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The Debate in China on Humanistic Buddhism
How does religion relate to society? Are they in opposition or in harmony? This question became very important in modern times in China, and formed a line which divided religious traditionalists from religious reformers. We shall first examine the traditionalist stance of the Chinese thinker Liang Shuming (1893-1988), who upheld a clear separation between Buddhism and society, thereby preserving the function of religion as a vehicle of radical criticism. We shall also examine the agenda put forth by the Buddhist monk Taixu (1890- 1947), the most important Buddhist reformer of the first-half of the twentieth century in China. We shall then examine the debate which arose between Liang on one side, and Taixu, his disciple Yinshun (1906-2005) and the sangha on the other. Since Liang regarded Buddhism to be a religion of pure transcendence, he opposed using it to tackle social problems. Liang instead advocated Confucianism, as a form of upāya, which could more effectively lead towards the ultimate Buddhist goal of renouncing to the world.
The Changing Functions of Renjian Fojiao (人間佛教) in Mainland China
Since the revival of Buddhism in the People’s Republic of China following the Cultural Revolution, renjian fojiao (人間佛教), often translated as “Humanistic Buddhism,” has become a very prominent label. It has served as a basic concept for various purposes, from the political self-legitimation of Buddhists, to the revival of traditional(ized) thinking, to religious innovation. It has undergone a continuous process of adaptation to Buddhists’ needs at the moment in question. With its initial role, quite early in the 1980s, emphasized officially by Zhao Puchu 趙朴初 (1907-2000), the president of the Buddhist Association of China (BAC), it became an important element of the statutory purpose of the BAC and developed separately from, but not without the influence of, later dynamics in Taiwan. This article reflects on some of the steps in the 40-year development of what has been declared in the People’s Republic of China as renjian fojiao (“Humanistic Buddhism”). It focuses on its metamorphosis within the context of the BAC’s statutory purpose, asking what the concept has been necessary for and how it might still be relevant today.
世俗的神聖性質——全球佛教華人地區的法會及社會參與
在洛杉磯郡一個不屬於任何城鎮的偏遠社區，寧靜的山丘上，矗立著一間色彩鮮明的中國佛教寺院，周圍綠樹環繞。這間寺院名為西來寺，英文意義是「來到西方」（coming to the West），是美國數一數二的大型中國寺院，也是現代漢傳佛教教團佛光山在北美洲的總本山。
人間佛教在中國大陸的功能轉型
2018年，中國大陸的佛教徒（包含共產黨允許的其他宗教），應可慶祝一場值得緬懷的週年紀念：就在40 年前，1978年12月，中國共產黨第十一屆中央委員會第三次全體會議，通過恢復大陸宗教修持活動議案，此為文化大革命（1966-1976）期間，宗教受到全面性壓制之後的一個新開始。
印度與佛教元素對中國中古時期的影響——北魏洛陽佛誕節慶典研究
北魏首都在洛陽期間（495-534），佛誕節的慶典，即已達到前所未有的隆重程度。對統治者及漢人而言，雖然佛教不是本土文化，但是農曆四月八日的佛誕節慶典已經很流行，舉城參與。本文針對此公開慶典中使用車輦載佛像遊行的特殊現象，將其傳統回溯到佛教的發源地—印度及其文獻，試圖探討這一現象的成功因素。尤其是因為這些因素關係到宗教慶典的功能性角色，以及教義是如何讓宗教受歡迎並持續發展的問題。以佛誕節作為相關的案例研究，是因為1,500多年後，在柬埔寨、香港、澳門、馬來西亞、緬甸、尼泊爾、新加坡、南韓、斯里蘭卡、台灣、泰國、越南等地，佛誕節依然被訂為國定假日來慶祝。
