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Monastic Lives and Buddhist Textual Traditions in China and Beyond
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Monastic Lives and Buddhist Textual Traditions in China and Beyond

A special issue of Religions (ISSN 2077-1444). This special issue belongs to the section "Religions and Humanities/Philosophies".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 March 2026 | Viewed by 6052

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Limei Chi

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
International College for Postgraduate Buddhist Studies, Tokyo 112-0003, Japan
Interests: East Asian Buddhism; Buddhist Canons in East Eurasia
Dr. Zhiyuan Chen

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
The Institute of Ancient History, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
Interests: medieval Chinese Buddhism; Buddhist literature; Buddho-Confucian syncretism
Prof. Dr. Dewei Zhang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Liberal Arts, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China
Interests: Chinese Buddhism; Chinese intellectual history; book history

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue explores new perspectives on Chinese Buddhism through a focus on textual traditions, monastic life, and regional connectivity across East Asia and Eastern Eurasia. As Chinese Buddhist texts circulated across broad networks—both within the Sinosphere and beyond—they underwent processes of adaptation, transformation, and reinterpretation. Similarly, the lives of Buddhist monastics in China were shaped by textual, institutional, and transregional forces that intersected in complex and locally distinctive ways.

The study of Chinese Buddhism today requires attention to be focused not only on canonical texts and major institutions but also on understudied sources and contexts. Recent scholarship has increasingly emphasized the value of philological, bibliographic, and historical approaches to illuminating the transmission of texts and ideas across time and space. Meanwhile, new materials—such as inscriptions, archival documents, manuscripts, and regional editions—have brought to light lesser-known aspects of Buddhist life, literature, and practice.

This Special Issue aims to highlight the multilayered nature of Chinese Buddhist traditions by encouraging contributions that engage closely with textual and historical sources while also attending to regional and transnational dynamics. We especially welcome studies that examine how Buddhist texts—both canonical and non-canonical—have been transmitted, transformed, and interpreted across diverse historical contexts, geographic regions, and textual media in East Asia and Eastern Eurasia. In addition, we invite contributions that shed light on the lived experiences of Buddhist communities through biography, ritual, and material culture—including genres such as biography, hagiography, and miracle tales.

Topics for this Special Issue include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Monastic lives, including narrative accounts, religious practices, and institutional structures;
  • Buddhist textual traditions, with attention to philological, bibliographic, and historical approaches;
  • The transmission and transformation of Chinese-language Buddhist texts, both canonical and non-canonical;
  • Buddhist manuscript culture, including the study of Chinese and Japanese manuscript traditions;
  • Buddhist biography and hagiography, as sources for religious life and memory;
  • Buddhist miracle tales, and their role in local belief, transmission, and devotional practice.

We welcome original research articles and critical reviews from scholars working in all relevant fields. It is our hope that this Special Issue will contribute to a more nuanced understanding of the dynamic interplay between Buddhist texts, practices, and communities across the historical and cultural landscapes of East Asia and Eastern Eurasia.

Prof. Dr. Limei Chi
Dr. Zhiyuan Chen
Prof. Dr. Dewei Zhang
Guest Editors

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.

Keywords

  • monastic lives
  • Buddhist textual traditions
  • transmission and transformation of Buddhist texts
  • Buddhist manuscript culture
  • Buddhist biography and hagiography
  • Buddhist miracle tales

