Opportunities and Challenges in Chinese

China’s ordained Buddhists have always exerted great effort in the pursuit of the genuine teachings of the Buddha, including going abroad to seek greater knowledge. This fact is evident in Chinese history from the time that Master Xuan Zang of the Tang Dynasty went to India around 630 CE searching for Buddhist scriptures, down to the early 20th century and Yang Wenhui and Master Tai Xu. The strong and enduring motivation to pursue Buddhist scriptures and to study abroad indicates that from the beginning Chinese Buddhism has turned its face to the world with a liberal and challenging mind.

In the first half of the 20th century, there were about 100 Buddhist academies in China, including several Buddhist schools for the laity. In mid-century, China’s political situation changed significantly after the People’s Republic of China was formed. The number of academies declined and the number of qualified monks remained small. Following the Great Cultural Revolution of 1966-1976, Chinese Buddhism was in turmoil with no clear direction how to adapt to the new environment. However, in the 1980s, the Chinese government implemented Deng Xiaoping’s theories with liberal policies including economic reform and freedom of religion. Later on, under President Hu Jintao, the government provided excellent opportunities for Chinese Buddhism to communicate with the world by hosting the World Buddhist Forum in 2006 and again in 2009. These are significant events in the history of Chinese Buddhism. It is also significant that, in recent years, high-ranking members of the Chinese Sangha associated with the Buddhist Association of China have been invited to participate in international conferences in many countries. In 2007, the Buddhist Association of China was offered a Vice-Presidency of the International Association of Buddhist Universities (IABU), whose first conference was held in September of 2008. With its international secretariat based at Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University, Thailand, IABU’s aim is to exchange students and instructors among member institutions. It is evident, then, that Chinese Buddhism is in a period of dramatic development. This development has inevitably brought it into contact with international Buddhist leaders and scholars in the field of Buddhist education.

In the 1980s the reformation of Chinese Buddhism led to the ideal of Buddhism as a cultural leader, educating society, and rescuing humanity. In the period leading up to liberation, the New Period, Master Tai Xu had already insisted that Chinese Buddhism should join with Theravada, Tibetan, and Japanese traditions in a universal Buddhism emphasizing adaptation to modern times, and that Buddhist affairs should be conducted so as to benefit human beings. Chinese Buddhism has thus been challenged to address the concerns of this world and human life rather than only hopes and fears for the next world and of life after death. Specific programs for reforming Buddhist education have led to modernization of the curriculum and of educational methodology. However, the number of Buddhist academies remains low. As of 2003 there were, on record, only 34 Buddhist academies serving all the three “Families”. Chinese Family Buddhism operated one high-level academy, 18 mid-level, and seven elementary-level academies, for a total of 26. There were six Tibetan Family academies, one at the high-level and five at the mid-level and two Pali Family academies. Informal counts suggests that in the past few years, Buddhism in China has experienced an increasing growth rate, and that there were about 40 Buddhist academies by 2007 increasing to 50 by 2008.

At the national level, the Buddhist Academy of China is regarded as the premier Buddhist academy in China. From its founding in 1956 to 1993, the Academy had graduated 238 monks with 18 graduates selected to continue their studies at more advanced Buddhist schools abroad, for example in Japan, Sri Lanka, Burma, and at Buddhist research organizations such as those in England, in order to further their education to the master’s or doctorate levels. As is well known, after the era of reform and opening, these efforts have been supported by Chinese statesman and President of the Buddhist Association of China, Zhao Puchu. Five Buddhist monks were sent to Sri Lanka in 1986, returning in 1991. Following that experience, many ordained Buddhists have been sent to study abroad. They have studied in Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Myanmar; in Japan and Korea; and in Europe and America.

From 1993 to 2007, 39 monks completed the preparatory program at the Buddhist Academy of China, 333 monks received the bachelor’s degree and 29 the master’s degree.

The Chinese Tibetan High Institute, from its founding through 2003, graduated 331 monks. Among them, 222 at the level of Living Buddha. One-hundred-nine have become abbots or presidents of various Buddhist Associations. From liberation through 2003, the contemporary period, there are estimated to have been more than 4,000 monks and 1,000 nuns graduated from Buddhist academies throughout the country among an officially estimated 200,000 Buddhist monks and nuns in 1997. Efforts at Buddhist education has thus produced only a relative handful graduates, insufficient numbers, it would seem, to develop Buddhism in China.

