The Buddhist Life and Thought of Chao Kung, the European Monk in China

This article constructs a timeline of Chao Kung’s Buddhist life in China and summarizes his Buddhist thought. In early 1931, he attained his Chinese monkhood. In June of that year, the Buddhist lectures he delivered in Beijing sparked controversy that ultimately led to his departure for Europe in late 1932. He returned to Shanghai in mid-1933 with twelve European followers and quickly secured high-profile support from Chinese religio-political celebrities, particularly Dai Jitao, who positioned them as foreign admirers of the ninth Panchen. Sent to Europe in early 1934, he and some of his followers were soon back in China several months later. From that point onward, Chao Kung led a precarious life until his death in 1943. He asserted that the sole Truth lay in the Buddha’s original teachings, which were essentially encapsulated in the doctrine of “no-self,” through which the problem of human suffering could be resolved.