Samuel Beal (November 27, 1825 – August 20, 1889) was a distinguished Oriental scholar, and the first Englishman to translate directly from the Chinese the early records of Buddhism, thus throwing light upon Indian history.
Although a man of the cloth, he was not a missionary—and therefore was not bound by the same agenda as Spence Hardy or DJ Gogerly. Whereas missionaries studied the religions of the east in order to know their enemy and as a tool to convert the heathens, Beal, as a naval chaplain, could study the Chinese culture and religion out of love for scholarship and a desire for truth.
The following is an extract from Beal’s Buddhism in China. I think it shows the feeling of discovery and exhilaration experienced by the earliest western scholars in the east:—
Application was made through the India Office to our minister at Pekin, to urge the Chinese Government to allow either the purchase of the Tripiṭaka, as it is known in that country, or to procure the books as a free gift. But these attempts were unsuccessful, owing to the strained relationship existing at that time between the Chinese Government and the Western powers. On the occasion of the Japanese ambassador, Iwakura-Tomomi, visiting this country, the same request was made to him. The Japanese, it was known, had adopted Buddhism from China, through Korea, and the books they possessed had all come to them from this direction. The ambassador at once acceded to the request, and on his return to Tokio ordered the whole collection of the books, known as “The Sacred Teaching of the Three Treasures,” printed during the great Ming dynasty, in China, to be forwarded to this country. With respect to these books, which form the basis of the Buddhist religion both in China and Japan, I will quote from the opening pages of the Catalogue which was prepared for the India Office. “This collection was published by order of the Emperor (of China) Wan-lieh towards the end of the sixteenth century. It was reproduced, in Japan, in the sixth year of the Nengo (year period) Im-po, i.e., A.D. 1679, and afterwards issued with an imperial preface in the period Ten-wa A.D. 1681–1683. As first received at the India Office, the collection was contained in seven large boxes, carefully packed in lead, with padding of dry rushes and grass. The entire series of books was arranged in 103 cases or covers; in each case there were, on an average, twenty volumes, so that the entire number of volumes is more than 2,000. Placed one above the other, the books in the collection would reach to a height of about 110 feet.” This body of literature represents the entire series of sacred books taken during successive years from India to China and there translated, as well as the works of native Chinese priests, with commentaries, catalogues, and indexes. Here, then, is the groundwork of our knowledge of the Buddhist religion in China and Japan. It is plain that it will require many years before we can arrive at a correct estimate of the character of these books, or their value as authentic translations. But, so far as is yet known, they contain valuable materials for a knowledge of Buddhism in all its periods of expansion or development, from the simple creed taught in the first instance by its founder down to the subtle and fine-drawn doctrine of the latest period of scholastic development.
Life
Samuel Beal was born in Davenport, near Stockport, Cheshire son of William Beal (d. 1872), a Wesleyan minister. He was educated at the Devonport classical school, and graduated from Trinity College, Cambridge in 1847.
He was ordained deacon in 1851, and priest in 1852. After serving as curate at Brooke in Norfolk and Sopley in Hampshire, he applied for the office of naval chaplain, and was appointed to H.M.S. Sybille during the China War of 1856–58.
Fortunately, for students, the Sybille was sent to the China station; and taking advantage of the opportunity thus offered him, he devoted his spare time to the study of the Chinese language. So proficient did he become in the colloquial as well as the literary dialect that during the war of 1856–58 he acted as naval interpreter.
In 1857, he printed for private circulation a pamphlet showing that the Tycoon of Yedo (i.e. Tokugawa Shogun of Edo), with whom foreigners had made treaties, was not the real Emperor of Japan.
But his main object in studying the language was to qualify himself for the task of elucidating the dark phases of Chinese Buddhism. In this undertaking he was one of the pioneers, and happily, he left many of the results of his labours.
On his return to England he was appointed chaplain to the marine artillery, and later to the Pembroke and Devonport dockyards in succession. He retired from the navy and was appointed rector of Falstone, Northumberland in 1877, at which time he was also appointed professor of Chinese at University College, London.
In 1880, three years later he was transferred to Wark in the same county, and ultimately (1888) to Greens Norton, Towcester in Northamptonshire where he lived his last days.
