Wáng Sēnfǔ 王森甫 (1881-1934)
|
| Notable Associates: |
|
Wáng Sēnfǔ 王森甫 (1881-1934) was a successful businessman and lay Buddhist, Wáng provided material support for Tàixū's 太虛 activities in Wǔchāng 武昌 in the early 1920s and was a founding member of the Buddhist Right Faith Society 佛教正信會 there.
Wáng's ancestors came from Tàipíng County 太平縣, Ānhuī 安徽, but Wáng was born in Hànkǒu 漢口 where he received a classical education growing up. As an adult he managed a successful cotton cloth business in Hànkǒu. During the last decade of the Qīng Dynasty, Wáng participated in revolutionary activities and lent material support to revolutionary causes in Wǔhàn 武漢 and Shànghǎi 上海.
In 1912, Wáng became president of the Hànkǒu chapter of the Red Cross. He was also engaged in a number of other relief activities in the 1920s, especially during the Northern Expedition (1926-1928).
In 1920, Wáng, Chén Yuánbái 陳元白, Lǐ Yǐnchén 李隱塵, and others invited Tàixū 太虛 Wǔchāng 武昌 to lecture. These lectures were attended by numerous businessmen and and community figures. This was the beginning of the Hànkǒu Buddhist Association 漢口佛教會, which later transformed into the Buddhist Right Faith Society 佛教正信會. The following year, they again invited Tàixū lecture, this time at Guīyuán Temple 歸元寺 in Hànyáng 漢陽. After these lectures on the Yuánjué jing 圓覺經 (Sūtra of Complete Enlightenment), Chén, Lǐ, Wáng, and others decided to establish the Wǔchāng Buddhist Seminary 武昌佛學院, which they invited Tàixū to head.
Wáng also helped provide material support to Tàixū for establishing nuns' academies in Hànkǒu, and to launch the World Buddhist Federation 世界佛教聯合會 in the summer of 1923 at Dàlín Temple 大林寺 on Lúshān 廬山.
Like many lay people in his generation, from the late 1920s until his death in 1934, Wáng spent part of his time studying Esoteric Buddhism 密教.
Wáng died in the summer of 1934 in Hànkǒu.