recontextualizing kanjingsi: finding meaning in the emptiness at longmen
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Recontextualizing Kanjingsi: Finding Meaning in the Emptiness at LongmenAuthor(s): Karil KuceraSource: Archives of Asian Art, Vol. 56 (2006), pp. 61-80Published by: University of Hawai'i Press for the Asia SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20111337 .
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Recontextualizing Kanjingsi: Finding Meaning in the Emptiness at Longmen*
Karil Kucera
St. Olaf College
V_yn the east side of theYi River at Longmen, a side which
has historically received less scholarly attention than the more
intensely carved west side, there are several impressive tem
ples and cave-temples, most of which were produced during the reign of Empress Wu (684-705).The largest of those, the
cave-temple Kanjingsi, is approximately 11 meters square and
Fig. i. Exterior view of Kanjingsi Cave, Longmen. Tang dynasty
(618-907). Luoyang, China. Stone; approx. 11 m. square. Photograph
by Dr. Amy McNair.
at present lacks a dominant Buddha grouping such as is seen
at most other caves at Longmen and elsewhere (Fig. 1).
Kanjingsi is largely empty except for a band of life-size relief
figures of monks stretching along its back and side walls
(Figs. 2,3).1 Above these figures the walls are patterned with remnants of multiple small seated-Buddha images, extend
ing up toward a lotus carved high above.2 The "emptiness" of the cave appears to point to a function different from that
of other, more iconographically apparent grottoes and niches at Longmen. Although the name Kanjingsi translates as
"Reading Scriptures Temple," this name was not ascribed to
the cave until the Qianlong reign-period (1736-1796).3 Previous scholarship has focused largely on interpreting
the emptiness of the cave, and has given scant consideration
Fig. 2. Patriarchs, south interior wall, Kanjingsi Cave, Longmen.
Photograph by author.
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Fig. 3. Patriarchs, north interior wall, Kanjingsi Cave, Longmen.
Photograph by author.
to the ways in which Kanjingsi may have functioned with in the Longmen complex and especially within a larger
Tang societal framework. Scholars have analyzed the monk
figures within the cave primarily in conjunction with its
emptiness, in an effort to affiliate Kanjingsi with the Chan Buddhist sect. This study seeks to present Kanjingsi as an
element in the multilayered and complex reality of actual
practice at Longmen during the Tang. It synthesizes recent
scholarship on the lineage schemes being formulated
during the Tang, in order to reinterpret the production, patronage, and use of the cave.
REPRESENTING THE SA?GHA
The obvious source for the band of life-size relief figures of
monks encircling the side and back walls of Kanjingsi are
the omnipresent disciple figures ?nanda and Mah?k?syapa, whose depiction within main Buddhist groupings serves to
reflect the importance of the sa?gha, or monastic commu
nity, within the Buddhist faith. Earlier grotto works at
Longmen present this pair flanking the Buddha while the rest of the Ten Disciples look on; in later grottoes ?nanda and Mah?k?syapa alone serve to signify all Ten Disciples and,
by extension, the sa?gha.
62
No precedents for the Kanjingsi series of monk images exist on the earlier more heavily carved west side of
Longmen. The only similar grouping occurs within the
nearby east-bank cave of Leigutai Central.4 A plausible rationale for representing such a multitude of monks with
in the east-side caves is that the east side of the Yi at
Longmen was largely utilized by the monastic community;
during the Tang dynasty (and earlier) the east side was the
site of several large monastic complexes as well as the
burial ground for numerous illustrious members of
Longmen s monastic community.5 I shall argue that the
preponderant monastic presence on the east bank was
considered to require a different visual program than that
necessary for the pilgrims who patronized the west-bank caves and niches.
Yet there are notable differences between the two caves.
At Leigutai Central the cave program follows a more stan
dard design formula: the focus of the space is a Maitreya Buddha triad carved in high relief on the back wall
(Fig. 4). Covering the upper part of the walls is a diaper pattern of seated Buddha figures; carved on the side walls
and skirting below the Maitreya Buddha are relief figures of monks (Fig. 5). The Leigutai monk images are smaller,
only half-size versus life-size at Kanjingsi. They are also
4m 1 Mah?k?syapa
2 Ananda
3 Madhyantika
4 Sana ka vasa
5. Upaj?upta
6. Dhrtaka
7 Mikkaka
S. Buddhanandi
9 Buddhamitra
10 Parana
11 l*unyayasas
12 AsvaghiKa
13 Kapwmala
14 Nla?aquna
15 Kanadeva
16. Kahulata
17 San^hanandi
1H Gayasata
19 Kumarata
20 Jayata
21 Vasubandhu
22 Manortnta
23 Ya<?
24 Heklc-na
25 Aryasimha
Fig. 4. Floor Plan of Leigutai Central Cave, Longmen. Tang dynasty
(618-907). Luoyang, China. After Longmen Shiku, vol. 2 (Beijing: Wenwu Chubanshe, 1991-1992), pi. 282.
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Fig. 5. Overview of Leigutai Central Cave, Longmen.T?ng dynasty
(618-907). Luoyang, China. From Mizuno Seiichi and Nagahiro
Toshio, Rytimon Sekkutsu no Kenkyil, vol. 3 (Tokyo: Zauho Kank?kai,
1941; reprint, Kyoto: D?h?sha, 1980), pi. 99.
fewer?twenty-five at Leigutai Central, twenty-nine
at
Kanjingsi. In a further difference from Kanjingsi, the
Leigutai reliefs are flanked by carved identifying inscrip tions (Fig. 6).
Leigutai Central Cave provides a variety of aid to the
greater understanding of Kanjingsi. Most useful is Leigutai Centrals indisputable date within the Zhou dynasty of
Empress Wu (690-705), established by the presence within
the Leigutai Central inscriptions of special characters
promulgated at this time.6 The presence of these charac
ters, which were no longer in use after 705, throughout
Leigutai Central?they also occur within four Buddhist
texts carved at the entrance to the cave?confirms that
the monk figures perambulating the lower registers of the
walls were conceived within the overall program of
the cave.7 Another fortuitous aspect of Leigutai Central is
found in the content of the inscriptions flanking the
carved monk-figures. The rather lengthy carved texts
follow "captions" that name the monk figures, and can be
traced back to a late fifth-century work entitled Fu Fazang
Yinyuan Zhuan (History of the Transmission of the Dharma
Store)? Despite its questionable origin, the Fu Fazang
Yinyuan Zhuan is generally accepted within the field of
Buddhist studies as one of two works promulgated by the
Tiantai school of Buddhism in China to substantiate its
claim to a religious genealogy leading back to the histori
cal Buddha S?kyamuni.9 The images depicted at Leigutai Central appear to follow the genealogy laid out in the
s?tra, albeit with large portions of narrative omitted from
the inscriptions and one additional individual, the twenty third figure, inserted, in what appears to have been a
misreading of the s?tra.10
PATRIARCHS OR LUOHAN?ISSUES OF LEGITIMATION
Identification of the monk figures within Leigutai Central
and Kanjingsi as patriarchs rather than luohan is based on
subtle but crucial differences in the meaning of the two
terms. Although often used interchangeably, patriarch implies a lineage schema?an actual or retroactively devised
leadership descent within a given Buddhist school, where
as luohan more generally means "worthy ones," individuals
who have attained Enlightenment mainly through their own
efforts.11 Thus, all patriarchs are luohan, but not all luohan
are patriarchs.
