Emperor's delicate imbalance : a study on the imperial prefaces of Buddhist canon utilized by the early Tang state

The conventional understanding of the transition between the Sui dynasty and the Tang dynasty was that the Tang inherited Sui’s policies and institutions. However, this continuation only applies to specific state institutions, not Tang’s religious policies. This paper posits that the early Tang stat...

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Main Author: Tay, Yu Xuan
Other Authors: Nicholas Witkowski
Format: Final Year Project
Language:English
Published: Nanyang Technological University 2021
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Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10356/147244
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Institution: Nanyang Technological University
Language: English
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spelling sg-ntu-dr.10356-1472442023-03-11T20:09:03Z Emperor's delicate imbalance : a study on the imperial prefaces of Buddhist canon utilized by the early Tang state Tay, Yu Xuan Nicholas Witkowski School of Humanities nwitkowski@ntu.edu.sg Humanities::Religions::Buddhism Humanities::History::Asia::China Humanities::Religions::Taoism Humanities::Philosophy::Chinese The conventional understanding of the transition between the Sui dynasty and the Tang dynasty was that the Tang inherited Sui’s policies and institutions. However, this continuation only applies to specific state institutions, not Tang’s religious policies. This paper posits that the early Tang state seeks to create a discourse of asymmetrical pluralism within the religious field. A close reading on the imperial prefaces of the Buddhist canon, penned by emperor Taizong and his crown prince, reveals this overarching intention in forming such discourse. This intention ensued from the synthesis of three intertwining objectives embedded within the imperial prefaces: the legitimation of Confucianism, promotion of Daoism, and incorporation of Buddhism. This paper first analyzes the imperial prefaces’ heavy referencing and appropriation of imageries from respective textual traditions to reveal the embedded objectives. Subsequently, the paper will demonstrate the attainment of all these objectives with substantial institutional changes implemented by the state. Conclusively, both the embedded objectives and the institutional changes prove the early Tang state’s intention in formulating a discourse of asymmetrical pluralism. Bachelor of Arts in History 2021-03-26T07:35:08Z 2021-03-26T07:35:08Z 2021 Final Year Project (FYP) Tay, Y. X. (2021). Emperor's delicate imbalance : a study on the imperial prefaces of Buddhist canon utilized by the early Tang state. Final Year Project (FYP), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. https://hdl.handle.net/10356/147244 https://hdl.handle.net/10356/147244 en application/pdf Nanyang Technological University
institution Nanyang Technological University
building NTU Library
continent Asia
country Singapore
Singapore
content_provider NTU Library
collection DR-NTU
language English
topic Humanities::Religions::Buddhism
Humanities::History::Asia::China
Humanities::Religions::Taoism
Humanities::Philosophy::Chinese
spellingShingle Humanities::Religions::Buddhism
Humanities::History::Asia::China
Humanities::Religions::Taoism
Humanities::Philosophy::Chinese
Tay, Yu Xuan
Emperor's delicate imbalance : a study on the imperial prefaces of Buddhist canon utilized by the early Tang state
description The conventional understanding of the transition between the Sui dynasty and the Tang dynasty was that the Tang inherited Sui’s policies and institutions. However, this continuation only applies to specific state institutions, not Tang’s religious policies. This paper posits that the early Tang state seeks to create a discourse of asymmetrical pluralism within the religious field. A close reading on the imperial prefaces of the Buddhist canon, penned by emperor Taizong and his crown prince, reveals this overarching intention in forming such discourse. This intention ensued from the synthesis of three intertwining objectives embedded within the imperial prefaces: the legitimation of Confucianism, promotion of Daoism, and incorporation of Buddhism. This paper first analyzes the imperial prefaces’ heavy referencing and appropriation of imageries from respective textual traditions to reveal the embedded objectives. Subsequently, the paper will demonstrate the attainment of all these objectives with substantial institutional changes implemented by the state. Conclusively, both the embedded objectives and the institutional changes prove the early Tang state’s intention in formulating a discourse of asymmetrical pluralism.
author2 Nicholas Witkowski
author_facet Nicholas Witkowski
Tay, Yu Xuan
format Final Year Project
author Tay, Yu Xuan
author_sort Tay, Yu Xuan
title Emperor's delicate imbalance : a study on the imperial prefaces of Buddhist canon utilized by the early Tang state
title_short Emperor's delicate imbalance : a study on the imperial prefaces of Buddhist canon utilized by the early Tang state
title_full Emperor's delicate imbalance : a study on the imperial prefaces of Buddhist canon utilized by the early Tang state
title_fullStr Emperor's delicate imbalance : a study on the imperial prefaces of Buddhist canon utilized by the early Tang state
title_full_unstemmed Emperor's delicate imbalance : a study on the imperial prefaces of Buddhist canon utilized by the early Tang state
title_sort emperor's delicate imbalance : a study on the imperial prefaces of buddhist canon utilized by the early tang state
publisher Nanyang Technological University
publishDate 2021
url https://hdl.handle.net/10356/147244
_version_ 1761781293102661632