Kindle Version of Leaving for the Rising Sun

I am glad that Oxford published the Kindle version of Leaving for the Rising Sun. Oxford also released a Kindle version of my first book Enlightenment in Dispute. Kindle is a widely used reading device from Amazon. It is now indispensable for any serious readers. You can also send files such as student works and conference papers to Kindle for reading leisurely. I don't know if these Kindle versions are available in China and Japan.

Mapping Yinyuan's travel in Edo Japan.

Reconstructed Itineraries of Yinyuan's Travels in Edo Japan © Jiang Wu

Yinyuan had two major travels in Japan. The 1655 trip starts from Nagasaki and ends in Fumonji 普门寺 at Tonda 富田. It was during this trip than he met the 1655 Korean embassy in Osaka. The second one in 1658 starts from Fumonji and ends at Edo Castle. He was summoned by the shogun and councilors. Both trips are significant to his success in Japan. I created this map based on his itineraries, which were reconstructed from his many poems and chronological biographies. I still use ArcView 3.2 and the base map was taken from Harvard CHGIS project. Oxford University Press redrew the map for me and a few mistakes were corrected. The final version is now in my book Leaving for the Rising Sun, page 116.

Question about the authenticity crisis in modern East Asia

Recently Prof. Zhang Ying at Ohio State University asked me a question about the idea of the authenticity crisis I used in my book Leaving for the Rising Sun. She acknowledged the existence of such a crisis in the "17th-century global crisis." She found in the conclusion of the book that I said the intellectuals in East Asia did not find a way out of such a "crisis." Then the question is what happened about this crisis and how it was transformed in modern times. It seems to have been carried on in the modern period but eventually creased to remain a "crisis." Then what is my conclusion implying?

I think this is a great question and I wrote the following reply:

"The crisis did occur in a cycle and I found the authenticity crisis seems to capture the one in the seventeenth century very well. It did occur in other times as well but the historical changes in Ming and Qing seem to make it more acute. For the solution of it, I actually cut an entire section in the conclusion which explains its modern transformation. I carefully limited myself to the period before the dominance of Western learning in modern East Asia because I found the authenticity crisis in premodern East Asia was simply a linguistic problem which relied on the use of classical Chinese. It was not an coincidence that both Chinese evidential scholars and Japanese ancient learning scholars started to reexamine the linguistic/phonetic issues in ancient Chinese texts. Motoori Norinaga 本居宣長 simply followed this trend and tried to restore the ancient Japanese phonetics by studying Kojiki 古事記.  I think this is the way the Japanese found the way out of the crisis. When Western learning dominated East Asia, the linguistic basis of Sinosphere disappeared and the authenticity crisis I am talking about in the premodern period also ceased to be a problem but yielded to other types of crisis. Eventually each East Asian country has to find its way out of their authenticity crisis. Japan seemed to be successful in this process. But China remains in the mode of authenticity crisis even after such a long century of struggle. In the future, I will develop this thesis further. Actually I gave a paper in Chinese about the authenticity crisis in modern China. It will be published in a conference proceeding."

Meeting my editor

I am so glad to meet my editor Marcela Maxfield at AAR. Great job!

The New Release day of my book is Nov. 15

Today, the project manager at Newgen KnowledgeWorks informed me that my book Leaving for the Rising Sun now goes to production and the new release day is Nov. 15, a month earlier than the projected release day. A few months ago, the promotion department at Oxford University Press had told me that the book is going to come out earlier and will be available at AAR. This turns out to be true. I must say I now have a very positive view about outsourcing publishing works to companies such as Newgen KnowledgeWorks, which is very professional, punctual, and transparent. The author was informed in the beginning about the publication plan which had been followed exactly. This is not the experience I had with other university presses. I only wished they could have hired a copyeditor who knows more about East Asia.

Was Yinyuan a Chinese Spy?

Prof. Chen Jinhua at British Columbia recently asked me if Yinyuan was a Chinese spy. It is an interesting question. I have seen similar speculations in some works on Yinyuan. Indeed, the Japanese were alert about possible espionage attempts from China especially during their persecution of Christianity. The bakufu kept an effective intelligence program to collect information on China during the Ming-Qing transition.

