Conversion by the Book: Buddhist Print Culture in Early Republican China Gregory Adam Scott ...

340 Pages·2013·8.14 MB·English

by  Gregory Scott

Conversion by the Book: Buddhist Print Culture in Early Republican China
Gregory Adam Scott
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
2013
© 2013
Gregory Adam Scott
All Rights Reserved
This work may be used under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0
Unported License. For more information about that license, see
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ABSTRACT
Conversion by the Book: Buddhist Print Culture in Early Republican China
經典佛化: 民國初期佛教出版文化
Gregory Adam Scott
史瑞戈
In this dissertation I argue that print culture acted as a catalyst for change among Buddhists in
modern China. Through examining major publication institutions, publishing projects, and
their managers and contributors from the late nineteenth century to the 1920s, I show that the
expansion of the scope and variety of printed works, as well as new the social structures
surrounding publishing, substantially impacted the activity of Chinese Buddhists. In doing so I
hope to contribute to ongoing discussions of the ‘revival’ of Chinese Buddhism in the modern
period, and demonstrate that publishing, propelled by new print technologies and new forms
of social organization, was a key field of interaction and communication for religious actors
during this era, one that helped make possible the introduction and adoption of new forms of
religious thought and practice.
本論文的論點是出版文化在近代中國佛教人物之中,扮演了變化觸媒的角色. 通過研究從十
九世紀末到二十世紀二十年代的主要的出版機構, 種類, 及其主辦人物與提供貢獻者, 論文
說明佛教印刷的多元化 以及範圍的大量擴展, 再加上跟出版有關的社會結構, 對中國佛教
人物的活動都發生了顯著的影響. 此研究顯示在被新印刷技術與新形式的社會結構的推進
下的出版事業, 為該時代的宗教人物展開一種新的相互連結與構通的場域, 因而使新的宗教
思想與實踐的引入成為可能. 此論文試圖對現行關於近代中國佛教的所謂'復興'的討論提出
貢獻.
Table of Contents
List of Figures and Tables iii
Acknowledgements v
Abbreviations and Conventions ix
Works Cited by Abbreviation x
Maps of Principle Locations xi
Introduction
Print Culture and Religion in Modern China
1. Prolegomena 1
2. Theories of Religion and Secularization 8
3. Holmes Welch and Paradigms of Modern Chinese Buddhism 15
4. Theories of Print Culture 25
5. Project Outline 34
Chapter One
Buddhist Xylographic Publishing in the Late Qing and Early Republic
1. Introduction 41
2. Medieval and Early-Modern Scriptural Publishing 45
3. Yang Wenhui and the Jinling Scriptural Press 62
4. Xu Weiru, the Beijing and Tianjin Scriptural Presses, and Scripture Distributors 75
5. Conclusion 90
Chapter Two
Mechanized Movable Type and the Kalaviṇka Canon, 1909 – 1913
1. Introduction 95
2. The Arrival of Mechanized Movable Type 96
3. Editing and Printing the Kalaviṇka Canon 107
4. Publicizing the Canon 118
5. Conclusion 127
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Chapter Three
Publishing Revolution: Buddhist Periodicals in the the First Decade of the Republic, 1912 – 1919
1. Introduction 130
2. Foxue congbao 佛學叢報 (Buddhist Studies Magazine, 1912 – 1914) 136
3. Fojiao yuebao 佛教月報 (Buddhist Monthly, 1913) 156
4. Jueshe congshu 覺社叢書 (Awakening Society Collectanea, 1918 – 1919) 166
5. Conclusion 175
Chapter Four
Navigating the Sea of Scriptures: Ding’s Buddhist Studies Collectanea, 1918 – 1923
1. Introduction 178
2. Ding Fubao and the Structure of his Series 180
3. Illuminating Scriptures with Exegesis, Awakening Faith with Evidence 202
4. Buddhist Lexicography 223
5. Conclusion 242
Chapter Five
Opening the Dharma Bridge: Periodical, Scriptural, and Commercial Publishing, 1920 – 1929
1. Introduction 245
2. Haichao yin 海潮音 (Voice of the Sea Tide, 1920 –) 250
3. Neixue 內學 (Inner Studies, 1923 – 1928)
and the Publications of the Inner Studies Institute 266
4. Scriptural and Commercial Presses of the 1920s 273
5. Conclusion 288
Conclusion 290
Appendix: The Digital Bibliography of Chinese Buddhism 295
Works Cited 298
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List of Figures and Tables
Figure 1: Xylographic book page layout 53
Figure 2: Comparison of Xylographic and Typeset Pages, 1908 100
Figure 3: Depiction of Mission Printing Press, 1908 100
Figure 4: Sample page from Foxue congshu, issue one, History section 146
Figure 5: Monochrome lithograph-printed photographs from Foxue congbao, issue six 147
Figure 6: Sample page from Ding's Annotated Diamond Sūtra 208
Figure 7: Oda Tokunō as depicted in his Bukkyō Daijiten 228
Figure 8: Four Phases of Ding Fubao's Life: Studying Literature, Studying Science,
Studying Medicine, and Studying Buddhism 233
Figure 9: Photograph of Yang Wenhui's burial stupa from the inaugural issue of Haichao yin 256
Table 1: Major Editions of the East Asian Buddhist Canon before 1900 56-58
Table 2: Buddhist Scriptural Presses and Printers in late-Qing and Republican China 66-68
Table 3: Buddhist Scripture Distributors 85-86
