Brief History Of Buddhist Studies In Europe And Maerica

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

Page 47

BUDDHIST STUDIES IN THE WEST
tion, one must recognize that by translating and explaining for the first time some very difficult Buddhist philosophical texts, he has made an important contribution to Buddhist studies. 89
A contemporary of Stcherbatsky was Serge d'Oldenburg whom we mentioned already in connection with the publication of Sanskrit fragments from Kashgar. Oldenburg published many writings on Buddhist tales and Buddhist iconography. Several of his articles were translated during the eighteennineties.90 Oldenburg founded the Bibliotheca Buddhica of which the first volume was Bendall's edition of the Sikşāsamuccaya (1897–1902). The thirtieth volume, Stcherbatsky's translation of the first chapter of the Madhyāntavibhanga, appeared in 1936. Many well-known scholars published editions of texts in this series. To mention only a few: the Rāsţrapālapariprcchā by Louis Finot (1865-1935) in 1898, the Avadānaśataka by J. S. Speyer in 1902–1909, the Saddharmapundarikasūtra by H. Kern and Bunyiu Nanjio in 1908-1912. Another Russian scholar who has to be mentioned here is von Staël-Holstein (1877–1937) who edited the Kāśyapaparivarta (Shanghai, 1926) and Sthiramati's commentary (Peking, 1933).91
A pupil of Stcherbatsky, Eugène Obermiller (1901-1935), translated from
89 For a bibliography of his writings see Materialy po istorii i filologii centralnoj Azii, vyp. 3, Ulan-Ude, 1968, pp. 5-7 (add Über den Begriff vijñāna im Buddhismus, ZII, 7, 1929, 136-139). Several of Stcherbatsky's Russian articles have recently been published in English translation: Papers of Th. Stcher batsky, Calcutta, 1969; Further Papers of Stcherbatsky, Calcutta, 1971.
90 On the Buddhist Jātakas, JRAS, 1893, pp. 301-356; The Buddhist Source of the (Old Slavonic) Legend of the Twelve Dreams of Shahaïsh, JRAS, 1893, pp. 509-516; Notes on Buddhist Art, JAOS, 18, 1897, pp. 183-201; H. Kern, Een Russisch Geleerde over de beeldhouwwerken van de Boro Boedoer, Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde van Nederl. Indië, 47, 1897, pp. 49-56; Verspreide geschriften, 4, 1916, pp. 209–231; A propos du Mahābhārata dans la littérature bouddhique, RHR, 37, 1898, pp. 342-343. For a complete bibliography see P. Skačkov, Materialy dlja bibliografija trudov S. F. Oldenburga, Sergeju Fedoroviču Oldenburgu k pjatidesjatiletiju naučno-obščestvennoj dejatelnosti 1882–1932, Leningrad 1934, pp. 625-637.
91 Cf. S. Elisséef, Staël-Holstein's Contribution to Asiatic Studies, HJAS, 3, 1938, pp. 1-8; E. Schierlitz, In Memory of Alexander Wilhelm Baron von Staël-Holstein, Monumenta Serica, 3, 1938, pp. 286-291.
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