History of the Development of Chinese Chan Thought

Tianxiang Ma

Sep 2023 · Springer Nature

About this ebook

The book aims to describe the history of Chan (Japanese Zen) School thought from the standpoint of social history. Chan, a school of East Asian Buddhism, was influential on all levels of societies in the region because of its intellectual and aesthetic appeal. In China, Chan infiltrated all levels of society, mainly because it engaged with society and formed the mainstream of Buddhism from the tenth or eleventh centuries through to the twentieth century. This book, taking a critical stance, examines the entire history of Chan thought and practice from the viewpoint of a modern Chinese scholar, not a practitioner, but an intellectual historian who places ideological developments in social contexts.

The author suggests that core elements of Chan have their origins in Daoist philosophers, especially Zhuangzi, and not in Indian Buddhist concepts. Covering the period from the sixth century into the twentieth century, it deals with Chan interactions with neo-Confucianism, Quanzhen Daoism, and Gongyang new text philology, as well as with literature and scholarship, its fusion with Pure Land Buddhism, and its syncretic tendencies. Chan’s exchanges with emperors from the Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing Dynasty, as well as the motives of some loyalists of the Ming Dynasty for joining Chan after the fall of the Ming, are described. The book concludes with an examination of the views of Chan of Hu Shi, D.T. Suzuki, and the scholar-monk Yinshun.

About the author

Professor Tianxiang Ma is the Director of the Institute of Religion and the Director of the Chinese Buddhism and Buddhism Art Research Centre, and the Faculty of Philosophy at Wuhan University, Hubei Province, China.

Professor Ma is the Chief Expert of the "History of Religion" and "Research of the Academic History of Modern Chinese Religion" sponsored by the Ministry of Education. He has more than 280 academic publications with over 10000 citations. He has published academic monographs and books such as Buddhism in Late Qing Dynasty and Modern Society Ideological Thought, History of the Development of Chinese Zen Ideological Trend, Academic History of Modern China, etc., over 60 volumes and 40 different books. The Ministry of Education awarded him the second and third prizes, respectively, for his outstanding achievements in Humanities and Social Sciences for the publication of "History of the Development of Chinese Zen Ideological Trend" and "History of Chinese Religions".