In both caves we are looking at patriarchs. Principal sup
port for this assertion is that, beginning in the late sixth
century and gaining momentum in the eighth, Buddhist
devotees of various persuasions began to make a conscious
effort to gain authenticity by reconnecting themselves
with their Indian origins. To that end, individual monks
drew from extant s?tras and created their own texts as
well, in order to claim for their particular set of beliefs and
practices a line of patriarchs stretching back to the histor
ical Buddha S?kyamuni. In fact, the aforementioned Fu
FazangYinyuan Zhuan is considered to have been compiled in China.12
Lineage sch?mas were not entirely new in the Tang, and
rationales for creating them varied. Their proliferation
during the Tang might have occurred partly as a response to
imperial pressures. Such pressure is apparent in the ongoing call for monks to adhere to Confucian Chinese social stan
dards. In 662, Emperor Gaozong reopened the controversy
regarding whether monks should recognize their social
obligations by paying homage to their parents as well as to
the emperor.13 Although the initial conclusion was no, this
push toward Confucian proprieties was later renewed, and
by 714 Emperor Xuanzong effectively decreed that all
monks were required to perform filial obeisance.14 Such
political maneuvering highlighted the very vital gap in
Buddhisms dealings with its Sino-Buddhist congrega tions?an insufficient accounting of Buddhisms "ancestral"
lineages.
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Fig. 6. Rubbing of Inscription for Twenty-Third Patriarch, Leigutai Central Cave, Longmen. Tang dynasty (618-907). Luoyang, China. Paper and ink.
Reprinted with permission from Edouard Chavannes, Mission arch?ologique, vol. 3 (Paris: ?cole Fran?aise d'Extr?me Orient, 1909-1915),
pi. DLXXXVII. Patriarch, Leigutai Central Cave, Longmen,Tang dynasty (618-907). Luoyang, China. Photograph by Dr. Amy McNair.
Historically, Buddhist orders were organized in a famil
ial fashion, leaders being referred to as zu, "grandfather" or
"patriarch," with pupils as dizi, "younger brother" or
"son," while the various schools themselves became
known asjia, or "houses." Over time Buddhist monks also
gradually appropriated duties associated with ancestor
worship, including functioning as "priests" for the ancestral
cults of their patrons.15 Dating from as early as the
Northern Wei dynasty (386-535), the Chinese Buddhist
clergy took on many of the trappings of Confucian ances
tor ritual, such as mourning for their deceased masters as a
son would mourn a father, and promoting burial rather
than the customary cremation.16 Concurrent with a rising literati interest in genealogy, Buddhist monastic communi
ties began to express concern with their own lineages, a
concern that is credited with bringing about the resurrec
tion of earlier translated works in order to substantiate
these later legitimation claims.
Economics always played a large role in the motiva
tion of various Buddhist activities. Thus lineage sch?mas
can further be seen as created in response to patrons' demands. Beginning just prior to the Sui reunification of
China, recipients of donations shifted from a Buddhist
institution as a whole to specific members of the sa?gha.
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Emperors and nobility donated estates or tax bases often to the teachers of specific theoretical systems or orders;
hence,
monastic property came to be jealously guarded by being passed on to the heir or senior disciple of the abbot. This tendency became marked in the Sui dynasty (581-618 CE), and it must have
produced a nexus between doctrine, monastic property, and line
ages of succession.17
The first such schema to emerge was that of the Tiantai
school, which in the late sixth century created a lineage based on the Fu Fazang Yinyuan Zhuan and the Mohe
Zhiguan (The Great Calming and Contemplation), a text writ ten by the sect's founder Zhiyi (538?597).18 It is argued that
this family line extending back to India was constructed in
response to new donations given to the school by Emperor Wendi of the Sui dynasty in the form of land grants and
tax revenue from Tiantai County; in order to maintain the
prosperity of the order, a set patriarchal lineage schema and order of future succession had to be created.19 Other
orders were quick to follow suit, clearly recognizing the
economic value inherent in linking living Chinese Buddhist
monks with an Indian patriarchal line stretching back to
S?kyamuni. The currents of the times also clearly created a demand
for lineage programs. In the final defining years of the
imperial legitimation struggles of the early eighth century,
Empress Wu schemed to occupy the throne in her own
right, overriding traditional Confucian legitimation formulae to do so.20 The Buddhist church had been
instrumental in helping her, and the significance of what
Empress Wu was attempting could not have been lost
upon the Buddhist community as a whole. It was the
Northern school of Chan's supposed connections with
Empress Wu and her "materialistic" lot, engaged in temple
building, icon construction, s?tra copying, etc., that were
excoriated by the Southern school of Chan Buddhism in
732 in its battle for supremacy over the Northern school.21
Although few today would agree that the Southern Chan branch of Buddhism was quite so distinctly separate or so
truly iconoclastic at this early date, the issue of lineage clearly was of considerable concern to both sides of the debate.
The heart of the Southern school's argument centered
upon Confucian dictates for legitimate rule, but was
couched in Buddhist terminology and in retrospect was
clearly designed to create a singular lineage transmission
model for Chan. Shenhui, leader of the Southern school,
designed a multipronged attack on the teachings and prac tices of Shenxiu and the Northern school, yet the critical issue was the illegitimacy of more than one ruler or patri arch existing at one time. Empress Wu had reigned as
emperor in her own right while her two sons, clearly the
legitimate heirs to the throne, were capable of doing so.
This had created "two suns in the sky," which was not
possible under the Confucian mandate. Shenhui carefully drew the analogy to his own cause, highlighting the prem ise that two Chan masters could not coexist within one
generation:
So the succession to the throne of the Chakravartin King is like
the transmission of the patriarchs of the Chan lineage through the
generations to only one heir, who is called the true son.22
Shenhui's attack on the Northern school of Chan, and his
promotion of himself and the Southern school as "rightful heirs" to the Buddhist law, was clearly the culmination of
years of struggling with legitimation concerns within the Buddhist monastic community as a whole. Although the Chan school's legitimation struggles have historically received the most attention, evidence for other sectarian
schisms can be found in documents dating from the reign of Tang Xuanzong (713-756) that describe debate over the Chinese portion of the lineage scheme of the Tiantai
school.23
THE TRANSMISSION OF THE LAW
Examples of representations depicting lineages, or the
"transmission of the law," are obviously rare for these early years; one clear example, however, does remain, dating from the Sui dynasty.24 Carved just inside the doorway to
the Dazhusheng Cave at Lingquansi is a floor-to-ceiling stele-like carving divided into twelve registers of alter
nating text and image (Fig. 7). The carving's near-pristine condition is due in large part to Lingquansi's remote
location outside Anyang in Henan Province.25 The text of the Dazhusheng carving clearly designates the individu
als portrayed as Mah?k?syapa transmitting the Law to
?nanda, who in turn passes it down the generations to the
twenty-fourth disciple listed, Aryasimha. The images placed above the text repeat the motif of two men seated in
conversation, highlighting the master-disciple relationship. In order to signify the Buddhist Law being transmitted, and thus the lineage extended, the artist has chosen to
place either a jewel in the lotus or a mushroom-like moun
tain shape between each pair of conversing figures throughout the entire sequence. There appears to have been a certain amount of latitude in form for both images,
with the jewel-in-the-lotus motif rendered in shapes as
disparate as an egg resting on a feathered fleur-de-lis or
a pineapple upright on a bed of leaves. The mountain
imagery, which also appears to have been used as a border, is represented in the second register of images as a craggy rock with prominent outcroppings, while in the fifth reg ister the central mountain form suggests more a column
than a mountain.
An image similar to the jewel-in-the-lotus motif pres ent in the Dazhusheng Cave relief carving can be seen at
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Fig. 7. Stele Depicting the Transmission of the Law at Dazhusheng Cave.
589. Stone. Reprinted with permission from Zhongguo Meishu
Quanji, vol. 13 (Beijing: Wen wu Chubanshe, 1989)^1.214.
