This dissertation investigates the transformation of Chan Buddhism in seventeenth-century China through the lens of a series of controversies motivated by the claim of orthodoxy. The particular case examined here is the Huangbo lineage within the Linji school. Because the third Huangbo master Yinyuan Longqi emigrated to Japan in 1654, this lineage spread throughout Japan and led to the establishment of the Obaku (Huangbo) school in Japan. In this study, I focus on three Huangbo masters: Miyun Yuanwu (1566-1642), Feiyin Tongrong (1593-1662) and Yinyuan Longqi (1592-1673). All three masters had been abbots of Mount Huangbo in Fuqing, Fujian province and were bonded by the relationship of dharma transmission. My study suggests that Chan Buddhism in seventeenth-century China was a systematic reconstruction and reinvention of a Chan ideal that was characterized by the performance of encounter dialogue and a hierarchy of dharma transmission. Motivated by the Linji school’s forceful claim of orthodoxy (Linji zhengzong), the Huangbo masters engaged in three major controversies in seventeenth-century China.
The controversy between Master Miyun Yuanwu and his disciple Hanyue Fazang, taking place around 1635, concerns the authenticity of the Chan enlightenment experience. Interestingly, this controversy was finally judged by the Yongzheng Emperor a hundred years later. The second controversy, about the legitimacy of dharma transmission, led to a lawsuit in which Feiyin Tongrong, the second Huangbo master, lost the case and his book Wudeng yantong was ordered to be burnt in 1654. In addition, the Huangbo master’s orthodox position also propelled them to play a leading role in anti-Christian polemics. As a result, Miyun Yuanwu and Feiyin Tongrong organized an anti-Christian campaign from 1634 to 1640.
I conclude that significant transformations of Chan Buddhism took place in seventeenth-century China. Chan Buddhists revitalized ancient Chan ideals embodied in the lively performance of encounter dialogue and the practice o f dharma transmission. The result of this re-invention was the emergence of a new orthodoxy within Chinese Buddhism. The establishment o f the Japanese Obaku school through emigration and overseas missionary work of the third Huangbo master Yinyuan Longqi was a direct result of the transformation of Chan Buddhism in seventeenth-century China.

Local access dig.pdf. [Wu Jiang-Chan Buddhism Thesis.pdf]