Author affiliation: University of Strasbourg. Special Focus: Buddhists and the Making of Modern Chinese Societies
關鍵詞
Vinaya renewal; Buddhist revival; monastic discipline
摘要
The aim of this exploratory study is to provide an outline of the Vinaya renewal in China in the first half of the twentieth century, and to point to its meanings and effects in the context of the Buddhist revival of the Republican period. Based on a preliminary investigation of monastic codes compiled by four influential Buddhist leaders in the 1930s and 1940s, my paper draws attention to their endeavor to promote Chinese monastic discipline in practice and in discourse. I argue that, during the Republican period, Chinese Vinaya represented the benchmark for both molding religious regeneration and setting the limit for Buddhist institutional innovation. The promotion of Vinaya was a long-standing, indigenous, pattern for the revitalization of the Buddhist tradition, and it also played a fundamental role in the modern evolution of Chinese Buddhism by helping the monastic community strengthen its religious authority and political legitimation. I hope to show that a deeper analysis of this phenomenon may in the future help balance current visions on Chinese modernism, dominated by Western categories, theories and dichotomies related to modernity and secularism.
目次
Introduction 129 1. Four Buddhist leaders of the Republican period 131 2. The promotion of Chinese Vinaya in Republican China 132 2.1 “Correct” ordination procedures and other neglected Vinaya practices 133 2.2 The composition of new monastic codes of rules 135 3. Not a “modern” Vinaya: The promotion of Vinaya and the revival movement 138 3.1 New features in the organization of Buddhist monasteries and communities 138 3.2 New features in the relationship between clergy and society 141 3.3 Reconciliation and contradictions: The articulation of Vinaya and new Buddhist institutions 143 4. The promotion of Vinaya in Republican China: meaning and effects 146 Acknowledgements 149 References 150