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(D) The Tiantai School and its contentions for orthodoxy
Apart from the Zen School, the Tiantai School was another active Buddhist sect in Song. The reasons of Tiantai’s prosperity were twofold. First, the School had an array of renowned Buddhists, among whom there was a fierce debate regarding the sect’s orthodoxy. Second, at that time some Buddhists travelled overseas and collected a great number of Buddhist sutras. Those which were attributed to the Tiantai School were so systematic that many Buddhist scholars were attracted to explore the School’s theories.
The lineage of Tiantai School in Song was as follows:
Yiji 义寂was the leading patriarch of Tiantai School in Song. He was born in 919 A.D. and passed away at the age of 68. When he was 19 years old, he became a monk. He studied the teachings of Vinaya School. Later he joined the Temple of Guoqing (Tranquil Realm) in Mount Tiantai and became one of disciples of Qingsong. In the course of studying Tiantai teachings, Yiji was shocked at the fact the sutras related to Tiantai School had been largely destroyed in the rabid anti-Buddhist movement of Tang’s Huichang reign. One day Qian Chu, the King of Wuyue (a small regime in the lower reaches of Yangtze River), was reading Yongjia ji永嘉集 (The Yongjia collection of Zen writings). The King felt confused about some pieces of writings. Then he asked Yiji for help. The Master replied,
These words should be taken from Miaoxuan [i.e. Miaofa lianhua jing xuanyi妙法莲华经玄义 (The profundity of Sutra of Lotus), one of the three most significant interpretive works devoted to the Lotus Sutra]. Nevertheless, since the late Tang so many scriptures have been destroyed in the chaos. Writings like Miaoxuan were preserved overseas.42
Then, the King sent a dozen delegates to Japan and Korea, where they collected many sutras that were attributed to the Tiantai School. These events are described in the eighth chapter of Fozu tongji佛祖统论 (Complete chronicles of Buddhist patriarchs). This was also called “the return of lost pearls.” Ten volumes by Zhiyi, one of the leading Tiantai figures in Tang, were also found and brought back to China, including Fahua xuanyi法华玄义 (The profundities of Lotus Sutra), Fahua wenju法华文句 (An explanation on Lotus Sutra), and Mohe zhiguan摩诃止观 (The great samatha and vipasyana). The devotees of Tiantai called them the Great Tri-Works of Tiantai. Thanks to these efforts, the Tiantai School underwent a vigorous resuscitation in the Song dynasty.
Yitong 义通, whose courtesy name was Weiyuan, was born in 927 A.D. He was from the royal family of Goryeo (an ancient Korean dynasty founded in the 10th century). In the Period of Five Dynasties, Yitong travelled around China and studied Buddhism. He passed away in 988 A.D. Yitong was one of disciples of Yiji and later became a prominent Zen master. Emperor Tai renamed the temple where Yitong lived in “Precious Cloud.” Therefore, people called Yitong the Master of Precious Cloud. Although Yitong himself did not write many books, he was still remarkable considering the fact that he, a foreigner, was venerated as one of leading patriarchs of a Chinese Buddhist school. And moreover, his two brilliant disciples—Zhili and Zunshi—made great contributions to the revival of Tiantai School.
Zhili 知礼 was born in 960 A.D. in Siming (present-day Ningbo) of Zhejiang. His surname was Jin and courtesy name Yueyan. He was also called Siming Zhili. Zhili became a monk at the age of seven. Eight years later, he received the Upasampada (i.e. the rite of ordination). When he was 20 years old, he began studying the Tiantai teachings under the instruction of Yitong and later became the heir. Zhao Bian writes about the Master:
[Zhili] presided over principal dharma assemblies and devoted himself to dissemination of teachings and Buddhist confessions for more than four decades. The Master was so diligent that he even seldom fully lay down and fell asleep. At that time thousands of devotees studied under his instruction and achieved enlightenment.43
Emperor Zhen conferred upon Zhili the prestigious title of Master of Dharma. In his twilight years, Zhili, in collaboration with ten other people, compiled Fahua chan法华忏 (Confessions inspired by the Lotus Sutra). They also pledged that they would embrace self-immolation as soon as the compilation was done. Finally, thanks to the discouragements from people around him, Zhili gave up the idea of self-immolation and confessed wholeheartedly instead.