Leigutai Central. A pair of figures carved on the south
wall immediately inside the entrance carries a table bear
ing what appears to be a heavily stylized and eroded
jewel-in-the-lotus form (Fig. 8).26 Although this motif is
not repeated, as the jewel-in-the-lotus is at Lingquansi, its placement at the head of the procession makes evident
its great importance. To the figures depicted in the
Leigutai Central processional, i.e., monks, who have
given up their worldly possessions in search of
Enlightenment, an object requiring special handling and
transport can only be the Buddha s Law. By the promi nence of their position these figures and their precious
Fig. 8. Servants in Front of First Patriarch Carrying Jewel-in-the-Lotus,
Leigutai Central Cave, Longmen. Photograph by Dr. Amy McNair.
cargo strengthen the argument that Leigutai s monk
figures imply a lineage schema.
The combination of the jewel-in-the-lotus motif with
the inscriptions flanking the named and numbered
monk-figures at Leigutai Central strengthens the inter
pretation of the monastic procession as a depiction of the
transmission of the Law, and thereby an illustrated lineage. Each inscription begins with a brief "caption," first nam
ing the patriarch being depicted and then numbering him
within the lineage.The "captions" in these inscriptions are
not part of the recognized canonic text, and thus can be
seen as an aid to worshippers in identifying the accompa
nying images.27 Within the cave at Kanjingsi this formula is further
abstracted. No longer is there a jewel-in-the-lotus motif, but simply a lotus, represented first in the hands of
Mah?k?syapa, then in the hands of ?nanda (Fig. g). From
the careful positioning of the lotus in the open palm of
each figure, with the same lotus drooping lazily to one
side, it appears as if Mah?k?syapa has handed the lotus to
?nanda, who will in turn pass it on. ?nanda looks over
his left shoulder to Mah?k?syapa, who gazes back at
him meaningfully. Mah?k?syapa offers the lotus of the
Law with his left hand, ?nanda receives it in his right. At Kanjingsi the uniform depictions of the lotus and
the absence of further representations of the motif among the grouping of patriarchs suggests that the literal depic tion of the lotus being passed all the way down the
lineage was no longer necessary for later Tang-dynasty devotees. The transmission of the Law, and the lineage it
implied, had clearly become an accepted concept and a
recognizable motif.
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Fig. 9. Carvings of ?nanda and Mah?k?syapa in Kanjingsi Cave at
Longmen. From Mizuno Seiichi and Nagahiro Toshio, RyUmon Sekkutsu no KenkyU, vol. 3 (Tokyo: Zauho Kank?kai, 1941; reprint,
Kyoto: D?h?sha, 1980), pi. 82.
CHAN AND TIANTAI
The two distinct iconographie programs seen at Leigutai Central and Kanjingsi help to reveal the diversity of reli
gious activity within Longmen during the late seventh
and early eighth centuries. The eclecticism of the age is
highlighted by the variety of Buddhist factions that are
mentioned by scholars in discussing these two caves.The
multiple Buddha imagery of Leigutai Central Cave has
led scholars to at least two different hypotheses regarding the cave s iconographie program. One hypothesis suggests the Three Stages and the other the Pure Land movement
as source of the Leigutai imagery.28 Kanjingsi's iconog
raphy, most scholars have agreed, is related to Chan. This
conclusion is based on the combination of the afore
mentioned vast emptiness of the cave, which has been
perceived as reflecting Chan's iconoclastic nature, and on
the number of patriarchs depicted lining the interior
walls. But neither of these two aspects definitively points to Chan patronage.29
If one views these two caves as extensive projects under
taken at considerable expense, thereby entailing wealthy patronage, then the number of possible religious affiliations
is somewhat diminished. Let us first consider Leigutai Central. Certain facets of the Three Stages ideology may make that movement a promising prospect for Leigutai Central's patronage. Specifically, the Maitreya imagery found within Leigutai Central, in conjunction with the texts related to the decline of the Law inscribed at the
entrance, point to a tradition that may have encompassed Three Stages philosophies.30 Furthermore, there is the
possibility that the 15,000 Buddhas imagery carved
throughout the cave was related to penitential rites involv
ing recitation of the Buddhanama scriptures; these rites were a central tenet of the Three Stages movement.31
Yet it has been documented that the Three Stages movement was proscribed during the reign of Empress Wu, one of a series of proscriptions that eventually
brought about its demise.32 Furthermore, the followers of
the Three Stages movement did not promote a lineage schema, having been in existence for a relatively short
span of time prior to its initial proscription. Thus follow ers of Three Stages ideology would not be a likely source
of patronage for a cave of this scale, and within which
patriarch imagery was such an important component of
the iconographie program.
Iconographically, the Pure Land movement may help to
explain the multiple Buddha imagery at Leigutai Central, but the presence of the patriarch imagery as well as the
dominant Maitreya Triad does not make the program
clearly Pure Land. Although Pure Land programs were
thought to be popular at Longmen, Sofukawa Hiroshi has
effectively documented that the majority of Pure Land
works were smaller niches, with very few major caves
having Pure Land images as their main icon.33
Given its acknowledged ideologically syncretic quality, Tiantai would make the most probable source for the
imagery found at Leigutai Central. The Tiantai system
during its revival under Empress Wu and her successors
freely accommodated diverse scriptures as suited their
needs.34 The text fundamental to Tiantai belief, the Mohe
Zhiguan, allowed for a variety of Buddhist practices,
including practices as diverse as Chan meditation, Esoteric
Buddhist rites, and Pure Land worship, the combination of
which would help to explain the unusual convergence of
imagery within the cave.35 Tiantai was also the first group to promote a distinct patriarchal lineage based on the
"Western patriarchs" and the "Eastern masters."36 Their
use of the Fu FazangYinyuan Zhuan to define the Western
patriarchs would serve to explain the text's presence in the
carved inscriptions at Leigutai Central.
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Tiantai is also a logical choice when patronage is con
sidered. Although Tiantai virtually dropped out of sight
following the demise of the Sui dynastic house, the Tiantai
teachings were never out of circulation, as evidenced by their being brought to Japan by visiting Chinese monks.
Empress Wu, in a move perceived as serving to distance
herself from Buddhist factions patronized by earlier Tang
emperors, chose a Tiantai monk to serve as Precepts Master to the court. Wu is also thought to have favored
Tiantai due to her familial ties to the Sui royal household, which had historically been supportive of Zhiyi and
Tiantai.37 Based upon ideology as well as patronage, the
Tiantai Buddhist monastic community seems a more plau sible supporter of the production of Leigutai Central than
either Three Stages or Pure Land.
Now let us look at the evidence for possible patrons of
Kanjingsi. Like Tiantai, Chan enjoyed the support of the
aristocrats of Luoyang, including Empress Wu. It is known
that as early as 695, Empress Wu had established close rela
tions with various meditation masters, a number of whom
would later be incorporated into written Chan lineage sch?mas. One of the most compelling stories related to
Empress Wu describes the empress kneeling in respect before the Chan master Shenxiu, aged ninety-five, who had
come to the capital at Wu's invitation.38 Chan monks are
documented as having lived at Longmen or in the sur
rounding area, and numerous famous Chan monks, among
them the Chan master Shenhui, are buried there.39
Patronage of Chan continued through the Tang period, as
evidenced by the nobility's interest in Shenxiu's Chan suc
cessor, Puji, and by failed attempts of Emperors Ruizong and Zhongzong to bring Puji to court.40
The main evidence for the identification of Kanjingsi as
a Chan cave lies in the number of patriarchs represented.41
Only Chan would claim for its lineage twenty-eight Indian patriarchs extending back to S?kyamuni, and gen
erally credit Bodhidharma as the first Chinese patriarch
despite his Indie origins.Written sources incorporating the
Chinese patriarchs into an overarching lineage schema
postdate the 684?705 period during which Kanjingsi was
constructed, but not by very long. According to the
chronology provided by Faure, the earliest of the Chan
patriarchal histories can be dated to sometime between
710 and 720, even though it was not until the tenth
century that the famous "transmission of the lamp" texts
became canonized.42 The carved figures at Kanjingsi
may well represent one of the earliest representations of
the Chan lineage schema, one not yet incorporating the
Chinese patriarchs, and not yet divided by later internal
Chan sectarian quarrels.
