Jonathan Karam Skaff
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199734139
- eISBN:
- 9780199950195
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199734139.001.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, World History: BCE to 500CE, Asian and Middle Eastern History: BCE to 500CE
This book challenges readers to reconsider China’s relations with the rest of Eurasia. Investigating interstate competition and cooperation between the successive Sui and Tang dynasties and Turkic ...
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This book challenges readers to reconsider China’s relations with the rest of Eurasia. Investigating interstate competition and cooperation between the successive Sui and Tang dynasties and Turkic states of Mongolia from 580 to 800, this book upends the notion that inhabitants of China and Mongolia were irreconcilably different and hostile to each other. Rulers on both sides deployed strikingly similar diplomacy, warfare, ideologies of rulership, and patrimonial political networking to seek hegemony over each other and the peoples living in the pastoral borderlands between them. The book particularly disputes the supposed uniqueness of imperial China’s tributary diplomacy by demonstrating that similar customary norms of interstate relations existed in a wide sphere in Eurasia as far west as Byzantium, India, and Iran. These previously unrecognized cultural connections, therefore, were arguably as much the work of Turko-Mongol pastoral nomads traversing the Eurasian steppe as the more commonly recognized Silk Road monks and merchants.Less
This book challenges readers to reconsider China’s relations with the rest of Eurasia. Investigating interstate competition and cooperation between the successive Sui and Tang dynasties and Turkic states of Mongolia from 580 to 800, this book upends the notion that inhabitants of China and Mongolia were irreconcilably different and hostile to each other. Rulers on both sides deployed strikingly similar diplomacy, warfare, ideologies of rulership, and patrimonial political networking to seek hegemony over each other and the peoples living in the pastoral borderlands between them. The book particularly disputes the supposed uniqueness of imperial China’s tributary diplomacy by demonstrating that similar customary norms of interstate relations existed in a wide sphere in Eurasia as far west as Byzantium, India, and Iran. These previously unrecognized cultural connections, therefore, were arguably as much the work of Turko-Mongol pastoral nomads traversing the Eurasian steppe as the more commonly recognized Silk Road monks and merchants.
Mario Poceski
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195319965
- eISBN:
- 9780199785445
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195319965.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Buddhism
Under the leadership of Mazu Daoyi (709-788) and his numerous disciples, the Hongzhou School emerged as the dominant tradition of Chan (Zen) Buddhism in China during the middle part of the Tang ...
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Under the leadership of Mazu Daoyi (709-788) and his numerous disciples, the Hongzhou School emerged as the dominant tradition of Chan (Zen) Buddhism in China during the middle part of the Tang dynasty (618-907). This book offers an examination of the Hongzhou School's momentous growth and rise to pre-eminence as the bearer of Chan orthodoxy, and analyzes its doctrines against the backdrop of the intellectual and religious milieus of Tang China. It demonstrates that the Hongzhou School represented the first emergence of an empire-wide Chan tradition that had strongholds throughout China and replaced the various fragmented Schools of early Chan with an inclusive orthodoxy. The study is based on the earliest strata of permanent sources, rather than on the later apocryphal “encounter dialogue” stories regularly used to construe widely-accepted but historically unwarranted interpretations about the nature of Chan in the Tang dynasty. The book challenges the traditional and popularly-accepted view of the Hongzhou School as a revolutionary movement that rejected mainstream mores and teachings, charting a new path for Chan's independent growth as a unique Buddhist tradition. This view, the book argues, rests on a misreading of key elements of the Hongzhou School's history. Rather than acting as an unorthodox movement, the Hongzhou School's success was actually based largely on its ability to mediate tensions between traditionalist and iconoclastic tendencies. The book shows that there was much greater continuity between early and classical Chan — and between the Hongzhou School and the rest of Tang Buddhism — than previously thought.Less
