Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-x5gtn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-08T20:18:06.963Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Liberating Animals in Ming-Qing China: Buddhist Inspiration and Elite Imagination

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 March 2010

Joanna F. Handlin Smith
Get access

Extract

Terms, like monuments, long stand unchanged. They might acquire new contexts, attract new associations, and thus be transformed in content or meaning. Yet the very constancy of the term beguiles us to assume some immutable essence instead. Such has been the case for the term fangsheng, which literally means “releasing lives,” but specifically referred to the practice of freeing animals from captivity or rescuing them from death, and which I therefore translate variously as “releasing,” “liberating,” or “saving” animals. The term fangsheng is usually traced back to the fifth century, when it appeared in the Book of Brahmā's Net (Fanwang jing); and it can be tracked forward to the present, where it is still used for practices observed in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and New York. Understood to have originated in a Buddhist text and to have beenin currency for at least 1500 years, it thus signals the power and durability of a Buddhist belief.

Type
Articles
Information
The Journal of Asian Studies , Volume 58 , Issue 1 , February 1999 , pp. 51 - 84
Copyright
Copyright © The Association for Asian Studies, Inc. 1999

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Kengo, Araki 1984. Yōmei gaku no kaiten to bukkyō Tokyo: Kenbun shuppan.Google Scholar
Berling, Judith A. 1985. “Religion and Popular Culture: The Management of Moral Capital in The Romance of the Three Teachings.” In Popular Culture in hate Imperial China, edited by Johnson, David, Nathan, Andrew J., and Rawski, Evelyn S.. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Juyi, Bo. 1988. Bo juyi ji jianjiao . Edited by Jincheng, Zhu. Shanghai: Guji chubanshe.Google Scholar
Brokaw, Cynthia. 1991. The Ledgers of Merit and Demerit: Social Change and Moral Order in Late Imperial China. Princeton: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Buswell, Robert E. Jr., ed. 1990. Chinese Buddhist Apocrypha. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carus, Paul, ed., and Suzuki, Teitaro, trans. 1906. T'ai-Shang Kan-Ying P'ien: Treatise of the Exalted One on Response and Retribution. Chicago: The Open Court Publishing Co.Google Scholar
Chapple, Christopher Key. 1997. “Animals and the Environment in the Buddhist Birth Stories.” In Buddhism and Ecology: The Interconnection of Dharma and Deeds, edited by Tucker, Mary Evelyn and Williams, Duncan Ryūken. Cambridge: Harvard University Center for the Study of World Religions Publications.Google Scholar
Longzheng, Chen. 1665. Jiting quanshu .Google Scholar
Cheng, Pei-Kai. 1980. “Reality and Imagination: Li Chih and T'ang Hsien-tsu in Search of Authenticity.” Ph.D. diss., Yale University.Google Scholar
Clarke, Rev. George, W., trans. 1898. “The Yii-li or Precious Records.” Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, North China Branch, new series, 28 (1893-94).Google Scholar
Cowell, Edward Byles, ed. 1895–1907. The jātaka, or Stories of the Buddha's Former Births. Translated from the Pāli by various hands. 6 vols. Cambridge: The University Press.Google Scholar
