Though Buddhism became one of the three main spiritual traditions in the Middle Realm, its study as practised in Western or Japanese academic settings has been naturally something quite new for the Chinese. Moreover, due to complex political situations, it was also an activity not really encouraged by the forces in power.
Times have changed. Taiwan has undergone remarkable transformations on the social, political, and economic level. As a result, academic Buddhist studies are flourishing as never before. And even on the Chinese mainland, it's no longer what it used to be and more and more articles, papers, and books on matters Buddhist are published.
Of course, depth and quality are important aspects of the scientific enterprise which are not guaranteed by quantity. Thus it is the aim of my course to go together with the students critically through a section of Buddhist research published recently in Chinese. The first semester, we are discussing ten papers contained in the latest issue of the Journal of the Centre for Buddhist Studies, while the next semester will cover materials mainly from the mainland. The Centre for Buddhist Studies is, by the way, an institution offering excellent services. You might be interested in visiting their homepage at http://ccbs.ntu.edu.tw.

What are the articles in No 4. of the Journal of the Centre for Buddhist Studies dealing with? Well, they treat a variety of topics mainly related to Chinese Buddhism -the Chan School view on ethics, Dahui Zonggao's Buddhist-Confucian syncretism, apologetic literature of the Pure Land School in the Song dynasty, Zhiyi's concept of the two truths, the representation of Liu Benzun's ascetic practices at Mt. Baoding, the crossed-legged Maitreyas in the Freer Gallery, faith in Pure Land Buddhism, Dogen's theory of Buddha Nature, Kshirtigarbha repentance rituals, and "purity" in the Pancavimsatisahasrika- prajnaparamita.

Most of these papers leave plenty space for discussion and criticism but time does not permit to go here into details and offer appropriate treatment equally. For some random preliminary remarks on Wang Yueqing's article about ethics in the Chan School, though, go to this page.
 

 

 

 
This page was last updated on December 17th, 1999.
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