150 Questions about Buddhist Culture

Author: Yang Zengwen
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-06-01
Features: Driven by reform and opening-up, Chinese society is undergoing profound transformations. With the vigorous development of socialist commodity economy, and the accelerated progress in socialist democracy, rule of law, and spiritual civilization construction, the national spirit of China has been liberated in new ways. Old concepts that stifled people's thinking, formed under long-term natural and semi-natural economic conditions, have been greatly challenged. In all fields—political, economic, and cultural science—many new perspectives and ideas have emerged, aligning with the trends of social progress. However, the formation and development of any new thought or culture must be based on and presuppose the existing thought and culture. To critically inherit all the positive aspects of the old, absorb and transform its intellectual and cultural resources as nutrients and components of new thought and culture, requires in-depth research into the old thought and culture. What should be borrowed? What should be discarded? What should be transformed and absorbed? One must be clear about this. Whether dealing with existing thought or cultural phenomena in small domains, specific periods, or aspects, or with traditional thought and culture that has endured for thousands of years, the same attitude should be adopted. This helps explain why, in the face of the surging tide of reform and opening-up, there has been a persistent and thriving interest in and evaluation of traditional culture. People are studying and reevaluating traditional culture with fresh perspectives and from new heights. They are thinking and debating. Though conclusions may not be uniform, it doesn’t matter. The very act of reflecting on traditional culture has deepened people’s understanding of many issues and promoted the development of social and historical cultural studies. This book introduces readers to general knowledge of Buddhism. It aims to be as comprehensive and systematic as possible. The content includes the basic doctrines of Buddhism, important historical figures, an overview of the spread of Buddhism in China, major schools of Northern Buddhism centered in China, basic Buddhist scriptures, and Buddhist art, among others. In terms of expression, it strives to be as accessible as possible, adopting a Q&A format where the length of each entry varies based on the difficulty of the question. There are too many specialized Buddhist terms, some of which are quite difficult to understand. While the narrative intentionally avoids them, given that the book is about Buddhism, it inevitably uses a considerable number of Buddhist terms. The content includes the basic doctrines of Buddhism, important historical figures, an overview of the spread of Buddhism in China, major schools of Northern Buddhism centered in China, basic Buddhist scriptures, and Buddhist art, among others.