Presentation on Hanyue Fazang's 漢月法藏 Ritual and Procedure for Spreading Ordination (Hongjie fayi 弘戒法儀)

Recently I made a presentation on Hanyue Fazang's 漢月法藏Rituals and Procedures for Spreading Ordination (Hongjie fayi 弘戒法儀) in a conference held at the University of Perugia in Italy and supported by the Chiang Chingkuo Foundation. This work was the first comprehensive manual on the performance of Triple Platform Ordination (Santan dajie 三壇大戒) ceremony, a unique Chinese ordination ritual invented in the late Ming. It was as least fifty years early than Jianyue Duti's 見月讀體 similar work. Yinyuan Longqi 隱元隆琦 adopted this ritual in Japan to spread his Obaku tradition and published a work with the same title based on Hanyue's work.

Buddhist Monastic Discipline in China and Beyond

Tuesday 20 December, h. 9:00-14:00

Palazzo Stocchi, Piazza Morlacchi 30

Università degli Studi di Perugia

Dipartimento di Filosofia, Scienze sociali, umane e della formazione

A conference financed by the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation for International Scholarly Exchange

9:00 Greetings

9:20 Ann Heirman (Ghent University)

Body Movement and Sport Activities: A Buddhist Normative Perspective from India to China.

9:40 Dhammadhinna (Dharma Drum Institute of Liberal Arts, Taiwan)

Women’s Soteriological Agency, Text Transmission and Buddhist Institutions.

10:00 Peiying Lin (UC Berkeley/ Fu Jen Catholic University)

The doctrine of Brahmajala Sutra in a Historical Context.

10:20 Wu Jiang (University of Arizona)

Discipline and Enlightenment: Spreading the Triple Platform Ordination Ceremony in the Seventeenth

Century China.

10:40 Ester Bianchi (Università degli Studi di Perugia)

Bodhisattva Precepts in modern China: Coping with Different Traditions.

11:00 Discussion

11:15 Coffee Break

12:00 Raoul Birnbaum (University of California at Santa Cruz)

Why was Hongyi so interested in Vinaya?: Part one. Issues of self-cultivation.

12:20 Melody Tzu-lung Chiu (UC Berkeley University)

The Practice of Fasting in Contemporary Chinese Buddhism.

12:40 Daniela Campo (Université de Strasbourg)

“Etiquette and rules of the Cloud Dwelling (雲居儀規)”: an Overview.

13:00 Li Yuzhen (Zhengzhi daxue, Taipei)

The Revival and Reconstruction of Vinaya Tradition in Contemporary Taiwan: Nanlin Nunnery and the

Bhikshuni Re-Ordination.

13:20 Federico Squarcini (Università Ca’ Foscari di Venezia)

Mirroring Vinaya. Or, why to borrow from each other in normative South Asian textual figurations.

13:40 Discussion

Longquan Temple in Beijing

I was glad to visit Longquan Temple 龙泉寺 in Beijing on Nov. 16, 2016 and discussed their project of compiling a new Chinese Buddhist canon. I spent a wonderful day to visit their high-tech facilities and talked with Ven. Xianqing 贤清 and Xianchao 贤超. Unfortunately Master Xuecheng 学诚 could not see me. But I saw him speaking the next date in Xi'an. He posted a short note about my visit on his Weibo.

Obaku Art Auction at Anderson Art, Taibei 安德昇拍賣黃檗宗高僧墨跡專場

Dr. Yang Kuei-hsiang at Tokyo informed me that there was an auction in August 25-26 for Obaku art at Anderson Art 安德昇 in Taibei. The auction catalog is on line for review.

2016安德昇8月夏季拍賣 黃檗宗高僧墨跡專場
Published on Aug 2, 2016
黃檗宗高僧墨跡專場 預展時間 2016年8月25日(四) ~ 2016年8月26日(五) 11:00~18:00 預展地點 集思北科大會議中心 台北市大安區忠孝東路三段1號2樓 拍賣時間 2016年8月27日(六) 16:30 拍賣地點 集思北科大會議中心 台北市大安區忠孝東路三段1號2樓

Dr. Nogawa Hiroyuki's 野川博之 papers on Huangbo Temple 黄檗寺 in Tainan 台南

I am glad to receive Dr. Nogawa Hiroyuki's 野川博之 papers. These are important studies of Huangbo Temple 黄檗寺 in Tainan 台南 which I have visited before and wrote a blog. The full citation of these two papers are as follows:

台南に黄檗寺の影を求めて
Author: 野川 博之
Edition/Format: Article Article : Japanese
Publication: 黄檗文華 / 黄檗文化研究所 編. n125 (2004-05): 195-206
Database: 国立国会図書館雑誌記事索引 (National Diet Library, Japanese Periodicals Index)

台南黄檗寺考--古黄檗末寺の盛衰
Author: 野川 博之
Edition/Format: Article Article : Japanese
Publication: 黄檗文華 / 黄檗文化研究所 編. n122 (2001-02): 53-75
Database: 国立国会図書館雑誌記事索引 (National Diet Library, Japanese Periodicals Index)

CBETA Founder Aming Tu 杜正民 Passed Away

It is so sad to learn that Prof. Aming Tu just passed away. He was the leading figure in the creation of CBETA Chinese Buddhist Tripitaka. Upon our invitation, he attended the 2011 Chinese Buddhist canon conference at Tucson and he visited my home as well. We met last year in Hangzhou again for the Jingshan conference. Rest in Peace. Aming.

Aming Tu with others at the confernce dinner in Tucson, March 2011.

本會副主委杜正民教授於11月27日安詳往生

• 公告

敬啟者：阿彌陀佛。

法鼓文理學院前副校長杜正民教授、中華電子佛典協會副主任委員，2016年11月27日（星期日）中午12時左右，於馬偕醫院淡水分院安寧療護教育示範中心病房，在家人親友陪伴中，安詳往生。

杜正民教授生前交代之佛事的願望如下：

1. 希望如  聖嚴師父所說的是「佛事」，不是「告別式」、「追思會」，而是「共修法會」（誦《心經》、《無常經》，並送大眾《無常經》本結緣），不需要冠上他的名字，但可以發揮生命教育的學習效益，故稱為「生命教育共修法會」，法會時間與植存「法鼓山生命園區」的時間同日舉行，場地將在法鼓文理學院的「國際會議廳」。
2. 不用印製「生命教育共修法會通知」，只需讓大家知道法會時間及流程與生命教育共修法會的緣由即可。
3. 「生命教育共修法會」時，不作「生平簡介或PPT」播放，請校長作「開場白」讓大家了解使用「國際會議廳」的因緣即可。

有關「生命教育共修法會」時間（也即是植存「法鼓山生命園區」的時間）等安排確定之後，再告訴大家，敬請諒察。

杜正民教授家屬代表   張雪卿

中華電子佛典協會主任委員、法鼓文理學院代表 校長 釋惠敏

敬上

2016年11月27日

Master Yongjia Xuanjue's 永嘉玄觉 Relics in Miaoguo Monastery 妙果寺 in Wenzhou 温州

It is my great pleasure to pay homage to Chan master Yongjia Xuanjue's 永嘉玄觉 Sarira at Miaoguo Monastery 妙果寺 in Nov. 22, 2016. It was discovered a few years ago and opens to the public only once a year. The abbot of the temple is also Ven. Dazhao 达照.

Regional Religious Systems Conference Opening Ceremony

We are glad that the video recording of our RRS conference opening ceremony (April 7-8, 2016) is now available at Youtube. For details about the conference, see http://rrs.arizona.edu.


Remarks by Mary Wildner-Bassett, Dean of the College of Humanities; Albert Welter, Department Head of East Asian Studies; and Jiang Wu, Professor of East Asian Studies and conference organizer.

Yin Haiguang's 殷海光 Book with signature

I am grateful to Mr. Chan Paw Lim 林澄波, who was among the first Ph.D students in our graduate program of East Asian Studies at the University of Arizona. He graduated from Taiwan National University in 1960s and knew many famous intellectuals in his time such as Hu Shi 胡适. He gave a lot of his books to me and one of them belongs to Yin Haiguang 殷海光, a liberal thinker in Taiwan, and has his personal signature.

Prof. Xu Xingqing's 徐興慶 book on Duli Xingyi 獨立性易

Last October when I attended the conference on Obaku Culture in Taibei, the conference organizer Prof. Xu Xingqing 徐興慶 kindly presented his new book about Duli Xingyi 獨立性易 to me. Duli became Yinyuan's disciple in Japan but he never received dharma transmission. It is a great book and I am honored to receive a copy.