Cutter, Joe. 1989. The Brush and the Spur: Chinese Culture and the Cockfight. Shatin, Hong Kong: Chinese University Press.Google Scholar
DeGroot, J. J. M. Groot, J. J. M. 1892. “Miséricorde envers les animaux dans le Bouddhisme chinois.” Toting Pao 3: 466–89.Google Scholar
DeGroot, J. J. M. Groot, J. J. M. 1893. Le code du Mâhayâna en chine: Son influence sur la vie monacale et stir le monde laïque. Amsterdam: Johannes Müller.Google Scholar
Diary, . Ql BlAOJlA . Qi Zhongmin gong Shaoxing, 1937. Reprint, Hangzhou: Hangzhou gujiu shudian fuzhi, 1982. Each year of the diary bears a separate title and has independent pagination. I have designated the titles by the closest corresponding year in the Western calendar, even though I understand that the Western and Chinese calendars are not exactly matched. The parts of the diary cited in this article are:Google Scholar
Diary 1631. Shebei cbeng yan .Google Scholar
Diary 1632. Qibei rong yan Google Scholar
Diary 1635. Guinan kuai lu Google Scholar
Diary 1636. Julin shi bi Google Scholar
Diary 1637. Shanju zhuo lu .Google Scholar
Diary 1638. Zijian lu .Google Scholar
Diary 1639. Qi lu .Google Scholar
Diary 1640. Gantnu lu .Google Scholar
Diary 1642. Renwu rili .Google Scholar
Dmb, . Goodrich, L. carrington, and Fang, Chaoying, eds. 1976. Dictionary of Ming Biography. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Eccp, . Hummel, Arthur, ed. 1943–44. Eminent Chinese of the Ch'ing Period. Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office.Google Scholar
Eliasberg, Danielle. 1992. “Pratiques funéraires animales en chine ancienne et médiévale.” Journal Asiatique 280: 115–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
zhulin, Fayuan. [668] 1929. Edited by Shi, Dao Photoreprint of Wanli edition. Shanghai: Shangwu.Google Scholar
Mengzhen, Feng n.d. Kuaixue tang ji . Microfilm of National Library of Beiping copy of Wanli edition.Google Scholar
Shike, Feng 1611. Feng Yuancheng xiianji . Microfilm of National Library of Beiping copy.Google Scholar
Susumu, Fuma. 1982. “Tōzenkai shōshi: Chūgoku shakai fukushi shijō ni okeru Minmatsu Shinshō no ichizuke no tame ni” . Shirin 65.4: 37–76.Google Scholar
Susumu, Fuma. 1983. “Zenkai, zentō no shuppatsu” . In Min Shin jidai no keisei to shakai, edited by Kazuko, Ono. Kyoto: Jimbun kagaku kenkyu jō.Google Scholar
Susumu, Fuma. 1997. Chügoku zenkai zentō shi kenkyü . Kyoto: Dohosha.Google Scholar
Gal, Meng Chaoran. 1815. Guang'ai lu . In Mengshi ba lu .Google Scholar
Gernet, Jacques. 1956. Les Aspects Économiques du Bouddhisme dans la Société Chinoise du Ve au Xe Siècle. Saigon: École Française d'Extrême-Orient.Google Scholar
Gernet, Jacques. 1985. China and the Christian Impact: A Conflict of Cultures. Translated from French by Janet Lloyd. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Gernet, Jacques. 1996. “Pitié pour les animiaux.” In De Dunhuang au Japan: Études chinoises et bouddhiques offertes à Michel Soymié, edited by Drège, Jean-Pierre. Geneva: Droz.Google Scholar
Gjts, . Gujin tushu jicheng . 1726. Edited by Menglei, Chen et al. Taibei: Dingwen shuju, 1977.Google Scholar
Graham, A. c., tr. 1960. The Book ofLieh-tzu. London: John Murray.Google Scholar
Groner, Paul. 1990, “The Fan-wan ching and Monastic Discipline in Japanese Tendai: A Study of Annen's Fiitsü jubosotsukai kōshaku.” In Chinese Buddhist Apocrypha, edited by Buswell, Robert E. JrHonolulu: University of Hawaii Press.Google Scholar