In terms of Buddhist theories, Zhili was a strong promoter of Tiantai ideas such as “yinian sanqian” (viz., that one piece of thought embraces the complete set of dharma) and “yuanrong sandi” (the perfected unity of three truths—emptiness, provisionality and impartiality). In the perspective of Tiantai School’s “Perfected Teaching of Unique Vehicle,” the identicalness was difference and vice versa. All kinds of dharma and the myriad things in the entire universe were actually able to transform into each other. Obviously, the heart (mind), form, Buddha and all sentient beings differ from each other. In fact, there are all mutually transformable and constituents of the perfected unity of emptiness, provisionality and impartiality. The heart (mind), form and Buddha are precisely the three perfected truths. In the light of their nature the three truths are identical with each other. The “enlightenment,” “delusion” and “differentiation of the good and the evil” are methodologically rather than intrinsically different from each other. Zhili pushes these ideas forward and proposes two concepts—“wuming 无明” (delusion or ignorance) and “faxing 法性” (nature of dharma). The twin concepts lose distinction between each other and are perfectly united. In practice, the “nature of dharma,” which is intrinsically clean and tranquil, is contaminated by wuming and consequently complies with the causation of wuming. As a result, the myriad things that constitute the universe are produced and the agonies that torture human beings are created. In these conditions, the enlightened exterminate their own delusions and ignorance and such an extermination is none other than an insightful understanding of dharma-nature. Zhili paid particular attention to the inseparability of wuming and dharma-nature. “Neither could the pure and unique truth be produced; nor was the ignorance made alone. Only when the truth and ignorance acted on each other would there be varying phenomena.” Therefore, Zhili draws a conclusion that nature is in possession of both good and evil. It is, however, a kind of theory that nature is inherently evil. Later, Zhili’s theoretical reformulation became a very controversial topic in Buddhist circles.
Zunshi遵式, or Ye Zhibai (courtesy name), was born in Ninghai of Tiantai in 964 A.D. He died at the age of 68. Zunshi was a cousin to Zhili. Like Zhili, Zunshi became a monk when he was still a child. Originally, he exposed himself to the teachings of Vinaya School. Then, he painstakingly explored the Tiantai Buddhism in Yitong’s community. “Having one of his fingers burned in front of the statue of Samantabhadra in the Temple of Guoqing, [Zunshi] swore that he would devote all his life to the dissemination of Tiantai teachings.” After completing his studies, Zunshi travelled around the country and disseminated the teachings of the Tiantai School. Due to his hard work and devotion, he became an influential Tiantai Master. The prestigious title—Master of Compassionate Cloud—was conferred upon him by Emperor Zhen. Zunshi was also a great promoter of Tiantai’s theory of “zhenru yuanqi.” He emphasizes the mutual generation of tathata and dharma and the perfected unity of the two ultimate origins:
The Buddha-nature in the Tiantai teaching differs from those discoursed by other schools. Most schools simply hold that the tathata is the Buddha-nature. The Tiantai School, meanwhile, underlines the perfected unity of ten realms and the mutual transformation of Buddha and all sentient beings. The Buddha and all sentient beings are of both expedient and true nature and reside in the mind.44
In other words, the tathata (true thusness) assumes an existent form in the myriad dharmas; there is a nondual oneness of all sentient beings and Buddha; and moreover, the tathata, dharmas, all sentient beings and Buddha are all produced by the mind. Zunshi’s thinking is embodied in the “unity of nature and mind.”
Nature is the body of the mind and the mind is the form of the nature. The thorough exploration of the mind and the full understanding of nature are what Buddha does and the confusion about the body and the deluded attachment to the form are attributed to all sentient beings. The mind and the nature are actually identical with each other.45
It is in these theoretical elaborations that the fusion of Tiantai and Zen teachings can be detected. In addition to writings devoted to Buddhist theories, Zunshi also penned many treatises on “confessions,” such as Jinguangming chanyi金光明忏仪 (Confessional methods in Sutra of Golden Light), Da Mituo chanyi (Great Amitabha confessions) and Xiao Mito chanyi (Minor Amitabha confessions). In his lifetime, Zunshi presided over many ceremonies of confession and consequently was venerated as the “Tianzhu Master of Confession” and the “Confessional Master of Compassionate Cloud.” Emperor Zhen even dispatched a special envoy in order to invite Zunshi to “practice the ceremonial confession in relation to the Lotus Sutra and bless the entire dynasty.” Such an Imperial invitation sheds light on Zunshi’s great reputation in the Buddhist practice.
