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Heart of Buddha, Heart of China: The Life of Tanxu, a Twentieth-Century Monk , written by James Carter

Heart of Buddha, Heart of China: The Life of Tanxu, a Twentieth-Century Monk , written by James... New York: Oxford University Press, 2011. viii + 221 pages. Softcover. isbn 978-0-19-936759-7. us $24.95. This book aspires to reveal trends in twentieth-century Chinese history by following the story of a man who became one of the era’s important Buddhist monks, Tanxu 倓虛 (1875–1963). Rather than writing a straight biography of Tanxu, Carter aims to write a “microhistory,” using Tanxu as a device to narrate developments in twentieth-century China. As a historian, Carter has written a book focused on the narrative particularities of Chinese history and the life of a monk, rather than on the specifically Buddhist aspects of Tanxu’s career. The central thesis is that religion contributed to Chinese nationalism in the twentieth century. Carter supports this thesis by detailing how Tanxu built temples in the foreign enclaves of Harbin and Qingdao with the support of local officials interested in erecting a symbol of Chinese culture and nationhood among the distinctively European buildings that marked these towns. The book is written in an engaging and accessible style that avoids jargon, theory, and Chinese characters; these and other qualities suggest the book is aimed at a more popular readership. The book follows a chronological order and there is http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Review of Religion and Chinese Society Brill

Heart of Buddha, Heart of China: The Life of Tanxu, a Twentieth-Century Monk , written by James Carter

Review of Religion and Chinese Society , Volume 2 (2): 285 – Nov 13, 2015

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Publisher
Brill
Copyright
© 2015 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands
Subject
Book Reviews
ISSN
2214-3947
eISSN
2214-3955
DOI
10.1163/22143955-00202012
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

New York: Oxford University Press, 2011. viii + 221 pages. Softcover. isbn 978-0-19-936759-7. us $24.95. This book aspires to reveal trends in twentieth-century Chinese history by following the story of a man who became one of the era’s important Buddhist monks, Tanxu 倓虛 (1875–1963). Rather than writing a straight biography of Tanxu, Carter aims to write a “microhistory,” using Tanxu as a device to narrate developments in twentieth-century China. As a historian, Carter has written a book focused on the narrative particularities of Chinese history and the life of a monk, rather than on the specifically Buddhist aspects of Tanxu’s career. The central thesis is that religion contributed to Chinese nationalism in the twentieth century. Carter supports this thesis by detailing how Tanxu built temples in the foreign enclaves of Harbin and Qingdao with the support of local officials interested in erecting a symbol of Chinese culture and nationhood among the distinctively European buildings that marked these towns. The book is written in an engaging and accessible style that avoids jargon, theory, and Chinese characters; these and other qualities suggest the book is aimed at a more popular readership. The book follows a chronological order and there is

Journal

Review of Religion and Chinese SocietyBrill

Published: Nov 13, 2015

There are no references for this article.