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The Landscape Buddhism of the Fifth-Century Poet Hsieh Ling-yün

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 March 2011

Richard Mather
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Though relatively less known in the West than his contemporary, T'ao Yüan-ming, Hsieh Ling-yüna (385–433) was in his own generation and for some centuries thereafter the most popular poet of the age. Thirty-two of his shorter poems were included in the Wen-hsüan (compiled about 530), while T'ao is represented there by only eight pieces and Yen Yen-chihb, another contemporary whose name is often coupled with Hsieh's, by nineteen. His fame seems to have rested largely on his ability to depict the natural beauties of the Chekiang mountains which he loved, and to evoke in his readers the moods which they inspired in him. In fact he is counted by some to be the originator of the type of “landscape poetry” which was later so successfully exemplified by poets like Wang Wei (699–759) and Liu Tsung-yüan (773–819). There can be no doubt also that the art of landscape painting, which likewise reached its first flowering with Wang Wei, had its roots in the same soil that produced the landscape poetry of Hsieh Ling-yün.

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The Journal of Asian Studies , Volume 18 , Issue 1 , November 1958 , pp. 67 - 79
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Copyright © The Association for Asian Studies, Inc. 1958

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References

1 See Suzuki Torao, Shina bungaku kenkyü (Tokyo, 1928), pp. 74 ff; and Chung-kuo wen-hsüeh ja-chan shih [A History of the Development of Chinese Literature], ed. Taiwan Chung-hua Book Co. (Taipei, 1956), pp. 219–227. Throughout the notes the following abbreviations will be used: CSTCC for Seng-yua (445—518), Ch'u san-tsang chi chib [Collection of Records Relating to the Translation of the Tripitaka]. Ho for Ho Li-ch'üana, “Hsieh K'ang-lo nien-p'ud”, [“A Chronology for Hsieh K'ang-lo (Hsieh Ling-yün)”], Ch'i-ta chi-k'an° VI (1936). KHMC for Tao-hsüan' (596–667), Kuang hung-ming chio. KSC for Hui-chiaoa (d. 554), Kao-seng chuan [Lives of Eminent Monies]. SS tor Sung shu, Po-na pen ed. (Shanghai, 1930–37). Taishō tor Taishō shinshū daizōkyō [The Chinese Buddhist Tripitaka Edited during the Taishō Era], 55 vols. (Tokyo, 1922–23). T'ang for T'ang Yung-t'ung', Han-Wei liang-Chin nan-pei-ch'ao Fo-chiao shih [A History of Buddhism during the Han, Wei, Two Chin, and Northern and Southern Dynasties], 2 vols., 2nd. ed. (Peking, 1955). TCTC for Ssu-ma Kuang (1019–86), Tzu-chih t'ung-chien, punctuated critical edition (Peking, 1956).

The author acknowledges with gratitude helpful criticisms and suggestions received during a year's study as a Fulbright and Guggenheim Fellow in Kyoto from Professor Tsukamoto Zenryü, Director of Kyoto University's Research Institute of Humanistic Sciences, and from Professor Yoshikawa Kōjirō, Dean of the Faculty of Letters at the same University. Responsibility for all statements, however, remains with the author.

2 Biography, Chin chu, 79.73–11b. He was awarded the rank of General of Chariots and Horsemen (ch'e-ch'i chiang-chün) after thwarting the invasion of the Former Ch'in monarch Fu Chien in 383 (Chin shu, 79.10b).

3 Though his noble title, Duke of K'ang-lo, inherited from his grandfather, was temporarily reduced to Marquis in 420 when Emperor Wu of Sung ascended the throne, he was made Captain of the Crown Prince's Left Guard (fai-tzu tso-wei shuai) and Cavalier Attendant-in-ordinary (san-ch'i ch'ang-shih) in the same year (Sung shu 67.14a). Later on, in 426, though called by Emperor Wen to be Keeper of the Imperial Library (mi-shu chien), he did not take up his post until after much prodding (Sung shu 67.333b; TCTC 120.3784). The following year he was made Chief Attendant (shih-chung) and was met with “lavish rewards,” but was dismissed in 428 (SS 67.37a; TCTC 121.3803–3804).

4 SS 67.14a. An incident concerning his love of criticizing others and its cure is recorded in the biography of his cousin, Hsieh Chan' (SS 56.20–33).

