"In sixteenth-century China, following a period of relative obscurity, Buddhism entered a period of revitalization due in large part to a cohort of particularly innovative and influential monks. By seeking to transcend sectarian rivalries and doctrinal specialization, and, perhaps more importantly, to reach an understanding rather than a confrontation with Confucianism, these monks brought Buddhism into closer communication with other Chinese intellectual traditions-Confucianism and Daoism, in particular-and with the Chinese state. Zhuhong (1535-1615) was among the most important of this group of monks, both as an intellectual and as a political reformer. By telling the story of his involvement in both Buddhist thought and political reform, in this classic work, Chun-fang Yu makes the case that, contrary to a long tradition of scholarship holding that Buddhism was in constant decline in China after the Tang dynasty, the late Ming period was a positive and creative time of renewal for Buddhism. The transliterations throughout have been updated from Wade-Giles to pinyin. There are a new foreword and a new preface that comes before the preface that appears in the original edition, and an updated introduction"-- Provided by publisher.
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