Under the leadership of Mazu Daoyi (709-788) and his numerous disciples, the Hongzhou School emerged as the dominant tradition of Chan (Zen) Buddhism in China during the middle part of the Tang dynasty (618-907). This book offers an examination of the Hongzhou School's momentous growth and rise to pre-eminence as the bearer of Chan orthodoxy, and analyzes its doctrines against the backdrop of the intellectual and religious milieus of Tang China. It demonstrates that the Hongzhou School represented the first emergence of an empire-wide Chan tradition that had strongholds throughout China and replaced the various fragmented Schools of early Chan with an inclusive orthodoxy. The study is based on the earliest strata of permanent sources, rather than on the later apocryphal “encounter dialogue” stories regularly used to construe widely-accepted but historically unwarranted interpretations about the nature of Chan in the Tang dynasty. The book challenges the traditional and popularly-accepted view of the Hongzhou School as a revolutionary movement that rejected mainstream mores and teachings, charting a new path for Chan's independent growth as a unique Buddhist tradition. This view, the book argues, rests on a misreading of key elements of the Hongzhou School's history. Rather than acting as an unorthodox movement, the Hongzhou School's success was actually based largely on its ability to mediate tensions between traditionalist and iconoclastic tendencies. The book shows that there was much greater continuity between early and classical Chan — and between the Hongzhou School and the rest of Tang Buddhism — than previously thought.
Jonathan Karam Skaff
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199734139
- eISBN:
- 9780199950195
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199734139.003.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, World History: BCE to 500CE, Asian and Middle Eastern History: BCE to 500CE
This chapter serves as an introduction to Eastern Eurasian geography, military struggles, and political organization during the medieval period. It discusses the climate and geography of East ...
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This chapter serves as an introduction to Eastern Eurasian geography, military struggles, and political organization during the medieval period. It discusses the climate and geography of East Eurasia, and maps the medieval China-Inner Asia borderlands. The next few sections provide background information on the Sui- to mid-Tang dynasties and modern Turko-Mongols of Eastern Eurasia. This chapter also describes the evolving power balance in Eastern Eurasia.Less
This chapter serves as an introduction to Eastern Eurasian geography, military struggles, and political organization during the medieval period. It discusses the climate and geography of East Eurasia, and maps the medieval China-Inner Asia borderlands. The next few sections provide background information on the Sui- to mid-Tang dynasties and modern Turko-Mongols of Eastern Eurasia. This chapter also describes the evolving power balance in Eastern Eurasia.
Mick Atha and Kennis Yip
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- May 2017
- ISBN:
- 9789888208982
- eISBN:
- 9789888313952
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Hong Kong University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5790/hongkong/9789888208982.003.0006
- Subject:
- Archaeology, Historical Archaeology
Chapter 6 explores the contrasting evidence for activity spanning the Han, Six Dynasties–Tang, and Song–Yuan periods at Sha Po. The study of structural remains and artefactual evidence associated ...
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Chapter 6 explores the contrasting evidence for activity spanning the Han, Six Dynasties–Tang, and Song–Yuan periods at Sha Po. The study of structural remains and artefactual evidence associated with Sha Po’s Six Dynasties–Tang kiln-based coastal industry is supported by the results of a programme of thermoluminescence dating of kiln remains. Collectively, the evidence suggests that Sha Po was a planned and imperially controlled kiln complex directed towards the production of salt, with lime as a process-related by-product. In a pattern typical across Hong Kong, the industry’s post-abandonment phase is associated with Northern Song and some Southern Song–Yuan ceramics.Less
Chapter 6 explores the contrasting evidence for activity spanning the Han, Six Dynasties–Tang, and Song–Yuan periods at Sha Po. The study of structural remains and artefactual evidence associated with Sha Po’s Six Dynasties–Tang kiln-based coastal industry is supported by the results of a programme of thermoluminescence dating of kiln remains. Collectively, the evidence suggests that Sha Po was a planned and imperially controlled kiln complex directed towards the production of salt, with lime as a process-related by-product. In a pattern typical across Hong Kong, the industry’s post-abandonment phase is associated with Northern Song and some Southern Song–Yuan ceramics.