5 SS 67.14b. See Tang, II, 438, and Ho, pp. 49–50.

6 See note 3 above.

7 See Murakami Yoshimi, “In-itsu” [“Hermit Life”], Shirin, XXIX, No. 6 (Sept., 1956), 461–479. Prof. Muraksmi distinguishes between the earlier varieties of retirement which mostly reflected some protest, prevalent until the end of Western Chin (ca. 317), and the variety which came into vogue among the nobility and wealdiy gentry of the Yangtze delta in the Eastern Chin (317–420), which was mainly an escape from irksome responsibilities and gruesome intrigues to the delights of one's private estate amid the intellectual stimulation of other like-minded “recluses.” Both chronologically and qualit3tively Hsieh's retirement belongs in the latter category.

8 Interestingly enough, this mutual hostility seems to have had a rather personal basis, with a religious twist. Meng, who was among the underwriters of Buddhabhadra's translation of the Avatammka-sūtra (Taishō No. 278) in the year 419 (CSTCC ch. 9, Taishō LV, 61a), is said to have “worshipped the Buddha with concentrated devotion.” His brand of religion, however, seems not to have agreed with Hsieh's, who once said to him in derision: “Attainment of the Way requires the work of wisdom. If you are reborn as a god, it may be before me, but if you become a Buddha, it will surely be after me.” Presumably it was pique over this remark which turned Meng against Hsieh (SS 67.58b).

9 I.e., Chang Liangd (d. 187 B.C.). A native of Han, Chang attempted to assassinate Ch'in Shih-huang-ti, but failing, went into enforced retirement. Later he became military adviser to the first Han emperor, and so vindicated his former failure, but at the peak of his career he retired again, this time voluntarily (see Shih chi ch. 55 and Han shu ch. 40).

10 L.e., Lu Chung-liena (3rd century B.C.). Fleeing from his native Ch'i to Chao, he helped the latter against Ch'in, but left when offered a reward for his services. Later recommended for noble rank in Ch'i, he absconded to the seacoast with the words: “Rather than yield to others for wealth and honor, I shall let my fancy free, despising the world in poverty and obscurity” (Shih chi 83.9b).

11 SS 67.40a.

12 For Hui-yüan's own interpretation of Buddhist ideas, see Walter Liebenthal, “Shih Hui-yüan's Buddhism as set forth in his Writings,” ]AOS, LXX (1950), 243–259.

13 KHMC ch. 23 (Taishō LII, 267ab).

14 SS 67.1b; T'ang, II, 437; Ho, p. 45.

15 KSC ch. 6 (Taishō L, 361a).

16 See Chia-ts'ai'sm (7th century) Ching-t'u lun” [Treatise on the Pure Land] (Taishō XLVII, 83b); Fei-hsi'so (8th century) Nien-fo san-mei pao-wang lun” [Treatise on the jewelled King of the Trance of Reflection on the Buddha] (Taishō XLVII, 104a); also the anonymous Wang-sheng hsi-fang ching-f'u jui-ying chuan'a [Lives of those Gone to be Reborn in the Pure Land of the West], compiled in 805 (Taishō LI, 104a).

17 See Chang Yuan', Kao-chien chui-pi' [Copies of Draft Documents] in the 14th century collection, Shuo fu' 44.10b–11a (Commercial Press ed.); Ch'i-sunga (IIth century), Tung-lin yin-t'ang liu shiho [Six Episodes from the Hall of the Reflected Image of the East Grove Temple], in Fo-tsu t'ung-chto [General Record of Buddhist Patriarchs] (13th century) (Taishō XLIX, 271ab); Ch'en Shun-yüa, Lu-shan chiv [Record of Lu Mountain] (10th to 13th century) (Taishō LI, 1039b).

18 See, e.g., Chu Hsi's attack on Seng-chao and Hui-yüan in his Shih-shih luna [Treatise on Buddhism], Chu wen-\ung wen-chiaa (ssu-pu ts'ung-k'an ed.) 8.2b–4b, trans. G. E. Sargent, Tchou Hi contre le Bouddhisme (Paris, 1955), pp. 143–144.

19 Ch'i-sung, in the work cited above, had written, “In the case of Hsieh Ling-yün, [Hui-yüan] felt that his mind was mixed and did not accept him, and eventually [Hsieh] died by execution. It was a case of recognizing his capacity and foreknowing his end” (Taishō XLIX, 271b).

