During the Buddhist revival in the PRC since 1980, the term “Chan” has been imbued by various forces with different meanings. This research will attempt to understand the semantic evolutions of “Chan” and their political, cultural, and religious contexts, based on case studies and from the multiple angles as “agriculture-Chan”, “Chan-discourse”, “Chan-sect”, and “Chan-practice”. “Chan” is a key word that link several interconnected fields of discourse and practice. An investigation on its significations may offer us a new approach for re-constructing the contemporary history of Chinese Buddhism.
