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The Buddhist Re-interpretation of the Legends Surrounding King Mu of Zhou Author(s): Thomas Jülch Source: Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 130, No. 4 (October-December 2010), pp. 625-627 Published by: American Oriental Society Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/23044575 . Accessed: 16/06/2014 02:25 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. . American Oriental Society is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Journal of the American Oriental Society. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 91.229.248.187 on Mon, 16 Jun 2014 02:25:25 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

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Page 1: The Buddhist Re-interpretation of the Legends Surrounding King Mu of Zhou

The Buddhist Re-interpretation of the Legends Surrounding King Mu of ZhouAuthor(s): Thomas JülchSource: Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 130, No. 4 (October-December 2010),pp. 625-627Published by: American Oriental SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/23044575 .

Accessed: 16/06/2014 02:25

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

.

American Oriental Society is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Journal ofthe American Oriental Society.

http://www.jstor.org

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Page 2: The Buddhist Re-interpretation of the Legends Surrounding King Mu of Zhou

The Buddhist Re-interpretation of

the Legends Surrounding King Mu of Zhou

Thomas Julch

University of Munich

King Mu of Zhou was subject to two different legendary traditions in classical Chinese

sources. Both of these traditions were re-interpreted in Buddhism for the purposes of Chi

nese Buddhist apologetic thought. In this paper I will examine how these re-interpretations

worked and in which Buddhist texts they are present.

King Mu of Zhou (modern dating according to Mathieu: 956-918 B.C.; tradi tional dating according to Mathews: 1001-946 B.C.)1 was the fifth king of the Western Zhou

dynasty (1122-770 B.C.). Since early times, King Mu had been the subject of legends. Basi

cally there are two different traditions. One can be extracted from the Mu tianzi zhuan

:f {S (Biography of the Heaven's Son Mu)2 and from the Zhushu jinian 11 (Bam boo Annals),3 and another one is found at the beginning of the Liezi J\\ f, chapter 3 (Gra ham 1960: 61-64). According to A. C. Graham, the present text of the Liezi was composed

towards the end of the third century a.d. (Graham 1961: 197). So the Mu tianzi zhuan, dating

back to 350 B.C. (Mathieu 1993: 342), and the Zhushu jinian, dating back to 299 B.C. (Nivi son 1993: 39-47), would appear to be the older sources.

In the Mu tianzi zhuan and in Zhushu jinian, chapter "Zhouji" we read that King Mu in the seventeenth year of his reign traveled west to meet the Xiwang Mu ffiHI (Queen

Mother of the West)4 at Mount Kunlun sl^r (Fang 2008: 49ff.). In the Mu tianzi zhuan the

banquet the Queen Mother held for King Mu is described. According to the description, the

Queen Mother and King Mu at this occasion exchanged poems. In hers, the Queen Mother

identifies herself as "the daughter of the Celestial emperor" (Yoshikawa 2008).

The account of King Mu given in Liezi, chapter 3, differs from the tradition in the Mu tianzi zhuan and in the Zhushu jinian. In the Liezi, the main part of the story deals with King Mu becoming acquainted with a huaren (fcA (magician), who guided King Mu on a spiritual journey to heavenly places described in the fashion of Daoist divine abodes. Only on the

basis of the impact of this spiritual experience did King Mu undertake his worldly travels,

such as the journey to the Queen Mother of the West.

So basically—with the traditions based on the Mu tianzi zhuan and on the Liezi—there

are two different versions of the legend of King Mu, both of which were absorbed and re

interpreted by medieval Chinese Buddhism. In my monograph discussing the apologetic

scriptures of the Buddhist Tang-monk Falin fe# (572-640; Jiilch 2011), I have touched

upon the Buddhist reception of the older tradition based on the Mu tianzi zhuan. In the

present paper I will analyze the role King Mu played in Buddhism, taking into account the

reception of both traditions in a broader variety of Buddhist sources.

1. Mathieu 1993: 342; Mathews 1943: 1166. It is important to note that the traditional dating differs from the modern dating, since, as we will see later, the Buddhist sources refer to the fifty-second year of King Mu, whereas

according to the modern dating King Mu only reigned for twenty-six years. 2. For research regarding the Mu tianzi zhuan, see Frtihauf 1998-99; Mathieu 1978; Porter 1993. 3. For research regarding the Zhushu jinian, see Keightley 1978; Shaughnessy 1986. 4. For research regarding the Queen Mother of the West see Cahill 1982 and 1993; Friihauf 1999.