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Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 370 KB  
Article
The Discursive Formation of Silence in Lengqie Shizi Ji: Within the Context of the Huayan–Chan Interaction
by Jingting Du
Religions 2025, 16(11), 1373; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16111373 - 29 Oct 2025
Viewed by 204
Abstract
This article traces the formation of silence as a tradition in early Chan Buddhism, focusing on its construction in the Lengqie Shizi Ji 楞伽師資記. Challenging later perceptions, it argues that silence was not an innate characteristic but a historically contingent product of doctrinal [...] Read more.
This article traces the formation of silence as a tradition in early Chan Buddhism, focusing on its construction in the Lengqie Shizi Ji 楞伽師資記. Challenging later perceptions, it argues that silence was not an innate characteristic but a historically contingent product of doctrinal interaction with the Huayan school. The analysis focuses on Fazang’s 法藏 definition of the “sudden teaching” (Dunjiao 頓教), showing how Huayan scholastics legitimized silence as an expression of the “wordless suchness” (Liyan Zhenru 離言真如) in the Dasheng Qixin Lun 大乘起信論. This doctrinal classification thus provided the Chan author Jingjue 淨覺 with a doctrinal framework to elevate wordlessness into a marker of authentic transmission. The paper further considers the Huayan critique of silent pedagogy, which pointed out the paradox of using silence as a didactic method. By situating the Lengqie Shizi Ji within the dynamics of Chan–Huayan interaction, this study demonstrates that the Chan tradition of silence was not a mere meditative stance or a timeless essence, but a discursive construction that functioned simultaneously as pedagogy and as a marker of sectarian identity. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Monastic Lives and Buddhist Textual Traditions in China and Beyond)
19 pages, 446 KB  
Article
Tracing the Incorporation of the Bimo shi Mulian jing into the Chinese Tripitaka and the Attribution of Its Translators: A Study Based on Buddhist Catalogs
by Wen Zhang
Religions 2025, 16(11), 1340; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16111340 - 24 Oct 2025
Viewed by 285
Abstract
The reliable corpus of Buddhist sutras translated by Zhi Qian 支謙 serves as an important reference benchmark for determining the authenticity of Buddhist sutras from the Three Kingdoms 三國 period to the pre-Jin period (220–265 CE). The Bimo shi Mulian jing 弊魔試目連經 ( [...] Read more.
The reliable corpus of Buddhist sutras translated by Zhi Qian 支謙 serves as an important reference benchmark for determining the authenticity of Buddhist sutras from the Three Kingdoms 三國 period to the pre-Jin period (220–265 CE). The Bimo shi Mulian jing 弊魔試目連經 (The Sūtra of Māra Testing Maudgalyāyana) is currently included in the Taishō Tripiṭaka as an individual sutra. Since the start of block-printing of Buddhist canons, this sutra has been attributed to Zhi Qian of the Wu 吳 State in the Three Kingdoms period and included in the ruzangmu 入藏目 (“list [of texts] admitted to the canon”) of various editions of the Tripitaka. However, historical investigation reveals significant complexity and controversy surrounding its title, attributed translator, and its entries in different ancient catalogs. A systematic examination of historical Buddhist catalogs (jinglu 經錄) demonstrates that, during the times of Dao’an 道安 and Sengyou 僧祐, the sutra was given different names and recorded as a scripture with an unknown translator. During the time of Fajing 法經 in the Sui 隋 Dynasty, the sutra first appeared in the annotations of the sutra catalog under the name Bimo shi Mulian jing, and the translator was not recorded. By the time of Fei Zhangfang 費長房 in the Sui Dynasty, the sutra was first attributed to Zhi Qian, yet it was not included in the ruzangmu 入藏目. Finally, Zhisheng 智昇 in the Tang 唐 Dynasty integrated a great deal of information and attributed the sutra to Zhi Qian under the name Bimo shi Mulian jing and included it in the ruzangmu of Hinayana sutras 小乘入藏目 (List of Hinayana Sutras Admitted to the Canon). Zhisheng’s record has been followed to the present day. Furthermore, critical analysis of Fei Zhangfang’s methodology in attributing this sutra to Zhi Qian, when combined with linguistic evidence, confirms that this sutra was neither translated by Zhi Qian of the Three Kingdoms period nor produced earlier than the Western Jin 西晉 Dynasty (265-316 CE). This study’s analysis of both the canonical inclusion process and the attributed translator of the Bimo shi Mulian jing demonstrates how Buddhist catalogs—exemplified by Fei Zhangfang’s Lidai sanbao ji 曆代三寶紀 (Records of the Three Treasures Throughout the Successive Dynasties)—systematically constructed false translator attributions, while simultaneously underscoring the imperative to re-evaluate so-called “authoritative records” within the Chinese Buddhist canon through integrated multidisciplinary methodologies combining Buddhist catalog criticism with linguistic analysis. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Monastic Lives and Buddhist Textual Traditions in China and Beyond)
25 pages, 560 KB  
Article
Yunqi Zhuhong’s Thought on Abstaining from Killing and Releasing Life and the Buddhist–Christian Debate in the Late Ming Dynasty