Mario Poceski
Steven Heine and Dale S. Wright (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- February 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780195150674
- eISBN:
- 9780199784615
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195150678.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Buddhism
This chapter analyzes the Mazu yulu, compiled around 1085, which purports to record the life and teachings of the famous Zen monk, Mazu Daoyi (709-788). It examines the structure of the text, its ...
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This chapter analyzes the Mazu yulu, compiled around 1085, which purports to record the life and teachings of the famous Zen monk, Mazu Daoyi (709-788). It examines the structure of the text, its complex internal structure and style, and reflects on the image provided in this text of the “golden age of Zen” in the Tang dynasty. The author places this text in relation to the larger genre of “Records of Sayings” (yulu), using that analysis to begin to rethink the history of Chinese Chan Buddhism.Less
This chapter analyzes the Mazu yulu, compiled around 1085, which purports to record the life and teachings of the famous Zen monk, Mazu Daoyi (709-788). It examines the structure of the text, its complex internal structure and style, and reflects on the image provided in this text of the “golden age of Zen” in the Tang dynasty. The author places this text in relation to the larger genre of “Records of Sayings” (yulu), using that analysis to begin to rethink the history of Chinese Chan Buddhism.
Richard L. Davis
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2017
- ISBN:
- 9789888208975
- eISBN:
- 9789888313990
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Hong Kong University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5790/hongkong/9789888208975.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, Asian History
Fifteen years surely seemed an eternity to Cunxu, on the eve of securing the elusive conquest of the Liang. The man derided a decade ago as, “the kid who fancies cockfights,” had turned the corner as ...
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Fifteen years surely seemed an eternity to Cunxu, on the eve of securing the elusive conquest of the Liang. The man derided a decade ago as, “the kid who fancies cockfights,” had turned the corner as underdog and put residual doubters to rest. A sign of his promising political acumen emerges in several appointments at the onset of 923.Less
Fifteen years surely seemed an eternity to Cunxu, on the eve of securing the elusive conquest of the Liang. The man derided a decade ago as, “the kid who fancies cockfights,” had turned the corner as underdog and put residual doubters to rest. A sign of his promising political acumen emerges in several appointments at the onset of 923.
Joe Carlen
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780231173049
- eISBN:
- 9780231542814
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231173049.003.0006
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Business History
By the Medieval Era, the Far East had not only caught up with Christian and Islamic civilization but, at least in commercial terms, had surpassed both. From the invention of fiduciary (or paper) ...
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By the Medieval Era, the Far East had not only caught up with Christian and Islamic civilization but, at least in commercial terms, had surpassed both. From the invention of fiduciary (or paper) money to sophisticated forms of urban development and labor specialization, Chinese entrepreneurs had transformed their society. The chapter describes how these entrepreneurs, some of whom were Buddhist monks, shaped and distinguished China during the Tang and Song Dynasties.Less
By the Medieval Era, the Far East had not only caught up with Christian and Islamic civilization but, at least in commercial terms, had surpassed both. From the invention of fiduciary (or paper) money to sophisticated forms of urban development and labor specialization, Chinese entrepreneurs had transformed their society. The chapter describes how these entrepreneurs, some of whom were Buddhist monks, shaped and distinguished China during the Tang and Song Dynasties.
Richard L. Davis
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- May 2015
- ISBN:
- 9789888208104
- eISBN:
- 9789888313167
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Hong Kong University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5790/hongkong/9789888208104.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, Asian History
Chapter 5 discusses policies Mingzong implemented in detail. It spans from the changes he has included in the law and order of the country to his education policy to campaigns against corruption to ...
