Jason Clower, PhD. Harvard.
Trinity 249
(530) 898-5860
jclower@csuchico.edu


I teach about religion and society in Asia, particularly in East Asia
with a specialization in China. Here at Chico State I teach classes on
Asian religions, Buddhism, Chinese religions, and the humanities in
India, China, and Japan. Elsewhere I have offered courses entitled
"Buddhist Philosophy: The Most Loved (and Feared) Texts," "Deep
Background to Modern Chinese State-Society relations," "Buddhism in
China," and "Buddhist-Confucian Relations."

As a researcher, I can trace all of my interests and projects to a
broader interest in debates on the relationship between the polity and
"the good life." So why China? Because over the last 150 years, no one
has argued more widely and experimented more creatively than Chinese
intellectuals and leaders to create good society. Who else has tried to
revive tantric Buddhism as a weapon of national defense?!

My current research focuses on Buddhist-Confucian relations in modern
China. I have long been intrigued by the modern generations of
culturally traditionalist, more or less Confucian-minded Chinese public
intellectuals who have raided the Buddhists' pantry for ideas with which
to stock their own moral and political philosophies. I am currently
writing a book called The Unlikely Buddhologist about Mou Zongsan, the
towering figure of modern Chinese philosophy, who decided somewhat
mysteriously to try to revitalize Confucianism and Chinese civilization
with ideas borrowed, of all places, from largely-forgotten Tiantai
Buddhist thought.

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