Toward a Modern Chinese Buddhism: Taixu's Reforms

Chapter 4: Mahāyāna and the Modern World

153 C H A P T E R 4 MAHÂYÂNA AND THE MODERN WORLD Y u-yue Tsu has asserted that the first phase of the revival of Chinese Buddhism that began during the final years of the Manchu dynasty was primarily political rather than spiritual in nature.That is,the most important attempts to reform and reenliven the Chinese Buddhist community during the waning years of the Qing and the initial years of the Republican period were predominantly organizational in character.1 Deeply troubled about Buddhism’s precarious position within Chinese society, members of the sangha as well as laity pondered how to reorganize their religious community in order to respond more effectively to changing circumstances. They were concerned about both negative external perceptions of their tradition and internal Buddhist problems. Neither, they realized, would be easy to address. Many intellectuals and ordinary citizens alike saw no relationship between the practice of Buddhism and efforts to remake and strengthen the nation.In addition , the sangha seemed helpless to deal with the debilitating issues of regionalism, factionalism, and the erosion of lay support caused by the large numbers of monks seeking personal gain by performing rites for the dead.2 The principal reason for the failure of all the efforts in the first organizational phase of the Buddhist revival in the Republican period, Tsu concluded, was the obvious need for a prior spiritual reawak- 154 MAHÂYÂNA AND THE MODERN WORLD ening within the whole Chinese Buddhist community. What was required was the emergence of competent, consistent, and challenging visionary and ethical leadership.Writing in 1921,Tsu commented: The failure of the first wave of Buddhist revival to achieve spiritual results was in large measure due to the lack of a truly great spiritual leader. Now such a leader seems to have appeared in the person of Taixu fashi [Dharma MasterTaixu], a monk of great learning and saintly character, and with his appearance has commenced the second wave of Buddhist revival. As the first was political in nature, the second is essentially spiritual . A genuine desire to reform monasticism, to reconstruct Buddhist theology according to modern philosophy, and to promote human welfare on the basis of the teachings of Buddha is the dominant note.3 Although Tsu’s estimation of Taixu’s role as the sole catalyst for a “second wave” of the Buddhist revival is overstated, the Chinese reformer did make an incomparable contribution to the revitalization of the Buddhist community in the Republican period. He did so by trying to relate Mahâyâna Buddhism to life in a new China, and by offering an engaging description of the bodhisattva’s path in the twentieth century—a modernist, social-activist portrayal that some judged to be, according to traditional standards, a betrayal of Buddhism . Yet it was clearly a portrayal to which many sincere Chinese Buddhists rallied, and one in which many in the People’s Republic of China, in Taiwan, and elsewhere continue to find hope. Taixu conceived of his role as that of an interpreter of the ancient spiritual truths of Buddhism and expositor of their modern application . In that role, he expressed his concerns about the need for safeguarding religious freedom and raising Buddhist standards.Therefore, as Taixu claimed at Eight Fingers’ funeral in 1912,he was strategically committed to advancing three “revolutions” within his religious community . With regard to an “organizational revolution,” as we have seen, Taixu was a tireless theoretician, if not always an accomplished master at implementation. Concerning the sangha’s needed “economic revolution,” he sought to ensure the long-term financial stability of institutional Buddhism by calling for productive work by monks and closer ties to the growing number of educated laity. MAHÂYÂNA AND THE MODERN WORLD 155 Through an “intellectual revolution,” the reformer hoped that Buddhists could learn to express the Dharma in ways that were inspired by scripture, faithful to the original spirit of Ùâkyamuni, and appropriate for the time.4 What China and the world needed most, Taixu asserted, was a revitalized Buddhist community intent on attaining enlightenment, invigorated by modern educational reforms, and involved in compassionate service in the ways of a true bodhisattva. As Frank Millican commented in 1923: At this time of general intellectual awakening and mingling of the social, political, and religious systems of the world, Buddhist thought in China is hidden in classical books,many of...