Editing Bodhidharma (section)

== Modern scholarship ==
Bodhidharma has been the subject of critical scientific research, which has shed new light on the traditional stories about Bodhidharma.

=== Biography as a hagiographic process ===
According to John McRae, Bodhidharma has been the subject of a [[Hagiography|hagiographic process]] which served the needs of Chan Buddhism. According to him, it is not possible to write an accurate biography of Bodhidharma:

{{blockquote|It is ultimately impossible to reconstruct any original or accurate biography of the man whose life serves as the original trace of his hagiography – where "trace" is a term from Jacques Derrida meaning the beginningless beginning of a phenomenon, the imagined, but always intellectually unattainable, origin. Hence any such attempt by modern biographers to reconstruct a definitive account of Bodhidharma's life is both doomed to failure and potentially, no different in intent from the hagiographical efforts of premodern writers.{{sfn|McRae|2003|p=24}}}}

McRae's standpoint accords with Yanagida's standpoint: "Yanagida ascribes great historical value to the witness of the disciple Tanlin, but at the same time, acknowledges the presence of 'many puzzles in the biography of Bodhidharma'". Given the present state of the sources, he considers it impossible to compile a reliable account of Bodhidharma's life.{{sfn|Dumoulin|Heisig|Knitter|2005|p=89}}

Several scholars have suggested that the composed image of Bodhidharma depended on the combination of supposed historical information on various historical figures over several centuries.{{sfn|McRae|2003|p=25}} Bodhidharma as a historical person may even never have actually existed.{{sfn|Chaline|2003|pp=26–27}}

=== Origins and place of birth ===
Dumoulin comments on the three principal sources. The Persian heritage is doubtful, according to Dumoulin: "In the ''Description of the Lo-yang temple'', Bodhidharma is called a Persian. Given the ambiguity of geographical references in writings of this period, such a statement should not be taken too seriously."{{sfn|Dumoulin|Heisig|Knitter|2005|p=89-90}} Dumoulin considers Tanlin's account of Bodhidharma being "the third son of a great Brahman king" to be a later addition, and finds the exact meaning of "South Indian Brahman stock" unclear: "And when Daoxuan speaks of origins from South Indian Brahman stock, it is not clear whether he is referring to roots in nobility or to India in general as the land of the Brahmans."{{sfn|Dumoulin|Heisig|Knitter|2005|p=90}}

These Chinese sources lend themselves to make inferences about Bodhidharma's origins. "The third son of a Brahman king" has been speculated to mean "the third son of a Pallava king".{{sfn|Kambe|2012}} Based on a specific pronunciation of the Chinese characters 香至 as Kang-zhi, meaning "fragrance extreme",{{sfn|Kambe|2012}} Tsutomu Kambe identifies 香至 to be [[Kanchipuram]], an old capital town in the state [[Tamil Nadu]], [[India]]. According to Tsutomu Kambe, "Kanchi means 'a radiant jewel' or 'a luxury belt with jewels', and puram means a town or a state in the sense of earlier times. Thus, it is understood that the '香至-Kingdom' corresponds to the old capital 'Kanchipuram'."{{sfn|Kambe|2012}}

Acharya Raghu, in his work 'Bodhidharma Retold', used a combination of multiple factors to identify Bodhidharma from the state of [[Andhra Pradesh]] in South India, specifically to the geography around Mt. Sailum or modern day [[Srisailam]].{{sfn|Acharya|2017|p={{page needed|date=March 2023}}}}

The [[Pakistan]]i scholar [[Ahmad Hasan Dani]] speculated that according to popular accounts in Pakistan's northwest, Bodhidharma may be from the region around the [[Peshawar]] valley, or possibly around modern Afghanistan's eastern border with Pakistan.<ref>See Dani, AH, 'Some Early Buddhist Texts from Taxila and Peshawar Valley', Paper, Lahore SAS, 1983; and 'Short History of Pakistan' Vol 1, original 1967, rev ed 1992, and 'History of the Northern Areas of Pakistan' ed Lahore: Sang e Meel, 2001</ref>

=== Caste ===
In the context of the [[Caste system in India|Indian caste system]], the mention of "Brahman king"{{sfn|Dumoulin|Heisig|Knitter|2005|p=89}} acquires a nuance. Broughton notes that "king" implies that Bodhidharma was of a caste of warriors and rulers.{{sfn|Broughton|1999|p=2}} Brahman is, in western contexts, easily understood as Brahmana or [[Brahmin]], which means ''priest''.

