However, the most universal means of raising money
is still to hold “dharma meetings” (fahui), in which
laypeople come to hear sutras recited, see the ceremony
of releasing living beings (fangsheng), or witness a rit-
ual for the Release of the Burning Mouths (yuqie
yankou), in which hungry ghosts are freed from their
torments, fed, and receive teaching.
See also: China; Colonialism and Buddhism; Pure
Land Schools
Bibliography
Jones, Charles B. Buddhism in Taiwan: Religion and the State
1660–1990.Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1999.
Jones, Charles B. “Buddhism and Marxism in Taiwan: Lin Qiu-
wu’s Religious Socialism and Its Legacy in Modern Times.”
Journal of Global Buddhism1 (2000): 82–111.
Laliberté, André. “The Politics of Buddhist Organizations in
Taiwan: 1989–1997.” Ph.D. diss. University of British Co-
lumbia, 1999.
CHARLESB. JONESTAIXU
Taixu (Lü Peilin, 1890–1947) was a Chinese Buddhist
monk and reformer in the early Republican era
(1912–1949). He was born on January 8, 1890, into a
working-class family in Haining County of Zhejiang
Province. In 1904 he joined the monastic order and re-
ceived the Buddhist name Taixu(Supreme Empti-
ness). Several months later, Taixu formally took the
Buddhist precepts at Tiantong Monastery in Ningbo,
Zhejiang, where he studied Buddhism with a focus on
MAHAYANAtexts and Chan meditation.
Taixu started his reform activity by founding Jueshe
(Awakening Society) in Shanghai in 1918. Disregard-
ing opposition from conservative Buddhists, Taixu
campaigned for a socially engaged form of Buddhism
and for a worldwide Buddhist mission. He aimed to
organize the Buddhist clergy, revitalize Mahayana
teachings, and propagate Buddhist studies. He also
called for the government to preserve monastic re-
sources. Under Taixu’s leadership, the monthly peri-
odical Haichao yin(The Sound of the Sea Tide) began
publication in 1920, and the Wuchang foxue yuan
(Wuchang Buddhist Institute) in Hubei, the first mod-
ern Chinese Buddhist seminary, was established in
- During the 1930s Taixu’s leadership declined in
the Chinese Buddhist Association, which had been es-
tablished by the monk Yuanying (1878–1953) in
Shanghai in 1929. But Taixu’s involvement with polit-
ical leaders such as Chiang Kai-shek (1887–1975) of
the Nationalist government enabled him to continue
his Buddhist reforms and trips abroad.
After the end of World War II in 1945, Taixu re-
gained his influence and served on the Zhongguo fojiao
zhengli weiyuan hui(Committee for the Reorganiza-
tion of Chinese Buddhism). Hindered by the civil war
(1946–1949) between the Communists and National-
ists, Taixu was unable to complete his reforms. He died
on March 17, 1947, in Shanghai. His writings and lec-
tures were posthumously published under the title
Taixu dashi quanshu(The Collected Works of Great
Master Taixu).
Taixu is regarded as the most important and con-
troversial reformer in the history of modern Chinese
Buddhism. His significance lies not in his reform move-
ments, which in fact yielded limited results, but rather
in his vision and ideas to modernize Chinese Buddhism
through lay cooperation, intellectual promotion, social
engagement, and international involvement.See also:China; YinshunBibliography
Pittman, Don A. Toward a Modern Chinese Buddhism: Taixu’s
Reforms.Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2001.
Taixu dashi quanshu(The Collected Works of Great Master
Taixu), 62 vols. Taibei: Haichao yin she, 1950–.DING-HWAHSIEHTAKUAN SOHOTakuan Soho(1573–1645) was a Japanese Zen (Chan)
priest affiliated with the Daitokuji temple in Kyoto. In
1629 the Tokugawa government banished Takuan to
northern Japan because of his open opposition to the
new government regulations that had been imposed
on the Zen monasteries of Kyoto. After his pardon in
1632, Takuan moved to Edo (modern Tokyo), where
he eventually became adviser to the third Tokugawa
shogun, Iemitsu (1604–1651). Today Takuan is best
remembered for a letter he wrote to the fencing in-
structor Yagyu Munenori (1571–1646) in which he
used swordsmanship as an example to explain the im-
portance of imperturbability and mental freedom inTAKUANSOHO