Passing the Light: The Incense Light Community and Buddhist Nuns in Contemporary Taiwan

Yu, Chun-fang (著)=于君方 (au.)

著者

Yu, Chun-fang (著)=于君方 (au.)

出版年月日

2013

ページ

266

出版者

University of Hawai'i Press

出版サイト

http://www.uhpress.hawaii.edu/

出版地

Albany, NY, US [奧爾巴尼, 紐約州, 美國]

資料の種類

書籍=Book

言語

英文=English

抄録

The term “revival” has been used to describe the resurgent vitality of Buddhism in Taiwan. Particularly impressive is the quality and size of the nun’s order: Taiwanese nuns today are highly educated and greatly outnumber monks. Both characteristics are unprecedented in the history of Chinese Buddhism and are evident in the Incense Light community (Xiangguang). Passing the Light is the first in-depth case study of the community, which was founded in 1974 and remains a small but influential order of highly educated nuns who dedicate themselves to teaching Buddhism to lay adults.

The work begins with a historical survey of Buddhist nuns in China, based primarily on the sixth-century biographical collection Lives of the Nuns and stories of nuns in subsequent centuries. This is followed by discussions on the early history of the Incense Light community; the life of Wuyin, one of its most prominent leaders; and the crucial role played by Buddhist studies societies on college campuses, where many nuns were first introduced to Incense Light. Later chapters look at the curriculum and innovative teaching methods at the Incense Light seminary and the nuns’ efforts to teach Buddhism to adults. The work ends with portraits of individual nuns, providing details on their backgrounds, motivations for becoming nuns, and the problems or setbacks they have encountered both within and without the Incense Light community.

This engaging study enriches the literature on the history of Buddhist nuns, seminaries, and education, and will find an appreciative audience among scholars and students of Chinese religion, especially Buddhism, as well as those interested in questions of religion and modernity and women and religion.

12 illus.

[Table of Contents]

Series Editor’s Preface p.vii-viii
Preface p.ix-xii

1. Introduction: Why Study Nuns? p.1-29
2. The Beginning of the Incense Light Community p.30-48
3. Wuyin, the Guiding Light of the Community p.49-70
4. College Buddhist Studies Societies p.71-104
5. Incense Light Buddhist Seminary for Nuns p.105-149
6. Buddhist Adult Classes p.150-185
7. Profiles of Individual Nuns p.186-208
Conclusion p. 209-214

Notes p.215-220
Glossary p.221-224
Bibliography p.225-236
Index p.237-243

ISBN

9780824837983 (E); 9780824837983

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