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Chapter 5 discusses policies Mingzong implemented in detail. It spans from the changes he has included in the law and order of the country to his education policy to campaigns against corruption to finances and technology. Some of these policies reflect the incorporation of the Shatuo culture into the Middle Kingdom, and has lasting influence in the history of China.Less
Chapter 5 discusses policies Mingzong implemented in detail. It spans from the changes he has included in the law and order of the country to his education policy to campaigns against corruption to finances and technology. Some of these policies reflect the incorporation of the Shatuo culture into the Middle Kingdom, and has lasting influence in the history of China.
Megan Bryson
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780804799546
- eISBN:
- 9781503600454
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9780804799546.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Buddhism
Chapter one goes back to the Nanzhao (649-903) and Dali kingdoms (937-1253) to understand the broader context in which the Buddhist Baijie arose. It shows that though Nanzhao and Dali rulers adopted ...
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Chapter one goes back to the Nanzhao (649-903) and Dali kingdoms (937-1253) to understand the broader context in which the Buddhist Baijie arose. It shows that though Nanzhao and Dali rulers adopted most of their Buddhist texts from Chinese territory, they embraced Indian Buddhist images and claimed Indian origins for their Buddhist tradition. Moreover, it was their worship of distinctive deities with Indian iconography that distinguished their Buddhist tradition from that of Tang and Song China. This emphasis on India did not just stem from India’s prestige as Buddhism’s birthplace, but also from Dali’s position in relation to China. While Nanzhao and Dali rulers could not claim equality with Chinese rulers as Sons of Heaven, their relative proximity to India meant that they could claim superiority as Buddhist monarchs.Less
Chapter one goes back to the Nanzhao (649-903) and Dali kingdoms (937-1253) to understand the broader context in which the Buddhist Baijie arose. It shows that though Nanzhao and Dali rulers adopted most of their Buddhist texts from Chinese territory, they embraced Indian Buddhist images and claimed Indian origins for their Buddhist tradition. Moreover, it was their worship of distinctive deities with Indian iconography that distinguished their Buddhist tradition from that of Tang and Song China. This emphasis on India did not just stem from India’s prestige as Buddhism’s birthplace, but also from Dali’s position in relation to China. While Nanzhao and Dali rulers could not claim equality with Chinese rulers as Sons of Heaven, their relative proximity to India meant that they could claim superiority as Buddhist monarchs.
Richard L. Davis
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- May 2015
- ISBN:
- 9789888208104
- eISBN:
- 9789888313167
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Hong Kong University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5790/hongkong/9789888208104.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, Asian History
Li Siyuan acceded to the throne in 926 and came to be embraced by the skeptical courtiers of his day and discriminating historians centuries later. Chapter 1 provides background to the Shatuo people, ...
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Li Siyuan acceded to the throne in 926 and came to be embraced by the skeptical courtiers of his day and discriminating historians centuries later. Chapter 1 provides background to the Shatuo people, their culture and how their leaders became symbolic extension of the ruling family in the Tang Dynasty. The chapter also explained the life and legacy of Li Keyong, Siyuan’s adoptive father, the women as well as the surrogate sons in the family that create challenges as the regime transitioned from conquest to governance. It also introduces other political characters who became essential to Siyuan’s reign as emperor of the Later Tang.Less
Li Siyuan acceded to the throne in 926 and came to be embraced by the skeptical courtiers of his day and discriminating historians centuries later. Chapter 1 provides background to the Shatuo people, their culture and how their leaders became symbolic extension of the ruling family in the Tang Dynasty. The chapter also explained the life and legacy of Li Keyong, Siyuan’s adoptive father, the women as well as the surrogate sons in the family that create challenges as the regime transitioned from conquest to governance. It also introduces other political characters who became essential to Siyuan’s reign as emperor of the Later Tang.
Linda Rui Feng
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824841065
- eISBN:
- 9780824868062
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824841065.003.0007
- Subject:
- History, Asian History
The introduction explains the important relationship between Chang’an and Tang literati writers, arguing that they serve as intermediary between the city and text. It gives a brief contextualized ...
