Jiang Wu

In this paper, I will investigate the process of the transmission of an esoteric ritual in late imperial China and show how this ritual could rise from a peripheral place and be regarded as a genuine link between esoteric Buddhism in the seventeenth century and the ancient Tantric tradition in the Tang. This ritual, called the "Rite for Feeding the Hungry Ghosts (Shishi 施食) had flourished during Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties and had been incorporated into Chan monastic codes in the seventeenth century. One particular version of this ritual draws our attention because it was entitled "Mengshan 蒙山," a mountain located in the Sino-Tibetan border (nowadays in Sichuan province of China), and was attributed to the Indian monk Budong 不動who had served as national preceptor in the Xixia 西夏 (Tangut) state (1038-1227). In addition, it was incorporated into a seventeenth-century Chan Rules of Purity (qinggui 清規))composed in Japan by a group of émigré monks from China. Nowadays, it is still one of the essential liturgies in Chinese monasteries. Following this lead, my investigation starts from the emergence of this rite in seventeenth-century Chan monasticism. After comparing the existing liturgical manuals of the Mengshan Rite, I trace the origin of this ritual to a region often referred as Mi-ñag in the historical Sino-Tibetan border and to the Tangut state in which esoteric Buddhism enjoyed tremendous popularity. In light of R. A. Stein's discovery that the Mi-ñag people were actually descendants of the Tangut people, I shall explain that the transmission of this ritual to Mount Mengshan was related to the Tangut diaspora in the Sino-Tibetan border. In addition, based on my research on the role of this Tangut diasporic community in the Sino-Tibetan Tea-Horse trade, I suggest that the Mengshan Rite might be brought to China proper through frequent commercial exchanges between China and Tibet. My hypothesis is that the Tangut diasporic community, called "Mi-ñag" by the Tibetans, was one possible channel for the transmission of the Mengshan Rite in China. This hypothesis will show that the process of the "Tantrification" of Chinese Buddhism in late imperial China was a complex movement towards reassuring the continuity and integrity of Chinese esoteric tradition. At the end of this paper, I theorize the mode of transmissions in Chinese Buddhism and suggest that in the context of late imperial China the transmission of the Mengshan rite followed the rule of marginality.

The Chinese Buddhist canon is a systematic collection of all translated Buddhist scriptures and related literatures created in East Asia and has been regarded as one of the “three treasures” in Buddhist communities. Despite its undisputed importance in the history of Buddhism, research on this huge collection has remained largely the province of Buddhologists focusing on textual and bibliographical studies. We thus aim to initiate methodological innovations to study the transformation of the canon by situating it in its modern context, characterized by intricate interactions between East and West as well as among countries in East Asia.
During the modern period the Chinese Buddhist canon has been translated, edited, digitized, and condensed as well as internationalized, contested, and ritualized. The well-known accomplishment of this modern transformation is the compilation of the Taisho Canon during the 1920s. It has become a source of both doctrinal orthodoxy as well as creativity and its significance has greatly increased as Buddhist scholarship and devotionalism has utilized the canon for various ends. However, it is still unclear what led to the creation of the modern editions of the Buddhist canon in East Asia. This volume explores the most significant and interesting developments regarding the Chinese Buddhist canon in modern East Asia including canon formation, textual studies, historical analyses, religious studies, ritual invention, and digital research tools and methods.

This dissertation investigates the transformation of Chan Buddhism in seventeenth-century China through the lens of a series of controversies motivated by the claim of orthodoxy. The particular case examined here is the Huangbo lineage within the Linji school. Because the third Huangbo master Yinyuan Longqi emigrated to Japan in 1654, this lineage spread throughout Japan and led to the establishment of the Ōbaku (Huangbo) school in Japan. In this study, I focus on three Huangbo masters: Miyun Yuanwu (1566–1642), Feiyin Tongrong (1593–1662) and Yinyuan Longqi (1592–1673). All three masters had been abbots of Mount Huangbo in Fuqing, Fujian province and were bonded by the relationship of dharma transmission. My study suggests that Chan Buddhism in seventeenth-century China was a systematic reconstruction and reinvention of a Chan ideal that was characterized by the performance of encounter dialogue and a hierarchy of dharma transmission. Motivated by the Linji school's forceful claim of orthodoxy (Linji zhengzong), the Huangbo masters engaged in three major controversies in seventeenth-century China.

