THE wind, which had changed to the westward as soon as we had got through the Needles, became fair the next morn, and increasing gradually to a stiff breeze, enabled us to clear the Channel on the evening of the 15th, when Sophia Ford, a girl who had died the preceding day of a decline, was committed to the deep. The next day we lost sight of the Beggar's Benison in the morn, and although in every consideration it was highly desirable that the ships should continue together during their passage, yet, from a very unaccountable inattention on board the Calypso, that ship parted from us in the following night.

As the weather was very fine, and the Calypso had the advantage of the Hankey in sailing, no blame whatever could be attached to the master of the latter ship, the Calypso was lost sight of indeed almost in the wind's eye, so that it was ever in her power to bear down upon, and close with the Hankey.

The wind had hitherto been very moderate, but on the 19th it increased so much as to produce a sea which was very inconvenient to those unaccustomed to it, and the consequence was that most of the landmen, and all the women were sea sick; the latter, some of whom had infants at the breast, had been more than 24 hours without nourishment of any kind, and would have been so much longer if I had not undertaken to cook for them; for some, who would have relieved them if able, were labouring under the same disease; and the surgeon, whose more immediate duty it was to attend to them, was wholly destitute of feeling; he left to those, who had folly enough to feel, the charge of taking care of his patients; this certainly was not a very dignified employment, it was at least a useful one, and had I not undertaken it these poor women might have suffered much from hunger ere any other would have relieved them.

This book is an outgrowth of a research project I began in 2016 on Nuo theatre (Nuoxi) and Mulian theatre (Mulianxi), the two most representative forms of Chinese temple theatre. Mulianxi is the oldest living Buddhist ritual drama with more than nine hundred years of performance history. At the heart of Mulianxi is the myth of Mulian recusing his mother from Hell, which finds expression in almost all forms of traditional Chinese performance literature and performing arts including Xiqu or Chinese opera. As such, Mulianxi stands as a living testimony of the historical development of Xiqu from myth to ritual and from ritual drama to drama.

My search for the origins of the Mulian myth led me first to the Yulanpen jing or Yulanpen Sūtra, the earliest known Buddhist scripture that features Mulian as a filial son, a devout monk and an epic hero adventuring into Hell to save his mother. At the outset, I took the view widely held among scholars and students of Chinese Buddhism that the scripture was a Chinese Buddhist composition, but when I dug into Chinese Buddhist catalogues for its record alongside relevant Indic sources, Buddhist and non-Buddhist, I became suspicious. Indeed, the deeper I dug, the deeper suspicion I had of the widely held view. Thus, began my years of journey of exploring the Indic origins of the sūtra and the myth. The journey has now come to an end with this book.

Consisting of four chapters in addition to Introduction and Conclusion, the book starts with a quick survey of the history of Yulanpen/Zhongyuan/ Ghost Festival in China, followed by a brief introduction to its scriptural source, that is, the Yulanpen Sūtra, scholarly opinions on the authenticity/ inauthenticity of the sūtra, the central argument of the book and the strategy for developing the argument in the book. The last section of Introduction is a discussion and explanation of key terms such as ‘apocryphal scripture’, ‘doubtful scripture’, ‘(literal, free, creative, text-oriented and reader-oriented) translation’, ‘localisation’ and ‘sinicisation’, which constitute the basis for the development of the argument.

4.1 South Korea: Center or Periphery?

4.1.1 The role of Korea in Northeast Asia: A historical perspective

Historically, united Korea played the role of a regional balancer in Northeast Asia. Since the tenth century, the Korean states such as Goryeo (고려, 918–1392) and Joseon (조선, 1392–1910) had cultural, economic, political, and military engagements with the adjacent powers, including Chinese dynasties, the northern tribes—the Jurchens (Manchus), Khitans, and Mongols—and the Japanese. The Korean states deterred other powers from fully conquering Northeast Asia. For example, the Khitans occupied northern China in the tenth century and subsequently invaded Korea. In 1019, Korea defeated the Khitans (then the strongest military force in Northeast Asia) and destroyed much of their military in historic warfare, preventing their further invasion into China and creating a balance of power in the region. For another example, Japan invaded Korea in 1592 with an ambition to conquer China. After a seven-year-long war, Korea repelled the Japanese invaders with the help of a Chinese expeditionary force, thereby stopping Japan's advance into mainland China and once again maintaining the balance of power in the region.