Illustrating the patriarchy was fundamental to Chan. The
Chan movement's emphasis on an unbroken lineage
helped to set Chan apart from the many other competing
lineages, whereas Chan's promotion of meditation as a
means to Enlightenment by itself could not. With aristo
cratic patronage of Chan evident in Luoyang, and the
Chan movement beginning to be enmeshed in its own
legitimation struggles, one might see the depictions of
carved patriarchs at Kanjingsi as an effort by Chan adher ents to not only set the school apart from the neighboring
Tiantai lineage of Leigutai Central, but also to confirm the
validity of Chan's own existence within the Buddhist
monastic community as a whole.
In the Kanjingsi Cave there are no extant inscriptions
identifying the individual patriarchs. Scholars have argued that this very lack of inscriptional evidence points toward
the Chan school as the source for the iconography. Yet
modern studies of Chan during the medieval Chinese
period have now disproved the notion that the Chan sect
always minimized dependence on scriptural works. If
Kanjingsi was a Chan-supported construction, its function
and feel greatly transcended its present emptiness. Though its depiction of a set of patriarchs presents visual evidence
for early Chan lineage sch?mas, equally important is the
evidence the cave provides of a Chan community engag
ing in a wide variety of Buddhist practices beyond simple meditation.
THE THREEFOLD PATH OF KANJINGSI
Sofukawa Hiroshi has noted that the purpose of the patri archs within Leigutai Central was to represent the "human
realm" within the greater program of the cave, which he
conceives to be that of the 15,000 Buddhas, encompassing the Buddhas of the Ten Directions, as is implied from
inscriptions on the walls and ceiling as well as from the
name carved above the cave entrance.43 I agree with
Sofukawa's contention that the patriarch imagery at Leigutai Central represents the human realm, but question why it
was felt necessary to consciously depict the human realm
so explicitly. This question may be addressed by moving our atten
tion back to the patriarchs of Kanjingsi. Within the cave's
present emptiness, the images seem to proceed around the
room, and indeed Sofukawa, among other scholars, has
characterized Kanjingsi as a direct representation of the
"transmission of the Law"; in other words, of the lineage of patriarchs from S?kyamuni to Bodhidharma. Most
scholars tend to see the procession of patriarchs as moving counterclockwise from the south wall to the north wall,
thereby beginning with Mah?k?syapa and ?nanda and
proceeding to what is considered to be a representation of
Bodhidharma (Figs. 10, 11) .44
Sofukawa argues that in fact the transmission begins with a niche situated on the inside of the doorway, which
depicts a standing Buddha figure flanked by two bod
hisattvas (Figs. 12,13).45 Although this would fit neatly into
the preconceived lineage schema, it is my contention that
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? 19 IS 17 16 13 H 13 12 11 10
21
22
23
24
23
26
27
28
29
X
Fig. io. F/oor P/?w, Kanjingsi Cave, Longmen. After Mizuno Seiichi and
Nagahiro Toshio, Ry?mon Sekkutsu no Kenkyi?, vol. i (Tokyo: Zauho
Kank?kai, 1941; reprint, Kyoto: D?h?sha, 1980), flg. 108.
this is in fact an intrusive niche, an opinion based largely on the inferior quality and smaller size of the figures with
in the niche compared with the patriarchs. It would have
been highly improbable to expend a great amount of time,
money, and energy carving truly superlative patriarch
images, only to create a clearly inferior Buddha triad.46
Indeed, the carvings at Kanjingsi depict a lineage, and if
numbers are to be believed, specifically a Chan lineage, but
it can be further argued that these figures served multiple purposes, all fundamentally didactic, each created for a dif
fering level of understanding. One purpose might have been to serve as models for emulation. This can be supported by their life size, and by their actions?each is doing some
thing, be it holding a sacred scripture, chanting, clutching rosary beads, or simply gazing off into space (Figs. 14, 13).
Each of these objects or actions figures in the story, known to devotees, of a given patriarch's Enlightenment. Chan
devotees using the cave would therefore have permanent visual signifiers of how they too could join the illustrious
group of men therein depicted. Not only does, each patri arch have unique characteristics, but the carver(s) attempted to convey individual personalities. Even without inscribed
names, each individual patriarch would have been known
and his story taught, in order to show the variety of meth
ods whereby practitioners could arrive at Enlightenment. The idea of belonging to a lineage would be further rein
forced as monks in Tang China perceived their link to
Bodhidharma, the man responsible for the Chan move
ment's presence in China, and, as they circled clockwise
Fig. ii. Drawing of Twenty-Nine Patriarchs in Kanjingsi Cave at
Longmen. After Mizuno Seiichi
and Nagahiro Toshio, RyUmon Sekkutsu no Kenky?, vol. i
(Tokyo: Zauho Kank?kai, 1941;
reprint, Kyoto: D?h?sha, 1980),
fig. no.
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Fig. 12. Buddha Niche on West Interior Wall, Kanjingsi Cave at Longmen. From Longmen Shiku (Beijing: Wen wu Chubanshe, 1980), pi. 190.
around the room, traveled across time and space back to
?nanda and Mah?k?syapa (Fig. 16). So the carved patriarchs of Kanjingsi, themselves "circumambulating" the cave,
Fig. 13. Detail of Buddha Niche on West Interior Wall, Kanjingsi Cave at
Longmen. From Mizuno Seiichi and Nagahiro Toshio, RyiJmon Sekkutsu no Kenkyi?, vol. 3 (Tokyo: Zauho Kank?kai, 1941; reprint,
Kyoto: D?h?sha, 1980), pi. 97.
Fig. 14. Detail Showing Image of Patriarch in Worship, Kanjingsi Cave at
Longmen. From Mizuno Seiichi and Nagahiro Toshio, Ry?mon Sekkutsu no KenkytJ, vol. 3 (Tokyo: Zauho Kank?kai, 1941; reprint,
Kyoto: D?h?sha, 1980), pl. 94.
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Fig. 15. Detail Showing Image of Patriarch in Worship, Kanjingsi Cave at
Longmen. From Mizuno Seiichi and Nagahiro Toshio, RyiJmon Sekkutsu no KenkytJ, vol. 3 (Tokyo: Zauho Kank?kai, 1941; reprint,
Kyoto: D?h?sha, 1980), pl. 84.
Fig. 16. Detail of Carved Bodhidharma Image from Kanjingsi Cave at
Longmen. Photograph by author.
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would in turn inspire their Tang followers to perform ritual
circumambulation.47
Although rituals of any sort seem incongruous in light of modern Chan religious practice, it must be remembered
that Chan practices of the eighth century differed greatly from today's highly distilled worship. Moreover, practices
within the various orders of Tang-dynasty Chan were
vastly discrepant; in the Yuanquejing Dashu Chao (Collected
Writings on the Great Commentary on the "Sutra of Perfect
Enlightenment"), the eighth-century monk and scholar
Zongmi described the doctrines and practices of seven of
the ten houses of Chan. Zongmi states, "Some carry out
all practices, while others disregard even the Buddha."48
Zongmi, who himself claimed to belong to the supposedly iconoclastic, nonmaterialistic Southern school of Chan, further recorded detailed instructions involving the texts
of litanies for services and ceremonies of repentance,
hymns of praise, offerings, s?tra chanting, meditation, and
so on.49
Early photos taken by Mizuno and others show the
Kanjingsi cave with a central Buddha statue placed on a
low, broad platform (Fig. 17).This statue is often dismissed
as irrelevant by modern scholars, who focus instead on the
carved patriarch imagery.50 I contend that in fact this work
(or one very much like it) was an original component of
the Kanjingsi cave program.51 As a central, free-standing
sculpture, it would have been easily circumambulated,
and, as tradition directed, in a clockwise direction.
