Fazang is one of the leading intellectual and religious figures of medieval China; the Buddhist monk is credited with the de facto founding of the Huayan school, reputedly the most philosophical tradition of Chinese Buddhism. Its abstruse insight into the interpenetration of the existing world, phenomenal or noumenal, and its elaborate explanation have been its main hallmark for centuries in East Asia, and have attracted a great deal of attention from the West. It is little wonder that scholarly publications on this tradition have focused on discovering various aspects of this unfathomable world view, overshadowing the exploration of the historical background which is in fact wedded to the development of Huayan ideas. Chen Jinhua's new book attempts to remedy this situation, and not only does it explore several aspects of Fazang's life which were previously unexplored, but it also challenges many old concepts suggested by historical sources.
The conventional view of Fazang is well stated by Ming-wood Liu in his PhD thesis (“The teaching of Fa-tsang: an examination of Buddhist metaphysics”, University of California, 1974), which includes the most detailed treatment of Fazang's biography prior to the book under review. “The image we have of him is that of a highly intelligent and erudite monk, who spent most of his life diligently translating and commenting on religious texts, as well as composing original treatises of his own. Like most famous Buddhist masters of his time, he apparently saw little contradiction between the other-worldly ideal of Buddhism and the wealth and prestige associated with mundane existence; and even though there was no indication that he had ever actively gone out to court favour, he obviously had no objection to the attention and the honor that were showered on him most of his life, and would willingly offer his service to rulers if called upon to do so.” (Lui, pp. 11–12).
Chen Jinhua reads the same biographies of the Huayan monk yet he has a more sophisticated and complex, sometimes even astonishing image of him: “He was a brilliant man who assumed an enormous variety of roles that were open to religious men and women in medieval China: philosopher, translator, mystic, showman, inventor and promoter of technology, practitioner (at some level) of body cultivation and Daoist flavoured rituals, and, importantly, an intense reader of Confucian texts who could integrate those Chinese traditions into his Buddhist-dominated discourses. On a more intimate level, he was a loving son and a caring brother who spent much energy taking care of his parents in illness and shrewdly used his secular power to promote the interests of his family.” (p. 327).
In order to reconstruct a genuine picture of Fazang, Chen has taken great care to retrieve reliable historical materials from available sources and to place the data in the context of East Asian history and Buddhism. In so doing he translates a great many historical sources which will be appreciated by those who are interested in original documents. Some scholars doubt that Buddhist biographical works provide any reliable historical information on monks, as they depict religious ideals rather than real humans. However, Chen certainly believes that using critical methods on the text itself, and the data transmitted by text, can or could lead to knowledge about historical figures. He finds, or at least suspects, hidden links with other historical events, leading political or Buddhist figures, even if sources do not directly indicate such a relationship. He very clearly shows how strong a connection among Chinese, Japanese and Korean Buddhism existed during the Tang dynasty. He investigates not only what is stated in the biographies, but also what is missing or omitted from the text, and the reason for omission. For example, Chen calls into question the fact that Fazang received full ordination, as earlier sources do not mention this ritual, and do not provide the number of years he was a monk, which is usually recorded in biographies. He points out that his disciples and followers might have felt ashamed about the lack of this important ritual in the Buddhist career of their prestigious master. This pious feeling finally resulted in interpolating the event of his full ordination in later sources.
The title of the book suggests that Fazang's philosophy will also be discussed, but Chen is more interested in deciding, based primarily on historical sources, whether the Treatise on Golden Lion and the construction of the mirror hall can actually be related to Empress Wu. With regard to his religious practice, we might expect a study of Huayan Buddhism, for example ocean reflecting samādhi, but instead we learn that Fazang was an esoteric practitioner who prayed and staged esoteric rituals for rain, snow and the victory of the imperial army over the Khitan rebels. He applied Daoist ritual while throwing the dhārani text into the water, and he was searching for other Daoist practices. Last but not least, he was an adroit magic showman who staged destroying his liver in order to raise funds. This is a very new and astonishing insight into the religious practice of Fazang, but the author's intention clearly was to emphasize that Fazang's charisma and esoteric knowledge played an essential role in his becoming an important figure in the political life of his days, exerting influence on Empress Wu and the court.
Chen's book is an important contribution to the study of Chinese Buddhist historiography and Huayan studies in particular. Its strength lies in the material Chen has gathered together and the method he has applied, which could inspire other scholars to read their sources more carefully and to look for further links. At the same time we have to bear in mind that Fazang wrote several works that also have to be studied if we are to understand his philosophy and religious practice, as writing a commentary to a sūtra, the speech of Buddha itself can and must be regarded as a religious practice.
