Ch'an Dao Links:
|
Biography of Wong Mou Lam (黄茂林) (1886-1934)Translator’s Note: Producing ground-breaking translations of previously unknown, obscure or unfamiliar Chinese Buddhist texts into contemporary English is not an easy task, and yet Wong Mou-Lam (黄茂林) - whose name is pronounced ‘Huang Mao-Lin' in Putonghua – achieved this task! For his efforts – we should all be eternally grateful! Given the importance in the West of his translation of the Chinese-language ‘Altar Sutra’ - it is remarkable that very little is known about him! Indeed, much more is known in the West about various ‘famous’ individuals whose understanding and application of Buddhist history and thought is now known to be ‘flawed’ (or at least fatally deficient in some way), than of the careful work of Wong Mou-Lam! Even within Chinese-language sources (from which this work is drawn) there are yearning gaps in his available biographical data! To remedy this, I have drawn together the available information to generate a coherent biography. The point is that the efforts of Wong Mou-Lam (he translated a number of important Buddhist texts into English), operated a generation before Charles Luk (1898-1978) and lived during the lifetime of Master Xu Yun (1840-1959) - and yet hardly any mention of his work exists today in the West! He was actively engaged in presenting as many Mahayana (Chinese) Buddhist texts as possible to English-language readers – but all I know of today is his ‘Altar Sutra’ - a 1952 copy of which was presented as a gift to me by my teacher – Richard Hunn (1949-2006) around the year 2000. Wong Mou-Lam intended to offer to the Western reader – single books that presented both the original Chinese text AND the new English translation – side by side! Although his ‘中国佛教杂’ (Zhong Guo Fo Jiao Za) is often translated as the ‘Chinese Buddhism Miscellany’, this is something of a misnomer. The Chinese ideogram ‘杂’ (za2) is traditionally written as ‘雜’ (or ‘襍’) and is better translated as to ‘mix’ or to ‘integrate’, but also carries the more precise meanings of to ‘gather’ and to ‘collect’, etc. (This ideogram refers to the dressing of the upper-body with a variety of different coloured-clothes – or to a gathering of different coloured-birds). Wong Mou-Lam uses the term ‘雜’ (Za) in the context of the ‘integration’ of Chinese-language Buddhist texts with the corresponding English-language translations – so that a cultural reference point can be ascertained by the general reader. This was a very innovative translation project initiated by Wong Mou-Lam that was ahead of its time and is worthy of respect.
ACW (7.5.2022) 1886: According to logical assumption, Wong Mou-Lam was considered to be older than twenty-years upon the founding of the Republic of China (1911-1912), and therefore was born somewhere between 1885 and 1891-1892. Although Chinese-Language texts tend to prefer an ‘unknown’ date – Western scholarship appears to have settled upon ‘1886’ - meaning that Wong Mou-Lam was 26-years-old upon the founding of ‘Nationalist’ China (during 1911-1912)!
1906: I am assuming that Wong Mou-Lam left his native Guangdong province and travelled to Hong Kong (where he settled) when he was twenty-years-old. As he spoke ‘Cantonese’ - he already could communicate with the native Chinese population – and probably had visited the British Colony in his youth (with his parents), etc. However, Chinese-language sources clearly indicate that Wong Mou-Lam was also proficient at talking, reading and writing the English-Language, and this immediately generated the conditions for cordial relations between himself and the British population. Whilst living in Hong Kong, Wong Mou-Lam studied Theravada Buddhism. 1909: It is known that Wong Mou-Lam was a native of Guangdong province and spent much of his early years in Hong Kong. I have found the following obscure reference to one ‘Wong Mou-Lam' within Chinese-language sources, which I am assuming refers to the same person being discussed in this article. In 1909, Lin Hu (林护), Huang Mao-lin (黄茂林), Li Weizhen (李维桢) and Pastor Shi Chaoyu (史超域) discussed the possibility of establishing a centrally-located Church, Meeting-Hall and Chapel. First, they borrowed the Chapel associated with the Bishop's House for Sunday worship, and then co-operated with the Authorities of St. Paul's College to construct a building incorporating an upper floor for the Chapel and a lower floor for the college classrooms. On October 28, 1911, the new ‘St Paul’s Church’ was completed and opened. During 1909, Wong Mou-Lam would have been in his 23rd year of life.
