Chindian Myth of Mulian Rescuing His Mother – On Indic Origins of the Yulanpen Sūtra

Chindian Myth of Mulian Rescuing His Mother – On Indic Origins of the Yulanpen Sūtra PDF Author: Xiaohuan Zhao
Publisher: Anthem Press
ISBN: 1839986972
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 106

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Book Description
This book addresses the thorny issue regarding the authenticity of the Yulanpen Sūtra, the scriptural source for the Yulanpen Festival or Hungry Ghost Festival in East Asia. The sūtra, which features Mulian (Skr. Maudgalyāyana) adventuring into the Preta realm to rescue his mother, is catalogued in the Chinese Buddhist bibliography with the Indo-Scythian Dharmarakṣa (Ch. Zhu Fahu, ca. 266–308) given as the translator. However, in modern Chinese, Japanese, and Western scholarship, the sūtra is more often than not regarded as a Chinese Buddhist apocryphal scripture and the Mulian myth as an apocryphal story created by Chinese Buddhists to foster the sinicisation and transformation of Indian Buddhism mainly on the grounds that there is no extant Yulanpen Sūtra in Indic sources and that the sūtra stresses Confucian filial piety and ancestor worship. This book challenges these widely held beliefs by demonstrating that filial piety and ancestor worship are not peculiar to Confucian China but also inherent in Indic traditions and that the sūtra is a Chinese creative translation rather than an indigenous Chinese composition.

Chindian Myth of Mulian Rescuing His Mother – On Indic Origins of the Yulanpen Sūtra

Chindian Myth of Mulian Rescuing His Mother – On Indic Origins of the Yulanpen Sūtra PDF Author: Xiaohuan Zhao
Publisher: Anthem Press
ISBN: 1839986972
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 106

Get Book Here

Book Description
This book addresses the thorny issue regarding the authenticity of the Yulanpen Sūtra, the scriptural source for the Yulanpen Festival or Hungry Ghost Festival in East Asia. The sūtra, which features Mulian (Skr. Maudgalyāyana) adventuring into the Preta realm to rescue his mother, is catalogued in the Chinese Buddhist bibliography with the Indo-Scythian Dharmarakṣa (Ch. Zhu Fahu, ca. 266–308) given as the translator. However, in modern Chinese, Japanese, and Western scholarship, the sūtra is more often than not regarded as a Chinese Buddhist apocryphal scripture and the Mulian myth as an apocryphal story created by Chinese Buddhists to foster the sinicisation and transformation of Indian Buddhism mainly on the grounds that there is no extant Yulanpen Sūtra in Indic sources and that the sūtra stresses Confucian filial piety and ancestor worship. This book challenges these widely held beliefs by demonstrating that filial piety and ancestor worship are not peculiar to Confucian China but also inherent in Indic traditions and that the sūtra is a Chinese creative translation rather than an indigenous Chinese composition.

Ritual Opera and Mercantile Lineage

Ritual Opera and Mercantile Lineage PDF Author: Qitao Guo
Publisher: Stanford University Press
ISBN: 9780804750325
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 398

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Book Description
Focusing on the Confucian transformation of Mulian opera, and especially on the interplay between the "civilizing" effect of ritual performance and the rise of gentrified mercantile lineages in sixteenth-century Huizhou prefecture, this book develops a radically novel interpretation of both Chinese popular culture and the Confucian tradition in late imperial China.

Chinese Theatre: An Illustrated History Through Nuoxi and Mulianxi

Chinese Theatre: An Illustrated History Through Nuoxi and Mulianxi PDF Author: Xioahuan Zhao
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1315460270
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 338

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Book Description
Chinese Theatre: An Illustrated History Through Nuoxi and Mulianxi is the first book in any language entirely devoted to a historical inquiry into Chinese theatre through Nuoxi and Mulianxi, the two most representative and predominant forms of Chinese temple theatre. With a view to evaluating the role of temple theatre in the development of xiqu or traditional Chinese theatre and drama from myth to ritual to ritual drama to drama, Volume One provides a panoramic perspective that allows every aspect of Nuoxi to be considered, not in the margins of xiqu but in and of itself. Thus, this volume traces xiqu history from its shamanic roots in exorcism rituals of Nuo to various forms of ritual and theatrical performance presented at temple fairs, during community and calendrical festivals or for ceremonial functions over the course of imperial history, and into the twenty-first century, followed by an exploration of the scriptural origins and oral traditions of Mulianxi, with pivotal forms and functions of Nuoxi and Mulian storytelling, examined, explicated and illustrated in association with the development of corresponding genres of Chines performance literature and performing arts. This is an interdisciplinary book project that is aimed to help researchers and students of theatre history understand the ritual origins of Chinese theatre and the dynamic relationships among myth, ritual, religion, and theatre.

Chinese Buddhism

Chinese Buddhism PDF Author: Chün-fang Yü
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
ISBN: 0824881583
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 300

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Book Description
What are the foundational scriptures and major schools for Chinese Buddhists? What divinities do they worship? What festivals do they celebrate? These are some of the basic questions addressed in this book, the first introduction to Chinese Buddhism written expressly for students and those interested in an accessible yet authoritative overview of the subject based on current scholarship. After presenting the basic tenets of the Buddha’s teachings and the Chinese religious traditions, the book focuses on topics essential for understanding Chinese Buddhism: major scriptures, worship of buddhas and bodhisattvas, rituals and festivals, the monastic order, Buddhist schools such as Tiantai and Chan, Buddhism and gender, and current trends—notably humanistic Buddhism in Taiwan and the resurgence of Buddhism in post-Mao China. Each chapter ends with discussion questions and suggestions for further reading. A convenient glossary of common terms, titles, and names is included.

