Nanjo Bunyu 南条文雄

Revision as of 22:55, 31 December 2009

Nanjō Bunyū 南条文雄 (1849-1927)

Youth name 幼名: 恪凡 Born 1849 in Gifu Prefecture 岐阜縣, Japan Died 1927 in Japan

Notable Associates: Max Müller Yáng Wénhuì 楊文會

Article editor: Erik Hammerstrom

Nanjō Bunyū (usually romanized as Nanjio Bunyiu) 南条文雄 (1849-1927)

A priest of the Ōtani 大谷 sect of Japan's Jodō Shinshū 浄土真宗 school. He studied at Oxford with famed orientalist Max Müller, and collaborated with Yáng Wénhuì 楊文會 on a number of Buddhist projects. Chief among which was the reprinting of Buddhist texts held in Japan, but lost in China.

Biography

At the age of 23, Nanjō became the adopted son of Nanjō Shinkō 南条真興 of Fukui Prefecture 福井縣, adopting the name by which he is now most known. In 1876, he was selected by his sect to study in England. This was the Meiji 明治 period in Japan, and many students, including Buddhist monks, were sent to the West to study.

In England, Nanjō went to Oxford, where he studied Sanskrit under the renowned scholar Max Müller. Nanjō eventually became the first Japanese priest to earn a Ph.D. in the West.

In 1878, Nanjō met Yáng Wénhuì 楊文會 in London. Through Nanjō, Yáng, who was already involved in Sūtra-printing activities back home, became aware of the existence in Japan of a large number of Buddhist texts, which had been lost in China. Over the next 30 year, Nanjō sent Yáng over 300 different "lost" scriptures, which Yáng's Jinling Scriptural Press 金陵刻經處 then made available in China. Many of these were related to Consciousness-Only 唯識 thought. The relationship of the two men was not entirely related to business, and their continual correspondence over the years speaks to their friendship.

After returning to Japan, Nanjō became a lecturer at Tokyo University, and later served as principal of Ōtani University 大谷大學. He also published several major works, the most important of which was probably his A Catalogue of the Chinese Translation of the Buddhist Tripitaka, which was a major milestone in bringing Buddhist texts written in classical Chinese to the attention of Western orientalists. He also published English translations of the Lotus Sūtra and the Amitabha Sūtra.

Important Works

• A Catalogue of the Chinese Translation of the Buddhist Tripitaka. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1883.
  • A digital index of this work is maintained by Christian Wittern here.

Notable Students

Notes

References:

• Yú Língbō 于凌波, ed. Xiàndài Fójiào rénwù cídiǎn 現代佛教人物辭典 (A Dictionary of Modern Buddhist Persons), 2 vols. Taipei: Foguang, 2004. Pp. 1.736b-737b.
• Wikipedia Article