The Monastic Institution in China

Monasticism as an institution was as foreign to China as Buddhism itself. The earliest time for which we have a positive record of a monastery is the late second century. ²³ For the convent, it is reasonable to consider the convent founded by Ching-chien (no. 1) in 317 to be the first, even though a sixth-century work, the Lo-yang ch'ieh-lan chi (A record of monasteries and convents in Lo-yang) suggests that there were some convents in Lo-yang prior to the sacking of the city. ²⁴ Ching-chien (no. 1) founded her convent in Ch'ang-an one year after the sacking of that city by the nomads.

The monastery and convent, on the positive side, provided an alternate family, a significant refuge during social upheaval. The Kao seng chuan (Lives of eminent monks) records that many boys entered the Assembly of Monks as orphans or as children of impoverished families. ²⁵ These reasons also appear in the Lives. Convents provided shelter for women who had no protection from father, husband, or son. Both the monastery and the convent served as social institutions of great importance in a time of necessity.

On the negative side was the conflict between the monasteries and the state. Hui-yüan had made it a principle that a monk does not bow to the emperor, meaning that the monastery was to be free from state jurisdiction. ²⁶ For the time being, Hui-yüan's view prevailed.

The convents, quite the contrary, had no independent status because of their bonds to the Assembly of Monks. Furthermore, when we compare the two assemblies as pictured in the two major biographical collections, the Lives and the Kao seng chuan, we find a major difference: both assemblies, when in the capital, were not free from the constant interference of the imperial state and of the nobility and aristocratic families. The Assembly of Nuns, however, was also subject to the monks. More important, monks were able to set up monasteries in the wilderness and in the seclusion of the mountains. Those who did so developed important centers of learning and monastic discipline. The assemblies of monks and nuns that stayed within the reach of the meddlesome aristocratic families and nobility often suffered a surfeit of donations and activities that could have disrupted and corrupted even the strictest of monasteries or convents. Nevertheless, even in the midst of social activities and interference, many nuns demonstrated holy lives and holy deaths.