Yogācāra Bodhisattva Precepts in Twentieth Century China: Reevaluating Rules and Commitments in the Light of Modernity. Bianchi, E. In Bianchi, E. & Campo, D., editors, 'Take the Vinaya as Your Master': Monastic Discipline and Practices in Modern Chinese Buddhism, pages 193–229. Brill, Leiden, 2023. ![Yogācāra Bodhisattva Precepts in Twentieth Century China: Reevaluating Rules and Commitments in the Light of Modernity [link]](https://bibbase.org/img/filetypes/link.svg "link")
Paper abstract bibtex This study investigates the practice of the Bodhisattva precepts in modern Chinese Buddhism by focusing on the reevaluation of the precepts transmitted in the Bodhisattvabhūmi of the Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra. While the precepts drawn from the Brahmā’s Net Sūtra, which were favored since the Tang dynasty, remained the most influential set, a few prominent modern masters and scholars preferred the Yogācāra precepts. This chapter introduces the major cases of implementing this set during the Republic of China, including laymen Yang Wenhui 楊文會 (1837–1911), Ouyang Jingwu 歐陽竟無 (1871–1943), and Lü Cheng 呂澂 (1896–1989); master Taixu 太虛 (1890–1947) and his lineage; Fazun 法尊 (1902–1980); and Nenghai 能海 (1886–1967). Finally, an assessment of the role of the Yogācāra precepts in contemporary Mainland China is also provided. The chapter argues that the role of the Yogācāra precepts during the Republic was stimulated by the emergence of a modern, text-oriented understanding of Buddhism, and that it also reflected an inclination for an actual investment in worldly affairs by Taixu and his followers. To the modern promoters of the Yogācāra set, its superiority lays in four main aspects: its ‘authenticity’, as it is deemed to be authentically Indian; its ‘autonomy’ from the śrāvaka Vinaya; its ‘inclusivity,’ i.e., its suitability for both monastics and laypeople; and its ‘feasibility,’ as these precepts were believed to be easier to follow in modern times. In contemporary Mainland China, Yogācāra precepts no longer play a significant role in the formal ritual practices of Chinese Buddhists, with the exception of Nenghai’s Sino-Tibetan communities. This is mainly due to the standardization of ordination procedures (which include conferral of the Brahmā’s Net set). Yet, their enduring renown on a theoretical level may reflect an anti-sectarian sentiment within contemporary Chinese Buddhism, which allows us to see the two sets of precepts as complementary rather than as mutually exclusive.
@incollection{bianchiYogacaraBodhisattvaPrecepts2023,
address = {Leiden},
title = {Yogācāra {Bodhisattva} {Precepts} in {Twentieth} {Century} {China}: {Reevaluating} {Rules} and {Commitments} in the {Light} of {Modernity}},
url = {10.1163/9789004536876_007},
abstract = {This study investigates the practice of the Bodhisattva precepts in modern Chinese Buddhism by focusing on the reevaluation of the precepts transmitted in the Bodhisattvabhūmi of the Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra. While the precepts drawn from the Brahmā’s Net Sūtra, which were favored since the Tang dynasty, remained the most influential set, a few prominent modern masters and scholars preferred the Yogācāra precepts. This chapter introduces the major cases of implementing this set during the Republic of China, including laymen Yang Wenhui 楊文會 (1837–1911), Ouyang Jingwu 歐陽竟無 (1871–1943), and Lü Cheng 呂澂 (1896–1989); master Taixu 太虛 (1890–1947) and his lineage; Fazun 法尊 (1902–1980); and Nenghai 能海 (1886–1967). Finally, an assessment of the role of the Yogācāra precepts in contemporary Mainland China is also provided. The chapter argues that the role of the Yogācāra precepts during the Republic was stimulated by the emergence of a modern, text-oriented understanding of Buddhism, and that it also reflected an inclination for an actual investment in worldly affairs by Taixu and his followers. To the modern promoters of the Yogācāra set, its superiority lays in four main aspects: its ‘authenticity’, as it is deemed to be authentically Indian; its ‘autonomy’ from the śrāvaka Vinaya; its ‘inclusivity,’ i.e., its suitability for both monastics and laypeople; and its ‘feasibility,’ as these precepts were believed to be easier to follow in modern times. In contemporary Mainland China, Yogācāra precepts no longer play a significant role in the formal ritual practices of Chinese Buddhists, with the exception of Nenghai’s Sino-Tibetan communities. This is mainly due to the standardization of ordination procedures (which include conferral of the Brahmā’s Net set). Yet, their enduring renown on a theoretical level may reflect an anti-sectarian sentiment within contemporary Chinese Buddhism, which allows us to see the two sets of precepts as complementary rather than as mutually exclusive.},
language = {en},
booktitle = {'{Take} the {Vinaya} as {Your} {Master}': {Monastic} {Discipline} and {Practices} in {Modern} {Chinese} {Buddhism}},
publisher = {Brill},
author = {Bianchi, Ester},
editor = {Bianchi, Ester and Campo, Daniela},
year = {2023},
keywords = {CBElites Bibliography of Western Scholarship},
pages = {193--229},
}
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This chapter introduces the major cases of implementing this set during the Republic of China, including laymen Yang Wenhui 楊文會 (1837–1911), Ouyang Jingwu 歐陽竟無 (1871–1943), and Lü Cheng 呂澂 (1896–1989); master Taixu 太虛 (1890–1947) and his lineage; Fazun 法尊 (1902–1980); and Nenghai 能海 (1886–1967). Finally, an assessment of the role of the Yogācāra precepts in contemporary Mainland China is also provided. The chapter argues that the role of the Yogācāra precepts during the Republic was stimulated by the emergence of a modern, text-oriented understanding of Buddhism, and that it also reflected an inclination for an actual investment in worldly affairs by Taixu and his followers. 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