Han Zang jiaoli yuan 漢藏教理院

Sino-Tibetan Institute of the World Buddhist Studies Institute: Shìjiè fóxué yuàn Hàn Zàng jiàolǐ yuàn 世界佛學苑漢藏教理院

This was a Buddhist Seminary 佛學院 established in Chóngqìng 重慶, Sìchuān 四川 by Liú Xiāng 劉湘 with help from Tàixū 太虛. It was organized as part of the World Buddhist Institute 世界佛學苑, and much of the early work of setting it up was done by Mǎnzhì 滿智, who was also the Institute's first principal.

Gray Tuttle points out that the original purpose of the Institute was the training of Chinese monks in Tibetan language and Tibetan Buddhism. Before it opened, the Institute received money from the government and it was granted buildings and rent-producing lands by the Army. With these grants came the stipulation that the Institute work as a bridge between Han and Tibetan cultures, for the implied purpose of bolstering Han control of Tibetan areas. It thus became the first modern Buddhist school to receive both public funds and a government mandate.^[1]

It closed in 1949.

Notes:

1. ↑ Tuttle, Gray. Tibetan Buddhism and the Making of Modern China. (New York: Columbia University Press, 2005), 122-126.

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