Yu Liaoweng 余了翁

Current revision as of 00:35, 31 March 2011

Yú Liǎowēng 余了翁 (1873-1941)

Name 名: Lín 霖 Style names 號: Liǎowēng 了翁; Xiē'ān 歇庵 Courtesy name 字: Yīběi 揖北 Born Tóngzhì 同治 12 (1874) in Jiāxīng 嘉興, Zhèjiāng 浙江 province Died 1941, of illness, in Shànghǎi 上海

Notable Associates: Shěn Zēngzhí 沈增植 Wáng Yìtíng 王一亭 Lǐ Jīngwéi 李經維 Fàn Gǔnóng 范古農 Zhènhuá 震華

Article editor: Gregory Adam Scott

Yú Liǎowēng 余了翁 (1873-1941) was a lay Buddhist scholar and editor associated with Shanghai Buddhist Books 上海佛學書局 and their publication Fóxué chūbǎn jiè 佛學出版界.

Biography

Yú had a traditional education as a child, becoming a shēngyuán 生員 (scholar preparing for the civil service exams) at the age of 17. In 1902 he attained the jǔrén 舉人 degree and served in official capacity, but once the 1911 revolution had broken out he resigned his position returned to Jiāxīng 嘉興. In the early years of the Republic he was involved in a number of editing and publishing projects with Shěn Zēngzhí 沈增植^[1] where he drew upon his wealth of classical knowledge. Although he flirted with Western Learning, under Shěn's influence he eventually turned to Buddhist studies and began to read scriptures and practice niànfó 念佛.

In his later years he moved to Shànghǎi 上海 where he participated in the World Lay Buddhist Association 世界佛教局士林, and from 1929 onward became a permanent resident at the association's quarters. When Wáng Yìtíng 王一亭 and Lǐ Jīngwéi 李經維 founded Shanghai Buddhist Books 上海佛學書局 later that year, they asked Yú and Fàn Gǔnóng 范古農 to work as editors. Yú also served as the first editor of the publisher's periodical Buddhism Semimonthly 佛學半月刊, founded in 1930.

When Shànghǎi was invaded by Japan in 1937, Yú was reportedly too poor to flee and remained in Shànghǎi. He died there of illness in 1941.

Important Works

• Fóxué chūbǎnjiè 佛學出版界, 1932 - 1934, editor
• 僧伽護國史 and 僧伽尺牘, co-author with Zhènhuá 震華
• 歇庵詩存
• 梅里備志
• 二袁尺牘

Notes

1. ↑ Shěn Zēngzhí 沈增植, courtesy name Zǐpéi 子培 (1850-1922) was a jìnshì 進士 and former official under the Qīng, also from Jiāxīng.

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. 1:383-385.