Buddhism in Taiwan: An historical survey

While Buddhism as a pan-Chinese religion has been well-researched by both Asian and Western scholars, and folk religion in Taiwan has received detailed treatment by anthropologists and sociologists, Buddhism in Taiwan has been neglected by the scholarly community. Recently, however, scholars have come to realize that Taiwan is a unique part of China with its own history and culture, and Taiwan studies has come into its own as a separate area of inquiry. This dissertation seeks to present an overview of the history of Buddhism in Taiwan, concentrating on its transmission to the island, major figures, institutions, doctrinal developments, and interactions with the three regimes which have ruled Taiwan over the last three centuries.;Chapter one deals with Buddhism's arrival on Taiwan with successive waves of Chinese immigration, encompassing both "orthodox" Buddhism and the folk religion known as zhaijiao or "vegetarian religion." Chapters two and three take up the story with the cession of Taiwan to Japan in 1895 and deal with developments in Taiwan Buddhism during the fifty years of Japanese rule. Finally, chapters four through seven continue the story with the return of Taiwan to Chinese rule in 1945 and the retreat of the Nationalist government to the island in 1949. These chapters give separate treatment to the early period of political consolidation under the Nationalist regime, the Buddhist Association of the Republic of China (BAROC) as the leading Buddhist organization of the period, the subsequent period of pluralization, and educational issues.