The controversy between Master Miyun Yuanwu and his disciple Hanyue Fazang, taking place around 1635, concerns the authenticity of the Chan enlightenment experience. Interestingly, this controversy was finally judged by the Yongzheng Emperor a hundred years later. The second controversy, about the legitimacy of dharma transmission, led to a lawsuit in which Feiyin Tongrong, the second Huangbo master, lost the case and his book Wudeng yantong was ordered to be burnt in 1654. In addition, the Huangbo master's orthodox position also propelled them to play a leading role in anti-Christian polemics. As a result, Miyun Yuanwu and Feiyin Tongrong organized an anti-Christian campaign from 1634 to 1640.

I conclude that significant transformations of Chan Buddhism took place in seventeenth-century China. Chan Buddhists revitalized ancient Chan ideals embodied in the lively performance of encounter dialogue and the practice of dharma transmission. The result of this re-invention was the emergence of a new orthodoxy within Chinese Buddhism. The establishment of the Japanese Ōbaku school through emigration and overseas missionary work of the third Huangbo master Yinyuan Longqi was a direct result of the transformation of Chan Buddhism in seventeenth-century China.

Note: This is the dissertation I completed at Harvard in 2002. Since then, two books derived from it. However, I never went back to the issue of Buddhist-Christian debate which I wrote in Chapter 4. I am going to Rome to see the Jesuits archive and will see if there are potentials to developed this theme.

"Bringing together leading specialists in the Chinese Buddhist canon, Spreading Buddha's Word in East Asia makes a major contribution to our understanding of both the textual and the social history of one of the most impressive textual projects in the history of the world." — John Kieschnick, Stanford University


"The Sinitic Buddhist canons rank among the largest bodies of sacred literature ever produced by any religious tradition. The compilation, editing, and publication of these massive collections required a commitment of money and manpower that was the medieval equivalent of the moon landings of the 1960s. This ground-breaking volume gives these canons the sustained attention they have long deserved from the scholarly community and will help to demonstrate that they are among the preeminent cultural achievements of the wider Sinitic world." — Robert E. Buswell, Jr., University of California, Los Angeles

"One measure of the maturity of a discipline is its critical awareness of its sources. This collection of nine expert and ground-breaking essays on the Chinese Buddhist canon, augmented by a magisterial preface by a doyen of the field and by two eminently useful bibliographical appendices, marks a genuine advance in the study of Chinese Buddhism. All students of Buddhism in China have necessarily been explorers and exploiters of the vast textual treasury of the Chinese Buddhist tradition, but they have not always been fully aware of the nature, the scope, the formation, and the limitations of great resource on which they draw. Now, with the appearance of this quite essential book, they have a reliable map and a guide to what is arguably the largest single collection of authoritative texts of any of the world's great religions. All who study Chinese Buddhism must be grateful to Professors Wu and Chia and their colleagues, and must keep this book of theirs ever handy as they pursue their research into scholarly territory now more clearly mapped." — Robert M. Gimello, The University of Notre Dame

