Encyclopedia of Buddhism

nation from the colonial West. ANAGA
RIKADHARMA-
PA
LA(1864–1933), a lay celibate, urged the Sinhalese
to restore their true identity as Buddhists by discard-
ing foreign influences. Buddhist intellectuals adopted
nationalism in order to confer cultural identity and
ethnic consciousness on the Sinhalese.

In China, under the name of modernization, the
state campaigned to eradicate “superstitious” practices
and to convert religious properties for public purposes.
The late Qing dynasty (1644–1911) targeted Buddhist
properties as financial resources to rebuild the coun-
try and to defend against the threat imposed by West-
ern imperial powers. The Chinese Buddhist
establishment, which already had suffered severe dev-
astation during the Taiping rebellion in the mid-
nineteenth century, faced the persistent recurrence of
violence. The state withdrew its official protection of
Buddhism in 1900 and issued a general order to con-
vert temple property to schools.

Under these circumstances, Chinese Buddhists also
presented Buddhism as their traditional religion and
attempted to use their religion to counterbalance the

challenges of Christianity and Western cultural en-

croachment. Liang Qichao (1873–1929) contended

that the Chinese made Buddhism their own by creat-

ing their own indigenous schools of Buddhist philos-

ophy and practice. In his presentation of the tradition,

Chinese Buddhism encompassed both philosophical

and religious attributes, while Christianity rested on

the delusive beliefs of a shallow philosophy.

In Japan, the Meiji state (1868–1912) supported the

active importation of Western civilization. Under the

guise of modernization, the state inflicted severe blows

to the Buddhist establishment. Starting in the mid-

seventeenth century, anti-Buddhist measures had be-

gun in individual domains. The Meiji government

carried out these anti-Buddhist policies nationwide,

equating Buddhism with the previous Tokugawa

regime and forging a distinctive Shinto
national ideol-

ogy by separating Shinto
from Buddhism. The Office

of Proselytization was set up by Shinto
propagandists

in 1869 to promote Shinto
as the national creed. The

separation of Buddhism and Shinto
led to a massive

anti-Buddhist movement that resulted in the destruc-

tion of great numbers of Buddhist institutions. The

NATIONALISM ANDBUDDHISM

Monks carrying Vietnamese flags march past the mausoleum of Ho Chi Minh during an Independence Day parade in Hanoi, Vietnam,

2000. AP/Wide World Photos. Reproduced by permission.