Reviews Of Diffeent Books

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

Page 26

74
REVIEWS
The Writings of Professor Bruno Petzold (1873-1949). Buddhist Research Information Numbers 4-8. October 1980-October 1982. 237 pp. $12.00.
In 1908 Bruno Petzold went to Tientsin and from there he moved to Tokyo in 1910. He spent the rest of his life in Japan teaching German language and literature and studying Buddhism and especially Tendai. The bibliography compiled by his son Arnulf Petzold in 1982 is now published as numbers 4-8 of the Buddhist Research Information. During his life Petzold published a number of articles, several of which have been reprinted in Tendai Buddhism: Collection of the Writings by Bruno Petzold (Yokohama, 1979). Bruno Petzold left some very extensive manuscripts, one of which was recently published: Die Quintessenz der Tien-t'ai- (Tendai-) Lehre. Eine komparative Untersuchung. Herausgegeben von Horst Hammitzsch (Wiesbaden, 1982). The other manuscripts deal with the following topics: Die Tendai Lehre (1165 pp. typescript); Shō Shikwan (Die kleine Meditation) by Chisha Daishi (402 pp. typescript); Die Biographie über Dengyo Daishi (607 pp. typescript); Shittan (204 pp. typescript); The Classification of Buddhism (1047 pp. typescript).
Both his published and unpublished writings are catalogued in great detail. One wonders why some items are listed three times. For instance, in the Buddhist Yearbook 1933 Petzold published an article entitled 'Japan at the Time of her Greatest Distress and MAHAYANA BUDDHISM'. The same article is moreover mentioned twice as a monograph (!), with the same pagination (pp. 16-23) as the article in the Buddhist Yearbook (cf. p. 83). The section 'Book reviews' mentions two book reviews and several notices in the Bibliographie bouddhique. The information given is incorrect in several instances: p. 114, sub 147 pw: read page 49 a for 49b; sub 148 pw: read Ta tche tou louen for Ta che tou lun; sub 150 pw: read 683 for 684.
Part II of the bibliography (pp. 128-170) contains reprints of various articles, introductions, etc. by Bruno Petzold, and of 'In Memory of Prof. Bruno Petzold' by Arnulf H. Petzold reproduced from Petzold's book on the Buddhist Prophet Nichiren - A Lotus in the Sun (Tokyo, 1978). Part III (pp. 169–237) is a composite index.
The publication of Petzold's posthumous manuscripts will make it possible to form an opinion about his contribution to Buddhist studies. Petzold studied under the guidance of Japanese scholars who must have greatly assisted him in his studies.1 It seems that Petzold could not read Chinese or Japanese himself, although he lived in China and Japan for more than forty years. Whether Petzold's work is important enough to warrant the publication of such a detailed bibliography, is a question which can only be answered after the publication of his major works. In any case, the editor has edited this work with great care, although errors such as
Indo-Iranian Journal 29 (1986)