Buddhist education in China should be made universally available and the academic standards should be raised. An important advance has perhaps been indicated by several domestic and international activities held by the State Administration for Religious Affairs. These activities, such as the 2008 Seminar on Buddhist Studies in Foreign Languages, in Shanghai, in preparation for this Second World Buddhist Forum, have motivated Buddhists to give greater significance to improving foreign language standards, training Buddhists more comprehensively for the sake of translation and dissemination of scripture, and for broadening the reach of Chinese Buddhism through cultural exchange. The close relationship since ancient times between Buddhist culture in China and in Japan and its promotion as such in the west has led Buddhism in China to be regarded as “East Asian” Buddhism. However, Theravada Buddhism has also received much interest in China and several Pali scriptures have been translated into China, leading to faith among some of the people.

Although there has been recent interest in the west in Tibetan Buddhism, only a few traditional Chinese Buddhist scriptures have been introduced to the west in translation. In the first World Buddhist Forum, 2006, several Dharma masters who teach Buddhism in the west expressed their hopes of organizing Buddhist language talent to translate Chinese Buddhist texts into foreign languages. This is a challenge and opportunity for Buddhists to propagate a knowledge of Buddhism to the west. In response to those hopes, in preparation for the Second World Buddhist Forum, the Chief of the Administration of Religious and Cultural Affairs agreed to invite the Dharma masters and laity who were studying abroad to attend the Seminar on Foreign Languages.

Because of globalization, Chinese Buddhism needs to work hand in hand with Buddhists throughout the world, not only by going abroad, but also by importing the complete disciplinary system of the Theravada tradition and insight meditation as taught in Sri Lanka, Thailand, and elsewhere. These international influences can be adopted and adapted as they have been in other countries and autonomous regions such as Korea, Japan, Chinese Taipei, as emphasized by Master Xue Cheng, Vice-President of the Buddhist Association of China. One necessary tool for such exchanges is language, and increased exchange is the only effective way to strengthen cooperation leading to peace and development. This, in turn, depends upon the abilities and the gifts of Buddhist talent.

Given the above, there can be no doubt why studying abroad has a strong attraction for the younger generation of ordained Buddhists in China. Besides the limitations in Buddhist educational opportunities, there are also the universal challenges of modernity and internationalization. Buddhism in China today faces the challenges of modernity. Quite apart from the subjectivity of individual needs, the objectivity of broader purposes may be considered along both internal and external dimensions. On the one hand, Chinese Buddhism has been seen as outmoded or conservative by new generations of Chinese, and its newer, more modern characteristics need to be promoted. The challenge of modernity is universal to all, including the new generations of Chinese, both lay and ordained, and points must be found where tradition meets modernity. Domestically, Sangha education is supported by the state. Would it better to establish international standards of Buddhist education in China? That is, should there be Buddhist universities in China? In any case it is inevitable that the challenge of modernity places a very heavy responsibility of Chinese Buddhist education.

Assuming these reflections are pertinent, I shall make a few remarks on the notion of Buddhist universities, and on the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead for such institutions. We must consider the question whether the opportunities provided by Buddhist academies should cultivate and support the values and skills grounding a meaningful monastic life only, or should also provide another avenue for life-fulfilment in socialist China as well. Ideally, the greater responsibility of the new Buddhist tradition falls on Buddhist education, so that in addition to its monastic role, it should also provide opportunities and encouragement to society to ask the larger questions about themselves, and whether Buddhist values are of benefit to them.

Institutions of higher learning that produce a specialized scholarly elite, what nowadays we call universities date back to around the fifth century in Asia. Some of the great universities of the ancient world were Buddhist monastic institutions, such as Nālandā which was founded in the fifth century, and Vikramaśīla founded in the eighth century. Several other famous Buddhist Universities were known in India, most notably Odantapūri founded in the seventh century, Somapura founded in the ninth century, and Jagaddala founded in the eleventh century. In Karmataka, Banavasi and Nāgārjunakonda appear to have been important centres of Buddhist learning. As the influence of the great Buddhist academies was waning in their Indian homeland, the tradition was passed on to other portions of the Buddhist world like Tibet, where new monastic universities were created, modelled on their Indian precursors.