20 KSC ch. 7 (Taishō L, 373c).

21 KHMC ch. 23 (Taishō LII, 266b—267a).

22 55 67.14b–15a; T'ang, II, 438; Ho, p. 53.

23 KHMC ch. 23 (Taishō LII, 266b and 267a).

24 KHMC ch. 18 (Taishō LII, 224C–228a). The greater part is translated in Fung Yu-lan, History of Chinese Philosophy (Princeton, 1953), II, 274–283. Cf. also Walter Liebenthal, The Book, of Chao (Monumenta Serica Monograph XIII, Peking, 1948), pp. 185–190.

25 CSTCC ch. 12 (Taishō LV, 84b).

26 Taishō XLV, 150b; cf. Tsukamoto Zenryū, ed., Jōron kenkyū (Kyoto, 1955), p. 1.

27 Taishō Nos. 375 and 374 respectively. The heading of No. 375 states that it is a revision of Dharmaksema's (384–433) translation by Hui-yenab and Hui-kuanaa in conjunction with Hsieh Ling-yün (Taishō XII, 605, footnote). Yüan-k'angad (7th century) in his Chao-lun suao [Commentary on the Chao lun] writes, “Hsieh Ling-yün's literary style was elegant and developed and surpassed that of both ancient and modern times. For example, where the Nirvāna-sūtra in its unrevised state was crude or rough and originally read, ‘Hands grasping and feet stepping, we get to reach the Other Shore’af, Hsieh revised it to read, ‘Plying the hands and moving the feet, we stem the tide and cross overag’. (Taishō XLV, 162c; Tang, II, 439; cf. also the biography of Hui-yen, KSC ch. 7 (Taishō L, 368a).

28 For a discussion of the “Fourteen sounds,” see Mochizuki's Bukkyō daijiten, 1938a.

29 KSC ch. 7 (Taisho L, 367b); T'ang, II, 339. Hui-jui had travelled as far as the border of southern India and is said to have mastered the art of pronouncing and explaining foreign words.

30 Biography SS ch. 60 and Nan shih ch. 33. Some of Hsieh's correspondence with this prominent Buddhist layman is preserved in KHMC ch. 15 (Taishō LII, 199c–200a).

31 KSC ch. 7 (Taishō L, 367c).

32 Taishō Nos. 263 and 262 respectively. See, e.g., his Yüan-chüeh sheng-wen ho tsan [Hymn to Pratyekfi-Buddhas and Srāvakas] in KHMC ch. 15 (Taishō LII, 200a), and Saddharma 2 (Taishō No. 262, IX, 12bc).

33 There were at least eight translations of this work in existence during Hsieh's lifetime Cf. Hsieh's Ching tu yung [Pure Land Chant] (also titled Wu-liang-shou jo sung [Hymn to the Buddha Amitäyus]) in KHMC ch. 15 (Taishō LII, 200a), and Fo-shuo wu-liang-shou ching [= Sukhāvatī-vhūha] 1 (Taishō No. 360, XII, 267ab).

34 Cf. the reference to the icchantika, or hopeless unbeliever, in the Fo-ying ming (KHMC ch. 15, Taishō LII, 199b, and the Mahāparinirvāna 5, Taishō No. 375, XII, 633bc).

35 See, e.g., Wei-mo-chieh ching chung shih-p'i tsan [Hymns on the Ten Similes in the Vimalakīrtisūtra], and Vimalakīrti 2 (Taishō No. 475, XIV, 539b).

36 Biography Han shu ch. 72 (70 B.C.-A.D. 9). After Wang Mang's usurpation he was summoned to court, but refusing food, died fourteen days later.

37 Biography Hou han shu ch. III. Also a contemporary of Wang Mang who lived in retirement during that regime. Called later into the service of another usurper, Kung-sun Shu (d. A.D. 36 ) in western Szechwan, he declined, whereupon he was offered poisoned wine with which he committed suicide.

38 See San-kuo chih, Wei chih 21.8a, 9a. Implicated in a friend's disgrace, Hsi K'ang also was executed in A.D. 262.

39 See Chin shu 94.6b–7a. Huo also died refusing to serve a would-be usurper.

40 SS 67.41a. A slightly variant ending is carried in KHMC ch. 30 (Taishō LIT, 356a):

I regre t that my gentlemanly resolve

Has not found surcease upon the mountains.