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The introduction explains the important relationship between Chang’an and Tang literati writers, arguing that they serve as intermediary between the city and text. It gives a brief contextualized introduction to the Chang’an as both an imperial capital and a site for collective life. It discusses the nature and provenance of the book’s major textual sources, arguing for a need to reconceptualize and reimagine these texts as workings of the cultural imagination, rather than confined to bibliographic categories and regulated within generic boundaries. It also introduces the theoretical models used throughout the book, as related to the concepts of liminality, spatial practice, and the production of space.Less
The introduction explains the important relationship between Chang’an and Tang literati writers, arguing that they serve as intermediary between the city and text. It gives a brief contextualized introduction to the Chang’an as both an imperial capital and a site for collective life. It discusses the nature and provenance of the book’s major textual sources, arguing for a need to reconceptualize and reimagine these texts as workings of the cultural imagination, rather than confined to bibliographic categories and regulated within generic boundaries. It also introduces the theoretical models used throughout the book, as related to the concepts of liminality, spatial practice, and the production of space.
Benjamin Brose
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824853815
- eISBN:
- 9780824868147
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824853815.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Buddhism
Chapter 1 offers a broad, historical overview of the rebellions leading to the collapse of the Tang dynasty and the economic and political autonomy of southern territories. While the overthrow of the ...
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Chapter 1 offers a broad, historical overview of the rebellions leading to the collapse of the Tang dynasty and the economic and political autonomy of southern territories. While the overthrow of the Tang court and the decimation of the aristocracy are frequently equated with the onset of disorder, the loss of centralized control effectively freed southern provinces from the political restraints and economic obligations imposed by the Tang court, ushering in a period of relative peace and prosperity. This chapter focuses on the early histories of the kingdoms of Wuyue, the Southern Tang, and Min with particular attention paid to the patronage practices of the first generation of rulers. In their efforts to transition from military to civil rule, southern kings sought political legitimacy through the promotion of both regional and transregional cultural traditions—a process that reshaped Buddhist institutions in major southern cities.Less
Chapter 1 offers a broad, historical overview of the rebellions leading to the collapse of the Tang dynasty and the economic and political autonomy of southern territories. While the overthrow of the Tang court and the decimation of the aristocracy are frequently equated with the onset of disorder, the loss of centralized control effectively freed southern provinces from the political restraints and economic obligations imposed by the Tang court, ushering in a period of relative peace and prosperity. This chapter focuses on the early histories of the kingdoms of Wuyue, the Southern Tang, and Min with particular attention paid to the patronage practices of the first generation of rulers. In their efforts to transition from military to civil rule, southern kings sought political legitimacy through the promotion of both regional and transregional cultural traditions—a process that reshaped Buddhist institutions in major southern cities.
John McWhorter
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195309805
- eISBN:
- 9780199788378
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195309805.003.0006
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Theoretical Linguistics
This chapter shows that while Altaic languages had a decisive effect upon Mandarin, transfer was a relatively minor factor, while reduction due to non-native competence was comprehensively ...
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This chapter shows that while Altaic languages had a decisive effect upon Mandarin, transfer was a relatively minor factor, while reduction due to non-native competence was comprehensively transformative. The evidence also suggests that the crucial locus of transformation was not the occupations by Genghis Khan (13th through 14th centuries) or the Manchus (1644-1911), but the widespread resettlement of conquered and dispossessed peoples amid Han Chinese on the northern Chinese frontier from the 600s through the 800s under the Tang dynasty. A comparison of Mandarin with its sister languages in nine aspects of grammar is presented.Less
This chapter shows that while Altaic languages had a decisive effect upon Mandarin, transfer was a relatively minor factor, while reduction due to non-native competence was comprehensively transformative. The evidence also suggests that the crucial locus of transformation was not the occupations by Genghis Khan (13th through 14th centuries) or the Manchus (1644-1911), but the widespread resettlement of conquered and dispossessed peoples amid Han Chinese on the northern Chinese frontier from the 600s through the 800s under the Tang dynasty. A comparison of Mandarin with its sister languages in nine aspects of grammar is presented.
