Journal of East Asian Cultures

Exploring Saraha’s Dohākośa

Dávid Jónás — Mon, 01 Jul 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Dávid Jónás' review of the volume Saraha’s Spontaneous Songs: With the Commentaries by Advayavajra and Mokṣākaragupta. (Studies in Indian and Tibetan Buddhism.) by Klaus-Dieter Mathes and Péter-Dániel Szántó.

Chronicle [2023]

The Editors — Mon, 01 Jul 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Chronicle of events in 2023.

The cross-border perception of Bayising (Pansheng 板升) among government officials in Ming China

Yu-lung Tseng — Mon, 01 Jul 2024 00:00:00 +0000

The Mongol Yuan dynasty in China officially came to an end in 1368 with the withdrawal of the Mongols from the capital city Daidu (Beijing) and their retreat to the steppes. Nevertheless, a protracted series of military campaigns and conflicts between the Ming court and the Eastern Mongols, Oirat Mongols, and various other Mongol tribes continued for about 200 years. This article examines the discourse surrounding Bayising, where a group of Chinese people settled on Mongolian territory and served the Mongols during the mid-16^th and early-17^th centuries. The primary population of Bayising consisted of Chinese individuals who had either fled from China or were captives taken by the Mongols from China in border raids. Bayising embodies a unique interaction between China and nomadic communities in a transitional zone between the steppe and agricultural land, where conventional trading and tribute systems encountered difficulties in establishment. After the signing of the 1571 peace treaty, Bayising gradually receded from the focus of the Ming court. Through an analysis of historical documents and records, this article unveils the perspectives held by Ming officials regarding Bayising. Additionally, it probes into how these perspectives influenced Ming China’s foreign relations and national security policies concerning the Mongols. The emergence of Bayising was rooted in a distinctive historical context. Moreover, Bayising played an important role not only in shaping Sino-Mongol relations but also in facilitating cooperation between nomadic and agricultural communities in the absence of official trade channels. Neither repatriation nor military intervention proved to offer fundamental solutions to the Bayising issue in the ongoing confrontation between the Mongols and the Ming court. However, the establishment of normalised and stabilised trade, facilitated by a mutually beneficial peace treaty, emerged as a definitive solution that ultimately benefited both parties. This intricate interplay between geopolitical dynamics and cultural exchanges underscores the complexity of historical narratives, emphasizing the enduring impact of the Ming officials’ perception of the Mongols on regional stability and economic prosperity.

Some Cases of Official Corruption in the Yuan dynasty Based on Chinese Sources

Tatiana Frank — Mon, 01 Jul 2024 00:00:00 +0000

During the reign of the Yuan dynasty (1279–1368) in China, corruption played a significant role and had a serious impact on the stability of government and social life of the conquered. Corruption was widespread at all levels of administration, including among senior officials, high-ranking officials, and local authorities. This included both Mongol rulers and representatives of the semu, who were the core elements of the officialdom. Corruption exacerbated poverty among ordinary people, as funds allocated for public needs were often redirected to benefit corrupt officials, eroding public trust in the government and the legitimacy of authority. Such a phenomenon heightened anti-government sentiment and served as the main catalyst for social unrest and uprisings. Moreover, corruption resulted in the appointment and promotion of officials not based on their qualifications but rather on personal connections and bribes. This diminished the efficiency of governance, as it did not always ensure that the most qualified individuals occupied key positions. This article offers insight into the phenomenon of corruption during the Yuan dynasty. The author explores the unprecedented level of corruption among officials and its impact on the living conditions of ordinary people in China. The article delves into a considerable number of instances of high-ranking officials’ malpractice taken from primary materials, providing a detailed analysis. This approach allows readers to gain an understanding of the social situation during Mongol rule in China and the role that corruption played in the overthrow of the Yuan dynasty. Social crisis was mostly caused by the employment of dishonest officials and the absence of the representative of the Chinese literati at the officialdom. It is worth mentioning that Kublai Khan (r. 1260–1294) managed to unite the vast expanses of China due to the assistance of Confucian scholars who served him as valuable allies in propagating Chinese values, traditions, as well vital elements of the civil administration.

