Record of the Transmission of Illumination

The first book of this two-volume set consists largely of an annotated translation of the Record of the Transmission of Illumination (Denk?roku) by Zen Master Keizan J?kin (1264-1325), presented together with the original Japanese text on which the English translation is based. That text is the recension of the Denk?roku published in Sh?ten Hensan Iinkai, ed., Taiso Keizan Zenji senjutsu Denk?roku (Tokyo: S?t?sh? Sh?much?, 2005). The Sh?much? edition of the Denk?roku includes some items of Front Matter from earlier published editions, which are included in the English translations. Volume 1 also contains an Introduction that addresses such matters as the life of Keizan, the contents of the Denk?roku, the provenance of that work, and the textual history of its various recensions. In addition, Volume 1 includes a Bibliography that lists many works of modern Japanese- and English-language scholarship that are relevant to the academic study of the Denk?roku. The second volume contains a Glossary in two parts. Part One explains all of the Buddhist technical terms and Zen sayings that appear in the annotated translation of the Sh?much? edition of the Denk?roku, found in Volume 1. Part Two treats all of the people, places, and texts that are named in that annotated translation. The Glossary also contains a wealth of material pertaining to the study of Chinese Chan, Japanese Zen, and East Asian Buddhist traditions at large, providing a broader historical context for understanding Keizan's Denk?roku. Published in association with S?t?sh? Sh?much?, Tokyo.