Research On Shenxiu

Shenxiu was an eminent monk in Tang Dynasty, he was the chief disciple of Hongren, Zen Buddhism the fifth. He was passed as "the imperial tutor of three emperors and suzerains of two capitals" by the highest ruler of the Wuzhu and Tang Dynasty. Not only was he the inaugurator of northern zen sect, but also he was honored as the Zen Buddhism the sixth by both the religious and the secular world. He inherited and innovated the Buddhist theory from Damo to Hongren, and had a great influence on Huineng and the subsequent zen buddhism. He and Huineng had always been the major research object for many years because of the divergences of northern and southern zen sect. Shenxiu was a remarkable person in the history of the Chinese zen buddhism, Buddhism and thought. An entire and systematic collecting and reading had been made in this paper on documents on Shenxiu and by means of previous research results and using research method of document and the cultural history and thought history, the primary research of this paper concentrates mainly on life and works and thought of Shenxiu and the northern zen sect he opened. On the basis, with methods for lateral correlation Shenxiu and the great Buddhists in Shenxiu's Era had been discussed.To be specific, the paper includes four parts:The first part:Exordium.First, this part divides the stages about study on Shenxiu into three periods:the early research, traditional research, latter-day and modern research. This part gives a more detailed review of the research on Shenxiu and find the deficiencies. On the basis, the significance of this paper has been presented and the content of the paper has been defined and the related research methods have been chosen to research Shenxiu completely, thoroughly and deeply.The second part:the life of Shenxiu.First, this part makes an investigation into the Shenxiu's ages which were relatively important in his life. That is:the year of birth of Shenxiu which has divergences in documents, the year of hayashi and entering the court by obeying the imperial edict.The life of Shenxiu was divided into several periods:the period Shenxiu became a monk, studied dongshan-zen and resumed his secular life,and he became the imperial tutor of three emperors and suzerains of two capitals and the honors that he acquired after death. Sensitivity questions on the history of zen buddhism have been discussed,,for example, the possibility that Shenxiu and Huineng were not schoolfellows and the reason why Shenxiu resumed his secular life.The third part:the works of Shenxiu.This part makes a textual study on his works, quotation, conversation and the poems illustrating zen. It is firmly believed that Shenxiu finished《Guan xin lun》《Da cheng wu sheng fang bian men》,《Xiu he shang quan shan wen》,《Xiu chan shi qi li》, but《Yuan ming lun》is not his works. His quotation in《Leng qie shi zi ji》and《The summary about the ultimate of zen and other sects》and his conversation with his disciples in many documents have been textual researched. His poems illustrating zen mainly includedandThe fourth part:Shenxiu's ideas on zen.First, historical origin of Shenxiu's ideas on zen,that is, ideas on zen of damo, Huike, Sengcan, Daoxin, Hongren have been discussed. A comparative study on combination of ideas on zen of pure land sect and the Insight Sect and Tiantai Sect and Hua-yan sect and explains the cultural absorption of the traditional culture of confucianism and taoism. Shenxiu's zen style are summarized, and it included Stress on religious discipline, religious meditations, buddha-worship, pray to Buddha. This part makes an analysis and discussion on Shenxiu's ideas on zen, especially his conversation on buddlisn in《Guan xin lun》,《Da cheng wu sheng fang bian men》.Finally this part discusses Shenxiu's ideas on zen.The fifth chapter:Shenxiu and northern zen sect.Shenxiu was the founder of northern zen sect, and northern zen sect lasted hundreds of years. This part makes a study on origin of northern zen sec, the rise and fall of northern zen sect, the Inherit in Japan, ancient Tibet,Korean,the nature of northern zen sect, the relations between northern zen sect and southern zen sect and combination of northern zen sect and other buddhism factions.The sixth part:conclusion.This part is asummsry of the former parts. Shenxiu's history life,his,Zenbuddhism,and Shenxiu and Northern school of Chan are summed up bridfly.