(East-West Question) Master Guangquan: What can Chinese Buddhism "going out" bring to the West?
China News Agency, Hangzhou, May 7th: Master Guangquan: What can Chinese Buddhism "going out" bring to the West?
The author is strictly Xie Panpan Tong Xiaoyu
Historically, Buddhism was introduced to China from India and then spread to Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Mongolia and other countries and then spread to the world.
Today, in the process of "going out" of Chinese Buddhism, it has become a consensus to go to the world again, but what to spread and how to go to the world are still worth exploring and thinking about.
The deputy secretary general of the Buddhist Association of China and the abbot of Lingyin Temple in Hangzhou, Master Guangquan, said in an exclusive interview with China News Agency "East West Questions" that the internationalization of Chinese Buddhism consists of two parts.
One is the concept of compassion, tolerance, and gratitude. If it is integrated into Western civilization, international disputes may be reduced.
The second is that Buddhist culture, such as music, tea ceremony, Go, etc., must be spread in a way that is popular in the world, in order to promote Buddhism to "go out".
The following is a summary of the interview transcript:
China News Service: How did Buddhism become localized after it was introduced into China?
Master Guangquan
: Buddhism was born in ancient India. After it was introduced to China at the end of the Western Han Dynasty, its language of dissemination changed from Sanskrit to Chinese.
During the Sui and Tang dynasties, several sects of Buddhism were formed: Tiantai, Huayan, Zen, etc.
By the end of the Tang Dynasty, other sects had declined one after another, while the influence of Zen Buddhism became more and more important, and finally a single school emerged.
There may be many reasons for this, but the most important reason is that Zen Buddhism has absorbed some important ideas of Chinese Confucianism and Taoism, resulting in its localization.
For example, Zen advocates that everyone has Buddha-nature and that seeing one's nature becomes a Buddha; getting rid of cumbersome reasoning, advocates intuitive insight; advocates no thought as the sect, and ordinary mind is the way.
This is similar to the traditional Chinese philosophy of life.
It can be seen that some concepts of Buddhism are highly compatible with the cultural genes of the Chinese.
Since then, despite the changes of Chinese dynasties, even if ethnic minorities entered the Central Plains, the rulers still promoted Buddhism in China.
They believe that Buddhism can solve people's problems and confusion, and is a force for maintaining social stability and development.
In the following thousand years, Chinese Buddhism has profoundly influenced Japan, Korea and other countries, and eventually became one of the three major religions with extensive influence in the world. It can be said that localization played a decisive role in the international spread of Buddhism.
Hangzhou Lingyin Temple.
China News Service: How influential is Chinese Buddhism overseas? What role did the monasteries in Hangzhou play in the exchange of Buddhism in East Asia?
Master Guangquan:
Hangzhou is the "Southeast Buddhist Capital" in Chinese history.
The Song Dynasty invented the monastery rating system according to the official title, resulting in the "Five Mountains and Ten Temples".
Three of the "Five Mountains" are located in Hangzhou, namely Lingyin Temple, Jingshan Temple, and Jingci Temple. Many monks from Japan and South Korea go to Hangzhou to "study abroad" to learn Buddhism.
For example, during the Northern Song Dynasty, Master Yitian from Goryeo (now South Korea) entered the Song Dynasty as a prince to seek Dharma, and studied under Master Jingyuan of Huiyin Temple in Hangzhou.
After that, he went to Tiantai to learn Tiantai Sect.
After returning to Goryeo, he became the national teacher of Goryeo Dajue, and created the Goryeo Kingdom's Tiantai School, which has been influential to this day.
Compared with South Korea, more monks from Japan come to Hangzhou to seek Dharma and communicate more frequently.
During the Southern Song Dynasty, the famous Japanese monk Jue A led his disciple Jin Qing to the Song Dynasty by boat and went to Lingyin Temple to worship Buddha Hai Huiyuan as his teacher.
After attending school in Lingyin Temple, Jue A returned to China to spread Zen thought.
This is the first monk in the history of Japanese Zen Buddhism to introduce Zen Buddhism to Japan.
According to the "History of Cultural Exchange between Japan and China", the Japanese monks who came to Lingyin Temple to learn the Fa included Yuan Erbanyuan and Shibumen.
In addition, Japanese monks such as Tianyou Sishun and Nanpu Shaoming went to Jingci Temple to study.
Yuan Erbian Yuan and Nanpu Shaoming later also went to Jingshan to study Zen.
After returning to China, the Rinzai sect they founded became the most popular Zen sect in Japan, and Jingshan became the ancestral dojo of the Rinzai sect.
Since then, the Chinese Buddhist community has communicated with them for more than a thousand years without interruption.
Before the COVID-19 outbreak, at least a team of hundreds of people from Japan visited Hangzhou every year.
A few years ago, the abbot of Tofuku Temple in Japan passed away.
Before his death, he had a wish: to put the ashes in Jingshan, because Jingshan is their ancestral home.
Not only Buddhist teachings, but also cultural transmission.
Jingshan Temple is the birthplace of the Japanese tea ceremony.
During the Southern Song Dynasty, Yuan Erbianyuan and Nanpu Shaoming brought back Chinese tea classics, Jingshan tea sets, "tea ordering method" and "tea banquet" etiquette after studying in Jingshan, which evolved into Japanese tea ceremony in the future.
