(many of very marginal quality). In 2010 it was announced that HCU passed the re-evaluation (though several departments were closed) for the next five years. The name A "contest" was held to decide the name of the new school, but none of the hundreds of entries were 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 a (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. As spelled on all school signage, "Hsuan Chuang" follows the Wade-Giles phonetic standard that would equate to Pinyin Xuán Zhuǎng (but not zàng). The character in question, 奘, has two pronunciations, one associated with its "bound" form, and the other with its unbound and stative-verb form; they have slightly different ranges of denotations. As a result, there are, in effect, two phonetic "interpretations" of the name of the historical monk alluded to (i.e., Tang dynasty monk Xuanzang). Character 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 (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. It is indicative that the university (in April 2011) served meat to its students—indeed, there are no vegetarian options in the student dining hall. However, the religious studies program has an extensive set of courses on Buddhism, including specialized courses in Taiwanese Buddhism Sanskrit Taoism, Confucianism, and the major historical schools of Chinese Buddhist thought References 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. External links Official website Official website 1997 establishments in Taiwan Educational institutions established in 1997 Private universities and colleges in Taiwan Universities and colleges in Hsinchu Buddhist universities and colleges in Taiwan Universities and colleges in Taiwan Comprehensive universities in Taiwan