Dr. Lewis Lancaster lecture on Buddhist Studies at the University of Arizona

Dr. Lewis Lancaster, a Professor Emeritus in the Department of East Asian Languages at the University of California, Berkeley spoke at the University of Arizona on April 6, 2016. His lecture, "Buddhist Studies: Past, Present, and Future" featured a talk on the origins of Buddhism and its significance throughout human history, followed by a question-and-answer session. Lew is always a great supporter of our projects and we appreciate it deeply. We dedicated our Buddhist canon volume Spreading Buddha's Word in East Asia to him.

Chinese painter Kuncan 髡残 as Juelang Daosheng's 觉浪道盛 Dharma Heir

Recently, Prof. Lynn Struve asked me about the painter monk Kuncan's 髡残 (1612-1673) sectarian identity. He was renowned as one of the four great painters during the late Ming and early Qing. But people rarely noticed he was also a certified dharma heir of the Caodong lineage.

I mentioned him in page 103  of my Enlightenment in Dispute and gave his dharma name as Zutang Dagao 祖堂大杲. He was indeed listed as the official dharma heir in Juelang Daosheng's 觉浪道盛 record. (Note: all names were listed by the temple name first.) See the link below to the end of Vol. 12. Donggao Xinyue 东皋心越 once studied with Daosheng and received dharma transmission from Kuotang Dawen 阔堂大文 who is recorded below as Shangtang Dawen 上塔大文. Linshan Dazhi 廩山大智 is Wuke Dazhi 無可大智, namely Fang Yizhi 方以智, who was one of the most famous intellectual in seventeenth century China. I didn't notice before that Chen Danzhong 陳丹衷, a famous painter, was listed among his dharma heir. Qingyuan Daran 青原大然 is Xiafeng Daran 笑峰大然, namely the late Ming high official Ni Jiaqing 倪嘉慶.

http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/mobile/index.php?index=J25nB174_012

諸山嗣法門人併記莂居士
青原大然　虎跑大璸　壽昌大存
　　大峻　壽昌大浩　廩山大智
崇先大奇　天目大聞　弘濟大健
洞庭大燈　仰山大英　福山大寧
　　大別　興國大忍　枝山大選
明招大補　蒲澗大韶　青原大權
天界大璽　報恩大麟　大量
普濟大龍　祖堂大杲　黃檗大嵩
上塔大文　　　大玉　安隱大充
李公長庚　陳公丹衷　凌公世韶
毛公大斧
天界覺浪盛禪師語錄卷十二(終)

Japanese Translation of Records of The Obaku Study Tour 黃檗參學記

Recently, I received the no. 135 issue of Obaku Bunka 黃檗文華. I am so grateful to Yang Kuei Hsiang 楊桂香,  Hayashi Masako 林正子, and Tanaka Shōzō 田中昭三 who translated my travelogue "Records of The Obaku Study Tour" 黃檗參學記 into Japanese. The Chinese version was already published in Obaku Bunka a year ago.
http://iss.ndl.go.jp/books/R100000002-I000000100891-00

Jifei Ruyi's Calligraphy 即非如一 in The San Diego Museum of Art

Copyright by The San Diego Museum of Art

My friend Diana Chou is right now Associate Curator of East Asian Art at the San Diego Museum of Art. She showed me a rare piece of Jifei Ruyi's calligraphy in the SDMA collection. I did a little bit research and documented it here as a note for future research. The image is kindly provided by the San Diego Museum of Art and used here with permission. All rights reserved. 

This is the first poem by the Chinese Chan Monk Jifei Ruyi 即非如一 (1616-1671) in his "Songs for the Twelve Peaks of Mount Huangbo" 詠黃檗十二峰, probably written in Feb. 5, 1661 (seventh day of the first month 孟陬人日) when he was in Japan. The full text is as follows:

寶峰

形山啟自檗山翁

鎮國之名今古通

富貴潑天無取捨

大家都在寶林中

黄檗即非書於伊井

This poem is included in Complete Records of Chan Master Jifei (Jifei chanshi quanlu 即非禪師全錄),Juan 16, compiled and published in 1694.It is also reprinted in Shinsan kōtei Sokuhi zenshū / Hirakubo Akira hen 新纂校訂卽非全集 , ed. by Hirakubo Akira 平久保章編. kyōto-shi: Shibunkaku Shuppan, Heisei 5 [1993]京都市 : 思文閣出版, 平成5 [1993]，第二卷，第893頁，“詠黃檗十二峰”，第一首。

