. esoteric buddhism under the song: an overview 425
The renewal of State-sponsored Translation
The early Northern Song emperors looked to the civilizing heroes of the
ancient Zhou as well as to the more recent reign of Tang emperor
Xuanzong (r. 712–756) as benchmarks and patronized religion (includ-
ing both Daoism and Buddhism), literature, and the arts in an effort
to restore the cultural heritage lost is the chaos following the collapse
of the Tang. The first three Song emperors sponsored the compilation
and printing of encyclopedia (Taiping guangji, Taiping yulan), had the
previous seventeen dynastic histories printed (994–1063), underwrote
the major Chan “lamp” collections (1004 / 1009; 1036), collected,
translated and printed the entire Buddhist canon (983 with periodic
updates), and began the collection of the Daoist canon (1020).
Taizong (r. 976–997), in 982 constructed a special building for the
translation of scriptures comprising three offices and support struc-
tures in the western sector of the Taiping xingguo temple.
For one hundred years the Institute for Canonical Translation
(Yijing yuan, soon renamed the Institute for the Propagation of the
Teaching Chuanfa yuan ), turned out new translations of
recently imported Indic works.^20 Yet another special building, the Insti-
tute for Printing the Canon (Yinjing yuan), was erected on the
same grounds and dedicated to the printing of a complete edition of
the Buddhist scriptures.^21 the newly printed Canon was disseminated
to official government monastic libraries and given as prestations to
other states.^22
A sizable proportion of what was translated in the Yijing yuan
was esoteric or tantric. Translations included new scriptures that had
(^20) Founded in 982 the institute was not disbanded until 1082.
(^21) Printing had commenced in Chengdu in 972 and the first full edition—referred
to as the Kaibao canon after the reign period in which it appeared—was complete in
130,000 woodblocks by 983.
(^22) As Huang notes, Taizong used the establishment of printing at the Institute
to “circulate widely the work it had produced.” Taizong awarded printed canons to
revered or important visitors. A set was given to the Japanese monk Chōnen
(938–1016) as well as Korean envoys on behalf of their king. See Huang 1994, 152
and note 45. These events are related in Fozu tong ji T. 2035.49:399a16–400c. Sets
of the Canon were requested by the Uighurs, the Vietnamese, and the Xi Xia. The
Tanguts requested a sixth set in 1073, the Vietnamese requested another version in
1098–99, and so on. See Sen 2002, 40–41. Both the Khitan and the Koreans cut their
own canons and were in competition with the Song in these inter-state prestations.
On the development of the Canon see Lancaster 1989, 144–156, and Lancaster and
Park 1979.