Regarding the circumstances of this sermon, Walter Liebenthal ("The
Sermon of Shen-hui," Asia Major, N.S. 3, 2 [1952], p. 134) says, "There
are only two opportunities to deliver addresses in the ritual of
Buddhist monasteries, one during the uposatha ceremony held monthly
when the pratimoksa rules are read to the members of the community and
they are admonished to confess their sins, one during the initiation
ceremony held once or twice a year. For the purpose of initiation
special platforms are raised, one for monks and one for nuns, inside
the compounds of some especially selected monasteries."
7. Quoted in Hilda Hookham, A Short History of China (New York: St.
Martin's Press, Inc., 1972; paperback edition, New York: New American
Library, 1972), p. 175.
8. Discussions of the adventures of An Lu-shan may be found in most
general surveys of Chinese history, including Hookham, Short History of
China, Wolfram Eberhard, A History of China (Berkeley: University of
California Press, 1960); Kenneth Scott Latourette, The Chinese: Their
History and Culture (New York: Macmillan, 1962); John A. Harrison, The
Chinese Empire (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc., 1972); and
Rene Grousset, The Rise and Splendour of the Chinese Empire (Berkeley:
University of California Press, 1962).
9. This is the interpretation of Hu Shih. For translations of the major
works of Shen-hui, see Walter Liebenthal, "The Sermon of Shen-hui," pp.
132-55; and Wm. Theodore de Bary, ed., Sources of Chinese Tradition,
Vol. 1., pp. 356-60. Also see Edward Conze, ed., Buddhist Texts Through
the Ages (Oxford: Bruno Cassirer, 1954), excerpted in Wade Baskin, ed.,
Classics in Chinese Philosophy (Totowa, N. J.: Littlefield, Adams,
1974). A short translation is also provided in Suzuki, Essays in Zen
Buddhism, Third Series, pp. 37 ff. The fullest translation of the works
of Shen-hui found in the Tun-huang caves is in Jacques Gernet,
Entret/ens du Maitre de _Dhyana_ Chen-houei du Ho-tso (Hanoi:
Publications de l'ecole frangaise d'Extreme-Orient, Vol. 31, 1949). An
English translation of a portion of this text may be found in Wing-tsit
Chan, A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy (Princeton: Princeton
University Press, 1963).
10. Liebenthal, "Sermon of Shen-hui," pp. 136 ff.
11. Ibid., p. 144.
12. Ibid., pp. 146, 147, 149.
13. See Hu Shih, "Ch'an (Zen) Buddhism in China."
14. Hu Shih, "Development of Zen Buddhism in China," p. 493.
15. Hu Shih, "Ch'an (Zen) Buddhism in China," p. 11.
16. The differences between the Northern and Southern schools of Ch'an
during the eighth century are explored in the works of Hu Shih, Philip
Yampolsky, and Walter Liebenthal noted elsewhere in these notes. Other
general surveys of Chinese religion and culture that have useful
analyses of the question include Wing-tsit Chan, Source Book in Chinese
Philosophy, pp. 425 ff., D. Howard Smith, Chinese Religions; and Fung
Yu-lan, Short History of Chinese Philosophy.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account