Hú Zǐhù 胡子笏 (1864-1943)
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An active lay Buddhist who organized many seminaries and other Buddhist institutions during the Republican period.
Biography
Hú received a traditional education growing up, and traveled to Japan to study during the middle years of the Guāngxù 光緒 period (1875-1908). There he became a revolutionary and graduated from Meiji University 明治大學in politics and economics. In the closing years of Guāngxù he returned to China, becoming a leading industrialist of Wǔhàn 武漢.
After the 1911 uprising in Wu3chang1 武昌, Hú became an officer in the newly formed government. He moved from post to post over the next eight years, taking responsibility for a number of major offices.
In September of 1919, Hú attended a lecture on the Vimalakīrti Sūtra 維摩詰經 given in Běijīng 北京 by Tàixū 太虛. During this lecture, Hú had an awakening experience and afterward took refuge under Tàixū. This experience had a significant effect on his life, and he became a vegetarian, and otherwise began following the moral prescripts of Buddhism. In September of the following year (1920), Hú and some associates sponsored a lecture series given by Tàixū at Guǎngjì Temple 廣濟寺.
In 1921 Hú assisted in the establishment of the Wǔchāng Buddhist Seminary 武昌佛學院, and later the Right Faith Society 正信會. He also served as the president of the Wǔhàn Young Men's Buddhist Association 武漢佛化青年會, and the principle of the Běipíng Women's Buddhist Seminary 北平女子佛學院.
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