Forum on Modern and Contemporary Chinese Buddhism at Shengy YenEducation Foundation

I am glad to be invited to attend a forum on modern and contemporary Chinese Buddhism at Sheng Yen 聖嚴 Education Foundation in Taibei. I briefly introduced my study on Master Yinyuan.

A Conversation on Zen Buddhism with Bill Porter

A year ago, my friend Bill Porter came to Tucson for a lecture. We had some time to sit down and did this interview together. I have it translated into Chinese as well. This is nothing about Obaku but should be of interest to students of Zen Buddhism in general.

Kōraku-en 後樂園 in Tokyo

During my short stay in Tokyo at the end of September, 2015, I was fortunate to have Dr. Yang Kuei Hsiang as my guide. In September 29, I was honored to have Tanaka Shōzō 田中昭三 and Prof. Hayashi Masako 林正子 in my company to visit a few Obaku related historical sites in Tokyo. Mr. Tanaka is an expert in Japanese gardens and published a lot on the topic. He introduced me to Kōraku-en 後樂園 next to the famous Tokyo Dome. It was built in 1630s by the Mito lord Mitsukuni 德川光圀. Advised by the Ming loyalist Zhu Shunshui 朱舜水, the garden was named after Mencius' famous words "Enjoy this pleasure only after becoming the worthies" “贤者而后乐此” (Mencius, Lianghuiwang chapter, part I). The garden is full of allusions to and imitations of famous sites in Chinese landscape, probably at the suggestion of Zhu Shunshui as well. We were joking that this was daimyo's Disneyland in Edo Japan.

 

Entrance to Korakuen, photo by Jiang Wu

Su Dike 蘇堤 imitating Chinese West Lake in Hangzhou

Chinese Style Arched Bridge, photo by Jiang Wu

View from the Paved Path way from original entrance, photo by Jiang Wu

Poster for a Conference on Donggao Xinyue and Mito Domain, photo by Jiang Wu

The Earliest European Discovery of Zhu Shunshui 朱舜水 and Donggao Xinyue 東皋心越 in 1896

Ernest Clement

Donggao Xinyue

Zhu Shunshui

Most people thought the Dutch scholar-diplomatic Van Gulik 高羅佩 was the first European who discovered Donggao Xinyue 東皋心越 . He published two related works in 1940s. However, I came across an article dated to 1896 by Ernest W. Clement I1860-1941) who already introduced both Zhu Shunshui 朱舜水 and Donggao in Mito. No Chinese scholars would have known Zhu Shunshui and Donggao without the efforts of these two European scholars.


The full reference of the article is:

Journal/Book Title: Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan.
Article Title:      Chinese refugees of the seventeenth century in Mito.
Article Author:     Clement, Ernest
Year:               1896

Reference to van Gulik's works:

明末義僧東臯禪師集刊 / Ming mo yi seng Donggao chan shi ji kan 

商務印書館 : 民國 33 [1944]   Chongqing : Shang wu yin shu guan, Minguo 33 [1944], [19], 152 p. 

Chan master Donggao. Chinese. With added preface in English.

The Ch'an master Tung-Kao : a loyal monk of the end of the Ming period 

by R. H. van Gulik. 

Chungking, China : Commercial Press, 1944. 1 v. (unpaged) : ill.

Tokugawa Descendents and Tokugawa Musuem

During the Obaku conference from Oct. 2-3, 2015 in Taiwan University, it was my great honor to meet the 15th generation heirs of the Tokugawa clan in the Mito line, Tokugawa Narimasa德川斉正 and Tokugawa Maki 德川真木, who are running the
Tokugawa Museum and Shōkōkan 彰考館. They are also active in publishing rare sources preserved in Mito, especially related to Zhu Shunshui  朱舜水 and Donggao Xinyue 東皋心越. I am fortunate to receive a copy of recent publications from them.

Gate of Tojinyashiki 唐人屋敷 in Kofukuji

Gate of Tojinyashiki at Kofukuji. Photo by Jiang Wu, July 2013

Tojin yashiki 唐人屋敷 is a forgotten place in Nagasaki. Most people will visit Christian churches and western gardens and enjoy the city as an opening window to Western culture. People rarely think about the Chinese residents who used to live in a fenced quarter called Tojin yashiki. Its gate is now moved to Kofukuji.

Zen Reading Group at 2015 American Academy of Religion in Atlanta, Nov. 21, 2015

I am going to join a Zen reading group at the upcoming AAR meeting in Atlanta. I will present a short encounter dialogue (jiyuan wenda 機緣問答) between Miyun Yuanwu 密雲圓悟 and Hanyue Fazang 漢月法藏, who were involved in a fierce dispute about the principle of Linji teaching (Linji zongzhi 臨濟宗旨). Miyun was the dharma grandfather of Yinyuan.

AAR 2015 in Atlanta: M21-404

Zen Reading Group

Theme: Second Annual Meeting

Saturday - 7:00 PM-9:00 PM

Marriott-International 9 (International Level)

Aim: In-depth discussion of close readings of issues in translation & interpretation of selected Zen texts circulated in advance of the meeting. This session is open to all who wish to attend; please request the passages by contacting Steven Heine at heines@fiu.edu

Steven Heine, Florida International University

Introduction to Zen Readings

Mario Poceski, University of Florida

Mazu's Texts

Jiang Wu, University of Arizona

Seventeenth-Century Chinese Chan

Gereon Kopf, Luther College

New Approaches to Dōgen

Responding:

Jin Y Park, American University