Reinventing the Tripitaka

Jiang Wu is professor of Chinese religion and thought in the Department of East Asian Studies and director of the Center for Buddhist Studies at the University of Arizona.Greg Wilkinson is assistant professor of religious education at Brigham Young University.

• Introduction:Jiang Wu and Greg Wilkinson“The Reinvention of the Buddhist Tripitaka and the Rise of “Textual Modernity” in Modern East Asia”Part 1 The Buddhist Canon Encounters the West1.Jiang Wu“Finding the First Chinese Tripitaka in the West: Early European Buddhology, the 1872 Iwakura Mission in Britain, and the Mystery of the Obaku Canon in the India Office Library”2.Greg Wilkinson and Nicholas J. Frederick“Inventing Buddhist Bibles in Japan: From Nanjo Bun’yu to Numata Yehan”Part 2 Use and Utility of Modern Editions and Printings 3.Kida Tomoo “Otani Kozui’s Tripitaka Diplomacy in China and the Qing Dragon Canon at Ryukoku University”4.Gregory Adam Scott“The 1913 Pinjia Canon and the Changing Role of the Buddhist Canon in Modern China”5.Richard D. McBride II“Bearing the Canon on the Crown of the Head: Jeongdae Bulsa and Worship of the Buddhist Canon in Contemporary Korean Buddhism”Part 3 The Buddhist Canon in the Digital Age6.Christian Wittern“The Digital Tripita

This collection goes well beyond the usual paleographical, philological, and redaction historical preoccupations of canonical scholarship to shed light on the life of the Buddhist canon in the wider world. These well-researched and highly readable studies show how the Buddhist scriptures function in the realms of politics, missions, nationalism, devotional practices, international relations, scholarship, and technology. This will be an indispensable addition to any collection of studies on Buddhist literary culture.