1999 Meeting Abstracts A223 - Healing the "Island of Greed": Perspectives on the Religious Renaissance in Contemporary Taiwan
A223 Building a "Pure Land on Earth": Master Yin Shun and Buddhism in Taiwan
Chen-kuo Lin, National Chengchi University
Taiwan's Buddhist revival during the past few decades signifies a dramatic reversal of Chinese Buddhism's thousand-year decline. This revival displays socio-historical and ideological complexities which demand further illumination. In short, Buddhism in contemporary Taiwan can best be characterized as " Earthly Buddhism" (jen-chien fochiao), an ideological stance developed by the great abbot T'ai-hsu (1889-1947) and the eminent Buddhist master Yin-shun (b. 1907). This presentation traces the development of "Earthly Buddhism" with special attention to the correlative doctrine "Earthly Pure Land" (jen-chien ching-t'u) and addresses the following questions: How are such notions received by contemporary Buddhist clerics and scholars? What are the practical implications for sociopolitical engagement suggested by these developments? Did such theories influence other religious groups in Taiwan, either theologically or operationally? In the conclusion, I contend that the dialectical pursuit of "two-fold enlightenment": that is, spiritual and mundane enlightenment, is the only way for Buddhism in Taiwan to survive and flourish.
A223 Apocalyptic Sects In Contemporary Taiwan
Yen-zen Tsai, National Chengchi University
This presentation examines three apocalyptic sects in contemporary Taiwan: "Hsin-yueh chiao-hui" (New Covenant Church; "I-kuan Tao" (Way of Pervading Unity); and "T'ien-ti chiao" (Teaching of the Heavenly Lord). Although all three share a similar millenarian background, they take different stances towards secular society. The New Covenant Church, of Christian) origin, maintains an exclusive and even antagonistic stance against the establishment. Its members choose to live in a closed, communitarian way, and cause tension between themselves and the larger socio-political environment. In contrast, the Way of Pervading Unity and the Teaching of the Heavenly Lord, distinguished by their doctrinal syncretism and emphasis on Confucian moral value, hold a distinctively sectarian but this-worldly, accommodating position. They proselytize through mass media and establish branches overseas in a programmatic and entrepreneurial manner, Thanks to mass participation both spiritually and materially, they have grown from sects to global organizations. Although Western scholars of religion regard dualism, both in the temporal and spatial senses, as the foremost feature of apocalypticism, in the case of Taiwan, apocalyptic sects of primarily indigenous background seem not to conform to this understanding. Apocalyptic Christianity might fit the dualistic mode, but Chinese religions, characterized by their syncretistic and "diffused" nature, in C.K. Yang's term, tend to reduce this dualistic radicalness. The Way of Pervading Unity and the New Covenant Church actualize their apocalyptic vision through modern, secular, methods, they dexterously maintain their religious faith in a society renowned for its rapid economic growth and avid materialistic pursuit. A discussion of these three Taiwanese sects in light of apocalyptic theory and from a comparative perspective should prove heuristic for our deeper understanding of both Chinese religions in general and of religious revivals worldwide, past and present.
A223 The "Infinite Worlds" of Taiwan's Buddhist Nuns
Elise A. DeVido, National Chengchi University
Why does Taiwan today claim the greatest number of Buddhist nuns in the world? This question intrigues even the Dalai Lama: his avowed purpose of his visit to Taiwan last year was to study the system and organization of Buddhist nuns for possible application within Tibetan Buddhism. Unlike the case in traditional China, Buddhist nuns in present-day Taiwan far outnumber Buddhist monks; these, nuns are highly educated, scrupulously trained in Buddhist seminaries, and personally committed, to the study and propagation of Buddhism. Inspired by the exhortation "to create a 'Pure Land on Earth," Taiwan's nuns are formidable, and generally esteemed, force in contemporary Taiwanese society, and increasingly so internationally. Through their work in five major areas-- (culture; educational; charity, environment and animal rights' work; Buddhist scholarship, and providing ritual services) Buddhist nuns successfully serve both growing numbers of Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike, mobilize substantial cultural and material and have, together with their teachers, played major role in the resurgence of Buddhism in recent decades. In As a preliminary attempt to answer the question posed above, this paper highlights three Buddhist convents: the Luminary Temple; the Compassion Relief Temple; and the Ling Chiu Mountain Temple. Not only are each located in different geographical areas of Taiwan, but each emphasize different methods of propagating. Buddhism, whether through culture (the arts, printed matter, and mass media), education, or relief work. This paper argues that: current theories (economic development; feminist; post-modernist, etc) cannot adequately explain the growth and significance of Buddhist nuns in Taiwan today. Instead, I argue that this phenomenon most be understood in contradictory terms: at once a product of and a creative force behind the development of Taiwanese society in the post-marital law era. At once, a recipient of the social benefits gained by rapid economic development and yet theologically bound to decry material accumulation, greed, and luxury. Teaching of the ineffable and impermanent void, yet operating as NGOs managed by accountants and MBAs dedicated to the improvement of contemporary society. Communities of well-educated, completely self-reliant, and multi- talented women who still retain essentialist notions of "female and male basic natures" as well as traditional Chinese concepts of gender roles within the family. Is this the latest incarnation of the Mahayanist tradition, or a microcosm of an emerging Taiwanese modernity?