EACS-2016. Book of Abstracts

Section 10 21st Biennial Conference of the European Association for Chinese Studies 107 De Reu Wim (National Taiwan University) Tools, Standards and Knowledge in the Jingfa Chapters and Other Early Chinese Texts Key words: Jingfa, tools, standards, knowledge, reality This paper examines the epistemic function of tools and standards in early Chinese philosophy. My approach is to focus on one set of texts and to draw on other writings for further discussion. I select the Jingfa chapters excavated at Mawangdui—chapters sometimes referred to as the first part of the Huangdi sijing—as a basic set of texts. These chapters present detailed advice on rulership. One of their major con- cerns is to gain an accurate understanding of reality as a basis for action. It is against this background that references to tools and standards need to be read. In analyzing the Jingfa chapters, I will address the role of tools in yielding knowledge, outline related views on reality, and discuss the demands put on the ruler who employs tools and standards. In doing so, I will pay particular attention to the terminology and imagery used to frame these issues. Subsequently, I will trace some of the relevant terms and images in other War- ring States and early imperial texts. Dessein Bart (Ghent University) ‘Geyi’ Buddhism, or ‘Geyi’ Confucianism? Key words: Buddhism, Confucianism, Daoism, Abhidharma, geyi Geyi, commonly translated as ‘matching meanings,’ has become known as the technique to explain Buddhist concepts through especially Daoist and, to a lesser extent, also Confucian concepts and terms. As argued by Victor Mair (“What is Geyi, After All?” China Report, 2012, pp.29–59), there are a few problems with this definition. One is that there is no possible meaning of the term ge is equivalent with ‘matching’. As ge most probably has to be interpreted as ‘categorizing,’ the geyi technique is likely to be connected with the translation of Abhidharma works into Chinese —Abhidharma works being characterized by lists of categories of elements. This brings us to a second issue: it is well-known that the earliest translations of Abhidharma texts were done in the 2nd century CE by An Shigao (fl. 148–168), i.e. well before the Wei- Jin era in which the geyi technique — rendering Buddhist terms with equivalent concepts from an original Chinese philosophical tradition — is supposed to have been used. These two issues necessitate a new look on so-called ‘geyi Buddhism’. In this paper, I will argue that it might be more appropriate to speak of ‘geyi Confucianism’ than of ‘geyi Buddhism’. ‘Geyi Confucianism’ would then be the Confucianism of those Confucians of the Wei-Jin period who, confronted with a growing popularity of Daoism and Buddhism, reinterpreted the Confucian doctrine in the new politico-philosophical context of the era. I will argue that it precisely is the fusing of Confucian, Daoist and Buddhist concepts and references that characterizes the qingtan movement that enabled the development of daoxue (Neo- Confucianism) in the Sui dynasty and later, and that the geyi technique that was readily at hand once it was refuted by the Abhidharmists, was used for this aim. I will build my argument on passages from Fei Changfang’s 費長房 , Lidai sanbao ji 歷代三寶記 (T. 2034), Huijiao’s 慧皎 , Gao seng zhuan 高僧傳 (T. 2059), and Sengyou’s 僧祐 Chu sanzang ji ji 出 三藏記集 (T. 2145). HammMatthew (Harvard University) The Distance of Heaven: An Analysis of the GuodianWu Xing Key words: Guodian, Wu Xing, self-cultivation, virtue, goodness This paper presents a close analysis of the Guodian Wu Xing 五行 “The Five Conducts.” It argues that the text is best read as two separate but related essays that reflect the work’s basic division of “goodness” shan 善 (the harmony of four of the eponymous conducts) and “virtue” de 德 (the harmony of all five con- ducts). These two sections are structurally similar but focus on different conducts and themes. This paper investigates parallel passages across the text to reveal each section’s basic concerns.