Avataṃsaka 華嚴 Transnationalism in Modern Sinitic Buddhism

Abstract

This article describes the important but overlooked influence of Avataṃsaka thought within East Asian Buddhism from the nineteenth century to the 1930s. It shows that Avataṃsaka was transnational in two significant ways: First, its popularity is illustrative of the connections that existed between Buddhists in China, Japan, and Korea during that time. Second, Avataṃsaka thought served as the basis for discourses of transnationalism.