Consequently, the circumambulating religious would have
begun their traversal of the patriarchs with Bodhidharma, who was closest to them in time and who brought Chan
to China, and ended with Mah?k?syapa, who was chrono
logically the most remote.52
Evidence for painted depictions of monks circumambu
lating an enclosed area occur in two different Tang-dynasty textual sources?one, the Lidai Minghuaji (Record of Famous
Painters of Successive Dynasties), completed by Zhang
Yanyuan in 847; the other, Ennins Diary, the account by a
Japanese monk (794-864) who traveled extensively
throughout the Buddhist establishments of Tang China
prior to and during the years of anti-Buddhist persecution. Both these texts record images of monks performing
ritual circumambulation at temples in Luoyang and
Chang'an; Zhang Yanyuan lists eight temples in Chang'an and two in Luoyang specifically containing depictions of "circumambulating monks," or "monks painted all
around."53 Within some temple precincts, notably
Qianfusi in Chang'an and Qin'gaisi in Luoyang, Zhang documented numerous areas where monks performing
ritual circumambulation were painted: "On the west side
of the walk outside the gate of the Dhyana Precinct are
monks performing the pradaksina ("circumambulation")
ceremony"; "In the southern intercolumnar space of the
eastern cloister corridor and on the south wall of the east
Fig. 17. Main Buddha Statue in Kanjingsi Cave at Longmen. From
Mizuno Seiichi and Nagahiro Toshio, Ryilmon Sekkutsu no Kenkyl?, vol. 3 (Tokyo: Zauho Kank?kai, 1941; reprint, Kyoto: D?h?sha,
1980), pl. 81.
gate are paintings of circumambulating monks. They turn
their eyes to look at people."54 Sculpted as opposed to
painted representations of monks performing circumam
bulation also existed in the former Silla Kingdom (in
present-day South Korea). Besides the well-known
mid-eighth?century grotto of Sokkuram, which features
the Ten Main Disciples of the Buddha carved circling a
central Buddha statue, there exists an eighth-century stone pillar carved on all sides with walking monks car
rying ritual objects (Fig. 18). The varied locations and
placement within those locations of both the painted and
sculpted images of circumambulating monks make it
apparent that such images were not limited to any one
sect or section of the monastic community, but rather
were ubiquitous, which reinforces the hypothesis that
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Fig. 18. Carved Pillar Showing Monks Circumambulating. 8th c. Ky?ngju, South Korea. Stone. Photograph by author.
they were meant to be emulated by the monks in their
day-to-day devotions.
Documented images of circumambulating patriarchs are
fewer; but the use of "cult" portraits of the patriarchs is
mentioned many times. Zhang's description of one area
within Qianfusi is particularly compelling: "On the boards
of the circumambulation pagoda are the cult portraits of
the twenty-four Disciples who transmit the Dharma."
These depictions were painted on the interior of the walls
of a pagoda built specifically for the performance of a cir
cumambulation ceremony.55
Ennin notes seeing numerous portraits of famous local
priests and patriarchs.56 Although not depictions of ritual
circumambulation, one group of works described by Ennin suggests highly interactive paintings of monks: "As
for the countenances of the sages and saints, some were
gazing into the distance, others looking to the side
seemed to be speaking, and others with lowered visages
regarded the ground."57 That patriarch portraits existed
earlier is evidenced by a passage from Huineng's
(638-713) introduction to the Platform SiJtra of the Sixth
Patriarch: "At that time there was a three-sectioned corri
dor in front of the Master's hall. On the walls were to be
painted pictures of stories from the Lank?vat?ra Sutra,
together with a picture in commemoration of the five
patriarchs transmitting the robe and the Dharma, in order
to disseminate them to later generations and preserve a
record of them."58
Two specific aspects of the Kanjingsi carvings, one sty listic and the other iconographie, point toward their use as
prompts to ritual circumambulation. The first is the sense
of movement inherent in the patriarchs who line the back
and side walls. Rarely are they depicted frontally; rather
they are carved predominantly in three-quarter view and
with their feet slightly splayed, leaning on the left, or for
ward-moving, foot.59 Although his feet have eroded,
Mah?k?syapa, who leads the group, retains the distinctive
attitude of leaning back on his left leg, suggesting that he
is in motion.60 The artist has heightened the sense of
movement of the line of figures by occasionally depicting a patriarch with head turned backward in conversation
while his body leans forward (Fig. ig). These suggestions of movement and conversation also serve to continue
the motif of the transmission of the Law, a transmission
signified here not by a lotus, but rather through teacher
disciple interaction. The randomly scattered carved con
versations express the necessity for study under a master in
order to achieve Enlightenment, a later tenet of Chan
Buddhism.
Fig. 19. Patriarchs in Conversation in Kanjingsi Cave at Longmen. From
Mizuno Seiichi and Nagahiro Toshio, RyHmon Sekkutsu no Kenkyil, vol. 3 (Tokyo: Zauho Kank?kai, 1941; reprint, Kyoto: D?h?sha,
1980), pi. 91.
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Iconographically supporting the hypothesis that the
patriarchs are engaged in ritual circumambulation are the
objects that they carry. In his in-depth study of the
Kanjingsi figures, Chen Qingxiang catalogues those
objects and remarks that they reveal the types of objects in use by the Buddhist monastic community during the Tang
dynasty.61 The items include long-handled censers, s?tra
rolls, a s?tra press, water vases, rosary beads, and walking
sticks. Yet these objects were not exclusively patriarchal attributes, since similar objects were also excavated from
nonpatriarchal Chan graves exhumed at Longmen in
1984. These types of ritual objects are also seen carved in
the lineage depiction at Leigutai Central. Chen notes that
comparable monk images found at other sites, such as the
carvings of monks at Xiangtangshan, do not depict such
objects in active use.62
The performance of ritual circumambulation can also
be related to patronage at Kanjingsi. Although the modern
conception of Chan prefers to place it outside the realm of
materialism and money, Kanjingsi was clearly an extensive
undertaking, and therefore not only practice but patronage
might have affected iconography. For the patron, the ulti mate purpose of the sculpted patriarchs at Kanjingsi may have been to confer merit. To view the patriarchs carved
in stone at Kanjingsi as being in perpetual motion around a central icon is to add the concept of perpetuity to the
perception of circumambulation. An almost unimaginable amount of merit was thus accrued over time by the donor, and by extension also by all who came into contact with
this stream of eternally merit-producing images. Buddhist
ritual circumambulation for merit production clearly was
tinged with magical as well as philosophical beliefs, which
would have appealed to wealthy donors seeking salvation
by any means; magic potency would not have been out
side the purview of a Chan school in the early stages of
legitimation, especially as it sought economic backing for
continued success.
Final proof that the figures are circumambulating and
that a large central icon existed at Kanjingsi can be seen
on the ceiling of the cave (Fig. 20). Carved at the exact
center is an eight-lobed lotus, encircled by six apsarases, or
heavenly dancers. Every other major cave project at
Longmen that has a lotus of any magnitude carved on the
ceiling has or had at least one dominant Buddha icon
within the cave.63 If indeed the Chan adherents at
Kanjingsi had been attempting to break with earlier
iconographie trends and to embrace "emptiness," exclud
ing such standard features as the ceiling lotus and its sur
rounding apsarases would have been an easy and obvious
choice. It stands to reason that the lotus and its attendant
figures would not have been carved there had they not
been necessary within the larger program and greater function of the Kanjingsi cave.
