Click here return to the Hualin main page.
Click here return to the Hualin E-Journal Vol 7.1 Table of Contents page.
Hualin International Journal of Buddhist Studies 7.1 (2024): 256–310; https://dx.doi.org/10.15239/hijbs.07.01.08
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Buddhism and Science, Transmission of Buddhism: Locality and Globality)
Imperial Patronage and Scriptural Authority: Sui Buddhist Cataloguers and Their Perspectives on Emperor-Saṅgha Relations
TAN Yingxian 談穎嫻
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
yingxian.tan@mail.huji.ac.il
Abstract: This article analyses three Sui dynasty Buddhist catalogues by Fajing, Fei Changfang, and Yancong, focusing on how they balanced imperial patronage with scholarly independence. Fajing’s catalogue praises Emperor Wen but excludes imperially sponsored texts. Fei Changfang, a former monk turned lay scholar, emphasizes imperial support for Buddhism throughout his work, includes more texts as canonical and gives special attention to those significant to Emperor Wen. However, he still determines scriptural authenticity himself and leverages the emperor’s power to bolster his own scriptural authority. Yancong’s catalogue shows the most autonomy, canonizing predominantly foreign-sourced texts and excluding Chinese-authored works, regardless of the latter’s imperial support. These differences reflect each compiler’s status and relationship with the court. This article aims to show how Sui Buddhist cataloguers asserted their scriptural authority in catalogue formation while working under imperial patronage and illuminate the complex interplay between Buddhist scholarship and political power in the Sui dynasty.
Keywords: Buddhist catalogues, Sui dynasty, Imperial Patronage, Scriptural Authority, Fajing, Fei Changfang, Yancong
About the Author: Yingxian Tan is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Asian Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Her research focuses on state and Buddhism in late sixth and early seventh century China, particularly during the Western Wei-Northern Zhou and Sui periods. Her doctoral dissertation explores the relationship between the emperors and the saṅgha in the Sui dynasty, analyzing perspectives from both sides.
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
