Research Article Journal of Global Buddhism 10 (2009): 255 - 290 Writing History of Buddhist Thought in the Twentieth Century: Yinshun (1906-2005) in the Context of Chinese Buddhist Historiography Marcus Bingenheimer Dharma Drum College Jinshan 20842, Taiwan
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[email protected] Abstract Venerable Yinshun 印順 (1906–2005) was the eminent scholar-monk in twentieth-century Chinese Buddhism. This paper is about his historiographical practice and tries to outline his position in Chinese Buddhist historiography especially in reference to the Song dynasty historian Zhipan 志磐 (thirteenth century). It tries to answer the question in what ways Yinshun can be said to have modernized Buddhist historiography for Chinese Buddhism. Introduction (1) One of the sources of Buddhist activism is the ongoing collision of the Buddhist tradition with so-called modernity. But exactly what constitutes modernity is notoriously difficult to define. A large number of ideas and phenomena have been identified as modern: science, individualism, progress, rationalization, objectivism and universalism, secularization and disenchantment of the world.