| Chapter 1: | The Life and Times of Zanning |
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in present day Zhejiang province. According to Wang, Zanning’s Gao forbears “all concealed their virtue and did not serve in office.”38 The likely reason for this explanation is that Zanning came from a family whose lineage was not particularly noteworthy, but that conventions of Chinese biography writing demand illustrious talent be confirmed by suitable pedigree. This stipulation is fulfilled in Wang’s Preface through the suggestion of a remote ancestry and a euphemistic statement about “concealed virtue” (yinde 陰德). Zanning’s humble origins are readily suggested in Wang’s assertion that his mother gave birth to him in a country villa on Mount Jinwu 金鵡山,39 the day and month of which are recorded as uncertain.40
The Wuyue region enjoyed unparalleled peace and prosperity during Zanning’s life. In Zanning’s early years, Wuyue was still under the control of the powerful scion of the Qian family, Prince Wusu (852-932), who established hegemony over the region with the collapse of Tang authority in the late ninth century.41 Under the patronage of the Qian family, Buddhism thrived as a manifestation of the cultural revival that prospered in Wuyue.42 It was under the circumstances of this Buddhist revival that Zanning embarked on a monastic career during the tiancheng era (926-930), received full ordination on Mt. Tiantai in the qingtai era (934-936), and distinguished himself as a master of the vinaya tradition. As vinaya masters in China often distinguished themselves as scholar-officials, this was early confirmation of the course that Zanning’s career would take.
Zanning’s destiny as a purveyor of wen was established early on, and Zanning’s association with wen forms the warp and woof upon which Wang Yucheng’s biography of Zanning is woven. His prestige began to flourish with the assumption of Prince Wenmu to the throne upon the passing of Prince Wusu in the third year of zhongxing (932), when we are told, “the prestige of the Great Master increased daily, and the study of literature (wenxue 文學) prospered.” Zanning became a leader of wen