Stuart Young's new book, an examination of the Indian Buddhist patriarchs Aśvaghoṣa (Maming), Nāgārjuna (Longshu), and Āryadeva (Tipo), is a welcome contribution to the academic construction of Chinese Buddhist history. Rather than approaching Chinese sources as evidence of Indian historical realities, in this compelling new study Young examines the Indian patriarchs as figures constructed according to, and therefore reflective of, Chinese concerns. And rather than addressing these constructions in terms of Sinification, Young argues that it was the very fact of their perceived Indianness that rendered these men so compelling and important in the Chinese Buddhist landscape. In Young's reading, the shifting Chinese constructions of Aśvaghoṣa, Nāgārjuna, and Āryadeva serve as indices of the development of Chinese Buddhism from the fifth century through the tenth.
Theoretically, the book is informed by the concept of cultural repertoires, effectively introduced by Ann Swidler and popularized in the field of Asian religions by...