Title

“When Guilt is Found Anywhere, Let It Rest on Me”: Concern for the Homeland in Southern Dynasties Repentance Dharma

Author

Chi Chih-chang

Genre

Article

Pages

31-72

Download

PDF

Language

Chinese

Key words

Southern Dynasties, repentance ritual, repentance texts, Bodhisattva practice, interactions between Confucianism and Buddhism, homeland consciousness

Abstract

　　The popularization of repentance ritual thought was a major feature in the development of Buddhism in China. During the Southern Dynasties, repentance ritual was combined with the religious activities of emperors and scholars for the purpose of providing social relief, and it became a means of propagating the dharma from knowledgeable aristocrats to commoners.

This study examines repentance ritual from the perspective of a concern for the homeland. It pays close attention to the cultural contexts of repentance ritual that were popular in medieval times, including the religious intentions involved in repentance ritual. In terms of research method, this study focuses its investigation on repentance texts and the sutras on which they were based. It finds that these texts reveal a compassion that was arrived at through the perception of suffering, and also an intention to achieve purification through prayer. The most typical examples involve expressions of political commitment to “regulate families and govern states,” to rescue all living creatures through the purification of the six senses, and to practice repentance dharma to stimulate the common field of “individual-family-country.” The consciousness of family and country in repentance texts presents proof that “Bodhisattva practice” is featured in both Confucianism and Buddhism.