Research On The Thoughts Of Dunhuang Version Of Taixuan Zhenyi Benji Scripture

The Taixuan Zhenyi Benji Scripture (a literature on the original beginning), Benji Scripture in short, is a Taoist scripture written in the early years of the Sui and Tang dynasties. After the insurrection waged by An Lushan and Shi Siming, the majority of the scripture was missing in succession. For this reason, the Taoist Canon has not collected the full version of the works. More than 140 copies of the Benji Scripture written in the Tang Dynasty have been found among the Taoist works unearthed from the Dunhuang relics, roughly one fifth of the total Taoist scripture copies. The number exceeds that of Dao De Jing, and comes atop all the Taoist works (see Research on Taoist Literatures Unearthed in Dunhuang by Wang Ka for the data source). All the volumes can be reproduced, except for Volume Eight– Zui Sheng Pin.The Benji Scripture originally didn't bear the name of the author. Xuan Yi, a monk in the Wuzhou Period of the Tang Dynasty, claimed in On Zhenzheng that"the current Benji Scripture, which originally has five volumes, was originally written by Liu Jinxi, a Taoist in the Sui Dynasty, and later was extended to ten volumes by Li another Taoist Zhongqing."The existing Benji Sculpture unearthed in Dunhuang indicates that each volume was copied in the early and prime periods of the Tang Dynasty in the postscript. This shows that the ten-volume version of the Benji Sculpture was already circulated in the society during Zhenguan period of Emperor Taizong's reign in the Tang Dynasty at the latest. The number of its copies reflects this sculpture was highly valued by people in the Tang Dynasty and extensively popular. Most of the Taoist works and literatures had recited and inherited the thoughts and contents of the Benji Sculpture.In the ten-volume Taixuan Zhenyi Benji Sculpture, Yuanshi Tianzun (meaning the maker of everything in the world), Taishang Daojun (meaning the creator of the ultimate rule of the world) and Taishang Laojun (also known as Lao Zi) interpret the doctrine to their followers, including Fa Jie, Miao Xing, Tianhuang Zhenren, Zhengyi Zhenren (Zhenren means an immortal), promote the concept of chongxuan (twofold mystery) in Taoism, and thereby"create Zhenyi Benji school (Zhenyi Benji means exploring the way that the world runs)."The sculpture aims to publicize Taoism and interpret that the view of truth of Taoism is the essence of all the laws. The sculpture involves the"theory of embodiment of the Tao"advocating"the Tao has no origin"; the"theory of nature of the Tao"holding that"the Taoist law lies in nature"; the classification of "shierfayin"and"sandong"; the"theory of panjiao (classification of teachings)"combined with the thought of chongxuan; and the"Taoist practice theory"featuring the comeuppance, merit, moral and practice, religious discipline, order of practice and method of practice.In the Wude Period of Emperor Gaozu's reign in the Tang Dynasty, Liu Jinxi and Li Zhongqing once actively responded to the proposal by Fu Yi, the then supreme official in charge of historical records, to resist Buddhism. According to the fact that both participated in the debate about the three religions, they should be the pioneers in the then Taoist circle, and their thoughts represent the highest level of the Taoist theory at that time. As a result, the Benji Sculpture is a Taoist literature that sums up the debate between Buddhism and Taoism in the Sui and Tang dynasties, and responds to the challenges from Buddhism on a new level of theoretical thinking."The late Northern and Southern Dynasties and the Sui Dynasty saw the popularity of the School of Three Treaties of Buddhism. Ji Zang pointed out in the Benji Probe (meaning a research on the origin of the world) of Commentary on Madhyamika-Shastra that the doctrine of Lao Zi did not explain the origin of the world. Inferred from the cause-and-effect logic of the thought history, Liu Jinxi should create the Benji Sculpture after Ji Zang put forward the opinion. "Benji"became one of the focuses of the debate between Buddhism and Taoism in the early Tang Dynasty. As one of the representatives of the then Taoist circle, Li Zhongqing participated in the"court debate"on "Benji". This probably was the initial motive that caused them to create the sculpture. The Buddhist circle attacked Taoism on the issue of"Benji"with the aim to attribute the core domains"nature"and"Tao"of Taoism and Taoist philosophy, which represent the characteristic of the ultimate origin, to the dialectical logic of the "cause and effect theory"of Buddhism by discussing the connotation of the original thoughts, thereby proving the proposition"the Taoist law lies in nature"was false. Now that"the Taoist law lies in nature", then nature would be the cause for Tao and Tao (the effect) should come from nature, so"Tao is the result of other cause, and thus changeable". Based on this logic, the circle of Buddhist thoughts attempted to prove that"nature"and"Tao"were both changeable, and changeability would simply mean"no origin". Further, Tao itself and the"divinity"theory of Taoism that