Seminar on Chinese Intellectual History 9 Sengzhao and

Seminar on Chinese Intellectual History 9. Sengzhao and the Early History of Buddhism in China Chun-chieh Huang National Chair Professor National Taiwan University Research Fellow, Academia Sinica Email: cc 10. huang@msa. hinet. net http: //huang. cc. ntu. edu. tw

I. Lecture Notes:

1. Introduction Sengzhao (僧肇, 384– 414) Buddhism and Chinese thought: Confrontation and Assimilation

The Eastward Dissemination of Buddhism

1: 1. The introduction of Buddhism Shakyamuni (566? -486? B. C. ) Zhu Shixing (朱士行) Faxian (法顯, 337 -422) Xuanzang (玄奘, 602 -664)

1: 2. The "Concept-matching" (Ge yi, 格義): "Period of domestication" ‧“Non-being 無” vs. “emptiness 空”

1: 3. The spread of Buddhism: a) Translation Master Kumarajiva (鳩摩羅什, 344 -413) arrived at Changan in 401. b) Interpretations: Prajña (wisdom, 般若): things possess no selfnature (無自性) Sengzhao Zhu Daosheng (竺道生, ? -434) c) Organization: Daoan (道安, 312 -385)

1: 4. Confrontation between Buddhism and Chinese Thought: "Acculturation" Value orientation Behavioral level

a) Confrontation in the realm of social ethics b) Confrontation in the realm of political ethics: the concept of universal kingships the śramana (沙門) should not venerate anything worldly c) Buddhist confrontation with Chinese cultural nationalism: Gu Huan (顧歡), "Treatise on the Barbarians and the Chinese" (夷夏論)

2. Buddhism in Eastern Jin: A. D. 317 -420 Four hundred and eighty temples of the Southern Dynasties, Erected amidst the gentle rains. (Du Mu’s 杜牧 (803 -852) “Spring of the South of Yangzi River”) 南朝四百八十寺 多少樓台煙雨中 (杜牧《江南春》)

2: 1. Buddhism in North China: a) Before the arrival of Kumarajiva Seven schools: The doctrine of original non-being (本無宗) Before there was any dharma of form, there was first of all non-being (本無異宗) Theory of matter as it is (即色宗) Theory of the non-being of mind (心無宗) Theory of consciousness being contained (識會宗) All dharma of worldly truth are illusory (幻化宗) The theory of causal union (緣會宗)

Although all the seven schools claim to be schools of prajna (wisdom), they were heavily influenced by Daoist metaphysics. b) After Kumarajiva, many Sutras were translated into Chinese.

3. Sengzhao and His Philosophy: Among Kumarajiva's pupil, Sengzhao was the most important and most profound: a bridge between Taoism and Buddhism.

3: 1. "The Immutability of Things. " (物不遷論) Significant piece for the following reasons: 1) Negation of flux of becoming as reality:

Current theory: "That birth and death alternate, that winter and summer repeatedly succeed each other, and that all things move on like a current is an ordinary belief of men. But I think that it is not the case. " (Chan, p. 344) 夫生死交謝，寒暑迭遷。有物流動，人之常情。 余則謂之不然。

Shengzhao’s argument: "What other people mean by motion is that because things of the past [have gone away] and do not reach the present, therefore they are said to have moved and are not at rest (continue to exist). What I mean by rest is that, similarly, because things of the past do not reach the present, therefore they may be said to be at rest and have not moved. . . Thus the situation [that past things have neither come to the present nor have gone anywhere] remains the same but our viewpoints are different.

Philosophical significance: Wang Bi: "non-being" He Yan: Dao in its "genetic process" ∴ Dao becomes existence (not reality) distortion of classical Daoism (Dao is transcendent, and therefore is existence) Xiang Xiu: "being" Guo Xiang: each thing has its own autonomy, "sagehood"

3: 1. "The Immutability of Things. " (物不遷論) Significant piece for the following reasons: 2) Sense of mutability depends upon man's perception:

"Since there is no past in the present, we know that it does not come, and since there is no present in the past, we know that it does not go. As neither does the past reach to the present nor does the present reach to the past, every thing, according to its nature, remains for only one period of time. What thing is there to come and go? " (Chan, p. 349) 今而無故，以知不來。古而無今，以知不去。 若古不至今，今亦不至古，事各性住於一世， 有何物而可去來？ (《物不遷論》)

Merit: leads to the establishment of subjectivity prajna Weakness: no responsibility ∴ Conclusion: The oneness of Activity and Tranquility

3: 2. "The Emptiness of the Unreal" (不真空論) Analyze the concept of "emptiness" and defines this concept as "unreal" which is neither existent nor nonexistent. Why? 1) Existence depends on causes to be existent (待緣而後有).

2) Because things arise through causation, therefore they are not nonexistent (緣起故 不 無). Philosophical background: Wang Bi and He Yan: "being " "non-being“; contradictory Guo Xiang: "being" Sengzhao: See “being” in the emptiness (nonexistence) See "non-being" in the existence

4. Conclusion: 4: 1. Being and non-being are one. 4: 2. Sengzhao as a bridge between Buddhism and indigenous Chinese thought. a) Being and Becoming. b) The notion of time.

II. Assignments:

III. Discussion Questions:

1. What are the intellectual and historical factors accountable for the spread of Buddhism in the period of disunion? 2. What are the disputes between the Chinese and Buddhists during the period of disunion? *3. In what sense can Sengzhao be regarded as a bridge between Daoism and Buddhism? 4. Analyze the notions of time and Being in Sengzhao's philosophy.

Keyword: 1. The immutability of things 2. Existence depends on causes to be existent 3. Because things arise through causation, therefore they are not nonexistent