"God"and Buddha:A Study Of Joseph Edkins' Interpretation Of Chinese Buddhism

Joseph Edkins(1823-1905)was a British missionary and sinologist who wrote many books during lifetime.The growing interactions between the East and the West during the 19th century are displayed in Edkins' study of China.His encounter with China could be seen as a hermeneutic context,in which he tried to understand and interpret China from a unique perspective.This thesis adopts a hermeneutic perspective to investigate how did he understand of Buddhism in Chinese Buddhism,and how it reflected the features of his interpretation of Chinese Buddhism.Edkins left us with abundant works prior to Chinese Buddhism,and these works constituted his fore-understanding.Therefore,this thesis introduced his previous studies on languages and religions in the third part.By adopting a method of root-comparing,he reconstructed a primordial Euro-Asian history,which was then adopted in his study of the history of human religion.He has thus come up with a theory that the civilization of the East came from the West,and that there was a primordial religion in the past which laid a basis for a universal religion in the future.Such intellectual background can we better understand the position of Chinese Buddhism in his system.His studies on language and religion are largely the "vision" from which he started the research on Chinese Buddhism.On the one hand,his study on Buddhism is based on his religious studies;on the other hand,the latter also gave rise to the specific perspectives and questions for his investigation of Buddhism.Though a foreign missionary,Edkins was no stranger to Chinese Buddhism.He was fully aware of the uniqueness of Chinese Buddhism.Having lived in China for over 40 years,he understood Chinese Buddhism as a decayed religion,whose history must be studied in order to explain how it gradually degenerated through the passing of time.His understanding of Buddhism shows clear Christian features,which provided him with perspectives so different from today.In the fourth part,this thesis shows how the concepts of "God"and "Buddha" constitutes the core of his understanding of Buddhism,and how his awareness that God is absent in Chinese Buddhism has shaped his approach to studying Buddhism.Then,this thesis analyzed his understanding and criticism of moral system in Chinese Buddhism,revealing how his opinions of Chinese Buddhism came into shape.