Korea ceased acting as a regional deterrent when the Qing Empire defeated it in 1637. For the first time in Korean history, the King of Korea formally surrendered to the foreign invader and swore obedience to the Qing. The Joseon Dynasty internally recovered from this defeat, continuing for another two centuries, but Korea lost its military influence in the region. Without Korea as a regional deterrent, the buffer between China and Japan disappeared. Japan waged war against China in 1894 and again in 1937, putting Northeast Asia through years of destructive war. After World War II, Korea was divided into the communist North and the capitalist South, which led to the outbreak of the Korean War. South Korea was at the forefront of East-West confrontations and helped to stop the spread of communism by defending itself from the communist North. The war may have ceased in 1953, but South Korea's struggle with communism did not; for decades, the country withstood continued pressure from North Korea, including numerous military incursions and infiltrations.

Politically, Korea supported a political hierarchy in Northeast Asia described as Sinocentrism.

1.1 Northeast Asia: Economic and Strategic Importance

1.1.1 Economic rise of Northeast Asia

Northeast Asia, the region that encompasses China, Korea, Japan, Mongolia, and the southeast corner of Russia, is one of the world's most economically dynamic and strategically important regions.

Within 1,200 kilometers of Seoul, South Korea, a distance that can be covered by less than two hours of flight time, lie three national capitals that command over 20 percent of the world's population and nearly a quarter of the world's economy. The region's economic importance is unquestionable: two of the world's three largest economies (China and Japan) and three of the world's 10 largest exporters (China, Japan, and South Korea) are located in this region. By the end of World War II, Northeast Asia was among the poorest regions in the world; much of it laid in ruin as a result of the war's destruction. However, starting with the economic recovery of Japan in the 1950s, rapid economic development and successful industrialization of the constituent countries have turned this region into the world's premier economic powerhouse. North Korea, under its socialist economic system, showed rapid economic growth until the 1970s, although it met economic struggles and has been on a decline since the 1990s. South Korea, with its successful economic development drive beginning in the 1960s, became an advanced, industrialized economy and a major trader by the 1990s. China, under Deng Xiaoping's leadership advocating the “socialist market economy,” has also achieved phenomenal economic growth since the 1980s, becoming the second largest economy, next only to the United States, by 2010. Figures 1.2 and 1.3 illustrate the economic growth of Northeast Asian countries (China, Japan, and South Korea) vis-à-vis the United States.

The region is now known as the factory of the world and a bastion of new technologies and innovations. In the traditional manufacturing areas, such as steel, automobile, shipbuilding, electronics (including semiconduc-tors), and chemical, Northeast Asian countries, particularly China, South Korea, and Japan, make up substantial shares of global production. By 2021, China, Japan, and South Korea produced over 61 percent of the world's steel supply, over 44 percent of the world's automobiles, and over 94 percent of all ships (in tonnage). For electronics, Northeast Asia is home to the world's top five consumer electronics companies, as measured by revenue.

Maudgalyāyana features prominently both as a filial son and as a devout monk in the Yulanpen Sūtra. This Sūtra bears the compound word yulanpen in its title. The headword pen is a common noun in Chinese, meaning ‘basin’, ‘vessel’ or ‘bowl’, whereas its disyllabic dependent or modifier yulan does not make any sense in and of itself except understood as a transliteration of an Indic word that relates to the offering ritual performed on the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month, but it is not clear as to what is exactly meant by yulan in its Indic origin because of lack of the original text(s) of the Sūtra for reference.

Etymological Interpretations by Monk Scholars from Tang-Song China

Around the mid-seventh century, the Tang dynasty (618–907) monk scholar Xuanying (fl. 645) provided a detailed explanation of the word yulanpen in the Sounds and Meanings of All Scriptures in the Buddhist Canon (Yiqie jing yinyi, C056n1163_013):

Clearly, Monk Xuanying considers yulanpen or wulanpona not a native Chinese word but a transliteration of an Indic word or phrase, meaning ‘hanging upside down’.

The present book is the third in a series of collaborations, its two predecessors being:

• • Beyond Sets: A Venture in Collection-Theoretic Revisionism (Frankfurt: Ontos Verlag, 2010).

• • Reflexivity: From Paradox to Consciousness (Frankfurt: Ontos Verlag, 2012).

In this book, as in the others, a key philosophical concept (collectivity/totality, reflexivity/self-orientation, and in this case categoricity/sortalization) is subject to critical scrutiny and innovative exploration.