Albert Welter
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195175219
- eISBN:
- 9780199850679
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195175219.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Buddhism
This chapter examines the factional motives in the Chan Buddhism in China during the Tang Dynasty using transmission records. It reviews early Chan transmission records that exposes the rise of ...
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This chapter examines the factional motives in the Chan Buddhism in China during the Tang Dynasty using transmission records. It reviews early Chan transmission records that exposes the rise of factionalism in Chan just as these factions are beginning to forge a successful identity in Chinese Buddhism. It analyzes the factional nature of the claims of the three full-blown multilineal transmission records compiled around the beginning of the Song Dynasty including the Patriarch's Hall Anthology, Jingde Record Lamp, and the Tiansheng Extended Transmission of the Lamp.Less
This chapter examines the factional motives in the Chan Buddhism in China during the Tang Dynasty using transmission records. It reviews early Chan transmission records that exposes the rise of factionalism in Chan just as these factions are beginning to forge a successful identity in Chinese Buddhism. It analyzes the factional nature of the claims of the three full-blown multilineal transmission records compiled around the beginning of the Song Dynasty including the Patriarch's Hall Anthology, Jingde Record Lamp, and the Tiansheng Extended Transmission of the Lamp.
Josephine Nock-Hee Park
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195332735
- eISBN:
- 9780199868148
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195332735.003.0002
- Subject:
- Literature, Poetry, American, 20th Century Literature
This chapter argues that Ezra Pound's multiple invocations of China were bound to his American ambitions. Pound struggled with Whitman to take on the mantle of American bard, but he turned to the ...
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This chapter argues that Ezra Pound's multiple invocations of China were bound to his American ambitions. Pound struggled with Whitman to take on the mantle of American bard, but he turned to the Orient as a means of disciplining the homeland he had fled. Reading both Pound's early interest in Tang Dynasty verse in his Imagist poetry and his later devotion to Confucianism in the China Cantos, this chapter unveils an underlying desire to speak for and to America via the Orient that runs the length of Pound's career.Less
This chapter argues that Ezra Pound's multiple invocations of China were bound to his American ambitions. Pound struggled with Whitman to take on the mantle of American bard, but he turned to the Orient as a means of disciplining the homeland he had fled. Reading both Pound's early interest in Tang Dynasty verse in his Imagist poetry and his later devotion to Confucianism in the China Cantos, this chapter unveils an underlying desire to speak for and to America via the Orient that runs the length of Pound's career.
Richard L. Davis
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2017
- ISBN:
- 9789888208975
- eISBN:
- 9789888313990
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Hong Kong University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5790/hongkong/9789888208975.003.0002
- Subject:
- History, Asian History
Death has a way of destabilizing empires organized around hereditary succession, yet transitions for the Shatuo Turks proved more volatile than most. Li Keyong died of a brain tumor on the nineteenth ...
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Death has a way of destabilizing empires organized around hereditary succession, yet transitions for the Shatuo Turks proved more volatile than most. Li Keyong died of a brain tumor on the nineteenth day of the first month (908.01.19). Interment ensued months later at Daizhou, halfway between Taiyuan and Datong in northern Shanxi, where he had once served as prefect. The eldest of eight surviving sons, Cunxu succeeded as Prince of Jin, consistent with his father’s dying wishes. Twenty-seven days of rigorous mourning ensued. But even before the deceased could be laid to rest, a plot would unfold that tested the mettle of Cunxu when loyalties to persons collide with deference for traditions.Less
Death has a way of destabilizing empires organized around hereditary succession, yet transitions for the Shatuo Turks proved more volatile than most. Li Keyong died of a brain tumor on the nineteenth day of the first month (908.01.19). Interment ensued months later at Daizhou, halfway between Taiyuan and Datong in northern Shanxi, where he had once served as prefect. The eldest of eight surviving sons, Cunxu succeeded as Prince of Jin, consistent with his father’s dying wishes. Twenty-seven days of rigorous mourning ensued. But even before the deceased could be laid to rest, a plot would unfold that tested the mettle of Cunxu when loyalties to persons collide with deference for traditions.