Preface, by Lewis Lancaster

Acknowledgments
Conventions
Introduction, by Jiang Wu and Lucille Chia
Part I: Overview
1. The Chinese Buddhist Canon Through the Ages: Essential Categories and Critical Issues in the Study of a Textual Tradition, by Jiang Wu
2. From the "Cult of the Book" to the "Cult of the Canon": A Neglected Tradition in Chinese Buddhism, by Jiang Wu
Part II: The Formative Period
3. Notions and Visions of the Canon in Early Chinese Buddhism, by Stefano Zacchetti
4. Fei Changfang's Lidai sanbao ji and Its Role in the Formation of the Chinese Buddhist Canon, by Tanya Storch
Part III: The Advent of Printing
5. The Birth of the First Printed Canon: The Kaibao Edition and Its Impact, by Jiang Wu, Lucille Chia, and Chen Zhichao
6. The Life and Afterlife of Qisha Canon, by Lucille Chia
7. Managing the Dharma Treasure: Collation, Carving, Printing, and Distribution of the Canon in Late Imperial China, by Darui Long
Part IV: The Canon Beyond China
8. Better Than the Original: The Creation of Goryeo Canon and the Formation of Giyang Pulgyo, by Jiang Wu and Ron Dziwenka
9. Taisho Canon: Devotion, Scholarship, and Nationalism in the Creation of the Modern Buddhist Canon in Japan, by Greg Wilkinson
Appendix 1. A Brief Survey of the Printed Editions of the Chinese Buddhist Canon, by Li Fuhua and He Mei
Appendix 2. The Creation of the CBETA Electronic Tripitaka Collection in Taiwan, by Aming Tu
Bibliography
List of Contributors
Index

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jiang Wu is professor in the 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 GIS tools in the study of Chinese culture and religion.

Lucille Chia is professor of history at the University of California at Riverside. Her research interests include Chinese book culture, most recently the history of Buddhist publishing in imperial China. She is the author of Printing for Profit: The Commercial Publishers of Jianyang, Song-Ming (960-1644) and coeditor of Knowledge and Text Production in an Age of Print: China, 900-1400.

Go to Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/Spreading-Buddhas-Word-East-Asia/dp/0231171609

This book investigates the intellectual, social, and religious background of Chinese Zen master Yinyuan’s move to Japan in 1654 and the founding of Manpukuji in 1661. Fully immersed in the Late Ming Buddhist revival, Yinyuan followed a syncretic Buddhist practice but claimed to inherit the authentic transmission from the Linji sect. He arrived in Japan during the Ming-Qing transition and was quickly installed by the bakufu as  symbol for representing China in a Japan-centered world order. His presence in Edo Japan engendered various responses from Japanese Buddhists and intellectuals who sought the meaning of authenticity from Yinyuan. However, the image of his authenticity was questioned and the symbolic presence of Chinese monks was disrupted during the early eighteenth century when China and Japan tightened their control over the Nagasaki trade. Situating Yinyuan and the religious events related to him in a broad understanding of the “seventeenth-century crisis” in early Modern East Asia, this book explains the success and fall of Yinyuan and his tradition in terms of the Authenticity Crisis, meaning that Yinyuan’s claim of religious, political, and cultural authenticity was facing challenges at the wake of a rising Japan-centered identity in Edo Japan. Through the case of Yinyuan, this study seeks to interpret the intellectual and cultural transformation in early modern East Asia as manifestations of the Authenticity Crisis. This book provides new perspectives for rethinking the symbolic role of Buddhist monks in the process of intellectual, political, and social transformation.

Enlightenment in Dispute is the first comprehensive study of the revival of Chan Buddhism in seventeenth-century China. Focusing on the evolution of a series of controversies about Chan enlightenment, Jiang Wu describes the process by which Chan reemerged as the most prominent Buddhist establishment of the time.  He argues that the revival of Chan Buddhism depended upon reinventions of previous Chan ideals, which had been largely lost after the Song dynasty.
Wu investigates the development of Chan Buddhism in the seventeenth century, focusing on controversies involving issues such as correct practice and lines of lineage.  In this way, he shows how the Chan revival reshaped Chinese Buddhism in late imperial China.  Situating these controversies alongside major events of the fateful Ming-Qing transition, Wu shows how the rise and fall of Chan Buddhism was conditioned by social changes in the seventeenth century.
Examining the role of textual practice and the implication of dharma transmission in rebuilding Chan institutions, Wu argues that the Chan revival has been synchronized with the transformation of Chinese culture and society. His study concludes by bringing the Chan revival to a larger historical context and reflecting on its legacies, ultimately establishing a general pattern of past Buddhist revivals.