In all these changes of scene he remained constant to his Chinese studies, and some of his best work was done in the country rectories which he occupied. In 1885, the degree of D.C.L. (Durham) was conferred upon him in recognition of the value of his researches into Chinese Buddhism.
Letters
His reputation was established by his series of works which traced the travels of the Chinese Buddhist pilgrims in India from the fifth to the seventh century, A. D., and by his books on Buddhism, which have become classics.
It is especially his work with the travel accounts of certain Chinese Buddhist monks who traveled to India over several centuries that brings our attention on Beal. These accounts were instrumental in the discovery of many archaeological sites from the time of the Buddha. We have included these accounts here.
Most of the works noted here are available for download. The ones I have been unable to locate are marked ***.
Full-length Books
1871 Catena of Buddhist Scriptures from the Chinese
1875 The Romantic Legend of Sakya Buddha
1882 Abstract of Four Lectures on Buddhist Literature in China
1883 A Life of Buddha by Ashvaghosa
1884 Buddhist Records of the Western World vol 1
1884 Buddhist Records of the Western World vol 2
1888 Life of Hiuen-Tsiang by Hwui-Li
1892 Friendly Letter from Nagarjuna
Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society
1862 The Sutra of 42 sections from the Chinese, JRAS 1862
1862 (w/ Gogerly) Comparison of Pāli and Chinese Patimokhas, JRAS 1862
1863 Memorial of Sakya Buddha Tathagata, JRAS 1863
*** 1866 Amitabha Sutra from Chinese, 1866, p. 136.
*** 1866 Confessional Services of the Great Kwan Yin, 1866, p. 403.
1870 Some Remarks on the Great Tope at Sanchi, JRAS 1870
1873 The Legend of Dipankara Buddha, JRAS 1873
1878 On the Chinese Sankhya Karika etc., JRAS 1878
1881 Two Chinese Buddhist inscriptions at Buddha Gaya, JRAS 1881
*** 1882 Note on Fergusson’s “Tree and Serpent Worship, plate 28, fig. 1”, JRAS 1882, p. 39.
1883 Two sites named by Hiouen Thsang in Si-yu-ki, JRAS 1883
1884 Some Further Gleanings from Si-yu-ki, JRAS 1884
1887 Some Remarks on Fa-hien, JRAS 1887
1888 a note on Fergusson’s Tree and Serpent Worship, Pl 34, JRAS 1888
1889 Obituary for Samuel Beal, JRAS 1889
Indian Antiquary
Samuel Beal’s contributions to the Indian Antiquary 1879 to 1881 named below are combined here into 1 file. Those marked *** are not included. It is not clear if Beal published other essays in Indian Antiquary. Good quality scans of this periodical are hard to locate.
1880 Story of the Faithful deer
1880 Avalambana
*** 1880 The Tooth-seal of Asoka IA Vol 9 1880
1880 The Eighteen Schools of Buddhism
1880 On the Inscription at Keu-Yung-Kwan
1880 On the term Śramaṇa
1880 Story of Silver-White Woman
1880 Succession of Buddhist Patriarchs
1880 Story of Merchant Who Struck His Mother
1880 On the Swastika
1880 On the Branchide
1881 Buddhist Pilgrims from China to India
*** 1881 Catalogue of Chinese books in British Museum
1881 Kwan-Yin
1881 Sutra by Nagarjuna
Miscellaneous
*** 1857 History of the Temples of Hakodate. (Read before the Chinese Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1857, and printed.)
*** 1857 Who is the Emperor of Japan ? (A tract printed for private circulation in 1857, to show that the Shogun was not the Emperor of Japan.)
*** 1859 Account of the Shwui-Lui, or Torpedo, used by the Chinese in the War of 1842–3, and also during the War of 1857–1858. (The account is translated from the well-known work called Hae-kwti-t’u-chi. The machine is stated to be the invention of an American called John Lewis, and sold to one of the Hong.)
*** 1876 “Five Lectures delivered at University College, London.”
This article incorporates text from Robert Kennaway Douglas’s 1901 supplement to Sidney Lee’s Dictionary of National Biography London: Smith, Elder & Co; and from the Wikisource article based on it. Also used was Beal’s Obituary which appeared in the 1889 JRAS. Most of the texts referred to can be found in the Internet text Archives, Indian Antiquary, and in the Journals of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland.