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.)

"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

Table of Contents

1 Bodily care practices and objects 3 -- 1.1 From India to China 4 -- 1.2 Material culture 5 -- 1.3 Monastic and lay people 6 -- 1.4 Beyond daily life 6 -- 2 Overview of sources 9 -- 2.1 The monastic context 9 -- 2.2 The lay world 16 -- 3 Outline of chapters 18 -- Notes 20 -- I Bathing Facilities 27 -- 1 Bathing practices in vinaya texts 28 -- 1.1 Bathing facilities in the monastic compound 31 -- 1.2 Assisting a teacher in the bathhouse 32 -- 1.3 Sutra On Bathing Monks in the Bathhouse 33 -- 2 Bathing facilities in Chinese vinaya commentaries and disciplinary guidelines 35 -- 2.1 Practical rules on how to make and use bathing facilities 35 -- 2.2 Bathing facilities for Chinese vinaya masters 37 -- 2.3 Bathing practices in Yijing's travel account 40 -- 3 A new genre develops: qing gui 'rules of purity' 42 -- 4 Concluding remarks: monks, laymen and soap 46 -- 4.1 Laymen and monks 47 -- 4.2 Bathhouses and soap 49 -- Notes 52 -- II Toilet Facilities 67 -- 1 Toilet practices in vinaya texts 67 -- 1.1 Pratimoksa rules on toilet practices 67 -- 1.2 Practical rules relating to how to make and use toilet facilities 69 -- 1.3 Toilet practices in vinaya texts: concluding remarks 73 -- 2 Toilet habits in Chinese vinaya commentaries and disciplinary guidelines 74 -- 2.1 Practical rules on how to make and use toilet facilities 74 -- 2.2 Toilet care for Chinese vinaya masters 76 -- 2.3 Toilet habits in Yijing's travel account 79 -- 3 A new genre develops: qing gui 'rules of purity' 81 -- 4 Concluding remarks: pigsties, paper and wiping sticks 84 -- 4.1 Toilets and toilet habits in first-millennium China 88 -- Notes 94 -- III Cleaning the Mouth and Teeth 109 -- 1 Dental care in the vinaya texts 109 -- 1.1 Why clean one's teeth? 110 -- 1.2 The benefits of using tooth wood 111 -- 1.3 How to make tooth wood 112 -- 1.4 How to use tooth wood 112 -- 1.5 What if tooth wood does not solve the problem? 113 -- 1.6 Are there any alternatives? 113 -- 1.7 Concluding remarks 114 -- 2 Dental care in Chinese disciplinary texts 114 -- 2.1 Great (Sutra) of Three Thousand Dignified Observances of a Monk 114 -- 2.2 Dental care as described by Chinese vinaya masters 116 -- 3 Concluding remarks: paste, brushes and tooth wood 119 -- 3.1 Oral hygiene practices in early imperial China, the yangsheng tradition 120 -- 3.2 Tools used in oral hygiene 123 -- Notes 126 -- IV Shaving the hair and trimming the nails 137 -- 1 Hair and nails in Buddhist disciplinary texts 137 -- 1.1 Concluding remarks 140 -- 2 Shaving and trimming in early Chinese disciplinary texts 141 -- 2.1 Shaving the hair as an identity marker 141 -- 2.2 Chinese vinaya masters: taking care of hair and nails 143 -- 3 Concluding remarks: identity, beauty and cleanliness 151 -- 3.1 Hair care in lay society 151 -- 3.2 Attitudes to nails 155 -- Notes 157