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I-kuan Tao

A Dictionary of Buddhism | 2004 | | Copyright

I-kuan Tao. A syncretic folk Buddhist organization in China whose name translates roughly as ‘the Way of Unity’. Formally founded in 1928 by Chang T'ien-jan (1889–1947), it is an offshoot of the older Lo-chiao tradition that believed in a deity called the Unborn Venerable Mother (Wu-sheng Lao-mu), and divided human history into three epochs, during each of which the Mother sent an emissary to call an errant humankind home (in the case of I-kuan Tao, these are three successive Buddhas, the last of whom, Maitreya, has yet to come and effect final salvation). Thus, while incorporating elements of Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, Christianity, and Islam, the religion has its own distinctive worldview under which these other religions are subsumed and understood.

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DAMIEN KEOWN. "I-kuan Tao." A Dictionary of Buddhism. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 31 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

DAMIEN KEOWN. "I-kuan Tao." A Dictionary of Buddhism. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (May 31, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O108-IkuanTao.html

DAMIEN KEOWN. "I-kuan Tao." A Dictionary of Buddhism. 2004. Retrieved May 31, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O108-IkuanTao.html

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I-kuan Tao

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions | 1997 | | Copyright

I-kuan Tao (Way of Pervading Unity). A Chinese Buddhist-Taoist society, an offshoot of the White Lotus Sect, founded by Wang Chüeh-i in the early 20th cent. Its main doctrine is eschatological-messianic: Bodhisattva Maitreya, at the command of Mother of Nobirth (Wu-sheng Lao-mu), the creator-deity, will appear to the world imminently, at the end of the third and last kalpa to save its members and all other human beings.

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JOHN BOWKER. "I-kuan Tao." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. 1997. Encyclopedia.com. 31 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

JOHN BOWKER. "I-kuan Tao." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. 1997. Encyclopedia.com. (May 31, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O101-IkuanTao.html

JOHN BOWKER. "I-kuan Tao." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. 1997. Retrieved May 31, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O101-IkuanTao.html

Learn more about citation styles