Yinyuan was asked to stay in Fumonji 普門寺 in Osaka for six years. One explanation for this long detention was that he was suspicious of being a Chinese spy. However, I didn't see any primary sources directly accused of him or providing any evidence. My personal view is that it was highly unlikely that he had this secret mission. The first question is who he worked for. He could not work for the Manchus. Then he must have worked for Zheng Chenggong 鄭成功 whose ships escorted him to Nagasaki. Then why Zheng Chenggong wanted to spy on Japan.

This spy theory may have something to do with Mukai Genshō 向井元升 who criticized Yinyuan in his Chishihen 知恥篇. I analyzed his essay in Chapter 6 of my book. He knew that Yinyuan had sent his disciples to contact his teacher Feiyin Tongrong who was in the Hangzhou area around that time. He surmised that because the Hangzhou area was occupied by the Manchus, their frequent communication must have divulged information about Japan. Kumazawa Banzan 熊沢蕃山 shared a similar view. (For this discussion, see my book, Leaving for the Rising Sun, page 182.)

However, in the eighteenth century, when the Qing dynasty secured its power, both Kangxi and Yongzheng sent spies to Japan. Kangxi sent a certain Manchu official Mo'ersen 莫爾森 from Hangzhou Silk Manufacturing Office 杭州織造. (Prof. Lynn Struve was very curious about his identity and is researching on him.) Yongzheng's Zhejiang governor Li Wei 李衛 sent Zhu Laizheng 朱來章. The suspected spy ship according to Oba Osamu is the Siamese Vessel no. 2 of the year Kyoho 14 (1729). Oba did mention a Chinese monk who was an informant and Zhu Laizheng obtained useful information from him. (Oba, Books and Boats, pp. 234-235.)

Chinese monk Quanyan Guangchang's tomb at Fukusaiji © Jiang Wu

This monk's name is Quanyan Guangchang  全巖廣昌, the sixth abbot of Fukusaiji 福濟寺. I mentioned him briefly in my book page 224, and his possible espionage activities in page 295, note 30. We know quite a bit about him because Ka'i hentai 華夷變態 has preserved the affidavit he submitted to the Nagasaki officials when he arrived at Nagasaki from China. His full biography can be found in Obaku bunka jinmei jiten 黃檗文化人名辭典, pages 185-6. I visited Fukusaiji during the summer of 2013. Although the old temple structure was completely destroyed by the A-bomb, Quanyan's memorial pagoda remains there.

blurb and backcover of Leaving for the Rising Sun

I am glad that the backcover is ready for the paperback edition. Thank Prof. Lynn Struve for her kind words.

Back cover

“In this wonderfully informative study, Jiang Wu extends the significance of his previous, groundbreaking book, Enlightenment in Dispute, from China into the greater East Asian sphere of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Through the career and legacy of the eminent monk Yinyuan Longqi (1592–1673) in China and Japan, Wu penetrates the crisis of cultural legitimacy that beset East Asia, particularly Tokugawa Japan, after the demise of the Ming dynasty.”—Lynn Struve, Professor of Chinese History, Indiana University, Bloomington

In 1654 Zen Master Yinyuan traveled from China to Japan. Seven years later his monastery, Manpukuji, was built and he had founded a new tradition, called Obaku.  In this sequel to his 2008 book, Enlightenment in Dispute, Jiang Wu tells the story of the tremendous obstacles faced by Yinyuan, drawing parallels between his experiences and the broader political and cultural context in which he lived.

Yinyuan claimed to have inherited the “Authentic Transmission of the Linji Sect.” After arriving in Japan, he was able to persuade the Shogun to build a new Ming-style monastery for the establishment of his Obaku school. His arrival in Japan coincided with a series of historical developments, including the Ming-Qing transition, the consolidation of early Tokugawa power, the growth of Nagasaki trade, and rising Japanese interests in Chinese learning and artistic pursuits. While Yinyuan’s travel is known in scholarly circles, the significance of his journey within East Asian history has not been fully explored. Leaving for the Rising Sun provides a unique opportunity to reexamine the crisis in the continent and responses from other parts of East Asia. Using Yinyuan’s story as a bridge between China and Japan, Wu demonstrates that the monk’s significance is far greater than the temporary success of a religious sect. Rather, Yinyuan imported to Japan a new discourse of authenticity that gave rise to indigenous movements that challenged, and led to the eventual breakup of, a China-centered world order.

