晚清民國漢藏佛教關係之研究(1900—1947):以太虛和漢藏教理院為中心=The Study of Chinese and Tibetan Buddhism during the Late Qing and Republic Era (1900-1947) - Focusing on Taixu and the Sino-Tibetan Institution
太虛=Taixu; 藏傳佛教=Tibetan Buddhism; 漢藏佛教交流=Interaction between Chinese and Tibetan Buddhism; 班禪=Panchen Lama; 民國佛教=Buddhism in the Republic Era; 漢藏教理院=Sino-Tibetan Institution
Taixu became a monk in the beginning of the Republic Era, and he had many reforms for the ailing Chinese Buddhism, and his boldest attempt was to recreate the School of Chinese Esoteric Buddhism by learning from Japanese Shingon School and Esoteric teachings of Tibetan Buddhism. Taixu was open-minded about Buddhist schools, and he supported the propogation of all Eight Schools of Chinese Buddhism. He showed early interest in the Japanese Shingon School, but after questions about the Japanese Buddhism precepts and the Sino-Japanese relationship soured, he turned his attention to the Esoteric teachings of Tibetan Buddhism. Under the sponsorship of the Republic government the Sino-Tibetan Institution was founded, which laid a firm foundation for the spreading of Tibetan Buddhism in China. The increasing interaction between Chinese and Tibetan Buddhism improved the relationship between Han and Tibetan people, and Taixu becoming a disciple of Panchan Lama also paved new roads for future interactions. Taixu was the pioneer of contemporary Buddhism reforms, and his stance influenced a generation’s Buddhist trends, and as his knowledge on Tibetan Buddhism increase, his viewpoints and speeches also changed accordingly. There have been many studies done on Taixu, but his viewpoints and speeches on Tibetan Buddhism have not been discussed and studied in depth, and this is the main point of this thesis. Even though Taixu didn’t have any direct influence on Tibetan Buddhism, his attitude influenced the interaction between Chinese and Tibetan Buddhism, and this thesis focuses on the interaction between Taixu and Tibetan Buddhism during the Republic era. This thesis studies the changes in Taixu’s viewpoints on Tibetan Buddhism, and also discusses the whole Chinese-Tibetan Buddhism interaction during the era. At last, Taixu did not successfully start the Chinese Esoteric School, but through the Sino-Tibetan Institute he built a bridge between Chinese and Tibetan Buddhism, and also educated the first group of Chinese monks who propogated Tibetan Buddhism, and these monks have made much contributions to Buddhism in China.