Tracking Bodhidharma: A Journey to the Heart of Chinese Culture

by Andy Ferguson

Overview

The life of Bodhidharma, the founder of Zen Buddhism, has, with the passing of time, been magnified to the scale of myth, turning history into the stuff of legend. Known as the First Patriarch, Bodhidharma brought Zen from South India into China in 500 CE, changing the country forever. In Tracking Bodhidharma, Andrew Ferguson recreates the path of Bodhidharma, traveling through China to the places where the First Patriarch lived and taught. This sacred trail takes Ferguson deep into ancient China, and allows him to explore the origins of Chan [Zen] Buddhism, the cultural aftermath that Bodhidharma left in his wake, and the stories of a man who shaped a civilization.

Tracking Bodhidharma offers a previously unheard perspective on the life of Zen's most important religious leader, while simultaneously showing how that history is relevant to the rapidly developing super-power that is present-day China. By placing Zen Buddhism within the country's political landscape, Ferguson presents the religion as a counterpoint to other Buddhist sects, a catalyst for some of the most revolutionary moments in China's history, and as the ancient spiritual core of a country that is every day becoming more an emblem of the modern era.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781619021594
Publisher:	Catapult
Publication date:	06/11/2013
Pages:	374
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 8.70(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Andy Ferguson is a graduate of the Chinese Language and Literature program at the University of Oregon. He has lived in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Japan, and has traveled extensively in East and Southeast Asia since 1978. He has organized and led numerous tours to visit Chinese Zen history sites. He lives in Petaluma, California.

Table of Contents

Introduction ix

1 An Auspicious Date 3

2 Guangzhou 10

3 Hualin Temple 18

4 The Layout of a Traditional Chinese Temple 31

5 Grand Buddha Temple 38

6 Guangxiao Temple 43

7 Another Visit to Hualin Temple 50

8 Traveling North 55

9 Zen at War 60

10 The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Ancestor 66

11 Nanhua Temple: The Sixth Ancestor Huineng's Dharma Seat 68

12 Yunmen Temple 78

13 Danxia Mountain 86

14 Separate Transmission Temple 89

15 Nanchang City 93

16 Youmin Temple 98

17 The Trip to Baizhang Temple 99

18 Baizhang Temple 105

19 Jiujiang City 131

20 Up or Down the Yang-tse River? 135

21 Meeting Gunabhadra? 137

22 Laozu Si, the Old Ancestor's Temple 148

23 Nanjing City 163

24 Emperor Wu and Imperial-Way Buddhism 166

25 Tianchang City and Bodhidharma's True Victory Temple 172

26 Linggu Temple on Bell Mountain 180

27 Emperor Wu, the Chakravartin King and Bodhisattva Emperor 182

28 Emperor Wu and His Family 189

29 Emperor Wu and the Temples of Bell Mountain 192

30 Mufu Mountains and Bodhidharma's Nanjing Cave 201

31 The Fusing of Confucianism and Buddhism under Emperor Wu 208

32 The Tai Cheng Palace and Hualin Garden 211

33 The Poem by Crown Prince Zhao Ming (Xiao Tong) 216

34 Stone Fortress and Refreshing Mountain 220

35 Dingshan Temple 227

36 Changlu Temple 239

37 Train to Wuhan 247

38 Xiangfan City 258

39 Mount Song and Shaolin Temple 262

40 Shaolin Temple 265

41 Bodhidharma's Cave 279

42 Huishan Temple 283

43 Ordination Platforms: The Battle Ground between Imperial and Bodhidharma Zen? 293

44 The Temples of Luoyang 299

45 Empty Appearance Temple 309

46 Bodhidharma's Memorial Stele: Written by Emperor Wu? 312

47 Bodhidharma Memorial Ceremony 328

48 Train to Shanghai 330

49 Bodhidharma's Fate 340

50 Epilogue 346

51 Was Japan to Blame? 353

Appendix: Traditional Account of Bodhidharma's Death in the Compendium of Five Lamps (thirteenth century) 357