Journal of the American Oriental Society 130.4 (2010) 625

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Page 3: The Buddhist Re-interpretation of the Legends Surrounding King Mu of Zhou

Journal of the American Oriental Society 130.4 (2010)

As explained above, according to the Mu tianzi zhuan, King Mu traveled to Western

regions to meet the Queen Mother of the West. However, in sources of medieval Chinese

Buddhism the story of King Mu traveling to the West is told in a different way. According to

these sources, King Mu's journey was not motivated by the Queen Mother of the West, but

by the Buddha. Since the Queen Mother's location and India, as the place where the Buddha

appeared, were both imagined as being in the West, in the legendary tradition they could

easily be exchanged. King Mu was thought of as a king incumbent during the lifetime of

the Buddha. As we are told in various parts of Falin's apologetic scriptures, the parinirvana

of the Buddha occurred on the fifteenth day of the second month in the fifty-second year of

King Mu 0 (T 2109, p. 481, b24-25). The earliest elaborate account of the story of King Mu traveling to the West to meet the Buddha is found in Falin's

Poxie lun •S&JPtm (T 2109, p. 478, b6-28; Jiilch 2011: 168ff.). There it is related that King Mu saw unknown omens arising in the West, and was afraid that these indicated the arrival of

a new shengren MA (sage ruler) who might terminate the dynasty of the Zhou. So together

with his chancellor, the Marquis of Lti SfH, he undertook his journey to the West to meet his

supposed opponent. However, in the fifty-second year of his rule the omens became graver.

When he asked his adviser, Hu Duo /fi^, he was told that the sage ruler in the West had

entered nirvana. King Mu took it with relief, as he felt that his dynasty would no longer be

endangered.

In Falin, as well as in most of the later references, this account is denoted as a quotation

from the Zhoushu yiji JcOlrlifE. However in the present version of the Zhoushu ylji, this

passage cannot be found.5 The tradition of King Mu traveling to the West because of omens

appearing in connection with the Buddha became very famous in Buddhist literature. In

Falin's own writings we find it mentioned more than once. In abridged versions it re-appears

in a later section of the Poxie lun (T 2109, p. 485, a7-9; Jiilch 2011: 232) and in Falin's main

work, the Bianzheng lun (T 2110, p. 530, a21-24; Jiilch 2011: 558). It is also seen in the Xuji gujin Fodao lunheng (T 2105, p. 398, a2-b2), and in the Fozu

tongji Juan 2 (T 2035, p. 142, c7-12), just to name a few examples. Prior to Falin, brief references to this story are seen in Lidai sanbao ji 1l &C, juan 1 and 12 (T 2034, S. 23, al8; T 2034, S. 104, c25-29; Jiilch 2011: 47).

The version of the King Mu legend presented in the Liezi has also been re-interpreted in

Buddhism. In the Beishan lu Jfclllils juan 1, the account of King Mu given in the Liezi is

quoted elaborately (T 2113, p. 578, a26-bl5). In a postscript the huaren or magician who

guided King Mu on the spiritual journey is identified with the Buddha (T 2113, p. 578, bl5). In the Fayuan zhulin juan 14, we find a similar re-interpretation. Here it is said

that the magician was in fact a combination of Manjusri and Maudgalyayana RiS, while the heavenly abodes, being described as Daoist mystical palaces in the Liezi, were in fact locations where Buddha Kas'yapa preached the dharma (T 2122, p. 394, b20-22). In

abridged form, the latter pattern is repeated in Fozu tongjijuan 54. There we read merely "In

the time of King Mu, Manjusri and Maudgalyayana came from the West to [perform] magic on the king §3EB#3tW g (T 2035, p. 469, c29-p. 470, a2).

Interestingly, the Fozu tongji, in juan 34, has one section where both traditions regarding King Mu are brought together. In a passage designed as a collection of traditions on King Mu, both the tradition based on the Zhoushu yiji and the tradition re-interpreted from the

Liezi are rendered (T 2035, p. 327, al7-b2).