To deliver up my heart before I have achieved awareness (samyaksambodhi)—

This pain I have long borne.

I only pray I might be reborn [in Amitābha's Paradise]

Where foe and friend alike might share my heart's desire.

41 See KHMC ch. 18 (Taishō LII, 225a); Fung, II, 227.

42 Hsieh (K'ang-lo chi [Collected Works of Hsieh K'ang-lo] in Han-wei lin-ch'ao i-pai-san chia chi [Collected Works of One Hundred and Three Writers from the Han, Wei, and Six Dynasties Period], ed. by Chang Fu (Ming), pp. 48a–49a.

43 SS 67.158–333; see Ho, p. 52.

44 Cf. Chou i [The Book of Changes], Hsi-tz'u B, 2.8.3a (R. Wilhelm, I Ching, New York, 1950, I, 359): “In primitive times men dwelt in caves and lived in the wilds, and sages of later times made the change to buildings and rooms. At the top was a ridgepole, and sloping down from it was a roof to serve as cover against wind and rain.” And from the same work (Shang-ching 22.3.3a; Wilhelm I, 99): “Six in the fifth place: grace in hills and gardens.”

45 As the poet explains in his self-commentary, the mythical emperor, Yao (trad. 2356 B.C.), held court on the north bank of the Fen (cf. Chuang-tzu 1.14b).

46 Hexagram 34 (four unbroken lines surmounted by two broken). The upper trigram, ch'enoh, is sometimes explained as a ridgepole with sloping roof (Wilhelm, I, 359).

47 See Huai-nan-tzu 8.5b: “Of those who ruled late in the dynasty there were Chieh and Chou [Hsin], who built fine jade chambers and jasper terraces, ivory porticos and jade beds.”

48 Hexagram 22 (one broken line between two unbroken, surmounted by two broken lines supporting one unbroken). The upper trigram, kenal, is explained as a hill, and the central trigram, ch'enaj, as a wood (Wilhelm, I, 99 and II, 139).

49 SS 67.15a, 16ab.

50 55 67.17b.

51 SS 67.26b.

52 SS 67.26b.

53 The Mrgadāva near Benares, where the Buddha preached his first sermon after his enlightenment; see Dirghāgama (Ch'ang a-han ching) I (Taishō I, 8c, 9a).

54 The Grdhrakuta in Rājagrha, where the Buddha is said to have preached the Prajnāpāramitā sūtras and the Saddharma-pundarīka (cf. Taishō VIII, 87a and IX, 35a).

55 The Kevaddha, near Kuśinagara, where the Buddha, ncaring his death, is said to have preached the Mahāparinirvāna-sūtra (cf. Taishō XII, 853a).

56 In Vaiśāli, where the Buddha is supposed to have preached the Vimalakirti-nirdeśa (cf. Taishō XIV, 537a).

57 See Vimalakīrti-nirdeśa 6 (Taishō XIV, 527a).

58 Ibid. 10 (Taishō XIV, 532ab).

59 SS 67.25a.

60 SS 67.25a. A parallel viewpoint from a slightly later period is expressed by the Northern Wei Prince, T'o-pa Ch'engaj in a memorial dated 517: “Either side by side [the monasteries] fill the interior of the walled cities, or one upon the other they overflow into the butcheries and wineries. … Brahman chants and the sound of slaughter, each next door to the other, mingle their echoes. … Of old the Tathāgata, when he revealed his Doctrine, mostly abode in the mountains and in the forests. Now these monks passionately cling to the cities and towns. Are narrow ways fitting for religious practice? Are frivolity and turmoil really the abode of contemplation?” (Wei Shou, Treatise on Buddhism and Taoism, trans. Leon Hurvitz in Yün-kang, the Buddhist Cave Temples of the Fifth Century A.D. in North China XVI, Suppl., pp. 94–96).

