Organizer: The University of British Columbia
Lecture Report: Fostering Education beyond the Classroom Examples from Republican Buddhism and their Legacy Today
Yin-Cheng Distinguished Lecture Series by Dr. Stefania Travagnin (SOAS),
December 8, 2021
Report by Xian’ao Shi (University of British Columbia)
January 14, 2022
On December 8, 2021, the organisers of the Yin-Cheng Distinguished Lecture Series invited Dr. Stefania Travagnin as their third speaker of the series. Following the virtual lecture by Dr. Rey-Sheng Her 何日生, this lecture was also held online. The event began with opening remarks by Professor Jinhua Chen from the Department of Asian Studies at the University of British Columbia. He introduced the lecture series by acknowledging the Buddhist Tzu Chi Charity Foundation 佛教慈濟慈善事業基金會, which supported this lecture series, and other colleagues from partner institutions. Dr. Her, Deputy CEO of the Buddhist Tzu Chi Charity Foundation and Associate Professor of Tzu Chi University 慈濟大學, followed with further remarks to participants and organisers of the lecture series. Prof. Chen then introduced Dr. Travagnin’s research and career trajectory.
Dr. Travagnin currently teaches at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London. Before joining SOAS, she was the founding director of the Centre for the Study of Religion and Culture in Asia at the University of Groningen (2013–2020). She obtained a B.A. and M.A. in Chinese Studies from Ca’ Foscari University (2000), and a Ph.D. in the Study of Religions from SOAS (2010). She has done extensive fieldwork research among Buddhist communities in mainland China and Taiwan, and was a visiting scholar in several institutions such as Academia Sinica 中央研究院, the Center for Chinese Studies 漢學研究中心at the National Central Library 國家圖書館in Taipei, the Institute of Religious Studies 宗教文化研究所at Sichuan University 四川大學, and the Graduate Institute of Religious Studies 宗教研究所at the National Cheng-chi University 國立政治大學. Her research and publications analyse several aspects of Buddhism in modern mainland China and Taiwan, including the life and writings of the monk Yinshun 印順 (1906–2005), the meanings of Renjian Fojiao 人間佛教 (Humanistic Buddhism), the conceptual and institutional history of saṅgha education, the history and practice of Buddhist nuns in Republican China and Taiwan, the reception history of traditional texts and values in the modern era, and the Buddhist adoption of media and artificial intelligence. Her publications include an edited volume on religion and media in China,[1] and a three-volume series on concepts and methods for the study of Chinese religions.[2] She is now co-directing the research project “Mapping Religious Diversity in Modern Sichuan,” which is funded by the CCKF and offers the first comprehensive study of the modern religious history of Sichuan.
Dr. Travagnin’s lecture, “Fostering Education beyond the Classroom: Examples from Republican Buddhism and their Legacy Today,” focused on Chinese Buddhist education for society at large, outside the temples. It explored several cases from the first half of the twentieth century when new venues and possibilities opened for Buddhist education. She remarked that Buddhist education in China is a channel through which to see the contribution of Buddhism to contemporary and future global society. She began by asking two broad questions: how education practices in China have tried to be instrumental for the foundation of ethical sustainability and what this lesson from China might teach contemporary and future global society. In the introduction, she contextualised the formation of Buddhist education in China within the history of Chinese education. She pointed out that the Chinese perceived education, which was Confucian-framed, as moral education. She then argued that educational activities within Buddhist communities developed in parallel to Confucian education, and also influenced the development of Chinese public education. She indicated that Buddhism (and Daoism) in China have shaped non-religious and Confucian-based education in many ways, including (1) Daoist/Buddhist master-disciple relations, which became a model for the teacher-pupil connection in Confucian understandings of education; (2) the notion of textual collections as canonised knowledge, which suggests the concept of orthodox knowledge; (3) the presence of spaces and structures of learning within Buddhist temples that inspired the Confucian academies (shuyuan 書院); (4) Buddhist temples that offered space for non-Buddhists to retreat and study secular subjects; and (5) temples becoming a place for women’s education, which had a great impact on women’s literacy and learning. She also pointed out how Confucian education entered the Buddhist temple and affected the ways that monks and nuns also learned. For instance, Confucian texts were included in the curriculum of temples in the pre-modern period. And from the late Qing 清 (1644–1911), Buddhist monastics brought secular education into the temple, and or proposed secular or moral education outside the temple premises.