would last with nature for ever would be absurd. The attack from the circle of Buddhist thoughts was possibly the reason why Liu Jinxi and Li Zhongqing formed the theoretical system composed of the"theory of embodiment of the Tao", the"theory of nature of the Tao"and the"theory of panjiao". The advent of the Benji Sculpture was intended to demonstrate the reasonableness, legality and divinity of the philosophy of Lao Zi and Taoism created by Lao Zi in the context of new thoughts and times. Of course, it can't be denied that the sculpture also implied the need to serve the then politics.Due to the lack of historical materials, it is difficult to study such problems as the profile of Liu Jinxi and Li Zhongqing, the relation between the two, what chapters of the Benji Sculpture completed by the two respectively, the succession between their contents and thoughts, etc. The limited information about the two available now is mostly included in the historical materials of Buddhism. That the Benji Sculpture and the authors have been found frequently in the historical materials of Buddhism has attracted much attention from the Buddhist circle. This reflects that it is not only an important literature for the research of the Taoist thoughts in the Sui and Tang dynasties, but also the valuable materials for the study of the debate between Buddhism and Taoism and even the Chinese philosophy in the period.This article, based on the Dunhuang version of the Benji Sculpture collected in the Collection of Chinese Taoist Literatures newly published by the Huaxia Publishing House and proofread by Mr. Wang Ka, analyzes and explains the thoughts, concepts, domains and propositions in this classical literature from the perspective of the history of philosophy and the history of thought in the hope of revealing its unique values in the history of Chinese philosophic thoughts.A number of questions related to the Benji Sculpture have not been covered by the previous studies, and they are the questions this article attempts and needs to resolve. These questions include: In what areas the Benji Sculpture reflects the results of thought from the debate between Buddhism and Taoism, and to what extent the sculpture responds to and resolves the attacks from the Buddhism thought circle; the relationship between the"theory of nature of the Tao"of the Benji Sculpture and the nirvana concept under the Buddhist doctrine since the Southern and Northern Dynasties period; the relationships between the Benji Sculpture and the Tiantai School thoughts of Buddhism, the famous Mahayana-shraddhotpada-shastra, and other typical results of thought of the sinicization of Buddhism; the core thought of the Benji Sculpture is to"reveal the meaning of chongxuan to open the door to many skills" or"interpret the ultimate origin, reveal the source of birth and death, discuss cause and effect, promote the true nature and display the definition of the Taixuan sect,"namely, the way to chongxuan. Then how the Buddhist thought circle responded to this philosophical proposition of Taoism; the inheritance of the Taoist doctrine in the Southern and Northern Dynasties in the Benji Sculpture, the signs for the integration of the Northern Taoism and the Southern Taoism reflected in the sculpture, and the relationship between the Benji Sculpture and other Taoist works and literatures before and after the sculpture; the position and role of the Benji Sculpture in the Taoist doctrine system; whether the Benji Sculpture influenced the Chinese philosophy in the same era or later, either inside or outside different thought systems, and if yes, what influences.At that time, the relations among Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism in the Chinese philosophy in the Benji Sculpture are reflected in such a way as the Confucian ethics created an osmosis on the mitzvah, the Taoist practice concept of accumulating merits and kind deeds and other universal values; and the philosophical transformation of Taoism was realized by interpreting the classical works as Lao Zi and Zhuang Zi, and also borrowing and absorbing the Buddhist thoughts. These are directly evidenced by the concepts, domains and propositions that appear in the Benji Sculpture. This reflects that the results of thought from the sinicization of Buddhism can be successfully borrowed, transformed and used by the Taoist philosophy, which proves"the origin of the Chinese Buddhism is in China, but not in India."These also reveal the base of"integration of three religions"in the mainstream ideological domain of the Chinese philosophy, the principle of the practical philosophy featuring stressing introspection and combining theory and practice, and the two epistemologies and methodologies, namely, the"theory of spiritual imperishability"rooted in the Chinese traditional culture and the"ontology"which needs particular definition when borrowing the western philosophical terms. The theory of embodiment of the Tao, the theory of nature of the Tao and the theory of panjiao running through the Benji Sculpture showcases the unique values of the sculpture in the Chinese history of philosophy and thought.