life narrative; Master Taixu autobiography; Bodhisattva Practice
摘要
Using life narrative as research method, the following is a discussion of Master Taixu’s life narrative, sense of identity and thoughts.
Life narrative involves an individual or group’s sense of identity, spatial migration experience, cultural conflict and adjustment, and the narrator’s conversation with himself. As a written record of the author’s own life experience, the autobiography reveals the author’s stories of growing up, and his psychological changes, character shaping and establishment of the meaning of life. The writing is not only meant to re-create past memories but also to re-interpret the meaning of one’s life, involving the value of constructing the meaning of life and one’s sense of identity.
Master Taixu is the most important representative of modern Chinese Buddhism’s reform. The study of his autobiography enables deeper understanding of changes in his thinking and his personality traits. It also provides the foundation for study of the autobiographies of monks in modern Chinese Buddhism. The Buddhist monks’ narration of their life experiences, including before and after they become monks, their inner cultivation and spreading of their teachings, and changes in monastery and social environment, reveals their sense of identity and religious concern.
