A Language-philosophical Study Of The Meaning Generation Of Juhua In Zen Encounter Dialogues

Juhua,the research object of this study,is a type of reported speech,occurring in Zen encounter dialogues.Juhua is categorized into Zushi Zen,namely the Southern-Sect Zen.Zushi Zen could date back to the origin of Bodhidharma in the late 5th century and goes into the legendary period which was deeply influenced by the Sixth Patriarch Huineng in the middle of the Tang Dynasty.The tenet of Zushi Zen is phrased as ‘no teaching outside Buddhism’(which emphasizes the succession of teachings from a master to his disciples)and ‘awareness without recourse to discourse’(which means to point to one’s inner straightly and enlighten him to be abhisambuddha).The practice of Zushi Zen focuses on observing the working of mind,through which masters could capture Zen in their daily life and could finally enlighten the oneness between Buddha and the human mind.Zushi Zen aims at calming the restless mind down to the inner peace,by cutting off the obsession on discrimination.One’s mind should not be obsessive with anything so as to help recognize the nature oneness,boost meditation on Zen’s nature to language which shows in segregation between the name and the image in the live utterance.In order to grasp the meaning of the live utterance,it is essential to hold the linguistic tenet of Zen during the meditation.The phenomena of Juhua,as the remediation for the failed comprehension of the live utterance,embody speechless Zen idea A.Reporters intend to enlighten the ultimate meaning of Zen which exists in Juhua with the live utterance in the koans.From the language-philosophical perspective,this paper is concerned with the meaning generation in Zen encounter dialogues,and spreads out the research into three specific questions proposed as below:1)What kinds of verbal means are used by Zen masters in encounter dialoguesto realize Juhua?2)What functions does Juhua perform and how are they performed by Juhua in Zen encounter dialogues?2)What’s the standpoint of using Juhua for Zen masters and disciples in Zen encounter dialogues?The qualitative analysis is adopted to solve the three questions mentioned above.Based on the linguistic tenet of Zen,the author proposes the preliminary tentative meaning model of Juhua through case studies of koans in Halls of the Patriarchs(《祖堂集》).The most important finding of the essay is the tentative systematic meaning generation of Juhua,and it could be divided into three interconnected aspects.The first one is about the enlightening model of Zen.The oneness is called Zen idea A in this essay.Zen idea A determines the meaning of the live utterance,as well as its form.And Zen idea A is embodied in the live utterance.In order to define Zen idea A,it is essential to distinguish Zen idea A from the common concepts.Zen idea A,which cannot be named in speech,is non-referential and indescribable,whereas the common concept is referential and describable.People can grasp common concepts through the grasp of Zen idea A.On the contrary,however,it is impossible to grasp or even get close to the abstract Zen idea A through grasping the common concept,even if one has mastered all those common concepts.As a solution,the live utterance directly points to Zen idea A without obsession on the common concepts.In fact,the semantic function of the live utterance is to interrupt the deep and strong connection between reporters’ mind and the common concepts,or in other words,it is to cut off the obsession on discrimination.Therefore,the live utterance forces people to reflect on themselves,to act according to the nature of the matters instead of the discrimination on the surface.The second finding is concentrated on the meaning realization of the live utterance.The properties of the live utterance “awareness without recourse todiscourse”,which corresponds to “being irrational in semantics”;and “no absence of words”,which corresponds to “being rational in pragmatics”,embody the nature and the linguistic perspective of Zen.Consequently,the tenet of Zen requires a realization of the meaning of the live utterance in two steps: to deconstruct the live utterance in semantics and reconstruct the live utterance in pragmatics.In addition,this section contains a discussion about the intended segregation between the name and the image in the live utterance.The items in the live utterance show the absence either of the names,or of the images,and finally lead to the disruption to the discrimination,as well as the mental connection to the common concepts.The third finding,based on the former two findings,focuses on the meaning generation of Juhua.Through resetting the context of the live utterance into the dynamic Juhua context.Juhua forms a nested structure to preserve the liveness of the live utterance and makes sure that the jumping from semantics to pragmatics always happens in the immediate context,and thus the embodied Zen idea A could also keep alive forever in the immediate context.Furthermore,the extended function of Juhua offers supplementary information to promote the meaning realization process of Zen idea A by eliciting more Zen masters’ replies.In summary,Zen masters adopt the linguistic strategies as mentioned above to realize the meaning of Juhua.In the dynamic circulatory system of Juhua,the resetting function in the context of Juhua,the disruption to the connection which is between the mind and the common concept,and the deconstructive and reconstructive functions conducted by the live utterance,all contribute to the smooth operation of Juhua as a whole,and help realize the meaning generation of Zen idea A.