Yang Wenhui

Author: Liu Mengxi, Editor-in-Chief
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 1996-10-01
Features: This book includes numerous representative works of three renowned modern religious figures: Yang Wenhui, Ouyang Jian, and Lü Qing. It comprehensively showcases the achievements in the field of religious studies in modern China. It includes Yang Wenhui's works such as "Records of Equal and Unequal Views," "Elementary Textbook of Buddhism," "Brief Explanation of the Ten Schools of Buddhism," and "Essays on Propagating Buddhism"; Ouyang Jian's works such as "Preface to the Yogācārabhūmi ?āstra" and "Collected Prefaces to the Dharmadhāra Treatises," as well as "Explanation of the Academy of the Chinese Inner Buddhist College"; and Lü Qing's works such as "Explanation of the Treatise on Entering the Right Path of Logic" and "Brief Notes on the Treatise on Collecting Volumes."
Yang Wenhui (1837–1911), a Buddhist scholar of the late Qing Dynasty, styled Renshan, was from Shidian (now Shitai, Anhui). He lived in Beijing with his father since childhood. During the Taiping Rebellion period, he moved between Anhui, Zhejiang, and Jiangsu. In his early years, he studied Confucianism and also learned astronomy, geography, mathematics, and phonology. In the first year of the Tongzhi reign (1862), he purchased the "Great Vehicle Awakening of Faith" in an Anqing bookstore and, after reading it, became deeply devoted to Buddhism. From then on, he dedicated himself to studying Buddhism, collecting Buddhist scriptures, and printing and distributing them. In the fifth year of the Tongzhi reign (1866), he moved to Nanjing and was in charge of government construction projects, where he met Buddhist scholars such as Wang Meishu, Wei Gangyi, Zhao Huifu, and Cao Jingchu, further strengthening his Buddhist faith. Soon after, he raised funds with friends and established the Jinling Buddhist Text Publishing House in Nanjing, engaging in the printing and distribution of Buddhist scriptures.
In the fourth year of the Guangxu reign (1878), he accompanied Zeng Jize on a mission to Britain and France, studying their political and religious systems and bringing back many scientific instruments. Several years later, he accompanied Liu Zhiti on another mission to Britain, where he studied manufacturing techniques and deeply explored the foundations of the Western powers' rise. In London, he met the Japanese Buddhist scholar Nanjō Bunyū, through correspondence, and learned that many lost Chinese Buddhist texts were preserved in Japan. With Nanjō's help, he recovered over 300 lost Chinese Buddhist commentaries from Japan and published selected works such as "Ten Books on Ancient Buddhist Scriptures." In the twentieth year of the Guangxu reign (1894), he translated the "Great Vehicle Awakening of Faith" into English together with the British missionary Timothy Richard. The following year, he met the Sri Lankan (then Ceylon) lay Buddhist Darmapala in Shanghai and supported his efforts to revitalize Indian Buddhism. In the thirty-third year of the Guangxu reign (1907), he established the Zhīyuán Jingshe at the Jinling Buddhist Text Publishing House, compiling textbooks himself and hiring the poet-monk Su Manshu to teach Sanskrit and English, training over 20 monks and laypeople who were proficient in both Chinese and Western languages and Buddhist studies, preparing them for missionary work in India. However, the institution was soon closed due to financial difficulties.
Recognizing the flaws in the Japanese-published "Continuation of the Buddhist Canon" for its extensive but indiscriminate selection, he resolved to organize the printing of the "Comprehensive Collection of the Buddhist Canon," selecting over 3,000 Buddhist texts for meticulous editing. He later completed over 2,000 volumes of it. He also provided hundreds of Buddhist texts for Japan's "Sūtra of the Endless Continuation of the Buddhist Canon." In 1910, he became the president of the Buddhist Research Society and regularly delivered lectures. His writings include "Records of Equal and Unequal Views," among others, which were compiled by the Jinling Buddhist Text Publishing House in 1919 as "The Remains of Master Yang Renshan." He had numerous disciples and students, including famous figures such as Tan Sitong, Li Duanshu, Gui Bohua, Zhang Taiyan, Ouyang Jingwu, Sun Shaohou, Li Zhenggang, and Kui Ruomu.
"Records of Equal and Unequal Views" is a collection of Master Renshan's works, including 151 articles such as essays, letters, prefaces, and speeches. Among them, 25 are essays and lectures, 28 are prefaces, 12 are critiques and debates, 43 are letters exchanged with domestic colleagues, and 41 are letters exchanged with Japanese scholar Nanjō Bunyū. Additionally, it includes a "Bibliography of Buddhist Works" compiled by Master Renshan. The texts collected in this book embody Master Renshan's Buddhist thought, educational philosophy, and religious reform ideas, making it his most representative work. It was published by the Jinling Buddhist Text Publishing House in 1919, with some postscripts added by the original compilers.