Hsuan Chuang University

Hsuan Chuang University (玄奘大學, Xuánzàng dàxué) is a private Buddhist university in Hsinchu, Taiwan. Founded in 1997 by the Ven. Liao Zhong (了中), and named for the Tang Dynasty monk Xuanzang, the school was promoted to university status in 2004. It offers bachelors and masters degrees, mainly in humanities subjects.

History

Prior to 1985, the government of Taiwan maintained strict controls on private universities, and in particular discouraged university-level religious education. For several decades, senior officials of the Buddhist Association of the Republic of China (BAROC) pressured the government to overturn these restrictions, and allow a private Buddhist university similar to Fu Jen Catholic University.

Informal resistance from the Ministry of Education persisted into the 1990's. One obstacle was that the Ministry of Education claimed that as a religious affair, jurisdiction over the proposal lay with the Ministry of the Interior--which in turn maintained that as an educational institution, responsibility lay rather with the Ministry of Education. Prior to 1990, the working group had reconciled itself to creating a technical college (which could be accredited) alongside an unaccredited seminary, in preparation for a time when the government might accredit it as a religious studies department.

The political thaw and economic boom of the 1980's and 1990's erased many of the obstacles facing the venture. However, these events also had the effect of encouraging charismatic Buddhist teachers to built their own organizations and institutions--including universities--separately from BAROC. Examples would include Tzu Chi University, Fo Guang University, Huafan University, Nanhua University, and Dharma Drum Buddhist College). The "rump" project was led by Liao Zhong, a monk and BAROC official who would ultimately chair Hsuan-Chuang's board of directors.

Hsin-Chu was chosen as the school's location for its proximity to the various Buddhist teachers resident in north Taiwan, and also for its cheap land prices relative to Taipei. Government approval for the location was another significant hurdle in the application process. The school is situated in a semi-agricultural area on the outskirts of Hsin-Chu, next to Yuan Pei University and down the road from Chung Hua University. The prospect of a merger between these schools is regularly broached.

In 2008, the school was reevaluated by Taiwan's Ministry of Education, as a result of which one-third of its departments were placed on probation. Underlying this development is demographic pressure resulting from a dearth of university-age young people, and a corresponding glut of colleges and universities (many of very marginal quality).

The Name

A "contest" was held to decide the name of the new school, but none of the hundreds of entries were ever used.

One name favored by the working group was "Chung Hua University," chosen for its lack of explicit Buddhist content. ("Chung-Hua" refers to Chinese culture and/or the Republic of China), but another (non-Buddhist) university project was discovered to be using this name. "Xuanzang Technical College" was another working name for the planned institution. The school finally opened under the name of "Hsuan-Chuang College of Humanities and Social Science" (玄奘人文社會學院, Xuanzang Renwen Shehui Xueyuan). However, the name "Hsuan-Chuang University" was in use well before government approval of its university status.

"Hsuan-Chuang" is a nonstandard phonetic rendition of the name of Tang Dynasty monk Xuanzang, well known for his scholarly achievements. The Roman-letter name appears to have been chosen somewhat haphazardly. (For comparison's sake, "hcu.edu" belongs to Heritage Christian University.)

Character of the school

Although founded by Buddhists, Hsuan-Chuang University is broadly indistinguishable from other lower-tier private universities in Taiwan. There are no religious requirements or restrictions (indeed, these would not be allowed by the Ministry of Education), and except for a handful of monks and nuns, religion does not seem to be an important factor in attracting students.

Links

Official site: http://www.hcu.edu.tw

Books

Jones, Charles Brewer. "Buddhism in Taiwan: A Historical Survey." Doctoral dissertation in Religious Studies, University of Virginia, 1996. See. pp. 432-449 for history relevant to Hsuan-Chuang University.

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