Building and Negotiating Religious Identities in a Zen Buddhist Temple

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-vi

   PDF

2. Buddhism and Rhetoric: From an Intercultural Perspective

   • Fan Zhang

   Pages 1-15

3. A Brief History of Modern Zen Buddhism in the United States

   • Fan Zhang

   Pages 17-38

4. The Temple’s Paradox: Maintaining Cultural Traditions in the Discourse of Modernization and Democratization

   • Fan Zhang

   Pages 39-61

5. Constructing Buddhist Identity at the H Temple

   • Fan Zhang

   Pages 63-90

6. The Buddhist Rhetoric of the H Temple: What Does It Mean to Be an American Buddhist?

   • Fan Zhang

   Pages 91-100

This book explores the practices in a Zen Buddhist temple located in Northwest Ohio against the backdrop of globalization. Drawing on the previous studies on Buddhist modernization and westernization, it provides a better understanding of the westernization of Buddhism and its adapted practices and rituals in the host culture. Using rhetorical criticism methodology, the author approaches this temple as an embodiment of Buddhist rhetoric with both discursive and non-discursive expressions within the discourses of modernity. By analyzing the rhetorical practices at the temple through abbots’ teaching videos, the temple website, members’ dharma names, and the materiality of the temple space and artifacts, the author discovers how Buddhist rhetoric functions to constitute and negotiate the religious identities of the community members through its various rituals and activities. At the same time, the author examines how the temple’s space and settings facilitate the collective the formation and preservation of the Buddhist identity. Through a nuanced discussion of Buddhist rhetoric, this book illuminates a new rhetorical methodology to understand religious identity construction. Furthermore, it offers deeper insights into the future development of modern Buddhism, which are also applicable to Buddhist practitioners and other major world religions. 

• Buddhist Rhetoric
• Religious Identity
• Zen Buddhist Temple
• Intercultural Rhetoric
• Modernization of Buddhism

• School of Journalism and Communication, Xi’an International Studies University, Xi’an, China

  Fan Zhang

​Fan Zhang is an instructor at Xi’an International Studies University. Her areas of work interest include intercultural communication, critical rhetoric, religious communication, gaming, media and technology.  She obtained her Ph.D. from Bowling Green State University, and her work has been published in the International Journal of Interactive Communication Systems and Technologies (2015). Her paper “Remaking Ancient Virtues for the Virtual World: A Case Study of the Voice of Longquan” was among the finalists in the National Communication Association’s International and Intercultural Communication Division (IICD) Honors Graduate Student Seminar in 2014. 

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