Nanjō Bunyū (July 1, 1849 - November 9, 1927) was one of the most important modern Japanese scholars of Buddhism

Buddhism

Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...

. Nanjo was born to the abbot of Seiunji Temple (誓運寺), part of the Shinshu Ōtani sect (真宗大谷派) of the Higashi Honganji

Higashi Honganji

, or, the Eastern Temple of the Original Vow, is one of two dominant sub-sects of Shin Buddhism in Japan and abroad, the other being Nishi Honganji...

 (東本願寺) branch of Jodo Shinshu

Jodo Shinshu

, also known as Shin Buddhism, is a school of Pure Land Buddhism. It was founded by the former Tendai Japanese monk Shinran. Today, Shin Buddhism is considered the most widely practiced branch of Buddhism in Japan.-Shinran :...

.

Nanjō studied Classical Chinese texts and Buddhist doctrine in his youth before being sent to Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

 in 1876 to study Sanskrit

Sanskrit

Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...

 and Indian philosophy

Indian philosophy

India has a rich and diverse philosophical tradition dating back to ancient times. According to Radhakrishnan, the earlier Upanisads constitute "...the earliest philosophical compositions of the world."...

 from European scholars, including Max Müller

Max Müller

Friedrich Max Müller , more regularly known as Max Müller, was a German philologist and Orientalist, one of the founders of the western academic field of Indian studies and the discipline of comparative religion...

, under whom Bunyu studied in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. While there he met the Chinese Buddhist Yang Wenhui

Yang Wenhui

Yang Wenhui was a Chinese lay Buddhist reformer who has been called "The Father of the Modern Buddhist Renaissance". His courtesy name was Rénshān . He was a native of Shídài county in Anhui province....

, whom he helped to acquire Japanese versions of Buddhist texts that had been lost in China to be reprinted at Yang's printing house in Nanjing. He returned to Japan in 1884 and served as a professor or head of a number of Buddhist seminaries and universities until his death.

Major publications

• (Co-editor with F. Max Müller) Buddhist texts from Japan. Oxford : Clarendon press, 1881-84.

• A catalogue of the Chinese translation of the Buddhist Tripitaka, the Sacred Canon of the Buddhists in China and Japan, compiled by order of the Secretary of State for India. Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1883. Digitized index available here

• A short history of the twelve Japanese Buddhist sects. Translated from the original Japanese by Bunyiu Nanjio. .Tokyo, Bukkyo-sho-ei-yaku-shupan-sha, Meiji 19th year [1886].

• (Co-author) An unabridged Japanese-English dictionary, with copious illustrations, by Capt. F. Brinkley. Tokyo, Sanseido [1896].