Brief History Of Buddhist Studies In Europe And Maerica

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

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BUDDHIST STUDIES IN THE WEST
his field of research. He has to be very selective in advising the library with regard to the purchase of books and the subscription to periodicals. In the second place, a Western scholar whose knowledge of Japanese will always be limited will not be able to make a rapid selection of the books and articles which are most useful for his research. Scholarly advice from his Japanese colleagues will be of great help to him. He would be greatly assisted by bibliographies which are both analytical, critical and systematic. The only Western bibliography which took into account Japanese publications, the Bibliographie bouddhique, has ceased to appear and there seems at present no prospect for its revival. Japanese scholars have done excellent work in publishing systematic bibliographies of articles on Buddhism such as the bibliographies published by the Ryūkoku University, but no information is given on the contents or on the scholarly value of the articles. Annual bibliographies like those published by the Jimbun Kagaku Kenkyūsho in Kyoto and Toho Gakkai in Tōkyō are useful, but they are not an answer to the requirements of Western specialists. In the first place there is a need for systematic and critical surveys of the work done in the different branches of Buddhist studies in the last fifty years or so. One would like to suggest that a group of leading Japanese scholars plan a series, of bibliographical surveys relating to such topics as Early Buddhism, the schools of Hinayāna Buddhism, Early Mahāyāna, Madhyamaka, Yogācāra, etc. These surveys should not limit themselves to an enumeration of titles of books and articles, but critically analyse the contents of the most important of them, so that it will be possible to learn not only what has been done and achieved but also what still has to be done. Once a series of such bibliographical surveys has been published, it would be possible to publish regularly surveys of the current research, adding, insofar as possible, also information on the research projects which are being undertaken by individual scholars or by institutes and universities. It will be necessary to indicate exactly the page numbers of books and articles and the date and place of publication, indications which are not always given in Japanese bibliographies. It would certainly be difficult to expect that such surveys would be published in English, but this is not necessary, although it would be helpful for librarians in Western universities. However, if published in Japanese, it would both be easier for Japanese scholars and also cheaper to produce.
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