Fig. 20. Carved Ceiling Lotus, Kanjingsi Cave at Longmen. Photograph
by author.
CONCLUDING THOUGHTS
The east side of Longmen presents the modern scholar with a wide variety of valuable evidence despite its paucity of
carvings. First, it highlights a thriving and complex Buddhist
monastic community, concerned with issues of legitima tion very similar to the struggles that were ongoing at the
time within Tang imperial society. These concerns can
be seen reflected in the movements that were successful in gathering patronage and constructing Kanjingsi and
Leigutai Central.
Moreover, the carvings found at these two large caves
must be viewed among the earliest formulations of
Buddhist lineage schemes, predating written sources. The
transmission of the Law as depicted within Kanjingsi? distilled into the single lotus exchange?clearly demon strates that the monks active at Kanjingsi were familiar
with these types of sch?mas, and did not need explicit
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visual references or textual explication such as occur in the
carvings of Leigutai Central.
The series of men carved at Kanjingsi must also be seen
as serving different purposes for different classes of viewers,
creating a more complex portrait of Chan activities during this period. To the patron, the series of carved patriarchs found at Kanjingsi represented a continuous stream of
merit, symbolized by the implication of constantly flowing circumambulation. To the monastic community at
Longmen, the patriarchal lines fulfilled a desire to "connect"
and identify with the Buddha as a source of personal
Enlightenment; they also legitimated the community. The
original signifiers, ?nanda and Mah?k?syapa, were suitable
substitutes for a very abstract conception of the monastic
community, yet over time had come to be viewed as insuf
ficient, being too far removed from seventh-century China
in both time and space. To the individual novice, the lives of
these men who had overcome great obstacles in their per sonal quests for Enlightenment provided a deeply inspiring
message to be emulated. Thus, the carved patriarchs of
Kanjingsi served to fill an emptiness much greater than that
of the Kanjingsi cave itself.
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Notes
* An earlier version of this paper was first presented at the ASPAC 2000
conference in Eugene, Oregon. I thank my colleagues in the field of
religious studies as well as art history for their suggestions and clarifica
tions since then. Their useful comments, along with those of the two
anonymous Archives readers, prompted further re-evaluation of the
previous scholarship in light of more recent work done in other fields,
i. This cave is number 2194, according to Longmen Shiku Kukan
Bianhao Tu Ce {Volume of Numbered Diagrams of the Caves and Niches
at the Longmen Stone Grottoes), ed. Longmen Shiku Yanjiusuo and
Zhongyang Meishu Xueyuan Meishushi Xi (Beijing: Renmin Meishu
Chubanshe, 1994). At the time of the first surveys of Kanjingsi, in the
early twentieth century, the cave was being used for storage, and a
second-story wooden floor was put in place, resulting in scattered holes
carved higher up on the walls.
2. It is not clear whether the small carved Buddhas were part of the
original design of the cave, like the 15,000 Buddha motif at nearby
Leigutai Central Cave and elsewhere at Longmen, or were carved after
ward. No inscriptional evidence remains on this point, and the images themselves have been greatly abraded over time, making an accurate
dating difficult. At present the small Buddhas appear in somewhat
randomly scattered patches throughout the Kanjingsi cave.
3. Mizuno Seiichi and Nagahiro Toshio, Ryumon Sekkutsu no Kenky?
{Research on the Stone Grottoes of Longmen), vol. 1 (Tokyo: Zauho
Kank?kai, 1941; reprint, Kyoto: D?h?sha, 1980), p. 115, n. 1. Mizuno
actually specifies the thirty-fourth year of the reign of Qianlong, 1770,
but does not cite his source for this. Edouard Chavannes notes that at
the turn of the century the Kanjingsi was a Daoist temple, which may also point to earlier Daoist participation in the naming of the cave. See
Chavannes, Mission arch?ologique dans la Chine septentrionale, vol. 2 (Paris: Ecole Fran?aise d'Extr?me Orient, 1909-1915)^. 526.
4. An alternate name for this grotto is the Great 15,000 Buddhas
[DaWanwu Fo] Grotto. This name is carved above the entrance to the
grotto, in clear reference to the iconographie program above the series
of monk figures. 5. Wei Xiang and Lu Zhilu, Luoyang Xianzhi {Gazetteer of Loyang
County) (1813 ed.), section 22, p. 14, lists ten temples or monastic com
plexes in total at the site.
6. For more on the special characters, which replaced characters that
were taboo during the Zhou dynasty of Empress Wu, see Antonio
Forte, Political Propaganda and Ideology in China at the End of the Seventh
Century: Inquiry into the Nature, Authors and Function of the Tunhuang Document S.6502, with annot. trans. (Naples: Istituto universitario orien
tale, Seminario di studi asiatici, 1976); also Dong Zuobin and Wang
Hengyu, "Tang Wuhou Gaizi Kao" ("An Examination of the Altered
Characters under the Tang Empress Wu"), Bulletin of the Institute of
History and Philology, vol. 34 (Acad?mica Sinica, 1963), pp. 447?76.
7. See Chavannes, Mission arch?ologique, pp. 531-5. The carved texts
found originally at the entrance to Leigutai Central included
the Sukh?vat?vy??ha, the Vajracchedik? Prajn?p?ramit? Sutra, the Sanmukhi
dh?rani, and the Praj??p?ramit?hrdaya S?tra. Owing to the extensive
reconstruction of the facade of Leigutai Central Cave, these inscriptions are only partially extant.
8. Taish? Shinshu DaizU KyU {The Taish? Tripitaka), 159 vols. (Tokyo: Taish? Shinsh? Daiz? Ky? Kank?kai, 1988), vol. 50, no. 2058,
pp. 297-322.
9. Several other texts were promoted by the Tiantai school, includ
ing a version of the transmission story in which the two Chinese Tiantai
patriarchs, Huisi and Zhiyi, were present at S?kyamuni's exposition of
the Lotus S?tra, which gave them a direct connection to the historical
Buddha. See John McRae, The Northern School and the Formation of Early Ch'an Buddhism, Kuroda Institute Studies in East Asian Buddhism
(Honolulu: Univ. of Hawai'i Pr., 1986), p. 82.
io. Chavannes notes that not only is the twenty-third figure not
appropriate vis-?-vis known extant versions of the text, but also the
passage inscribed next to the twentieth figure actually applies to the
eighteenth. See Chavannes, Mission arch?ologique, pp. 527-30. 11. William Edward Soothill and Lewis Hodous, A Dictionary of
Chinese Buddhist Terms with Sanskrit and English Equivalents and a Sanskrit
Pali Index (reprint,Taipei: Zhongwen Publishing Co., 1976), pp. 290a or
472a re "luohan," and 22b or 334a re "patriarch." 12. For complete details on the Fu FazangYinyuan Zhuan as a com
pilation rather than a translation, see Henri Maspero, "Sur la date et
l'authenticit? du Fou fa tsang yin yuan tchouan" ("On the Date and
Authenticity of the History of the Transmission of the Dharma-Store") in
M?langes d'Indianisme offerts par ses ?l?ves ? Sylvain L?vi (Paris: E. Leroux,
1911), pp. 129-39.
13. Stanley Weinstein, "Imperial Patronage in the Formation of
T'ang Buddhism," in Perspectives on the T'ang, eds. Arthur F. Wright and
Denis Twitchett (New Haven and London: Yale Univ. Pr., 1973), p. 266.
14. Weinstein, "Imperial Patronage," p. 266. It is worth noting that
Emperor Gaozong's original proposal was defeated with the aid of the
mother of Empress Wu.
