Cover image for Burning for the Buddha : self-immolation in Chinese Buddhism
Burning for the Buddha : self-immolation in Chinese Buddhism
Title:
Burning for the Buddha : self-immolation in Chinese Buddhism

Self-immolation in Chinese Buddhism.

Kuroda Institute studies in East Asian Buddhism ;

Studies in East Asian Buddhism ;
Author:
Benn, James A., 1964- author.
ISBN:
9780824829926

9780824867898
Publication Information:
Honolulu : University of Hawai'i Press, [2007]
Physical Description:
xiii, 360 pages ; 24 cm.
Series:
Kuroda Institute studies in East Asian Buddhism ; no. 19.

Studies in East Asian Buddhism ; no. 19.
General Note:
"A Kuroda Institute book."
Contents:
Introduction -- "Mounting the smoke with glittering colors": self-immolation in early medieval China -- The Lotus Sutra, auto-cremation, and the indestructible tongue -- Samgha and the state: the power(s) of self-immolation -- Is self-immolation a "good practice"? Yongming Yanshou on relinquishing the body -- Local heroes in a fragmenting empire: self-immolation in the late Tang and five dynasties -- One thousand years of self-immolation -- Conclusion.
Abstract:
"Burning for the Buddha: Self-Immolation in Chinese Buddhism is the first book-length study of the theory and practice of "abandoning the body" (self-immolation) in Chinese Buddhism. Although largely ignored by conventional scholarship, the acts of self-immolators (which included not only burning the body but also being devoured by wild animals, drowning oneself, and self-mummification, among others) form an enduring part of the religious tradition and provide a new perspective on the multifarious dimensions of Buddhist practice in China from the early medieval period to the present time. This book examines the hagiographical accounts of all those who made offerings of their own bodies and places them in historical, social, cultural, and doctrinal context."--Jacket.
Bibliographical References:
Includes bibliographical references (pages 315-345) and index.
Field 805:
npmlib 10702017 BQ5680 S45 B46 ysh
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