Papers by Corey Bell
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Vignette on Venerable Dhammapala, editor and production manager (former) of the Tung Lin Kok Yun ... more Vignette on Venerable Dhammapala, editor and production manager (former) of the Tung Lin Kok Yun organisation's Buddhistdoor website.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
A fundamental truism in international relations is that the break-up of a powerful geopolitical e... more A fundamental truism in international relations is that the break-up of a powerful geopolitical entity grants relative gains to competing great powers. This is arguably one of the reasons for the intense consternation at both the timing and political ramifications of Brexit, which is occurring at the very moment that Russia, and an increasingly bellicose China, are exploiting the destabilising impact of the COVID-19 pandemic to challenge Western hegemony. This is a problem which threatens the integrity and perhaps even viability of the rules-based global order which the latter underpins.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Bodhi Journal, 2006
This article features a brief explication of the doctrine of 'dependant origination'(paṭi... more This article features a brief explication of the doctrine of 'dependant origination'(paṭiccasamuppāda) and a discussion of its conceptual applications in early Buddhism. Regarding the latter, it primarily seeks to elaborate on the theory that dependant ...
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Bodhi Journal, 2007
... 作者. Karunadasa, Y.; Bell, Corey. 出處題名. Bodhi Journal=世間覺報. 卷期. v.2. 日期. 2007.01.01. 頁次. 出版者. ... more ... 作者. Karunadasa, Y.; Bell, Corey. 出處題名. Bodhi Journal=世間覺報. 卷期. v.2. 日期. 2007.01.01. 頁次. 出版者. Tung Lin Kok Yuen=東蓮覺苑. 出版地. 香港 [Hong Kong] (http://www.buddhistdoor.com/mainpage/index_eng.html). 資料類型. 期刊論文=Journal Article. ...
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
The Journal of Foreign Studies, 2018
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Korean Institute for Buddhist Studies
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Bodhi Journal, 2007
This article presents a summary elucidation of the key principles of early-Buddhist psychology, a... more This article presents a summary elucidation of the key principles of early-Buddhist psychology, and a brief discussion of the overall significance and main functions this psychology has with regards to Buddhism as a religion. It shall begin by bringing attention to how this psychology’s flavour and distinctiveness draws from its application and elaboration of the key Buddhist concepts of ‘non-self’ (?tman) and ‘dependant origination’ (paticca samupp?da) by elucidating three of its fundamental underlying principles: 1) the conditional nature of consciousness with regards to the duality of sense organ and object; 2) consciousness’s non-independent nature; particularly with regards to its inextricable interdependence with the other four aggregates of existence (ie, form, feeling, perception, and volition), and; 3) consciousness’s mutual dependence with n?ma-r?pa (mental factors and elements of matter).
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Bodhi Journal, 2006
This article features a brief explication of the doctrine of ‘dependant origination’ (pa?icca-sam... more This article features a brief explication of the doctrine of ‘dependant origination’ (pa?icca-samupp?da) and a discussion of its conceptual applications in early Buddhism. Regarding the latter, it primarily seeks to elaborate on the theory that dependant origination was described as the ‘middle doctrine’ (majjhima-dhamma) in the P?li Suttas in view of its providing a theoretical platform for Buddhism to transcend the key classical Indian philosophical conflict centered around the dichotomy of ‘eternalism’ (sassatav?da) and ‘annihilation-ism’ (ucchedav?da), as well as other important philosophical and religious controversies contemporaneous to the Buddha.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
亞洲週刊, 2019
朝鮮發展核武是對中國發揮「非對稱槓桿效應」:迫使美國增強在東亞的軍事力量,雖會對朝鮮國家安全產生威脅,但亦會增加中國需要其緩衝區起作用的緊迫性。
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
The Diplomat, 2018
What if Pyongyang is using nuclearization as a means to alter the terms of its relationship with ... more What if Pyongyang is using nuclearization as a means to alter the terms of its relationship with China?
