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142 Journal of Chinese Religions The Linji Lu and the Creation of Chan Orthodoxy: The Development of Chan’s Records of Sayings Literature ALBERT WELTER. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008. xii, 236 pages. ISBN 978-019 -532957-5. US$65.00, £38.99 hardcover. This book is a significant contribution not only to our understanding of one of the key texts of Chan/Zen Buddhism—the Recorded Sayings of Linji (Linji lu 臨濟錄)—but it also provides important new insights concerning the formation of the Recorded Sayings (yulu 語錄) genre in general. Welter’s approach is based on an extensive knowledge of Japanese and Western secondary sources, a sound philological approach and close reading of relevant primary sources, as well as an ability to place his findings into a meaningful and innovative context. The book is divided into five main chapters, a section with endnotes that provide references and important additional information, an extensive bibliography, and a useful index. The “Introduction” gives an outline of the book project as well as an overview of earlier scholarship on the history of Chan and Chan literary genres in Japan and the West. The Introduction also provides a concise and useful outline of the contents of each chapter. However, a section on pp. 7-8 turns into a “self-advertisement” of the book, listing all its contributions to the field as well as the recommended readership. This section feels completely misplaced and would rather fit into a catalogue description of the book by the publisher. Chapter 1, “Defining Orthodoxy in the Chan/Zen Traditions,” defines the term “orthodoxy” in the context of this study (also by comparing the usage of the term to its definitions within Christian theology) and gives a historical overview of important events related to the formation of orthodoxy in the framework of the Chan school(s). The chapter also gives an interesting account of how “Zen orthodoxy” was redefined in the context of propagating specific features of “Japanese culture” during the nationalistic movements in the 19th and 20th centuries in Japan (a notion of Zen orthodoxy which became widely spread in the West by scholars such as D. T. Suzuki). Although this chapter is based on previous scholarship on Chan history by Japanese scholars as well as on studies by Western scholars such as John McRae, Bernard Faure, and Robert Sharf, it is extremely well-written and outlines a clear picture of these issues. In chapter 2, “Tracing the Elusive Yulu: The Origins of Chan’s Records of Sayings,” Welter elucidates one of his main arguments, namely that the formation of the Linji lu has to be placed in the broader context of sectarian struggles and developments within literary genres during the late Tang and early Song dynasties, focusing on the important role educated literati and court officials played in this process. In this chapter the author also introduces a definition of the Records of Sayings genre which is narrower than previously suggested by, for example, YANAGIDA Seizan 柳田聖山. Welter places the formation of yulu proper during the Song dynasty and contrasts this genre to the structure of earlier Chan literary products such as the Zutang ji 祖堂集 and the Zongjing lu 宗鏡錄 (both 10th century). These works had a much more “hybrid” structure, although dialogues between masters and their disciples Book Reviews 143 already played an important role in them. The chapter also contains a very interesting discussion on terminology related to Chan historiography; the relationship between secular and Chan Buddhist historiography is certainly a field that deserves more detailed studies in the future. The same is true for the relationship between Buddhist and Confucian yulu (Welter includes an appendix with an overview of relevant Confucian texts). Although the author provides a very thorough treatment of many aspects of the development of yulu, it is somewhat surprising that the role of language—the use of the vernacular language being one of the defining elements of this genre—is only superficially mentioned in this respect. The use of the vernacular with its wide range of modal markers, flexible syntax, and wealth of vocabulary from the everyday language of the Tang and the Song added a whole new array of possibilities of expression (as contrasted...

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