Shifting Shape, Shaping Text: Philosophy and Folklore in Fox Koan

Description

According to the "Fox Koan", the second case in the "Wu-men Kuan Koan" collection, Zen master Pai-chang encounters a fox who claims to be a former abbot punished through endless reincarnations for denying the efficacy of karmic causality. Most traditional interpretations of the "Koan" focus on the philosophical issue of causality in relation to earlier Buddhist doctrines, such as independent origination and emptiness. This text examines the "Fox Koan" in relation to philosophical and institutional issues facing the Ch'an/Zen tradition in both Sung China and medieval and contemporary Japan. The author integrates his own philological analysis of the "Koan", textual analysis of the "Koan" collections and related literary genres in T'ang and Sung China, folkelore studies, and research on monastic codes and institutional history to craft this work.