Foreign trade and domestic networks — A few remarks on the organisation of tributary embassies to China in the Muromachi period

Csaba Oláh — Mon, 01 Jul 2024 00:00:00 +0000

The aim of this article is to rethink the connection between foreign trade and domestic economy in late medieval Japan.The article takes a look at the financial side of the tributary missions to Ming China, investigating how commodities for tribute and for trade were organised. In the 1970s, Sasaki Gin’ya was the first to criticise that research on foreign trade and research on the domestic economy were being conducted separately. He emphasised the importance of complex interdisciplinary research in order to reveal the connection between foreign trade and the domestic economy. Even though this issue had been previously raised, no research had been conducted with the explicit purpose of connecting foreign trade and the domestic economy during the Muromachi period until the past two decades. Contributions that have been made in recent years have aimed at revealing the connections between domestic commercial or religious networks with foreign relations, mainly focusing on the role of Zen monks in diplomacy and trade and on the import and distribution of commodities from China. In Western scholarship, this topic is still under-researched and provides potential for further investigations.

Thus, the paper tries to provide an inventory of case studies that help us imagine and understand what kinds of connections existed between domestic networks and foreign trade in medieval Japan that made the procuring of tribute items and commercial products for official trade in China possible. Being aware of networks in medieval society, such as the religious network—and also closely connected to that the commercial network—of Honganji or Tenryūji, can help us connect the scattered and loose information in the sources, in order to explain what contributed to the development of foreign trade. The paper argues that despite the weakening of shogunal power, tributary trade continued because the structure of ship management transformed. Tribute ships became part of commercial ventures backed by the flourishing late medieval Japanese economy, and the increase of capital led to an increase in investors who were ready to participate in trade with China. The way that products were procured shows different patterns that provide good examples to help us understand how local commercial, social, and religious networks were utilised for procuring Japanese commodities.

Perceptions of Japan in Hungarian Turanism

Mária Ildikó Farkas — Mon, 01 Jul 2024 00:00:00 +0000

The lively Hungarian interest in Asian cultures and Japan before 1945 had several motifs, one of them being the idea of Turanism, which was formed around the ethnic, linguistic, and cultural relation of the Turanian (Ural-Altaic) peoples (including Hungarians) in the late 19^th century and affected public thinking until 1945 in Hungary. The secondary literature on Turanism seems to have increased in volume in the past decades with a notable emphasis on Hungarian Turanism, and some new research has examined the issue of Japanese Turanism, making a connection with Hungarian Turanism as well. As Hungarian Turanism is regarded as a significant promoter and mediator of Turanism to other regions, too, it is important to analyse the manifold nature of this phenomenon with comprehensive approaches.

The paper focuses on the Hungarian background of the Japan-related Turanist ideas with a multifaceted examination and interpretation of Hungarian Turanism based on original research of the contemporary sources (including publications, archival documents of Turanist and Japan-related associations, newspaper articles, and reports on Japan-related events) and the available secondary literature. The paper also aims to examine what perceptions of Japan appeared in the ideas of Turanism, to present why and how Japan was attributed a special significance in Hungarian Turanism, and to analyse the origin, meaning, and the contemporary importance of this outstanding role. In the course of research, new aspects have arisen for examination: the perceptions impacted by the Japanese development of the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries and by the notion of the situation of Japan ‘between East and West’ as similar to that of Hungary; the debate on modernisation; the isolation of Hungary after the World War I; and the cultural achievements of Hungarian Turanism. Examining the complexity of the Hungarian historical, cultural, and political context of the early 20^th century in connection to the perceptions of the East of that time in Hungary may provide a more complex interpretation and deeper understanding of the formation of Turanist ideas.

