Posthumous Conversions of Confucians: A Zen Case Study from Song China to Modern Japan

Barrett, T.H.

Abstract

Neo-Confucians (to use the Western term) claimed to make East Asian Buddhism redundant by showing that Chinese traditions of thought offered better solutions to the human condition than Buddhism, yet the suspicion remained that they were themselves influenced by Buddhist ideas. Thus, for example, Buddhists claimed that figures associated with Neo-Confucianism had learned from, or become, Buddhists themselves. Among the earliest such figures was Li Ao (c. 772-836). His supposed allegiance to Buddhism is reaffirmed in the work of the Japanese Zen teacher Imakita Kōsen (1816-1892), whose writings remain in circulation to this day. Tracing the way in which Li’s case was deployed in Imakita’s and earlier Buddhist works, so that his name is still associated with Buddhism on the internet today, illustrates the strength of this particular polemical tactic.

Citation

Barrett, T. (2022). Posthumous Conversions of Confucians: A Zen Case Study from Song China to Modern Japan. In C. V. Jones (Ed.), Buddhism and Its Religious Others: Historical Encounters and Representations (210-224). British Academy. https://doi.org/10.5871/bacad/9780197266991.003.0011

• Publication Date: Feb 1, 2022
• Deposit Date: Mar 20, 2025
• Publisher: British Academy
• Pages: 210-224
• Series Title: Proceedings of the British Academy
• Series Number: 243
• Book Title: Buddhism and Its Religious Others: Historical Encounters and Representations
• ISBN: 9780197266991
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.5871/bacad/9780197266991.003.0011
• Keywords: Buddhism, Chinese religion, Japanese religion, Li Ao, Imakita Kōsen, Buddhist polemics, Neo-Confucianism, Zen