1. No category

Reform Movements in Chinese Buddhism since the 19th
Century
„Die Religionen Chinas“
(03-SIN-0402)
Summer term 2015
Wednesdays
W, 3:15-4:45 pm (seminar)
Th, 3:15-4:45 pm (reading
class)
Schillerstr.6, S302
Instructor: Prof. Philip Clart, Ph.D.
Office hours: Wednesdays, 2-3 pm, or by
appointment
Office:
Institute of East Asian Studies
Schillerstr. 6, S303
Tel: 9737151
Email: clart@uni-leipzig.de
Contents
Just like China itself, Chinese Buddhism was confronted with an existential crisis in the second half of the 19th
century, which threatened both its socio-economic and its doctrinal structures. A Buddhist reform movement
sought to counter these threats and to secure the continuation of both the Buddhist community (sangha) and its
teachings (dharma) in a modernizing China. The seminar introduces the key reformers and their influence on
Chinese and Taiwanese Buddhism in the 20th and 21st centuries. It is accompanied by a reading class (Übung)
devoted to key texts of and on the Chinese Buddhist reform movement.
Requirements
• A seminar seeks to address its chosen topic not primarily by means of lectures, but in a roundtable
approach with input by all participants. This requires first of all regular participation, which in turn
means not just physical presence, but careful preparation of and active intellectual engagement with the
course materials. In addition to the general readings assigned to the whole group, each participant will
choose several additional readings and give brief Powerpoint presentations on them throughout the
semester. By the end of the semester, each participant wishing to receive credit for the class will submit
a term paper of about 6000 words; its topic can be chosen by the student, but needs to be approved by
the instructor. The last two sessions will be devoted to student presentations on their paper topics. An
outline of the term paper is due on June 3.
• The reading class requires careful preparation of the assigned Chinese texts. Obviously, basic reading
competence in both classical and modern Chinese is expected.
• All readings and course materials will be made accessible via the Moodle platform.
• The language of instruction and discussion will be English; the term paper can be submitted in English,
German, or French.
Target Audience
The module is intended primarily for students enrolled in the MA programme in Chinese Studies (MA
Sinologie), but it is also open to other interested students, in particular the following three groups:
1) Für BA-Studierende der Sinologie: Der Seminaranteil dieses MA-Moduls kann im Rahmen des BAModuls „Gesellschaften Chinas“ belegt werden (03-SIN-0207a). Die Moduleinschreibung und
Prüfungsleistung erfolgen im BA-Modul.
2) Für MA-Studierende anderer Fachrichtungen und Promovierende: Der Übungsanteil dieses Moduls
kann nach Absprache mit dem Dozenten durch andere Leistungen ersetzt werden. Falls gewünscht, kann
1 auch entweder nur das Seminar oder nur die Übung besucht werden; in diesem Fall können aber keine
Leistungspunkte erworben werden.
3) Students in the Global Studies MA programme: The seminar component is part of the module “Regions
in Globalization Processes: Asia and Middle East” (06-GST 830).
Seminar Schedule
(subject to change)
Dates
Themes
April 8
I. Introduction: procedures,
expectations etc.
April 15
* Basic teachings of Buddhism
* Film showing & discussion:
“Footprint of the Buddha”
lecture
April 22
History of Chinese Buddhism I
lecture
April 29
History of Chinese Buddhism II
lecture
May 6
II. Yang Wenhui 楊 文 會 (18371911), Taixu 太 虛 (1890-1947), and
Buddhism in the Republican
Period
May 11
Guest lecture by Prof. Shen Weirong
沈 衛 榮 (Tsinghua-Universität,
Peking): “Recovering History from
Tantric Sex: A Survey of Chinese
Texts of Tibetan Tantric Buddhism
from 11th to 15th Centuries,” 6:007:30 pm, Confucius Institute, OttoSchill-Str.1
May 20
III. Buddhist Renaissance in Taiwan
* Taiwanese Buddhism before 1945
* Yinshun 印順 (1905-2005)
May 27
* Shengyan 聖嚴 (Sheng-yen, 19302009)
* Xingyun 星雲 (Hsing Yun, 1927-)
June 3
* Zhengyan 證嚴 (Cheng Yen, 1937-)
Readings
Notes
Goldfuß 1997
Pittman 2001
(Jiang 2002)
(Birnbaum 2003a)
Note different
date, time &
location
Bingenheimer 2003
Jones 2003
(Travagnin 2004)
(Ng 2007)
Pacey 2005
Chandler 2004
(Chandler 2005)
(Jue Ji 2006)
Huang 2008
Jones 2009
(Huang & Weller
1998)
(Tsomo 2009)
Term paper
outline due
2 June 10
* Role of the female sangha
* Buddhism and politics in Taiwan
Laliberté 2003
DeVido 2010
(Yuan 2009)
(Laliberté 2006)
(Madsen 2008)
June 17
IV. Buddhism in the People’s
Republic of China, 1949-2015
Birnbaum 2003b
Ashiwa & Wank
2006
(Fisher 2008)
June 22
Guest lecture by Prof. Paul Katz 康
豹 (Academia Sinica, Taipei): “An
Unbreakable Thread? Preliminary
Observations on Cross-Strait
Religious Interaction during the
Modern Era,” 3:00-5:00 pm,
Bibliotheca Albertina, Beethovenstr.6
July 1
Film showing & discussion: “To the
Land of Bliss”
July 8
Research presentations
July 15
Final discussion
Note different
date, time &
location
NB: Readings in bold letters are to be prepared by all students; bracketed readings will be prepared and presented by
individual students (sign-up sheet will be available in class during the first two weeks).