It is accepted that Buddhist and western universities evolved in almost complete isolation from one another, and it is only in the past few decades that Buddhists have come to conceive of their educational institutions as universities in the modern, western sense of the term. It is unclear when the term “university” was first used for a Buddhist institution. In Japan, Ryukoku University (originally founded as the Gakuryo educational faculty in 1639) was designated a university (diakyoko) in 1876. Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University (originally founded as Mahathat College) was established in 1887 by His Majesty King Chulalongkorn (Rama V) and raised to university status in 1896. Though throughout European-colonized Southeast Asia various institutions were established as branches or modelled on secular western universities, they were not considered particularly Buddhist institutions. Dongguk University, the largest Buddhist university in South Korea (originally the Myeongjin School, founded in 1906) was not designated a university until 1953; and Wonkwang University (Won Buddhism), originally established as the Yuil Hakrim School in the 1940s, was designated a college in the 1950s, and accredited as a university in the 1970s. The Preah Sīhanouk Raja Buddhist University was founded by King Narodom Sīhanouk in 1954.

Certain scholars consider that the idea of a modern Buddhist university presents Buddhists with unprecedented opportunities and challenges. The first opportunity is to bring a considerable degree of social legitimization and in many instances financial benefits. The second is to give Buddhism an educational-institutional identity with consequent opportunities of contributing Buddhist ideas and values to society at both the local and global levels. The third is to represent the tradition as culture through the educational formation. However, it is too early to know what the designation of Buddhist institutions as universities will mean for the future of Buddhism and for the future of higher education generally. This is because even in the western world, where the notion of a university was formed, there is probably no single vision of what a university is, or the role that it should play in society. These institutions mostly engage in the process of self-definition concerning the nature and function of their missions.

As universities are presently conceived, undergraduate education provides students with broad training in a variety of subjects, whereas specialization in a given field takes place at post-graduate levels. What would a modern Buddhist university be like? How would it ground students’ educational experience in Buddhist values and in a specifically Buddhist perspective? How would students be given a Buddhist worldview on fields that in principle have nothing to do with Buddhism? In short, how are the Buddhist and the university aspects of their identity to be balanced? Given the fact that Buddhism is a highly heterogeneous tradition with many Buddhist traditions worldwide, how should Buddhist universities define their identity in terms of toleration of other traditions? Or will Buddhist universities be narrow, confined only to national, sectarian, or lineage-specific traditions?

Another factor which is very important to Western higher education is academic freedom. Academic freedom means that faculty and students have the liberty to hold and express their own views, even when those views differ from those of the university or the society at large. How much academic freedom would a Buddhist universities allow? This is a challenge not only for Buddhist educational institutions, but also for religiously affiliated universities in the western world. It is the fact that not all educational institutions permit the same degree of academic freedom, even in the west. In the history of Buddhism, ancient Indian Buddhist universities were very intellectually diverse institutions, for example Nālandā University. In this ancient centre of learning, monks of different Buddhist sects lived, studied, debated, and practiced side by side. This is probably well-known in Chinese Buddhist history as the famous Chinese monk, Xuan Zang of the Tang Dynasty studied there. In his book, The Record of Journey to the West, he narrated intellectually diverse activities, particularly in the Dharma debates, in which he excelled. This is a good example of learning from views that are least like one’s own and from the people who hold such views. This is a model by which modern Buddhist universities ought to be challenged.

Buddhist universities in other countries, such as Japan or Korea, can set up any mode of teaching in the various faculties, as do other modern universities. For example, in Japan, each school of Buddhist thought has its own university. The Esoteric sect has the Zhen Yan University. Everyone from throughout the country should have the right to enrol in any university; anyone who wishes to study, even Christians, should be able to study there. Moreover, a Buddhist university should not only offer specialized courses in Buddhism but also courses in other fields. For example, a Pure Land University would not only offer courses in Pure Land Buddhism, but also courses such as literature, physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, and so on, serving the laity, and the public in general. Similarly, Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya Buddhist University of Thailand also serves as a centre for the study of Buddhist arts and culture and maintains liberal arts faculties such as Humanities, Social Sciences, Political Sciences, and Education. Thus in the present, institutions designated as Buddhist universities are not confined to and do not identify themselves exclusively as institutes for Buddhist Studies, but rather incorporate intellectual diversity and are ready to serve society as well.

