could not have been composed by the author of the preface.
Spellcasting (zhou (sic)) is a key element of Chinese Buddhist and Daoist traditions, as well as of vernacular rituals. This article examines how narratives of spellcasting evolved in literati writings from the Song to the Qing, indicating changing views on ritual practices. In Song-era stories, spells are often used for benign purposes. They are typically derived from Buddhist sutras and associated with the clergy. By late imperial times, spells are more frequently assumed to have malicious intent. There are fewer references to specific "scriptural spells," the generic term zhou becomes common, and spells are no longer associated with Buddhist clerics. This shift suggests that in the Song, exorcism, while not exclusive to professionals, was seen as specialist knowledge, particularly in Buddhist contexts. By the late imperial period, spellcasting had become more accessible to the general public, reflecting a "vernacularization" of ritual. Elites became distanced from vernacular ritual practices and developed a disdain for non-Confucian rituals, based on contempt for "heteropraxy" rather than outright disbelief in the efficacy of such practices.
This article investigates the dynamics of ritual failure in Song-dynasty China by analyzing stories from Hong Mai's (sic) (1123-1202) twelfth-century anecdotal collection, the Yijian zhi (sic) (Record of the listener). Placing these narratives into a critical dialogue with modern ritual theories, this study shows that while modern analytical frameworks, such as Ronald L. Grimess' taxonomy of "infelicities," are effective for diagnosing internal ritual breakdowns like procedural errors or personnel misconduct, they are insufficient to explain many failures depicted in the late medieval Chinese materials. The central argument is that numerous rites are portrayed as failing not due to technical mistakes, but because they are nullified by an inexorable external force: karmic retribution. To address this theoretical gap, this article proposes the concept of "cosmological invalidation," a dynamic where a rituals' efficacy is completely overridden by a higher moral-bureaucratic order. Through an analysis of tales involving vengeful ghosts, underworld lawsuits, and unpardonable crimes, this study demonstrates a worldview where ritual performance was often subordinate to an inescapable cosmic justice. By testing modern theories against this pre-modern Chinese context, the paper reveals their cultural assumptions and advocates for a more context-sensitive approach to the study ofritual, one that can accountfor worldviews where the ultimate success of a rite is determined by divine powers acting within an established metaphysical legal system.
Fafang (1904-1951) was a prominent scholar-monk who made great contributions to Chinas' Buddhist reform during the first half of the twentieth century. Despite the growing recognition of his work by scholars in recent years, Fafangs' life and thought warrant much more extensive study. This article examines how Fafang interpreted Yogacara learning in relation to modern science, discussing his connections and comparisons between the two, thereby to reveal his efforts to adapt Buddhism to modern discourses and his stance in response to the challenges posed by the West. As a significant figure representing the Wuchang School, clarifying Fafangs'thought and position will also enhance our understanding of how "modernity" influenced the development of Chinese Buddhism, as well as the role that the Wuchang School played in the modernization of Buddhism.
The Flemish Jesuit Fran & ccedil;ois No & euml;l (1651-1729) is often linked to Figurism, a movement that sought Christian prophecies in Chinese classics like the Yijing. This article agrees with recent studies that have distanced No & euml;l from Figurism in light of the predominantly rationalist approach towards Neo-Confucianism employed in the Philosophia Sinica (Chinese Philosophy, 1711), but argues that the Figurist legacy and the Qing-era Yijing revival are fundamental for No & euml;ls' engagement with Chinese thought. Crucially, No & euml;l reads the Yijing through Neo-Confucian commentaries to demonstrate the compatibility of Chinese and Christian views on cosmogony and to reframe Yijing divination as a tool for ethical and political decision-making which is compatible with Christian doctrine. No & euml;l thus emerges as a post-Figurist who attempts a sinologically informed rehabilitation of the Yijing that is not dependent on the typological speculations of his Figurist predecessors.
The fifteenth-century Origins of Buddhism (or "Origins of the & Sacute;& amacr;kya Clan," and the history of Chinese Buddhism in four hundred illustrated episodes, each occupying one page in the "picture-above-text" format. This article examines the compilation stratvision of Buddhism that draws on the realms of genealogy, hagiography, and historiography. Beyond its great significance to East Asian Buddhism, SSYL also represents an important milestone in the development of Chinese publishing, particularly significant to the emergence of illustrated accounts of "origins" (yuanliu (sic)(sic) and chushen (sic)(sic)) in anthologies, encyclopedias, and literary works that present cultic traditions as rooted in the life stories of revered patriarchs.
During the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945), Chinese Buddhist leaders traveled abroad on several occasions to garner supportfor Chinas'cause. Yet scholarship on twentieth-century Chinese Buddhism or wartime China has paid little attention to this aspect of Buddhist war involvement. This article seeks to address this gap in literature. It examines Yuanyings'(sic)(sic) (1878-1953) fundraising trip to Singapore and Malaya from 1937 to 1938 and Taixus'(sic)(sic) (1890-1947) journey to South and SoutheastAsia from 1939 to 1940 and argues for a broader picture of Buddhist diplomacy supported by the Kuomintang (sic)(sic)(sic)(KMT). In response to funding constraints in China, Japanese propaganda concerning the state of Buddhism in China, and the need to secure support in countries with substantial Buddhist populations, Chinese Buddhists and the KMT collaborated to organize overseas missions that deserve a place in discussions on wartime Chinas'foreign policy.