Dr. Travagnin then discussed Buddhist contributions to Chinese education in the Republican era中華民國 (1912–1949), addressing both theory and practice. She first explained Buddhist arguments and debates about education by focusing on the theories of two representative figures, the monk Cihang 慈航 (1893–1954) and the lay intellectual Wang Enyang 王恩洋 (1897–1964). Cihang categorised Buddhism as a form of national education. He maintained that Buddhism offers guidance to society and compensates for the deficiencies of the other two kinds of education, those within the household and in public schools. In this way, Buddhism was seen to have a social function and the ability to rescue the nation (jiuguo 救國). As a reaction to a Chinese over-appreciation of Western culture, Wang Enyang stressed a necessary re-evaluation of Confucian and Buddhist values as part of an educational ideal to create a just society and better world in China and beyond. He promoted a “third new form” of culture and education (wenjiao 文教) based on the successful combination of Confucian and Buddhist principles, which he considered would perfect human virtues, develop civilization, and go beyond the binary of East and West.
By reviewing Cihang’s and Wang Enyang’s arguments, Dr. Travagnin concluded that they embraced foreign influences but also revived and reinforced the traditional assets of Chinese Confucian education and Mahāyāna Buddhism. Furthermore, these theories did not only show continuity with the pre-modern era, but also showed a renewed appreciation for contributions of Buddhism and Confucianism to ethical sustainability in the modern context.
Dr. Travagnin continued with a discussion of Buddhist education in practice during the Republican period and analysed three forms of teaching beyond the classroom, each of which embodied the values mentioned above. The first form consisted of leading by example. She argued that the leadership of model Buddhists in the community had been highly influential and was a practical way to influence and enhance the ethical sustainability of a social body. She pointed out that monastics and laity have led by example and inspired surrounding communities throughout the history of Chinese Buddhism. Master Cheng-yen 證嚴 and the Buddhist Tzu Chi Charity Foundation are just one case of this form of education. She then looked at other cases from the Republican era, like the nun Fangchong 方崇 (1841–192?) from Zhuyin Nunnery (Zhuyin si竹隱寺) in then Pi County (Pi xian 郫縣), Chengdu during the Republican era. Under the leadership of Fangchong, nuns in Zhuyin Nunnery carried out charitable activities such as distributing rice and other goods to the poor, and providing medicine and care for the ill. They also preached about Chan in the annual temple fair to explain Buddhist texts. In this way, Zhuyin Nunnery became a centre of inspiration and moral guidance for the families living in the surrounding villages. During her fieldwork in 2019, Dr. Travagnin found that the nunnery’s local impact continues to inspire today. She also showed a list of monastics who led by example in Republican Sichuan, including nuns from Suining 遂寧 and Neijiang 內江.
The second form of education beyond the classroom involved Dharma lectures to the army. Dr. Travagnin noted that starting from the late 1920s, and especially from the mid- to the late 1930s, military academies moved from Nanjing to the areas of Sichuan and Chongqing. Local Buddhist monasteries and Daoist temples hosted these military schools and became residential posts for troops. Generals often requested that monks and Buddhist laity lecture the army and the rest of the local community on various subjects such as karma, Pure Land teachings, and Yogācāra philosophy. Troops outside of Sichuan were also instructed by eminent monks and even lay teachers, such as Ouyang Jingwu 歐陽竟無 (1871–1943). Eventually, the military showed a deeper interest in Buddhism due to the close presence of the saṅgha. Young soldiers even decided to convert to Buddhism and some of them became monks. Some military figures sponsored Buddhist education for the saṅgha.
The third form of education beyond the classroom brought Dharma teachings and practice into prisons. Dr. Travagnin discussed how, in the mid-fifth century, offenders were brought into Buddhist temples where they were provided with education as a means of reform. Later, during the Tang Dynasty 唐朝 (618–907), vihāra were built under the auspices of the office of supervisory affairs. In these vihāra, inmates were encouraged to repent for their mistakes, and were guided by Buddhists and Buddhist teachings to change their lives (Fojiao ganhua 佛教感化). At the end of the Qing Dynasty, the Buddhist saṅgha, along with members of other religious traditions, started engaging with prisons following the “Prison Code of Qing Dynasty” Daqing jianyulü caoan大清監獄律草案 (1910). The practice of preaching in prisons was implemented especially during the Republican period, when Chinese prisons continued their reforms based especially on Japanese and Western models. Dr. Travagnin pointed out that the Buddhist educational practices carried out in prisons included lectures (jiangyan 講演), classes on Buddhism (shouke 授課), exegesis of texts (jiang jing 講經), nianfo 念佛, Buddhist chanting (fanbei 梵唄), and reading of Buddhist books. Different provinces adopted their own model within this general framework of Buddhist engagement in prisons. She explored the case of Sichuan province, where several hundreds of prison inmates became Buddhists following the efforts of monks such as Changyuan 昌圓 (1879–1945). At the end of this section, she indicated that the laity also played an important role in propagating the Dharma in prisons by organising local and national societies.
