Buddha’s Diplomats: Figures of Buddhist Diplomacy in Modern Asia
佛法外交家：現代亞洲佛教外交人物
Jack Meng-Tat Chia
National University of Singapore
謝明達
新加坡國立大學
Abstract
This lecture introduces the practice of Buddhist diplomacy and examines how Buddhism has been a dynamic force in shaping international relations across modern Asia. Based on the forthcoming open access volume Figures of Buddhist Diplomacy in Modern Asia, the talk highlights individuals—including monastics, laypersons, political leaders, and royalty—who have strategically employed Buddhist objects, teachings, and networks to forge transregional ties and influence global politics. It traces how Buddhism has been mobilized for soft power, cultural exchange, peacebuilding, and geopolitical maneuvering. Through case studies ranging from World War II and Cold War Asia to contemporary China’s Belt and Road Initiative, the lecture explores how figures such as Taixu, Thich Nhat Hanh, Hsing Yun, and the Dalai Lama, as well as heads of state and royalty including Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, Narendra Modi, and Xi Jinping, have drawn on Buddhist symbols and institutions to pursue both cultural and political aims. Blending historical depth with contemporary insight, the lecture invites audiences to rethink diplomacy not merely as negotiation and policy, but as a terrain where religion, culture, and global power intersect. It reveals the unexpected yet significant presence of Buddhism in shaping Asia’s modern international order.
摘要
本講座介紹「佛教外交」的實踐，探討佛教如何塑造現代亞洲國際關係的動態力量。本講座以即將出版的論文集《現代亞洲佛教外交人物》為基礎，聚焦多位僧侶、居士、政治領袖與皇室成員，他們曾策略性運用佛教文物、教義與網絡來建立跨區聯繫、影響全球政治。講座將說明佛教如何發揮軟實力、促進文化交流、推動和平建設與地緣政治操作。討論涵蓋第二次世界大戰與冷戰時期亞洲，到當代中國「一帶一路」倡議的案例研究，講座探討太虛、一行禪師、星雲大師與達賴喇嘛等人物，以及詩琳通公主、納倫德拉·莫迪與習近平等國家元首與皇室成員，如何運用佛教象徵與制度，以追求文化與政治目標。本講座綜觀歷史深度與當代視角，邀請聽眾重新思考外交不僅是協商與政策的領域，更是宗教、文化與全球權力交織之場域，揭示佛教在形塑亞洲現代國際秩序中出人意表卻極具影響力的角色。
Speaker’s Biography
Jack Meng-Tat Chia is the Foo Hai Associate Professor in Buddhist Studies at the National University of Singapore, where he serves as Assistant Dean of Research at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. He is a historian of religion specializing in Buddhism and Chinese religions in Southeast Asia. He is the author of Monks in Motion: Buddhism and Modernity Across the South China Sea (Oxford, 2020), which received the 2021 EuroSEAS Humanities Book Prize and was shortlisted for the 2023 Friedrich Weller Prize. The book has been translated into Chinese and Indonesian. His second book, Dongnanya fayin: Xinjiapo fojiao yanjiu lunji 東南亞法音: 新加坡佛教研究論集 (Southeast Asia’s Dharma: Essays on Buddhism in Singapore) (Boyang, 2025), is a collection of essays on the history and development of Buddhism in Singapore. He recently completed an edited volume, Figures of Buddhist Diplomacy in Modern Asia (Bloomsbury, 2026), which features twenty-two chapters examining monastic, lay, and political figures involved in Buddhist diplomacy from the early twentieth century to the present. He is currently working on a monograph titled Buddhayana: The Making of an Indonesian Buddhist Movement, which explores the history and evolution of the Buddhayana movement in Indonesia.
講者介紹
謝明達，新加坡國立大學福海佛教研究講座副教授兼文學暨社會科學院研發處助理院長。主要研究領域為東南亞佛教與華人民間信仰、跨國佛教、朝聖、宗教外交以及中國-東南亞互動。英文專著Monks in Motion: Buddhism and Modernity Across the South China Sea（牛津大學出版社，2020年）榮獲2021年歐洲東南亞研究學會的人文圖書獎，並入圍2023年弗里德里希·韋勒獎，已出版中文與印尼文版。中文著作《東南亞法音：新加坡佛教研究論集》（博揚文化，2025年）探討新加坡佛教歷史與發展。近期擔任論文集Figures of Buddhist Diplomacy in Modern Asia （布魯姆斯伯里出版社，2026年）主編，共收錄二十二篇論文，探討自二十世紀初以來，涉足佛教外交的僧侶、居士與政治人物。目前正撰寫專著Buddhayana: The Making of an Indonesian Buddhist Movement，探討佛乘運動在印尼的歷史與演變。