The Spread of Chan/Zen Buddhism in East Asia: History, Ideology, and Meditation Practice

A special issue of Religions (ISSN 2077-1444).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (25 November 2023) | Viewed by 2214

Special Issue Editor


E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Chinese, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei City 106, Taiwan
Interests: chan buddhist; song dynasty; zen master; historical criticism

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

I sincerely invite you to submit original research papers for a Special Issue titled “The Spread of Chan/Zen Buddhism in East Asia: History, Ideology, and Meditation Practice”.

Meditation originated in India. When the Mahayana and Hinayana Sutras brought different meditation methods from India to China, meditation started its journey of developing meditation theories and practices in China. From the sixth to the eighth centuries, as meditation gradually merged with the Chinese mind and culture, it formed a Buddhist sect with self-enlightenment and unique inheritance. Then, Chan Buddhism became the mainstream of Chinese Buddhism from the 10th century onward, simultaneously spreading to Korea, Japan, and Vietnam. Chan masters are not constrained by the theories of sitting meditation in the sutras; rather, they follow their personal experiences and the characteristics of students in different regions to guide the practice of meditation. As a result, different Chan Buddhism sects and meditation practices with regional characteristics were developed, making Chan Buddhism the most dynamic and influential Buddhist sect in East Asia. As the historical materials of Chan Buddhism encompass the written history and cultural transmission of Chan, it creates a practice model that integrates regions and customs. This integration led to cultural fusion to become the common culture of Buddhism in East Asia from the 10th century to the present.

This Special Issue focuses on the regional development of Chan Buddhism, including China, Korea, and Japan in Northeast Asia and Vietnam in Southeast Asia. From the perspective of East Asia, it explores the spread of Chan Buddhism, Chan ideology, meditation methods, and practical experiences from the founding of Chan Buddhism to contemporary times.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

  1. The History of the Spread of Chan Buddhism in China, Korea, Japan, and Vietnam;
  2. Chan Meditation Traditions in Different Times and Regions;
  3. Chan Ideology;
  4. Meditation Methods;
  5. The Experience of Meditation Practice;
  6. The Life Course of Chan Practitioners;
  7. Newly Unearthed Historical Materials on Chan.

I look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Jing-Jia Huang
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Religions is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • e-Book format: Special Issues with more than 10 articles can be published as dedicated e-books, ensuring wide and rapid dissemination.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue polices can be found here.

Published Papers (1 paper)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

13 pages, 830 KiB  
Article
Transformation of the Linji School’s Perspective on Seated Meditation from Tang to Song Dynasties—From Negation to Returning of Seated Meditation
by Jing-Jia Huang
Religions 2023, 14(9), 1129; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14091129 - 3 Sep 2023
Viewed by 1424
Abstract
This study first examines the developmental perspective on seated meditation from Bodhidharma 達摩 to the Linji 臨濟 school of the Tang Dynasty. During this dynasty, the Linji school followed the criticism of physical seated meditation by the Southern school of Huineng 惠能 and [...] Read more.
This study first examines the developmental perspective on seated meditation from Bodhidharma 達摩 to the Linji 臨濟 school of the Tang Dynasty. During this dynasty, the Linji school followed the criticism of physical seated meditation by the Southern school of Huineng 惠能 and mainly used wisdom dialogues to enlighten Buddhist disciples. Furthermore, there are very few lamp records documenting the seated meditation of Chan masters in the Linji school, which has created the impression that this school in the Tang Dynasty disregarded physical seated meditation and even negated it. Second, this study examines the attitude towards seated meditation of Linji Chan masters during the Song Dynasty from two aspects of seated meditation, namely, practice and theory. It is found that their attitude towards it differed from that of the Linji school in the Tang Dynasty because they were usually experienced in seated meditation. Moreover, there were Chan masters in both the Yangqi 楊岐 and Huanglong 黃龍 schools that advocated seated meditation as the foundation of Buddhist practice. For example, both Foyan Qingyuan’s 佛眼清遠 “Seated Meditation Inscription” 坐禪銘 and Foxin Bencai’s 佛心本才 “Seated Meditation Etiquette” 坐禪儀 pay attention to seated meditation and agree that enlightenment can only be achieved through gradual cultivation, and after enlightenment, a period of training is still required to achieve ultimate perfection. The above findings suggest that there was a development tendency of returning to seated meditation in the Linji school during the Song Dynasty. Full article
Back to TopTop