political fiction; applied Buddhism; Romantic nationalism; new citizen
摘要
Liang Qichao’s applied Buddhism played an important role in his political imagination and his social advocacy of building a modern China. Undertaking a case study of his political fiction, this article makes three interconnected arguments. First, the nationalism expressed in Liang’s promotion of political fiction was a type of Romantic nationalism originating from Europe but exercised in the context of the late Qing and early Republican China. Second, Liang’s applied Buddhism was an integral part of Chinese Buddhist secularization, which was not intended to separate religion from the state as in the case of its European counterpart but was directed toward the dissemination of Buddhist values into the broader popular realm of the Chinese society. Third, Liang’s applied Buddhism deserves retroactive recognition as one of the precursors of contemporary socially engaged Buddhism.
