A Research On The Literary And Artistic Concepts In Biographies Of The Eminent Monks

Shi Huijiao's Biographies of Eminent Monks in the Liang Dynasty is the earliest collection of biographies of Buddhist eminent monks in China.It is often used as a historical material to study the development of early Chinese Buddhism and is also regarded as a literary work.Its literariness attracts the attention of researchers,but its literary concepts have been ignored for a long time.Biographies of Eminent Monks is a mature and excellent Buddhist biography literary work,which absorbs the writing tradition of Indian Buddhist biography and the Chinese biography.It is the presentation of Huijiao's ideas of biography writing.The criterion for selecting biographers proposed in Biography of Eminent Monks is the criterion for evaluating human characters,which is also used by later generations.Biographies of eminent monks retains the contents of monks' literary and artistic activities,monks' ideas of literary and artistic concepts.It also records Huijiiao's expositions on biography writing,character evaluation,literary and artistic creation and appreciation,etc.In a word,whether from the compilation or the content of Biography of Eminent Monks,it is possible and meaningful to study the literary and artistic concepts in Biographies of the Eminent Monks.This research is mean to explore the literary and artistic concepts of Biographies of Eminent Monks in three aspects.The first aspect contains chapter one and two.Biographies of Eminent Monks is seen as a biographical creation.Firstly,the concepts of the writing in Indian Buddhist biography,Chinese historical biography and Chinese Buddhist biography absorbed by Biographies of Eminent Monks are analyzed.Secondly,the study focuses on the criteria for selecting biographers,which is also the connotations of the criteria for criticizing characters proposed by Huijiao through the compilation of Biography of Eminent Monks.The third and fourth chapter of the second aspect focus on the aesthetic concept of advocating nature and the literary and artistic creation concepts of "skillfulness and convenience" in Biographies of Eminent Monks.The third aspect contains the fifth chapter,it is about how the Eminent Monks live an artistic life.This research is divided into five chapters.Chapter One.Biographical Writing Concepts of Biographies of Eminent Monks.There is a tradition of narrating the life stories of Sakyamuni Buddha in Indian Buddhism,later it developed into a preference for writing biographies for Sakyamuni Buddha and eminent Buddhist monks.The purpose of Indian Buddhist biography writing is to promote the development and dissemination of Buddhism.Therefore,the record of the image of the biographer is always positive,and even some divine descriptions are added to the biographies.The writing of Chinese Buddhist biography is also affected by these characteristics.The earliest biography in China is a historical biography,which is a part of the chroniclers in the historical books.Therefore,the authenticity of biography writing in China is highly demanded.Hujianfa(???)is often used in the writing of biographies,which guarantees the authenticity of the history while maintaining the positive image of the biographer.This method is also absorbed and improved by Biography of Eminent Monks.Biography of Eminent Monks benefit from the biographies of monks written by predecessors in both content and layout.It records more monks.At the same time,it replaces the name biography of famous monks with biography of eminent monks.That means it puts forward the criteria for evaluating people's characters that attach importance to people's inner essence rather than external reputation.Chapter Two.The concepts of character criticism in Biographies of Eminent Monks.During the Wei and Jin Dynasties,Confucianism became less dominant and Buddhism developed.Buddhism is a foreign culture,more and more Chinese people begin to realize that there may be a "truth" outside China.They begin to accept the ideas and concepts brought by Buddhism,then they get a new understanding of the value of life,some of them are willing to devote their lives to the practice of Buddhism and devote themselves to promoting the development of Buddhism.As a Buddhist believer,Huihao regards "Gao"(?,eminent)as the criterion for criticizing monks.In fact,he wants to emphasize the contribution that the monks make to the development of Buddhism.By analyzing the connotation of this criterion gives us a better understanding of the compilation of Biography of the Eminent Monks,and also helps us to interpret the concept of criticizing Buddhist characters in a series of works created by the model of Biographies of Eminent Monks.Criticizing monks by their merits and virtues actually emphasizes the ability of monks to contribute in Buddhism,which is heavily affected by two two kinds of wisdom: Prajna,skillfulness and convenience.Prajna emphasizes the achievement of monks' self-cultivation,while skillfulness and convenience emphasizes the methods and means of transmitting Buddhism.Chapter Three.Aesthetic conceptions