Wu’en 悟恩, whose surname was Lu and courtesy name Xiuji, was born in Changshu of Gusu in 912 A.D. He died at the age of 74. Wu’en acquired the monkhood at a very early age and studied first the Vinaya texts. Finally, he joined the Academy of Ciguang (Shining Compassionateness) of Qiantang, where he explored Tiantai teachings under the tutelage of Zhiyin. Finishing studies in the Academy, Wu’en spent much time and energy on lecturing the sutras of Lotus Sutra, Golden Light and Samatha and Vipasyana. He was the author of several books, among which Jin guangming xuanyi fahui ji金光明玄义发挥记 (Furthered elaborations of the profundity of Gold Light Sutra) greatly influenced the history of Tiantai School. It was this book that initiated the fierce debate regarding the orthodoxy within the School. The two groups—Shanjia (within the School of Tiantai) and Shanwai (outside the School of Tiantai)—were the principal players in the contention for the leading and orthodox positions. Yuanqing, Hongmin, Qingzhao and Zhiyuan, all of whom were disciples of Wu’en, were questioned first by Zhili, and in turn repeatedly argued against him and his followers. Consequently, the crossfire between the two factions caused a great stir within the Tiantai community.
The debate originates from the differing perceptions of Zhiyi’s Jin guangming jing xuanyi. Zhiyi’s work has the enlarged and abridged editions. Wu’en’s Jin guangming xuanyi fahui ji is an annotative work that was applied to the abridged edition of Zhiyi’s work. Wu’en merely discusses the nature of dharma while saying nothing about “guanxin” (the observation of the mind) that was one of the constituents of the “quintuple profundity.” Following Wu’en’s train of thought, one can conclude that the true forms of myriad dharmas can be directly observed and it is unnecessary for devotees to resort to “guanxin,” or observing dharmas through the mind, in their practice. Wu’en even argues that the so-called method of “guanxin” in the enlarged edition is merely an erroneous addendum. Consequently, he pays more attention to the abridged edition rather than on the enlarged one. As soon as this radical idea was shared, Zhili immediately rose to object. He criticized the position and said that Wu’en was biased on the grounds that Wu’en ignores the role that “guan” (observation) can play in the practice while exclusively laying stress on “jiao” (teaching). Both “guan” and “jiao” are, however, attached equal importance in the Tiantai tradition. In view of this, Zhili draws the conclusion that Wu’en deviates from the basic tenets of Tiantai. In order to rectify the heterodoxy created by Wu’en, Zhili wrote Fuzong ji扶宗记 (Writings in support of the orthodoxy), which is based on the enlarged edition and attempts to play a corrective role in the interpretation of Zhiyi’s work. Zhili lavishly discourses on the “observation of the mind” and strongly recommends that the principles that are observed be amassed in and processed by the mind. Such an idea s in accordance with Zunshi branch’s notion of the identicalness of the mind and nature. Immediately after the publication of Zhili’s monograph, disciples of Wu’en worked collaboratively in a counterpunch. Qingzhao and Zhiyuan jointly wrote Bian’e辨讹 (The correction of mistakes) in defense of their Master. The two apologists contend that the observation of dharma is none other than the observation of the mind, though the latter is a must-do. They point out that Zhili’s method is an “absurd observation of the mind” on the grounds that it was done at the cost of the observation of dharma. By contrast, their own branch adhered to the “orthodox observation of the mind” in accordance with the law of observing dharma. Intellectually, the absurdity-orthodoxy dichotomy with regard to the observation of the mind came from the Avatamsaka School’s dichotomization of true mind. In view of this, Zhili held that the ideas of Qingzhao and Zhiyuan had been contaminated by theories of non-Tiantai sects and denounced them “shanwai,” or “heretics” outside the Tiantai community. He himself was consequently the “shanjia,” or the true and orthodox believer within the School. Later Zhili wrote four treatises—Wennan shu问难书 (Interrogations), Jienan shu诘难书 (Challenges), Wenyi shu问疑书 (Questions) and Fuwen shu复问书 (Reexaminations), in which he systematically reproaches Qingzhao and Zhiyuan. The disciples of Wu’en fought back in their writings such as Dayi shu答疑书 (Answers), Wuyi shu五义书 (Quintuple profundity) and Shifei shu释非书 (Defense). The two groups confronted each other five times and their debates lasted for seven years. Finally, the disciples of Wu’en chose not to respond to Zhili. Therefore, Zhili held that the Wu’en branch had been worn down by his arguments and declared his own team’s victory. In the third year of Jingde (1006) Zhili concluded the ten rounds of debate in his two-volume Shi nanyi shu十难义书 (The treatise on ten interrogations). In addition, he penned Guanxin erbai wen观心二百问 (Two hundred questions about the observation of the mind), by which the ideas of “shanjia” represented by Zhili and his followers were given enormous publicity. As a result, the theories of Zhili branch prevailed and assumed by degrees the leading and orthodox position in the Tiantai School.