Preliminary Notes on the Mahāmudrātilaka: Contents, History, Transmission

Péter-Dániel Szántó — Mon, 01 Jul 2024 00:00:00 +0000

This short essay is an introduction to the study of the Mahāmudrātilaka (‘An Ornament of the Great Seal’), an important Buddhist tantric scripture of the Hevajra cycle. The text is a so-called uttaratantra (ancillary scripture) of the Hevajratantra. This cult emerged around ca. 900 CE in Eastern India and quickly rose to a position of prominence. In order to illustrate this point, first I discuss some historical references to the Hevajra cult: a lexicographical work, inscriptions, and testimony in Śaiva exegesis. I then contextualise the Mahāmudrātilaka among the Hevajra ancillary scriptures and share some notes on the purpose of such texts. I argue that such scriptures were meant to update a cult’s ritual and doctrinal palette in order to keep up with developments seen (and thought desirable to have) in rival schools. In the next section, I present the only known Sanskrit manuscript of the Mahāmudrātilaka, Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, Preußischer Kulturbesitz Orientabteilung Hs. or. 8711, a late Nepalese copy dated 1827 CE, which can be shown to be a copy of a Vorlage dating to 1204 CE. Next, I compare the text transmitted therein to the Tibetan translation, Tōh. 420, and identify them as two recensions. I then proceed to discussing exegesis on the Mahāmudrātilaka, the works of *Gambhīravajra and *Prajñāśrīgupta; these texts are for now available only in their Tibetan translation. I also identify some testimonia of the Mahāmudrātilaka. Using all this evidence, I argue that the text cannot be much earlier than the late 11^th century. Next, I present an overview of the text by means of examining selected passages and their most significant features, with special focus on the differences and similarities with the Hevajratantra, the internal references to other scriptures, and the text’s significant parallels with the Vajramālābhidhāna. I argue that the text is unapologetically antinomian and gnostic. In the second half of the paper, styled as an appendix, I select five blocks of verses, which I edit and translate: the first deals with the relationship between initiating master and disciple, the second provides some insights into the attitudes of tantric practitioners towards orthodox Buddhists, the third contains detailed instructions on how to gather the antinomian substances known as ‘nectars’, the fourth deals with communal worship in a rite known as the gaṇacakra, and the final one describes a somewhat rare and rather gruesome ritual meant to bestow the power of flight.

Different Religion, Same Meditation?

Gábor Péter Boros — Mon, 01 Jul 2024 00:00:00 +0000

The practice of meditation has become popular in Western countries during the last decades as an Eastern, and predominantly Buddhist, exercise. However, when properly compared, Christian contemplation and Buddhist meditation show numerous similarities. This paper sets out to determine the extent of comparability between these practices of the two traditions and how they are embedded in their respective theoretical frameworks. Additionally, as a further step, it aims to demonstrate how contemplative practice can act as a basis for Buddhist–Christian dialogue. The research centres around the works of two eminent monks of the 20^thcentury, the American Trappist Thomas Merton and the Vietnamese Thiền master Thích Nhất Hạnh. Their work provides an ideal target of analysis, since both were not only widely appreciated members of their respective traditions but also deeply engaged in interreligious dialogue, and thus they had a proper understanding of each other’s tradition. In this paper, the author will first analyse and compare the works of Nhất Hạnh and Merton written on contemplation during approximately the same time to determine what exactly they understand by the terms ‘meditation’ and ‘contemplative prayer’, respectively. Then, their works regarding the other monk’s respective religious tradition will be discussed and compared to see what the two authors select as main avenues of comparison. The main conclusions of the article are that the concepts of meditation and contemplation in Buddhism and Christianity denote strikingly similar exercises, which aim to achieve similar goals despite differences in theoretical formulation. For Merton, Christian contemplation aims to reconnect the believer to God with whom the initial unity was lost through the Fall of Man and the establishment of the ego-self as an entity separate from God. Such contemplation needs to happen in interior solitude and involve a complete self-emptying of the believer to become one with God. Since separation from God through the ego is the fundamental problem of humans, reconnecting to God through contemplation is seen as the highest form of prayer and, indeed, life. In a similar vein, for Nhất Hạnh, the fundamental problem of humanity is the misconception of a permanent self, which results in dividing the world into different, separate entities. Thus, for him, similarly to Merton, the goal is to reach a supreme unity beyond distinctions and duality. Moreover, the way to such unity is precisely meditation, which can best unify body and mind and thus bring forth Buddhahood. Then, as the second step, the article presents how Merton and Nhất Hạnh draw parallels between Christianity and Buddhism on the basis of similar contemplation. Merton points to, among others, the connection between God and the absolute Void of Zen, kenosis and śūnyatā, whereas Nhất Hạnh points to similarities between nirvāṇa and the Kingdom of God as well as mindfulness and the Holy Spirit. Thus, the paper provides a thorough analysis of the similarities of meditation practice in Christianity and Buddhism, as practiced by Thomas Merton and Thích Nhất Hạnh, and how these similarities can provide a basis for dialogue between the two religions in modern times.