Zhuang, Gui. 1962. Gui Zhuangji . Reprint, Beijing: Zhonghua shuju.Google Scholar
Handlin, Joanna F. [See also Smith]. 1983. Action in Late Ming Thought: The Reorientation of Lit K'un and Other Scholar-Officials. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Hsia, C. t. 1970. “Time and the Human Condition in the Plays of T'ang Hsien-tsu.” In Self and Society in Ming Thought, edited by Bary, Wm. Theodore de. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Hsu, Sung-peng. 1979. A Buddhist Leader in Ming China: The Life and Thought of Han-Shan Tech'ing. University Park: The Pennsylvania State University Press.Google Scholar
Zhi, Hu. [n.d.] 1983. Henglu jingshe cang gao . Photoreprint, Yingyin Wenyuan ge siku quanshu edition. Taibei: Shangwu yinshu guan.Google Scholar
Zongxi, Huang. [n.d.) 1970. Mingru xue an . beiyao, Sibu edition. Reprint, Taibei: Zhonghua shuju.Google Scholar
Jiashanxian zbi . 1786.Google Scholar
Hong, Jiao. [n.d.] 1965. Jiaoshi bicheng . Yueya tang congshu edition. Facsimile photoreprint of 1853 copy in National Central Library.Google Scholar
Imai, KŌ (Huang Yimei) . 1987. “Kaisatsu hōjō to jin no shisō” . Oryō sbigaku 13 (Oct.): 29–55.Google Scholar
Law, Jane Marie. 1994. “Violence, Ritual, Reenactment, and Ideology: The Hōjō-e (Rite for Release of Sentient Beings) of the Usa Hachiman Shrine in Japan.” History of Religions 33.4: 305–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Legge, James, trans. 1960a. Confucian Analects. In The Chinese Classics. Vol. 1. Originally published 1893–95. 3rd ed. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press.Google Scholar
Legge, James, trans. 1960b. The Works of Mencius. In The Chinese Classics. Vol. 2.Google Scholar
Legge, James. 1960c. The She King or Book of Poetry. In The Chinese Classics. Vol. 4.Google Scholar
LÜ, Liuliang. . [1684] 1978. Lü Wancun xiansheng sisbu yulu Taibei: Guangwen Shuju.Google Scholar
Longqi, Lü. [n.d.] 1983. Sanyutang wenji . Photoreprint, Yingyin Wenyuan ge siku quanshu edition. Taibei: Shangwu yinshu guan.Google Scholar
Shiyi, Lu. 1889. Sibian lu jiyao . In Lu Fitting xiansheng yishu .Google Scholar
Mcdermott, James P. 1989. “Animals and Humans in Early Buddhism.” Indo-lranian Journal 32.4: 269–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ryoshu, Michihata. 1967. Chūgoku bukkyō to shakai fukushi . Kyoto: Hosokan.Google Scholar
shi, Ming. [1736] 1962–63. Compiled by Zhang Tingyu and edited by yanjiuyuan, GuofangMingshi pianzuan weiyuanhui. Yangmingshan: Zhongguo meishu yinshua chang.Google Scholar
Nienhauser, William H. Jr. 1986. The Indiana Companion to Traditional Chinese Literature. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.Google Scholar
Senshu, Ogasawara. 1963. Chugoku kinsei Jōdokyō shi no kenkyu . Kyoto: Hyakken en.Google Scholar
Shaosheng, Peng [H. Zhiguizi , Jiqing n.d. Jushi zhuan . Liuli jing fang edition. Taibei: Xin wenhua yinshuguan.Google Scholar
Prjp-MøLLER, J. [1937] 1967. Chinese Buddhist Monasteries. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press.Google Scholar
Blaojia, Ql. 1960. Qi Biaojiaji . Shanghai: Zhonghua shuju.Google Scholar
Chenghan, Ql. 1626. Tansheng tang wenji . Microfilm of National Library of Beiping copy.Google Scholar
Junjia, Qi. [n.d.] 1929. Dnmvengsuibi . Yangshi qianbai ershijiu congshu edition. Shaoxing: Morun tang shuyuan.Google Scholar
