RT Article
T1 Re-examining The "Zhengming Jing": The Social and Political Life of an Apocryphal Maitreya Scripture
JF Journal of Chinese religions
VO 45
IS 1
SP 1
OP 18
A1 Hughes, April D.
LA English
PB Johns Hopkins University Press
YR 2017
UL https://www.ixtheo.de/Record/1570048622
AB This article investigates the Zhengming jing 證明經 (T. no. 2879) and its diverse functions, using the text as a case study for placing apocryphal scriptures in their social and political contexts. Examining the material properties of the manuscripts, as well as the various interests that the text served, the article argues that at least some practitioners understood the Zhengming jing as a typical Buddhist scripture. Moreover, comparison of the text with the canonical Maitreya scriptures shows that the author(s) of the Zhengming jing consciously blurred the lines between kingship and Buddhahood. This modification was particularly significant because it provided the basis for an apocryphal interpolation that helped validate the reign of Emperor Wu Zetian 武則天. By placing the Zhengming jing in these various contexts, the article demonstrates that apocryphal texts could serve as important sources of social and political authority in medieval Chinese Buddhism.
K1 Apocrypha
K1 Dunhuang
K1 indigenous scriptures
K1 Maitreya
K1 Wu Zetian
DO 10.1080/0737769X.2017.1287649