Bibliography
Ashiwa, Yoshiko; Wank, David L. “The Politics of a Reviving Buddhist Temple: State, Association,
and Religion in Southeast China.” Journal of Asian Studies 65.2 (May 2006): 337-359.
Bingenheimer, Marcus. “Chinese Buddhism Unbound - Rebuilding and Redefining Chinese Buddhism
on Taiwan.” In Kalpakam Sankarnarayan (Ed.): Buddhism in Global Perspective. Mumbai:
Somaiya Publications, 2003. S. 122-146.
http://buddhistinformatics.ddbc.edu.tw/taiwanbuddhism/tb/md/marcus.htm
Birnbaum, Raoul. "Master Hongyi Looks Back: A Modern Man Becomes a Monk in TwentiethCentury China." In: Steven Heine and Charles S. Prebish [eds.], Buddhism in the Modern World.
Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003a. Pp. 75-124.
Birnbaum, Raoul. “Buddhist China at the Century’s Turn.” The China Quarterly 174(2003b): 428-450.
Chandler, Stuart. Establishing a Pure Land on Earth: The Foguang Buddhist Perspective on
Modernization and Globalization. Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 2004. Chapter 3.
Chandler, Stuart. “Spreading Buddha's Light: the Internationalization of Foguang Shan.” In: Learman,
Linda [ed.], Buddhist Missionaries in the Era of Globalization. Honolulu, HI: University of
Hawai‘i Press, 2005. Pp. 162-184.
DeVido, Elise Ann. Taiwan’s Buddhist Nuns. Albany: SUNY Press, 2010. Intro & Chapter 1.
Fisher, Gareth. “The Spiritual Land Rush: Merit and Morality in New Chinese Buddhist Temple
Construction.” Journal of Asian Studies 67.1 (Feb 2008): 143-171.
Goldfuß, Gabriele. “Der moderne chinesische Buddhismus zwischen Erneuerung und Neuschaffung
seiner Tradition.” In: Christiane Hammer & Bernhard Führer [eds.], Tradition und Moderne Religion, Philosophie und Literatur in China. Dortmund: projekt verlag, 1997. Pp. 195-206.
3 Huang, C. Julia. “Gendered Charisma in the Buddhist Tzu Chi (Ciji) Movement.” Nova Religio 12.2
(2008): 29-47.
Huang, Chien-Yu Julia; Weller, Robert P. “Merit and Mothering: Women and Social Welfare in
Taiwanese Buddhism.” Journal of Asian Studies 57.2 (May 1998): 379-396.
Jiang, Tao. “A Buddhist Scheme for Engaging Modern Science: the Case of Taixu.” Journal of
Chinese Philosophy 29.4 (2002): 533-552.
Jue Ji. “Establishing a Pure Land in This World: Xingyun's Model.” Ching Feng, new series, 7, nos.12 (2006): 57-79.
Jones, Charles B. “Transitions in the Practice and Defense of Chinese Pure Land Buddhism.” In:
Steven Heine and Charles S. Prebish [eds.], Buddhism in the Modern World. Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 2003. Pp. 125-142
Jones, Charles B. “Modernization and Traditionalism in Buddhist Almsgiving: The Case of the
Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu-chi Association in Taiwan.” Journal of Global Buddhism 10
(2009): 291-319. http://www.globalbuddhism.org/toc.html
Laliberté, André. “Religious Change and Democratization in Postwar Taiwan: Mainstream Buddhist
Organizations and the Kuomintang.” In: Clart, Philip; Jones, Charles B.[eds.], Religion in
Modern Taiwan: Tradition and Innovation in a Changing Society. Honolulu: University of
Hawaii Press, 2003. Pp. 158-185.
Laliberté, André. “'Buddhism for the Human Realm' and Taiwanese Democracy.” In: Cheng, Tun-jen;
Brown, Deborah A. [eds.], Religious Organizations and Democratization: Case Studies from
Contemporary Asia. Armonk, N.Y.; London: M.E. Sharpe, 2006. Pp. 55-82.
Madsen, Richard. “Religious Renaissance and Taiwan's Modern Middle Classes.” In: Yang, Mayfair
Mei-Hui [ed.], Chinese Religiosities: Afflictions of Modernity and State Formation. Berkeley;
London: University of California Press, 2008. Pp. 295-322.
Ng, William Yau-Nang. “Yin Shun’s Interpretations of the Pure Land.” Journal of Chinese Philosophy
34.1 (2007): 25-47.
Pacey, Scott. “A Buddhism for the Human World: Interpretations of Renjian Fojiao in Contemporary
Taiwan.” Asian Studies Review 29.1 (2005): 61-77.
Pittman, Don A. Toward a Modern Chinese Buddhism: Taixu’s Reforms. Honolulu: University of
Hawai‘i Press, 2001. Chapter 4.
Travagnin, Stefania. “Master Yinshun and the Pure Land Thought.” Acta Orientalia 57.3 (2004): 271328.
Tsomo, Karma Lekshe. “Socially Engaged Buddhist Nuns: Activism in Taiwan and North America.”
Journal of Global Buddhism 10 (2009): 459-485. http://www.globalbuddhism.org/toc.html
Yuan Yuan. „Chinese Buddhist Nuns in the Twentieth Century: A Case Study in Wuhan.“ Journal of
Global Buddhism 10 (2009): 375-412. http://www.globalbuddhism.org/toc.html
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