In today's Japanese tea ceremony, the elegant layout of the tea room, the solemn etiquette of serving tea, and the style of discussing Taoism with tea still have the shadow of Jingshan tea feast.
Japanese tea ceremony.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Tomita
During the Southern Song Dynasty, monks studying abroad would diligently "take notes" wherever they went.
Some also painted the details of famous temples, ranging from architectural layout to furniture display.
The reason why the drawing is so detailed is to return to Japan one day and build their highest ideal temple in the form of "Five Mountains and Ten Temples".
In the end, an atlas of "Five Mountains and Ten Temples" that condensed the culture of the Five Mountains in the Southern Song Dynasty was born, and successfully landed in Japan with Japanese monks.
Although the mother copy is lost today, more than 30 manuscripts are still preserved in major Japanese temples.
China News Service: What are the contents of Chinese Buddhism that are worth spreading to the world in building a community with a shared future for mankind?
Master Guangquan:
I think it is the compassion, tolerance, and gratitude of Buddhism.
If the Western concept of democracy and freedom can be combined with these three concepts of Chinese Buddhism, it will be even more perfect.
All facts and evidence prove that the so-called democracy in the West is not equal, and their so-called freedom is not freedom in the true sense.
Buddhism is inclusive.
This is not only a feature of Buddhism, but also a feature of Eastern culture.
In history, although there were many frictions between Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism, there was no war or mass killing due to religious issues.
The idea of gratitude is also different in the East and the West.
Thanksgiving in the West is to thank parents and elders, but in the East it is beyond the individual.
Such as the Confucian advocacy of self-cultivation, the family, the country and the world.
This is a concept of serving the people of the world, and it is also the sentiment of the scholar-officials who "worry before the world, and rejoice after the world's joy".
The concept of compassion is also different in the East and the West.
Mercy in the West is for people with the same religious beliefs, if it is a pagan, it is another matter.
The mercy of the East is for everyone.
We often say that compassion is in the arms, and all sentient beings are saved.
Regardless of whether there is any grudge between you and me, we will let go of our grudges and help each other out of their troubles.
Therefore, in the process of "going out", we must convey to the West the concepts of compassion, tolerance, and gratitude, and integrate these three points into the so-called democracy and freedom of the West, and international disputes may be reduced.
Hangzhou Lingyin Temple.
China News Service: What is the situation of Chinese Buddhism "going out" today? Are there any good cases to share?
Master Guangquan:
At present, the international influence of Chinese Buddhism is not very large, which is related to our lack of large-scale "going out".
We have very few monks who are truly influential internationally.
But we are also conducting foreign language training for monks.
Today, the project has been underway for four years.
There are also many masters in Lingyin Temple in Hangzhou who can speak English and Japanese fluently.
But if we want Chinese Buddhism to "go global", I think it is more realistic to take the spread of Buddhist culture as a breakthrough.
In 2019, the "Blessing" Chinese Buddhist Fanbai Art Concert hosted by the Chinese Buddhist Fanbai Art Troupe and the American Chinese Buddhist Association was staged at the Lincoln Center in New York, USA.
Two concerts were held, each with 2,700 people and a ticket was hard to come by.
It was not only the Chinese who came to watch the performance, but also many white people.
This can be said to be a world of difference compared to the previous situation when we went abroad to teach scriptures with only more than 200 Chinese.
The show is "hot" because the show has found a way that Western mainstream society prefers.
The show invited a white monk as the host.
This is a very good atmosphere mage, who can interact with the audience and learn Chinese together.
The enthusiasm of the audience was instantly mobilized.
In the previous performances, the audience sat upright, and the actors did not dare to act at will on the stage.
Some audience members from New York said that after watching the concert, they felt wonderful and blessed, which shocked their hearts.
"Pray for Blessing" Chinese Buddhist Fanbai Art Concert was staged at Lincoln Center in New York, USA.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Liao Pan
In addition, Lingyin Temple also conducts exchanges on Go and tea ceremony with the international community.
In 2009, Hangzhou Buddhist Go Cultural Exchange Center was established in Lingyin Temple.
In the second year, the Japanese Buddhist Go delegation visited Lingyin Temple and held a series of mixed doubles Go tournaments between China and Japan.
Later, we also organized masters who like Go to study and exchange in Japan, Singapore, Thailand and other places, and use Go to promote people-to-people exchanges.
The same goes for the tea ceremony.
Previously, we held tea parties in the United States, Canada and Europe, and even held a tea party at the UNESCO headquarters for the "Night of Lingyin".
Therefore, Chinese Buddhism "going out" must find the right way. From the perspective of the spread of religions around the world, culture and art must be a good carrier for the spread of religious culture.
We should also carry out civilized exchanges in a way that everyone likes and hears.
(Finish)
Interviewee Profile:
Master Guangquan is currently the deputy secretary-general of the Buddhist Association of China, the president of the Zhejiang Buddhist Association, a member of the Zhejiang Provincial Political Consultative Conference, and the abbot of Lingyin Temple in Hangzhou.
He has published (edited) "Zen Tea: History and Reality", "The Abuse of "Zen Tea Blindly", "Inheriting Buddhist Music in Development", "Zen Tea Culture Forum Series", "Hangzhou Buddhist Archives Collection", "Sit and Watch the Clouds" " and other academic articles and works.