Local Resistance in Early Medieval Chinese Historiography and the Problem of Religious Overinterpretation

Official Chinese historiography is a treasure trove of information on local resistance to the centralised empire in early medieval China (third to sixth century). Sinologists specialised in the study of Chinese religions commonly reconstruct the religious history of the era by interpreting some of these data. In the process, however, the primary purpose of the historiography of local resistance is often overlooked, and historical interpretation easily becomes ‘overinterpretation’—that is, ‘fabricating false intensity’ and ‘seeing intensity everywhere’, as French historian Paul Veyne proposed to define the term. Focusing on a cluster of historical anecdotes collected in the standard histories of the four centuries under consideration, this study discusses the supposedly ‘religious’ nature of some of the data they contain

The Vijñaptimātratā Buddhism of the Chinese monk Kʻuei-chi (A.D. 632-682)

The dissertation seeks to determine the main features of the Buddhist thought of K'uei-chi, First Patriarch of the Fa-hsiang School of East Asian Buddhism, and to further establish his position as a key figure in the transmission of Indian philosophical traditions into China. In addition it provides a translation of an original essay written by K'uei-chi on Vijnaptimatrata. (Mere Conceptualization) the fundamental philosophic principle of the School of Yogacara Buddhism to which he was heir. There are two parts to the dissertation: Part One comprising Chapts. I-III and Part Two comprising Chapts. IV and V. In Part One, the first chapter summarizes the biographical data available on K'uei-chi's life, discussing in particular his role as translator and exegete, and also the relationship between these activities and his personal religious life. Chapt. II discusses K'uei-chi's written works, pointing out a number of features that indicate his special interests. It includes a detailed and annotated analysis of all his surviving works. Chapt. Ill presents a survey of the main doctrines of the Vijnaptimatrata Yogacara school of Asafiga and Vasubandhu. As one branch of Mahayana Buddhism, the. school is shown to be best understood as a systematic soteriology characterized by an emphasis on the epistemic rather than the ontologic analysis of the constituents of experience (dhamas). This chapter concludes with a discussion of K'uei-chi's significance as a major figure in the development of Buddhist thought in East Asia. He is presented as a syncretist who sought to organize a manifold and complex tradition in a manner that would allow its transmission into a very different cultural context. Part Two consists of a translation of one essay from K'uei-chi's voluminous doctrinal compendium, the Forest of Doctrines in the Garden of the Dharma of Mahayana Buddhism (Ta-sheng fa-yuan i-lin ohang). Chapt. IV provides an introduction to the work, outlining the commentaries used, both contemporary and modern, and discussing the methodological problems confronted in translating the text. Chapter V is the translation itself: K'uei-chi's "Essay on Vijnaptimatrata" (Wei-shih chang) in ten sections. It includes extensive annotation indicating the sources of the ideas K'uei-chi discusses and providing supplementary information on the many Buddhist doctrines to which he refers.Arts, Faculty ofAsian Studies, Department ofGraduat