These are a few suggestions for consideration in the construction of modern Buddhist universities. There is no single vision exactly defining what a modern Buddhist university would be. This article rather aims to contribute to the diverse perspectives for applying possible scenarios for establishing Buddhist universities in socialist China. There are many other factors to consider as well. However, with the growth of the economic power of China as a whole, Chinese Buddhism and Chinese Buddhist education must inevitably confront the challenge to develop further. With a good relationship between the State Administration for Religious Affairs and Chinese Buddhists, how will the arena of Chinese Buddhist Education grasp its unusual opportunities to advance the history of Buddhism in China?

Will Buddhist universities in China privilege only Buddhism, or perhaps even only one very specific Buddhist tradition, with the goal of providing students with an education that is coherent, solidly Buddhist, and narrowly traditional? There are no centrally designed syllabi for all institutes to follow. However, the course syllabi are not confined to only one tradition of Buddhism and generally Buddhist texts cover the Buddhist scriptures of various traditions. Confronted with a variety of scriptures, what do the students actually learn? Many Buddhist theories, of course; many quickly forgotten after the examination. The teaching system stresses memorizing and is examination-oriented, tending to make education stressful, difficult, and boring. I would suggest, then that system needs to be developed both in teaching methods and in standardized course syllabi.

It is a fact that monastic education in the Buddhist academies of China remains bound to a strict format of producing ideal Buddhist monks and nuns. That is, monks and nuns who are the learned in a number of important scriptures, and who are trained to be content with a very simple monastic life. Buddhist academies thus have rules that are at odds with the realities of globalization, such as prohibiting the use the internet and mobile phones. At the worst, when these rules are broken, offending the precept ensues. At the best, the students concentrate only on studying. It is perhaps the primary challenge of Buddhist educational institutes to shift their objectives away from producing traditionally ideal monks and nuns. The mission of Buddhist universities would be rather to educate new generations Buddhist monks and nuns to for the contemporary world.

In addition to the model of a Buddhist university, other conditions such as government grants and the other sources of financial support, and the nature of traditional religious education importantly affect the development of Chinese Buddhist education today.

The need for accelerated development in Buddhist education in China is indicated by the numbers of monks and nuns studying abroad. Nine have been studying for their bachelor’s degrees at the Buddhist College of Singapore since 2006, and that number increased to 10 in 2008. Twenty-three ordained Theravadins have been studying for the bachelor’s degree at MCU since 2007, two for the master’s and one for the doctorate since 2008. In 2008, according to the incomplete statistics of Bangkok’s Immigration Bureau, there were 51 Buddhist monks and nuns from China studying and practicing Buddhism in Bangkok among a total of 1,759 Chinese students. Although 51 Buddhist monks and nuns seems minimal, this number correlates with the number the number of new students enrolled in Buddhist academies in China on the two-year system. If this group of students pursues their studies up to doctorate level, within 10 years they will be experts in Buddhism and the Buddhist cultures of other countries. If the growth in the numbers of Buddhist monks and nuns from China continues, it is likely that the number of graduate students from abroad will double as compared to the number of students graduating from any one domestic academy in the equivalent amount of time. This is because the there are a limited number of seats available for master’s degree candidates at Chinese academies. For example, Minnan Buddhist academy accepts 50 new students every two years, with two seats at the master’s level and none at the doctorate level. Within 10 years, 146 students will have graduated at the bachelor’s level, four will have received the masters degree and none the doctorate; there will remain 150 studying at the bachelor’s level. Meanwhile, if 50 students go abroad every year to study, in 10 years there could be as many as 100 students receiving degrees at the bachelor’s, 100 at the master’s, and 50 at the doctorate levels, with 200 remaining at the bachelor’s level. This is a direct consequence of the differences between the Buddhist educational system in China and the international system.

It would seem, then, that the first stage of the development of Buddhist education in China would be to institute Buddhist universities offering doctorate level programs. However, China is now in the phase of sending Buddhist monks and nuns to study abroad to cultivate Buddhist talent. It is to be hoped that when conditions mature, establishing Buddhist universities will become possible. Such universities would be operated by the Buddhist community in conformity to the requirements of the state. This task should be taken up as a challenge to Buddhist education through which to demonstrate the strength of the Buddhist community and to provide increased opportunities to Buddhist monks and nuns for personal development.

（author :General Executive Official of International Programme of Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University, Bangkok, Thailand )