A great deal of water has flowed under the philosophical bridge since the tract on The Conception of Types in the Light of the Modern Logic (Der Typusbegriff im Lichte der Neuen Logik) by Carl G. Hempel and Paul Oppenheim (Leiden, 1936). This classic venture at renovating categorization in the heyday of logical positivism was predicated on now-outdated perspectives and requires updating in the wake of the wider horizons that subsequent philosophizing has opened up. The present deliberations represent an attempt to accommodate these broadened perspectives.

The authors are grateful to Estelle Burris for aid in preparing their text for publication.

A number of the lessons regarding categories that we have emphasized throughout also play a role in classical puzzles and paradoxes. We have attempted to counter a range of tempting philosophical conceptions of categories, arguing among other things that:

• • Categories are not set-like entities.

• • Categories typically carry the intentionality of their membership conditions rather than being defined purely extentionally in terms of membership.

• • Both categories and the similarity relations that travel with them can be essentially vague.

• • Categories function pragmatically in terms of salient purposes and interests, and their application can thus vary with different purposes and interests.

• • Categorical classifications need not form tree-like structures of exclusive and exhaustive sub-categories.

Each of these points appears again in a consideration of category mistakes and a range of paradoxes, in either classical or contemporary form:

• • The Sorites and its ancient kin: the Phalakros and the Millet Seed.

• • The Ship of Theseus, the Statue and the Clay, Dion and Theon and the Problem of 1,001 Cats.

• • The Sancho Panza Hanging Paradox and The Contract of Protagoras.

• • The Liar.

Paradox is often presented in terms of a set up followed with a final “gotcha” question:

• • Does a trio of sand grains constitute a heap or not?

• • Once we have replaced each plank, do we have the ship of Theseus or not?

• • Is this lump of clay a statue or not?

• • Is the Liar sentence true or not?

But the appropriate response is sometimes not an attempted “solution” in the terms in which the “gotcha” question is phrased but a rejection of the question and perhaps the entire setup. For the paradoxes we will survey, the proper is often “The question, and perhaps the entire set up, is based on a misunderstanding of the nature of the categories in terms of which it is phrased.” For a range of classical paradoxes, such an approach allows us to characterize fairly precisely what that categorical misunderstanding amounts to, even if it doesn't always offer the kind of solution that the “gotcha” question seems to demand.

Our aim is to point out the crucial role that categories play – and that our assumptions regarding the nature of the categories play – in creating these puzzles in the first place. Although our analysis may at times implicitly suggest a, what we have to offer need not stand or fall with so ambitious a goal.

An Arc of History

Our concern is with categories in general, including chemical categories, biological categories, color categories, social and cultural categories, even mystery categories and categories of fictional entities. But much of the philosophical history regarding the nature of categories in general is buried beneath a history focused on a very specific set of categories: the categories, envisaged in a universal classification as the highest kinds or genera. A range of alternative and conf licting proposals as to which are the categories in this sense stretches from Aristotle through Kant and Husserl to the present.

Which are the highest categories is a topic of controversy, both historical and contemporary. We have also noted the ancient debate (as old at least as Porphyry) as to whether the categories are (mere) human contrivances or reflect objective differences in the nature of things via natural kinds. The philosophical history reveals a range of different approaches to the nature of categories – envisaged alternatively as metaphysical, epistemic, linguistic, or pragmatic. But it also reveals an intriguing trail of development through these approaches. In broad strokes, the history of categorytheorizing exhibits an increasing naturalization. We will trace that trail of changing interpretations of the categories through exemplars in Aristotle, Avicenna, the Ramist Revolt, Locke, Kant, Peirce, Frege, Husserl, and Ryle to contemporary debates.

The two central areas of debate, both historically and in contemporary guise, are debates as to which the categories are and to what they are. The lesson we draw from history is that both areas of controversy reflect deep philosophical mistakes. One mistake is the presupposition that there is some unique and ultimate set that are the categories. Another is the mistaken assumption that categories must fall to one side or the other of a false metaphysical/epistemic divide.

Aristotle

Aristotle was equivocal as to whether categories are about language or about reality. But this is understandable, given that our informative talk about things is an endeavor to make manifest what things actually are, adequatio ad rem: “approximation to reality” usually taken as “correspondence to fact.” All of the Aristotelian categories indicate different aspects of what something is or does.

Aristotle's interpreters are not unanimous with regard to the nature and function of his Categories. But his main Anglo-Saxon expositors have approached the matter from an epistemic point of view.

