The Buddhist I-Ching and the Tibetan Image of Confucius

Buddhist tradition

The depictions of Kong tse 'phrul gyi rgyal po (i.e. the Tibetan name of the Chinese sage Confucius) in the Tibetan literature of the Buddhist tradition are found mainly in the context of Sino-Tibetan divination (nag rtsis). The Sino-Tibetan divination is said to have originated in China.

Fascinating passages in Tibetan literature show how Tibetans relate China with divination and Buddhism. According to bShad mdzod yid bzhin nor bu (The Treasury of Sayings, the Wish-Fulfilling Gem), which was probably written in the sixteenth century, the element-divination ('byung rtsis) appears in China in the following circumstances:

"Since the (people living on the] land of the Chinese king cling overtly to the heretic knowledge, they do not involve in the Dharma of the Bhagavan. To this [observable fact], [the Buddha) prophecied to Mañjusri by saying that ‘Since the (people living on the] land of China will not believe in my Dharma of the ultimate reality and the elements of the conventional reality are included in the science of calculation, Mañjusri! Subdue them with your (knowledge of the science of] calculation!'"

Mañjusri, the Bodhisattva symbolizing wisdom, was assigned by Buddha to subdue the Chinese by means of the science of calculation (rtsis), because the Chinese are fond of heretic knowledge rather than Buddhist teachings. Therefore, the narration which follows the above citation portrayed how Mañjusri emerged from a gold-colored lotus in a lake situated on the eastern side of the Chinese sacred mountain Wutai shan 五台山 (Tibetan name: ri bo rtse lnga) and the appearance of a divinational turtle. These all aimed at subduing the Chinese people. At the same time, the science of divination was adopted into the scope of Buddhism. This was undertaken by way of corresponding the terms of element-divination with the Buddhist concepts, e.g. the five elements ('byung ba lnga) to the five wisdoms (ye shes lnga); the eight spar kha to the "Eight-fold Noble Path" ('phags pa'i lam brgyad); the nine sme ba to the "Nine stages of vehicles" (theg pa rim dgu); the twelve year-cycles (lo skor bcu gnyis) to the twelve deeds of Buddha (mdzad pa bcu gnyis); the twelve months (zla ba bcu gnyis) to the twelve links of interdependent arising (rten 'brel bcu gnyis); the eight planets (gza' chen brgyad) to the eight collections of conciousnesses (rnam par shes pa tshogs brgyad); the 28 constellations (rgyu skar nyi shu rtsa brgyad) to the 28 Ishvaris (dbang phyug ma nyi shu rtsa brgyad) etc. Mañjusri's instruction in the element-divination ('byung rtsis) was given upon the request of several groups of supernatural beings. After the requests of such groups led respectively by the goddess lHa mo rnam rgyal ma, the king of Nagas Klu rgyal 'jog po sbrul mgo bdun pa and the Brahman Bram ze gser kya, Kong tse 'phrul gyi rgyal po together with three other kings of magic ('phrul gyi rgyal po) also asked for instruction in elementdivination from Mañjusri. In a reply, Mañjusri expounded 31 tantra sections of element-divination as well as 360 gab rtse. The term gab rtse, which appears quite often in passages relating to Kong tse 'phrul gyi rgyal po in Bonpo literature, comes into sight along with "element-divination" ('byung rtsis) in bShad mdzod yid bzhin nor bu. In later Buddhist literature, "gab rtse" disappears and "element-divination" ('byung rtsis) is often replaced by its equivalence "Sino-Tibetan divination" (nag rtsis). Nevertheless, every now and then "'byung rtsis" is still used. According to the 5th Dalai Lama Ngag dbang blo bzang rgya mtsho (1617-1682), after Mañjusri handed down the Sino-Tibetan divination in Wutai shan, the teaching prospered in China. Texts of Chinese divination were brought to Tibet first by Princess Wencheng, the Chinese wife of Srong btsan sgam po. By applying the concepts which Mañjusri passed on to Kong rtse 'phrul gyi rgyal po as foundation of calculation, like those of year (lo), month (zla), day (zhag), time (dus tshod), "vital force" (srog), "body" (lus), "prosperity" (dbang thang), "fortune" (rlung rta), spar kha, sme ba, etc., diverse calculations were developed in Tibet. The proposition that Mañjusri handed down the knowledge of calculation to Kong tse 'phrul gyi rgyal po is modified by the regent of the 5th Dalai Lama sde srid Sangs rgyas rgya mtsho (1653-1705) in his monumental work about Tibetan science of calculation Baidurya dkar po (The White Beryl): "As to Kong tse 'phrul gyi rgyal po, by merely meeting [with Mañjusri) he understood spontaneously the 84000 dPyad and 360 gTo." In agreement with the above mentioned two works, Kong tse 'phrul gyi rgyal po also appears in a context of the transmission of element-divination in Bai rya dkar po. Yet his role as a student of element-divination changed in Sangs rgyas rgya mtsho's depiction. Instead of learning from Mañjusri by listening to his instruction of element-divination, Kong tse 'phrul gyi rgyal po knew how to perform the dPyad healing method and the gTo-ritual by merely seeing Mañjusri. gTo refers to a certain type of ritual performed to avoid or to eliminate disaster as well as to bring about luck and happiness. The meaning of dPyad is, according to the Bonpo tradition, related to medical treatment. The association of Kong tse 'phrul gyi rgyal po with gTo reminds us of the texts in Bonpo brTen 'gyur attributed to Kong tse/ Kong tse 'phrul rgyal. (.....)

Source

Excerpt from: The Tibetan Image of Confucius By Shen-yu Lin
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