The present research attempts to conceptualize and theorize the social engaging phenomenon of a contemporary Buddhist organization – Foguangshan – from a sociological and cultural perspective. This approach sees the growing presence of religion in contemporary society as a multi-facet social process that involves dialectic exchanges with various actors in the public realm, and acknowledges that a full understanding of the social presence and significance of a religious actor in a society cannot be realized only by the examination of their religious beliefs and practices but also the conceptualization of these religious expressions in search for the meanings and implications underneath. / The study acknowledges that despite the existence of abundance studies on Taiwanese Buddhism and Foguangshan, they are mostly historical and philosophical in nature; theoretical analysis of the social engaging mentality of these Buddhist communities and their interaction with the society is insufficient if not inattentive. The present research, therefore, would like to confront this issue by taking a dialectic approach that draws a connection between the socially engaging Buddhist community of Foguangshan with current social and cultural theories. / Specifically the paper will conduct a theoretical examination of Foguangshan and its interaction with the Taiwanese society by investigating their multiple aspects of publicness. This includes 1) how Foguangshan understands and imagines the public; 2) their strategy in engaging and penetrating into the public; and 3) how the people of the general public in return receives and responses to the social presence of the monastery. What this research tries to reveal is that while Foguangshan has been successful in expanding and penetrating into various public domains of the Taiwanese society, the outcome of their particular strategy in engaging with the public might result in an identity crisis beyond the intention of the monastery – an ambiguous public image between being religious and secular. / From our case study of Foguangshan in Taiwan the contemplation of these topics would be contextualized in a contemporary Chinese setting, and by doing so allows a cross cultural examination of the validity and universality of existing models of secularization and public religion. Hence the outcome of this study would not only provide an in-depth sociological and cultural understanding of the various public aspects of Foguangshan in relation to the contemporary history of Taiwan, the contextualization of this Buddhist phenomenon within a Chinese context could also further our understanding on how the particular social and cultural history of Taiwan, its Chinese cultural roots, and the religiosity of Chinese Buddhism have contributed to the unique way Chinese religions adapts and negotiates with modernity. / 本研究試圖從社會及文化角度，對當代佛教組織佛光山及其社會參與現象作概念化及理論化的分析。此方法視當代社會宗教增長現況，為一個牽涉公共領域中不同行動者的多層面社會過程，及相信一個對社會及宗教現狀的全面理解，並不能單靠對宗教信仰及其思想習俗的探討而獲得，而是更需要對這些宗教表象背後的意義和引伸作出概念化的整理。 / 本研究指出，儘管現存對台灣佛教及佛光山之研究非常豐富，然而，這些研究多屬於歷史及哲學性質，因而頗為缺乏對這些佛教團體的社會參與現象作社會學的理論分析。本論文直面這個問題，透過辯證方法把佛光山及其社會參與現象與當今社會及文化理論連接起來。 / 本論文將會透過研究佛光山的不同公共面貌，對佛光山及其在台灣社會的社會參與作理論性的探究，這包括︰(一)佛光山如何了解及想像公共這一概念，(二)他們參與及滲透公共領域的策略，及(三)大眾市民如何接收及回應佛光山的公共存在現象。本研究嘗試揭示正當佛光山成功地擴張及滲透台灣公共領域之際，他們探取的獨特策略卻做成了對這當代佛教團體的一個身份危機 – 一個游離於宗教與世俗之間的不明確公共形象。 / 本研究亦嘗試延伸到有關於宗教當代社會學中更廣闊的課題，特別是宗教與世俗之間的界線，以及現代化當下之社會變遷的探討。從對台灣佛光山的個案研究，這些課題將會落實於當代中國脈絡中，作全面性的思考，這樣便能給現有對世俗化和公共宗教的既有理解中，展開一個有效性和普遍性的跨文化檢驗。因此，本研究的結果不但提供一個對佛光山不同公共層面的社會及文化的深入理解，也進一步加深我們認識及了解台灣特殊的社會及文化歷史、中國文化根源、及中國佛教的宗教性、如何促成中國宗教對現代化過程作出獨特的適應及協調。 / Chan, Fang Michael. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2015. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 295-302). / Abstracts also in Chinese. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on 28. September, 2016). / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only.