Poet-Monks: The Invention of Buddhist Poetry in Late Medieval China

Abstract

This book examines how poet monks tried to unify Buddhist and literary practice in the late Tang dynasty (860–960 CE), contradicting a general view of the time as one of artistic decadence. Yet Buddhism was seen by critics of this era as out of place in the literary domain.

Poetry by monks expressing religious sentiments was derided by numerous contemporary readers as being a potential distraction from pious observance.

Extending this disdain, posterity in the form of anthologies and textbooks of classical Chinese poetry have tended to neglect poems by Buddhist monks, while general histories of Tang poetry likewise largely overlook them. Yet Guanxiu and a contemporary writer, Qiji deserve attention today for their prolific efforts to unify their experiences with life and religious faith.

For many generations, the literary flourishes of Qiji and Quanxiu made their fellow Buddhists suspicious of their preoccupation with literature.

At the same time, Chinese literati did not find the effusions of the poet monks to their taste. Indeed, the Classical Prose Movement (gǔwén yùndòng) of the late Tang dynasty and the Song dynasty advocated clarity and precision rather than the florid parallel prose style that had been popular since the Han dynasty.

In this context, poetry readers found justification for rejecting the poet monks for using unrefined language in verse as well as an old-fashioned style.

Guanxiu, Qiji, and other poets failed to dissolve the opposition between literary and Buddhist practice in their works in past centuries, but they are nevertheless worth reading today for the light they shed on poetics and worship in a Buddhist context.