Reinventing the Tripitaka (eBook)

Jiang Wu is professor of Chinese religion and thought in the Department of East Asian Studies and director of the Center for Buddhist Studies at the University of Arizona.Greg Wilkinson is assistant professor of religious education at Brigham Young University.

Introduction:Jiang Wu and Greg Wilkinson“The Reinvention of the Buddhist Tripitaka and the Rise of “Textual Modernity” in Modern East Asia”Part 1 The Buddhist Canon Encounters the WestJiang Wu“Finding the First Chinese Tripitaka in the West: Early European Buddhology, the 1872 Iwakura Mission in Britain, and the Mystery of the Ōbaku Canon in the India Office Library”Greg Wilkinson and Nicholas J. Frederick“Inventing Buddhist Bibles in Japan: From Nanjō Bun’yū to Numata Yehan”Part 2 Use and Utility of Modern Editions and Printings Kida Tomoo “Ōtani Kozui’s Tripitaka Diplomacy in China and the Qing Dragon Canon at Ryūkoku University”Gregory Adam Scott“The 1913 Pinjia Canon and the Changing Role of the Buddhist Canon in Modern China”Richard D. McBride II“Bearing the Canon on the Crown of the Head: Jeongdae Bulsa and Worship of the Buddhist Canon in Contemporary Korean Buddhism”Part 3 The Buddhist Canon in the Digital AgeChristian Wittern“The Digital Tripitaka and the Modern World”A. Charles Muller, Shimoda Masahiro, and Nagasaki Kiyonori“The SAT Taishō Text Database: A Brief History”Appendix: Fang Guangchang“Defining the Chinese Buddhist Canon: Its Origin, Periodization, and Future”

The contemporary study of the history of Buddhist canons in East Asia has emerged in recent years as an important part of cultural as well as religious approaches. In this volume, we find an excellent summation of scholarly efforts that have been directed toward textual research in the field. The appraisal of the impact of digital and information technology is a welcome interpretation of present methodology in Buddhist studies.

The Buddhist Canon translated from South Asian languages into Chinese constituted a staggering achievement in intercultural communication fifty times the size of the Bible, so transferring this vast mass of text into modern typeset and digital formats raises acute questions of cultural identity as well as technology. The essays on the topic collected here therefore open up some urgent contemporary issues in exciting new ways—well done!

This collection goes well beyond the usual paleographical, philological, and redaction historical preoccupations of canonical scholarship to shed light on the life of the Buddhist canon in the wider world. These well-researched and highly readable studies show how the Buddhist scriptures function in the realms of politics, missions, nationalism, devotional practices, international relations, scholarship, and technology. This will be an indispensable addition to any collection of studies on Buddhist literary culture.

Reinventing the Tripitaka: Transformation of the Buddhist Canon in Modern East Asia opens a new chapter in the study of East Asian Buddhism, focusing on the use of the Chinese Buddhist canon as an agent in constructing a modern framework for the study of Buddhism in the face of Western cultural, intellectual, and religious dominance. It is an excellent contribution to our knowledge and is highly recommended for those interested in the modern political and religious history of East Asia, digital humanities, bibliographic studies and the history of the book in East Asia.