Topic:
The Beginning of Modern Buddhist Canon Compilations: Ａ History of the Ōbaku Canon 黃檗藏 in East Asia and the West
Talk Description:
Although the creation of various modern Buddhist canons, such as the Taishō canon, is well-known in East Asia, little is known about the fact that the Ōbaku Canon, originated in early modern China but carved in Japan by the Japanese Ōbaku monk Tetsugen Dōkō 鐵眼道光 (1630-1682), a disciple of the Chinese monk Yinyuan Longqi 隱元隆琦 (1592-1673) and the founder of the Japanese Ōbaku Zen tradition, was the first Chinese canon brought to Europe through the Japanese Iwakura mission in 1875. Both Samuel Beal (1825-1889) and Max Müller’s Japanese student Nanjō Bunyū 南條文雄 (1849-1927) translated its entire catalogue into English in 1876 and 1883 respectively. These catalogues, predated all the modern canon compilations, introduced modern techniques of textual criticism which greatly influenced scholarly communities in Japan. In this talk, Dr. Wu will introduce the neglected history of the Ōbaku Canon and evaluate its role in reinventing the Buddhist textual tradition in the modern era.
Register here: https://cornell.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJYudeitqzgoE9cHWSTMm9LlaG6Ftb…