Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v2.c15.s2.t32: W Pachow (Bazhou)

Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v2.c15.s2.t32

Language: English

W Pachow (Bazhou)

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W Pachow (1918 -) is an American born Chinese Buddhist scholar. His style names are Wang Shu (third tone) and Wang Shu (first tone), and his assumed name is Xian Qiao. His ancestral home is Wan County, Sichuan Province (Wanzhou of Chongqing today). He is an Emeritus Professor of University of Iowa.

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Extant works of Pachow

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He was influenced by Buddhist thoughts because his parents were devout believers in Buddhism. He graduated from Shanghai Mongolian and Tibetan College. In 1938, he went to India’s Cheena Bhavan, Visva-Bharati University to study and majored in Indian culture and philosophy, and obtained the Master’s degree in these subjects. He obtained his PhD from University of Mumbai in 1948, and taught in Visva-Bharati University from 1941 - 1947 and in University of Allahabad between 1947 - 1953. He was a Professor of University of Ceylon between 1954 and 1968, and engaged as a Professor in University of Iowa in 1968, mainly teaching Asian culture, religion, philosophy and Buddhism. He knows many languages, including Sanskrit, Pali, Hindi, Bengali script, English and French. He used to study Dunhuang transcripts in Britain and France, and attended All India Oriental Conference, International Congress of Orientalists on many occasions and other academic conferences. He retired in 1988.

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His dissertation *A Comparative Study of the Prātimokṣa, on the basis of its Chinese, Tibetan, Sanskrit and Pali Versions* was published by Visva-Bharati University Sino-Indian Society in 1955, and represents an important work for studying primitive Buddhism and Sangha system. His other English works mainly include, *Comparative Studies in the Parinibbana Sūtta and its Chinese Versions* (1946), *Prātimokṣa-Sūtra of the Mahāsaṅghikas* (1956), *A Study of the Twenty-two Dialogues on Mahāyāna Buddhism* (1979) and *Chinese Buddhism: Aspects of Interaction and Reinterpretation* (1980). His Chinese works include *Collection of Dunhuang Verses* (1965), By W Pachow (1985), and his translation works include *Brother Nehru* (1943), *A Collection of Tagore’s Essays* (1946), *Mahaparinirvana Sutra of Theravada Buddhism* (1971) and *Milindapanha of Theravada Buddhism* (1997).

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(Jia Yan)