Based on the spatial analysis and GIS modeling of the distribution of religious sites in Greater China, we have developed the concept of regional religious systems (RRSs) as a novel way of understanding and studying the spatial distribution patterns of religious sites and their relationship with other social and cultural factors. This essay further explores theoretical issues such as its center–periphery relations in existing administrative and economical hierarchies. Drawing on our current project on RRSs in the Hangzhou region and various available studies about pre-modern Chinese religion, the author explains the spatial characteristics of RRSs, such as the role of transportation, trade and pilgrimage routes in the formation of RRSs. Using Chinese Buddhism as an example, the author argues that RRSs in Greater China should be treated as a spatial formation without an internal hierarchical structure because the political and administrative hierarchy prevents the formation of a stro...

Using statistical data, scholarly research, institutional models from higher education, and highlighting key personages from the academy and the business world, we argue that including Buddhism-related content into the general education of students can offer a powerful avenue of reform for the humanities in American universities. The article shows how humanities-based skills are becoming more desirable in today’s business environment, and demonstrates how the skills that Buddhist Studies—and religion more broadly—provide are consistent with those needed in today’s global and integrated technological world. Utilizing the Universities of Harvard and Arizona to help frame the discussion, the paper outlines the history of the American general education system, the ongoing crisis in the humanities, how Buddhism fits within the humanities viz. religion, and specific ways to implement Buddhism-related content into the academy domestically and internationally.

Pei Xiu 裴休 (791-864) was a literati follower of Buddhist teachers, among whom the two most eminent were Zongmi 宗密 (780-841) and Huangbo Xiyun 黃檗希運 (?-850). These two teachers had notably different spiritual orientations: one was the synthesizer of Chan and Huayan teachings, the other a member of the more radical Hongzhou 洪州 school. Rather than passively patronizing Buddhist teachers, Pei Xiu served as an active agent of his own religiosity and influenced Buddhist communities broadly. Through examining Pei Xiu's Quanfa putixin wen 勸發菩提心文 [Essay Exhorting the Generation of Bodhicitta], Chuanxin fayao 傳心法要 [Essentials of The Transmission of Mind], which he prefaced and edited, and his various prefaces and epitaphs written for Zongmi and other monks, this study scrutinizes the transformation of early Chinese Chan communities before they were reimagined as 'mature' and 'classical' in later times.

The rise of Spatial Humanities has spurred a digital revolution in the field of Chinese studies, especially in the study of religion. Based on years of data compilation and analysis of religious sites, this book explores the formation of Regional Religious Systems (RRS) in Greater China in unprecedented scope and depth. It addresses quantitatively the enduring historical and contemporary issues of China’s deep-rooted regionalism and spatially variegated cultural and religious landscape. A range of topics are explored: theoretical discussions of the concept of RRS; case studies of regional and local religious institutions; the formation of local cults and pilgrimage network; and the spread of religious networks to overseas Chinese communities and the Bon religion in Tibet. The book also considers long-standing challenges of researching with spatial data for humanities and social science research, such as data collection, integration, spatial analysis, and map creation. This book will be of interest to students and scholars in Religious Studies, Cultural Studies, Chinese Studies, Digital Humanities, Human Geography and Sociology.

The influence of Buddhism on Li Zhi cannot be underestimated. Not only did he adopt Buddhist dress and live in a monastery after retiring from his official career; he also expressed himself in Buddhist terms and frequently referred to Buddhist scriptures in his writings. Unlike the conventional approach to the history of ideas, which simply presents Buddhism as abstract "unit ideas" and "categorical labels,"  this chapter reexamines the relationship between Li Zhi and Buddhism by exploring his experiences of reading and writing texts related to Buddhism. His practices as a reader and writer provide insight into his spiritual life and his understanding of spiritual authenticity. His intimacy with texts fostered a special kind of "textual spirituality" that was shaped by reading, writing, and performing. Li Zhi, as a leader of the Dao-learners (xuedaoren) in the late ming, has been characterized as a follower of Wang Yangming's movement and was labeled as a member of the Taizhou School, following Huang Zongxi's characterization in Biographies of Ming Scholars (Ming Ru xue'an). According to this Confucianism-centered paradigm, Li Zhi, a Confucian literatus, used Buddhism as a convenient means to express his "radical" ideas. Needless to say, this labeling is too simplistic to explain the complexity of his thought and activities, especially his engagement with Buddhism.