=== Name ===
According to tradition, Bodhidharma was given this name by his teacher, known variously as Panyatara, [[Prajnatara]], or Prajñādhara.{{sfn|Eitel|Takakuwa|1904}} His name prior to monkhood is said to have been Jayavarman.<ref name=Krishna>{{cite book| title=Bodhidharma: Kata Awal adalah Kata Akhir |author=Anand Krishna |year=2005 |publisher=Gramedia Pustaka Utama |language=id |isbn=979-22-1771-1}}</ref>

Bodhidharma is associated with several other names, and is also known by the name Bodhitara. Faure notes that:
{{blockquote|Bodhidharma's name appears sometimes truncated as Bodhi, or more often as Dharma (Ta-mo). In the first case, it may be confused with another of his rivals, [[Bodhiruci]].{{sfn|Faure|1986}}}}

Tibetan sources give his name as "Bodhidharmottara" or "Dharmottara", that is, "Highest teaching (dharma) of enlightenment".{{sfn|Goodman|Davidson|1992|p=65}}

=== Abode in China ===
Buswell dates Bodhidharma's abode in China approximately at the early 5th century.{{sfn|Buswell|2004|pp=57, 130}} Broughton dates Bodhidharma's presence in Luoyang to between 516 and 526, when the temple referred to—Yongning Temple ({{lang|zh|永寧寺}}), was at the height of its glory.{{sfn|Broughton|1999|p=55}} Starting in 526, Yǒngníngsì suffered damage from a series of events, ultimately leading to its destruction in 534.{{sfn|Broughton|1999|p=138}}

=== Shaolin boxing ===
The idea that Bodhidharma founded martial arts at the Shaolin Temple was spread in the 20th century.{{sfn|Henning|1994}}{{sfn|Henning|Green|2001|p=129}} Martial arts historians have shown that this legend stems from a 17th-century [[qigong]] manual known as the ''[[Yijin Jing]]'' ("Muscle Change Classic,"{{sfn|Lin|1996|p=183}} "Sinews Transformation's Classic"{{sfn|Shahar|2008|p=163-172}}).{{sfn|Lin|1996|p=183}}{{sfn|Shahar|2008|p=163-172}} While the Shaolin-minks attributed the origins of their fighting-skills to [[Vajrapani]],{{sfn|Shahar|2008|pp=171}} the daoist author of the ''Yijin Jing'' wrongly assumed that the monks attributed these skills to Bodhidharma, due to the daoist tradition of attributing ''daoyin'' gymnastics to Bodhidharma, and the influence of Buddhism on Daoist meditation techniques.{{sfn|Shahar|2008|pp=172}} The preface of this work says that Bodhidharma left behind the ''Yi Jin Jing'', and further states that the monks obtained the fighting skills which made them gain some fame from this manual.{{sfn|Lin|1996|p=183}}{{efn|name="Yi Jin Jing"}}

The attribution of the ''Yijin Jing'' to Bodhidharma has been discredited early on,{{sfn|Shahar|2008|pp=165–173}} and is also rejected by historians like Tang Hao, Xu Zhen, and Matsuda Ryuchi. According to Lin Boyuan, "This manuscript is full of errors, absurdities, and fantastic claims; it cannot be taken as a legitimate source."{{sfn|Lin|1996|p=183}}{{efn|name="Yi Jin Jing"}}

The composition of the text itself has been dated to 1624,{{sfn|Lin|1996|p=183}} while the oldest available copy was published in 1827.{{sfn|Ryuchi|1986}} In the 19th century, when the ''Yijin Jing'' became popular in military circles, and the Shaolin monks started to use it, the Shaolin martial tradition became gradually associated with Bodhidharma.{{sfn|Shahar|2008|pp=172}} The association of Bodhidharma with martial arts only became widespread as a result of the 1904–1907 serialization of the novel ''The Travels of Lao Ts'an'' in ''Illustrated Fiction Magazine'',{{sfn|Henning|1994}} which incorporated this newly developed attribution of Shaolin martial arts to Bodhidharma.{{sfn|Shahar|2008|pp=173}} According to Henning, the "story is clearly a twentieth-century invention," which "is confirmed by writings going back at least 250 years earlier, which mention both Bodhidharma and martial arts but make no connection between the two."{{sfn|Henning|Green|2001|p=129}}{{efn|name="Shaolin_kungfu"}}