What role has modern Chinese Buddhist activism played in the making of modernity at both national and transnational levels? Participants of this conference will situate the issue in the Greater China
context though an analysis of the transnational travel of Buddhism in general and Chinese Buddhist activism in particular. They will examine the emergence of Buddhist activism in the late 19th
century and Buddhists’ remaking of their tradition amid intellectual, social, and political changes in both mainland China and Taiwan. The conference will also examine how the Chinese have taken
part in creating Engaged Buddhism as a global phenomenon and, more importantly, how Buddhism has served as an important cultural-intellectual resource for those who want to confront challenges posed
by modern life.
noon Introduction
12:15–1:15 p.m. Chun Chiu Lecture
Yifa, University of the West “To Build a Pure Land on Earth—Socially Engaged Humanistic Buddhism Advocated by the Buddha Light Monastery in Taiwan”
2:30–4:45 p.m. Panel I: Globalizing Buddhism
Elise Devido (National Taiwan University, Taiwan) “The Influence of Chinese Master Taixu on Buddhism in Việtnam, 1920s–1960s”
Discussant: Xue Yu (The Chinese University of Hong Kong)
Karma Lekse Tsomo (University of San Diego) “Socially Engaged Buddhist Nuns: Activism in Taiwan and North America”
Discussant: Zhiru (Pomona College)
James Blumenthal (Oregon State University) “Engaged Buddhists: Engaged in What? Taking a Step Back to Consider a Buddhist Theory of Justice”
Discussant: Karma Lekshe Tsomo (University of San Diego)