3.1 The Rise of China: From a Historical Perspective

3.1.1 China and Northeast Asia in a historical context

Throughout history, China has maintained a dominant presence in Northeast Asia. Its size, massive population, unmatched resources, and profound cultural influence have largely defined the political, economic, and social dynamics of Northeast Asia. China went through a turbulent time since the mid-nineteenth century, enduring foreign invasions, a civil war, economic deprivation, and the destructive Cultural Revolution. However, since the late 1970s, China has undertaken economic reforms and achieved remarkable economic development, providing significant economic opportunities for all of the other constituent countries in Northeast Asia. China's successful economic development has also strengthened its global and regional political influence to the extent that its policies now have a profound impact on political, economic, and military dynamics in Northeast Asia. This chapter examines whether the rise of China in recent decades will lead to a new political paradigm for the region and how its political governance influences sustainable peace in Northeast Asia. The first part of the chapter discusses its historical context.

China's history reveals several important characteristics: continued expansion of its territorial, political, and cultural parameters; extraordinary capacity to endure foreign rule (when invaded and conquered); influence over foreign rulers and the ability to assimilate foreign conquerors; sustained domination through a combination of warfare and appeasement; and a strong drive to unify the Chinese states (when divided). Other great powers have shown some of these characteristics; for example, the United States underwent a civil war after disallowing the South to secede in 1861. However, in the case of China, these factors have worked to reinforce and sustain its control in the region. China's history demonstrates its immense expansion: an early Chinese state, the Zhou (周) Dynasty (1046 BC–256 BC), occupied a smaller part of present-day China as shown in Figure 3.1.

The Zhou Dynasty maintained a feudal system that allowed regional rulers’ substantial political autonomy and was split into several autonomous states. One of such autonomous states, the Qin Dynasty (秦, 9th century BC–206 BC), conquered the other Chinese states, creating the first Chinese Empire in 221 BC.

While the Qin's unification of China marks the beginning of China's history as East Asia's dominant power, it took another several centuries before China prevailed over Northeast Asia.

AT the bottom, or east end, of that immense harbour formed by continental islands on the north, and the Bijuga Archipelago on the south, and at the mouth of the Rio Grande, in the 11th degree of north latitude, is the island of Bulama. A small island, at its north-east point, is separated from the Biafara shore, by a narrow branch of the sea, not exceeding 200 yards, and the channel between this small island and Bulama affords a passage for boats at half tide, but not at low water; the whole east side of the island forms, with the Biafara shore, a remarkably fine harbour of about two miles in width, with water in every part of it for the largest ships, within a cable's length of the beach; and in all places a good clear bottom; its S.E. side confines the waters of the Rio Grande, whose embouchure is considered to be between the south point of this island, and Tombaly point on the Naloo coast; the west side of the island is separated from that of Galenas on the eastern edge of the Bijuga cluster, by a good broad channel with very deep water; the north side is bordered by extensive shoals which extend all the way to the island of Arcas. This island, I conceive to be about seven leagues in length, its breadth various, from five to two leagues; the land rises gradually, generally speaking, from the shore, to the moderate height of about 50 feet above the level of the sea, and appears to be covered with wood, though there are some natural savannahs in it, and some places cleared by its former inhabitants, or late Bijuga lords; the soil is every where rich and prolific, and affords ample pasturage to innumerable elephants, buffaloes, deer, and other wild animals which graze on its surface; the sea, which surrounds it, is sheltered from violent agitation in every direction, and abounds with excellent fish of various kinds; in short here reigns abundance of every thing requisite to the comforts of savage life.

Its general appearance is that of the most luxuriant vegetation. It seems to have been produced in one of nature's happiest moods.

WHEN I quitted the Hankey on the morning of the 5th, I had left a quiet, clean, healthy, and orderly ship, the colonists contented and in good spirits; but when I returned on the 7th, I found a noisy, dirty, disorderly ship, the colonists dissatisfied and dispirited. That such a change could have been operated in so short a time was scarcely credible, but such was the effect of the Calypso's rejunction. The fever, from which the Hankey was still free, had already made its appearance in the former ship; and, instead of separating the infected from the well, and taking any steps to prevent the spreading of that dangerous disease, by prohibiting any unnecessary intercourse between the two ships, the whole time, since the arrival of the Calypso, had been taken up in the constant interchange of visits: nay, the affected themselves, the very persons who had the fever on them at the time, had been actually on board the Hankey; and the consequence was that many days did not elapse before the fever made its appearance in that ship also.