According to Hirakubo Akira, an album entitled "Songs for the Twelve Peaks of Mount Huangbo" (Huangbo shi'erfeng shi 黃檗十二峰詩) is extant and preserved in Kenshoji in Mie 三重縣見性寺. This album includes a painting of Huangbo Monastery in Fuqing, China by Xie Tu'nan 謝圖南 whose name is identical with a Southern Song bureaucrat. The painting is followed by Jifei's preface, his twelve poems, and a postscript by his disciple Xinghe 性合, probably Chinese monk Hualin Xinghe or Xingying 化林性合/偀 according to which the poems could have been composed in 1646 when Jifei was still in China. (See also a Japanese site on Xingying.) It is not clear if this piece of calligraphy in the SDMA collection is related to this album. (Shinsan kōtei Sokuhi zenshū, vol. 1, p. 5.)

A digital version of the text included in the Jiaxing Buddhist Canon 嘉興藏 can be accessed through the CBETA collection.

http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/zh-cn/J38nB425_016

Chinese Buddhist Temple Kek Lok Si 極樂寺 in Penang Malaysia

 I recently came across the history of Kek Lok Si in Penang, Malaysia.  It was actually founded by the Chinese monk Miaolian （Beow Lean, born 1844) 妙蓮 from Gushan Monastery 鼓山湧泉寺 in Fuzhou, Fujian in late 1890s. The most important event is that in 1904 the Qing government bestowed a entire set of the Dragon Canon 龍藏 to the monastery. The canon is still there and mentioned in the monastic gazetteer composed in 1923.

Xi'an Historical Atalas autographed by Shi Nianhai 史念海

I was surprised that a book I interlibrary-loaned from UCLA East Asian Library was autographed by Prof. Shi Nianhai 史念海 （1912-2001）, a renowned historical geographer at Shaanxi Normal University 陕西师范大学, which I just visited during the summer. He signed this copy in 1996 for Prof. I-Shou Wang王益寿 , now emeritus professor at Department of Geography, California State University, Northridge. Apparently Prof. Wang was teaching in Xi'an at that time and donated the book to UCLA upon his retirement.

Presentation on the Obaku Canon in Madrid, Spain

Glad to have a chance to present at a conference in Madrid, Spain about the Obaku Canon in Eurupe.

Conference: When the Himalaya Meets with Alps: International Forum on Buddhist Art & Buddhism's Transmission to Europe

Title: Finding the First Chinese Tripitaka in Europe: The 1872 Iwakura Mission in Britain and the Mystery of Ōbaku Canon in the India Office Library

Abstract: Although the creation of the Chinese Buddhist canon is a well-known event in East Asian cultural sphere, little is known about when and how Westerners became interested in this great textual tradition. As far as I know, the first Chinese Buddhist canon in Europe was a version of Northern Ming Canon which was reprinted in the main section of the Jiaxing canon and later in the Obaku canon in 1673 in Japan because of the promotion of the Jiaxing canon by the Chinese monk Yinyuan Longqi (1592-1673), the founder of the Japanese Obaku Zen tradition. In the late nineteenth century, Max Müller (1823-1900), the early pioneer in comparative religion, started a massive translation project of “Sacred Books of the East.” For this project, a request for Buddhist books was sent to Japan and the Japanese ambassador Iwakura Tomomi (1825-1883), the court noble who initiated the Meiji Restoration, responded with a delivery of an entire set of the Obaku edition to the Indian Office Library in London. (This set of the canon is still housed in London) Sinologist Samuel Beal (1825-1889) and Max Müller’s Japanese student Nanjō Bunyū (1849-1927) translated its entire catalogue into English in 1876 and 1883 respectively. In an attempt to rediscover the first Chinese canon in the West, my paper will investigate various historical events leading to the arrival of this canon in Europe and how Western interests in Eastern religions brought the canon to Britain through diplomatic maneuvers.

Reviews of Spreading Buddha's Word in East Asia

So far, our book has received two positive reviews. Thanks the reviewers for their work.

