From Orientalism to Cultural Nationalism: Decentralizing European Buddhology in Early Twentieth-Century China

Abstract

This essay examines how modern Chinese scholars came to terms with “scientific” Buddhology as a European knowledge system in the early twentieth century. Unlike Japan, where some leading Buddhists who were educated in Europe attempted to transform Buddhism into a modern religion and even a unique national spirit to accommodate the needs of Japanese modernization, in modern China, Buddhism in crisis was considered less of an intellectual and spiritual resource for reviving the national spirit. By focusing on Chen Yinke, a pivotal scholar of modern Buddhology, the essay looks into the intermingling of Orientalism and cultural nationalism among Chinese intellectuals who faced the challenge of modern European humanistic knowledge as compared to Chinese traditional knowledge on Buddhism and India.