Burning for Buddha: Self-Immolation in Chinese Buddhism

2009 ◽  
Vol 69 (1) ◽  
pp. 221-225
Author(s):  
Vincent Goossaert
Keyword(s):  
Chinese Buddhism ◽  
Self Immolation

Self-immolation, Resistance and Millenarianism in Medieval Chinese Buddhism

2014 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 229-254
Author(s):  
James A. Benn
Keyword(s):  
Religious Communities ◽  
Chinese Buddhism ◽  
Historical Materials ◽  
State Authority ◽  
Self Immolation

Accounts of Buddhist monks and laymen who made offerings of their bodies by fire or other means often hint at larger themes of resistance to state authority and millenarian or Utopian hopes on the part of religious communities. I will put some of these sources, drawn from hagiographical collections and commemorative inscriptions, into dialogue with each other and with other historical materials in order to reveal some of the larger forces at work behind (apparently) individual acts of self-immolation.

scholarly journals The Bodily Discourse in Modern Chinese Buddhism—Asceticism and Its Presentation in Buddhist Periodicals

Religions ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 400
Author(s):  
Lianghao Lu
Keyword(s):  
Chinese Buddhism ◽  
Republican China ◽  
Buddhist Tradition ◽  
Modern Chinese ◽  
Religion And Modernity ◽  
Self Immolation ◽  
Modern Form

This article focuses on accounts of bodily asceticism published in Buddhist periodicals in Republican China (1912–1949) in order to explore the mentality and motivation of publicly presenting this seemingly fanatic and backward tradition in an era marked by modernization. By zeroing in on practices of self-immolation, bodily mutilation, and blood writing, as presented in periodicals advocating either reform or preservation of Buddhist tradition, the article reveals that Buddhists with different visions for the modern form of Chinese Buddhism, despite their multifaceted responses, reached a consensus: ascetic practices were part of the tradition worthy of preservation and a strong testament of Buddhist morality. Arguments and eulogies about specific cases, preserved in these periodicals, made Buddhist asceticism an integral part of Chinese Buddhism’s modern transformation, which contributes to the rethinking of religion and modernity discourse.

Brook Ziporyn’s (Chinese) Buddhist Reading of Chinese Philosophy

2018 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 259-267
Author(s):  
Paul J. D'Ambrosio
Keyword(s):  
Chinese Philosophy ◽  
Review Article ◽  
Chinese Buddhism ◽  
Classroom Discussions ◽  
The Core ◽  
Chinese Thought ◽  
Core Issue ◽  
Tiantai Buddhism ◽  
Early Chinese Philosophy

This review article defends Brook Ziporyn against the charge, quite common in graduate classroom discussions, if not in print, that his readings of early Chinese philosophy are ‘overly Buddhist’. These readings are found in his three most recent books: Ironies of Oneness and Difference: Coherence in Early Chinese Thought, Beyond Oneness and Difference: Li and Coherence in Chinese Buddhist Thought and Its Antecedents, and Emptiness and Omnipresence: An Essential Introduction to Tiantai Buddhism. His readings are clearly Buddhist-influenced, but this is not in and of itself problematic. The core issue is rather to what degree these ‘Buddhist elements’ are actually already existent in, and have subsequently been carried over from, early Chinese thought in the development of Chinese Buddhism. Indeed, some scholars of Chinese Buddhism have pointed out that much of the vocabulary, concepts, and logic used in schools such as Tiantai may owe more to Daoist influences than to Buddhist ones. Accordingly, Ziporyn’s ‘overly Buddhist’ approach might simply be an avenue of interpretation that is actually quite in line with the thinking in the early texts themselves, albeit one that is less familiar (i.e. an early Chinese Buddhist or Ziporyn’s approach). The article also aims to show how Ziporyn’s theory concerning the importance of ‘coherence’ in early and later Chinese philosophy is also quite important in his above work on Tiantai Buddhism, Emptiness and Omnipresence. While in this work Ziporyn almost entirely abstains from using the language of coherence, much of it actually rests on a strong coherence-based foundation, thereby demonstrating not Ziporyn’s own prejudice, but rather the thoroughgoing importance and versatility of his arguments on coherence. Indeed, understanding the importance of coherence in his readings of Tiantai Buddhism (despite the fact that he does not explicitly use coherence-related vocabulary) only bolsters the defense against the claims that he makes ‘overly Buddhist’ readings of early Chinese philosophy.

Ecology, Dharma and Direct Action: A Brief Survey of Contemporary Eco-Buddhist Activism in Korea

2015 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 293-311
Author(s):  
Young-Hae Yoon ◽  
Sherwin Jones
Keyword(s):  
Social Engagement ◽  
Direct Action ◽  
Social Activism ◽  
Turn Of The Millennium ◽  
Hunger Strike ◽  
Korean Society ◽  
High Profile ◽  
Reclamation Project ◽  
Self Immolation

Over the last few decades there has emerged a small, yet influential eco-Buddhism movement in South Korea which, since the turn of the millennium, has seen several S?n (J. Zen) Buddhist clerics engage in high-profile protests and activism campaigns opposing massive development projects which threatened widespread ecological destruction. This article will survey the issues and events surrounding three such protests; the 2003 samboilbae, or ‘threesteps- one-bow’, march led by Venerable Suky?ng against the Saemangeum Reclamation Project, Venerable Jiyul’s Anti-Mt. Ch?ns?ng tunnel hunger-strike campaign between 2002 and 2006, and lastly Venerable Munsu’s self-immolation protesting the Four Rivers Project in 2010. This article will additionally analyze the attempts by these clerics to deploy innovative and distinctively Buddhist forms of protest, the effects of these protests, and how these protests have altered public perceptions of the role of Buddhist clergy in Korean society. This study will additionally highlight issues relevant to the broader discourse regarding the intersection of Buddhism and social activism, such as the appropriation of traditional Buddhist practices as protest tactics and the potential for conflict between social engagement and the pursuit of Buddhist soteriological goals.

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