15. John Jorgensen,"The 'Imperial' Lineage of Ch'an Buddhism:The
Role of Confucian Ritual and Ancestor Worship in Ch'an's Search for
Legitimation in the Mid-T'ang Dynasty," in Papers on Far Eastern History, no. 38 (March 1987), p. 96. Other scholars agree with Jorgensen's assess
ment that ancestral relationships played a key role in the development of
group identity and sectarian lineage sch?mas. See Bernard Faure, The
Will to Orthodoxy: A Critical Genealogy of Northern Chan Buddhism, trans.
Phyllis Brooks (Stanford: Stanford Univ. Pr., 1997); Chen Jinhua, Monks
and Monarch, Kinship and Kingship (Kyoto: Scuola italiana di studi
sull'Asia Orientale, 2002); and Linda Penkower, "In the Beginning . . .
Guanding (561-632) and the Creation of Early Tiantai," fournal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies, vol. 23, no. 2 (2000),
pp. 245-96. 16. Jorgensen, "The 'Imperial' Lineage of Ch'an Buddhism," p. 97.
17. Jorgensen, "The 'Imperial' Lineage of Ch'an Buddhism," p. 99.
18. The Mohe Zhiguan [T 46, no. 1911) was first preached by Zhiyi in 594, but the lineage schema was introduced in a late sixth-century/
early seventh-century addition by Zhiyi s disciple Guanding (561?632). For an in-depth discussion of why Tiantai moved toward a lineage
schema, and how theirs is unique among lineages, see Linda Penkower s
article "In the Beginning . . . ," pp. 245?96.
19. Jorgensen, "The 'Imperial' Lineage of Ch'an Buddhism," p. 100.
20. Weinstein, "Imperial Patronage," p. 297. For an extremely
thorough reconstruction of Empress Wu and her rise to power, see
R.W.L. Guisso, Wu Tse-t'ien and the Politics of Legitimation in T'ang China
(Bellingham: Western Washington Univ. Pr., 1978). 21. The Southern school came into existence through the efforts of
Shenhui (684-758), a disciple of Huineng (638-713), but who had also
practiced meditation with Shenxiu (d. 708) briefly in 699?701. At
a "Great Dharma Assembly" held on 15 January 732, at a temple in a
place called Huatai in Hunan Province, Shenhui announced that the
unbroken succession of Dharma transmission from Bodhidharma had
been passed from Hongren (601-675) to the Sixth Patriarch, Huineng. 22. Shenhui's argument as quoted by Zongmi (Jorgensen, "The
'Imperial' Lineage of Ch'an Buddhism," p. 108).
23. WenYucheng and Yang Shunxing, "Du Fengxue qizu Qianfeng
Baiyun Chanyuan Ji Bei Hou" ("A Study of the Record of the Seven
Patriarchs of the Fengxue, Qianfeng, Baiyun Meditation Monastery"),
Zhongyuan Wenwu, vol. 1 (1984), pp. 35-38, 41.
24. Ouchi Humio dates the Dazhusheng Cave to 589. His article,
"A Study of the Buddhist Pagoda Inscriptions in the Baoshan
Lingquansi Grottoes and Baoshan Lingquansi of the Sui and Tang
Dynasty," T?h? Gakuh?, vol. 69 (March 1997), p. 287-355, highlights the
roughly one thousand years of monastic activity at Anyang, with the
earliest inscriptions dating from 546 and the latest from 1511. The study
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is a comprehensive survey of the inscriptions found on huishenta or
"ash-body pagodas" of the monks and nuns interred at Baoshan. The
majority are laudatory memorials and lifestories.
25. For reproductions and a brief description of the Dazhusheng
Cave, see Gongxian, Tianlongshan, Xiangtangshan, Anyang Shiku Diaoke
{The Carvings at Gongxian, Tianlongshan, Xiangtangshan, and Anyang
Grottoes), vol. 13 of Zhongguo Meishu Quanji (Shanghai: Shanghai Renmin Meishu Chubanshe, 1989). Sofukawa Hiroshi also reproduces
this work, pi. 74, and discusses it in his article "Tangdai Longmen Shiku
Zaoxiang deYanjiu?Xia Pian" ("Research on the Tang Imagery at the
Longmen Grottoes?II"), trans. Yan Juanying, Yishuxue, vol. 8
(September 1992), p. 118.
26. My thanks to Prof. Amy McNair for allowing me access to slides
taken during her 1996 visit to Longmen.
27. Taish? Shinshu Daiz?ky?, vol. 50, no. 2058, pp. 297-322.
28. Sofukawa Hiroshi, "Tangdai Longmen Shiku?II," p. 115; Wen
Yucheng and Yang Shunxing, "Record of the Seven Patriarchs of the
Fengxue," p. 206. See Sofukawa Hiroshi, "Tangdai Longmen Shiku
Zaoxiang deYanjiu?Shang Pian" ("Research on the Tang Imagery at
the Longmen Grottoes?I"), trans. Yan Juanying, Yishuxue, vol. 7
(March 1992), pp. 163-267, and Yishuxue, vol. 8 (September 1992), pp.
99-164, and Sofukawa's Longmen Shiku {The Stone Grottoes of Longmen), vol. 2 (Beijing: Wenwu chubanshe, 1991-1992). Sofukawa combines an
analysis of the inscribed texts at the entrance with the imagery inside
to argue for the Three Stages school, omitting a rationale per se for the
carved patriarchs and inscriptions below the multiple Buddha motif and
around the central Maitreya icon.
29. Most scholars cite as the source for the twenty-nine patriarchs a
section taken from the Lidai Fabaofi (Record of the Dharma fewel Through the Ages), which is thought to have been written between 714 and 774,
and specifically lists the twenty-nine sequentially from Mah?k?syapa to
Bodhidharma. Aside from the appropriate number, there exists no
inscription or textual source from Longmen pointing definitively to the
Lidai Fabaofi as the source for the Kanjingsi carvings, and the cave may in fact have been based on another, no longer extant, text.
30. Jamie Hubbard, Absolute Delusion, Perfect Buddhahood (Honolulu: Univ. of Hawai'i Pr., 2001), pp. 55-75, gives a thorough overview of
how the doctrine of decline figured within the Three Stages school.
31. Hubbard, Absolute Delusion, pp. 19-30.
32. Weinstein,"Imperial Patronage," pp. 268-300, and Kenneth Chen,
Buddhism in China (Princeton: Princeton Univ. Pr., 1964), pp. 298-300.
Hubbard, Absolute Delusion, pp. 189-222, gives an exhaustive account of
the five imperial proscriptions of the Three Stages school that took place between 600 and 725, specifically highlighting the difficulties suffered by the school under the reign of Empress Wu (pp. 203?8).
3 3. This information was gathered by analyzing the data presented in
Sofukawa Hiroshi, "Longmen Grottoes?I & II," in Yishuxue, vols. 7, 8.
34. Neal Donner and Daniel B. Stevenson, The Great Calming and
Contemplation: A Study and Annotated Translation of the First Chapter of Chih-i's "Mo-ho chih-kuan" (Honolulu: Univ. of Hawai'i Pr., 1993), p. 42.
35. Donner and Stevenson, The Great Calming, p. 42.
36. Donner and Stevenson, The Great Calming, pp. 33?34; see also
n. 18. "Western patriarchs" here refers to an unbroken lineage of trans
mission of the dharma in India; "Eastern masters" refers to Tiantai's
unique set of Chinese patriarchs, connected with their Western coun
terparts spiritually, not physically or geographically. See Penkower, "In
the Beginning ..." pp. 260-68.
37. Guisso, Wu Tse-t'ien and the Politics of Legitimation, p. 27, and
Weinstein, "Imperial Patronage," pp. 297?99. Both authors note that
Empress Wu's maternal grandfather appears to have been a member of
the Sui imperial house. But they supply no documentation.
