Home> Archive> 2014> Volume 4 Number 5 (Sep. 2014)
IJSSH 2014 Vol.4(5): 372-377 ISSN: 2010-3646
DOI: 10.7763/IJSSH.2014.V4.381

Buddhism, Nationalism and War: A Comparative Evaluation of Chinese and Japanese Buddhists‘ Reactions to the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937~1945)

Dong Zhao

Abstract—This paper tries to give a theoretical and historical framework of the intimate link between Chinese and Japanese Buddhism, nationalism and militarism evidenced by the Second Sino-Japanese War. It analyzes how the Buddhist monks in both China and Japan, despite Buddhism's traditionally ahimsa philosophy, participated in the fierce violence of the Second Sino-Japanese War from a historical perspective. In sum, Buddhism has played an essential role in reevaluating the Second Sino-Japanese War, and more insights can therefore be gained on the complicated relationship between religion, polity and violence.

Index Terms—Buddhism, nationalism, violence, Sino-Japanese War.

Dong Zhao is with the Beijing Foreign Studies University, China (e-mail: dzhao@bfsu.edu.cn).

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Cite: Dong Zhao, " Buddhism, Nationalism and War: A Comparative Evaluation of Chinese and Japanese Buddhists‘ Reactions to the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937~1945)," International Journal of Social Science and Humanity vol. 4, no. 5, pp. 372-377, 2014.

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