Yao & Gombrich/Chinese Buddhism, 2. Introduction

The authors discuss the history of Buddhism in China, which they liken to "an unwieldy whole", and suggest that throughout its life in China, Buddhism has been seen as one of three great ideologies with their own concomitant values, institutions and practices -- the other two being Confucianism and Taoism. They argue that these three systems have influenced each other, developing both similarities and contrasts and also observe that new, consciously syncretistic, religions have also developed such as FSG and have been accepted, like the other three, as essentially 'Chinese" . The chapter goes on to investigate a range of influences on FSG, such as Zen and Pure Land traditions, but draws attention to the pragmatic flavour of Hsing Yun’s Buddhism in which he combines transcendent optimism with the ambiguity inherent in a gnostic creed, "convincing devotees that they will deserve to live in a paradise, in either this or a future life" and how this attention to the here and now owes much to Tai Xu's writings of the previous century and yet also speaks to the ascendency of American-style "material" culture and values in 1970s and 80s Taiwan following that country's democratization. The authors draw attention to how this contrasts with traditional or mainstream Buddhism where the basic motivation for leaving home and joining the Saṅgha is supposed to be the wish to escape forever from this world, where life is permeated by suffering. They conclude by providing examples of how Hsing Yun contrives to preach modernism without sacrificing his allegiance to Chinese tradition: his syncretism often turns out to be a combination of the old and the new, merging ancient lineages and casting a net wide enough to attract even non-believers.