Yang Gang and Christoph Anderl.

“Prognostication in Chinese Buddhist Historiographical

Texts: The Gaoseng zhuan and the Xu Gaoseng zhuan.” Acta Orientalia Academiae
Scientiarum Hung Volume 73 (1), 1–45 (2020).
DOI: 10.1556/062.2020.73.1.1.

The final digital version of the paper is downloadable from here:

https://akademiai.com/toc/062/0/0

Abstract: This paper explores topics and techniques of prognostication as recorded in medieval
Buddhist historical literature, with an emphasis on the Gāosēng zhuàn 高僧傳 (GSZ) and Xù
gāosēng zhuàn 續高僧傳 (XGSZ). The paper first provides a short survey of how prognostication
is treated in Chinese Buddhist translated texts. In these ‘canonical’ sources there is clear
ambiguity over the use of supernatural powers: on the one hand, such practices are criticized as
non-Buddhist or even heterodox; on the other, narratives on Śākyamuni’s former and present
lives as well as accounts of other buddhas, bodhisattvas, and the Buddha’s disciples abound with
descriptions of their special abilities, including knowledge of the future. In contrast, the GSZ and
XGSZ display a clear standpoint concerning mantic practices and include them as integral aspects
of monastics’ lives. The two texts articulate that the ability to predict the future and other
supernatural powers are natural by-products of spiritual progress in the Buddhist context. This
paper discusses the incorporation of various aspects of the Indian and Chinese traditions in
monastics’ biographies, and investigates the inclusion of revelations of future events (for
example, in dreams) and mantic techniques in these texts. In addition, it traces parallels to
developments in non-Buddhist literature and outlines some significant differences between the
GSZ and XGSZ.

Key words: Buddhist mantic practices; prognostication; divination techniques; Buddhist history
texts; Gāosēng zhuàn; Xù gāosēng zhuàn