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Author Liu, Cuilan, author

Title Buddhism in court : religion, law, and jurisdiction in China / Cuilan Liu
Published New York : Oxford University Press, 2024

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Description 1 online resource
Contents Introduction -- Part I. Indian Origins: 1. Litigation Ban -- 2. The Adulterous Wife's Sanctuary -- 3. Buddhist Killers at Large -- 4. Withered Orchid and Dead Ox -- Part II. In the Chinese Courtroom: 5. Hybrid Courts, Hybrid Laws -- 6. A Fallen Abbot -- 7. Dead Monks, Living Heirs -- Epilogue -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index
Summary "What happens to Buddhist monks and nuns who commit crimes? Buddhism in Court is the first book to uncover a long-overlooked Buddhist campaign for clerical legal privileges that aim to exempt monks and nuns from being tried and punished in the courtroom. It unveils this campaign's origins in Indian Buddhism and how Chinese Buddhists' engagement with it reshaped Buddhism's place in the jurisdictional landscape in China from the fourth century to the present. In Asia, the jurisdictional boundary between Buddhism and the state was never fixed. Buddhism in Court is the first study to examine the unique contribution of Chinese Buddhists in negotiating that boundary by creating what Cuilan Liu describes as "hybrid courts" and "hybrid laws" in the fourth century to deal exclusively with religious legal matters. Drawing on various pre-modern and contemporary primary sources in Chinese, Buddhism in Court traces the legacy of the campaign for clerical legal privileges from its origins in India to its transformation in China and its continuing impact in the Chinese courtroom to the present day. Diverting from the dynasty-centered approach to studying religion, law, and history in China, Buddhism in Court expands our understanding of this legacy of early Chinese Buddhism and challenges the notion that the passage between imperial and post-imperial China was one of disruption"-- Provided by publisher
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index
Notes Description based on online resource; title from digital title page (viewed on March 28, 2024)
Subject Buddhists -- Legal status, laws, etc. -- China
Buddhism and law -- China
Law -- Buddhist influences.
Criminals -- India.
Criminals -- China.
Crime -- Religious aspects -- Buddhism
Criminals
Justice, Administration of
Social services & welfare, criminology.
True Crime.
China
India
Genre/Form Electronic books
Form Electronic book
LC no. 2023056786
ISBN 9780197663356
0197663354
9780197663363
0197663362