by Jing Jing
Religions 2025, 16(11), 1332; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16111332 - 22 Oct 2025
Viewed by 408
Abstract
As a major proponent of the Buddhist revival movement in the late Ming dynasty, Yunqi Zhuhong authored works such as Jieshu fayin, Jiesha wen, and Fangsheng wen, which had a profound impact on lay Buddhism. Using the Buddhist six realms [...] Read more.
As a major proponent of the Buddhist revival movement in the late Ming dynasty, Yunqi Zhuhong authored works such as Jieshu fayin, Jiesha wen, and Fangsheng wen, which had a profound impact on lay Buddhism. Using the Buddhist six realms of rebirth as a theoretical foundation, he combined doctrinal analysis with narratives of spiritual efficacy to systematically expound upon the Buddhist ethics of refraining from killing, releasing life, and compassionately protecting living beings. During the same period, the Jesuit missionary Matteo Ricci had come to China and wrote his book Tianzhu shiyi with reference to Catechismus Japonensis and Tianzhu shilu. A comparison of the contents of these three missionary works reveals that Ricci paid particular attention to the Buddhist doctrine and practice of abstaining from killing, and for the first time, he listed it in a missionary work and offered a targeted critique. Afterward, Ricci wrote Jiren shipian, which also included content on “The True Purpose of Fasting and Abstinence Does Not Arise from the Prohibition of Killing”. Relevant letters prove that Zhuhong had already read both of these works by Matteo Ricci as early as the 36th year of the Wanli era (1608), yet he did not immediately offer a direct refutation. At first, it was his disciple Yu Chunxi who wrote articles such as Tianzhu shiyi shasheng bian, initiating a preliminary direct debate with Ricci. As the influence of Catholicism gradually grew and expanded between 1608 and 1615, Zhuhong, after seven years of silence, wrote the three essays of Tianshuo and Tianshuo yu to offer a direct response to Catholicism. When expounding on the doctrine of abstaining from killing and releasing life, Zhuhong adopted new argumentative strategies, both to defend Buddhism and to remind and persuade Confucian intellectuals not to turn to Catholicism. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Monastic Lives and Buddhist Textual Traditions in China and Beyond)
15 pages, 354 KB  
Article
Supernormal Powers and Sacred Identity: Miracle Accounts in Tang Stūpa Inscriptions
by Wen Sun and Shuqi Tian
Religions 2025, 16(10), 1278; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16101278 - 8 Oct 2025
Viewed by 391
Abstract
This paper explores the narrative construction of sanctity in Tang stūpa inscriptions, focusing on the role of miracle accounts in shaping Buddhist biographical identity. The paper examines how hagiographic conventions—especially birth omens and posthumous signs—served as narrative strategies to align ordinary monks with [...] Read more.
This paper explores the narrative construction of sanctity in Tang stūpa inscriptions, focusing on the role of miracle accounts in shaping Buddhist biographical identity. The paper examines how hagiographic conventions—especially birth omens and posthumous signs—served as narrative strategies to align ordinary monks with the life of the Buddha. Then, the paper presents a case study of the Chan monk Faxian, whose richly detailed inscription demonstrates how miracle narratives could articulate a distinct Chan identity. By tracing the interplay between biography and miracle, this study shows that stūpa inscriptions were not merely commemorative texts but dynamic cultural instruments. Miracle narratives connected the clerics with the broader community, bridging doctrinal ideals with popular beliefs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Monastic Lives and Buddhist Textual Traditions in China and Beyond)
20 pages, 1859 KB  
Article
Disenchantment and Preservation of Monastic Discipline: A Study of the Buddhist Monastic Robe Reform Debates in Republican China (1912–1949)
by Yanzhou Jiang
Religions 2025, 16(7), 920; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16070920 - 16 Jul 2025
Viewed by 736
Abstract
The Republican era of China witnessed three primary positions regarding Buddhist monastic robe reform. Taixu advocated preserving canonical forms (法服) for ritual garments while adapting regular robes (常服) to contemporary needs; Dongchu proposed diminishing ritual distinctions by establishing a tripartite hierarchical system—virtue-monk robes [...] Read more.