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
불교연구, 2018
This article discusses the eminent early
Qing monastic leader Tianran Hanshi's 天然函昰 concept of
... more This article discusses the eminent early
Qing monastic leader Tianran Hanshi's 天然函昰 concept of
“quasi poetry” 似詩, its relationship with contemporary
debates on the relationship between Chan and poetry, and
its impact on poetic ideas and practices in Buddhist
monasteries in southern China. It begins by addressing how a shift in gentry-monastic relations in the late Ming / early Qing prompted some monastic writers, such as the
renowned late Ming reformer Hanshan Deqing 山德清,
to articulate a more radical identification of Chan with poetry.
The article then introduces Tianran and the core principles
he associated with his concept of “quasi poetry”, focusing
on the ways in which this concept constituted an alternative
– and possibly an implicit critique – of the radical identity
theory. The third section shows examples of the application
of Tianran’s “quasi poetry”, focusing on a response poem
Tianran composed for the lay disciple Xie Jiu 謝揪. This is
followed by a discussion on quasi poetry’s application and
impact in and beyond Tianran’s Haiyun school. In a brief
afterword I discuss how this concept was
associated with new modes of literary interaction between
gentry and clerical interlocutors that formed in the late Ming / early Qing period..
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
禪學, 2018
A distinctive feature of Chinese Buddhist literary theory was the
development of the idea that n... more A distinctive feature of Chinese Buddhist literary theory was the
development of the idea that non-Buddhist poetry can have religious value.
Thisis commonly associated with the idea that the ‘pure and cool’ (清淨)scenes
of some landscape/reclusive poems celebrated Buddhist eremitic ideals, and
could even reflect the inner ‘coolness and purity’ of the enlightened author.
However, especially in the late imperial period, less widely celebrated ways of
understanding the Buddhist value of secular poems were proposed by
monastic writers. Of these, the rubric advanced by the eminent late Ming cleric Hanshan Deqing (憨山德清) is particularly marked on account of itsstark
contrast with more established conventions – he proposed that poems which
depicted agitated emotions prompted by ‘steamy’ and defiled scenes were
idealresourcesfor enlighteningBuddhist disciples. These ideas emerged after
Hanshan was exiled to Lingnan (Guangdong), and were attributed to religious
insights he developed as a result of this bitter experience – in particular,
revelationsin relation to the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra. These ideas arguably exerted
some influence on monastic writers – especially those who were similarly
exposed to political violence as a result of the collapse of the Ming dynasty.
Aiming foremost to contribute to a greater awareness of the diversity and
sophistication of monastic discourses on the religious utility of poetry, this
article discusses the formation and constitution, and tentatively explores the
influence of, the post-exile writings on poetry-Chan of Hanshan Deqing. Its
methodology issomewhat unconventional in that, in line with the approach to
Hanshan’s thought of Sung-peng Hsu, it seeks to uncover both the doctrinal
and experiential influencesthatshaped Hanshan’s unique approach to poetryChan. It begins by briefly discussing conventional ideas on the religious value
of poetically depicting ‘pure and cool’ settings. It then discusses how,
subsequent to Hanshan’s exile to the tropics ofsouthern Lingnan, he began to
affirm the religious utility of poems which depict steamy, “hellish” settings,
and analyzes how this transformation was related to Hanshan’s post-exile
revelations regarding the Laṅkāvatāra. It explores, in particular, how the
notions of “hell”, “dreamlike-ness” and “dream-speech” were drawn upon to
construct new, Mind-only school-inspired theories on how genres such as
frontier/exile poetry can be radically identified with Chan. The last section
briefly exploresthe influence of Hanshan’s unorthodox emancipatory poetics in Qing dynasty southern Chinese monastic orders, and encourages further
studies aimed at challenging the relatively narrow purview of conventional
approachesto poetry-Chan
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Manga Vision, 2016
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
외국학연구 , 2018
This article examines the writings of four so-called 'Ming loyalist' Chan monks who
adapted Zhu X... more This article examines the writings of four so-called 'Ming loyalist' Chan monks who
adapted Zhu Xi's New Doctrine of the Mean thought to promote the paradigm that intense 'worldly' emotions, when expressed in poetic form, can have
religious value for Buddhist disciples. The monks in question are: 1. the Caodong
Tianjie lineage founder Juelang Daosheng, who first developed this rubric, and
whose ideas will be the subject of special emphasis; 2. his principle disciple Fang
Yizhi; 3. the Caodong Haichuang lineage leader Jinshi Dangui, and; 4. the Linji sect
monk Jishan Chengjiu. In addition to discussing how the development and evolution
of this rubric reflected the specificities of these authors' historical situation, I aim to
show how this evolving model could be seen to constitute an approach to literature
and emotionality that reflected the syncretic, humanist and socially engaged brand of
Buddhism which was a prominent feature in the religious landscape of late imperial
China.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Thesis Chapters by Corey Bell
Dissertation, University of Melbourne, 2016
The best known genre of Chinese Buddhist poetry is the ‘nature’ or ‘landscape’ poems,
which were ... more The best known genre of Chinese Buddhist poetry is the ‘nature’ or ‘landscape’ poems,
which were seen to have religious value because they promoted ‘detachment’ from society
and used the tranquillity of a secluded scene to reveal the monastic author’s inner calm.