Qlanyi, Qlan. [n.d.] 1986? Muzhaiyouxue ji . Yongho: Wenhai chubanshe.Google Scholar
Sule, Qlan. Qian Zhongjie gongji . Siming congshu edition.Google Scholar
zhi, Qiantangxian. [1883] 1967. Facsimile reprint of Wulin zhanggu cong bian edition. Taibei: Tailian guofang chubanshe.Google Scholar
Weiping, Qlu. 1875. Qiu Bangsbi wenji .Google Scholar
Rjtvo, Harriet. 1987. The Animal Estate: The English and Other Creatures in the Victorian Age. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Tadao, Sakai. 1960. Chūgoku zenshō no kenkyū . Tokyo: Tokusho kankōkai.Google Scholar
Tadao, Sakai. 1969. “Gan Moyu no shiso ni tsuite” . In Kamada Haktishi kanreiki kinen rekishigaku ronsō . Tokyo: Tōtsūsha shuppanbu.Google Scholar
Tadao, Sakai. 1970. “Confucianism and Popular Educational Works.” In Self and Society in Ming Thought, edited by Bary, Wm. Theodore de. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Shek, Richard. 1993. “Testimony to the Reliance of the Mind: The Life and Thought of P'eng Shao-sheng (1740–1796).” In Cosmology, Ontology, and Human Efficacy: Essays in Chinese Thought, edited by Smith, Richard J. and Kwok, D. w. Y.. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.Google Scholar
Smith, , Handlin, Joanna F.. 1987. “Benevolent Societies: The Reshaping of Charity During the Late Ming and Early Ch'ing.”. The Journal of Asian Studies 46.2: 309–37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, , Handlin, Joanna F.. 1992. “Gardens in Ch'i Piao-chia's Social World: Wealth and Values in Late-Ming Kiangnan.” The The Journal of Asian Studies 51.1: 55–81.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, , Handlin, Joanna F.. 1995. “Opening and Closing a Dispensary in Shan-yin County: Some Thoughts about Charitable Associations, Organizations, and Institutions in Late Ming China.” Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient 38.3: 372–92.Google Scholar
Smith, , Handlin, Joanna F.. 1998. “Chinese Philanthropy As Seen through a Case of Famine Relief in the 1640s.” In Philanthropy in the World's Traditions, edited by Ilchman, Warren F., Katz, Stanley N., and Queen, Edward L. II. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.Google Scholar
Spring, Madeline K. 1993. Animal Allegories in Tang China. American Oriental Series. Vol. 76. New Haven: American Oriental Society.Google Scholar
Standaert, N. 1988. Yang Tingyun, Confucian and Christian in Late Ming China: His Life and Thought. Sinica Leidensia 19. Leiden: E. J. Brill.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Xianzu, Tang. [n.d.] 1973. Tang Xianzu ji . Shanghai: Renmin chubanshe.Google Scholar
Wangling, Tao (Z. Zhouwang ). [n.d.] 1976. Xie an ji . Taibei: Weiwen tushu chubanshe.Google Scholar
Takanobu, Terada. 1987. “Qi Biaojia to Yan Maoyou: ‘Diji lu xu’ no kakaretakoro” : . In Dōkyō to shūkyō bunka , edited by Kan'ei, Akizuki. Taibei. Weiwen tushu chubanshe.Google Scholar
Tpgj, . Taiping guangji . [981] 1959. Edited by Fang, Li. Beijing: Renmin wenxue chubanshe.Google Scholar
Long, Tu. 1590 edition. Qizhen guan ji . Microfilm of National Library of Beiping copy.Google Scholar
Twitchett, Denis. 1959. “The Fan Clan's Charitable Estate, 1050–1760.” In Confucianism in Action, edited by Nivison, David S. and Wright, Arthur F.. Stanford: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Waltner, Ann. 1987. “Visionary and Bureaucrat in the Late Ming.” Late Imperial China 8.1: 105–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chongjian, Wang. n.d. Qingxiang tang wenji . Preface, 1676. Hishi copy of the original in the Naikaku bunko.Google Scholar
