The controversy over the awakening of faith in early-twentieth-century China

The debate on the authenticity of the Awakening of Faith in early-twentieth-century China was significant in its impact on the modernization of Chinese Buddhism. It reveals the complex relation between Yogācāra and the Chinese Buddhist schools that are built on tathāgatagarbha thought. The core of the controversy is the authenticity of the Awakening of Faith, which has three aspects: the authenticity of authorship, the question whether it is a translation and its doctrines. The participants of the debate were all prominent Buddhists and scholars, but they often confused these aspects. Despite the fact that they had formulated various conclusions concerning the authenticity of the Awakening of Faith, nearly all of them defended the book's legitimacy. Even for those who maintained that the book was not authentic, few chose to denounce it. The separation of academic findings and sectarian positions reveals the inherent and unsolved tension, in Chinese Buddhism, between Indian origination and Chinese localization, as well as that between authenticity and applicability.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.A.

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Religion

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2016

Author dc:creator

• Cheng, Yu-Ming

Contributors dc:contributor

• Mayer, Alexander Leonhard

• China
• 1920s
• controversy
• qixinlun
• Chinese Buddhism
• authenticity
• Awakening of Faith

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2016 Yuming Cheng

Language dc:language

en

Handle dc:identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/90592

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/90592