Courtney Bruntz. Review of Wu, Jiang; Chia, Lucille, eds., Spreading Buddha's Word in East Asia: The Formation and Transformation of the Chinese Buddhist Canon. H-Buddhism, H-Net Reviews. July, 2016.
URL: http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=46783

Chun-fang Yu. Review of Wu, Jiang; Chia, Lucille, eds., Spreading Buddha's Word in East Asia: The Formation and Transformation of the Chinese Buddhist Canon.J Am Acad Relig (2016) 84 (2): 574-578.
doi: 10.1093/jaarel/lfw020
First published online: April 3, 2016
URL: http://jaar.oxfordjournals.org/content/84/2/574.extract

Dongming Temple 東明寺 in Zhejiang

Last May (2015), during the conference on Jingshan Canon in Hangzhou, I visited the rebuilt Dongming monastery 東明寺 which is not far away from Jingshan. It is a very important monastery in the early and late Ming Buddhism. Legend says the Jianwen emperor 建文帝 of the Ming did not die during the bloody war his uncle Yongle launched. Instead, He fled Nanjing and hid in Dongming monastery as a monk. There is still an old tree he planted. The temple structure was destroyed by the Japanese bombing during the war. A huge controversy broke out during the late Ming about the identities of several early Ming monk along Dongming Huichan's 東明慧旵 line of transmission: Haizhou Ci 海舟慈, Baofeng Xuan 寶峰瑄, I have discussions about this dispute in my Enlightenment in Dispute (Oxford 2008, p. 38, 304) and will write more in future blogs.

Tanaka Chisei's New Book on Obaku Manpukuji's Annual Ritual Routine and Monastic Ceremonies 田中智誠 著: 黄檗山の十二ヶ月

I am honored to receive from Tanaka Chisei 田中智誠 Osho three copies of his new book on Obaku Annual Ritual Routine and Monastic Ceremonies, entitled Ōbakusan no jūnikagetsu: Manpukuji no nenchū gyōji to hinami otomo sono setsurei to sesshoku 黄檗山の十二ヶ月 : 萬福寺の年中行事と日次御供、その節令と節食. It comes with a personal note in beautiful handwriting. I will deposit one copy in our library. Thank you, Tanaka san.

Here is the full bibliographical information in worldcat:

黄檗山の十二ヶ月 : 萬福寺の年中行事と日次御供、その節令と節食 /

Ōbakusan no jūnikagetsu : Manpukuji no nenchū gyōji to hinami otomo sono setsurei to sesshoku.

Author: 田中智誠 著 田中 智誠 ; ; chisei tanaka

Publisher: 東林派下梅嶺禅師湖東三ヶ道場黄檗宗鳳翔山正瑞禅寺, higashiōmi : tōrinha kabaireizenji kotō sanke dōjō ōbakushū hōshōsan seizuizendera

Permanent Link:

http://universityofarizona.worldcat.org/oclc/951752955

Online course: Japanese Culture Through Rare Books from Keio University

I am taking a free online course on Japanese Rare Books offered by Keio University. This is the third week. It is a great course with careful designs of lectures and discussions. The instructors are Takahiro Sasaki and Wataru Ichinohe. Register at https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/japanese-rare-books-culture



Here is a short description.
ABOUT THE COURSE
A book is a tool for preserving words and images. Through books, an abundance of information, including the knowledge and experiences of the people of the past, has been handed down to the present. But books are more than records of words and images. Their form, appearance, and even the scripts and styles used tell us about the fashions and technologies of the times that produced them. By studying old books, we can learn a great deal about the geographical areas in which they were made, the historical background, and the individuals and groups involved in their making.

While displaying remarkable similarities with books produced in other areas of the Sinitic cultural sphere, Japanese books also possess some unique features, starting with their sheer diversity of form and appearance. Using a wealth of multimedia content, we will take a journey through the wonderful world of traditional Japanese books.

New Release: 2016 CBETA Buddhist Tripitaka Collection

Glad to receive the 2016 new edition of CBETA Buddhist Tripitaka from the Dharma Drum people. It is a great achievement. In this new edition, the monastic gazetteers 山志、寺志, though not complete, are very valuable. The new version can be also downloaded and installed in your own computer from http://www.cbeta.org/.

Unknown Block on the Book of Change

Among the blocks I bought, there is one on Eki gaku 易学. Unfortunately, I can not identify any detailed information about it.

Printing block of Shakuson hassō no zu miyo no hikari 釋尊八相之圖三世の光 (1885)

Printing block of a 1885 Japanese book, owned by Jiang Wu

Reverse side

Among the blocks I purchased, there is one from the following book:
釋尊八相之圖三世の光 : 8卷 /
Shakuson hassō no zu miyo no hikari : 8-kan

Author: 宗顗. [宗顗著]. ; Shūgi.
Publisher: 淨土扶宗會, Tōkyō : Jōdo Fusōkai, Meiji 18 [1885]
Edition/Format:   Print book : Japanese
Database: WorldCat