The fifteenth-century illustrated compilation “Origins of the Śākyas” (Shishi yuanliu 釋氏源流) is considered the most important retelling of the life of the Buddha in late imperial China, yet its impact on Chinese (and East Asian) book culture has been surprisingly overlooked. Spanning four hundred episodes, presented in the “picture-above-text” format, Shishi yuanliu couples the life of the Buddha with a pseudo-historical survey of Chinese Buddhism from antiquity to the Yuan dynasty. The monk Baocheng who compiled Shishi yuanliu strove to create a grand vision of Buddhist teachings, rituals, and history that would be both comprehensive and accessible to a wide audience. In its vision of Chinese Buddhism as deeply rooted in the life story of its founder, it draws on the realms of genealogy, hagiography, and historiography, yet transcends all three genres. In this talk, I will discuss Shishi yuanliu vis-à-vis other Ming accounts of “origins” (yuanliu 源流 and chushen 出身) in daily-life encyclopaedias, hagiographic anthologies, and popular narratives (xiaoshuo 小說), arguing that Shishi yuanliu represents an important milestone in the development of Ming book culture beyond the realm of Buddhism.

Noga Ganany is an Associate Professor in Chinese Studies at the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom, and a Fellow of Sidney Sussex College. Her main research interests are Chinese cultural history, Chinese religions, premodern Chinese literature, history of the book, and popular culture. Her current book project, Origin Narratives: Hagiographic Literature and Religious Practice in Ming China, examines the interplay between cultic reverence and literary writing in a subgenre of illustrated books celebrating the life stories of gods, immortals, and popular cultural icons. Dr Ganany is a board member of the Society for the Study of Chinese Religions (SSCR) and a board member of the Society for Ming Studies.