The Administration of Buddhism in China: A Study and Translation ...

Precincts of the Capital), contained in fascicle 20 of the Xiaochu ji 小畜集 (Literary Collection of Wang Yucheng, compiled in 1000), and the Buddhist biography of Zanning recorded in fascicle 8 of Zongjian’s 宗鑑 Shimen zhengtong 釋門正統 (Orthodox Transmission of Buddhism, compiled in 1237).²³

The two kinds of biographies of Zanning, one written from the perspective of a Confucian inspired secularism and the other Buddhist, do not promote mutually exclusive images of their subject. There is tension between them, however, and this tension reflects the different models that Zanning’s image was subjected to, one emphasizing his secular accomplishments and the other his appeal to the Buddhist faithful. Our analysis begins with a review of the material contained in the secular and Buddhist accounts of Zanning’s life.

3. The Emperor’s Buddhist: Reflections on the Life of a Confucian Monk²⁴

The secular account of Zanning, the “Preface to the Collected Works of the Great Master ‘Comprehensive Wisdom’ (Zanning), the Buddhist Registrar of the Left Precincts of the Capital” (Zuojie senglu tonghui dashi wenji xu) is not typical of biography writing in China, though it was not unusual for renowned literary figures to write prefaces for each other’s works.²⁵ Most biography in traditional China originated as a form of eulogy, of paying final respects to the dead. One of the major sources of information for biographical accounts of Buddhists is tomb or stele inscriptions (taming 塔名) written to accompany the interred remains of the deceased.²⁶ Although written in the form of a “preface” (xu 序) to Zanning’s collected works, Wang Yucheng’s account contains a wealth of information about Zanning’s life that all future biographical records are indebted to. The content of the preface indicates that it was written during the reign of Emperor Zhenzong (r. 997-1022), and that Zanning was eighty-two years of age at the time. This would mean that the preface