Literati or Monks? Jokes about Buddhist Monks’ Literary Identities in Northern Song Biji
- UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
- Xiao Rao, Assistant Professor (Creator)
- Institution
- The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
- Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/
Abstract: [English abstract] This article sheds new light on the Song literati perception of Buddhist identity through the jokes on Buddhist vegetarianism that are preserved in the biji (miscellaneous jottings), an idiosyncratic genre that became popular during the Song dynasty. I first discuss how mockery was used by literati to problematize Buddhist monks’ ever deepening engagement in secular endeavors by playfully linking precept-breaking carnivorism to monks’ poetry writing. Due to the intrinsic ambiguity between enmity and friendship in playfulness, I next demonstrate how playfulness was used as a reconciliatory force in the controversies over Buddhist precepts and practice.
Literati or Monks? Jokes about Buddhist Monks’ Literary Identities in Northern Song Biji
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Created on 7/12/2022
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Additional Information
- Publication
- Identity and Networks: Collected Conference Proceedings of the Fourth International Symposium at Mt. Wutai, edited by Shi Miaojiang, 330-337. Taipei: Xinwenfeng, 2019.
- Language: Chinese
- Date: 2019
- Keywords
- biji, Song dynasty, Buddhist identity, humor