Citation. Jiang Wu, “Performing Authenticity: Li Zhi, Buddhism, and the Rise of Textual Spirituality” appeared in the book The Objectionable Li Zhi: Fiction, Syncretism, and Dissent in Late Ming China, co-edited by Rivi Handler-Spitz, Pauline Lee, and Haun Saussy (Seattle: University of Washington Press), pp. 164-184.

中文摘要
《開寶藏》作為中國歷史上第一部雕版藏經是十分重要的。本文根據前人研究，以及如神清（？-820）《北山錄》的慧寶注等地方史料，對這部藏經於十世紀時在成都雕刻和印刷的過程進行了探討和假設，重新評價這部藏經在宗教、政治和文化層面的價值。本文提出這部藏經是
在寺院的監管下完成了雕造，這個寺院很有可能就是成都的淨眾寺。本文嘗試將《開寶藏》置於唐宋流行的印刷文化之中，為東亞歷史上第一部刻本漢文大藏經的產生提供一種新的詮釋。
關鍵詞： 《開寶藏》、成都、淨眾寺、《北山錄》、雕版印刷


Abstract
The importance of the first printed edition of the Chinese Buddhist canon, the Kaibao Canon 開寶藏, cannot be overestimated. Based on previous scholarship and our examination of various local sources such as Huibao’s 慧寶 annotation of Shenqing’s 神清 Record of Northern Mountain (Beishanlu 北山錄), we intend to reintroduce this important canon to the scholarly world as a significant religious, political, and social innovation in Chinese history. In this paper, we focus on the process of its carving and printing in Chengdu at the end of the tenth
century. We propose the hypothesis that the Kaibao Canon was carved in Chengdu under the supervision of a monastic institution, most likely, Jingzhong Monastery 淨眾寺. In sum, we situate the Canon within the widespread print culture of the Tang and Song dynasties and provide a
new account of how the use of printing gave birth to the first printed Buddhist canon in East Asian history.
Keywords: Kaibao Canon, Chengdu, Jingzhong Monastery, Beishanlu, block printing

摘要 有关唐代禅僧"天王"道悟与"天皇"道悟的身份真伪之争,是中国禅宗史上的一大公案。从宋初到清初的几百年间,对此僧诤不断,甚至波及到日本。尤其在17世纪,随着禅宗在东亚的再度崛起,这一本来属于文献考证范围的实证问题,成为僧人聚讼的焦点。以浙江天童寺密云圆悟禅师为中心的临济宗力主"两道悟说",并依此在《五灯严统》等新撰灯谱中修改禅宗的世代法系,由此掀起一轮又一轮的法门论战。
本文着重介绍了唐代禅僧"天王"道悟与"天皇"道悟的问题在禅宗史上的意义,概述了关于这一问题正反两个方面的主要论据。本文认为,这一僧诤的表现形式虽然是考据学的,但在特殊的历史条件下,它已转化为禅宗内部的意识形态斗争。而且,在这场争论背后,表现出士大夫对佛教寺院越来越大的影响力,最终出现所谓"居士佛教"的繁荣时代。
关键词 ： 天王道悟,  天皇道悟,  明清佛教,  五灯严统,  佛教考据学   
Abstract：The dispute on the identities of Tian-wang Dao-wu and Tian-huang Daowu in Tang Dynasty is a famous case in the history of Chinese Chan. From the early Song Dynasty to the early Qing Dynasty, the dispute among monks never ceased, and even spread to Japan. Especially in the 17th century, with the rise of Chan in East Asia, the issue which originally belonged to the scope of the textual research, became the focus of monks' dispute.The Lin-ji Sect which centered on Mi-yun Yuan-wu in Tian-tong-si, Zhejiang insisted the idea of "two Dao-wus", based on which a revised lineage of Chan masters was set through newly created records like Wu-deng-yan-tong, and thus provoking continual disputes.
This article focuses on the significance of the issue of Tian-wang Dao-wu and Tian-huang Daowu in Chan Buddhism, and summarizes the main arguments of both positive and negative aspects of this problem. This paper argues that the appearance of this dispute is textological, but under specific historical conditions, it has been transformed into an ideological combat within Chan Buddhism.
Key words： Tian-wang Daowu    Tian-huang Daowu    Buddhism in Ming and Qing Dynasties    Wu-deng-yan-tong    Buddhism textology

