Zhang Binglin

61

Zhang Binglin : biography

December 25, 1868 – June 14, 1936

Zhang replaced conventional sense of mingjia (which was the name of one of the nine philosophical schools pre-Qin) with a new understanding—the methodology of debate similar to European logic and Buddhist dialectic.

Zhang’s thoughts on religion went through multiple phases. Originally, in his pre-imprisonment days, he was highly critical of religion, and wrote several essays that criticized religious concepts: "Looking at Heaven", "The Truth about Confucianism", and "On Bacteria".Murthy, Viren. "Buddhist Epistemology and Modern Self-Identity: Zhang Taiyan’s ‘On Establishing Religion’". The Political Philosophy of Zhang Taiyan (Leiden, NL: Brill, 2011), 103. In these essays, he emphasized that the scientific world could be reconciled with classical Chinese philosophy. However, his thoughts on religion significantly changed following his imprisonment.

Imprisonment (1903-1906)

Zhang’s interest and studies in Buddhism only became serious during the three years he spent in prison for “publishing anti-Manchu propaganda and insulting the Qing emperor as a ‘buffoon’ in 1903”.Kurtz, Joachim. "Heritage Unearthed: The Discovery of Chinese Logic". The Discovery of Chinese Logic (Leiden, NL:Brill Press, July 1, 2011), 305. During this time, he read the Yogacara-bhumi, the basic texts of Weishi “Consciousness Only” school, and the foundational work of Chinese Buddhist logic (the Nyayapravesa). These texts were given to him by members of the Chinese Society of Education (Zhongguo jiaoyuhui).Murthy, Viren. "Buddhist Epistemology and Modern Self-Identity: Zhang Taiyan’s ‘On Establishing Religion’". The Political Philosophy of Zhang Taiyan (Leiden, NL: Brill, 2011), 107. He later claimed that: “it was only through reciting and meditating on these sutras that he was able to get through his difficult jail experience”.Murthy, Viren."Equalization as difference: Zhang Taiyan’s Buddhist-Daoist response to modern politics", IIAS Newsletter #44: Summer 2004, 24. https://openaccess.leidenuniv.nl/bitstream/handle/1887/12514/IIAS_NL44_2425.pdf?sequence=1 His experiences with Buddhist philosophical texts gave him a framework to reassess the significance of his pain and suffering and view it in a different light.Murthy, Viren. "Buddhist Epistemology and Modern Self-Identity: Zhang Taiyan’s ‘On Establishing Religion’". The Political Philosophy of Zhang Taiyan (Leiden, NL: Brill, 2011), 108. In 1906, after he was released from prison, Zhang went to Japan to edit The People’s Journal (Minbao) and developed a new philosophical framework that critiqued the dominant intellectual trend of modernization theory. He emerged from jail as devout Yogacarin. His attitude towards religion—namely Buddhism—changed after his time spent in prison. This is made apparent in "Zhang Taiyan’s Notes on Reading Buddhist Texts", in which he is concerned with the concepts of "freedom, constraints, sadness, and happiness".Murthy, Viren. "Buddhist Epistemology and Modern Self-Identity: Zhang Taiyan’s ‘On Establishing Religion’". The Political Philosophy of Zhang Taiyan (Leiden, NL: Brill, 2011), 109. After 1906, Buddhist terms became more prevalent in his writing, especially in his interpretation of Zhuangzi’s “Discourse on Making Things Equal”.

Time in Japan (1906-1910)

Zhang was further exposed to Yogacara Buddhism during his time in Japan (1906-1910), when he was actively involved in nationalist, anti-Manchu politics. During his time there, he edited the Tokyo-based The People’s Journal (Minbao), where he first expressed a "Buddhist voice".Murthy, Viren. "Buddhist Epistemology and Modern Self-Identity: Zhang Taiyan’s ‘On Establishing Religion’". The Political Philosophy of Zhang Taiyan (Leiden, NL: Brill, 2011), 90. While he was in Japan, he joined Tong Meng Hui, a party that was primarily made up of anti-Manchu exiles (this included Sun Yatsen) seeking the cultural and political regeneration of China.

Upon his return to China, Zhang worked on the commission “convened by the new Nationalist government’s Ministry of Education in 1913 to establish a national language and helped develop the Chinese phonetic symbol system still used today in Taiwan, among other places.”Hurst, Cecily. "The Origin of Language in Chinese Thought", Anthropoetics 6(2): Spring/Summer 2000, http://www.anthropoetics.ucla.edu/ap0602/hurst.htm

The terminology used by Zhang is not common in earlier Chinese philosophical discussions of symbol, language, and the sacred—before the 20th century, Chinese philosophical texts were in classical Chinese (wenyanwen), which uses monosyllabic style. The vernacular (baihua) began to be more commonly used after the May 4th Movement in 1919. Compound words like yuyen were rarely used in pre-20th-century Chinese writings. Zhang was exposed to these linguistic approaches during his time in Japan following his imprisonment.Hurst, Cecily. "The Origin of Language in Chinese Thought", Anthropoetics 6(2): Spring/Summer 2000, http://www.anthropoetics.ucla.edu/ap0602/hurst.htm