Albert Welter
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195175219
- eISBN:
- 9780199850679
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195175219.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Buddhism
This chapter examines the history of the official recognition of Chan Buddhism in China during the Tang Dynasty, or the period from 618 to 906. It reviews two partisan debates related to the Chan ...
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This chapter examines the history of the official recognition of Chan Buddhism in China during the Tang Dynasty, or the period from 618 to 906. It reviews two partisan debates related to the Chan struggle for recognition in order to show the role played by government officials and secular literati in the development of Chan. It suggests that the debate associated with the struggle between rival Chan factions in the early Song Dynasty was instrumental in defining the principles that came to characterize Chan, and served as the foundation for the acceptance of Chan as a leading school of Chinese Buddhism in the Song.Less
This chapter examines the history of the official recognition of Chan Buddhism in China during the Tang Dynasty, or the period from 618 to 906. It reviews two partisan debates related to the Chan struggle for recognition in order to show the role played by government officials and secular literati in the development of Chan. It suggests that the debate associated with the struggle between rival Chan factions in the early Song Dynasty was instrumental in defining the principles that came to characterize Chan, and served as the foundation for the acceptance of Chan as a leading school of Chinese Buddhism in the Song.
Richard L. Davis
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- May 2015
- ISBN:
- 9789888208104
- eISBN:
- 9789888313167
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Hong Kong University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5790/hongkong/9789888208104.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Asian History
Mingzong (r. 926–33) was the most illustrious emperor of the Five Dynasties, and one of the most admired of China’s middle period, the Tang to Song. A warrior of Shatuo-Turk ancestry, he ascended the ...
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Mingzong (r. 926–33) was the most illustrious emperor of the Five Dynasties, and one of the most admired of China’s middle period, the Tang to Song. A warrior of Shatuo-Turk ancestry, he ascended the throne of the Later Tang on the heels of a mutiny against his adopted brother, thus sparing his dynasty an early death. Mingzong’s brief reign came to be heralded by historians as the “Small Repose”—a happy convergence of peace and prosperity. He marshaled a cluster of eminently able courtiers, men who balanced Confucian charity against the military discipline demanded in a time of transition. These years were marked by trade with bordering states, frenzied diplomatic activity, and a succession of defections from states to the north. Mingzong wisely eschewed military conflict, except as a last resort. Conservative in moral and legal matters, he introduced radical economic reforms that included deregulation of traditional monopolies and timely changes to the tributary system. Drawing extensively on primary sources, including Mingzong’s spirited correspondence with his officials, this political and cultural biography brings to life a charismatic emperor who was held up as a model ruler by succeeding generations.Less
Mingzong (r. 926–33) was the most illustrious emperor of the Five Dynasties, and one of the most admired of China’s middle period, the Tang to Song. A warrior of Shatuo-Turk ancestry, he ascended the throne of the Later Tang on the heels of a mutiny against his adopted brother, thus sparing his dynasty an early death. Mingzong’s brief reign came to be heralded by historians as the “Small Repose”—a happy convergence of peace and prosperity. He marshaled a cluster of eminently able courtiers, men who balanced Confucian charity against the military discipline demanded in a time of transition. These years were marked by trade with bordering states, frenzied diplomatic activity, and a succession of defections from states to the north. Mingzong wisely eschewed military conflict, except as a last resort. Conservative in moral and legal matters, he introduced radical economic reforms that included deregulation of traditional monopolies and timely changes to the tributary system. Drawing extensively on primary sources, including Mingzong’s spirited correspondence with his officials, this political and cultural biography brings to life a charismatic emperor who was held up as a model ruler by succeeding generations.