“Hewei jingjie? Shilun xiandai zhongguo sixiangjie Zhong dui rujia jingshenxing de dingyi” 何謂境界？試論現代中國思想界中對儒家精神性的定義 (What is Jingjie? Defining Confucian Spirituality in the Modern Chinese Intellectual Context). Trans. Chen Zhipin. Ruxue disan qi de renwen jingshen: Tu Weiming xiansheng bashi shouqing wenji 儒學第三期的人文精神：杜維明先生八十壽慶文集. Ed. Chen Lai 陳來. Beijing: Renmin chubanshe, 2019. 103-125. Originally published in Monumenta Serica 50 (2002): 441-462.

Despite the importance of religion in our daily life and national politics, the geographical study of religion remains marginal in the field of geography and significantly indifferent to sophisticated quantitative methods. According to a survey of the field conducted by Lily Kong, geography of religion overwhelmingly leans towards cultural and social approaches using case studies and qualitative methods and more comprehensive methods or rigorous quantitative methods of data collection and computation are absent. More rigorous quantitative methods of data analysis are rare in providing useful advice for community planning and policy making. To remedy this deficiency, our research builds on years of religious data collection in China with the aim to develop spatial methods for understanding geographical structure of various religions in China. This research will use spatial analytical methods to analyze how different religions are organized in space. Religious data from multiple sources in China will be used to answer the research questions: (1) Do sites of different religions compete for local resources or coexist harmoniously? (2) Does the distribution appear to be hierarchical with core-periphery relationship clearly identified? (3) Does the distribution conform to the socioeconomic macroregional framework of William Skinner’s Regional Systems Theory? The findings of this study will provide insights into the spatial relationship of various religions and the linkage with the socioeconomic systems. The research will demonstrate the capability of quantitative methods in geography of religion and encourage the development of more empirical and quantitative analysis in the field. As part of this research project, the current working paper explores spatial patterns of Buddhist sites distribution by using contemporary data and spatial analysis techniques.

This paper describes recent progress of a GIS project on Chinese Buddhist monasteries. The author of this paper, who is also the principal investigator of this project, intends to present the problems which such a digital project faces and to discuss possible solutions of these problems. This paper demonstrates the success of this project but also points out the future directions for further development. Through an analysis of the different kinds of relationships that this database has to provide for, this paper emphasizes the importance of designing an expandable database structure. The potential of such a database demonstrates that digital descriptions of historical events can be a powerful tool for conducting research in Chinese religion.

在這篇簡短的書評裡，我會扼要地對本書的主要思想做一個 介紹和評述。本書第 1 版在 2018 年 9 月初出版，我拿到的是 2019 年 2 月的第 3 版。星雲大師的著作在短短不到一年的時間裡已經三 次印刷，可見非常受歡迎。 這部書的開始，可以看到星雲大師的略傳，對大師過去 80 年 間的弘法事蹟有一個概述。在這之後的正文收羅了 300 多個主題， 根據「佛法義理」、「佛學思想」、「佛教常識」和「佛門行事」 的分類，共分三冊。這種按照主題編輯寫作的方法，非常適合一般 人閱讀，一小段只要幾頁，五六分鐘就可以看完。 本書主要思想是大師一以貫之的積極向上的人間佛教思想。星 雲大師有很強的人本主義思想，強調佛教的人間性、生活性、利他 性、喜樂性、時代性、普濟性。這些思想都在本書中得到充分體現。

BGIS stands for Buddhism Geographical Information System Project led by Jiang Wu at Department of East Asian Studies, the University of Arizona. The current version is the digitization of a 2006 Chinese Buddhist temple directory and is ArcInfo shape file format (ESRI) compatible.

