Abstract

ABSTRACT This essay explores in depth one aspect of a topic that looms large in Song dynasty philosophy—the mutual interaction between Confucianism and Chan Buddhism. Under these reciprocal influences, both experience meaningful and definitive changes. This Song philosophical legacy became emblematic, and has remained so until now, of the Chinese way of thinking. Yü Ying-shih describes this exchange as a bi-directional development: “the process of Confucianization of Northern Song Buddhism,” in other words, “the process of becoming proficient as Confucian scholars undergone by Buddhist monks”; and “the influence of Chan Buddhism on the Confucian literati”. The present research focuses on the former and examines an original strategy that the Northern Song Chan scholar-monk Qisong契嵩 used in order to demonstrate the affinities between the two teachings: a particular interrelatedness between heart-mind and names.