m |
m (typo) |
||
Line 43: | Line 43: | ||
}} | }} | ||
- | '''Tàixū 太虛''' (1890-1947)was one of the most influential and well-known Chinese Buddhist figures of the modern era, a reformer who established seminaries and Buddhist periodicals, such as his long-running Hǎicháo yīn [[海潮音]]. | + | '''Tàixū 太虛''' (1890-1947) was one of the most influential and well-known Chinese Buddhist figures of the modern era, a reformer who established seminaries and Buddhist periodicals, such as his long-running Hǎicháo yīn [[海潮音]]. |
== Biography == | == Biography == |
Tàixū 太虛 (1890-1947)
|
Notable Associates:
|
|
Tàixū 太虛 (1890-1947) was one of the most influential and well-known Chinese Buddhist figures of the modern era, a reformer who established seminaries and Buddhist periodicals, such as his long-running Hǎicháo yīn 海潮音.
Contents |
Tàixū was born in northern Zhèjiāng 浙江 province in 1890. His father, a bricklayer, died when he was only a year old, and when his mother remarried his maternal grandmother took care of him. He received a primary education in the Chinese classical learning, and from the age of eight accompanied his grandmother on pilgrimages to sacred mountains in eastern China. In 1901 he was apprenticed to a business in Chángān town, but the death of his mother and health problems of his own prevented him from fulfilling his professional responsibilities.[2]
In 1904, when Tàixū was fourteen, he decided to enter the Buddhist sangha and was tonsured at a small temple in Sūzhōu 蘇州 where he was given the dharma name Wéixīn 唯心 (mind-only). He was later given the style name by which he is most widely known, Tàixū, and later that year took the full precepts at Tiāntóng Temple 天童寺 in Níngbō 寧波 under the monk Jìchán 寄禪. He went on to train at Yongfeng Temple, practicing Chan meditation and engaging in sūtra study. The Śūraṅgama Sūtra (Lèngyán jīng 楞嚴經) and the Lotus Sūtra (Fǎhuá jīng 法華經) were especially attractive to him.[3] It at this time that Tàixū first met Yuányīng 圓瑛, the start of a productive but difficult friendship. In 1907 Tàixū had an enlightenment experience while reading the Mahaprajnaparamita Sutra 大般若波羅蜜多經, and he would later recall that after this his studies became much easier, as if the insights were coming from his own heart.[4]
Tàixū's reformist thinking was influenced early on by Huáshān 華山, whom he met in 1908.[5] Huáshān had already been involved in monastic educational and organization reform in response to the "Build Education with Temple Property" movement 廟產興學. Under Huáshān's influence and later that of Qiyun, Tàixū was exposed to revolutionary philosophical and political works by authors such as Kāng Yǒuwéi 康有為, Liáng Qǐchao 梁啟超, Zhāng Tàiyán 章太炎, and Sun Yat-sen 孫中山.[6] He would also attend classes at the Jetavana Monastery 祇洹精舍, founded by Yáng Wénhuì 楊文會 in Nánjīng 南京.
His "revolutionary" activities would begin in 1912 when he and Rénshān 仁山 collaborated on a plan to take over Jīnshān Monastery 金山寺 in Zhènjiāng 鎮江 and use its resources to establish a modern school for monastics 僧學堂. The so-called "Invasion of Jinshan" 大鬧金山 failed, but the incident established Tàixū's reputation as a revolutionary monk. Tàixū came to epitomize the radical changes feared by conservatives and supported by more progressive members of the Buddhist community.[7]
In April of 1912, Tàixū traveled to Shànghǎi 上海 at Jìchán's request to help him establish the Chinese General Buddhist Association 中華佛教總會. Much of the impetus for this move came from the emergence of the Chinese Buddhist Association 中國佛教會, founded in Nánjīng 南京 by a group that included Oūyáng Jiàn 歐陽漸, a former student of Yáng Wénhuì. The CBA was led by laypeople, and its charter, which outlined broad powers over Buddhist activities in China, had already received the assent of Sun Yat-sen, then Provisional President of the Republic. Jìchán therefore sought the help of Yuányīng, Dìxián 諦閑, Xūyún 虛雲 and others to establish a Buddhist organization that better represented the monastic institution. He even had Tàixū suspend promotion of his own Society for the Advancement of Buddhism 佛教協進會 and throw his support behind this new group. In November of 1912, however, Jìchán died in Běijīng 北京, and without his leadership the organization only survived for two more years.[8]
Faced with the inhumanity of the First World War, as well as his setbacks in enacting change on Jīnshān and elsewhere, in the fall of 1914 Tàixū began a three-year period of sealed confinement 閉關 in the Xílín Chan Hall 錫麟禪院 on Mount Putuo 普陀山 in Zhèjiāng province.[9] During this time he followed a schedule of venerating the Buddhas, meditation, and textual study. His reading included Buddhist scriptures, the Chinese classics, modern literature and works on Western science, logic, and philosophy. He also began to study the Consciousness-only school, as well as the texts Awakening of Faith in the Mahāyāna (Dàshèng qǐxìn lùn 大乘起信論) and the Discourse on the Theory of Consciousness-only (Chéng wéishì lùn 成唯識論). Tàixū was prolific with his writing as well, producing over ten works on topics such as education, science, and sangha reform. During his seclusion he remained appraised of important political events, such as the acceptance by Yuán Shìkǎi 袁世凱 of Japan's Twenty-one Demands in 1915, and the passage of the Regulations for the Control of Monasteries and Temples 管理寺廟條例 by the Beijing parliament later that year.[10]
This section is incomplete and more content needs to be added. You can help by contributing text, images, or suggestions. |
Tàixū's place in the history of Modern Chinese Buddhism was established very early on, but the nature of the impact he had and the meaning of his legacy continues to be a matter of some debate. While Welch's 1968 study was quite critical of Tàixū's legacy, and questioned whether his reforms were moving toward something that could rightly be called "Buddhism", Pittman's more recent book puts Tàixū's work in a much more positive light.
This section is incomplete and more content needs to be added. You can help by contributing text, images, or suggestions. |