Heng, Wang. [1616] 1970. Wang Gousban xianshengji . Taibei: Wenhai chubanshe.Google Scholar
Siren, Wang. [n.d.] 1982. Qi Zhongmin gong nianpu . In Qi Biaojia, Qi Zhongmin gong riji .Google Scholar
Weinstein, Stanley. 1987. Buddhism under the T'ang. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Welch, Holmes. 1968. The Buddhist Revival in China. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Welch, Holmes. 1969. The Practice of Chinese Buddhism, 1900–1950. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Williams, Duncan Ryukan. 1997. “Animal Liberation, Death, and the State: Rites to Release Animals in Medieval Japan.” In Buddhism and Ecology: The Interconnection of Dharma and Deeds, edited by Tucker, Mary Evelyn and Williams, Duncan Ryukan. Cambridge: Harvard University Center for the Study of World Religions.Google Scholar
Chenyan, Wu. n.d. “Fangsheng hui yue” , 1 juan. Zhao dai congshu edition. Reprint, 1833-1819.Google Scholar
Zhaozhe, Xie. [1608] 1971. Wu za zu . Taibei: Xinxing shuju youxian gongsi.Google Scholar
Maoyou, Yan. (Z. Guangzhong ). n.d. Diji lu . Harvard-Yenching Library copy. Another edition with a 1631 preface by Qi Biaojia is at the Gest Oriental Library, Princeton University.Google Scholar
Dongming, Yang. 1624. Shanju gongke Hishi copy of the original in the Naikaku bunko.Google Scholar
Wenran, Yao. n.d. Yao Duanke wenji . Preface, 1685. Hishi copy of the original in the Naikaku bunko.Google Scholar
ChÜn-Fang, Yū. 1981. The Renewal of Buddhism in China: Chu-hung and the Late Ming Synthesis. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Kai, Yu, ed. [n.d.] 1967. “Xiao Yunqi fangsheng lu” . Facsimile reprint of Wulin zhanggu cong bian edition. Taibei: Tailian guofang chubanshe.Google Scholar
Zhi, Yu. [1869] 1969. Deyi lu - . Taibei: Huawen shuju.Google Scholar
Dafu, Zhang. [n.d.] 1935. Meihua cao tang bitan . Zhongguo wenxue zhenben congshu edition, 1st series, no. 15. Shanghai: Shanghai zazhi gongsi.Google Scholar
Dai, Zhang. [n.d.] 1936. Xihu meng xun . Zhongguo wenxue zhenben congshu edition, 1st series, no. 23. Shanghai: Shanghai zazhi gongsi.Google Scholar
Yl, Zhao. [n.d.] 1957. Gaiyu congkao . Shanghai: Shangwu.Google Scholar
Dalun, Zhi. n.d. Zhi Huaping xiansheng ji . Wanli edition. Microfilm of National Library of Beiping copy.Google Scholar
Mengyan, Zhou. 1927a. Yinzhi wen guangyi . In Anshi quanshu . Reprint, Hangzhou: Foxue tuixing she.Google Scholar
Mengyan, Zhou. 1927b. Wanshan xian zi ji . In Anshi quanshu .Google Scholar
Rudeng, Zhou. [1605] 1960. Dongyue zheng xue lu . Taibei Wenhai chubanshe.Google Scholar
Guozhen, Zhu. [1622] 1959. Yongchuang xiaopin . Shanghai: Zhonghua shuju.Google Scholar
Shi, Zhu, ed. 1731. Bo Lü Liuliangsishu jiangyi .Google Scholar
Zhuhong, . 1897 . Yunqi fahui . Nanjing: Jingling kejing chu.Google Scholar
Zhuhong, . 1897a. “Jiesha fangsheng wen” . In Yunqi fahui, ce 22.Google Scholar
Zhuhong, . 1897b. Zhu chuang sui bi . In Yunqi fahui, ce 24.Google Scholar
Zhuhong, . 1897c. Zhu chuang er bi - . In Yunqi fahui, ce 25.Google Scholar
Zhuhong, . 1897d. Shanfang zalu . In Yunqi fahui, ce 28–29.Google Scholar
Zhuhong, . 1897e. Yigao . In Yunqi fahui, ce 30–31.Google Scholar
zbi, Zichuanxian 1743.Google Scholar