明末清初嘉興藏刊刻與江南士族

The Carving of the Jiaxing Edition of the Buddhist Canon and the Patron Families in Jiangnan Area in the Late Ming and Early Qing

Lasting over two centuries, involving enormous manpower and financial support, and involving a large area of activity, the carving of the Jiaxing edition of the Buddhist canon in the late Ming and early Qing is one of the most important events in Buddhist history. Further, this tremendous religious activity was solely supported by monks, believers and non-governmental organizations on an unprecedented scale. It was certainly not an easy task, especially during the period of political transition from the Ming to the Qing. In this period of political upheaval, those who supported the project of carving the Jiaxing canon included many powerful families in the Jiangnan area which collapsed or migrated. This led to a crisis due to the suspension of this religious activity. For the sake of creating a more accurate historical account, several such supporters from the beginning of the sutra carving in the Wanli period and from the late Ming are investigated and discussed.