Yamaguchi Susumu (Obituary)

7/28/2019 Yamaguchi Susumu (Obituary)

1/7

THE JOURNAL

OF THE INTERNATIONAL ASSO CIATION OF

BUDDHIST STUDIES

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

A. K. NarainUniversity of Wisconsin, Mad ison, USA

EDITORS

Heinz Bechert Leon HurvitzUniversitdt Gottingen, FRG University of British Colum bia

Lewis LancasterUniversity of California, Berkeley, USA

Vancouver, Canada

A. W. MacDonalaUniversite de Paris X, Nanterre, France

B.J.Stavisky A lex Way manWCN ILKR, Moscow, USSR Columbia University, New York, USA

ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Stephen BeyerUniversity of Wisconsin, Mad ison, USA

Volume 1 Number 2 1979c/o D epa rtm ent of South Asian Studie s, Universi ty of Wisconsin, M adison,

Wisconsin 53706


2/7

CONTENTS

I. ARTICLES

1. Is the Buddhist Notion of "Cause Necessitates Effect"(Paticcasamuppada) Scientific? by A.D.P. Kalansuriya 72. Chou Yung vs. Chang Ju ng (onSunyatd): the Pen-mo

Yu-wu Controversy in Fifth-Century China,byWhalen Lai 23

II. SHORT PAPERS

1. Gunaprabha's Vinaya-sutra and his Own Commentary onthe Same,by P. V. Bapat 47

2. Keci, "S om e," in a Pali Comm entary,by I. B. Horner 523. Comments on Zen,by M. Kiyota 574. The Freudian Unconscious andBhavanga, byO. H. de A.

Wijesekera 63

III. BOOK REVIEWS

1. Tibetan Buddhism in Western Perspective: Collected Articles, by H. V. Guenther 67

2. Practice and Theory of Tibetan Buddhism,by GesheLhundup Sopa and J. Hopkins 69

3. Shingon Buddhism: Theory and Practice,by M. Kiyota 724. Choix de Documents tibetains conserves a la Bibliotheque

Na tionale, comp lete par quelques m anuscrits de TlndiaOffice et du British Museum;presentes par ArianeMacdonald et Yoshiro Imaeda 76


3/7

IV. NOTES AND NEWS

1. Presidential Address by Professor Gadjin M. Nagao 792. Report on the Proceedings of the First Conference of the

I.A.B.S., Columbia University, New York, September15-17,1978 853. List of Members of I.A.B .S. 92

V. OBITUARY

Yamaguchi Susumu,by Sakurabe Hajime 104


4/7

V. OBITUARY

Yamaguchi Susumu

The late Professor Yamaguchi Susumu, a distinguished leader ofJapanese studies of Indian Buddhism, was a man who liked to describe himself as a student neither sharp nor shrewd but slow andarduous. It was he who brought to the country a new method ofcomparative study of the Sanskrit, Tibetan and Chinese versionsof Buddhist texts. He edited, translated, and carefully investigateda number of fundamental books, both Madhyamika and Yogacara.Under his guidance many able scholars were trained and now workin several universities and colleges.

Around 192 0, when he was a studen t at the Shinshu OtaniDaigaku (the present Otani Daigaku), it was presided over byNanjio Bu nyu , the pion eer of Sanskrit stud y in Ja pa n. Am ong therare book s of the college library collection the re was a huge setof the Tibetan Tripitaka in the Peking edition, which 50 yearslater he made available for public use by having it photo-reprinted.

Sasaki Gessho and Sakaki R yos abu ro w ere the teachers wh o directed him in the study of Buddhism in the S.O.D. and of Sanskritin the Kyoto Teikoku Daigaku respectively. Rev. Sumita Chikenwas the guru who profoundly influenced his Nembutsu faith.

His two-year stay in France was fruitful. In Paris he washappy to be a pensionnaire in the house of Rene Grousset, whowas so affectionate towards him as later to dedicate to him hiswork Sur le traces du Bouddha. There were then two giants in

Europe whom he approached: Sylvain Levi and L. de la ValleePoussin. Yamaguchi was a constant admirer of both of them untilhis death . During his Paris days he con tribu ted toJournal asiatique

104


5/7

with the studies onAlambanapariksa and theVigrahavyavartani>both of which appeared in 1929.

His scholarly fame was established soon after his return toJapan with the publication of his excellent studies on theMadhy-

antavibh&gatlka based on a manuscript from Nepal which S. Levihad entrusted to him for researches. Since then his tireless effortsbore a succession of achievements. In his later life he was not onlyranked among first class scholars but also esteemed for his advisory opinion on the rapidly changing society of Japan.

Yamaguchi Su sum u: a brief sketch of career

1895 Born in Ky oto on Ja n. 27 .

1922 Finished the Post-graduate Course of Shinshu

Otani Daigaku.

192 4-31 Asst. Professor, O tani Daigaku.

1927-29 Stud ied in Paris.

1934-64 Professor, O tani Daigaku.1935-50 During these years, mad e lectures in K yoto Dai

gaku, Ryukoku Daigaku and other universities.

1948-52 A me mb er of the Ja pa n Science Council.

1950-58 President, O tani Daigaku.

1957 Selected for the hon orar y me mb ership of la

Societe Asiatique.

1964-76 Professor, K yo to Sangyo Daigaku.

1965 Elected a mem ber of the Jap an Academ y.

1976 Passed away on Oc t. 2 1 .

105


6/7

A List ofProf. Yamaguchi's Principal Publications

1. Vim satika-vrtti, Chinese and Tib etan Versions Com pared and

Annotated (included in Sasaki Gessho:$Cs\'%m


7/7

Vimsatika, the Trimsika and the Alambanaparika, togetherwith Vinitadeva's commentaries), in collaboration with NozawaJosho, Kyoto, 1953.

14. 7 7 y ^ M f S + ^ Fifty Years of Buddhist Study inFrance, Kyoto, 1953.15. & $H O JK j% & $] Textual Study on the Kosa (annotated tran

slation into Japa nese of the 3rd chap ter of the Ab hidharm akosatogether with Yasomitra's commentary), in collaboration withFunahashi Issai, Kyoto, 1955.

16. >f v V^Ci\cA C ultural History of Ind ia (a Jap ane se translationin collaboration with Sasaki Kyogo of S. Levi's L'Inde civilisa-

trice), Kyoto, 1958.17. # & P F lf t W hat is Buddhism? Introduction to Buddhology,in collaboration with O cho En ichi, An do Toshio and Funah ashiIssai, Kyoto, 1961.

18. 1 f r ^ O ^ | s Vasubandhu 's Upadesa to the AmitayuhsQtra ,Kyoto, 1962.

19. flMfcSitgAP'J An Introd uction to Buddhist Th ou gh t, Tok yo,1968,

20. | U P | | # # : P ! ! I T Selected Essays in Buddhist S tudies byYamaguchi Susumu, 2 vol., Tokyo, 1972-73.21. $$$&%#$:Buddhist Scripture (ed.), Translation into Japanese of

Selected Parts from the Nikayas and Mahayana Sntras, Kyoto,1974.

22. Index to the Prasan nap ada M adh yam aka-v rtti , 2 vols., Ky oto,1975.

107