Nothing was heard but mutual reproaches from the people of the Calypso. The colonists accused the members of the council, in that ship, of a want of attention to their comfort and accommodation; they were tired with the length of the voyage, irritated with sickness, the loss of their associates, and the disappointment of their hopes; and became extremely dissatisfied with their situation.

The members of the council, on the contrary, attributed their principal misfortune to the unruly and disobedient conduct of the colonists; these general and reciprocal complaints, produced, in the minds of a few, contempt; but in the majority of the colonists, despondency.

The first object after the junction of the ships was the redemption of our women and children. For this purpose I returned the same evening to Bissao, to negociate with Mr. de Sylva Cordoza, the mode of affecting their ransom; which he readily undertook to accomplish, by dispatching some of his grumetas in a sloop, to the Isle of Canabac,i (whither they had been carried) with a proper assortment of goods.

8.1 Deciphering the Historical, Cultural, Political, and Economic Codes of Northeast Asia

8.1.1 Contextual inquiry

Northeast Asia exhibits complex political, military, and economic dynamism that generates conflicts—often in a manner not easily comprehensible to those unaware of the region's historical, cultural, political, and economic contexts. For example, both South Korea and Japan are close U.S. allies, sharing common values, such as democracy, the rule of law, civil freedoms, and basic human rights. Both countries also form a cooperative security platform with the United States against North Korea (and potentially China and Russia), although South Korea and Japan are not officially “allies.” Yet, intense political and economic tensions have existed between South Korea and Japan over several issues including the comfort women issue, trade conflict (e.g., Japan's restrictive export measure imposed in response to the South Korean court order requiring compensation for forced labor during World War II), and the territorial dispute over the Dokdo Islands. Those who are not aware of the relevant contexts might wonder why two advanced Northeast Asian democracies and close U.S. allies—South Korea and Japan—have been unable to resolve these issues for several decades, creating intense ten-sions not only for themselves but also for the region.

Another example is the statement made by China's Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, in his recent meeting with the South Korean foreign minister, reportedly calling the United States a rule breaker and suggesting that each country must stand up to the United States, when he must have known that South Korea, one of the closest U.S. allies, would be unlikely to join China in such an action. Again, for outsiders, Wang Yi's comment raises a contextual inquiry as to what relationship he presumed exists between South Korea and China that could take precedence over the strong alliance between South Korea and the United States. To understand these seemingly incomprehensible calls to action and long-standing tensions, it is necessary to identify and decipher the historical, political, cultural, and economic “codes” of Northeast Asia that cause, at times, unexpected moves affecting peace and stability in the region.

8.1.2 Nationalism and economic development

The first such code to decipher is “nationalism,” which promotes the interests of a nation (however it is defined) and its political independence. Historically, Korea, Mongolia, China, and Japan all strived for their national preservation and independence, often against each other.

THAT part of the western coast of Africa, lying between the rivers Grande and Gambia, and comprized within the 11th and 13th degrees and 20th minute of north latitude, is not formed by the main land or continent, but by a long chain of low, and fertile, islands, separated from each other, and from the continent, by narrow, navigable, branches of the sea.

On the northernmost of these islands is the Cape of St. Mary, which forms the southern headland to the entrance of the river Gambia; hence the coast runs nearly south, along five islands, for about 24 leagues, to Cape Roxo, whence it takes nearly an E.S.E. direction along four other islands, for about 45 leagues, when we arrive at the island of Bulama, situated at the mouth of the river Grande. Thus between the mouths of these two rivers the sea coast is formed by ten islands in an extent of 69 leagues, or rather more than 200 geographical miles.

The continent between these two latitudes, is bounded on the north by the river Gambia, which is navigable by large vessels for near 80 leagues, and by small ones, to the falls of Barraconda, more than 300 miles from its mouth; the river Grande is its southern boundary, which is navigable by ships to Bulola 72 miles from its entrance; how much higher, by boats, is not exactly known the Gambia and high mountains are its eastern, and the islands before-mentioned its western, limit. Few countries of equal extent seem better adapted for commerce and for defence; three sides, and the largest part of the fourth, being embraced by the sea and two great rivers, and the remainder guarded by high mountains. Numerous rivers, rivulets, and creeks, dividing, intersecting, and watering its western part, and thus facilitating its communication and commerce, seem to point it out as a most eligible spot for European colonization.