NANSHI, Wenxiu 南石文琇 or WENXIU

Zōshū zoku dentōroku [Ch.: Zeng ji xu chuan deng lu; 増集續傳燈錄; Expanded Supplement to Records of the Transmission of the Lamp]

Six vols. 8vo, orig. blue semi-stiff wrappers, orig. block-printed title labels on upper covers (label on Vol. I somewhat defective), new stitching. [Kyoto]: Yao Kanbē 八尾勘兵衛, Preface by Nanshi Wenxiu dated 1417, but late 17th or 18th century.

First edition to be printed in Japan of this collection of the words and deeds of famous Chinese monks of the Chan (J.: Zen) 禪 lineages. The Expanded Supplement was edited by Nanshi Wenxiu 南石文琇 (1345-1418) over a period of 30 years. It was first published in Jiaxing, Zhejiang, in 1671, a considerable time after Nanshi’s death. We assume that the Japanese edition to which our copy belongs postdates this Chinese edition. The entry for our edition in WorldCat (40222684) estimates that it is from the 17th century.

The genre of records of the “transmission of the lamp” — a metaphor for the Buddhist teachings — fits somewhere between a biography and a collection of recorded sayings. It focuses more on the teachings of the monks featured than on the events of their lives. This makes the genre important for the intellectual history of Buddhism.

Our copy represents the continuation of the genre, which originated in the Song period. In 1004 CE, the Chinese monk Daoyuan 道原 finished his great collection Jingde chuandeng lu 景德傳燈錄 [Record of the Transmission of the Lamp of the Jingde Reign Period (of the Song, 1004-1007 CE)]. Daoyuan presented his work to the Song throne, and the emperor had it included in the Tripitaka. Dachuan Puji 大川普濟 (1179-1253) subsequently expanded on Daoyuan’s and others’ works and compiled Wudeng huiyuan 五燈會元 [Combined Sources for the Five Lamps], published in the year of his death. Nanshi Wenxiu, the 62nd abbot of Jingshan Temple in Hangzhou, decided to compile the Expanded Supplement to Records of the Transmission of the Lamp upon noticing lacunae in Dachuan Puji’s work. The Expanded Supplement contains information on monks from the Song (960-1279 CE) and Yuan (1271-1368) periods.

Japanese reading marks have been added to parts of the text in black and red ink.

Fine and fresh set of a very rare book; WorldCat locates only the Berkeley copy. Preserved in a chitsu. Occasional unimportant worming.

References

Digital Dictionary of Buddhism. http://www.buddhism-dict.net/.