The Republican era of China witnessed three primary positions regarding Buddhist monastic robe reform. Taixu advocated preserving canonical forms (法服) for ritual garments while adapting regular robes (常服) to contemporary needs; Dongchu proposed diminishing ritual distinctions by establishing a tripartite hierarchical system—virtue-monk robes (德僧服), duty-monk robes (職僧服), and scholar-monk robes (學僧服); and Lengjing endorsed the full secularization of monastic robes. As a reformist leader, Taixu pursued reforms grounded in both doctrinal authenticity and contextual responsiveness. His initial advocacy for robe modifications, however, rendered him a target for traditionalists like Cihang, who conflated his measured approach with the radicalism of Dongchu’s faction. Ultimately, the broader Buddhist reform collapsed, with robe controversies serving as a critical lens into its failure. The reasons for its failure include not only wartime disruption and inadequate governmental support, but also the structural disadvantages of the reformists compared to the traditionalists, which proved decisive. This was due to the fact that the traditionalists mostly controlled monastic economies, wielded institutional authority, and commanded discursive hegemony, reinforced by lay Buddhist alignment. These debates crystallize the core tension in Buddhist modernization—the dialectic between “disenchantment” and “preservation of monastic discipline”. This dynamic of negotiated adjustment offers a vital historical framework for navigating contemporary Buddhism’s engagement with modernity. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Monastic Lives and Buddhist Textual Traditions in China and Beyond)
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35 pages, 1039 KB  
Article
Forging the Sacred: The Rise and Reimaging of Mount Jizu 雞足山 in Ming-Qing Buddhist Geography
by Dewei Zhang
Religions 2025, 16(7), 851; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16070851 - 27 Jun 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2108
Abstract
From the mid-Ming to early Qing dynasties, Mount Jizu 雞足山 in Yunnan achieved unexpected prominence within China’s Buddhist sacred landscape—an event of regional, national, and transnational significance. Employing an explicit comparative lens that juxtaposes Jizu with China’s core-region sacred sites like Mount Wutai [...] Read more.
From the mid-Ming to early Qing dynasties, Mount Jizu 雞足山 in Yunnan achieved unexpected prominence within China’s Buddhist sacred landscape—an event of regional, national, and transnational significance. Employing an explicit comparative lens that juxtaposes Jizu with China’s core-region sacred sites like Mount Wutai and Emei, this study investigates the timing, regional dynamics, institutional mechanisms, and causal drivers behind the rapid ascent. Rejecting teleological narratives, it traces the mountain’s trajectory through four developmental phases to address critical historiographical questions: how did a peripheral Yunnan site achieve national prominence within a remarkably compressed timeframe? By what mechanisms could its sacred authority be constructed to inspire pilgrimages even across vast distances? Which historical agents and processes orchestrated these transformations, and how did the mountain’s symbolic meaning shift dynamically over time? Departing from earlier scholarship that privileges regional and secular frameworks, this work not only rebalances the emphasis on religious dimensions but also expands the analytical scope beyond regional confines to situate Mount Jizu within national and transnational frameworks. Eventually, by analyzing the structural, institutional, and agential dynamics—spanning local, imperial, and transnational dimensions—this study reveals how the mountain’s sacralization emerged from the convergence of local agency, acculturative pressures, state-building imperatives, late-Ming Buddhist revival, literati networks, and the strategic mobilization of symbolic capital. It also reveals that Mount Jizu was not a static sacred site but a dynamic arena of contestation and negotiation, where competing claims to spiritual authority and cultural identity were perpetually redefined. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Monastic Lives and Buddhist Textual Traditions in China and Beyond)
16 pages, 1555 KB  
Article
The Distribution of Zhicao 芝草 by Buddhist Ways After the Fengshan Ritual in Mount Tai, 1008–1016
by Rui Yang
Religions 2025, 16(5), 634; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16050634 - 16 May 2025
Viewed by 742
Abstract
Between 1008 and 1016, for several times Emperor Zhenzong (968–1022, r. 997–1022) distributed Zhicao (Ganoderma Lucidum), acquired during the Fengshan 封禪 rituals. These grand-scale activities from central to local levels were completely different from the previous management of auspicious omens and calamities. Zhicao [...] Read more.
Between 1008 and 1016, for several times Emperor Zhenzong (968–1022, r. 997–1022) distributed Zhicao (Ganoderma Lucidum), acquired during the Fengshan 封禪 rituals. These grand-scale activities from central to local levels were completely different from the previous management of auspicious omens and calamities. Zhicao, serving as an auspicious symbol in the Confucian system of auspicious omens and calamities, underwent an elevation in status through its integration with the concept of longevity in Daoism. It began to play important roles in the political propaganda of Tang (618–907) and Song (960–1276) dynasties. On the one hand, the distribution was influenced by the political initiatives of Emperor Gaozong (628–683, r. 649–683) after his Fengshan ceremony, with the reason lying in the subtle influence of the Buddhist concept of sacred relics. By integrating the political propaganda of Three Teachings, Emperor Zhenzong reinforced the regime’s legitimacy and enhanced the personal authority of the monarch. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Monastic Lives and Buddhist Textual Traditions in China and Beyond)
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