Margins
Inventing Hui-neng, the Sixth Patriarch book cover
Inventing Hui-neng, the Sixth Patriarch
Hagiography And Biography in Early Ch'an
2005
First Published
4.00
Average Rating
888
Number of Pages

Part of Series

It was through the propaganda of Shen-hui (684-758) that Hui-neng (d. 710) became the also today still towering figure of sixth patriarch of Ch an/Zen Buddhism, and accepted as the ancestor or founder of all subsequent Ch an lineages. The first part of the book analyses the creation of the image of Hui-neng and the worship of a lacquered mummy said to be that of Hui-neng. Using the life of Confucius as a template for its structure, Shen-hui invented a hagiography for the then highly obscure Hui-neng. At the same time, Shen-hui forged a lineage of patriarchs of Ch an back to the Buddha using ideas from Indian Buddhism and Chinese ancestor worship. The second half of the book examines the production of the hagiographies of Hui-neng, how they evolved, and the importance of ideas about authorship and the role of place. It demonstrates the influence of Confucian thought, politics and the periphery in the growth of early Ch an hagiography and the changing image of Hui-neng."
Avg Rating
4.00
Number of Ratings
2
5 STARS
0%
4 STARS
100%
3 STARS
0%
2 STARS
0%
1 STARS
0%
goodreads

Author

548 Market St PMB 65688, San Francisco California 94104-5401 USA
© 2025 Paratext Inc. All rights reserved