Jātaka, Purgatory, and Supernatural Stories (zhiguai)—On the Classicization of Buddhist Stories from the Perspective of Fa Yuan Zhu Lin

This presentation focuses on the collection Fa Yuan Zhu Lin compiled by the Tang Dynasty’s Buddhist scholar Daoshi, and explores the role of Fa Yuan Zhu Lin in the canonization of Buddhist stories, focusing on the Jātaka (Buddha’s past life stories), purgatory, and supernatural stories. The Jātaka stories can be divided into types such as treasure hunting in the sea, love, wit, socio-economic life, animals, etc. The hell stories include resurrection, hell travel, ghost stories and love between humans and ghosts, etc. The supernatural stories (Zhiguai) were originally unrelated to Buddhism and were also absorbed and utilized by Buddhism. These stories together constitute the surreal world of the story in Fa Yuan Zhu Lin.