Follow the following instruction to download the data. By downloading the data, you agree to abide by the terms and citation requirement stipulated in the README files.

1. Add ready-made layers from “World Map” database from the following website:  http://worldmap.harvard.edu/
2. Click “view a map”
3. Click “ChinaMap”
4. Click “Add Layers” at the top left of the website
5. Search for “BGIS”
6. Click “China BGIS”
7. In the top right “Download” area, click “Zipped Shapefile,” download the file “china_bgis_fme.zip” and save the file in download
8. Open the file “china_bgis_fme.zip” and “Extract all” for later use

Japanese translation of “Records of the Obaku Study Tour” (Obaku sangaku ki (wayaku): Ingen zenji yukari no jiin wo megutte黄檗参学記(和訳) : 隠元禅師ゆかりの寺院を巡って). Translated by Yang Kuei Hsiang 楊桂香,  Hayashi Masako 林正子, and Tanaka Shōzō 田中昭三. Obaku bunka 黄檗文華 (135): 223-204, 2015. (Translated from Chinese)

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

Dr. Jiang Wu presented this lecture at Hsi Lai Temple on Sunday, September 13. The topic was "Understanding Buddhism from a Humanistic Perspective". It is not often when one hears about comparing Buddhism and the movie "The Matrix" in a Dharma Talk, but Dr. Jiang Wu, a highly qualified Buddhist scholar, can pull it off.

This is the Chinese translation of Chapter 4 of my book Leaving for the Rising Sun (Oxford 2015).
佛教史研究 第1卷
作者：浙江大學東亞宗教文化研究中心等編
I S B N： ISSN 2523-0530
規    格： 平裝本 │18開
類    別： 佛學類
冊    數： 1冊
出版日： 2017/08/31
Page: 317-357
http://www.swfc.com.tw/book_view.php?Vcode=2371

This article is written by an eminent Chinese author of the Chinese canon and provides the author’s insights on how to understand the history of the canon in relation to Chinese Buddhism. Fang discusses the issues of historical periodization of the canon in history and various possibilities for the future
development of the canon. This paper examines the history of the Chinese Buddhist canon by reflecting upon various essential issues. Fang first clarifies the origin of various name of the canon and proposes a working definition for
the study of the canon. He also provides a periodization scheme of the canon and divides the history of the canon into the period of manuscript editions, the period of printed editions, the period of printed editions in modern times, and
the period of digital editions. The author provides a detailed analysis of the characteristics of the canon during different periods and also makes suggestions for future studies.

RRS Conference Announcement:
We are pleased to announce that Department of East Asian Studies at the University of Arizona (Tucson) is organizing a conference on "The Formation of Regional Religious Systems in Greater China." Supported by generous funding from the Chiang Chingkuo Foundation and Su Wukang East Asia Research Fund, this conference aims to provide a new perspective to the “old question” of regionalism and localism in Chinese history, thus initiating a renewed research program of historical GIS and spatial analysis for achieving a more complete consideration of the role of religion in terms of regional formation. The conference, open to all, will be held on April 7 and 8 in Silver and Sage Conference Room at Old Main on campus. Please register through our website. In addition, two conference participants, Prof. Lewis Lancaster (ECAI Director, UC Berkeley) and Prof. Peter Bol (Vice Provost, Harvard University), will give separate lectures on Buddhist studies and online learning on April 6. Please visit our conference website at http://rrs.arizona.edu for details. We encourage our colleagues to spread the news by using the social media functions provided in the website.
Conference organizer: Professor Jiang Wu, Department of East Asian Studies
contact: rrs2016ua@gmail.com