Tang Yongtong's Study On The History Of Chinese Buddhism

As a master in modern times with a thorough knowledge of both China and the west,Tang Yongtong has made remarkable achievements in religion,philosophy,and history studies.In recent years,domestic scholars attach increasing importance to summarizing the academic thoughts and research of Tang Yongtong.But from the perspective of research,scholars usually care more about the religious thoughts and philosophical thoughts of Tang Yongtong and pay inadequate attention to his thoughts on the history of religion,particularly his thoughts on the history of Buddhism in China.Therefore,this thesis focuses on the research of Tang Yongtong's study of the history of Buddhism in China.Through discussing his methods of scholarly research on the history of Buddhism in China,the thesis hopes to demonstrate the great academic master's contributions in the research of the history of Buddhism in China.This thesis consists of four parts.Part One mainly introduces the education,teaching and research experience of Tang Yongtong.On the one hand,he has grown up in the east,but received further education in the west,giving him an academic background with the integration of China and the west;on the other hand,Tang Yongtong's many years of teaching and research experience in China have also helped him accumulated a lot of research achievements.Through analyzing his academic origins,the thesis discusses the influence factors from Tang Yongtong on later research work on the history of Buddhism in China.Part Two illustrates the achievements made by Tang Yongtong in the research of the history of Buddhism in China.This part mainly introduces Tang Yongtong's research in the history of Buddhism in Han and Tang Dynasties and his outcome in sorting out historical materials on the history of Buddhism in China.Tang Yongtong has sorted out the fundamental development process of the whole history of Buddhism in China and provides an example for revising materials on the history of Buddhism in China.Part Three is the priority of illustration for this thesis.It summarizes the character:istics of Tang Yongtong's academic research,including the exploration means of tracing to the root and probing the main thread,the interpretation means of comparing China with foreign nations to offer a comprehensive explanation,and the research line of thinking“understand with one's emotion,and feel with one's heart".Part Four compares Tang Yongtong with other researchers on the history of Buddhism in China,introduces his unique status in the research of the history of Buddhism in China,and familiarizes people with his prominent contributions to the discipline building of the history of Buddhism in China.