However, during the tumultuous period of dynastic decline and transition in seventeenthcentury China, some monks saw religious value in poems that reflected their ‘entanglement’
with a crisis-ridden society, poems that even expressed agitated emotional states prompted by
the moral and political disorder of their era. The monks who developed this type of poetry
and the literary theory which justified it did so while serving in temples in southern China.
These clerics shared an important attribute – they were ‘loyal’ to the ill-fated Ming dynasty
(which ruled China until 1644, after which it was replaced by the Manchu Qing), a loyalty
that was manifest during the period of the dynasty’s decline and after its fall. A distinctive
characteristic of the poems of these monks and of their writings on poetry is that the authors
affirmed in different ways the use of poetry to express ‘indignation’ (yuan 怨), particularly
indignation at political injustice and social and moral disorder. This endorsement of the
poetic expression of indignation carried the condition that indignation had to be ‘genuine’, a
concept generally conveyed by the word zhen (真) which may be translated as ‘authenticity’
or ‘genuineness’ but which can also imply ‘truth’, ‘reality’ and ‘the real’. I argue that
monastic writers loyal to the Ming cause contended that poetry expressing genuine
indignation could help Buddhist disciples come to terms with the ‘reality’ of living through
tumultuous times, and could enlighten them. ‘Genuine’ poetic indignation could help
disciples attain insight into what some of these monks called the ‘genuine mind’ (真心).
This dissertation focuses on the writings and ideas on poetry of three such ‘loyal’ authors:
Hanshan Deqing (憨山德清) from the late Ming, Juelang Daosheng (覺浪道盛) from the
Ming-Qing transition era and Tianran Hanshi (天然函昰) from the early Qing. It will show
how each author developed new Buddhist interpretations of genuineness to bring emotional
‘engagement’ with a troubled world into the purview of Buddhist practice. I suggest that their
ideas drew on late-Ming intellectual innovations and on the new forms of socially-engaged
Buddhism that emerged at this time. Each of the three writers (and his associates) responded
to a different context within the larger historical process of the decline of the Ming and the
rise of the Qing. However, we can argue that the common feature in their work was that they
took an approach to literature and its place in religious practice which differed from that of earlier Buddhist thinkers. In shifting from the eremitic ‘ideal’ of detachment and tranquillity
to the ‘reality’ of engagement and emotional honesty, their work marked a new turn in
monastic discourse on the relationship between poetry and Chan/Buddhism, a significant new
development in Buddhist literary practice and a new phase in late imperial Buddhist
intellectual history.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Drafts by Corey Bell
Draft of paper on the distinctive approach to zen practice of the late Ming / early Qing Buddhist... more Draft of paper on the distinctive approach to zen practice of the late Ming / early Qing Buddhist monk Juelang Daosheng
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Report (Chinese language) on Taiwan/Australia P2P relations for a Taiwan-based think tank.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
East Asia and Europe after Brexit, 2020
