Lehnert
Fakultäten » Philosophische Fakultät » Ostasiatisches Seminar » Sinologie » Dr. Martin Lehnert (ausgetreten) » Lehnert
Completed research project
| Title / Titel | "The Language of the Buddha" – Functions of Language in Tang-period Esoteric Buddhism | ||
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| Abstract (PDF, 14 KB) | |||
| Summary / Zusammenfassung | During the 8th century, a cauldron of interests, and historical, social as well as political conditions, fostered the rise of Esoteric Buddhism to its prominent status as a ritual technology of state-protection at the Tang-court. The Buddhist hierophants claimed to actualize a set of social functions in a mythical framework, presenting themselves as mediators of sacrality, tying together Buddhist soteriology and imperial order in ritual performance. Secrecy was vital for pragmatics inserting a dynamic of spread through imperial order: apotropaic rituals were performed by meticulously chosen initiates at the Tang-court, radiating signs and coded speech, introducing new hierarchies of sacral inclusion and exclusion. The pass in between was testified by initiation suggesting sanctity, testified by consecration. It helped to establish authority free from the confines of institutionalized denominations, overriding traditional formations of imperial and administrative power. Legitimatory strategies were conceived – along the transition of the secret from the sphere of divine forces into the life-world of imperial order – as a turn from myth into history – implying an imposition of rational thought on the mythic framework. The question on what grounds the truth claim of Esoteric Buddhism and its efficiency promise were accepted as reliable refers back to linguistic problems, discussed as issues of a Buddhist philosophy of religious language. The research project is aimed to develop categories of religious language significant for a better understanding of epistemic and hermeneutic problems concerning Medieval Chinese religious literature and practice. |
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| Publications / Publikationen | Martin Lehnert, "'...dennoch konnte der Sinn nicht vollständig erfasst werden.' Vajrabodhi (671-741) zum Status seiner chinesischen Übersetzung des Vajrasekhara-sutra", Mitteilungen für Anthropologie und Religionsgeschichte Band 19, Münster: Ugarit 2008, pp. 269–285.Martin Lehnert, "Tantric Threads between India and China", in Ann Heirman, Stephan Peter Bumbacher (eds.), The Spread of Buddhism, Leiden, Boston: Brill 2007, pp. 247–276.Martin Lehnert, "Myth and Secrecy in Tang-period Tantric Buddhism", in Bernhard Scheid, Mark Teeuwen (eds.), The Culture of Secrecy in Japanese Religion, London, New York: Routledge 2006, pp. 78–104.Martin Lehnert, "Anmerkungen zum wissenschaftlichen Umgang mit Texten des Esoterischen Buddhismus (mijiao)", Asiatische Studien LV.4.2001, pp. 995-1006. | ||
| Keywords / Suchbegriffe | Esoteric Buddhism, Tang dynasty, ritual, concept of truth, concept of secrecy, rhetorics, philosophy of religious language, Amoghavajra, mantric speech, history of religion, Sanskrit, Medieval Chinese, translation, textual pragmatics. | ||
| Project leadership and contacts / Projektleitung und Kontakte |
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| Funding source(s) / Unterstützt durch |
Universität Zürich (position pursuing an academic career) |
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| In collaboration with / In Zusammenarbeit mit |
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| Duration of Project / Projektdauer | Oct 2001 to Oct 2010 |