The Transformation Of Traditional Monk Literature Since Modern Times

As a Chinese literature's part, the Monk Literature has played the role of the edge, auxiliary and supplement. How has it changed in the modern society? This article has such historical thinking, tracing to inspect this piece of rarely known literature domain.This article is divided five parts. The first part is an introduction. It mainly solves two problems:The first question is the concept about "Monk Literature" and Its naming reason. So-called "Monk Literature" refers to Buddhist monk's literature activity and their literary works. This concept is mainly based on three factors:First, the monk poem and the poem monk's creation has the glorious historic tradition; second, the monk is unique community in China; more importantly, the Buddhism literature cannot cover monk's literary production. Then pointing out that the Buddhism literature' generalaization and the current scholarly research emphasised on the monk poem and the poem monk, has caused latly to name "the monk literature".The second question is through "the monk literature " research situation, which discovers some "scotomas" in current scholarly research field, such as the Buddhist monk's creation situation after May Fourth Movement and the relations between the modern Buddhist Thought and the modern monk literature. These questions hasn't yet entered into the monk literature's research, but also are the topic analyzed importantly by this article.The second part has analyzed the historical development and the realistic background about the Monk Literature emphatically from two levels. One is from the historical level, which has combed the traditional Monk Literature's development and evolution before the modern times. The Monk Literature's history has based on the poem monk, and been divided into three stages. The first stage is the pre-poem monk's time", from the Eastern Jin Dynasty to the Middle Tang Dynasty; The second stage is "the poem monk's time", from the Middle Tang Dynasty to the May Fourth Movement's eves; The third stage is "post-poem monk's time", from the May Fourth Movement's eves to 1949 years. Another is the realistic level, which has analyzed the rise and affects about the modern Buddhist thought. With the decline and disintegration of Confucian rule, and spread of cultural conservatism, the modern Buddhism encountered a rare good time. However, it had owned some crises by itself, not only the "internal problems" of the corrosion, as well as "foreign aggression" of the impact. Especially the "Temple Property" seriously had shaken the foundation of the survival of Buddhism. The modern Buddhist thought has been basically facilitated by the three forces, such as some important thinkers with later Qing Dynasty, lay groups represented by Yang Wenhui and monastery monks whose chief is Taixu, in which promote the most important reform movement. The modern Buddhist thought has important impact on the Buddhist monk literature. The first is earthly concern. The second is a large numbers of Buddhist journals. The third is the emergence of the new monk groups, who is the main force of the Buddhist monk literature after the May Fourth Movement. The fourth is the failure of the Buddhist reform movement, to some extent has revealed the transformation frustrations of the Buddhist monk literary.The third part has analyzed the modern monk iterature changed and unchanged. from the poem-monk time to the post-poem monk time. The first Section is the change about the subject of creation:the fade out with the poem monk and the highlight about the monk experienced with the Buddhist Institute. Than the early Qing Dynasty, late Qing Dynasty the poem monk has becomed sparse and divided into two types. One kind is the non-stubborn poem monk represented by Jichan and Liyun, which have relyed on the temple, and contacted more with the literati by the medium of poetry. In general, their thought among the Buddhist community is not particularly conservative, but also can be changed with the times and smooth machine, showing an accessible personality. Another kind is the revolution poem monk represented by Zong Yang and Su Manshu, which have two connotations: the first is that they are the radicas who has taked part in revolutionary or has the revolutionary tendency. The second is that they has consciously used their promotional literature in order to propagate their political thought, Or to show their distinct tendency of innovation in literature concepts and creative ways. The formation and rise of The monk experienced with the Buddhist Institute is inseparable from the development and promotion of the modern Buddhist education movement. They are Buddhist worshipers, and has regarded the Learning Buddhism and studying Buddhism and Promotion of Buddhism as their primary work and the "vocation". The literature has no longer been advocated, which only occasionally as a hobby. In their view, Buddhism is definitely the main body, and literature is only ancillary's status as a propaganda tool of Buddhism, thus forming the literary concepts about that"Buddhism is the body and literature is used as a propaganda tool of Buddhism. "The second section is a new literary field,which is the rise of modern monks publications. According to the different proportion of literature, they has been divided into three types:the first is a purely Buddhist research publications, which almost hasnot published literature; The second is the monk publications which has mainly studied Buddhism and occasionally take into account the literature,such as the "tides"; The third is the monk publications based mainly on