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

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have been catalogued by Marcelle Lalou50 and La Vallée Poussins1 but a bibliography of text editions does not exist.
BUDDHIST STUDIES IN THE WEST
We have mentioned the principal publications of Kern, Senart, and Oldenberg. For other studies by them it suffices to refer to the bibliographies of these three scholars.52 The reviews of Auguste Barth (1834-1916), who especially during the period 1880 to 1900 carefully analysed many important publications on Buddhism, have been published in five volumes.53 The bibliography of his works and the general index in volume 5 are very useful for the study of the history of Buddhist studies.
In the eighteen-sixties a new generation of scholars was born: R. Otto Franke (1862-1928), Serge d'Oldenburg (1863-1934), Sylvain Lévi (1863-1935), Th. Stcherbatsky (1866-1942), F. W. Thomas (1867-1956), E. J. Thomas (1869-1958), Louis de La Vallée Poussin (1869-1938) and Heinrich Lüders (1869-1943).
Sylvain Lévi's importance is not limited to Buddhism but the work which he has done in this field has had a lasting influence not only in Europe, but also in India and Japan. In 1927 Sylvain Lévi recalled how in 1887 Fujishima Ryōon and Fujieda Takutsū, two priests of the Nishi Honganji, became his first two pupils.54 They have probably contributed in directing his attention towards Buddhism. Sylvain Lévi has not written any comprehensive work on Buddhism but his genius led him from discovery to discovery and his work has not ceased to stimulate research in many directions. Very soon he realised the importance of Chinese not only for the study of Buddhism, but also for that of Indian history. Sylvain Lévi has shown by his example that Indian,
50 Inventaire des Manuscrits tibétains de Touen-houang, I, Paris, 1939, II, 1950; III, 1961. Catalogue of the Tibetan Manuscripts from Tun-buang in the India Office Library, London,
51
1962.
52
H. Kern, Verspreide Geschriften, Register en Bibliografie, 's-Gravenhage, 1929; L. Finot, Nécrologie d'Émile Senart, BEFEO, XXVIII, 1929, pp. 335-347; A. Guérinot, Bibliographie des travaux d'Émile Senart, JA, 1933, II, fasc. annexe, pp. 1-75; Hermann Oldenberg, Kleine Schriften, Wiesbaden, 1967, pp. vii-xxxv.
53 Euvres de Auguste Barth, I-V, Paris, 1914-1927. For an obituary of Barth see A. Foucher, Auguste Barth, Bulletin de la commission archéologique de l'Indo-chine. Années 19141916, Paris, 1916, pp. 207-221.
54 Matériaux japonais pour l'étude du bouddhisme, BMFJ, I, 1927, p. 1.
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