Nakanishi Ushirō; 新佛教=Shin Bukkyō; 佛教辯=Buddhist apologetics; 井上遠慮=Inoue Enryō; 清沢満之=Kiyozawa Manshi; The concept of shūkyō
摘要
In this paper, I focus on Nakanishi Ushirō (1859-1930), arguing that he tried to reconfigure Buddhism as a religion in mid-Meiji Period. Nakanishi conceptualized his Shin Bukkyō (New Buddhism) as a reformed Buddhism that was opposed to Kyū Bukkyō (Old Buddhism). He could be counted as one of the Buddhist reformers in mid-Meiji Period, but his arguments were somehow unique. For example, Inoue Enryō in this period insisted that Buddhism was a philosophical religion, which became popular and was considered to be an appealing Buddhist apologetics. However, Nakanishi criticized such an idea. He claimed that Buddhism was not a philosophy but a religion, emphasizing faith as the basis of Shin Bukkyō. While stressing the aspect of faith, Nakanishi also argued that religion must not disregard human reason. In this sense, indeed he diff ered from Kiyozawa Manshi or Uchimura Kanzō who developed the existential understanding of religion by solely relying on faith in the late Meiji Period. However, with his attempt to grasp religion—Buddhism—in relation with faith, or with the internal sphere of the individual, Nakanishi could be understood in a unique and transitional position in the history of religion and/or Buddhism in modern Japan.