(E) Other Buddhist sects
The Pure Land Sect was very influential in the Song dynasty. The reasons of its popularity were twofold. On the one hand, the practice of Pure Land Sect was even easier than that of Zen School. To put it simply, the devotee could enter the Western Pure Land merely by means of reciting the Buddha’s name. Due to such ease the Sect was revived very rapidly after the anti-Buddhist movement in the Huichang reign. On the other hand, in Song the belief in Pure Land had not been a sectarian but a popular faith among professional and lay Buddhists. In other words, it was a universal religion at that time. For example, Zhili, a renowned monk of Tiantai School, had created a community of more than 10,000 devotees, among whom everyday they expected so eagerly to be reincarnated in the ultimately blissful world.46 Yanshou, a Zen master, recited the Buddha’s name in the mountain every evening when he was invited by the King to live in Hangzhou, so that Qian Chu, the King of Wuyue gave praise that “since the very ancient times nobody could be as eager as [Yanshou] in pursuit of the Blissful West.”47 In total 75 Song monks, who were prominent figures from various sects and schools, were included in the “Collected Biographs of Renowned Monks Aspiring to Reincarnation [in the Ultimately Blissful Western Land.]”48 The fact that the belief in the Pure Land had transformed into a common faith revealed that there was not only a trend of blending varying theories in the later development of Chinese Buddhism, but also a scholarly dependence on popular Buddhism.
There was a great prosperity of Zen Buddhism in Song. Nevertheless, the Zen ways of practice, such as inspirational meditation and a battle of words of sharpness were decent intellectual games that were exclusively the realm of eminent monks and scholar-officials. None of this interested the poor peasants, who were usually illiterate. Under the circumstances, Buddhist sects needed to prepare some simple and understandable doctrines and convenient methods of practice to attract more followers. In this regard the Pure Land Sect was one of the best players. The theoreticians of Pure Land asserted that prior to the attainment of Buddhahood Amitabha had made 48 great promises. When the Buddhahood was successfully obtained, they argued, Amitabha would lead to the Western Pure Land those who honestly and devotedly chanted his title, where the devotees could enjoy a perpetual happiness. Although reincarnation in the Pure Land was still not the realization of nirvana, the prospects were amazingly attractive inasmuch as “in the Ultimately Blissful World the ground is made of gold, the roadside trees are piercing upward to the sky, the buildings are adorned with seven treasures, and human beings are immortal.49” In the eyes of ordinary believers such a land was really not a bad choice.
