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- Title
Toward a Modern Buddhist Hagiography.
- Authors
JACK MENG-TAT CHIA
- Abstract
Hsing Yun (Xingyun, 1927-), the founder of Fo Guang Shan, is one of the most influential Buddhist monks in Taiwan and around the world. This study examines the biographies of Hsing Yun as depicted in Fo Guang Shan's popular media--a comic, an online photo album, a documentary, and a music video--to elucidate the uses and significance of Buddhist hagiography in contemporary Taiwan. I argue that unlike the Buddhist hagiographies of earlier times in which eminent monks were depicted as transcendental beings with superhuman powers and spiritual attainments, the informal and intimate portrayals of Hsing Yun in popular media seek to portray the monk as a worldling bodhisattva in the this-worldly realm. Focusing on the narration of Hsing Yun's life story in these popular works, this article seeks to shed new light on the use of popular media by Buddhist organizations and to develop a new understanding of how Buddhist hagiographies are produced in an accessible and fascinating manner for contemporary audiences.
- Subjects
HSING Yun; BUDDHIST hagiography; BODHISATTVAS; MONKS; BUDDHISTS
- Publication
Asian Ethnology, 2015, Vol 74, Issue 1, p141
- ISSN
1882-6865
- Publication type
Article