Introduction

After setting out the aims of the volume, the first section presents an overview of Yogācāra in pre-twentieth-century China: its beginnings and consolidation from the fifth century through to the mid-Tang; post-Tang decline; and late-Ming to early Qing revival. The second section turns to the main subject of the volume: the reception of Yogācāra in twentieth-century China. It does this by introducing three major themes that run throughout the volume: the relation of Yogācāra to logic, science, and New Confucian thought. An introduction to these three themes anticipates several key questions animating discussions in individual chapters of the volume, including: What role did the Yogācāra revival in the early decades of the twentieth century play in Chinese responses to the challenges of modernity? Why did Chinese intellectuals turn to a tradition that is not Chinese?