Comprehending Everything as Oneself: The No-Self Doctrine of Zibo Zhenke in Ming Dynasty Buddhism

會萬物為一己:明代佛教的紫柏真可的無我教義
Begin - Einde 
2025 - 2028 (lopend)
Type 
Vakgroep(en) 
Vakgroep Talen en Culturen
Andere instituten 
Department of Buddhist Studies, Dharma Drum Institute of Liberal Arts
Onderzoeksgebied 
Tijdsperiode 
Land/Regio 
Taal 
Onderzoeksmethode 
Trefwoorden 
Intellectual history
History of ideas
Chinese Buddhism

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Abstract

Scholarship on the no-self (anātman) doctrine in Buddhism has predominantly focused on the Indian context, often overlooking significant variations within the history of Chinese Buddhism. This may due to scholars’ partial view that the “self” doctrine, the ātmavāda, is central to Chinese Buddhist thought, such as tathāgatagarbha/Buddha-nature thought, rather than the concept of “no-self.” However, a more historically informed and philosophically sophisticated examination reveals that concept of “no-self” persists in Chinese Buddhism, albeit with distinct interpretations. While sharing the terminology no-self (skt. anātman; Ch. wuwo 無我) in Chinese translations, the Chinese approach departs significantly from the primarily ontological emphasis of Indian Buddhism, exhibiting instead an epistemological orientation. This dissertation investigates the significance, characteristics, evolution, and hermeneutics of the “no-self” doctrine in Ming Dynasty Buddhism, focusing on the influential monk Zibo Zhenke (紫柏真可, 1543-1604). Zibo’s understanding of “no-self” is presented as a cognitive model of non-duality between self and other, contrasting with the standard Indian Buddhist definition as the denial of an unchanging, eternal self.

This study argues that one of the key factors for the philosophical transformation of the “no-self” doctrine in Ming Dynasty was the result of Buddhist response to the non-Buddhist criticism coming particularly from the Yangmingists. This study of the “no-self” doctrine expounded by Zibo is primarily an attempt to reveal the complexity of the philosophical and intellectual arena complemented and competed among the “three teachings”, i.e., Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism. Moreover, a thorough and meticulous study no-self doctrine expounded by Zibo, in my view, should contribute to broader and diverse philosophical discussions of the no-self doctrine in Buddhism in general, and in Chinese Buddhism in particular.

關於佛教中「無我」(anātman)教義的學術研究,普遍著重於印度背景,往往忽視了中國佛教歷史中存在的重要變化。這可能源於學者們部分認為「我」的教義(ātmavāda)在中國佛教思想中居於核心,例如如來藏/佛性思想(tathāgatagarbha/Buddha-nature)的,而非以「無我」為主。然而,更具歷史性與哲學深度的考察將會揭示,「無我」的觀念在中國佛教中依然持續存在,雖然以不同的詮釋呈現。儘管漢譯文本中皆使用「無我」這一術語,但中國佛教的「無我」卻在本質上與印度佛教主要側重存有論的面向之間存在差異,而偏向一種認識論傾向。

本論文著重探討明代佛教中「無我」教義的意義、特徵、演變與詮釋,並以具有影響力的禪僧紫柏真可(1543-1604)為主要研究對象。紫柏對「無我」的理解,呈現為一種超越二元對立的認知模型,亦即以「自我與他者」之間在認知上的非二元性作為核心概念,與印度佛教普遍將「無我」定義為無常而否定永恆自我的存有論觀點形成鮮明對比。

本研究主張,明代「無我」觀念的哲學轉變,主要受到了佛教對非佛教批評的回應,尤其是來自陽明學的批評。紫柏闡述之「無我」教義,亦是試圖展現佛教與儒、道三教間在哲學與思想層面的複雜互動——既是補充,也存在競爭關係。此外,對紫柏所闡述之「無我」教義進行深入細緻的研究,預計能為更廣泛、更豐富的哲學討論提供借鏡,不僅有助於理解佛教的「無我」思想,也能促進其在中國佛教中的多元解析。

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Weijen Teng

Department of Buddhist Studies - Dharma Drum Institute of Liberal Arts