This chapter examines Brexit’s impact on regional security in East Asia from the viewpoint of the... more This chapter examines Brexit’s impact on regional security in East Asia from the viewpoint of the strategic challenges facing Taiwan. It begins by exploring the growing scale and evolving nature of the threat China’s increasingly potent military poses to Taiwan, and the relationship between this evolving threat and policy shifts within Taiwan, as well as a nascent shift in the balance of power in the region, represented in part by China’s militarisation of reefs in the South China Sea. We then examine how Britain has escalated its opposition to unilateral Chinese actions in the South China Sea in the wake of the Brexit referendum. We explore in particular how Britain’s growing naval presence in the region is both contributing to, and occurring under the framework of, multilateral security agreements - in particular, a rapidly maturing security agreement with Japan, and trilateral agreements involving the UK, Japan and the United States. Based on the premise that the rules based international order has become increasingly ineffective in curtailing Chinese attempts to enforce unilateral territorial claims, we argue that, from a Taiwanese perspective, post-Brexit Britain’s commitment to increasing its naval presence in the region could have a material impact in maintaining the balance of power between China and an American-led coalition in the western Pacific, and that this is likely to more than offset Brexit’s potential impact in reducing the potency of the European Union’s economic and soft power deterrents.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Uploads
Papers by Corey Bell
Qing monastic leader Tianran Hanshi's 天然函昰 concept of
“quasi poetry” 似詩, its relationship with contemporary
debates on the relationship between Chan and poetry, and
its impact on poetic ideas and practices in Buddhist
monasteries in southern China. It begins by addressing how a shift in gentry-monastic relations in the late Ming / early Qing prompted some monastic writers, such as the
renowned late Ming reformer Hanshan Deqing 山德清,
to articulate a more radical identification of Chan with poetry.
The article then introduces Tianran and the core principles
he associated with his concept of “quasi poetry”, focusing
on the ways in which this concept constituted an alternative
– and possibly an implicit critique – of the radical identity
theory. The third section shows examples of the application
of Tianran’s “quasi poetry”, focusing on a response poem
Tianran composed for the lay disciple Xie Jiu 謝揪. This is
followed by a discussion on quasi poetry’s application and
impact in and beyond Tianran’s Haiyun school. In a brief
afterword I discuss how this concept was
associated with new modes of literary interaction between
gentry and clerical interlocutors that formed in the late Ming / early Qing period..
development of the idea that non-Buddhist poetry can have religious value.
Thisis commonly associated with the idea that the ‘pure and cool’ (清淨)scenes
of some landscape/reclusive poems celebrated Buddhist eremitic ideals, and
could even reflect the inner ‘coolness and purity’ of the enlightened author.
However, especially in the late imperial period, less widely celebrated ways of
understanding the Buddhist value of secular poems were proposed by
monastic writers. Of these, the rubric advanced by the eminent late Ming cleric Hanshan Deqing (憨山德清) is particularly marked on account of itsstark
contrast with more established conventions – he proposed that poems which
depicted agitated emotions prompted by ‘steamy’ and defiled scenes were
idealresourcesfor enlighteningBuddhist disciples. These ideas emerged after
Hanshan was exiled to Lingnan (Guangdong), and were attributed to religious
insights he developed as a result of this bitter experience – in particular,
revelationsin relation to the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra. These ideas arguably exerted
some influence on monastic writers – especially those who were similarly
exposed to political violence as a result of the collapse of the Ming dynasty.
