A Critique and Discussion of the View That Shi Miyuan Proposed the Five-Mountain, Ten-Monastery System

When Japan, during the Kamakura (1180-1333) and Muromachi (1336-1573) periods, imported Zen 禪 Buddhism from Song (960-1279) and Yuan (1279- 1368) China, it not only continually dispatched Zen monks on pilgrimages to China to seek materials for transmitting sectarian doctrine, but also introduced Zen temple architecture and monastic discipline to Japan, established the Five Mountain, Ten Monastery 五山十剎 system of government temples, and developed Five Mountain 五山 literature. This system of government temples is believed to have imitated the Song system of government temples of the same name. Moreover, it is the best example of Sino-Japanese cultural interaction in the field of Buddhism. In contrast with the ample materials we have on the operation of the Japanese system of the Five Mountain, Ten Monastery government temples, we lack sufficient materials to determine the time and impetus of the Song system of Five Mountain, Ten Monastery government temples and are at a loss to give a detailed accurate account of the Song system. Among the many views in circulation, the view most accepted by modern scholars is that Shi Miyuan 史彌遠 proposed to the court to establish this system of government temples during the reign of Emperor Ningzong (r. 1194-1224) of the Southern Song dynasty. But this theory comes down to us from Song Lian 宋濂 (1310-1381) of the early Ming dynasty, and no Song or Yuan sources mention this matter. Moreover, no Japanese Five Mountain Zen monks touch on this matter in any of their writings. Hence, whether Shi Miyuan actually proposed this system of government temples is a topic worth revisiting. This paper discusses whether Shi Miyuan proposed the Five Mountain, Ten Monastery system from the vantage point of materials related to Shi Miyuan and observations of Japanese Zen monks, and it reaches the conclusion that it is not credible that Shi Miyuan proposed the system to the court.