Table Of Content

THE IMPACT OF BUDDHISM ON CHINESE MATERIAL CULTURE BUDDHISMS: A PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS SERIES Edited by Stephen F. Teiser A list of titles in this series appears at the back of the book THE IMPACT OF BUDDHISM ON CHINESE MATERIAL CULTURE John Kieschmck PRINCETON UNIVERSITY P R E S S • P R I N C E T O N AND OXFORD 3HKTHAM COLLEGE UB8AK& Copyright © 2003 by Princeton University Press Published by Princeton University Press, 41 William Street, Princeton, New Jersey 08540 ■ In the United Kingdom: Princeton University Press, 3 Market Place, Woodstock, Oxfordshire 0X20 1SY All Rights Reserved Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Kieschnick, John, 1964- The impact of Buddhism on Chinese material culture p. cm. — (Buddhisms) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-691-09675-9 (alk. paper) — ISBN 0-691-09676-7 (pbk.: alk. paper) 1. Buddhism—China. 2. Material culture—China. I. Title. II. Series. BQ626 .K54 2003 294.3 '0951—dc21 2002072258 British Library Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available This book has been composed in Sabon and Caslon Open Face Printed on acid-free paper. 0 www.pupress.princeton.edu Printed in the United States of America 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 ISBN-13: 978-0-691-09676-6 (pbk.) ISBN-10: 0-691-09676-7 (pbk.) For Regina CONTENTS Acknowledgments ix Introduction 1 The Buddhist Critique of the Material World 2 Objects in Service to the Dharma 5 Attitudes toward Buddhist Objects in China 9 On the Term Material Culture 15 Scholarship on Material Culture 16 Objects and the History of Religion 19 Chapter One: Sacred Power 24 Relics 29 Icons 52 Conclusion 80 Chapter Two: Symbolism 83 The Monastic Uniform 86 The Rosary 116 The Ruyi Scepter 138 Conclusion 153 Chapter Three: Merit 157 Books 164 Monasteries 185 Bridges 199 Conclusion 215 Chapter Four: Accidents and Incidentals 220 The Chair 222 Sugar 249 Tea 262 Conclusion 275 Conclusion 281 The Role of Monks 284 Beyond Monks 289 The Illusion of Impact 292 Viii CONTENTS Character List for Chinese, Japanese, and Korean Terms 295 Abbreviations 301 Works Cited 303 Index 335 A CKNO WLED GMENTS fu ll list of all who have helped in the writing of this book would tax the patience of my publisher and of all but my most sympathetic readers. Suffice it to say that the book would have been much weaker, contained more inaccuracies, and been much duller had it not been for the generous assistance of friends and colleagues, as well as specialists whom I know only through correspondence, but who have without exception replied to my queries with information, sugges tions, and encouragement. I have published earlier versions of three sections of what follows. Namely, “Buddhism and the History of the Chinese Bridge” in Economic History, Urban Culture and Material Culture. Papers from the Third In ternational Conference on Sinology, History Section (Taipei: Academia Sinica, Institute of History and Philology, 2002), pp. 1-25; “The Sym bolism of the Monk’s Robe in China” in Asia Major, Third Series, vol. 12, part 1 (1999), pp. 9-32; and a Chinese version of my discussion of Bud dhism and the history of the chair as “Yizi yu fojiao liuchuan de guanxi” in The Bulletin of the Institute of History and Philology, Academia Sinica, vol. 69, part 4 (1998), pp. 727-61.1 am grateful to the editorial boards of these journals for permission to print revised versions of these articles here. THE IMPACT OF BUDDHISM ON CHINESE MATERIAL CULTURE