Buddhism And The Spiritual World Of Reputable Intellectuals And Officials In Northern Song Dynasty

Buddhism in Sui and Tang Dynasties(581-917) was so influential not only because it benefited from the strong economy and was supported by the government, but also it integrated the best that people back then could achieve in terms of thoughts or cognition, thus fulfilling their spiritual aspirations. In the following Northern Song Dynasty(960-1127)(referred to as NSD hereafter), the reputable intellectuals and officials(referred to as RIOs hereafter), who best embodied the spirits of ancient Chinese intellectuals, continued to adopt the rigorous system and the practicing methods of Buddhism, attempting to make up the deficiency of Confucianism in terms of the understanding of metaphysical noumenon and practicing methods. In addition, the spiritual world of those individuals was apparently affected by Buddhism. Research on the relationship between Buddhism and the spiritual world of the RIOs in NSD not only helps to explore the evolution of those intellectuals ’ attitude and scholarship, but also gives us a deeper and intuitive insight into the train of thoughts in both Buddhism and Neo-Confucianism. Such a research will provide feasible solutions for examining the relationships between Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism.The change of intellectuals’ ethos in early NSD had much to do with Buddhism. Both the extrinsic forces and the intrinsic link between Buddhism and Confucianism played a vital role in that change. The spiritual world(including personality spirit, the realm of life, attitude of scholarship and academic thought) of the RIOs in NSD was influence by Buddhism. It was characterized by rationality, self-consciousness and the pursuit of a broad spiritual realm of life. Buddhism ’s advance in the explanation of noumenon and disposition, in the pursuit of an internal transcendence, as well as in the broad spiritual world of “perfect penetration without obstruction” remedied the deficiency of Confucianism in terms of individual settling, philosophy as speculation, as well as cultivation of mind and body. That triggered a change of ethos and attitude of scholarship of those intellectuals. Influenced by the thinking mode and theories of Buddhism, the followers of Neo-Confucianism put traditional Confucian morality and humanity down to Natural Law. That provided people in NSD with a support from the natural law when they carried out practicing activities. In addition, that offered intellectuals in the following dynasties a brand new “spiritual world” and “world of meaning” Therefore, the influence of Buddhism on the emerging of Neo-Confucianism was not only an external force, but also an internal absorption and heritage.Fan Zhongyan(989-1052), a forerunner of Neo-Confucianism, contributed enormously to that school of philosophy by restoring the Confucian spirit, recognizing and promoting younger intellectuals of Neo-Confucianism. More importantly, he pioneered the approach of adopting Buddhism thought on the essence of heart, thus inviting people to consider “the moral standard and personality spirit of Confucius and his student Yanhui” in the approach of noumenon and disposition. Zhou Dunyi(1017-1073), the originator of Neo-Confucianism, demonstrated a trace of Buddhism in his spiritual world in some of his theories such as “leave the weeds where they are, for they’re a part of my home” as well as in his character featured by “brilliance, extensiveness, and impartialness. Cheng hao(1023-1085) and Cheng yi(1033-1107) were also representatives of Neo-Confucianism. Their theory of “Law of the Heaven” was almost identical to the Buddhist quotation “the Buddha is omnipresent”. They also developed some of their theories out of quotations from Hua-yen Buddhism. In addition, their practicing methods called “sitting still”, was highly connected with Buddhism. Sushi(1037-1101), a renowned litterateur, was also greatly influenced by Buddhism, which could be seen from his thought of “integration of personality and emotion”, his perfect ingenious personality as well as his harmonious realm of life.The RIOs in NSD were so open to Buddhism that they generally adopted its thoughts without too many alterations. Their principle was “making Confucianism the essence, and adopting Buddhism”; therefore, many followers of Buddhism were Confucianism pious. Although they were in some sense reluctant to accept Buddhism, it was undeniable that some of their thoughts originated from it. Confucianism and Buddhism were blending with the evolution of the zeitgeist, and that was a complicated process. They interacted with each other with their own connotations and features. Neo-Confucianism could be seen as an integration of Confucianism and Buddhism. It emerged when followers of Confucianism intended to come up with innovations, and Buddhism was an import so urce and catalyst of it.Most of the Buddhist monks in NSD tended to advocate the harmony between Confucianism and Buddhism, which indicated a loss of advantage of Buddhism theories. Following the monks’ track, RIOs in NSD tried to clarify some issues that were not clear. Nevertheless, the Buddhism was no longer as prosperous as it was in Sui and Tang dynasties, and was gradually overwhelmed by the theories of Neo-Confucianism. That was because the Buddhism, when trying to harmonize with Confucianism, infused a large number of its own characteristics to the latter. Some scholars maintained that Buddhism had faded in NSD. As far as the author is concerned, however, during the period of NSD, the Buddhism played a vital role in the intellectuals’ attitude and approaches of academic research. The Zen Buddhism in particular, took on new forms by integrating itself into intellectuals ’ personality spirit and Neo-Confucianism. From a perspective of intellectual history, that can be regarded as another kind of the prosperity of Buddhism.