Pure mind in a clean body : : bodily care in the Buddhist monasteries of ancient India and China / / Ann Heirman & Mathieu Torck

• VerfasserIn: Heirman, Ann,; Torck, Mathieu,
• TeilnehmendeR: Heirman, Ann,; Torck, Mathieu,
• Place / Publishing House: Ghent, Belgium : : Ginkgo Academia Press,, 2012.
• Year of Publication: 2012
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 electronic resource (194 p.)
• Other title: Bodily care practices and objects; From India to China; Material culture; Monastic and lay people; Beyond daily life; Overview of sources; The monastic context; The lay world; Outline of chapters; Notes; Bathing Facilities; Bathing practices in vinaya texts; Bathing facilities in the monastic compound; Assisting a teacher in the bathhouse; Sutra On Bathing Monks in the Bathhouse; Bathing facilities in Chinese vinaya commentaries and disciplinary guidelines; Practical rules on how to make and use bathing facilities; Bathing facilities for Chinese vinaya masters; Bathing practices in Yijing's travel account; A new genre develops: qing gui; Concluding remarks: monks, laymen and soap; Laymen and monks; Bathhouses and soap; Toilet Facilities; Toilet practices in vinaya texts; Pratimoksa rules on toilet practices; Practical rules relating to how to make and use toilet facilities; Toilet practices in vinaya texts: concluding remarks; Toilet habits in Chinese vinaya commentaries and disciplinary guidelines; Practical rules on how to make and use toilet facilities; Toilet care for Chinese vinaya masters; Toilet habits in Yijing's travel account; Concluding remarks: pigsties, paper and wiping sticks; Toilets and toilet habits in first-millennium China; Cleaning the Mouth and Teeth; Dental care in the vinaya texts; Why clean one's teeth?; The benefits of using tooth wood; How to make tooth wood; How to use tooth wood; What if tooth wood does not solve the problem?; Are there any alternatives?; Concluding remarks; Dental care in Chinese disciplinary texts; Great (Sutra) of Three Thousand Dignified Observances of a Monk; Dental care as described by Chinese vinaya masters; Concluding remarks: paste, brushes and tooth wood; Oral hygiene practices in early imperial China, the yangsheng tradition; Tools used in oral hygiene; Shaving the hair and trimming the nails; Hair and nails in Buddhist disciplinary texts; Shaving and trimming in early Chinese disciplinary texts; Shaving the hair as an identity marker; Chinese vinaya masters: taking care of hair and nails; Concluding remarks: identity, beauty and cleanliness; Hair care in lay society; Attitudes to nails
• Bibliography: Includes bibliographical references and index.
• Hierarchical level: Monograph
• Statement of Responsibility: Ann Heirman & Mathieu Torck

"Buddhist monasteries, in both Ancient India and China, have played a crucial social role, for religious as well as for lay people. They rightfully attract the attention of many scholars, discussing historical backgrounds, institutional networks, or influential maters. Still, some aspects of monastic life have not yet received the attention they deserve. This book therefore aims to study some of the most essential, but often overlooked, issues of Buddhist life: namely, practices and objects of bodily care. For monastic authors, bodily care primarily involves bathing, washing, cleaning, shaving and triming the nails, activities of everyday life that are performed by lay people and moastics alike. In this sense, they are all highly recognizable and, while structuring monastic life, equally provide a potential bridge between two worlds that are constantly interacting with each other: monastic people and their lay followers. Bodily practices might by viewed as relatiely simple and elementary, but it is exactly through their triviality that they give us a clear insight into the structure and development of Buddhist monasteries. Over time, Buddhist monks and nuns have, through their painstaking effort into regulating bodily care, defined the identity of Buddhist saṃgha, overtly displaying it to the laity"--Back cover