Ryōō Dōkaku=了翁道覚; Ōbaku=黄檗; Kan’eiji=寛永寺; Tenkai-ban=天海版; Buddhist medicine=佛教醫學; Buddhist austerities=佛教苦行; Buddhist libraries; Buddhist sectarianism=佛教宗派主義
摘要
Ryōō Dōkaku's 了翁道覚 (1630-1707) autobiography breaks stereotypes of Buddhism during his period in several important ways. At a time when the government was attempting to strengthen its control over Buddhism by enforcing sectarian rules, Ryōō contributed substantial funds and Buddhist canons to three schools: Zen 禅, Tendai 天台, and Shingon 真言. In doing so, he was striving to revive a more robust form of Buddhism that he saw in the Ōbaku 黄檗 Zen tradition that was being introduced from China. Other aspects of his autobiography combine contrasting stereotypes as he engaged in severe austerities and yet was an entrepreneur and philanthropist. He established libraries, particularly one at the major Tendai monastery, Kan'eiji 寛永寺 that were open to both laity and monastics and held books from a variety of Chinese and Japanese philosophical, religious, historical, and literary traditions, foreshadowing the creation of public libraries.
