Course Title：Buddhism in Chinese Culture

This course aims to help students grasp the core Buddhist tenets and the Buddhist infiltration in Chinese culture, traditional and modern. For more than two thousand years, Buddhism has permeated almost all levels of Chinese culture such as philosophy, history, religion, literature, mores and behavioral norms, arts, architecture, folk traditions and beliefs, economy, education, modern life and so on. The course will enhance students’ intellectual and intercultural understanding of Chinese culture, life and belief through inquiries into their close correlation to Buddhism. Lectures are organized on the format of lecturer’s introductions and follow-up discussions on specific topics with multi-media aids. As a result, students will be able to understand, explain and critically examine Buddhist elements in Chinese life and culture. In this process, they shall acquire the Chinese Buddhist wisdom pressingly needed in this post-modern world; they shall have a new perspective to see themselves and the world; and most important of all, they shall initiate a life-reforming project toward unconditioned freedom of heart.