Aiming foremost to contribute to a greater awareness of the diversity and
sophistication of monastic discourses on the religious utility of poetry, this
article discusses the formation and constitution, and tentatively explores the
influence of, the post-exile writings on poetry-Chan of Hanshan Deqing. Its
methodology issomewhat unconventional in that, in line with the approach to
Hanshan’s thought of Sung-peng Hsu, it seeks to uncover both the doctrinal
and experiential influencesthatshaped Hanshan’s unique approach to poetryChan. It begins by briefly discussing conventional ideas on the religious value
of poetically depicting ‘pure and cool’ settings. It then discusses how,
subsequent to Hanshan’s exile to the tropics ofsouthern Lingnan, he began to
affirm the religious utility of poems which depict steamy, “hellish” settings,
and analyzes how this transformation was related to Hanshan’s post-exile
revelations regarding the Laṅkāvatāra. It explores, in particular, how the
notions of “hell”, “dreamlike-ness” and “dream-speech” were drawn upon to
construct new, Mind-only school-inspired theories on how genres such as
frontier/exile poetry can be radically identified with Chan. The last section
briefly exploresthe influence of Hanshan’s unorthodox emancipatory poetics in Qing dynasty southern Chinese monastic orders, and encourages further
studies aimed at challenging the relatively narrow purview of conventional
approachesto poetry-Chan
adapted Zhu Xi's New Doctrine of the Mean thought to promote the paradigm that intense 'worldly' emotions, when expressed in poetic form, can have
religious value for Buddhist disciples. The monks in question are: 1. the Caodong
Tianjie lineage founder Juelang Daosheng, who first developed this rubric, and
whose ideas will be the subject of special emphasis; 2. his principle disciple Fang
Yizhi; 3. the Caodong Haichuang lineage leader Jinshi Dangui, and; 4. the Linji sect
monk Jishan Chengjiu. In addition to discussing how the development and evolution
of this rubric reflected the specificities of these authors' historical situation, I aim to
show how this evolving model could be seen to constitute an approach to literature
and emotionality that reflected the syncretic, humanist and socially engaged brand of
Buddhism which was a prominent feature in the religious landscape of late imperial
China.
Thesis Chapters by Corey Bell
which were seen to have religious value because they promoted ‘detachment’ from society
and used the tranquillity of a secluded scene to reveal the monastic author’s inner calm.
However, during the tumultuous period of dynastic decline and transition in seventeenthcentury China, some monks saw religious value in poems that reflected their ‘entanglement’
with a crisis-ridden society, poems that even expressed agitated emotional states prompted by
the moral and political disorder of their era. The monks who developed this type of poetry
and the literary theory which justified it did so while serving in temples in southern China.
These clerics shared an important attribute – they were ‘loyal’ to the ill-fated Ming dynasty
(which ruled China until 1644, after which it was replaced by the Manchu Qing), a loyalty
that was manifest during the period of the dynasty’s decline and after its fall. A distinctive
characteristic of the poems of these monks and of their writings on poetry is that the authors
affirmed in different ways the use of poetry to express ‘indignation’ (yuan 怨), particularly
indignation at political injustice and social and moral disorder. This endorsement of the
poetic expression of indignation carried the condition that indignation had to be ‘genuine’, a
concept generally conveyed by the word zhen (真) which may be translated as ‘authenticity’
or ‘genuineness’ but which can also imply ‘truth’, ‘reality’ and ‘the real’. I argue that
monastic writers loyal to the Ming cause contended that poetry expressing genuine
indignation could help Buddhist disciples come to terms with the ‘reality’ of living through
tumultuous times, and could enlighten them. ‘Genuine’ poetic indignation could help
disciples attain insight into what some of these monks called the ‘genuine mind’ (真心).
This dissertation focuses on the writings and ideas on poetry of three such ‘loyal’ authors:
Hanshan Deqing (憨山德清) from the late Ming, Juelang Daosheng (覺浪道盛) from the
Ming-Qing transition era and Tianran Hanshi (天然函昰) from the early Qing. It will show
how each author developed new Buddhist interpretations of genuineness to bring emotional
‘engagement’ with a troubled world into the purview of Buddhist practice. I suggest that their
ideas drew on late-Ming intellectual innovations and on the new forms of socially-engaged
Buddhism that emerged at this time. Each of the three writers (and his associates) responded
to a different context within the larger historical process of the decline of the Ming and the
rise of the Qing. However, we can argue that the common feature in their work was that they
took an approach to literature and its place in religious practice which differed from that of earlier Buddhist thinkers. In shifting from the eremitic ‘ideal’ of detachment and tranquillity
to the ‘reality’ of engagement and emotional honesty, their work marked a new turn in
monastic discourse on the relationship between poetry and Chan/Buddhism, a significant new
development in Buddhist literary practice and a new phase in late imperial Buddhist
intellectual history.
