Post-Western Encroachments
Faced with the threat of the British and French taking territory by force, making China strong became a major concern of the Qing court and the elites.
Thus started the Self-Strengthening Movement.
Echoing the thoughts of others, the governors of Hunan and Canton proposed to Emperor Guangxu that China adopt Western learning for “operational functions” while keeping Chinese learning as the nation’s moral bedrock.
Education for the masses was started. The civil examination system, meant to produce scholars steeped in Confucianism, learning, and the classics to advise the emperor and govern the far-flung empire, was abolished.
Schools needed to be set up. The rich resources and lands of temples were eyed and taken over by the Qing and the Republican government to use as schools.
To resist, Buddhist temple leaders as well as lay Buddhists established Buddhist seminaries on the existing temple grounds for the first time.
To counter the belief held by Western elites in the government that Buddhism is superstitious, monks and Buddhist laymen published writings to show the engagement between Buddhism and science.
These engagements were on three fronts. One front was to show that Buddhism, unlike science, teaches ethics and meditation that give people a compassionate worldview and spiritual life.
The prominent role played by lay Buddhists was an important factor in the evolution and growth of Buddhism in China in the 20th century.
(See Chinese Buddhism: A Thematic History by Yu Chin Fang, 2020, published, pages 240 to 243.)
LWH , 8 June 2025