Old Texts, New Insights: Exploring Buddhist Manuscripts

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to announce a call for papers for a Special Issue titled ‘Old Texts, New Insights: Exploring Buddhist Manuscripts’. This Special Issue aims to explore the multifaceted domain of Buddhist manuscripts and their associated culture, positioning them not merely as tangible bearers of material culture, but also as crucial vessels of intangible or immaterial culture in South, East, and Central Asian countries.

Buddhist manuscripts, embodying a rich tapestry of religious, literary, narrative, and intellectual traditions, played an instrumental role in disseminating Buddhist ideologies and practices across diverse geographical landscapes. The very corporeality of these manuscripts, manifested through palm leaves, birch barks, silks, traditional papers, among other mediums, intersects with the ethereal domain of religious thought and cultural ethos. Through meticulous examinations driven by codicology, palaeography, and philology, this Special Issue seeks to traverse beyond the doctrinal contents, delving into the myriad ways these manuscripts were conceived, crafted, and utilized across pre-modern Buddhist communities.

The symbiotic relationship between the material and immaterial facets of Buddhist manuscripts unveils a rich interplay in the religious contexts they were engrossed within. The manuscripts transcended their tangible form, transforming into revered religious objects, thereby becoming integral to the construction of Buddhist metaphysical systems and related practices. The varied materials and technologies employed across regions for manuscript production, ranging from palm leaves in the Indian subcontinent to birch bark in the greater Gandhāran region, not only reflect a vibrant material culture but also epitomize a shared intangible heritage, knitting communities in a shared religio-cultural tapestry. Furthermore, the aesthetic embellishments adorned on these manuscripts and their storage apparatus unveil a profound reverence towards the Dharma, extending their significance beyond mere textual forms to encompass artistic and architectural resonances. As such, the spread of manuscripts across lands not only transmitted Buddhist doctrines but also catalyzed a confluence of artistic styles, fostering rich, shared cultural milieus. This Special Issue seek to amplify the dialogue on how the intangible and material aspects of Buddhist manuscript culture amalgamated to shape religious practices, pedagogical paradigms, and cultural exchanges in antient Buddhist communities.

The research scope extends beyond manuscripts in ancient Indic languages, including Sanskrit, Gāndhārī, and Pāli, to those written in Tibetan, Classical Chinese, and other Asian languages. Regarding research methodologies, we embrace a wide array of topics, such as rigorous philological work on newly discovered manuscript materials, including tasks such as creating transliterations, diplomatic or critical editions, and translations. We also welcome novel interpretations of texts derived from manuscript readings, studies related to manuscript production, as well as paleographic, codicological, and iconographic analyses of manuscripts, among others.

We extend an invitation to scholars affiliated with universities or institutes, as well as independent researchers. Particularly, we encourage contributions from young scholars in the early stages of their careers. Research areas may encompass (but are not limited to) Buddhist Manuscripts in Sanskrit, Tibetan, Chinese, and various Central Asian languages; Philological Research; Codicology; Paleography; Manuscript Preservation; and Digitalization of Manuscripts.

We request that, prior to submitting a manuscript, interested authors initially submit a proposed title and an abstract of 200–300 words summarizing their intended contribution. Please send it to the Guest Editors, Prof. Dr. Soon-Il Hwang ([email protected]), Dr. Jaehee Han ([email protected]), or to the Assistant Editor of Religions, Ms. Margaret Liu ([email protected]). Abstracts will be reviewed by the Guest Editors to ensure that they are within the scope of this Special Issue. Full manuscripts will undergo double-blind peer review.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Soon-Il Hwang
Dr. Jaehee Han
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Religions is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• Buddhist manuscripts
• Sanskrit manuscripts
• Chinese manuscripts
• Dunhuang manuscripts
• philological research
• codicology
• paleography
• iconography
• manuscript preservation
• digitalizing manuscripts

Title: Buddhism’s oldest history revisited: a new text of the Dīpavaṃsa

Abstract: The Dīpavaṃsa (Dīp), the first history of the Buddhist religion that survives in Pali, is widely known through Oldenberg’s late-19th century edition (O). The editor admitted it was faulty due to the quality of his Sri Lankan manuscript sources, which he thought all derived from a faulty Burmese exemplar. This problematic edition prompted new printed editions of Dīp in Sri Lanka and Myanmar in the 1920s, but in Western scholarship established it as a problem text, and it was generally neglected in favour of the later Mahāvaṃsa. A new romanised edition of Dīp has long been a desideratum, and in 2004 Frasch pointed out the existence of a Burmese manuscript of a different text of the work (B1). The present authors have identified two further mss. of this version and have begun editing a new edition based on this one in comparison to Oldenberg and other Burmese mss. The Burmese sources reveal an occasionally faulty text (B2) not dissimilar to O, plus the rather ‘better’ text of B1. In addition we have also identified the so-called ‘Dīpavaṃsa-ṭīkā’ as the Sāsanajotikā, which is a commentary on B1 by the major 19th century Burmese scholar Jāgara. The article will give details of this analysis.