61 The inscription is included in KHMC ch. 15 (Taishō LII, 1993b). The terrace was completed in the spring of 412, and an invitation extended to various “wielders of the brush” to contribute commemorative inscriptions in the fall of the next year (see Hui-yüan's inscription of the same name, p. 198b, and Ho, p. 46). The original “Reflected Image,” of which Hui-yüan's was a distant copy, was located near Nagarahāra (in modern Afghanistan). Cf. the account of Fa-hsien in the Kao-seng Fa-hsien chuan: “Half a yojana (i.e., about nine miles) south of the city of Nagarahara there is a stone cave in the southwestern face of a broad mountain. The Buddha left his reflected image in this place. If one looks at it from a distance of ten or more paces it is like the true form of the Buddha: the golden color, the characteristics and marks, shine forth with a brilliant light, but the nearer one comes to it the dimmer it becomes. … Kings from all quarters have sent artisans and painters to copy it, but none of them has been able to equal it.” (Taishō LI, 859a). Later pilgrims found the image disappointingly faded (see Hsüan-tsang's Ta-t'ang hsi-yü chi [Record of the Western Regions], Taishō LI, 879a; and T. Watters, On Ywan Chwang's Travels in India 629–645 A.D. [London, 1904], I, 184).

62 See Chuang-tzu 6.8b, where the context is a discussion of the inevitability of death: “A boat may be hidden in a canyon: a mountain may be hidden in a swamp; these may be said to be safe enough. But at midnight a strong man may come and carry them away on his back” (cf. Fung, 1, 238).

63 The subsequent history of the Buddhist community following the Nirvāna of the Founder was arbitrarily divided into three periods of varying lengths, according to which source is followed: that of the True Teaching, cheng-ja, that of the Symbolic Teaching, hsiang-fa, and that of the Degenerate Teaching, mo-ja. Hsieh's reference is possibly based on something like Saddharma-pundarīka 2 (Taishō IX, IIc): “O Sariputra, after the Nirvāna of this Padmaprabha Buddha, the True teaching will be in the world for thirty-two small kalpas, and the Symbolic Teaching will be in the world for another thirty-two small kalpas, at which time the Bhagavan desires again to proclaim this doctrine.”

64 Fa-hsien made his pilgrimage between 399 and 413, and was in the southern capital at Chien-yeh (Modern Nanking) during the late fall or winter of 413, when, Professor T'ang believes (II, 438), he had met Hsieh Ling-yün and described his experiences in a conversation, which the poet here refers to. Fa-hsien probably did not write his memoirs until 414–416 (see Adachi Kiroku, Hotyen den [Tokyo, 1936], P. 278).

65 KHMC ch. 15 (Taishō LII, 199b). In Hui-yüan's biography in KSC we read, “Hui-yüan heard that in India (T'ien-chu) there was a reflected image left by the Buddha long ago when he converted a poisonous dragon in the stone cave of an ancient hermit south of the city of Nagarahāraok in the Kingdom of Kushānaal in the north of India. The road thither passes through the desert westward 15,850 li. Whenever [Hui-yüan heard word of it] he would rejoice, and communicate his cherished ambition of desiring to see it. It happened that there was a monk from the Western Regions (perhaps Buddhabhadra, who joined the Lu Mountain community in 411; see Tsukamoto ed., Jōron kenkyū, chronological table, p. 12) who described its luminous characteristics. Hui-yüan accordingly built a shrine backed against the mountain and overlooking a stream. With minute calculations painters drew [the image] in pale hues. The color seemed like dense atmosphere, and when one looked, it resembled smoke or mist The radiant characteristics were now brilliant, now obscured, as if appearing through concealment.” (KSC ch. 6, Taishō L, 358b). The original incident referred to, of the Buddha's conversion of a poisonous dragon in a hermit's cave, seems to be based on Ekpttarāgama (Tseng-i a-han ching) 14 (Taishō II, 619bc), although the location is there indicated as Uruvilvā (near Buddha Gaya in northeast India). In the Etiottāgama account the dragon, symbolizing hatred, attempted to overwhelm the Buddha with fire from its mouth, but the Buddha, absorbed in a compassionate trance, shone more brilliantly than the dragon and ultimately subdued it. Perhaps a naturally luminous effect in the rock of the cave at Nagarahāra gave rise to the tradition connecting it with this incident.

66 KHMC ch. 15 (Taishō LII, 199c).

67 For the significance of this trance in Pure Land thought, see the correspondence between Kumarājīva and Hui-yūan in the Ta-sheng ta-i changam [The Principal Meaning of the Mahāyārā] (Taishō XLV, 134b–135a).