Book Reviews

Author(s): J W De Jong
Publisher: J W De Jong

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236
REVIEWS
vermittelt, und es ist nicht auszuschliessen, dass heute nur noch die Reste dieses Systems greifbar - und wirksam, - sind" (p. 10). He adds that a study of the problems connected with the Tibetan verbal system is outside the scope of his present work. Let us hope that Zimmermann who has done such brilliant work in elucidating the structure of the Tibetan sentence will now direct his attention to these problems.
Australian National University
J. W. DE JONG
Annemarie von Gabain, Einführung in die Zentralasienkunde. Darmstadt, Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1979, X, 187 pp., 2 cartes, 7 ill. DM 38.00.
Since the end of the nineteenth century Central Asian studies have become very important as a result of the discoveries made by several expeditions. Documents in many languages, some hitherto unknown, have been discovered, and many archaeological remains have been unearthed. Scholars of different disciplines have made important contributions to the study of Central Asia. It is almost impossible to keep oneself informed about the research in this field. It is therefore with the highest expectations that one welcomes the publication of an introduction to Central Asian studies. However, the preface warns us not to expect a comprehensive work. The author states that she intends to treat only a few themes as examples. The scope of her work is not indicated with any precision. The only subject specifically mentioned is Central Asian Buddhism. The author also remarks that prehistory and the Islamic domain are not treated, the first on account of its special methods and the second because it will be treated elsewhere. The author promises to select "einige Höhepunkte des kulturellen Schaffens der Völker Zentralasiens" and to indicate "interessante, weiterweisende Einzelheiten". This suggests a rather unsystematic, impressionistic approach. The premonition, alas, is fully confirmed by a perusal of the work.
The book contains the following chapters: I. Der geographische Raum und sein geopolitischer Charakter; II. Literarisch bekannte Völker; III. Die Art der literarischen Quellen; IV. Die Völker Zentralasiens in der Gegenwart; V. Religionen; VI. Philologie; VII. Archäologie: Einleitung; VIII. Archäologie: Architektur; IX. Archäologie: Plastik und Malerei; X. Zeitrechnung; XI. Aufgaben und Methoden. On p. 2 the author explains that 'Central Asia comprises Afghanistan, West and East Turkistan, Mongolia and Tibet. Since the prehistorical period up to the Islamic period this immense territory has been occupied by many different peoples which are briefly examined in the following chapter.
The author divides the sources into two groups: foreign sources (Chinese, Moslem, Armenian, Syriac, Byzantine, travellers) and indigenous sources (inscriptions, manuscripts and blockprints). The most important in the pre-Islamic period are certainly the Chinese sources and one would expect the author to indicate the nature of each of them and to give full bibliographical information on translations and studies. She mentions the twenty-five dynastic histories but refrains from giving any bibliographical information. Two histories are mentioned by name (p. 30), but the only information given in the notes is that the Pei-shih and the Sui-shu are dynastic histories. On p. 32 she refers to the travel account of Chang K'ien.' A note informs us that it is to be found in Ssă-ma Ts'ien's Shih-ki, the first of the 25 dynastic histories. No mention is made of the translations of this chapter, the 123rd of the Shih-chi, by Hirth and de Groot (cf. O. Franke, Geschichte des chinesischen Reiches, III, Berlin-Leipzig, 1937, pp. 185-6). More important is the fact that the inauthenticity of this chapter has been