Title: Reading Traces in Chinese Writing: A Codicology Perspective on the Nanatsu-dera Manuscript of the Huayan Text Dafangguang Rulai Xingqi Weimizang Jing

Abstract: The Nanatsu-dera Manuscripts in Japan have preserved a collection of separately published ex-tracts (別生經) not included in the Chinese Buddhist Canon, among which the Dafangguang Rulai Xingqi Weimizang Jing (大方廣如來性起微密藏經) is of particular interest in this paper. Previous studies, such as that by Kiyotaka Kimura (1999), have compared the Nanatsu-dera version with the thirty-second chapter of the sixty-fascicle Huayan Jing, "Baowang Rulai Xingqi Pin" (寶王如來性起品), primarily focusing on proof-reading and survey. However, the underlying writing phenomena behind these differences have yet to be thoroughly examined and analyzed. For instance, what cultural phenomena are reflected by the use of colloquial characters (俗字), and how do textual errors or alterations arise? This paper aims to introduce the textual variations (異文) present in the Dafangguang Rulai Xingqi Weimizang Jing and to reflect on the significance of the Nanatsu-dera manuscript archive in relation to materials transmitted through other means. By adopting a codi-cology perspective, this study seeks to uncover insights into the historical context and transmission of Buddhist manuscripts, shedding light on the broader understanding of Buddhist textual tradi-tions.

Title: Decorating Tibetan Buddhist Manuscripts: A Preliminary Analysis of Ornated Writing Frames

Abstract: Buddhist books have always played a central role in the lives of Tibetan people. This is evident by looking at the hundreds of thousands of manuscripts and xylographs produced by Tibetans, and then copied, multiplied, worshipped, spread, and transmitted uninterruptedly from religious masters to disciples over the centuries. Tibetan manuscripts and xylographs have started to be studied in their entirety only recently, and the interest for their visual aspect, material features and social life has exponentially grown, becoming crucial to progress in different fields of study, to deeply understand the way in which Tibetan Buddhist people interact with such artefacts but also to preserve a disappearing cultural heritage. This essay will focus on a so far neglected element of Tibetan Buddhist manuscripts, namely decorations of writing frames. Any element found in a Tibetan scripture is essential from care and conservation viewpoints since it contributes to preserve it as longer as possible. This is fundamental to spread Buddha’s word and to accumulate spiritual merits to progress on the path towards Enlightenment. The numerous elements exhibited in manuscripts may help locating their provenance and/or narrowing down their dating. This will also lead to a better understanding of the spread of certain scriptures within the various Tibetan areas. This essay attempts to provide a preliminary analysis of ornated writing frames found in Buddhist manuscripts produced in different periods with the twofold aim of tracing their use and material aspects, and investigating the type of texts which were mostly chosen to be decorated as such.

Title: Lakkhanadhamma: A unique manuscript of a ‘lost’meditation text of King Taksin

Abstract: Historical record attributes the composition of a text called the Lakkhanadhamma to King Taksin (r.1767-1782), the founder of Thonburi, post-Ayutthaya Siam. It has been considered long-lost and only summary descriptions have been preserved, including a synopsis account of the ethical component by Prince Darunakorn. While Taksin’s status has been controversial in Thailand, some traditions attribute to him a long-standing engagement with meditation. The authors, while engaged in working with manuscript collections in Thonburi, were shown a manuscript that appears to record the completely lost meditation section of Taksin’s text. Its contents clearly show this to have been aligned with what some contemporary authors have designated the boran kammatthan or yogāvacara tradition that flourished in pre-modern Siam and has been the subject of recent research. In this article the manuscript is described, contextualised and its meditational contents explained.

Title: In Search of Merit: Buddhist Soteriology and Monastic Archiving

Abstract: The article will investigate and argue that the Buddhist monasteries functioned not only as religious institutions but also as archives and further built a larger network of archives which emerged across Asia (South, East, and South-East) and contributed into the making of a larger Buddhist world beyond the political, cultural, and geographical boundaries (both historical as well as imagined). Although this article will remain restricted to the region of South Asia along with the Tibetan Cultural region as covering all the parts of Asia in the scope a single article, will not be a fruitful exercise. Two major factors for the making and expansion of such archives can be discerned: a quest for merit by both the monastics and the householders and Buddhism (monastery’s) association with traders and trading activities. Several Buddhist texts talk about the accumulation of merit through religious acts. In Early Buddhism itself, a symbiotic relationship existed between “the gift of the law” (dharma dāna) and the material gift (amisa dāna). This economy of religious merit gave birth to a long list of actions for acquiring merits. While, for the laity, there were many such acts, for the renouncer there was a limitation. As various schools of Buddhism evolved; so did various ideas about the merit accumulation. Conserving and propagating Buddha’s words and stories became the greatest meritorious act. Achieved through two methods: copying and translating (in the case of foreign monks) texts and creating visual archives. This copying of the text was further amplified by the sacredness of the books and religious practices around its worshipping. The number of manuscripts found at different vihāras attests to the process of large-scale copying and writing of the texts along with the processes of conserving and restoring them. This article will analyse the philosophy of merit accumulation, merit transference, and the ways in which this was translated into the actions along with raising questions about the institutional development of the monasteries, the political patronization provided to the monastic archives, the ritualization of writing and manuscripts, and the reasons responsible for the decisions about the selection, copying, and preservation of certain text to understand the politico-religious context of archiving within the monastic complexes and hence, the article will argue that Buddhist monasteries followed several archival practices and functioned as a trans-regional network of archives.