Revisiting Impurity in Republican China: An Evaluation of the Modern Rediscovery of Bujing guan 不淨觀
Ester Bianchi
Religions October 19, 2021 DOI: 10.3390/rel12100903 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Historical analysis Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Citations | 3 |
| Key points | Argues that Republican-era Chinese Buddhists revived the 'visualization of the impure' (bujing guan) through a modern, text-based approach to canonical scriptures, and that the practice was favored partly because it was common to both Hīnayāna/Śrāvakayāna and Mahāyāna. Masters from Modernist, Yogācāra, Tiantai, and tantric backgrounds produced articles and guides on the practice, particularly the contemplation of one's own body as a putrefying corpse and skeleton. |
Abstract
During the era of the Republic of China, a number of Buddhists rediscovered early meditation techniques. These practices were mainly revived from canonical scriptures, following a modern text-based approach to Buddhism. Within this framework, specific attention was devoted to the ‘visualization of the impure’ (bujing guan 不淨觀, Sk. aśubhabhāvanā), particularly in the form of the visualization of one’s own body transforming into a putrefying corpse and skeleton. Masters with various backgrounds (Modernist Buddhists, Yogācāra scholars, Tiantai 天台 and tantric masters) wrote articles and guides on this practice, which had the advantage of being common to both Hīnayāna/Śrāvakayāna and Mahāyāna. This study considers a selection of modern texts on bujing guan in an attempt to uncover why the meditation on impurity was favored and how it was revived.