Huang's Contributions

In the introduction of the book, the author begins his discussion by calling attention to the death of Huang T’ing- chien and his commemorative writing that caused him troubles. He introduced an inscription Huang T’ing-chien, a famous scholar in Song dynasty, wrote for a rebuilt stupa at a Buddhist monastery where he had been staying. Halperin informs us that a temple commemoration could lead to losing job for an official. In the inscription, Huang criticized Song’s government, which was reported to the court and eventually led to Huang’s being purged and sending into exile to the south where he died. In some extent, Huang’s case reflects a catalyst on believing in Buddhism, which is being sent into exile. Those elites who are Jinshi, people
who passed the civil service exams, in Song dynasty believe in Buddhism after feeling wrong by the emperor. In fact, they fight against the cult imperial, one of three ideologies in Song. Although this kind of punishment on commemoration writer never becomes a norm in Song, Huang’s case reveals that the writers had their purposes before finishing a commemorative text to a monastery. However, different writers had different purposes, which finally form a community of commemoration writers in Song dynasty.