Chinese Buddhist narratives of wonders: Recent studies and approaches

Abstract

Apart from their immediate religious import, the value of Chinese Buddhist narratives as alternative historical and documentary sources for understanding Buddhism and Chinese religion has not been appreciated until recently. Besides introducing early research on Chinese Buddhist narratives, this article focuses mainly on two recent studies of medieval Chinese Buddhist tales to illustrate how this body of indigenous literature could be an important source of religious history, providing information not found in normative canonical Buddhist writings. Both studies feature significant moves toward a more nuanced and interdisciplinary approach to this genre of Buddhist literature. They recognize the complex socio‐religious contexts in which the tales emerged and circulated, especially in relation to the role played by historical agents, which can be explored fruitfully in relation to the narratives through a combination of different methods.