Looking for Bhairava - The Institute of Buddhist Studies

140Pacific WorldCollectingWe begin with what was at once a truly visionary and a trulygrandiose undertaking at the beginning of the Northern Song (960–1127). After a hiatus of more than a century and a half, the newlyensconced Song regime renewed efforts to translate Buddhist textsinto Chinese. 5 Supported by an immense infusion of imperial prestige,cash, and institutional infrastructure, four Song emperors pursuedwhat was to be the last major effort of its kind until the modern period.For one hundred years the Institute for Canonical Translation ( 譯 經院 , Yijing yuan, soon renamed the Institute for the Propagation ofthe Teaching, Chuanfa yuan, 傳 法 院 ) turned out new translations ofrecently imported Indic works. 6The acquisition of the Buddhist scriptures was an integral part of avision of a great continental empire centered on the Song. Apparentlyseeking to displace India as the font of the dharma on the continent, thefirst two Song emperors set out to procure, translate, and distribute allthe Buddha’s teachings. 7 Thus Taizu ( 太 祖 , r. 960–976) sent missions toSouth and Central Asia. Initial feelers led to the dispatch of 157 monksto collect texts—texts that would become the fuel for the imperiallysponsored translation institute and for the first full printing of theBuddhist scriptures. Shortly thereafter the Court received four Indianmonks who came to form the core of the translation team. They wereDevaśāntika ( 天 息 災 , from 978 called 法 賢 , d. 1000), Dānapāla ( 施 護 ,d. 1018), Dharmadeva ( 法 天 , d. 1001), and Fahu ( 法 護 ). 8 The first twoare among the most prolific translators in Chinese history. For thepurposes of the translation project the second emperor Taizong ( 太宗 ) in 982 constructed a special building comprising three offices andsupport structures in the western sector of the Taiping xingguo ( 太 平興 國 ) temple.In addition to translating newly imported scriptures, an imperiallyauthorized dragnet scoured monastery libraries for Sanskritmanuscripts that had not yet been translated. 9 Taking advantage ofnew technology, the distribution of the newly translated scriptureswent beyond hand copying. For the first time the canon would beprinted. A special building, the Institute for Printing the Canon ( 印 經院 , Yinjing yuan), was erected on the same grounds and dedicated to theprinting of a complete edition of the Buddhist scriptures and to issuingperiodic updates as new translations became available. Referred to as