Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 84-91).

published_or_final_version / Chinese / Master / Master of Philosophy

Liang Shu-ming (1893–1988) is one of the most influential thinkers of contemporary China. Most studies on Liang Shu-ming focus on his Confucian thought and his role as the forerunner of the New Confucianism movement. However, Liang Shu-ming was a devoted Buddhist in his youth. He employed Buddhist concepts and terminology extensively in his works, and publicly declared himself a Buddhist in his old age. Hence there have been heated debates among scholars to determine whether Liang Shu-ming was a Buddhist or a Confucianist. The present thesis analyses in detail Liang Shu-ming’s central writings and teachings; with a view to highlighting the importance of Buddhism to his thought. Liang Shu-ming grew up at a time when China was increasingly exposed to Western influences. When new style intellectuals were denouncing traditional knowledge, Liang Shu-ming chose to believe in Buddhism, and proclaimed in his early works that Buddhism was superior to Western philosophy. He argued that only Buddhism could provide the ultimate solution to the cardinal human problem of suffering, that Buddhist ideas were not as restrictive as Western philosophical concepts (e.g. idealism, materialism), that the supramundane absorption advocated by Buddhism was superior to secular intelligence. Liang Shu-ming declared himself a Confucianist by the time he reached middle age, but his works continued to use a large number of Buddhist notions and terms. He constructed his epistemology around Yogācāra concepts, and evaluated culture mainly from the Buddhist standpoint. Especially significant for our purpose are his claim that Buddhism is the highest religion, and his prediction of the revival of Buddhism at the final stage of development of human civilization. Buddhism occupied an even more important position in his late works, in which he, among other things, compared and contrasted the teachings of Buddhism with those of Confucianism and Daoism. He discussed in some depth the similarities and dissimilarities in their understanding of human nature, the purpose of life, the significance of bodily and spiritual cultivation, etc, with the aim of demonstrating that Buddhism will eventually become the main stream of world culture in the future. The thesis also investigates the personal, social and historical factors contributing to Liang Shu-ming’s early belief in Buddhism, his shift from Buddhism to Confucianism in his middle years, and his return to Buddhist in his old age, so as to determine whether he was ultimately a Confucianist or a Buddhist. / published_or_final_version / Chinese / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Eschatology and devotionalism are dominant threads in the rich fabric of Chinese Buddhist history. Yet as in countless other areas of modern Buddhist studies, the investigation has barely begun. This paper analyses the dynamic interplay between eschatology and devotionalism in religious history by focussing on Northern China during the fourth to the eighth centuries A.D. when the intensely popular worship of Maitreya Buddha was overtaken by the worship of Amitabha Buddha. The wider implications of this shift include not only the change from an Abhidharma world-view to a Mahayana world-view but from a state of eschatological disappointment or despair to its resolution by salvation through faith. Thus the greatest and most enduring form of Buddhist devotionalism — the Pure Land movement — is rooted in an age permeated with the ethos of the eschaton. This phenomenon in China is set within the context of the overall development of devotionalism and eschatology from their origins in India to their continuity in present-day Japan and South East Asia. While specific textual, biographical, historical and archaeological data is utilized in supporting the main thesis, the various symbols of Buddhist eschatology and devotionalism are presented as variations on the universal themes of cosmic renewal and faith with mythic counterparts in all religious traditions. / Arts, Faculty of / Classical, Near Eastern and Religious Studies, Department of / Graduate

published_or_final_version / Chinese / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Chinese / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Chinese Historical Studies / Master / Master of Arts

published_or_final_version / History / Master / Master of Philosophy

The present study aims to examine the modern Chinese Pure Land thought and movements, which are part of the general context of reforms that involved the whole Chinese Buddhist community starting from the beginning of the 20th century. In this study, I examine (1) the socio-political context of modern China when Chinese Buddhist communities began to re-think their traditions and reform monastic education, under the influence of socio-political chaos and Western culture; (2) Ven. Yinguang's (1861--1940) syncretism of Pure Land thought with Confucian ethical teachings, which promoted a more secular and lay movement in response to Western influence; (3) Ven. Yinshun's (1906--2005) critical Pure Land thought which went back to early Indian Buddhism to clarify some teachings which had been corrupted during the transmission of Buddhism to China; (4) modern movements influenced by their thought. According to Robert Bellah, there are two kinds of response of Asian traditional elites to modernization: neotraditionalism and reformism. Based upon my analysis of modern Chinese Pure Land thought and movements, I argue that this dichotomy is not mutually exclusive; the two categories can overlap. Yinguang and Yinshun were both neotraditionalist and reformist.

Thesis (M.A.)--Guo li Taiwan da xue, 1981. / Bibliography: p. 161-174.