Zhang Chengji

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Zhang Chengji, 1984

Zhang Chengji ( Chinese  张澄基 , Pinyin Zhāng Chéngjī , W.-G. Chang Ch'eng-chi ; born August 28, 1920 in Shanghai , Republic of China , † May 24, 1988 in Marietta , Georgia , USA ), mainly in the West Known as Garma CC Chang, was an eminent Buddhist scholar and philosopher .

Live and act

Zhang Chengji's father was Zhang Dulun, a senior army officer and later Hubei provincial governor . Zhang often visited Buddhist temples with his mother and regularly recited Buddhist sutras . At the age of 15, Zhang entered a Chan monastery in the Lushan Mountains of Jiangxi Province . From the age of 16 he spent 9 years in Buddhist monasteries of Vajrayana in Eastern Tibet, including six years in the Minyak Gangkar monastery (Chinese Gongga shan , in old western sources: Mt. Minya Konka) southwest of Kangding with his Guru Gangkar Rinpoche . In 1945 he left Gangkar Rinpoche Monastery and returned to Nanjing with his family . In 1948 he married Nian Yu (Helena) in Hankou and in 1949 he emigrated with his wife via India , Taiwan and Hong Kong to the USA , where he arrived in 1950. Thanks to his language skills in Chinese, Tibetan, Sanskrit, Pali and English and his extensive knowledge of Buddhist philosophy , he initially found temporary positions as a lecturer at various American universities, until he finally found a permanent position as a professor in the Department of Religious Studies at Pennsylvania State University in 1966 received in State College .

In his English-language books, Zhang translated and explained Chinese and Tibetan texts, among others on the following topics: chants of the great Tibetan yogi Milarepa , the practice of Zen , the practice of mahamudra , the philosophy of Hua-yen . His books were less aimed at an academic audience than primarily at Western practitioners of Vajrayana and Chan / Zen and were widely used in the USA and Europe. His Austrian student Ernst Schönwiese (Garma Döndrub Tashi) translated some of these books into German. Another important student of Zhang was his Chinese friend CT Shen , whom he met in India in 1950 and who later earned a lot of money as an entrepreneur in the United States. Shen has given extremely generous financial support to Buddhist teachers, Buddhist meditation centers, and the development of Buddhism in America. He was a co-founder of the Buddhist Association of the United States (BAUS) .

Increasing heart problems with 2 heart operations (1974, 1984) and declining eyesight made life and work difficult for Zhang in old age. He died in Marietta in 1988, leaving behind his wife Helena Zhang.

In the translation of a poem by Chan master Hongzhi Zhengjue (宏 智 正覺, 1091–1157), Zhang writes:

“All words are forgotten in silence and serenity;

It appears brightly clear and full of life before you. "

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Carmen Meinert: Gangkar Rinpoche between Tibet and China , in MT Kapstein: Buddhism between Tibet & China , Wisdom Publications, Boston, 2009.
  2. ↑ Huang: Minguo mizong nianjian , No. 370, p. 104.
  3. ↑ Chia Theng Shen. ( Memento from November 2, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
  4. ^ A visit to Mrs. Helena Chang.
  5. ↑ Mahamudra Primer, p. 25

Works

  • Garma CC Chang: The hundred thousand songs of Milarepa - the life-story and teaching of the greatest poet-saint ever to appear in the history of Buddhism. University Books, New York, 1962.
  • Garma CC Chang: Teachings of Tibetan Yoga. 1963.
  • Garma CC Chang: The Buddhist Teaching of Totality: The Philosophy of Hwa Yen Buddhism. 1971.
  • Garma CC Chang: The Practice of Zen. 1978.
  • Garma CC Chang: Treasury of Mahayana Sutras: Selections from the Maharatnakuta Sutra. 1983.
  • Garma CC Chang: The Six Yogas of Naropa & Teachings on Mahamudra. 1986.
  • Garma CC Chang: Teachings and Practice of Tibetan Tantra. 2004.

German translations by Ernst Schönwiese

  • Garma CC Chang: Mahamudra primer. Octopus Verlag, Vienna, 1979.
  • Garma CC Chang: The Practice of Zen. Aurum Verlag, Braunschweig, 1982.
  • Garma CC Chang: The Buddhist doctrine of the wholeness of being. OW Barth Verlag, Munich 1989.

Web links


Note: This article places the family name before the person's first name. This is the usual order in Chinese. Zhang is the family name here, Chengji is the first name.
personal data
SURNAME Zhang, Chengji
ALTERNATIVE NAMES 張澄基 (Chinese); Garma CC Chang
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Chinese Buddhist scholar
DATE OF BIRTH August 28, 1920
PLACE OF BIRTH Shanghai
DATE OF DEATH May 24, 1988
Place of death Marietta , Georgia