The renewal of Buddhism in China : Zhuhong and the late Ming synthesis

First published in 1981, The Renewal of Buddhism in China broke new ground in the study of Chinese Buddhism. An interdisciplinary study of a Buddhist master and reformer in late Ming China, it challenged the conventional view that Buddhism had reached its height under the Tang dynasty (618-907) and steadily declined afterward. Chün-Fang Yü details how in sixteenth-century China, Buddhism entered a period of revitalization due in large part to a cohort of innovative monks who sought to transcend sectarian rivalries and doctrinal specialization. She examines the life, work, and teaching of one of the most important of these monks, Zhuhong (1535-1615), a charismatic teacher of lay Buddhists and a successful reformer of monastic Buddhism. Zhuhong's contributions demonstrate that the late Ming was one of the most creative periods in Chinese intellectual and religious history. Weaving together diverse sources--scriptures, dynastic history, Buddhist chronicles, monks' biographies, letters, ritual manuals, legal codes, and literature--Yü grounds Buddhism in the reality of Ming society, highlighting distinctive lay Buddhist practices to provide a vivid portrait of lived religion. Since the book was published four decades ago, many have written on the diversity of Buddhist beliefs and practices in the centuries before and after Zhuhong's time, yet The Renewal of Buddhism in China remains a crucial touchstone for all scholarship on post-Tang Buddhism. This fortieth anniversary edition features updated transliteration, a foreword by Daniel B. Stevenson, and an updated introduction by the author speaking to the ongoing relevance of this classic work. First published in 1981, The Renewal of Buddhism in China broke new ground in the study of Chinese Buddhism. An interdisciplinary study of a Buddhist master and reformer in late Ming China, it challenged the conventional view that Buddhism had reached its height under the Tang dynasty (618-907) and steadily declined afterward.0Chun-fang Yu details how in sixteenth-century China, Buddhism entered a period of revitalization due in large part to a cohort of innovative monks who sought to transcend sectarian rivalries and doctrinal specialization. She examines the life, work, and teaching of one of the most important of these monks, Zhuhong (1535-1615), a charismatic teacher of lay Buddhists and a successful reformer of monastic Buddhism. Zhuhong's contributions demonstrate that the late Ming was one of the most creative periods in Chinese intellectual and religious history. Weaving together diverse sources-scriptures, dynastic history, Buddhist chronicles, monks' biographies, letters, ritual manuals, legal codes, and literature-Yu grounds Buddhism in the reality of Ming society, highlighting distinctive lay Buddhist practices to provide a vivid portrait of lived religion.0Since the book was published four decades ago, many have written on the diversity of Buddhist beliefs and practices in the centuries before and after Zhuhong's time, yet The Renewal of Buddhism in China remains a crucial touchstone for all scholarship on post-Tang Buddhism. This fortieth anniversary edition features updated transliteration, a foreword by Daniel B. Stevenson, and an updated introduction by the author speaking to the ongoing relevance of this classic work "In sixteenth-century China, following a period of relative obscurity, Buddhism entered a period of revitalization due in large part to a cohort of particularly innovative and influential monks. By seeking to transcend sectarian rivalries and doctrinal specialization, and, perhaps more importantly, to reach an understanding rather than a confrontation with Confucianism, these monks brought Buddhism into closer communication with other Chinese intellectual traditions-Confucianism and Daoism, in particular-and with the Chinese state. Zhuhong (1535-1615) was among the most important of this group of monks, both as an intellectual and as a political reformer. By telling the story of his involvement in both Buddhist thought and political reform, in this classic work, Chün-fang Yü makes the case that, contrary to a long tradition of scholarship holding that Buddhism was in constant decline in China after the Tang dynasty, the late Ming period was a positive and creative time of renewal for Buddhism. The transliterations throughout have been updated from Wade-Giles to pinyin. There are a new foreword and a new preface that comes before the preface that appears in the original edition, and an updated introduction"-- Provided by publisher