Drafts by Corey Bell
Qing monastic leader Tianran Hanshi's 天然函昰 concept of
“quasi poetry” 似詩, its relationship with contemporary
debates on the relationship between Chan and poetry, and
its impact on poetic ideas and practices in Buddhist
monasteries in southern China. It begins by addressing how a shift in gentry-monastic relations in the late Ming / early Qing prompted some monastic writers, such as the
renowned late Ming reformer Hanshan Deqing 山德清,
to articulate a more radical identification of Chan with poetry.
The article then introduces Tianran and the core principles
he associated with his concept of “quasi poetry”, focusing
on the ways in which this concept constituted an alternative
– and possibly an implicit critique – of the radical identity
theory. The third section shows examples of the application
of Tianran’s “quasi poetry”, focusing on a response poem
Tianran composed for the lay disciple Xie Jiu 謝揪. This is
followed by a discussion on quasi poetry’s application and
impact in and beyond Tianran’s Haiyun school. In a brief
afterword I discuss how this concept was
associated with new modes of literary interaction between
gentry and clerical interlocutors that formed in the late Ming / early Qing period..
development of the idea that non-Buddhist poetry can have religious value.
Thisis commonly associated with the idea that the ‘pure and cool’ (清淨)scenes
of some landscape/reclusive poems celebrated Buddhist eremitic ideals, and
could even reflect the inner ‘coolness and purity’ of the enlightened author.
However, especially in the late imperial period, less widely celebrated ways of
understanding the Buddhist value of secular poems were proposed by
monastic writers. Of these, the rubric advanced by the eminent late Ming cleric Hanshan Deqing (憨山德清) is particularly marked on account of itsstark
contrast with more established conventions – he proposed that poems which
depicted agitated emotions prompted by ‘steamy’ and defiled scenes were
idealresourcesfor enlighteningBuddhist disciples. These ideas emerged after
Hanshan was exiled to Lingnan (Guangdong), and were attributed to religious
insights he developed as a result of this bitter experience – in particular,
revelationsin relation to the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra. These ideas arguably exerted
some influence on monastic writers – especially those who were similarly
exposed to political violence as a result of the collapse of the Ming dynasty.
Aiming foremost to contribute to a greater awareness of the diversity and
sophistication of monastic discourses on the religious utility of poetry, this
article discusses the formation and constitution, and tentatively explores the
influence of, the post-exile writings on poetry-Chan of Hanshan Deqing. Its
methodology issomewhat unconventional in that, in line with the approach to
Hanshan’s thought of Sung-peng Hsu, it seeks to uncover both the doctrinal
and experiential influencesthatshaped Hanshan’s unique approach to poetryChan. It begins by briefly discussing conventional ideas on the religious value
of poetically depicting ‘pure and cool’ settings. It then discusses how,
subsequent to Hanshan’s exile to the tropics ofsouthern Lingnan, he began to
affirm the religious utility of poems which depict steamy, “hellish” settings,
and analyzes how this transformation was related to Hanshan’s post-exile
revelations regarding the Laṅkāvatāra. It explores, in particular, how the
notions of “hell”, “dreamlike-ness” and “dream-speech” were drawn upon to
construct new, Mind-only school-inspired theories on how genres such as
frontier/exile poetry can be radically identified with Chan. The last section
briefly exploresthe influence of Hanshan’s unorthodox emancipatory poetics in Qing dynasty southern Chinese monastic orders, and encourages further
studies aimed at challenging the relatively narrow purview of conventional
approachesto poetry-Chan
adapted Zhu Xi's New Doctrine of the Mean thought to promote the paradigm that intense 'worldly' emotions, when expressed in poetic form, can have
religious value for Buddhist disciples. The monks in question are: 1. the Caodong
Tianjie lineage founder Juelang Daosheng, who first developed this rubric, and
whose ideas will be the subject of special emphasis; 2. his principle disciple Fang
Yizhi; 3. the Caodong Haichuang lineage leader Jinshi Dangui, and; 4. the Linji sect
monk Jishan Chengjiu. In addition to discussing how the development and evolution
of this rubric reflected the specificities of these authors' historical situation, I aim to
show how this evolving model could be seen to constitute an approach to literature
and emotionality that reflected the syncretic, humanist and socially engaged brand of
Buddhism which was a prominent feature in the religious landscape of late imperial
China.
which were seen to have religious value because they promoted ‘detachment’ from society
and used the tranquillity of a secluded scene to reveal the monastic author’s inner calm.
