The First Conception of Modernist Chinese Buddhism

Abstract Modernist Buddhist movements receptive to new social and intellectual developments have emerged around the globe since the late nineteenth century. This study probes the origins of Chinese modernist Buddhist thought, including its sources, features, and transformations. Through a survey of writings by turn-of-the-century Chinese intellectuals, I show that Liang Qichao 梁啟超 (1873–1929) was, in 1902, the first Chinese person to advocate modernist Buddhism. His ideas drew not only from Japanese modernist Buddhism, but also from Confucian discourse and from Western thought without Japanese mediation. Liang’s Buddhist thought incorporated features such as rationalism, social engagement, egalitarianism, and detraditionalization. He argued that if it were properly understood and practiced, Buddhism would strengthen China’s social order and could even transform the world into a “pure land” ( jingtu ). Liang’s modernist conception shaped later Chinese Buddhist movements, but only after it was cannibalized and its parts were modified for the purpose of reviving traditional Buddhism.