Table 4: Number of Items in Selected Buddhist Book Catalogues 90
Table 5: Sections and Division Structure of the Kalaviṇka Canon 114-115
Table 6: Editing and Publishing Timeline for the Kalaviṇka Canon 119
Table 7: Foxue congbao Print Run 137
Table 8: Fojiao yuebao Print Run 158
Table 9: Jueshe congshu Print Run 167
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Table 10: Works published in Ding's Buddhist Studies Collectanea from 1918 to 1925 187-189
Table 11: Comparison of entries in Oda Tokunō and Ding Fubao 235
Table 12: Chinese-language Buddhist Periodicals founded in the 1920s 247-248
Table 13: Print Run for the First Publication Year of Haichao yin 251
Table 14: Accounting Report for Haichao yin, August 14, 1920 - February 7, 1921 258
Table 15: Neixue Print Run 267
Table 16: Buddhist Publications from Zhonghua shuju (Zhonghua Books) and
Shangwu yinshu guan (The Commercial Press), 1920 – 1929 285-286
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Acknowledgements
I would not have been able to survive my graduate program and complete this dissertation
without the help and support of a great many people. My defense committee provided me with
valuable feedback during all stages of the project. Courtney Bender, Michael Como, and Gray
Tuttle each offered insights and suggestions, and encouraged me to think beyond my field. I
must especially thank Michael Szonyi, whose unfailing support of my academic work has
motivated me to exceed what I thought were my limits since September, 2004. More than
anyone, Chün-fang Yü deserves credit for whatever accomplishments I have been able to
achieve in the past seven years. Her kindness, wisdom, patience, and insight have been an
inspiration and a source of strength both for me and, I trust, for her other students. During my
graduate work at Columbia I benefited greatly from the guidance of Jack Hawley, Bernard
Faure, Mamoru Hatakeyama, and the late Wu Pei-yi. While an undergraduate at York
University, Ted Goossen and Bob Wakabayashi were essential in encouraging me to persist in
my studies. I am grateful to all of these teachers, as I am to my late and loyal friend Dmitry.
My colleagues in the Religion Department Ph.D. program, Susan Andrews, Patton
Burchett, Todd French, and Daniel Vaca, are cherished friends and always offered incisive
critiques of my work. My senpai Rostislav Berezkin, Marcus Bingenheimer, Bev Foulks, Erik
Hammerstrom, and Brooks Jessup offered help and advice to their kōhai during conferences,
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workshops, and overseas research. Professors Philip Clart, Vincent Goosseart, and Paul Katz
have been extremely generous in editing and reviewing my work.
I received support from a number of sources during the research and writing of this
dissertation. At Columbia, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, the Department of
Religion, and the Weatherhead Institute all provided support for different stages of the
project. I am also grateful for a Cihui Foundation Fellowship and a C. Martin Wilbur Fellowship
which supported me in my final year of coursework. A Small Grant Award from the China and
Inner Asia Council of the Association for Asian Studies helped further develop the Database of
Modern Chinese Buddhism. Although not initially connected to my dissertation work, an
internship as a archival processor at the Burke Library in Union Theological Seminary funded
by the Mellon Foundation was extremely helpful in broadening the horizons of my research.
The careful and professional guidance of the library's archivist Ruth Tonkiss Cameron helped
me better understand the importance of primary materials and the historical context of
Christian missions globally. For the final two years of my dissertation work, I was very
fortunate to receive funding from two sources. The first was a Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation
Dissertation Fellowship, which allowed me to be a visiting research fellow at the Institute of
Modern History at Academia Sinica in Taiwan. The second was a Sheng Yen Education
Foundation Grant for Ph.D. Dissertation Research 聖嚴教育基金會漢傳佛教博士論文獎學金,
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which supported me for the final year of my dissertation project. I must particularly thank
Yang Pei 楊蓓, Lin Yung-shin 林永馨, and Liu Po-chun 榴柏君 at the foundation for their
help. I am extremely grateful to all of these institutions whose generosity and trust provided
the financial basis for my work.
Finally I wish to thank my wife and partner Emma Deards for her patience and trust in
my work through the past few years. Any insights or contributions that arise from this work
are solely thanks to this support I have received; any mistakes or errors are entirely my own.
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