The leading figures that were devoted exclusively to the Pure Land beliefs were Xingchang 省常 and Zongze 宗赜. Both were venerated as the patriarchs of the Pure Land sect in Lebang wenlei, quite significant literature with respect to the Pure Land faith. Xingchang was born in Qiantang of Zhejiang in 959 A.D. and died at the age of 61. His surname was Yan and his courtesy name was Zaowei. Xingchang studied the samatha-vipasyana teaching in the perspective of Tiantai. Later, following the ancient Lotus Society, he founded the Society of Pure Practice in the Temple of Qingzhao (Celebrated Prominence) of the attractive West Lake, where more than 1,000 monks and lay Buddhists were practicing the Pure Land faith. Wang Dan, one of the leading ministers of Northern Song, was the head of the Society. Xingchang’s society was very influential at the time and played a great role in promoting Pure Land belief in the lower reaches of Yangtze River. This devoted master of Pure Land had cut his fingers and use the blood to transcribe “Jingxing pin” (Portion of Pure Practice) of Avatamsaka. Whenever he finished writing one word of the sutra, he knelt before the sutra, worked around it, and chanted the name of Amitabha three times. When the blood writing was done, it was reproduced in 1,000 hardcopies and distributed among 1,000 pious devotees. Zongze, whose birth and death dates are unknown, was from Xiangyang of present-day Hubei. “Cijue” (Compassionate Awakening) was his gracious name. When he became a monk, he began studying Zen Buddhism. Finally, he intellectually nestled in the Pure Land faith. In Emperor Zhe’s Yuanyou reign, Zongze served as Superintendent to the Temple of Changlu, which was located in Zhen Prefecture (present-day Yizheng of Jiangsu). In the Temple, he founded the “Blooming Lotus Society” (an assembly of chanting the name of Amitabha). In the Society, Zongze, together with a great number of monks and Buddhist laymen, chanted the name of Amitabha 1,000 and even 10,000 times every day. In doing so, he deepened his understanding of Pure Land belief. His work was entitled Weijiang ji苇江集 (Writings inspired by Bodhidharma’s miracle of crossing the river on a reed), in which Zongze “penned 120 essays to encourage people to teach their parents to practice the Pure Land belief and praised that such an effort was a greater filial piety of giving the parents a transcendental life.”50 Overall, Zongze’s effort was an embodiment of the syncretism of Buddhist Pure Land faith and Confucian filial piety.
The Avatamsaka School was renowned for its great theoretical speculations, but was seriously damaged in the late Tang’s anti-Buddhist backlash. At that time the true situation of the School’s dissemination was very vague. In Song the Avatamsaka School was very weak in comparison with other Buddhist sects. Faced with such a ruined Buddhist school, Changshui Zixuan and Jinshui Jingyuan, two masters of Avatamsaka teaching, tried their best to rehabilitate it.
Zixuan子璿, whose birth date is unknown, died in 1038, was from Jiahe of Zhejiang. Who was the tutor of Zixuan? It is still a mystery. Zixuan had consulted Huijue, a Zen master of Linji Sect, about Zen teaching. Huijue suggested that he “strive to make a new life for” the Avatamsaka School. Zixuan’s ideas mirrored the integration of Zen-style sudden enlightenment and teaching centered on Buddhist scriptures. Later Zixuan went to Changshui (present-day Chanshui) of Shaanxi, where he recruited almost 1,000 followers and became an influential figure. He was the author of the ten-volume Lengyan jing shu楞严经疏 (The annotated Suramgama Sutra), one of the representative works of Avatamsaka School in Song.
Jingyuan 净源was born in Quanzhou in 1011 and died at the age of 75. His secular surname was Yang. In Mount Wutai, he studied the Avatamsaka Sutra under Chengqian’s and later Zixuan’s instructions. He travelled around regions such as Jiangsu and Zhejiang, where he lived in the Academy of Bodhisattva of Gratitude and devoted himself to the work of disseminating the Avatamsaka teaching. At that time Yitian, an eminent monk from Korea, “arrived in China and studied [Buddhism] in accordance with rites applying to disciples.” Moreover, the monk brought pieces of Avatamsaka writings back to China. When Yitian returned to Korea, he sent three editions of Jinshu huanyan金书华严 (Golden Avatamsaka)—180 volumes in total—to Jingyuan. The restoration of a great number of sutras was a strong impetus to the rehabilitation of the School. In addition to Jingyuan, Shihui and Xidi spent much time and energy promoting the Avatamsaka teaching. Thanks to their great efforts, the Avatamsaka School was, to a certain extent, rehabilitated.
The lineage of the Consciousness-only School in Song remains a mystery. Despite this, it is true that there were always a certain number of reputable scholars who worked on Discourse on the Consciousness-only Theory, and The One Hundred Dharma and Treatise on Logic. When Yanshou was compiling Zongjing lu, he attempted to dilute the contradictions between different Buddhist sects such as Avatamsaka, Consciousness-only and Tiantai by means of organizing an assembly embracing all leading figures of the sects. However, no extant record exists that can reveal who was the representative of Consciousness-only School in this meeting. The prevailing opinion in present-day scholarship is that inasmuch as in periods following Tang and Song dynasties the Consciousness-only teaching had already been widely accepted by various Buddhist sects, there were always scholars devoting to the teaching in spite of the paucity of a sectarian community. Such an explanation sounds reasonable.