İsenbike Togan
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824839789
- eISBN:
- 9780824869526
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824839789.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, Asian History
While the question of what a tribe is has been addressed in the literature, and the Chinese term currently used for tribe is buluo, this paper suggests the value of reexamining the meaning and the ...
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While the question of what a tribe is has been addressed in the literature, and the Chinese term currently used for tribe is buluo, this paper suggests the value of reexamining the meaning and the context from which this term emerged. This study examines buluo in seventh–eighth-century sources, when the early Tang was in close interaction with the nomads in the North, and argues that the term buluo was used to refer to composite non-kinship groups, while other terms (such as bu, xing, or zu) were used for kinship groups. The Tang dynasty used buluo when writing the history of earlier dynasties as well as its own. The evolution of the term buluo starting with the Northern Wei is an example of how nomads were agents for change in Chinese historiography.Less
While the question of what a tribe is has been addressed in the literature, and the Chinese term currently used for tribe is buluo, this paper suggests the value of reexamining the meaning and the context from which this term emerged. This study examines buluo in seventh–eighth-century sources, when the early Tang was in close interaction with the nomads in the North, and argues that the term buluo was used to refer to composite non-kinship groups, while other terms (such as bu, xing, or zu) were used for kinship groups. The Tang dynasty used buluo when writing the history of earlier dynasties as well as its own. The evolution of the term buluo starting with the Northern Wei is an example of how nomads were agents for change in Chinese historiography.
Mario Poceski
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- August 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780190225742
- eISBN:
- 9780190225773
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190225742.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Literature
The book explores the historical growth, makeup, and transformation of Chan (Zen) Buddhist literature in late medieval China. It also surveys the distinctive features and the contents of particular ...
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The book explores the historical growth, makeup, and transformation of Chan (Zen) Buddhist literature in late medieval China. It also surveys the distinctive features and the contents of particular types of texts and analyzes the forces, milieus, and concerns that shaped key processes of textual production. While the main emphasis is on a range of written sources that deal with a celebrated Chan tradition that developed and rose to prominence during the Tang era (618–907), the coverage extends to the Five Dynasties (907–960) and Song (960–1279) periods, when many of the best-known Chan collections were compiled. The book also presents a range of primary materials that are important for the historical study of Chan Buddhism, some of them translated for the first time into English. At a basic level, the book’s primary focus is on the earliest extant records about the life, teachings, and legacy of Mazu Daoyi (709–788), one of the principal figures in Chan history. Some of these texts are well known and form a central part of classical Chan (or more broadly Buddhist) literature in China, but until fairly recently other texts have been largely ignored, forgotten, or glossed over. At the same time, the book is also concerned with the Chan School’s creative adaptation of classical literary forms and experimentation with novel narrative styles, which led to the creation of several distinctive Chan genres that exerted notable influences on the subsequent development of Buddhism in China and the rest of East Asia.Less
The book explores the historical growth, makeup, and transformation of Chan (Zen) Buddhist literature in late medieval China. It also surveys the distinctive features and the contents of particular types of texts and analyzes the forces, milieus, and concerns that shaped key processes of textual production. While the main emphasis is on a range of written sources that deal with a celebrated Chan tradition that developed and rose to prominence during the Tang era (618–907), the coverage extends to the Five Dynasties (907–960) and Song (960–1279) periods, when many of the best-known Chan collections were compiled. The book also presents a range of primary materials that are important for the historical study of Chan Buddhism, some of them translated for the first time into English. At a basic level, the book’s primary focus is on the earliest extant records about the life, teachings, and legacy of Mazu Daoyi (709–788), one of the principal figures in Chan history. Some of these texts are well known and form a central part of classical Chan (or more broadly Buddhist) literature in China, but until fairly recently other texts have been largely ignored, forgotten, or glossed over. At the same time, the book is also concerned with the Chan School’s creative adaptation of classical literary forms and experimentation with novel narrative styles, which led to the creation of several distinctive Chan genres that exerted notable influences on the subsequent development of Buddhism in China and the rest of East Asia.