Jiang Wu is an associate professor in Department of East Asian Studies at the University of Arizona. His research interests include Chinese Buddhism, especially Chan/Zen Buddhism and the Chinese Buddhist canon, Sino-Japanese Buddhist exchanges, and the application of spatial analysis tools in the study of religion and culture. He is the author of Enlightenment in Dispute: The Reinvention of Chan Buddhism in Seventeenth-century China (2008).

cover design of Leaving for the Rising Sun

I am glad that the cover design is ready to go and it was approved by Manpukuji as well. I showed it around and people liked it. When my first book was published, I asked for three designs to choose from. I posted them in my office and asked everyone passing by to vote. People chose the one which was not my first choice. But it turned out great. For this one, although it is the only design, after discussion with colleagues and family, this might be my best choice.

Today, I also finished the index. So officially, this book project is completed.

Cover Design for Jiang Wu's Leaving for the Rising Sun by Oxford University Press

Yinyuan's Family and Relatives

Yinyuan's nephew Lin Rumo's epitaph, photo by Jiang Wu

Yinyuan became an eminent monk and a poet who wrote more than five-thousand poems in his lifetime. But in total, he only had one year of elementary schooling. This must have something to do we his family tradition.

According newly discovered sources, his family can be traced to Lin Mo 林谋 in the late Tang who came to Fujian with the Min ruler Wang Shenzhi 王审知. Yinyuan's lineage derived from Lin Guan 林关 who moved to Fuqing during the early Ming. Yinyuan's secular name is Lin Zengbing 林曾昺 and his courtesy name is Zhifang 子房, as recorded in his chronological biography. Rarely known is that he has at least two brothers, one of them called Lin Zichun 林子春, who also became a monk. I gleaned a few fragments of his relatives from his poems: this brother Lin Zichun could write poems as well. He had a son called Lin Rumo 林汝默 (dharma name Daofu 道甫). Yinyuan had quite a few poems written for him because he also came to Nagasaki for living. Apparently, he was not prosperous without permit to stay in Japan and wanted Yinyuan's help. But Yinyuan refused and urged him to go back to China. On his way back to China in 1675, he died on the boat and was buried in Sofukuji cemetery. I didn't find his tomb when I visited Nagasaki in the summer of 2013. But in Nagasaki Museum of History and Culture, I found the rubbing of his epitaph as shown in the photo. He was indeed buried in Nagasaki.

Yinyuan's poems also reveal that he had another nephew called Lin Fuzhong 林孚中, who also had trouble and sought assistance from Yinyuan. This nephew became a monk as well. A poem mentioned that Yinyuan has a uncle called Lin Guchu 林泒初. Yinyuan's mother was surnamed Gong 龚 and there were a few people named Gong mentioned in his record as well. I gave a brief account of Yinyuan's family background in Chapter 1 of my book Leaving for the Rising Sun. But more needs to be done.

First Proof Arrived!

Today, the first proof of my book has arrived, as anticipated. I am supposed to review it for the final time and then it will be finalized. Soon after, I will be asked to make index for the whole book.

The production of the book has been taken care of by Newgen Knowledgeworks based in India. So far, I am very satisfied with their work. I was informed about the whole production process and all important deadlines in the beginning. These deadlines have been kept punctually. I start to believe that outsourcing might be the most efficient way to do business in the future.

I have spotted major mistakes in typesetting, especially the positions of illustrations. The typesetters do not know Chinese and it is typically for them to put the images upside down. There must be other typos and mistakes. An author can not take it for granted as these mistakes will be easily overlooked and become a shame after being printed.

Official Publication Date for Leaving for the Rising Sun

Recently, I have been working on copy editing and just finished answering the final queries sent by copy editor. The whole production job has been undertaken by a company in India and so far I am very satisfied with the production process.

I have been told the official publication date is going to be Dec. 12, 2014. But the book should be available at this year's AAR for sale.

Why is Yinyuan important?

Sanmon of Manpukuji ©Jiang Wu 2014

Although Yinyuan is somehow important, he is just ordinary if compared with many famous monks in Tang and Song. Then why study him? Here is the need to do some more research into the specific time period he lived in. In contrast to the common view about him, my book reveals he is extraordinary in several areas:

First, he lived at the end of the Ming and early Qing, thus witnessing the significant social and cultural changes in China.

