The Debate Between Yang Wenhui And Jōdo Shinshū

This paper takes the debate between Yang Wenhui and Jōdo Shinshū as the object of the study,systematically combs the causes,consequences and contents of the debate from the perspective of philology and ideological history,puts it in the context of the Sino-Japanese Buddhist contacts at that time to investigate the characteristics of the communication in Buddhism between China and Japan in modern times.The debate can be divided into three rounds,involving the following main topics:Path of Sages and Path of Pure Land,self-power and other-power,the judgments of doctrine by Jōdo Shinshū,Buddhist chanting and other practices.Shin Buddhists view Infinite Life Sutras as the most holy sutras,the eighteenth vow of Amitabha as the most holy vow,which accounts for their complete reliance on other-Power of Amitabha.However,Yang Wenhui almost opposed all these Shin Buddhist ideas above,for he thought that they breached Buddhist Doctrine.For the result of the debate,no consensus was reached on any of the topics by both sides.There are two reasons:both sides of the debate are different in judging the right and wrong;both sides have complicated purposes.Yang Wenhui wanted to maintain the orthodoxy of Buddhism in his mind,while Shin Buddhists wanted to expand its mission in China to keep close relationship with the Japanese government.During the debate,both sides often cited sutras to prove their point of view.This paper tries to judge whether both sides have provided strong arguments and whether they have answered each other’s questions head-to-head by exploring the origin and the meanings of the sutras.As an event of the communication in Buddhism Between China and Japan in modern times,some problems of Sino-Japanese Buddhist communication in modern times are reflected in the debate between Yang Wenhui and Jōdo Shinshū.But at the same time,the debate also promoted the understanding of Buddhist doctrines and conditions between China and Japan,the revival of Chinese Buddhism in the late Qing and early Republican Era.