The Impact of Zen Buddhism on Poetry in the Sung Dynasty

• Main Authors: Tan-Miao Liao, 廖丹妙
• Other Authors: Ru-Nien Shih
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2002
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/33741507406223817818

碩士 === 南華大學 === 文學研究所 === 90 === Zen Buddhism spread widely and had a tremendous impact on poetry in the Sung Dynasty. Intellectuals who enthusiastically practiced Zen Buddhism acted as a bridge between poetry and Zen Buddhism and an active medium to bring the two disciplines together. The interaction between poetry and Zen Buddhism, two very disparate disciplines, had the historical and social backgrounds as its extrinsic catalysts and compatible characteristics as its intrinsic catalysts. On the basis of the compatibility between poetry and Zen Buddhism, poetry in the Sung Dynasty extensively borrowed and adopted theories and methods of Zen Buddhism. Penetrated by Zen Buddhism and consequently assisted by the wide spread of the fashion of assimilating Zen concepts into poetry, theories of poetry in the Sung Dynasty generated new concepts such as unconventional meditation, thorough meditation, ineffable enlightenment, free application of rules, etc. Because poets in the Sung Dynasty extensively applied the Zen theories and methods to the creation of their poetry, there emerged new elements and conceptions in the theories of poetry and new subject matters and artistic achievements in the writing of poetry in the Sung Dynasty. The unrestricted and lively ways of meditation in Zen Buddhism infused new concepts into poetry of the Sung Dynasty which originally only emphasized the idea that poetry should serve as a medium for conveying the philosophy of life. These new concepts help poetry of the Sung Dynasty to achieve aesthetic integrity by such qualities as wittiness, liveliness and others and make it very unique through the history of Chinese poetry. This thesis is divided into seven chapters. The first one is introduction and the last one conclusion. The main body includes three parts: The first part deals with the extrinsic elements which bring poetry and Zen Buddhism together, that is, the cultural and social backgrounds of the Sung Dynasty. This part is further divided into two chapters: Chapter II The Development of Zen Buddhism in the Sung Dynasty and Chapter III The Fashion of Practicing Zen Buddhism among the Intellectuals of the Sung Dynasty. The second part deals with the intrinsic elements which generate the interaction between poetry and Zen Buddhism. Chapter IV The Interaction between Poetry and Zen Buddhism corresponds to this part. It analytically compares the characteristics, theories and methods between poetry and Zen Buddhism. The third part deals with actual examples of the impact of Zen Buddhism on the theories and writing of poetry in the Sung Dynasty. It is discussed in two chapters: Chapter V The Impact of Zen Buddhism on the Theories of Poetry in the Sung Dynasty and Chapter VI The Impact of Zen Buddhism on the Writing of Poetry in the Sung Dynasty.