5. Erik Ziircher (1959: 273), presenting a full translation of this passage, names Falin's Poxie lun as the oldest

available source.

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Page 4: The Buddhist Re-interpretation of the Legends Surrounding King Mu of Zhou

Julch: Legends Surrounding King Mu of Zhou 627

As these references show, the legends of King Mu, in their re-interpreted versions, were

frequently quoted in Chinese Buddhist apologetic literature. So what is the purpose of these

references? In China, opponents of Buddhism frequently despised Buddhism as a foreign

religion that had come from the lands of the Barbarians and was not a part of Chinese cul

ture. To counteract these views, Buddhist apologias are eager to show Buddhist influence

in many aspects of Chinese antiquity, finally displaying Buddhism as an essential part of

the very roots of Chinese culture. With this intention, Buddhist apologias argue that the

reason for King Mu's travel to the West was the Buddha and not the Queen Mother, that

King Mu's guide on his heavenly journey was either the Buddha himself or Manjus'rl and

Maudgalyayana, but not some magician of Daoist lore. Legends surrounding King Mu are

one theme of many that are addressed to demonstrate the involvement of Buddhism in clas

sical Chinese antiquity.6 The case of King Mu is, however, of particular interest, since it

keeps re-appearing in different scriptures over and over again. It can therefore be seen as a

red thread running through much of Chinese Buddhist apologetic thought.

REFERENCES

Cahill, Suzanne. 1982. "The Image of the Goddess Hsi Wang Mu in Medieval Chinese Literature."

Ph.D. diss., Univ. of California, Berkeley. . 1993. Transcendence and Divine Passion: The Queen Mother of the West in Medieval

China. Stanford: Stanford Univ. Press.

Fang, Shiming iH. 2008. Guben zhushu jinian jizheng "fi"^fj" pf . Shanghai: Shanghai

Guji Chubanshe JhTft'fi'ff lBJK|±. Friihauf, Manfred W. 1998-99. Einige Uberlegungen zur Frage der Datierung und Authentizitat des Mu

tianzi zhuan. Oriens Extremus 41: 45-71.

. 1999. Die Konigliche Mutter des Western: Xiwangmu in alten Dokumenten Chinas.

Bochum: Projekt-Verlag.

Graham, A. C. 1960. The Book ofLieh-tzu. London: Murray. . 1961. The Date and Composition of Liehtzyy. Asia Major 8: 139-98.

Jiilch, Thomas. 2011. Die apologetischen Schriften des buddhistischen Tang-Mdnchs Falin. Munich:

Utz.

Keightley, David N. 1978. The Bamboo Annals and Shang-Chou Chronology. HJAS 38: 423-38.

Mathews, R. H. 1943. Mathews' Chinese-English Dictionary: A Chinese-English Dictionary Compiled

for the China Inland Mission, rev. American ed. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard Univ. Press.

Mathieu, Remi. 1978. Le Mu tianzi zhuan: Traduction annotee, etude critique. Paris: Institut des Hautes

Etudes Chinoises.

1993. Mu t'ien tzu chuan. In Early Chinese Texts: A Bibliographical Guide, ed. Michael

Loewe. Pp. 342-46. Berkeley: The Society for the Study of Early China and the Institute of East

Asian Studies, Univ. of California.

Nivison, David S. 1993. Chu shu chi nien. In Early Chinese Texts: A Bibliographical Guide, ed.

Michael Loewe, 39-47. Berkeley: The Society for the Study of Early China and the Institute of

East Asian Studies, Univ. of California.

Porter, Deborah. 1993. The Literary Function of K'un-lun Mountain in the Mu T'ien-tzu Chuan. Early China 18: 73-106.

Shaughnessy, Edward L. 1986. On the Authenticity of the Bamboo Annals. HJAS 46: 149-80.

Yoshikawa, Tadao. 2008. Xiwang mu. In The Encyclopedia of Taoism, ed. Fabrizio Pregadio. Pp. 1119—

21. London: Routledge.

Zurcher, Erik. 1959. The Buddhist Conquest of China. Leiden: Brill.

6. For other examples see Jiilch 2011: 71ff.

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