1922: Wong Mou-Lam relocated to Shanghai during 1922. This was because he was associated with the notable Shanghai people who founded the ‘Buddhist Clean-Karma Society’ (佛教净业社 - Fo Jiao Jing Ye She). In the complex of buildings that housed this ‘Society’, Wong Mou-Lam could, live, work (that is, ‘translate’) and practice mediation. He is known to have produced English translations of the ‘Amitabha Sutra’ and the ‘The Way of the Ten Good Karmic-Deeds’ Sutra. In his spare-time he compiled Chinese-language reports about the spread of Buddhism outside of China (particularly in Europe and the USA), as well as produced a brief Chinese-language history of the ‘British Buddhist Association’, as well as biographies of the German-born Buddhist layman named known as ‘Lin’ (林), or ‘Lam’ in the Cantonese dialect, and the British Bhikkhu known as ‘Ma Xiande’ (马显德). 1925: Again, the exact date is unknown, but whilst living in Shanghai at the ‘Buddhist Clean-Karma Society’ - Wong Mou-Lam encountered the teachings of Dharma Master Taixu (太虚) - and converted to the methods of the Mahayana School. This date seems a logical speculation for this change to have occurred, as by 1927-1928, Wong Mou-Lam was already working upon his English-language translation of the Chinese-language ‘Altar Sutra’. It was during this period, that Wong Mou-Lam founded the ‘Chinese Buddhism Integration’ (中国佛教杂 - Zhong Guo Fo Jian Zai) Society, which (through the vehicle of Chinese to English translation of key Buddhist texts), intended to facilitate the ‘spread’ and ‘integration’ of ‘Mahayana’ Chinese Buddhism into cultures outside of China.
1930: At that time, Di Chuqing [狄楚青] - or ‘Bao Xian’ (葆贤) [1873-1941], who was a native of Jiangsu province, had established a ‘Buddhist Journal’ intended to promote Buddhism. To further this objective, Di Chuqing requested that Wong Mou-Lam produce an English translation of the "Six Patriarch’s Altar Sutra" - which was subsequently published by Youzheng (有正) Book Company (founded and owned by Di Chuqing), and purchased by many Western-readers around the world (including the Buddhist Society in London), thus facilitating the spread of Chinese Ch’an Classics far and wide abroad! Indeed, in his ‘March, 1930’, Preface to this translation, ‘Dee Ping Tsze’ (as he is presented - with ‘平子’ or ‘Ping Zi’ being his Dharma-Name), states ‘It has long been my desire to have this Sutra translated into a European language so that the Message of Zen may be transmitted to the West. The idea obsessed me unremittingly for nearly thirty years, as I could not find a translator to undertake the work until I met Mr. Wong last spring. In an ecstasy of joy, I invited him to stay in my house to translate this Sutra into English. Working on and off, it took him nearly a year and half to complete the translation. My desire is now fulfilled, and may it prove to be one of the happiest events during the period of the past twelve hundred years.’ Di Chuqing was a disciple of Ch’an Master ‘Ye Kai; (冶开) of the ‘Tian Ning’ (天宁) Temple, situated in Changzhou, South Jiangsu province. Wong Mou-Lam carried-out this translation work at the Shanghai ‘Buddhist Clean-Karma Society’ (mentioned above). During 1930, Wong Mou-Lam would have been in his 44th year of life. 1931: Wong Mou-Lam travelled to India in his quest to study Pali and Sanskrit and gather more historical and philosophical data about Buddhism. His intention was to return to China and begin a period of Buddhist teaching. Wong Mou-Lam was 45-years-old. 1932: Wong Mou-Lam travelled from India to Ceylon (Sri Lanka) to continue his Buddhist studies. Whilst studying abroad, he continued to work on Chinese to English translations of key Buddhist texts (for his ‘Chinese Buddhism Integration’ project). During this period, he completed the translation of the first volume of the Chinese text explaining the ‘Consciousness-Only Theory’ - and sent it back to Shanghai for printing and publishing, but due to excessive effort and malnutrition, he became seriously ill! Wong Mou-Lam was 46-years-old. 1933: Wong Mou-Lam was found to have contracted tuberculosis and was admitted to a Ceylon (Sri Lankan) hospital for treatment and recuperation. Wong Mou-Lam was in his 47th year of life. 1934: Whilst in hospital, a number of different treatments were used, but all proved ineffective. As a consequence, Wong Mou-Lam died of tuberculosis. Wong Mou-Lam was 48-years-old. ©opyright: Adrian Chan-Wyles (ShiDaDao) 2022. Chinese Language References: https://zh.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=聖保羅堂&oldformat=true&variant=zh-hans https://baike.baidu.com/item/黄茂林/7107469 https://xuewen.cnki.net/R2006090770009357.html http://www.china84000.com/77988.html |