Buddhist Masters of Modern China

Through the life stories and translated writings of eight masters, modern Chinese Buddhism comes to life for English readers for the first time.Through the life stories and translated writings of eight masters, modern Chinese Buddhism comes to life for English readers for the first time.Amidst the Chinese political revolutions and cultural upheavals of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a group of dedicated and determined monks, nuns, and laypeople labored to reinvigorate the core practices and teachings of Buddhist China. These men and women-credited with instigating a "Buddhist revival"-overcame a series of obstacles to shore up the foundations of vibrant Buddhist traditions and ensure their transmission to future generations. Their legacies now underlay all the Buddhist teachings practiced throughout China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and the Chinese diaspora today.This ambitious collection introduces the lives and teachings of eight of these exceptional teachers. Brief but engaging biographies are set against accessible translations of key Buddhist teachings. We are introduced to Chan masters, Pure Land patriarchs, creative visionaries, disciplined renunciants, accomplished poets, and sophisticated scholars. These carefully crafted essays take the reader through the struggles and triumphs of Buddhists living through the transformative twentieth century in China. In a long-overdue portrait of modern Chinese Buddhism, we encounter truly remarkable individuals whose hard-won insights remain sources of inspiration and understanding for anyone interested in the history and practice of Buddhism.

“This book is a much-needed corrective to negative images of Chinese Buddhism that have gone unchallenged for far too long. The great traditions of Buddhadharma that developed in medieval China didn’t just survive the upheavals of the last century but found in them an opportunity to renew age-old teachings and practices. The men and women ably profiled in these pages were daring, creative teachers at the forefront of these innovations. What a delight it is to meet them!”
—Nelson Foster, author of Storehouse of Treasures: Recovering the Riches of Chan and Zen

“Buddhist Masters of Modern China is a long-awaited book on the prominent monastics who revitalized Chinese Buddhism in the modern era. Through engaging portrayals of their lives and teachings, it shows the resilience and innovation that sustained their tradition during times of political and social upheaval. For those seeking a deeper understanding of Chinese Buddhism’s legacy, this work illuminates influential figures largely unknown in the West, offering a fresh perspective on modern Buddhism.”
—Haemin Sunim, author of The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down

“Buddhism has been inseparable from Chinese culture for two thousand years. Introduced originally from India, it developed new philosophical systems and meditative practices in China. Political upheavals and social unrest created grave challenges to Buddhism in modern China. But they also provided opportunities of reform, renovation, and revival. This book is about eight Buddhist masters who contributed to this new phase of modern Chinese Buddhism. By telling us their life stories and translating their dharma talks, poems, and writings, the authors show us the vitality and diversity of the Buddhist tradition in modern China. This book is essential reading for anyone interested in learning about modern Chinese Buddhism.”
—Chun-fang Yu, Emerita Shengyan Professor in Chinese Buddhism, Columbia University

“This book is like no other. It focuses on the lives and practices of Tiantai, Pure Land, Chan, and teachers from other schools of thought in China. The work of these eminent nuns and monks reveals how modern Chinese Buddhists persevered in the face of political purges, Christian missionary activity, warfare, and natural disasters. By looking at eminent Buddhist poets, ritualists, meditation masters, and activists, Benjamin Brose and other contributors offer the reader refreshing accounts of the dynamism of Buddhism in modern China.”
—Justin McDaniel, author of Wayward Distractions: Ornament, Emotion, Zombies and the Study of Buddhism in Thailand

“A persistent trope in the discourse of Western Buddhists, particularly Zen practitioners, centers on the supposed long decay of Chinese Buddhism culminating in its death during Mao’s Cultural Revolution. The biographies and translated teachings collected here by Benjamin Brose go a long way toward remedying such false notions. The lives of these remarkable modern teachers reveal not only the incredible vibrancy and adaptability of Buddhism in Chinese culture but also point out how Buddhism throughout the world must also adapt in years to come. Those wishing for the survival of a relevant Buddhadharma that preserves the vital thread of awakening will find much here to instruct and inspire.”
—Meido Moore, Abbot of Korinji monastery and author of The Rinzai Zen Way: A Guide to Practice and Hidden Zen: Practices for Sudden Awakening and Embodied Realization

“Modern Chinese Buddhism has not attracted the attention it deserves, since it was long thought to be in a decrepit state, with nothing more than a corrupt and uneducated clergy. A generation of scholars and general readers have been swayed in their thinking about its history by accounts that have largely depicted it as a tradition that fell into disrepute, along with China itself, as it devolved away from its glorious earlier days. This excellent volume helps to reset that narrative of decline by telling a different story that sees the period from the late-nineteenth to early-twentieth centuries as one of recovery, recommitment, reform, rebuilding, and revitalization. Many of the figures showcased in this collection are well known—like Xuyun, Taixu, and Hongyi—but the others—like Jichan, Chanxing, and the nun Benkong—are likely new names to most readers. Many of the figures who represent this modernization movement were cosmopolitan figures who traveled outside of China to Japan, Tibet, North America, and Europe. The eight scholars who have been assembled here in this well-designed volume focus on key figures who represent the diversity of this era. We learn about their fascinating lives and the lasting impact they had on the development of modern Chinese Buddhism, and we are given a taste of their thinking, doctrinal orientation, and ideas for practice by hearing their own voices in the translations of a sample of their writings that conclude each section. After reading the chapters in this volume, one can hardly think about modern Chinese Buddhism in the same way as our forebearers and one hopes it will inspire a new generation of scholars to add further to. This volume succeeds admirably in rewriting the standard narrative about Chinese Buddhism’s decline to reveal a history that is filled with lively, committed, and innovative monks and nuns who reformed and restructured the tradition and ushered this new form of Chinese Buddhism into the modern age.”
—James Robson, Professor of East Asian Languages and Civilizations, Harvard University

BENJAMIN BROSE is Professor of Buddhist and Chinese Studies and chair of the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures at the University of Michigan. He is interested in the cultural history of Buddhism and has written about the development of Chan (Zen), pilgrimage, translation, deity cults, and transcultural Buddhist exchange in East Asia. He is the author of numerous articles and books, including Embodying Xuanzang- The Postmortem Travels of a Buddhist Pilgrim.

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