A Sense of an Ending

Chinese Buddhist Eschatology Reconsidered

Abstract

In the 1970s, the Cold War was still in full swing, and many had already confronted its possible conclusion in global nuclear annihilation after experiencing the Cuban missile crisis of 1961. Yet in the Anglophone study of Asia, no awareness seemed to exist as to the possibility of reactions to that future that might not be identical to those of the Judeo-Christian tradition. In 1976, however, Dan Overmyer published Folk Buddhist Religion, a volume that drew attention to the apocalyptic visions of some popular groups influenced by Buddhist conceptions, amongst others, of global disaster. Since then, more has been written in this vein and a considerable literature has grown up, including a certain amount concerning reaction in East Asia to climate change. What have we learned over the past five decades?