A Chinese Upper Class Monk In A Time Of Great Change

Master Daxing(1899-1952)was one of the important disciples of Master Taixu.He was also an important Buddhist monk in the period of the Republic of China.He actively participated in Buddhist affairs,and was keen to set up Buddhist journals and Sangha education.His interpersonal network was complex.He went to Japan to inspect Buddhism,and even cooperated with the Japanese Puppet Regime during the Anti-Japanese war.From the rich thoughts and experiences of Daxing’s life,we can have a deep understanding of the important aspects of modern Chinese Buddhism,such as the reform of the Sangha system,the new monk education,the internal relations of Buddhism in the Republic of China,the interaction of Buddhism between China and Japan,and Buddhism in the Enemy-occupied Area during the Anti-Japanese War.Before and after National Government established its capital in Nanjing,the outside world had a constant impact on Buddhism.However,Daxing called for internal rectification rather than external criticism.He advocated that the Buddhist property should be returned to the public and the selection method of abbots should be reformed,so as to completely reform the Sangha system.And he created a weapon of public opinion for the propaganda of the reform thoughts through the establishment of Modern Sangh.The establishment of monk education is the most outstanding practical achievement of Daxing’s reform of Buddhism.He has a systematic and unique view on what is good monk education and how to revitalize it.He applied the new school running mode of Buddhist College to Southern Fujian Buddhist College,which made Southern Fujian Buddhist College achieve remarkable results.In 1936,Daxing initiated the monk education in Juejin Temple,which absorbed modern education ideas while maintaining the tradition of preaching temples.It brought a new atmosphere to the declining Buddhism in Northern Jiangsu.It can be seen that modern Buddhism education developed tortuously in the road of interweaving the old and the new,and blending the tradition with the modern.The internal relationship of Buddhism in the Republic of China is a face that can not be ignored in the study of modern Chinese Buddhism.The emergence of "New Monks" and "New Monk Movement" is closely related to Daxing.From Daxing’s speeches,we can see the diversity within the new school,the focus and cause of the contradiction between the old and the new school.The interaction between Daxing and the typical old monks such as Yinguang and Xuyun showed another aspect of harmony between the old and the new school.Thus,the complexity of the internal relations of Buddhism in the Republic of China can be recognized from a more three-dimensional perspective.The Japanese factors in Master Daxing’s thoughts and experiences are very important.When he inspected Japan in 1935,he compared Chinese and Japanese Buddhism,which reflected his Chinese and Japanese Buddhist view of"taking Japan as a teacher".On the eve of the outbreak of the comprehensive Anti-Japanese War,Daxing wavered between Sangha military training and religious belief,and nationalism gradually replaced Buddhist belief.At the beginning of the comprehensive Anti-Japanese War,Daxing went up and down in the Enemy-occupied Area,but he actively appealed for patriotism.However,a few years later,he began to cooperate closely with the Japanese Puppet Regime.During the Anti-Japanese War,Daxing’s thoughts and experiences showed the characteristics of contradiction and changeability.This also showed the inseparable relationship between religion and politics in the special historical period.Chinese Buddhism in a time of great change presented a complicated historical track,and the personal experience of Master Daxing was also rich.His interaction with Buddhism and the times clearly showed the internal logic of the development of modern Chinese Buddhism,and profoundly presented the complex situation of modern Chinese Buddhism in the era of mixed factors such as religion,politics,war and nationalism.