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The study explores how Buddhism served as an epistemological resource in reconstructing modern Chinese knowledge during the late Qing period.

June 10, 2026ReligionsOpen Access

Buddhism as an Epistemological Resource: Xia Zengyou’s Reading History and the Reordering of Knowledge in Late Qing China

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This article analyzes Xia Zengyou’s use of Buddhism to reorganize knowledge in late Qing China, indicating a religiously influenced transformation.

The study explores how Buddhism served as an epistemological resource in reconstructing modern Chinese knowledge during the late Qing period.
Analyzed Xia Zengyou’s reading lists and catalogues, including Shengping Suoxue and his Handwritten Catalogue of Collected Books.
Compared Xia’s classificatory practices with other notable scholars like Shen Zengzhi, Liang Qichao, Xu Weize, and Yang Renshan.
Xia organized his books prioritizing Buddhist texts over traditional Confucian categories, reversing the Sibu hierarchy.
The influence of Mahayana Buddhist reading traditions helped Xia relativize classical authority and integrate Western knowledge.
This restructuring illustrated that the shift toward modernity in China involved religious frameworks, not just secular influences.

Yang et al. (2026) studied this question.

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This article analyzes Xia Zengyou’s use of Buddhism to reorganize knowledge in late Qing China, indicating a religiously influenced transformation.