However, during the tumultuous period of dynastic decline and transition in seventeenthcentury China, some monks saw religious value in poems that reflected their ‘entanglement’
with a crisis-ridden society, poems that even expressed agitated emotional states prompted by
the moral and political disorder of their era. The monks who developed this type of poetry
and the literary theory which justified it did so while serving in temples in southern China.
These clerics shared an important attribute – they were ‘loyal’ to the ill-fated Ming dynasty
(which ruled China until 1644, after which it was replaced by the Manchu Qing), a loyalty
that was manifest during the period of the dynasty’s decline and after its fall. A distinctive
characteristic of the poems of these monks and of their writings on poetry is that the authors
affirmed in different ways the use of poetry to express ‘indignation’ (yuan 怨), particularly
indignation at political injustice and social and moral disorder. This endorsement of the
poetic expression of indignation carried the condition that indignation had to be ‘genuine’, a
concept generally conveyed by the word zhen (真) which may be translated as ‘authenticity’
or ‘genuineness’ but which can also imply ‘truth’, ‘reality’ and ‘the real’. I argue that
monastic writers loyal to the Ming cause contended that poetry expressing genuine
indignation could help Buddhist disciples come to terms with the ‘reality’ of living through
tumultuous times, and could enlighten them. ‘Genuine’ poetic indignation could help
disciples attain insight into what some of these monks called the ‘genuine mind’ (真心).
This dissertation focuses on the writings and ideas on poetry of three such ‘loyal’ authors:
Hanshan Deqing (憨山德清) from the late Ming, Juelang Daosheng (覺浪道盛) from the
Ming-Qing transition era and Tianran Hanshi (天然函昰) from the early Qing. It will show
how each author developed new Buddhist interpretations of genuineness to bring emotional
‘engagement’ with a troubled world into the purview of Buddhist practice. I suggest that their
ideas drew on late-Ming intellectual innovations and on the new forms of socially-engaged
Buddhism that emerged at this time. Each of the three writers (and his associates) responded
to a different context within the larger historical process of the decline of the Ming and the
rise of the Qing. However, we can argue that the common feature in their work was that they
took an approach to literature and its place in religious practice which differed from that of earlier Buddhist thinkers. In shifting from the eremitic ‘ideal’ of detachment and tranquillity
to the ‘reality’ of engagement and emotional honesty, their work marked a new turn in
monastic discourse on the relationship between poetry and Chan/Buddhism, a significant new
development in Buddhist literary practice and a new phase in late imperial Buddhist
intellectual history.
As outlined by Yang (1993), key aspects of indigenous psychological research include the need to address idiosyncratic local themes, or distinctively localised psychological/behavioural phenomena, and the local socio-cultural and historical context within which these are situated. Perceptions of these, according to phenomenology, cannot, however, be conceived in a vacuum, but are guided by both the situated self, and, more directly, academic and literary representations, narratives or texts concerning the constitution of such phenomena, and with which the researcher is familiar and conversant. This dissertation seeks to assert that a prominent force in shaping representations of what may constitute distinctive Chinese themes and historical and socio-cultural contexts in Chinese socio-political, and particularly Western academic sources is the strongly politicised and broadly encompassing paradigm of ‘modernisation’. The way this paradigm has informed pre-understandings compromising indigenous methodologies shall then be addressed by means of a critical analysis of K.S. Yang’s investigation of Chinese psychological transformation, focusing on the following three key effects: (1) the positing of ‘traditional’ and ‘modern’, ‘functional/non-functional’ as labels for the demarcation of China’s contemporary psychological realities; (2) the reproduction of Western academic discources and their underlying Western cross-cultural perspectives and ethnocentric biases in the identification and elaboration of ‘traditional’ Chinese psychological characteristics; including the coalescing and ratifying of notions of China’s ‘traditionality’ through a generative semantic rubric of ‘Confucianism’, and; (3) the subsequent empowerment, enshrinement and false identification of Western perspectives, ideals, standards and notions: particularly in view of their collective association with the constitution and success of a utopian ‘modern’ industrialised society.