38. Weinstein, "Imperial Patronage," p. 299. A very comprehensive overview of Shenxiu's rise to power within the Chan movement, and
his prominence at court, can be found in chap, one, "Shenxiu and His
Times," of Bernard Faure's, The Will to Orthodoxy.
39- John Jorgensen, "The 'Imperial' Lineage of Ch'an Buddhism,"
pp. 93, 118-19. Items from Shenhui's tomb on the east side of Longmen have been exhumed (see Jan van Alphen, Buddha in the Dragon Gate:
Buddhist Sculpture of the 3th through 9 Centuries from Longmen (Antwerp:
Ethnografisch Museum, 2001).
40. Bernard Faure, quoting from the J/w Tang Shu, p. 511 (see Will to
Orthodoxy, pp. 129-30).
41. Although all sources claim twenty-nine images total at Kanjingsi, in photos as well as in Mizuno's drawings only twenty-eight appear; the
missing patriarch (now destroyed) would have been found in the south
east corner, number nine on the south wall, Buddhamitra.
42. Faure, Will to Orthodoxy, p. 2. See McRae's discussion of the devel
opment of the "Transmission of the Lamp" histories, chap, four in The
Northern School and the Formation of Early Ch'an Buddhism, pp. 73?97.
43. Sofukawa Hiroshi, Longmen Grottoes?II, pp. 113-17.
44. Sofukawa Hiroshi, Longmen Grottoes?77, p. 123, and Mizuno
Seiichi and Nagahiro Toshio, Stone Grottoes of Longmen, p. 117
Although Bodhidharma may be more a product of legend than fact, it
is important to note that his position as founder of his particular style of Chan was acknowledged as early as 645, as recorded by the monk
Daoxuan (596?667) in his Xu Gaoseng Zhuan (Continued Biographies of Eminent Monks), in Taish? Shinsh? Daiz?ky?, vol. 50, p. 2060.
45. Sofukawa Hiroshi, Longmen Grottoes?II, p. 125. Apparently another intrusive niche was placed on the inside of the doorway on the
north side, containing a Buddha pentad, little of which remains extant.
See Gu Yanfang and Li Wensheng, "Longmen Shiku Zhuyao Tangku
Zongxu" ("A Summary of the Main Tang Caves at the Longmen
Grottoes"), in Longmen Shiku, vol. 2 (Beijing: Wenwu Chubanshe,
1991-1992), p. 272. Sofukawa does not deal with this apparent anomaly.
46. This opinion is also held by WenYucheng, who argues that there
never was a main votive statue at Kanjingsi, but that the cave was a large meditation hall (see "Chan Gu, Kanjingsi, Longmen, yu Chan Zong"
["Chan Caves, Kanjingsi, Longmen, and the Chan Sect"], in Zhongguo Shiku yu Wenhua Yishu [Shanghai: Shanghai Renmin Meishu
Chubanshe, 1993], p. 319).
47. Ritual circumambulation may have also been one of the rites
performed at Leigutai Central.
48. T. Griffith Foulk, "The 'Ch'an school' and Its Place in the
Buddhist Monastic Tradition," (PhD diss., Univ. of Michigan, 1987),
p. 228. Faure, The Will to Orthodoxy, p. 7, notes that in his writings as well
as actions, Bodhidharma, like the Tiantai monk Zhiyi, attempted to rec
oncile the theoretical with the practical. For several collected essays on
Chan ritual activities, see Chan Buddhism in Ritual Context, ed. Bernard
Faure (London: Routledge Curzon, 2003).
49. Foulk, "The 'Ch'an school'," p. 270.
50. Chen Qingxiang, "Longmen Shiku Kanjingsi Dong Luohan
Qunxiang Tantao" ("An Inquiry Into the Luohan Statues of Kanjingsi at the Longmen Grottoes"), in Longmen Shiku Yiqian Wubai Zhounian
Guoji Xueshu Taolunhui Lunwenji, ed. Longmen Shiku Yanjiusuo
(Beijing: Wenwu Chubanshe, 1996), and Wen Yucheng, "Chan Gu,"
make no mention of this statue or any other being in place previously at Kanjingsi; Sofukawa Hiroshi, Longmen Grottoes?II, p. 123, states
definitively that originally there was no central statue.
51. This particular statue was for a long time on display in the Leigutai
Gallery at Longmen, where it still stood in the winter of 1999-2000; by the time of the author's return to Longmen in the summer of 2004, the
statue had been returned to Kanjingsi for unstated reasons. Other
portable "iconic" images, such as a pagoda, might also have been placed
centrally within the Kanjingsi cave. The open aspect of the cave could
accommodate a wide variety of forms of the Buddha, and theoretically could have allowed the central figure to be changed for different ritual
activities.
52. Wen Yucheng alludes to this practice in his brief statement
describing Kanjingsi as "originally having a square alter on which a
Buddha statue was placed which believers could go around in worship,
77
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but today this statue no longer exists." See Wen Yucheng and Li
Wensheng, eds., Longmen Shiku Diaoke (The Carvings of the Longmen
Grottoes), vol. n of Zhongguo meishu quanji (Shanghai: Shanghai Renmin Meishu Chubanshe, 1988), p. 2 5. Wen Yucheng would appear to
refute this very statement in his 1993 work ("Chan Gu"), without
explaining why he does so.
53. Zhang Yanyuan s Lidai Minghua fi, in William Reynolds Beal
Acker, Some T'ang and Pre-T'ang Texts on Chinese Painting (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1954), pp. 258-327.
54. Acker, Some T'ang and Pre-T'ang Texts, pp. 319, 270.
55. Acker, Some T'ang and Pre-T'ang Texts, p. 284, and 284, n. 2.
56. Ennin, Ennin's Diary: The Record of a Pilgrimage to China in Search
of the Law, trans. Edwin O. Reischauer (New York: Ronald Pr. Co.,
1955), pp. 64, 67, 71, 217, 224-25, 230-31, 265.
57. Ennin, Record of a Pilgrimage, pp. 72?73.
58. Philip B.Yampolsky, The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch (New York: Columbia Univ. Pr., 1967), pp. 128-29, with minor modifications
based uponYampolsky's n. 28, p. 129, citing an alternative reading of the
passage as "a reference to some kind of genealogical chart, showing the
succession of the Five Chinese Patriarchs through Hongren."
59. In both Kanjingsi and Leigutai Central, two aspects of the patri archs' attire are noteworthy. One, most of the patriarchs represented in
both caves are wearing not the off-shoulder Indian k?s?ya, or monk's
robe, as would befit their Indian origins, but rather the later, Chinese, version of Buddhist attire; two, both sets of patriarchs are depicted
wearing shoes, with the Kanjingsi patriarchs' cloud-shaped shoes per
haps intended to reinforce the extraordinary (dare one say "royal")
quality of the men depicted. 60. No photos taken in the early part of the 20th century show
Mah?k?syapa with his lower body intact, nor are there any references to
the position of his feet or to the type of shoes he may have been wear
ing. The upper part of the figure was removed in 1936, and is now in a
private European collection. See Longmen Liusan Diaoxiangji {Collection
of Lost and Dispersed Carvings and Sculptures from Longmen) (Shanghai:
Shanghai Renmin Meishu Chubanshe, 1993), p. 79.
61. Chen Qingxiang, "Longmen Shiku Kanjingsi Dong Luohan
Qunxiang Tantao," p. 186. All of these ritual objects could easily have
been carried by the monks as they circumambulated the central votive
figure either prior to or after performing a ceremony; moreover, ritual
circumambulation with the objects in hand may well have been an
important part of the ceremony to be performed. 62. Chen, "Longmen Shiku Kanjingsi Dong Luohan Qunxiang
Tantao," pp. 186-87.
63. The author has limited this survey of lotus ceiling imagery to
Longmen, as local practices may have affected the specific aspects of
other local carving programs.
78
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