Who is This I? Who is That Other?: The Poetry of an Eighteenth Century Buddhist Laywoman

WHO IS THIS I? WHO IS THAT OTHER? THE POETRY OF AN EIGHTEENTH CENTURY BUDDHIST LAYWOMAN Beata Grant One of the more exciting developments in the field of pre-modern Chinese studies has been the growing attention being paid to women's literary culture during the Ming-Qing period.1 The astounding number of anthologies and collections of women's poetry from this period—over three thousand—is attributable to the dramatic rise of female literacy, the widespread development of printing, and a growing concern, after centuries of benign neglect, for the preservation of women's poetry.2 Needless to say, this women's poetry represents a rich source—as yet largely untapped—of information and insight into the literary, emotional, and intellectual worlds of educated Chinese women of the Ming-Qing period. In this particular essay, I will be looking and listening closely for the voice behind the poems of an eighteenth-century Buddhist laywoman by the name of Tao Shan (1756-1780). For this voice, refracted as it is, can tell us some things about the personal spiritual journey of a single eighteenth-century Chinese woman of the gentry class, and the religious and literary world in which she lived. First, a brief history of the poems themselves: as far as we know, the first appearance of a selection of Tao Shan's early poems was in Wang Qishu's anthology of women's verse entitled Xiefang ji (The Gathering Fragrance Collection ) published in 1773.3 Then, in 1783, the uncle of Tao Shan's husband, the famous Qing dynasty Buddhist layman Peng Shaosheng (1740-1796), selected over ninety of her poems and had them printed and circulated. This 1TlIe many fascinating papers presented by scholars such as Charlotte Fürth, Dorothy Ko, Kang-i Sun Chang, Ellen Widmer, Susan Mann, and Maureen Robertson, at the recent conference, "Women and Literature in Ming-Qing China" held at Yale University (June 22-26, 1993) are just one example of not only the interest, but the quality of work being done in this area. 2See Kang-i Sun Chang, "Ming-Qing Anthologies of Women's Poetry," The Gest Library Journal 5.2 (1992), 119-60. 3See Hu Wenkai, Lidai funü zhuzhao kao (Shanghai, 1957, reprinted 1985), 610. For a description of the Xiefang ji, an incomplete copy of which can be found in the National Diet Library of Japan, see page 913 of this same book. (My thanks to the anonymous reader of this article for the information regarding the location of this text.) Late Imperial China Vol. 15, No. 1 (June 1994): 47-86 47 48Beata Grant collection, entitled Qionglou yin'gao (A Draft of Qionglou's Chants) was arranged chronologically and included a preface by Peng Shaosheng as well as a short biographical account by Tao Shan's husband, Peng Xiluo. In 1831, a selection of Tao Shan's poems was included in a well-known anthology of women poets entitled Guochao guixiu zhengshi ji (Collected Women's Poetry of Our Dynasty: Corrected Beginnings), compiled by the woman poet Wanyan Yunzhu.4 Then, in 1871, nearly a century later, the original Qionglou yin'gao collection was reprinted and apparently widely circulated in the Jiangsu area. It would appear that during this time there was also a revival of interest in Tao Shan's poetry on the part of Pure Land devotees. There is, for example, an 1877 text by Zhiguan entitled Xiuxi wenjian Iu (Chronicle of Things Seen and Heard Concerning the Spiritual Cultivation of the Western [Paradise]).5 This text is basically a collection of accounts of the travels of Buddhist Master Yuchi and his encounters with various disciples and devotees in the Jiangnan area between 1864 and 1877. Here we find mention of a collection of religious verse compiled by Master Yuchi entitled Wumen sizhong dizi jingtu shi (Pure Land Poetry from the Wu Region by the Four Classes of Devotees). This collection included the poetry of two mid-nineteenth century figures from the Suzhou area, the monk Master Chengjie and the nun Lianghai , and two mid-eighteenth century figures, the layman Peng Shaosheng and the laywoman Tao Shan.6 Finally, an abridged version ofthe Qionglou...