Second, he not only successful landed in Japan, but also went beyond Nagasaki, where Chinese were confined.

Third, the high status the Japanese bakufu gave to Yinyuan and his Obaku tradition is unprecedented.

Finally, the transformation of Japanese Zen and the rise of Hakuin only occurred after Yinyuan's arrival.

All these seem to have suggested that he was very important during his time. We can only reveal his significance when we put him back in the complicated religious, cultural, and political situation in the seventeenth century.

How to deal with "garbage sources" 垃圾史料 in Ming-Qing Chinese Buddhism?

Some books were born with important topics and self-evidently significant sources. Readers will know that. The field expects the book and acclaims its contribution. The authors were lucky to work on them, mostly likely at the suggestion of their mentors or some wise people.

Unfortunately, the sources I worked with, for both of my books, can not be said to have any real significance at the first glance. And for the most time of my research, I didn't know what I was arguing for. Even the topics were blurring......religion? intellectual history? political history? I genuinely did not know until the very last moment of research and book making.

My first book Enlightenment in Dispute (Oxford, 2008) deals with Buddhist polemics in the seventeenth century. The sources are polemical essays written by monks. I will not recommend these sources to any one, including my students, because they are very dry, tedious, and tasteless, full of personal attacks and senseless accusations. Of course, the prominent Chinese historian Chen Yuan had worked on these sources. But the truth is that after he wrote his book Qingchu sengzheng ji 清初僧诤记, no one wrote anything significant on the topics and the sources and the knowledge and figures he introduced were so obscured that a Japanese scholar had to write an annotated translation of his book in the eightieth. This tells you how unattractive these sources are. Also, his grandson Prof. Chen Zhichao told me that when his grandfather wrote the book, he had an assistant going to the Forbidden City to copy for him the sources in Jiaxing Canon 嘉兴藏 which was stored there. (This edition is still there.)

My second book deals with a prominent Zen teacher whose collected work amounts to twelve volumes in modern binding. I confess I read all of them. But I have to say there are not of the best of a Zen collection. He was a poet and wrote about 5,000 poems. However, not all of them are of the high quality and clerical writing was always not well received in literary circles in China.

I finally realize that in the study of Chinese religion, history, culture there exist a large number of "garbage sources," especially in the area of religion. The same might be said about Korean and Japanese studies. Basically, they are numerous, boring, repetitive and we don't know how to make sense of them. No one what to touch them. One example is the first fascicle of local gazetteer which usually starts with "star constellation field" 星野. Another example in literature is the collection of "imperial decrees" in the beginning of hanlin literati's wenji collections. Most of them had been the officers 制诰 to draft these imperial documents. But a lot of them had lost their context and their meaning became obscure. In Chinese Buddhism, there are a lot of scriptural commentaries 注疏科判 awaiting for further exploration. If you want to find more, go the Chinese Buddhist canon 汉文大藏经, which is another topic I am working on, for "garbage." (A collection of essays co-edited by Lucille Chia and me will be published from Columbia University Press very soon.)

If you are the one of the unlucky researcher who happen to work on these "garbage sources," the tricky part is going to be how to read them and make sense of them. I believe that a selective reading of sources only with obvious significance might have obscured our understanding of history. Without fully processing these garbage sources, it is hardly true that we have a fair and objective view of the past.

Who is Yinyuan?

Who is Yinyuan? This is a question I always asked myself during the long period of research for this book. If you look up in a standard encyclopedia such as Wikipedia, it will give us a standard introduction to him.

"Ingen Ryūki (traditional Chinese: 隱元隆琦; pinyin: Yǐnyuán Lóngqí; Japanese: 隠元隆琦) (1592—1673) was a Chinese Linji Chán Buddhist monk, poet, and calligrapher.[1] He is most known for founding the Ōbaku school of Zen Buddhism in Japan. Ingen's name in Chinese was Yinyuan Longqi."

See a full entry of Yinyuan in Wikipedia

This introduction is rather lifeless. In fact, there are much more to be said about him. His chronological biography details his yearly activities and his complete collection in twelve volumes tell us much about who he was. Personally I feel he is an extraordinary man with many talents. One purpose of this book is to reveal his personality and answer the question who he is. The following picture, copied from Wikipedia, will be used for designing the cover for my book, Leaving for the Sun.