| Contents |
Introduction -- Part I. Indian Origins: 1. Litigation Ban -- 2. The Adulterous Wife's Sanctuary -- 3. Buddhist Killers at Large -- 4. Withered Orchid and Dead Ox -- Part II. In the Chinese Courtroom: 5. Hybrid Courts, Hybrid Laws -- 6. A Fallen Abbot -- 7. Dead Monks, Living Heirs -- Epilogue -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index. |
| Abstract |
"What happens to Buddhist monks and nuns who commit crimes? Buddhism in Court is the first book to uncover a long-overlooked Buddhist campaign for clerical legal privileges that aim to exempt monks and nuns from being tried and punished in the courtroom. It unveils this campaign's origins in Indian Buddhism and how Chinese Buddhists' engagement with it reshaped Buddhism's place in the jurisdictional landscape in China from the fourth century to the present. In Asia, the jurisdictional boundary between Buddhism and the state was never fixed. Buddhism in Court is the first study to examine the unique contribution of Chinese Buddhists in negotiating that boundary by creating what Cuilan Liu describes as "hybrid courts" and "hybrid laws" in the fourth century to deal exclusively with religious legal matters. Drawing on various pre-modern and contemporary primary sources in Chinese, Buddhism in Court traces the legacy of the campaign for clerical legal privileges from its origins in India to its transformation in China and its continuing impact in the Chinese courtroom to the present day. Diverting from the dynasty-centered approach to studying religion, law, and history in China, Buddhism in Court expands our understanding of this legacy of early Chinese Buddhism and challenges the notion that the passage between imperial and post-imperial China was one of disruption"-- Provided by publisher. |
| Bibliography note | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| Access restriction | Available only to authorized users. |
| Technical details | Mode of access: World Wide Web |
| Genre/form | Electronic books. |
| LCCN | 2023056785 |
| ISBN | 9780197663332 (hardback) |
| ISBN | (epub) |
