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Toward a Modern Chinese Buddhism: Taixu's Reforms. By DON A. PITTMAN. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2001. xi, 389 pp. $49.00 (cloth).
In his book Toward a Modern Chinese Buddhism, Don A. Pittman provides a thorough examination of the life and thought of the early to mid-twentieth-century Chinese monk Taixu (1890-1947). he discusses Taixu's critique of Chinese Buddhist institutions, his interpretations of Buddhist doctrine and practice, and his appropriation of Western science, philosophy, and political ideology. In so doing, he demonstrates Taixu's efforts to humanize and modernize Chinese Buddhism as the means for establishing a new foundation for religious and social change in and outside China.
Pittman begins his study by distinguishing "visionary" and "ethical" piety. He argues that proponents of a visionary piety focus on the "attainment of mental dispositions, the 'seeing' of the true nature of things" (p. 6). The focus is on belief in comprehensive visions of reality. Those who advocate ethical piety, on the other hand, emphasize "transformation through normative action-that is, the doing of truth" (p. 6). Religiosity, here, is expressed through action governed by certain rules and roles. Pittman categorizes Taixu as an ethical pietist, pointing to his stress on compassionate action and social activism as...