Christianity as Model and Analogue in the Formation of the ‘Humanistic’ Buddhism of Tài X? and Hs?ng Yún

Bibliographic Data

ID11468875
AuthorsYu-Shuang Yao (Fo Guang University), Richard Gombrich (Oxford Centre for Mission Studies)
Year2018
Volume34
Issue2
Pages205-237
Publication date2018-01-19
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueBuddhist Studies Review (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0265-2897 • E-ISSN: 1747-9681
PublisherEquinox Publishing (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1558/bsrv.35392
OpenAlexW2790563041
LanguageEN
Citations received7

This article examines how modern Chinese Buddhism has been influenced by Christianity. For our purposes ‘modern Chinese Buddhism’ refers to a form of what has become known in the West as ‘Engaged Buddhism’, but in Chinese is known by titles which can be translated ‘Humanistic Buddhism’ or ‘Buddhism for Human Life’. This tradition was initiated on the Chinese mainland between the two World Wars by the monk Tài X?, and Part one of the article is devoted to him. Since the communist conquest of China, its main branches have flourished in Taiwan, whence two of them have spread worldwide. The most successful, at least in numerical terms, has been Fo Guang Shan (‘Buddha’s Light Mountain’), founded by a personal disciple of Tài X?, Hsing Yun, now very old, and it is on this movement that we concentrate in Parts two and three. We differentiate between conscious imitation and analogous development due to similar social circumstances, and show how Protestant Christianity and Roman Catholicism have had different effects. In Part four, we examine Fo Guang Shan as a missionary religion

Ancient history · Archaeology · Buddhism · China · Chinese culture · Christianity · Gautama Buddha · Humanism · Mainland China · Protestantism · Theology · Chinese history and philosophy · History · Japanese History and Culture · Philosophy · Religious studies · Vietnamese History and Culture Studies

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