Sutra masters Jingshi and Dharma preachers Changdao in the Buddhist monksʼ classification system of “Gao Seng Zhuan” (“Biographies of eminent monks”)

Abstract

In 1940 the philologist Xiangda put forward a hypothesis that in medieval China sutra preaching could be separated from its religious environment and continue to spread separately in the form of self-sufficient texts. He also drew attention to the fact that in the early Middle Ages (3^d – 6^th centuries) changdao preachers could be playing a crucial role in this process. In our article, drawing upon the material of biographies collection “Gao Seng Zhuan” (“Biographies of Eminent Monks”, beginning of the 6^th c.) we attempt to reconstruct certain criteria the chronicler identified this group of monks with. We have determined its boundaries by comparing changdao preachers with other categories of religious figures from the “Gao Seng Zhuan”: with the sutra masters jinshi, on the one hand, and with the declamators songjing, on the other. The article proves that the concepts of changdao and jingshi was to signify special groups of religious specialists which were typical of the Chinese Buddhist community in the 4^th – beginning 6th centuries. At the same time the term songjing did not mean professionalism, but personal merits and bliss a monk had obtained.