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The Jīnlíng Scriptural Press (Jīnlíng kèjīngchù 金陵刻經處) is a famous scriptural press 刻經處 founded by Yáng Wénhuì 楊文會 in Nánjīng 南京 in the 1870s. After a short hiatus between about 1966 and 1980, it continues to be active today.
History
In 1866, Yáng Wénhuì 楊文會 and some of his friends began printing Buddhist sūtras. At first, this work was done by hand. In 1874, they set up a permanent building to house the woodblocks they had carved, and in 1897 (Guāngxù 光緒 23) they formally established the Jīnlíng Scriptural Press in Yánlíng alley 延齡巷, in the northern part of Nánjīng 南京.[1] In the 1900s, this press printed a large number of texts that had been lost in China, but which Yáng's friend Nanjō Bunyū 南條文雄 sent him from Japan. The press printed tens of millions of sheets of su1tras numbering in the millions of juàn 卷.[2]
In 1908 Yáng opened the Jetavana Monastery 祇洹精舍 here, which ran for two years.
After Yáng's death in 1911, the press was taken over by his disciples Ōuyáng Jìngwú 歐陽竟無, Chén Xīān 陳樨庵, and Chén Yífǔ 陳宜甫. Three years later, Ōuyáng established the China Inner Studies Academy 支那內學院 here.
With the founding of the PRC, Yuányīng 圓瑛, Yīngcí 應慈, Zhào Pòchū 趙朴初, and Fāng Zǐfān 方子藩 organized a group to revive the press. They gathered and brought to Nanjing roughly 50,000 woodblocks from the Tiānjīn Scriptural Press 天津刻經處, Běijīng Scriptural Press 北京刻經處, the Three Times Study Association 三時學會, and the Jiāngběi Scriptural Press 江北刻經處. In 1957, the press was taken over by the Chinese Buddhist Association 中國佛家協會. At this point the press held approximately 150,000 woodblocks.[3] In the mid 1960s operations ceased as a result of the Cultural Revolution and evidently some of the facilities were damaged, but in 1973 Premier Zhōu Enlái 周恩來 ordered that the grounds be protected. In 1980 reconstruction of the buildings was complete, and the next year publication recommenced.[4]
Section Editor: Erik Hammerstrom
Notes
References and Resources
- Buddhism.com Article on 金陵刻經處
- Goldfuss, Gabriele. Vers un bouddhisme du XXe siècle. Yang Wenhui (1837-1911), réformateur laïque et imprimeur. Paris: Collège de France, Institut des Hautes Études Chinoises, 2001. Pp. 51-68.
- Shì Dōngchū 釋東初. Zhōngguó Fójiào jìndài shǐ 中國佛教近代史 (A History of Early Contemporary Chinese Buddhism), in Dōngchū lǎorén quánjí 東初老人全集 (Complete Collection of Old Man Dongchu), vols. 1-2. Taipei: Dongchu, 1974
- Yú Língbō 于凌波. Zhōngguó jìnxiàndài fójiào rénwù zhì 中國近現代佛教人物志. Běijīng 北京: Zōngjiào wénhuà chūbǎnshè 宗教文化出版社, 1995. Pp. 308-315.