Newspaper clippings of Buddhist lectures in prison from the Quanguo baokan suoyin (全國報刊索引 National Press Index) database. Slide courtesy of Stefania Travagnin. Republished with permission.In the concluding section, Dr. Travagnin argued that these forms of Buddhist education, their interventions in society, and their contributions to social ethics are still present in the Chinese world today. Much of the force behind this, she explained, is the charisma of leading Buddhists who, like previous “eminent” saṅgha members, lead by example. Much of this activity falls under the category of Humanistic Buddhism. The example of Master Cheng-yen and the Tzu Chi organization 慈濟基金會, she argued, illustrates how the Buddhist heritage of engagement in social welfare continues today. She posited that what is happening today also echoes the traditional Confucian concept of education in China. Whether it is the Great Unity (datong 大同) or Pure Land on Earth (Renjian jingtu 人間淨土), it is a vision of society founded on ethical responsibility. The discourse of Humanistic Buddhism integrates Buddhist lessons with Confucian ideas. This has extended beyond China, reaching the Western world, and has become even more relevant for present and future society, including the implications of global citizenship and all the challenges this brings. She argued that Wang Enyang’s views on Confucian and Buddhist contributions to social ethics, as well as Cihang’s positioning of Buddhism within the educational sector, are all relevant to the contemporary global world. Finally, Dr. Travagnin ended the lecture with a quote from Wang Enyang: “Chinese education, intended as synergy of Confucianism and Buddhism, can contribute an important lesson to the rest of the world.”
During the discussion period that followed, Dr. Ming-Nan Lin 林名男, Vice Superintendent at Dalin Tzu Chi Hospital of the Tzu Chi Medical Foundation 佛教慈濟醫療財團法人大林慈濟醫院in Taiwan, delivered comments on behalf of Dr. Chin-Lon Lin 林俊龍, CEO of the Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation 佛教慈濟醫療財團法人and CEO of the Tzu Chi International Medical Association 國際慈濟人醫會. He shared the mission of the Buddhist Tzu Chi Charity Foundation. After briefly introducing the Four Missions and Eight Undertakings of the Buddhist Tzu Chi Charity Foundation, he focused on Tzu Chi’s mission of medicine. Currently, there are seven hospitals in Taiwan operated by the Tzu Chi Medical Foundation and the Tzu Chi International Medical Association, which are made up of more than 10,000 medical professionals, and conduct medical outreach services in fifty seven countries and regions. With vivid examples, Dr. Lin showed how Tzu Chi commissioners leave their footprint under the call of Dharma Master Cheng-yen. He said that Dharma Master Cheng-yen has always kept in mind what her Master, Dharma Master Yinshun told her: “To work for Buddhism and all living beings.” This became her lifelong mission and also the mission of Tzu Chi. Master Cheng-yen’s lay and monastic disciples also kept these words in their heart as they promoted the Four Missions and Eight Footsteps: “To emulate the Buddha’s heart and take Master’s mission as our own mission.” He believes this is an example of “leading by example” that echoes Dr. Travagnin’s lecture.