criticism and literary, such as the "sea of light".Specifically, their impact on modern monk literature is the provision of the literary field, length short, and Buddhism is closely.The third section is the emergence of new literary style:the Monks Fiction. Pre-modern monks novel seems to be "blank", mainly attributed to shelter the monks only use poetry. The reason why they appear in modern times, is what has been mainly stimulated by the prosperity of modern fiction and needed by propagating Buddhism or dispalying the Buddhist life. Overall, the novel creation of modern monk isn't prosperousd and low-level. From the subject point of view, they can be divided into Buddhist and non Buddhist fiction novels. From the narrative mode point of view, they is divided into "temptation" and "conflict".Those non-Buddhist novels has shaped the sentimental and young monk, and by contrast the "comic" and" profiling" of the old monk. After the May Fourth Movement, although there are a number of monks writing new poetry, they essentially are some colloquial and vernacular poetry. Their literature and aesthetic value is not significant.The fourth section is the "common name" about the modern Buddhist monk's literature:earthly concern. In the process of modern Buddhism turning into the earthly concern, the modern monk's have also shown this trend, which mainly shown as the patriotism, revolution and Sentimental pop. However, their creation presents a paradox of both beyond reality and earthly concern,which to some extent has affected the literary achievement of monk's creation.The fifth section is that there is unchanged and conservative about modern monk's literature.The changes or non-changes are the philosophy of the modern Chinese society. The Buddhist monk's literature has brought about a few of new phenomena, but these emergence of phenomena does not mean that the modern Buddhist monk's literature has essentially appeared a fundamental change. Pattern as the leading literary poetry has not radically changed.The fourth part is that we has selected three representative writer in the transformation process of the modern Buddhist monk's literature, such as Jichan?Su Manshu and Hongyi. Jichan is the last one of traditional monk's literature. He has widely studied and learned poetry, which has leaded to his poetry changing. To Du Fu, Tao Yuanming, Jia Dao learning, is his poem summary. The most important thing is that his learning Du Fu is marked his poetry innovation and mature, which has showed the poet's sense of real feelings and patriotic emotional. As a "monk assiduously",he has wandered and struggled in the edges of Poetry or Buddha. In a sense, he was the last "assiduously Monk".Shu Manshu is the leader in modern literature the monks. As the monks first novel, he is well deserved. As a monk, he is the synthesizer of "Beauty Complex" among the monk, because his body and his works are strongly distributed "Beauty Complex". But this complex in his literary work has presented the tragic fate with the conflict of love and the Buddha. More importantly his novel has founded the narrative mode of man and two woman, which has contained modern culture meaning. The difficulties of love choice has reflected cultural options of the confusion. He has translated Western Literature and traveled around Japan, southeast Asia, so he has the vision of world literature, and his works also show exotic.After being a monk, Hongyi has abandoned the way to become a literature monk, while he has choosed eminent monk with studying Buddhism as his pursuit. His choice has embodied the development law of the modern Buddhist thought. He hasnot thoroughly became a monk insulated with literature, but only and occasionally he has writed some works. Through the analysis of these three monks authors, we found that both the level of their literary achievements and monk character of the concentration has showed the inverse relationship. Most weak monk character, the highest literary achievement, such as Su Manshu.Most strongly monk character,the lowest literary achievement,such as Hongyi. The fifth part is to evaluate the historical influence of the modern Buddist monk's literary form two aspects. One is that the three monk authores are selected to further reveal the relationship between the modern monk literature and the modern Chinese literature. Jichan is basically insulated with the modern Chinese literature, so his influence does not arise. Hongyi has indirect contact with the May Fourth New Literature, such as his drama in front of being monk, and the spirit impact on White Horse Lake Writers Group. As a monk writers, Shu Manshu has the deepest and greatest impact. contact with the May Fourth New Literature He is the initiator of modern China Romantic literature, and the spirit of the May Fourth writers romantic resources. In a sense, he is one of the sources of modern literature. Another is the use of "blanking" to describe the decline influence of the modern monk's literary. Mainly from the origin of Zen, literary concepts, Buddhism situation, making-friends, the similarities and differences between the monk experienced with the Buddhist Institute and the poem monk, which haved analyzed and compared, in order to reveal the monk experienced with the Buddhist Institute the historical reasons why they hasnot becomed the literary monk. The enormous inertia of Buddhism itself is also a serious impediment to the successful transformation of modern monk's literary, which is also an important factor led to the influence of modern monk's literary in the decline. This "blanking" has continued at present, but I full expect this situation to early break.