Nguyen dinh hung AAS

“The light of Buddhism shines again in the South”: The reasons for the woodblock printing plate engraving of Buddhist scriptures in Northern Vietnam when exposed to the Japanese canons in the early 20th century Nguyen Dinh Hung introductions • • • • • Three sets of Japanese canon , French School of the Far East in Hanoi A movement of printing Mahayana scriptures in Chinese Five major Buddhist sơn môn (Dharma school) in the North The flow of Chinese Buddhism, Ming-Qing Buddhism Source material: Japanese canons, statistics of printed scriptures, analysis of the prologues and epilogues in those writings, Buddhist historical documents The context of Buddhist documents in Chinese characters in Northern Vietnam • Mahayana Buddhism, Chinese characters • Buddhist canons from China (10 th – 14 th century) • From 17th century: influence of Chinese Buddhism from the late Ming to early Qing • 1730s: The trip of the monk Tính Tuyền 性 性 to Guangzhou to ask for scriptures (300 volumes (about 1000 scrolls), placed in the Càn An 性性 pagoda (Thăng Long 性 性 ) scriptures in Yunqi Zhuhong 性性性性 , Minh – Qing dynasties monk ( 性性性 , woodblock carving in Vietnam in early 20 th century) The context of Buddhist documents in Chinese characters in Northern Vietnam • • “Luckily, they met a sage who was a Chinese Other ways of importing scriptures: activities of delegations , brought over by Chinese monks , bought and brought over by Chinese merchants… merchant named Guan Lichu 性 性 性 , living on Hàng Cân 性 性 street, who has a heart for the Dharma, belief and respect for the Three Jewels He asked people to return to China to buy sutras, such a good thing The Mahasaṃnipata Sutra 性性性性性性 , the Mahayana 19th - early 20th century the Buddhist community in the North mainly relied on books purchased by Chinese merchants, and had much fewer resources than other Buddhist centres in Vietnam Prajnaparamita Sutra 性性性性性性性 , each with 30 scrolls, first engraved the printing plates for the Mahayana Prajnaparamita, then for the Mahasaṃnipata Sutra).” The prologue of Mahayana Prajna Sutra 性性性性性性性 (copy kept at Liên Phái pagoda, Hanoi) “Three Japanese Buddhist canons" - The Japanese canons in the library of the French School of the Far East in Hanoi in the early 20th century - The Great Japanese collated edition of Tripitaka 性 性 性 性 性 性 性 性 (Hongjao canon 性 性 性 ), printed by Hongjao publisher 性 性 性 性 around 1880 – 1885 - The Great Japanese collated edition of Tripitaka with reading instruction marks 性性性性 性 性 性 性 性 性 (Wanzheng canon 性 性 性 ), printed by Cangjing Academy 性性性性 around 1902 – 1905 - Supplement to the Japanese edition of the Tripitaka 性性性性性性 (Wanxu canon 性性性 ), printed by Cangjing Academy 性 性 性 性 around 1905 – 1912 Library of Social Sciences (1 Liễu Giai street, Hanoi) The trend of printing woodblock engraving from the Japanese canons in Northern Vietnam in the early 20th century • 13 th – 20 th century: the operation of printing woodblock engraving gradually shifted from being in charge by the imperial court to the monastic community • “sơn mơn 性性” (dharma school, similar to a fapai 性 性 ) • major sơn môn: Tế Xuyên Bảo Khám (Hà Nam), Vĩnh Nghiêm (Bắc Giang), Bổ Đà (Bắc Giang), Liên Phái (Hanoi), Linh Quang (Hanoi) Part of the list of monks who contributed money to the printing of sutras ( 性性性性性 Hanoi, early 20th century) The trend of printing woodblock engraving from the Japanese canons in Northern Vietnam in the early 20th century The trend of printing woodblock engraving from the Japanese canons in Northern Vietnam in the early 20th century • • 17 great scriptures from three Japanese canons The dharma schools did not operate separately but within a close mutual assistance Name of sutra Author The canon that contains the sutra and its position Years of completion The sơn môn that in the catalogue of the board engraved Organizer engraving Mituo lue jie yuan (Ming) Dayou ( 性 ) Wanxu zang: Zhongguo zhuanshu - Daxiao cheng zhong zhao 性性性性性性性 性性 , Chuandeng 性性 Fahua xuanyi shi qian hui ben 性性性性性性性性 (Sui) Zhiyi ( 性 ) 性性 Tế Xuyên Bảo Phổ Tụ shi jing bu ershi - Fang deng bu shu Khám 性性性性 (Hà 性性 性性性性性性性性  - 性性性性性性性性 -  性性性性 Nam province) Hongjao zang: Zhina zhuanshu - Jing shu bu 性性性 : 性性性性 - 性性性 1925 1926 Vĩnh Nghiêm 性性 Thanh Hanh (Bắc Giang 性性 province) The reasons for the woodblock printing plate engraving of Buddhist scriptures • The reasons from the documentary context and the contemporary Buddhist context (1) 1910s to 1930s, the Buddhist scriptures at EFEO were the largest and most complete texts for the Buddhist community in the North (2) The Buddhist revival in in the 1920s and 1930s in Vietnam Educational program for members of the Buddhist Association at primary, secondary, and university levels since 1936 (Đuốc Tuệ journal, No 50, 24/11/1936 性 The reasons for the woodblock printing plate engraving of Buddhist scriptures • (1) The direct reasons for the Dharma schools to choose to copy and engrave the sutras: Using a copy from the Japanese canons to compare with and complete an existing version in Vietnam with numerous errors (2) Being a new commentary book for an existing book (3) Completing the partially missing books with the missing part that had never appeared in Vietnam, or the partially lost ones (4) Being the books that Vietnamese monks have heard about, read excepts from, but had never seen the whole (5) Being the books that had never been found in Vietnam at all 10 The reasons for the woodblock printing plate engraving of Buddhist scriptures The reasons from Buddhist Tradition: (1) The inertia of Mahayana Buddhist practice in Northen Vietnam through projection from China (2) The Influence of the Ming - Qing Buddhism, especially Four Division Vinaya 性性性性性性性性性 Books and woodblocks at Liên Phái pagoda (Hanoi) 11 Thank you ! 12