Taixu's "On the establishment of the pure land in the human realm" : a translation and study / Charles B. Jones.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Jones, Charles B., author.

Language:

Chinese

English

Subjects (All):

Taixu, 1889-1947.

Taixu.

Buddhism--China--Doctrines--History.

Buddhism.

Buddhism--China--History--20th century.

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Edition:

First edition.

Distribution:

London [England] : Bloomsbury Publishing, 2021.

Place of Publication:

London [England] : Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2021.

Summary:

"In this book, Charles B. Jones provides the first English language translation of one of the most important texts of modern Chinese Buddhism: monk-reformer Taixu's 'On the Establishment of the Pure Land in the Human Realm'. The essay, written in 1926 as part of Taixu's attempt to revive Chinese Buddhism with a Humanistic Buddhist approach, incorporates Western thought into a reconstruction of the idea of the 'Pure Land in the human realm'. In his commentary on the text, Jones argues that it has been widely misunderstood and mischaracterized. Jones demonstrates that, besides laying out the very modern idea of the Pure Land in the human realm as a slogan for Buddhist engagement with the problems of the modern world, the essay does not, as commonly assumed, discourage practices leading to rebirth in the Pure Land. He also shows that the 'human realm' can mean anywhere in Buddhist cosmology that humans reside, and that the essay's attempts to reconcile Buddhism with modern science is tentative and incomplete. Jones reveals that the essay promotes visions of both paradises and utopias, and that Taixu supports his ideas with many lengthy sutra quotations. The book concludes with an examination of how Taixu's followers developed the idea of the Pure Land in the human realm into a more coherent and modernized ideal."-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Cover

Half Title

Series

Title

Copyright

Dedication

frontispiece

Contents

Preface and Acknowledgments

Part One Introductory Study

1 Introduction

2 Taixu's Life to 1926

3 Previous Western Writings on Taixu's Ideas about the "Pure Land in the Human Realm"

4 Utopianism East and West in Taixu's Essay

5 Key Themes

Part Two The Translation

6 The Translation: ((Jianshe renjian jingtu lun .......),By Master Taixu .... (1890-1947))

Part Three The Pure Land in the Human Realm after Taixu and Conclusions

7 The Pure Land in the Human Realm after Taixu.

8 Concluding Remarks

Works.Cited

Index.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781350144279

1350144274

9781350140578

1350140570

9781350140585

1350140589

OCLC:

1227391168