This paper attempts to provide an overview of how modern Chinese Buddhists worked to blend self-cultivation and family life, with a focus on the ideal of the “Buddhicized family” (Fohua jiating 佛化家庭) as expressed in the writings of the lay Buddhist elite Chen Hailiang 陳海量 (1910–1983), which provided spiritual and material advice for readers striving to achieve equilibrium between religious requirements and social norms. Due to his extensive work with young Buddhist men and women who were seeking spouses, getting married, and starting their own families, Chen’s works paid close attention to issues of gender and sexuality, including childbirth, menstruation, masturbation, etc. Chen’s vision of modern Buddhist family life sheds light on significant processes of change taking place in the early twentieth century, with that religion’s urban elites seeking to define their approach to Buddhism in such a way that both maintained their commitment to social activism yet established the basis for a rich religious life. The data below highlight the complexity of Buddhist thought during the modern era, the interaction between religious discourses and others circulating at that time, and the continuing relevance of these issues in present-day Chinese societies around the world.
Introductory Remarks 33 Shanghai and Its Buddhist Communities 36 Chen Hailiang's Life and Career 38 Chen's Writings on Buddhicized Families 42 Concluding Remarks 52 Acknowledgements 54 Bibliography 54
