Zhongguo Fojiao shilun 中国佛教史论 by Wang Rongguo 王荣国 (review)

Book Notes 155 Zhongguo Fojiao shilun 中国佛教史论 WANG RONGGUO 王荣国. Beijing: Zongjiao wenhua chubanshe 宗教文化出版社, 2008. 343 pages. ISBN 978-7-80123-987-7. RMB 38.00 paper. Zhongguo Fojiao shilun is a collection of twenty-six previously published and new essays by historian Wang Rongguo of Xiamen University. The papers in the book cover a wide spectrum of issues in the history of Buddhism in China from the Wei, Jin, Nanbei Chao period (220-581) right up to the 1950s. They can be broadly divided into a few major themes: (1) the spread and development of Buddhism (Chapter 1), (2) life and times of eminent monks (Chapters 2, 3, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25), (3) history of Buddhist monasteries (Chapters 4, 19), (4) Chan (Chapters 6, 7, 8, 9) and Tiantai traditions (Chapter 5), (5) history of Buddhism in Fujian (Chapters 16, 18). Chapter 26 provides a useful chronicle of events in Minnan Buddhist College (Minnan Foxue yuan 闽南佛学院) between 1925 and 1949. Because this book is a collection of mostly previously published papers, it suffers from two shortcomings. First, the quality and length of the essays vary greatly. For instance, while Wang discusses a broad topic—history of Fujian Buddhism and Tiantai tradition—in merely seven pages (Chapter 5), he devotes more than twenty pages to examine the life and times of Chan master Shao Qi 绍琦 (Chapter 17). Second, there is neither a linear development of an argument to follow throughout the book nor clear connections between the various chapters. Wang could have solved this problem if he had written an introductory chapter to better connect his chapters. Nevertheless, students and scholars of Chinese Buddhism are likely to benefit from this book. JACK MENG-TAT CHIA, Harvard University Nanzong ji Kong 南宗祭孔 Wang Xiaobing 王霄冰. Hangzhou: Zhejiang renmin chubanshe 浙江人民出版社, 2008. 180 pages. ISBN 978-7-213-03857-0. RMB 36.00 paper. The subject of this work are the annual sacrificial rites performed at the Kong ancestral temple in Quzhou 衢州 (Zhejiang province) since 2004, supplemented by an investigation into the development of the Kong clan’s southern branch (nanzong) since the Southern Song dynasty. Based on archival and field research, the author presents a portrait of this kinship association and provides insights into the revival of the cult of Confucius within the political ...