宋太宗

Sòng Tàizōng 宋太宗 (personal name Zhào Jiǒng 趙炅, originally Zhào Guāngyì 趙光義 then Zhào Kuāngyì 趙匡義; 939–997, r. 976–997), second emperor of the Northern Sòng. He founded the imperial Translation Academy (譯經院, later 傳法院) at Tài-píng Xīng-guó-sì 太平興國寺 in Biànjīng 汴京 in 982, sponsoring the resumption of large-scale Buddhist translation after a hiatus of more than a century; his patronage drew 施護 Shīhù (Dānapāla), 天息災 Tiānxīzāi, 法天 Fǎtiān, and 惟淨 Wéijìng to court and underwrote the Kāibǎo 開寶 woodblock canon edition.