Our Shared Karma: Buddhism, Literature, and the Modern Chinese Revolution

Our Shared Karma reveals the profoundly Buddhist beginning of the modern Chinese revolution. It is the first monograph to critique the secularist assumption that has tacitly governed the received narrative of China’s modern transformation, and also the first book-length study in English to approach modern Chinese literature from the perspective of Buddhist studies. Probing the intersection of literature, religion, and politics at the turn of the twentieth century, Our Shared Karma highlights a revolution of the mind that dwells at the core of the Chinese quest for modernity. It illuminates a shared horizon of meaning between Buddhism-inspired progressive intellectuals—such as Liang Qichao, Zhang Taiyan, and Lu Xun—and reform-minded Buddhists—such as Yang Wenhui, Taixu, and Ouyang Jingwu—at a historical juncture of radical epistemic openness and escalating momentum for change. In recovering the Buddhist face of modern Chinese literature, Our Shared Karma unveils at the same time a different, and revolutionary, face of modern Chinese Buddhism. The dual discovery pays homage to an existential courage embodied by these extraordinary seekers and seers, as they braved their karma and groped for light in a dark and tumultuous world.