in Biographies of Eminent Monks.The translation of Buddhist Sutras in Wei and Jin Dynasties uses many Taoist terms.In the system of Prajna Sutra,the word"nature"(??)is often used instead of"emptiness"(?),which enriches the connotation of the word"nature"(??)in Chinese language.Buddhism advocates viewing emptiness with Prajna wisdom,in this,viewing nature with Prajna wisdom and naturally becoming the aesthetic object of human beings.In the appreciation of nature,the original and uncut state of nature is also accepted by people.It is also recorded in the chapter of"Practicing Zen"(??)that eminent monks acquire divine powers by practicing Zen in natural environment.These divine powers are included in the divine powers of"Mysteries"(??),which means that some divine powers can be acquired by practicing Zen.The worship of nature by the eminent monks with supernatural abilities is likely to affect their aesthetic appreciation,especially the unabashed appreciation of people's true and natural manner and temperament.This can also explain why nearly half of the monks recorded in the subject of"Mysteries"appear as ugly,untidy,strange words and deeds,and disobedience of discipline,which is quite different from the solemn and beautiful images of monks in other chapters.In essence,who conforms to human nature is a manifestation of the"natural"state.Chapter Four.Literary and artistic creation concepts in Biographies of Eminent Monks.The important purpose of Buddhist literary and artistic creation is to carry forward Buddhist Dharma and standardize all living beings.The thoughts of Buddhism is difficult to understand,which requires Buddhist monks to be"skillful and convenient"in the process of teaching Buddhism,and take effective measures according to the needs of the audience.Buddhist literary and artistic works in common use are handed down in a skillful and convenient way in literary and artistic creation,which is reflected in the emphasis on readers(recipients).The author conveys Buddhist Dharma to readers(recipients)through literary and artistic works,implying that in the creative activities of Buddhist literary and artistic works,the author is more clever than the reader.Because Buddhism is profound and unspeakable,in the context of Buddhism,"meaning"(?)can never be expressed and exhausted in any way,and it is impossible for words to reach Buddhism's meaning naturally.The use of words is very flexible because of the requirement of skillfulness and convenience.Therefore,the relationship between words(?)and meanings(?)in Biographies of Eminent Monks is often diversified.Skillfulness and convenience also determine Buddhism's tolerant attitude towards the adaptation of classics for the sake of promoting Buddhism.At the same time,Buddhism encourages the interpretation of classics in other artistic forms,such as Sanskrit singing and stage lecturing recorded in the two disciplines of"Sutra Master"(??)and"Singing Director"(??).These two forms often express sad feelings in performance,in order to arouse the emotional resonance of the audience,and embody Buddhist Dharma in emotional rendering.Chapter Five.The concepts of life in Biographies of the Eminent Monks.Buddhist monks accept Buddhism's views on the world and life.They practice these outlooks on life through practical actions,which are different from those advocated by traditional Chinese culture.The way of life influenced by these ideas is different from the secular life and shows the artistic characteristics of life.Buddhist six kind of samsara(????)holds the idea that spirit is immortal after death and can exist in another form of life(ghosts,gods,animals,etc.),which provides a new interpretation of the concept of life and death for Chinese people.As life rotates in the six samsara,the identity of human beings and other forms of life is interchangeable.Even the Buddhas who have already jumped out of the six samsara have appeared in other forms of life.On this level,human beings and Buddhas,as well as other sentient beings,are equal.Becoming a monk means a complete deviation from the secular world,abandoning the status of sons and ministers,and failing to fulfill the obligations of the secular requirements of sons and ministers.It can be interpreted as a kind of Patricide and anti-authority behavior with the meaning of behavioral art.In this kind of struggle,the eminent monks gained spiritual freedom,after which they could establish a new kind of non-utilitarian and deeply connected social relationship.The awareness of life and death brought about by the view of samsara alleviates people's fear of death to a certain extent,and even the description of beautifying death appears in Biographies of Eminent Monks.With the alleviation of anxiety about death,the attitude of monks towards life has changed,and they are more keen to link the meaning of life with the understanding and dissemination of Buddhism.The status of"monks"and Buddhist precepts can protect the monks from the interference of secular society and obligations.Under the protection,the monks can pay more attention to self-recognition,self-recognition and self-fulfillment.