Jinling Scripture carving Office

Jinling Scripture carving Office

Jinling engraving is located at the junction of Huaihai Road and Yanling Lane in downtown Nanjing, No. 35, Huaihai Road, Qinhuai District, Nanjing. Founded in 1866, it was listed as a cultural relic protection unit of Jiangsu Province in 1982. On March 5, 2013, it was selected as the seventh batch of national key cultural relics protection units.

brief introduction

Jinling Scripture carving office was founded by Yang Renshan, a famous scholar in the late Qing Dynasty. Yang Renshan, a famous literary society, was born in Shidai, Anhui Province (now Shitai County). In his early years, he was determined to study the careers of Confucius, Mencius, Laozi and Zhuangzi, and to learn astronomy, geography, calendar and rhyme. He was also proficient in many languages. In his early years, as a counsellor, he was sent to European countries with diplomat Zeng Jize. Therefore, he not only embodies the deep foundation of traditional Chinese culture, but also permeates with the spirit of modern western science and culture. Liang Qichao, Tan Sitong, Zhang Taiyan and other famous scholars in the late Qing Dynasty all had close contacts with him. Tan Sitong, the first of the Six Gentlemen in 1898, wrote benevolence in Yang Renshan's residence in Nanjing.

history

When Yang Renshan was 27 years old, he really came into contact with Buddhism because of the epidemic. Before that, an old nun had given him a volume of the Vajra Sutra, but it was difficult for him to understand it. After he recovered from his illness, he read Mahayana Qixin Lun and couldn't put it down. He read it five times in succession. Then he got a glimpse of the mystery of Mahayana Qixin Lun and became a believer in Buddhism. From then on, he extensively sought Buddhist scriptures, studied Buddhism and formed an indissoluble bond with Buddhism. In 1866, Yang Renshan moved to Nanjing and took part in the urban construction after the war of Xianfeng. At that time, due to the war in Jiangnan and the narrow religious policy of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Buddhist classics were completely destroyed. Even the most common Sutras of wuliangshoujing and shiziguanjing were hard to find. This made him deeply aware that only when the Buddhist scriptures were widely circulated could he carry forward the Buddhist Dharma and help all living beings. Therefore, he and more than ten people with similar ideals raised money and founded the Jinling Scripture Office (the predecessor of Jinling Scripture carving Office) to run the business of Scripture carving.

In the initial period, there were one writer, seven engravers, one monk and two incense makers. Among the promoters, Zheng Xuechuan, the capital of the Yangtze River, who once created the "Jiangbei Scripture carving office" of Yangzhou brick bridge, is the most powerful sponsor, while Yang Renshan "is the most famous one in Jinling.". In the day, Dong Li works, and in the night, he devotes himself to Buddhism, collating Buddhist scriptures, chanting Buddhist scriptures, or meditating, and often fails to go to bed. Jinling Scripture carving office was first set up in the Arctic Pavilion, then moved to Yang Renshan's home in Changfu street, and then moved to huapailou (now Taiping Road). In the 23rd year of Guangxu (1897), Yang Renshan donated more than 60 houses in Yanling lane and more than 6 mu of homestead to the Sutra engraver's office free of charge, as a solemn place for permanent engraving of sutras, collection of Sutra editions, and circulation of Buddhist sutras. He made great contributions to the promotion of Buddhism and the revival of Buddhist cause.

Since the establishment of Jinling Scripture carving office, Yang Renshan has been searching for all kinds of Buddhist classics. He has retrieved about 300 kinds of Buddhist works of Sui and Tang Dynasties from Japan and Korea, such as Zhonglun Shu, Bailun Shu, Weishi Shuji, Yinming Lun Shu, Huayan samadhi Zhang, etc., which have been lost in China for a long time The doctrine of the sect was restored to facilitate the study of later generations. Under Yang Renshan's careful planning, Jinling Scripture engraving office also successively printed "Da Zang Ji Yao", selected 465 kinds of Buddhist scriptures, including 3300 volumes, and printed more than 10000 Buddha statues. When Lu Xun celebrated his mother's birthday, he also donated money to engrave the Baiyu Jing here.