In Song the Vinaya School did not merely assume a minimal existence. The Nanshan sect, which was based primarily in Hangzhou, played a leading role in the School’s development. The towering figures of the School were Yunkan and Yuanzhao. Yunkan 允堪, whose birth date is unknown but who died in 1061, was born in Qiantang and had been given a prestigious title—Vinaya Master of Perfected Wisdom—by the Emperor. After becoming a monk, Yunkan studied varying Buddhist teachings and was particularly good at the Vinaya. He created an Ordination Platform in the Zhaoqing Temple of Hangzhou, where he taught the devotees Buddhist precepts. Digging deeply into Daoxuan’s Xingshi chao, Yunkan furthered the Vinaya teaching in his writing entitled Huizheng ji会正记 (Accounts of achieving enlightenment). The work was regarded as a unique compilation of principal tenets of Nanshan sect. Apart from Huizheng ji, Jieshu fahuiji戒疏发挥记 (Extensive discourses on Annotated Precepts) and Yeshu zhengyuan ji业疏正源记 (Rectified interpretations of Annotated Karma) were also the products of Yunkan’s intellectual exploration.
Yuanzhao 元照 was born in Yuhang in 1048 and passed away at the age of 68. His secular surname was Tang and had the courtesy name of Zhanran. Yuanzhao was one of second-generation disciples of Yunkan. He first studied the teachings of Tiantai and later exposed himself to the Vinaya. After completing his study, Yuanzhao ceremonially received the precepts at the special platform in the Temple of Kaiyuan (Illuminating Primordiality), which was located in Siming. He was one of the leading figures in the Buddhist communities in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. He served as Superintendent at the Temple of Lingzhi (Ganoderma, or Immortal Herb) for more than three decades in Hangzhou. Yuanzhao was venerated as the Vinaya Master of Lingzhi. He was the author of numerous books such as: Xingshi chao zichi ji行事钞资持记 (Furthered interpretations of Annotated Precepts); Jiemo shu jiyuan ji羯摩疏济缘记 (Furthered explanations of Annotated Karmas); Jieshu xingzong ji戒疏行宗记 (Annotations of selected fundamental precepts); Fazhu ji法住记 (Explanations of established correct dharmas); Baoen ji报恩记 (Explanative accounts of repaying debts of gratitude); and Zhiyuan ji芝园记 (Writings in the Garden of Immortal Herb). It is particularly worth pointing out that the three “jis”—Xingshi chao zichi ji, Jiemo shu jiyuan ji and Jieshu xingzong ji—were later venerated as the Vinaya classics and introduced to Japan.
Zanning赞宁, whose secular surname was Gao, was from Bohai, a far northeastern prefecture. He was born in 919 A.D. and passed away in the first year of the 11th century. He attained his monkhood when he was still a child. He was called the “Tiger of Vinaya” due to his excellent studies in the teaching of Nanshan, a significant Vinaya sect. Qian Chu, the King of Wuyue, conferred a prestigious title upon him—Master of Exploring Profundity and Orthodoxizing Writing. In the third year of Taiping Xingguo (978 A.D.) he and Qian Chu, the King, were officially recruited by the new Song dynasty. The Emperor of Song venerated Zanning as the Master of Penetrating Wisdom. It was, however, the monograph—Dasong gaoseng zhuan大宋高僧传 (Biographies of eminent monks in the Great Song)—rather than his contributions to the Vinaya doctrines that decisively helped Zanning carve out a name for himself in the history of Chinese Buddhism. In the seventh year of Taiping Xingguo (982 A.D.) the Emperor issued an edict, in which he assigned the work of writing the biographies of renowned monks to Zanning. Six years later, Zanning had the job well done. Following the style adopted by previous collected biography dedicated to eminent monks, Zanning wrote official biographies for 531 monks and auxiliary biographies for another 125 monks. In order to finish the writing well, Zanning consulted a great variety of historical records and did an extremely strict textual examination. Zanning’s writing is vivid, flowing and graceful. After reading these biographies, Emperor Tai wrote in person his comments and praised the monk’s excellent job. Zanning consequently won great fame in both the Imperial court and the world of letters. Not only was he appointed the Left and Right Registrars (the highest official positions that a monk could acquire in Song), but he was also given the title of “Hanlin,” the most prestigious title exclusively applicable to a small number of leading Chinese literati. Moreover, he was chosen as one of the Imperial historians. Zanning was really a rare case. He achieved amazingly high historical and literary attainments.
