The Science of Chinese Buddhism

Erik J. Hammerstrom

Erik J. Hammerstrom

The Science of Chinese Buddhism

Early Twentieth-Century Engagements

In: The Sheng Yen Series in Chinese Buddhist Studies

Columbia University Press | 2015

https://doi.org/10.7312/hamm17034

Overview
Contents

About this book

This book maps Buddhists' efforts to rethink their traditions through science in the initial decades of the twentieth century. Buddhists encouraged young scholars to study subatomic and relativistic physics while still maintaining Buddhism's vital illumination of human nature and its crucial support of an ethical system rooted in radical egalitarianism.

Maps Buddhists' efforts to rethink their traditions through science in the initial decades of the twentieth century.

Author information

Erik Hammerstrom is assistant professor of East Asian and Comparative Religion at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington. With Gregory Scott, he cofounded the Database of Modern Chinese Buddhism.

Reviews

An important work that will be used and cited for a long time to come.

[The Science of Chinese Buddhism] breaks new ground.... Hammerstrom's scholarship is detailed and thorough.... Recommended.

Hwansoo Ilmee Kim, Duke University:
Erik Hammerstrom masterfully reveals the ways Chinese Buddhist intellectuals of Republican China reconfigured Buddhism to make it compatible with science and modernity, as well as argued for Buddhism's superiority to them. With fascinating stories and a meticulous analysis, Hammerstrom's book is a must-read for anyone seeking to understand Buddhism's makeover as the paradigm of science dawned over East Asia.

Charles B. Jones, Catholic University of America:
Hammerstrom contributes to the ongoing study of science and religion by giving us a view of their relationship from a non-Western perspective. Utilizing newly available archives of Buddhist periodicals, he shows that early twentieth-century Chinese Buddhists had different issues with science than those that routinely vex Western religions. The Science of Chinese Buddhism provides a wide field of previously unavailable data that will expand the theoretical conversation for many years to come.

Rebecca Nedostup, Brown University:
Through impeccably conducted research, Hammerstrom provides a sorely needed comprehensive history of how Chinese Buddhists shaped their own scientific epistemology.

David McMahan, Franklin & Marshall College:
Using science as an ideological marker of modernity, Hammerstrom presents an astute discussion of the ongoing relationship, rhetorical and otherwise, between various understandings of Buddhism and science.

Frontmatter Free access PDF PDF	i
Contents Free access PDF PDF	vii
Preface Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	ix
Introduction Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	1
1. The Historical Context Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	18
2. Views on the Physical Universe Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	50
3. Empiricism and Means of Verification Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	80
4. The Nature of Mind Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	102
5. Ethics, Science, and Society Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	128
6. Science and Self-Cultivation Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	150
Epilogue Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	170
Notes Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	175
Glossary Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	211
Bibliography Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	217
Index Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	233

The Science of Chinese Buddhism

Early Twentieth-Century Engagements

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