Lǐ Yuánjìng 李圓淨 (ca.1894 - 1950)
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Lǐ Yuánjìng 李圓淨 (ca.1894 - 1950) was a lay Buddhist, author, and publisher whose Buddhist scholarship was well-known during the Republican period.
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Lǐ came from a wealthy family, and studied at Shànghǎi's Fùdàn University 復旦大學. He worked in business in Shànghǎi until he contracted tuberculosis and had to travel to Japan for treatment in 1922. While there, he often read in the library of Tokyo Imperial University, and by chance came across Buddhist scriptures, which he began to study with great enthusiasm.
After returning to China he continued his study of Buddhist scriptures, and visited Pǔtuóshān 普陀山 where he met Yìnguāng 印光 and became his lay disciple, receiving the Dharma name Yuánjìng 圓淨. He later read through Yìnguāng's collected writings and wrote an abridged version, which he later published as Yinguang dashi jiayan lu 印光大師嘉言錄 in 1928.
In 1925 Lǐ attended the East Asian Buddhist Conference 東亞佛教大會 in Tokyo. In 1927 Yìnguāng was living at Tàipíng Temple 太平寺 in Wúxí 無錫 and supervising the printing of scriptures in Shànghǎi. Lǐ would often visit him and began to devote himself to Pure Land practice. In 1930 Yìnguāng moved to Bàoguó Temple 報國寺 in Sūzhōu 蘇州, and Lǐ helped he and Míngdào 明道 establish the Suzhou Propagation Society (Hónghuàshè 弘化社). One of the society's functions was to print scriptures and other Buddhist books. During this period, two of Lǐ's written works, Fofa daolun 佛法導論 (1931), and Husheng tongyan 護生痛言, were especially popular. The latter work was printed as part of Husheng huaji 護生畫集, which Yìnguāng and Lǐ had produced in collaboration with the artist Fēng Zǐkǎi 豐子愷.
Lǐ remained active in Shanghai business, and also supported its lay Buddhist societies. He helped published the Qìshā Canon 磧砂藏 through Shanghai Buddhist Books, and collaborated with Jiǎng Wéiqiáo 蔣維喬 and Huang Hanzhi in the publication of Huayan dachao yishu 華嚴大鈔義疏, and in the wartime publication of the Puhui Canon 普慧大藏經.
Later in life Lǐ's business ventures were less successful, and he constantly suffered from his tuberculosis. In 1949 his wife and daughter fled to Táiwān 台灣 but he refused to leave. On May 13, 1950, his body was discovered in the Huángpǔ river 黄浦江. Whether it was suicide or misadventure was never determined.
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