The Secrets of the Tathagata

The Secrets of the Tathagata PDF Author: Shaku Shingan
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781716238505
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 310

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Book Description
The Secrets of the Tathāgata, in Sanskrit, the Tathāgataguhya Sūtra, is a quintessential Mahāyāna sūtra on the nature of the body, speech, and mind of bodhisattvas and the Buddha. This annotated translation is the first in any western language. The core message of the Secrets of the Tathāgata is that bodhisattvas and the Buddha manifest in whatever form is necessary to teach and aid sentient beings. It illustrates its teachings with marvellously memorable narratives. Its primary interlocutor is Vajrapāṇi, the vajra (thunderbolt mallet) bearer. He incisively answers the queries of Śāntamati Bodhisattva and narrates his recollection of crucial moments in the Buddha's life. The Secrets of the Tathāgata emphasises that the power of the non-dual and ineffable Buddha underlies all the good deeds and realisations of the bodhisattva, and that his wisdom is inherent in all beings. While the Buddha exerts no effort, he freely manifests for beings based upon their needs and the inclinations of their mind. Beings see the Buddha just like looking at themselves in the mirror, and his words of wisdom sound forth like enchanted instruments that automatically play when wafted by the winds of our karmic inclinations. Shaku Shingan has rendered a readable English translation from the Chinese of the Song Dynasty monk Dharmarakṣa, with critical comparisons and translations from the earlier Mahāratnakūṭa Sūtra translation of the same text, the Sanskrit original of which has been inaccessible for hundreds of years. Shingan's introduction provides historical background, explains the sūtra's place in the history of Mahāyāna Buddhism and Buddhist studies, and gives the reader an understandable digest of its key themes and doctrines.

Tun-huang Popular Narratives

Tun-huang Popular Narratives PDF Author: Victor H. Mair
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521247610
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 344

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Book Description
Tun-huang Popular Narratives presents authoritative translations of four vernacular Chinese stories, taken from fragmentary texts usually referred to as pien-wen or 'transformation texts'. Dating from the late T'ang (618-907) and Five Dynasties (907-959) periods, the texts were discovered early last century in a cave at Tun-huang, in Chinese Central Asia. However, written down in an early colloquial language by semi-literate individuals and posing formidable philological problems, the texts have not been studied critically before. Nevertheless they represent the only surviving primary evidence of a widespread and flourishing world of popular entertainment during these centuries. The tales deal with both religious (mostly Buddhist) and secular themes, and make exciting and vivid reading.

Tibetan Ritual

Tibetan Ritual PDF Author: Jose Ignacio Cabezon
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199889392
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 292

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Book Description
Ritual is one of the most pervasive religious phenomena in the Tibetan cultural world. Despite its ubiquity and importance to Tibetan cultural life, however, only in recent years has Tibetan ritual been given the attention it deserves. This is the first scholarly collection to focus on this important subject. Unique in its historical, geographical and disciplinary breadth, this book brings together eleven essays by an international cast of scholars working on ritual texts, institutions and practices in the greater Tibetan cultural world - Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan, and Mongolia. While most of the chapters focus on Buddhism, two deal with ritual in Tibet's indigenous Bon religion. All of the essays are original to this volume. An extensive introduction by the editor provides a broad overview of Tibetan ritual and contextualizes the chapters within the field of Buddhist and Tibetan studies. The book should find use in advanced undergraduate courses and graduate seminars on Tibetan religion. It will also be of interest to students and scholars of ritual generally.

Buddhist Funeral Cultures of Southeast Asia and China

Buddhist Funeral Cultures of Southeast Asia and China PDF Author: Paul Williams
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107003881
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 311

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Book Description
Death rituals and Buddhist imagery of the afterlife have been central to the development and spread of Buddhism as a social and textual tradition. Bringing together ethnographic, historical and theoretically informed accounts, the book presents in-depth studies of the Buddhist funeral cultures of mainland Southeast Asia and China.

The Buddhist Dead

The Buddhist Dead PDF Author: Bryan J. Cuevas
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
ISBN: 0824830318
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 506

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Book Description
In its teachings, practices and institutions, Buddhism in its varied Asian forms is centrally concerned with death and the dead. This title offers a comparative investigation of this topic across the major Buddhist cultures of India, Sri Lanka, China, Japan, Tibet and Burma.

Buddhism Between Tibet and China

Buddhism Between Tibet and China PDF Author: Matthew Kapstein
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 0861718062
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 481

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Book Description
Exploring the long history of cultural exchange between 'the Roof of the World' and 'the Middle Kingdom,' Buddhism Between Tibet and China features a collection of noteworthy essays that probe the nature of their relationship, spanning from the Tang Dynasty (618 - 907 CE) to the present day. Annotated and contextualized by noted scholar Matthew Kapstein and others, the historical accounts that comprise this volume display the rich dialogue between Tibet and China in the areas of scholarship, the fine arts, politics, philosophy, and religion. This thoughtful book provides insight into the surprisingly complex history behind the relationship from a variety of geographical regions. Includes contributions from Rob Linrothe, Karl Debreczeny, Elliot Sperling, Paul Nietupski, Carmen Meinert, Gray Tuttle, Zhihua Yao, Ester Bianchi, Fabienne Jagou, Abraham Zablocki, and Matthew Kapstein.