14 - Ming Buddhism

Summary

INTRODUCTION

By the time the Ming dynasty was founded, Buddhism had existed in China for more than fourteen centuries. Of the major schools of Buddhism established during the Sui (581–618) and Tang (618–907) dynasties, the T'ien-t'ai, Hua-yen, Wei-shih, Lü, Pure Land, and Ch'an continued to exist in the Ming, just as they had during the Sung (960–1279) and Yüan (1206– 1368) periods. Like all mature world religions, Buddhism is, as W. C. Smith puts it, a “cumulative tradition.” Ming Buddhism shared many characteristics with the Buddhism of earlier dynasties. It is, therefore, not possible to demarcate a clearly defined entity called Ming Buddhism. Furthermore, the task of writing a general history of Buddhism during the Ming dynasty is made harder by the paucity of existing scholarship. Since, for a long time, Buddhist scholars and historians of Chinese Buddhism (with the exception of Japanese scholars) regarded Buddhism after the T'ang, “the golden age of Buddhism,” as a period of decline, they did not devote much energy to its study. Only within the last few decades has Western scholarship on Ming Buddhism begun to appear. Therefore, our knowledge about Ming Buddhism is, in many respects, still preliminary and incomplete.

One can, however, offer several generalizations about Ming Buddhism. First, a close relationship existed between the Buddhist sangha, or monastic communities, and the government. This is evidenced in the government's attempts, from the time of the first Ming emperor, to exert strict administrative control over every aspect of the sangha; in the continuous, and at times, lavish patronage of Buddhism by the imperial court; and in individual monks' involvement with the court and politics.