Medieval Buddhist of the Day

[Twitter, 4/13/23] Medieval Buddhist of the Day, slightly disappointing edition: I was going to nominate Prince Cheng of Rencheng 任城王澄, as quoted in the Shilaozhi 釋老志 “Treatise on Buddhism and Daoism,” the final chapter of the Wei shu 魏書. He submitted a memorial in 517 CE, advocating tighter regulations on temple-building and the ordination of monks (the balance of power between the state and Buddhism is a theme of this chapter).

The memorial includes what must qualify for entry in the annals of best classical Chinese insults. He dismisses monks who live in cities, rather than sequestering themselves in the forest, as unserious and unworthy, preferring worldly pleasure to devotion. He writes: 乃釋氏之糟糠，法中之社鼠，內戒所不容，王典所應棄矣 “These are the dregs and chaff of the Sakya clan, the altar-rats of the Law, whom the precepts will not encompass, and the royal codes must expel.” I love the phrase “altar-rats of the Law,” which is an oblique reference to the Yanzi chunqiu 晏子春秋, in which corrupt officials are likened to rats infesting the altar of grain. However, I subsequently learned that 社鼠 “altar-rat” is an actual species of rat, Niviventer niviventer, which makes the whole thing slightly more prosaic. Even so, it’s one for the books.