Following Dr. Lin’s comments, Professor André Laliberté, professor at the School of Political Studies and Co-Director of the Research Chair in Taiwan Studies at the University of Ottawa, shared his remarks. Having worked on the issue of Buddhist philanthropy for years, Prof. Laliberté pointed out that colleagues assembled by Wang Jia 王佳provided a rich study of philanthropy dating back to the early centuries of Chinese Buddhist, but there are very few fine-grained studies in English that document such activities before 1949. He explained that the lives of Buddhist philanthropists in centres of political power, such as Beijing and Nanjing, or trading hubs such as Shanghai and Guangzhou, have been studied more. However, there exist far fewer studies about Sichuan. The work of Dr. Travagnin and her team are starting to close that gap. He stressed the importance of knowing more about the Republican period because it brings back key moments in the long tradition of Buddhist philanthropy. These took on new forms, becoming more visible and leading to ramifications outside of China after 1949, and contributed to the renewal of Buddhist philanthropy. Knowing more about what Buddhist philanthropy accomplished during the Republican period, as well as seeing the achievements of Buddhist lay volunteers and monastics in difficult circumstances, can provide inspiration for today. He noted that Dr. Travagnin made clear that the Buddhist saṅgha and laypeople understood the importance of Buddhist education for providing ethical guidance and leading by example. Her lecture also demonstrated that by teaching Dharma to members of the military and in prisons, Buddhists contributed to protecting their nation during the Republican era in a way that was compatible with their idea of compassion in a time of uncertainty. Prof. Laliberté then briefly delineated the history of Buddhist philanthropy in mainland China and Taiwan after 1949, and noted the achievements of Buddhist monastics and laypeople like Tzu Chi, who strove to turn the idea of Humanistic Buddhism into a lived reality. He stated that Buddhist education in Republican China was an important foundation for contemporary Buddhist education and philanthropy. Lastly, he expressed his eagerness to read Dr. Travagnin’s research on Buddhism in the Sichuan area during the Republican period, as well as to learn more about the activities of lay Buddhists and charity associations beyond the educational sphere.
Dr. Travagnin then responded to Dr. Lin’s and Prof. Laliberté’s comments. She expressed her agreement with Dr. Lin that Buddhist teachings can have a therapeutic effect and help the medical professions, and added that the kind of education shown in Dr. Lin’s talk about Tzu Chi’s missions reflects the values of Tzu Chi members themselves. This is an example of how education in a larger sense can have value today. She also agreed with Prof. Laliberté that education can be a form of charity, not merely the delivery of Buddhist values. During the Republican period, temples organised activities, such as the distribution of medicine and food to the poor, both as individual temples and as part of the programs of the Chinese Buddhist Association Zhongguo Fojiao Hui 中國佛教會 in which lay people also participated. She recommended the book authored by Dr. Wu Hua 吳華 from Sichuan University,[3] which has a chapter on the Chengdu Buddhist Charity. She also mentioned Yan Yiqiao 延易橋, a Ph.D. student at the École Pratique des Hautes Études (Paris), whose research focuses on charity in wartime Chengdu and Chongqing.
Finally, in the free discussion period, Prof. Chen asked whether the Buddhist practice of preaching in prisons during the Republican period was inspired by Christian examples. Dr. Travagnin considered that it was more closely related to the prison reforms taking place in China at the end of Qing Dynasty and during the Republican period which emulated reforms in Japan and Western countries. Christians were preaching in prisons in the Republican period, but this was not without rivalry between Christianity and Buddhism. She said that the cases she researched dated back to the pre-modern period, from the Northern Dynasties 北朝 (386–581) and Southern Dynasties 南朝 (420–589) to the Tang Dynasty, when convicts were sent to temples, but she had not yet investigated the late Imperial period. Dr. Her then asked what else we could do in schools and beyond schools with respect to Buddhist education in Taiwan. Dr. Travagnin suggested that it should be important to discuss moral values in school. She cited a saying from Lunyu 論語 [The Analects] that in the past men learned for their own improvement, but now men learn to impress others 古之學者爲己, 今之學者爲人.[4] It implies that Confucius saw this happening and expected students to return to the correct way of learning. She believed this passage from the Analects could also be applied to education today. Dr. Travagnin concluded that in today’s circumstances, especially in light of the pandemic, it is important to regard everyone as part of a single humanity and world, and to think about the moral values that can support a social sustainability.
Bibliography
Katz, Paul R., and Stefania Travagnin. Concepts and Methods for the Study of Chinese
Religions III: Key Concepts in Practice. Boston: De Gruyter, 2019.
Laliberté, André, and Stefania Travagnin. Concepts and Methods for the Study of
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Muller, A. Charles, trans. “The Analects of Confucius 論語.” Resources for the Study of
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http://www.acmuller.net/con-dao/analects.html
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[1] Travagnin, Religion and Media in China.
[2] Laliberté and Travagnin, Concepts and Methods for the Study of Chinese Religions I; Scott and Travagnin, Concepts and Methods for the Study of Chinese Religions II; Katz and Travagnin, Concepts and Methods for the Study of Chinese Religions III.
[3] Wu, Minguo Chengdu Fojiao yanjiu (1912–1949).
[4] Confucius, Lunyu, 14:24. The English translation is based on A. Charles Muller’s translation of Lunyu and I make some amendments to it. See Muller, “The Analects of Confucius 論語.”