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.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.112595 |
| Date | January 2007 |
| Creators | Wei, Tao, 1971- |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Master of Arts (Faculty of Religious Studies.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 002711334, proquestno: AAIMR51412, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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