Brief History Of Buddhist Studies In Europe And Maerica

SR No.: 269304
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: J W De Jong
Publisher: J W De Jong
Total Pages: 86
Language: English
Classification: Article
File Size: 7 MB

Page 23

BUDDHIST STUDIES IN THE WEST
From 1877 many Pāli texts were edited. Moreover, Buddhist Sanskrit texts began to be published in increasing number from 1881 onwards. Perhaps even more important is the fact that significant works on Indian Buddhism began to appear in the next few years, most of them written by scholars who were to contribute much to Buddhist studies in the succeeding decennia.
In 1877 Fausbøll published the first volume of the Tātaka book. The seventh volume, containing Andersen's index, appeared in 1897. Oldenberg's edition of the Vinayapitaka appeared from 1879 to 1883. In 1881 T. W. Rhys Davids (1843–1922) founded the Pali Text Society. With the exception of the texts mentioned above, almost all Pāli texts published in Europe since that date have been published by the Pali Text Society. Already in the eighteen-eighties a beginning was made with the publication of all five Nikāya. In 1882 the first volume of the Journal of the Pali Text Society was published. By 1930 all five Nikāya were published and a beginning had been made with the publication of the Aţthakathā-s. As far as the non-canonical Pāli texts are concerned, mention must be made of Oldenberg's edition of the Dīpavamsa in 1879, and of Trenckner's edition of the Milindapañha in 1880. At the same time many Pāli texts were translated, to begin with the Pātimokkha, the Mahāvagga and the Cullavagga, which were translated jointly by Oldenberg and Rhys Davids (SBE, 13, 17, 20, Oxford 1881–1885). In 1899 Rhys Davids published the first volume of his translation of the Dighanikāya. In 1894 he had already completed his translation of the Milindapañha (SBE, 35, 36, Oxford 1890–1894).
Since Burnouf's death in 1852 little work had been done in the field of Sanskrit Buddhist literature. The only important text published between 1852 and 1880 was the Lalitavistara of which Rajendralal Mitra (1824-1891) published a very unsatisfactory edition (Bibl. Ind. work no. 15, Calcutta, 1853– 1877). The last fascicle of this edition appeared in 1877. In 1882 Émile Senart (1847–1928) published the first volume of his edition of the Mahāvastu. Senart's edition of the Mahāvastu, of which the third and final volume appeared in 1897, is still one of the most important works in the field of Buddhist studies. In 1881 Max Müller published the Sanskrit text of one of the most famous texts of Mahāyāna Buddhism, the Vajracchedikā. Two years later he published the texts of the Smaller and Larger Sukhāvatīvyūha, the sacred texts of the Pure Land School in China and Japan. The Divyāvadāna, already well-known through Burnouf's translations in his Introduction, was carefully edited by E. B.