Overview

What happens to Buddhist monks and nuns who commit crimes? Buddhism in Court is the first book to uncover an important, yet long-overlooked, Buddhist campaign for clerical legal privileges that aim to exempt monks and nuns from being tried and punished in the government courts. Liu reveals the campaign's origins in Indian Buddhism and how Chinese Buddhists' engagement reshaped Buddhism's place in the jurisdictional landscape in China from the fourth century to the present.Drawing on Buddhist monastic law texts, archives, court documents, Chinese laws, official histories, law case books, institutional announcements, and private writings circulated on social media, Buddhism in Court traces the legacy of the campaign for clerical legal privileges from its origin 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 transition between imperial and post-imperial China was marked only by disruption.

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9780197663332

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Buddhism in Court offers a fascinating picture of a side of the Buddhist tradition that has received little attention. In her lively narrative, Liu raises fascinating questions about the jurisdictional boundaries between religious institutions and the state and how those boundaries transformed and changed across and space. * James Robson, James C. Kralik and Yunli Lou Professor, Harvard University * This bold investigation of the Buddhist clergy's relationship to the state is a feat of comparative scholarship. It tracks how legal ideas from India travelled to China, where monastic attempts to evade state control resulted in novel institutional arrangements: hybrid courts administering hybrid law. What is more, Liu shows how this pattern continues in present-day China, despite the socialist state's claims to exclusive jurisdiction. An ambitious and critically insightful study. * Teemu Ruskola, Professor of East Asian Languages & Civilizations, University of Pennsylvania * Buddhism in Court is a major achievement in the study of Buddhist and law. Focusing on two foundational issues -clerical immunity and jurisdictional separation-Liu skilfully leads readers though a fascinating history of legal struggle and innovation, stretching from the early centuries of Buddhism in India to modern-day China. A must-read for anyone interested in religion and law in Asia, and beyond. * Benjamin Schonthal, Professor of Buddhist Studies & Asian Religions, University of Otago * What happens when Buddhist clerical law and the secular courtroom collide? Liu's ground-breaking, erudite, and impeccably researched study of church-state relations in India and China provides an answer. Along the way, Liu draws upon a prodigious range of Pali, Sanskrit, Tibetan, and Chinese sources, revealing an under-appreciated but critical side of Buddhist monastic life. The result is a must-read for the fields of Asian religious history and legal studies. * Robert Sharf, Chair, Numata Center for Buddhist Studies, University of California, Berkeley *

Author Information

Cuilan Liu is Assistant Professor in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Pittsburgh. Her research focuses on the intersection of Buddhism and the Law in China, Tibet, and India.

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