In order to carry forward the Buddhism, Yang Renshan also stipulated the "three no engraving" rules for Jinling Scripture engraving office, that is, no engraving for those who suspect the forgery, no engraving for those who are vulgar in meaning, and no engraving for the books of the altar. He once said, "I wish that the Jinling Scripture engraved office would make a complete collection. I hope that the proofreading and printing will be very careful, so that scholars will not be misled. We will not merge the book with the original one which has not been refined in other places and which will be circulated by itself. " This, of course, is the embodiment of Yang Renshan's integrity and rigorous research, and also the fundamental reason for the prosperity of the director of Jinling Scripture engraving. Due to the fact that many of the Scriptures printed and circulated by Jinling Scripture engraver's office are lost Buddhist scriptures in ancient China, and the combination of scriptures and annotations is adopted in the engraving, and the sections are divided, sentences are added, and strictly collated, all believers praise it as "the most excellent version of Buddhist scriptures", which is quite different from those who directly copy mingzang and longzang in other temples.

In addition, the exquisite carving of Buddha statue is also a major feature of Jinling Scripture carving office. There are 18 kinds of Buddha carving plates in Jinling Scripture carving office, such as the solemn picture of the Western Paradise, the statue of mercy Avalokitesvara, and Lingshan Dharma Association. Yang Renshan in Tongzhi and Guangxu years, referring to the "statue measuring Sutra" and other information, invited famous Nanjing engravers pan Wenfa, Gan Guoguo and Jiang Wenqing to meticulously carve them. In particular, the Lingshan Dharma Association, which is composed of a group of images, has 97 characters, with few empty gaps in the picture, but it has clear layers, strict organization and different expressions. The artistic value is very high, which can be called the top quality of China's Buddhist version.

After his death, Yang Renshan was buried in the courtyard of the scripture carving office, and a memorial tower was built. When the Japanese invaders occupied Nanjing, the scripture plates and houses of Jinling Scripture carving office were damaged. In 1952, the Shanghai Buddhist Association established the Jinling Scripture engraving office Protection Committee. Zhao Pu was appointed chairman of the committee, and Xu Pingxuan presided over the restoration work. In the same year, Lu * * ended Jiangjin, Sichuan's inner College of Nanjing, and handed over Buddhist relics, materials and classics to his collection. For the first time, the complete works of master Xuanzang's translation and compilation, with a total of 76 kinds and 1347 volumes, was printed. In 1973, Premier Zhou Enlai issued an instruction to protect and restore the Jinling Scripture carving office. In 1980, the scripture carving office was completely restored. In 1981, the printing circulation business was resumed, which was highly appreciated by Buddhist circles at home and abroad.

Architecture

Jinling Scripture carving office was originally built by Yang Renshan. It covers an area of 11667 square meters. There are 132 houses, with a brick gate of "Jinling Scripture carving office". The main buildings are shenliu hall, Zhihuan jingshe, jingban building, yangrenshan Jushi tombstone, etc.

Deep willow hall, facing south from north, hard hilltop, brick and wood structure, small tile roof, depth 9, purlin 8 meters, height 6 meters. The portrait of Yang Renshan and the plaque of "shenliu hall" inscribed by Zhao Puchu are suspended in the middle of the hall. By version, the original bungalow, has been converted into a two-story building. Hanging on the door is a plaque inscribed by Zhao Puchu, which contains 125318 pieces of Scripture.

The tomb tower, built in 1928, is a hexagonal Lama tower with a height of 8.88 meters. It is engraved with "the pagoda of Yang Renshan Buddhist". The tower is placed in the courtyard surrounded by flower windows. The tower yard covers an area of 165 square meters.

Transportation: you can take bus No.2, No.1, No.27, No.31, No.46, No.60 and No.80.

Planning positioning: Buddhist Culture Exhibition Center.

Circulation bibliography

Please refer to the last page of the atlas for the inventory and mailing method of the Scriptures in the circulation catalogue (free mailing by China Post)

Heritage Protection

In November 2019, the list of national intangible cultural heritage representative project protection units was announced, and Jinling engraved classics division was qualified as the project protection unit of "Jinling engraved classics printing skills".

Address: No.35, Huaihai Road, Qinhuai District, Nanjing

Longitude: 118.79104195535

Latitude: 32.036689224951

Tel: 025-84542531