The practice of tonsure, an essential component of Buddhist ordination rituals, faced significant disapproval from Chinese society from the very advent of Buddhism in China. Beginning in the Han dynasty, shaving one's head emerged as a powerful marker of identity that challenged established etiquette norms and directly opposed the state's control over ceremonial practices. This article aims to explain why, among the various Indian customs that entered China, the act of shaving the head became such a contentious issue. To achieve this, it will first analyze the arguments both for and against monastic tonsure that are found in Buddhist apologetic sources. Additionally, the article will attempt to place this specific body modification in the broader cultural context of hair in pre-Buddhist China in order to explore several perspectives beyond the well-known charge of monastics lacking the virtue of filial piety.
This paper examines the model of genuineness proposed by Wei Yao (sic)(sic) (fl. 1920-1926), a master of the Western School of internal alchemy. Wei diverges from the dominant and conventional forms of alchemical practice, emphasizing transcendence through emptiness while downplaying the traditional focus on the body as a central medium of transformation. He identifies two selves: the "genuine self," rooted in emptiness, and the "false self," which takes control after birth, scattering emptiness throughout the body, mind, and space. Weis'method centers on external breathing, allowing practitioners to gather fragmented emptiness and form intention (yi(sic))-the manifestation of the genuine self and seed of an immortal body. Through cycles of forgetfulness and concentration, practitioners refine this intention, coalescing the spirit into new flesh. This process culminates in the visualization of golden light, representing the birth of the immortal body. Weis'model portrays genuineness as subjective, emerging from the practitioners' ability to control imagination and manipulate the shades of emptiness.
Historically and today, Chinese Sufi orders have been perceived as problematic by both state and non-state actors due to their potential to generate social instability. Drawing on Lalibert & eacute;s' concept of "secularity with Chinese characteristics," the article explores how the state has demarcated the internal organization of Chinese Sufi orders as outside the religious sphere, thus legitimizing state regulation of religious authority. Importantly however, non-state actors within the Sufi and wider Chinese Muslim community have also directly and indirectly reinforced these state-defined boundaries. The article thus extends Lalibert & eacute;s' approach, demonstrating that secularity can be co-constituted by both state and non-state actors.(1)
This article investigates the concept of shahid (martyr) among Hui Muslims in modern China, examining its evolution from the eighteenth to the twentieth centuries within changing sociopolitical landscapes. Focusing on the interplay between political authority (zheng) and religiosity (jiao), it explores how Hui Muslims navigate these dynamics to define their religious identities. Beginning with Liu Zhis'integration ofIslamic teachings into Neo-Confucianism, the analysis progresses to the Jahr & imacr;yya Sufis'resistance against Qing oppression and the Republican-era reinterpretations of shahid during Chinas' struggle against Japanese invasion. By situating shahid within the broader framework of Chinese secularity, this article argues that the Huis' conceptualization of martyrdom offers insights into the entangled relationships between Islam, political authority, and religiosity in modern China.
This paper presents findings from an ethnographic case study conducted at the mausoleum of Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas in Guangzhou, exploring the process of heritagization of religion at this site. The transformation of religious places into cultural heritage sites often involves a process of deprivatization, resulting in their conversion into public properties that are both secular and sacred. This study examines the creation, framing, and management of religious heritage through national and international heritage processes. It also explores how different actors appropriate and utilize secular heritage discourses for their own purposes, with a particular focus on the discourse carried by the New Silk Roads Initiative.
This article examines the historical limitations and possibilities faced by minority Muslims as they contest the evolving religious-secular spatial order in urban China. Between the 1920s and 1930s, five documented incidents of Muslim cemetery infringements occurred in Guangzhou (Canton), where private and state actors sought to appropriate land for development. In response, local Chinese Muslims raised their voices and adopted various strategies to contest these actions directly or to encourage state authorities to intervene on their behalf. By engaging with historical print periodicals, government directives, and inscriptions found in the cemeteries, this article explores how these strategies were based on the religious(-secular) vocabulary of post-imperial Chinese politics, leading to the spatial religionization of burial sites as “Islamic,” marked by material demarcations. Muslims strategically utilized the discourse of “religion” authorized by the state, organized themselves institutionally to engage in unofficial policing, political lobbying, and legal-bureaucratic procedures, and garnered public support through national and international Muslim networks.
This article examines how Chinese Muslim bitcoin entrepreneurs navigate the tensions between tradition and modernity, religion and secularism, as they respond to shifting state policies in China and the dominance of the Western global financial system. Situated at the intersection of Chinese and Islamic civilizations, these entrepreneurs chart alternative paths to economic modernity while grappling with the constraints of traditional Islamic finance. Drawing on in-depth interviews, the analysis reveals how they construct narratives that challenge both European secularity and Sino-centric uniformity, asserting unique ethical and moral standings in the global economy. These entrepreneurs are simultaneously contained and strengthened by their religious traditions, using their faith as a resource to engage with emerging digital technologies and redefine their roles within a secular financial system. By situating their experiences within broader patterns of Islamic reform and global economic shifts, this article highlights the intersection of faith, technology, and economic autonomy, offering a nuanced understanding of contemporary Muslim subjectivities.
