Master Yinshun; Master Shengyan; refugee monks in Taiwan; Buddhist autobiography; life writing; The course of life; thought developmen
摘要
Amongst the many Chinese Buddhist monks who relocated to Taiwan after the Communists came to power in mainland China, two of the most prominent are the scholarmonks Yinshun and Shengyan, both of whom have been compared to Xuanzang.
Having fled the Communist repression of Buddhism on the mainland, both Yinshun and Shengyan made major contributions to the revival of Buddhism in Taiwan. Moreover, although both suffered ill health, they were also prolific writers whose works are highly influential and widely studied, even though they both came from modest backgrounds and had little formal education in youth. Yet they both eventually became highly erudite monks who gave much importance to Buddhist education at all levels.
Since their monastic careers were roughly contemporaneous, Yinshun and Shengyan had much in common, but how did they describe themselves and their era in their respective autobiographies? This is the main issue I explore in this paper
In addition to personal accounts of their individual life experiences, both autobiographies contain a wealth of information in the areas of history, literature, thought, and culture. Moreover, both of these great scholars-monks describe their extraordinary lives and numerous achievements in a down-to-earth style which is highly edifying and inspiring, and this is the most distinctive feature these two works have in common.
