A Study On The Feminist Thoughts Of Humanistic Buddhism

Great attention has been paid to the female issue in Buddhism upon its creation.In Buddhist scriptures,women becoming nuns,women’s status and man-woman relationship have been discussed intensely.In ancient India,Buddhism’s attitude towards women has been alternated between respecting women and discriminating women.After Buddhism spread to China,it evolves some good features in feminist thoughts due to local chinese political,economic,cultural effects.But overall,it still continues the ancient India Buddhism’s discriminatory attitude towards women.For a long time,Chinese female Buddhists lived in the outside of the community situation,they did not have the equal right as the male Buddhist in many aspects.Since modern times,with the introduction of western gender equality thought and the development of Humanistic Buddhism which was advocated by Master Taixu,the issue of gender equality has gradually aroused widespread discussion in the field of Buddhism.In the period of Republic of China,Master Tai Xu and some other Buddhist women have expressed their views on gender equality.Buddhists did not fully agree with the idea of this issue at that time,but they gradually reached a consensus that Buddhism should respect women’s personality,protect women’s rights,and advocate equality between men and women.After 1949,the humanistic Buddhism continued to develop in Taiwan,and the feminist thought of humanistic Buddhism was further advanced.Thanks to the continuous promoting from Buddhist leaders like Master Hsing Yun,Master Yin Shun,Master Sheng Yen and Master Chao Hwei,the feminist thought of humanistic Buddhism in Taiwan has made great achievements both in theory and in practice.Now the feminist thought of humanistic Buddhism in Taiwan has become a model for global Buddhism.The status of women in Taiwan’s Buddhism has been greatly improved,and the goal of achieving complete equality between men and women in Buddhism in this region is nearly accomplished.After Chinese liberation movement,Buddhism in mainland China has experienced a long period of stagnation,and it did not recover until 1980s.During this period,Zhao Puchu and Master Long Lian devoted themselves to the development of the female Buddhists,and they made outstanding contributions to the improvement of the overall status of Chinese female Buddhists.However,due to the difference between the degree of social modernization and the development of Buddhism in mainland China,the problem of gender equality of Buddhism in this area has been neglected or even shunned for a long time.Although a number of Buddhists and scholars have started to discuss this issue,still,it is hard to achieve a breakthrough in a short time.As a result,there is still a long way to go to reach the goal of equality between men and women in humanistic Buddhism in mainland China.