Di Chuqing 狄楚青

Dí Chǔqīng 狄楚青 (c. 1873-1941)

Bǎoxián 葆賢; Píngzǐ 平子 Courtesy Name: Chǔqīng 楚青 Style Name: Master of the Pavilion of Equality 平等閣主 (Used late in life) Born Circa 1873 (Tóngzhì era 同治), lineage from Lìyáng 溧陽, Jiāngsū 江蘇 province Died 1941 in Shànghǎi 上海

Notable Associates: Kāng Yǒuwéi 康有為 Liáng Qǐchāo 梁啟超 Tán Sītóng 譚嗣同 Táng Cáicháng 唐才常

Article editor: Gregory Adam Scott

Dí Chǔqīng 狄楚青 (c. 1873-1941) was a scholar of New Learning associated with the political reforms of 1898, author and co-founder of the newspaper Shíbào 時報, a lay Buddhist and publisher of Buddhist texts.

Biography

The location and exact date of Dí's birth remain unknown. He was a recipient of the Jǔrén 舉人 degree, and studied in Japan along with Kāng Yǒuwéi 康有為. After a brief and unsuccessful return to China where he attempted to raise money for the Imperial military, he returned to Japan where he began to publish articles. In 1904 he, Kāng Yǒuwéi and Liáng Qǐchāo 梁啟超 collaborated to found the periodical Shíbào 時報 in Shànghǎi, seeing publishing an as essential engine of reform. Also in 1904 Dí founded Yǒuzhèng Press 有正書局, which would later publish the periodical Buddhist Miscellany 佛學叢報. In 1921 the Shíbào and Yǒuzhèng offices moved in together to a building on the corner of Fuzhou and Shandong roads, in the heart of the Shànghǎi publishing district.

In middle age he began to turn to Buddhism, reportedly because of the influence of his wife, Wàng Guāndìng 汪觀定. He took refuge under Chan Master Zhìkāi 治開禪師 in Tiānníng Temple 天寧寺, Chángzhōu 常州. In 1914 he hosted Yuèxiá 月霞 during the latter's visit to Shànghǎi, supporting a lecture series that later led to the foundation of Huáyán University 華嚴大學.

In 1931 Dí helped with the production of the Qìshā Canon 磧砂藏.

References

• 狄楚青居士