International Social Science Journal (Chinese Edition)

No.3, 2023

Acculturation and Invention of Obaku Culture and the Formation of the New Obaku Network

(Abstract)

Liao Chiyang

The idea of the Obaku school was introduced to Japan by Chinese Buddhist monks and Chinese merchants who went to Japan around the same time as the Zen master Ingen, which broadly impacted Japanese Zen Buddhism and social culture. Subsequently, the Obaku school gradually transformed itself into a Japanese-style school. In the 1970s, the “Obaku culture” was proposed as a new concept and reimported to China in the 21st century. Simultaneously, overseas Chinese in Japan began to form a new Obaku network, and the “Re-Sinification” of the Obaku school in Japan began. This article attempts to analyze these historical changes from three perspectives of “acculturation,” “invention of tradition,” and “transnational networks.”