Session 3: Windfalls and Pitfalls: The Use of Digitized Source Material in the Study of Asian Buddhism

Organizer, Chair, and Discussant: Morten Schlütter, University of Iowa

Keywords: Buddhism, digitized resources, China, Korea, Tibet.

In recent years the availability of digital primary sources and other digitized resources has had an ever-increasing impact on Asian Buddhist studies. New digital materials are constantly appearing and more and more scholars are turning to these resources, in many ways transforming the kind of research that is being carried out. In this panel, an international group of scholars will discuss various recently digitized resources and raise a number of questions and issues regarding how these sources are conceived, produced and used.

There is almost universal agreement that the use of digitized source materials can enhance scholarship, but the problems that might arise with their use remain largely unexamined. For example, we need to ask whether the use of digitized materials changes the kind of questions we ask in our research, or even if it limits scholarly inquiry in some way. Also, production and publication of digitized sources have usually not been subject to the review and quality control process that scholarly publications normally go through. Even so, they are often received uncritically by the academic community. The panel seeks to begin a conversation about the impact of the availability and use of digitized sources in the study of Asian Buddhism, and hopes to encourage greater scholarly reflection on digitization in Asian studies in general. The presentations will be kept short to allow extensive audience participation and the papers will be made available before the meeting, announced on the appropriate online discussion groups.

The Digital Tripitaka Koreana 2004

Jongmyung Kim, Youngsan University

In this presentation I will discuss an important new research tool, the Digital Tripitaka Koreana 2004 (hereafter, TK 2004), which will be published in July 2004 by the Research Institute of the Tripitaka Koreana. This is a digitized edition of the unique Korean Buddhist canon, originally published in 1236–1251. The TK 2004 consists of two CD-ROMs: the first is for public use and includes a program CD, the TK, and the Japanese Taisho edition of the Buddhist canon (hereafter, T); and the second is aimed at specialists and contains the TK, the T, and several additional research tools, such as the Koryo Taejangyong Electronic Dictionary of Buddhist Terms, the Electronic Dictionary of Chinese Characters, and the Dictionary of Concise Chinese Characters. Along with the TK 2004, the Dictionary of Variant Chinese Characters in the TK will be published. In it, over 70,000 variant Chinese characters that do not appear in standard Chinese character dictionaries are included. Furthermore, the Comparative Analysis of the Tripitaka Koreana, which notes all differences in texts common to the TK and the T, will soon be published. Finally, the unified Tripitaka project, which will include punctuated digitized versions of the TK and the T, as well as Buddhist texts in Sanskrit, Pali, and Tibetan, will be completed in 2005. In this paper, I will present an in-depth discussion of the benefits and problems faced by the academic end-user of this and other digital resources in East Asian Buddhist studies.

Digitized Sources in the Study of Chan Buddhism

Mario Poceski, University of Florida

This paper explores the prospects and challenges posed by the use of digitized sources in the study of Chinese Buddhism, with a focus on materials about the history of Chan during the Tang dynasty. The first part of the paper surveys the scope and quality of the available sources, including digitized versions of the Buddhist canon, Chan texts, historical and literary collections, images of Chan art and Buddhist artifacts, historical maps, and reference works. It also identifies areas of weakness and the need for additional sources. The second part explores the possibilities and potential pitfalls in the use of digitalized sources. On the positive side, digitization provides researchers with easy access to large amounts of texts and data with convenient search capabilities, along with the benefit of portability. That serves as an equalizer in academia, as scholars from small institutions with limited library resources can access materials previously found only at research universities. Conversely, an increased reliance on digital materials can precipitate a technical divide, putting scholars without requisite computer skills and adequate resources at a disadvantage. Search capabilities might also discourage the reading of classical Chan texts and other pertinent sources, thus inhibiting the discovery of new materials and perspectives. That might have a negative impact on research and graduate education, providing disincentives for careful reading and study of original texts, and perhaps encouraging dilettantism, exemplified by the fitting of passages from medieval materials into preset conceptual grids without a grasp of the unique religious and historical milieus of Tang China.

Historical Inscriptions at Cloud Dwelling Monastery: Preparations for a CD-ROM

Matthias Arnold, University of Heidelberg

Through more than five centuries about fifteen thousand steles engraved with Buddhist canonical texts were produced at the Cloud Dwelling Monastery (Yunjusi) at Fangshan in China. Beginning 616 C.E., a great number of inscriptions were written in commemoration of this huge undertaking. A project at the University of Heidelberg is working on putting the most significant of these historical inscriptions on CD-ROM for the use of researchers. Presenting the inscriptions on CD-ROM poses several problems of both conception and design. First, the texts have to appear in different forms, i.e., the user should be able to read a Chinese transcription parallel to an image of the rubbing, and the annotated Chinese text parallel to an English translation. Users should be able to zoom in and out on the images of the rubbings, and text in the parallel windows must follow this movement. Second, much scholarship has already been done on the inscriptions, and different readings and interpretations exist. The CD-ROM must indicate these variants. Third, the inscriptions contain valuable historical information on the process by which the project of engraving the Buddhist steles was carried out. Many persons listed as involved, for instance, are mentioned in no other source. Thus, the CD-ROM must not only provide full-text search, but also offer special indices and background information. My paper will introduce the user interface of this ongoing project and discuss solutions for the kind of problems mentioned above, as well as address the opportunities and issues for scholarship that the project presents.

Digitization in Tibetan Buddhist Studies: Problems and Remedies

Jan Ulrich Sobisch, University of Copenhagen

In the last fifteen to twenty years, digitization has made a significant impact on Tibetan Buddhist studies. The two major targets of digitization efforts have been the production of electronic Buddhist texts and dictionaries. While there is no doubt that electronic texts and dictionaries can be of great value in research, it has also become clear that the digitization of Tibetan texts has given rise to several problematic issues that must be confronted and remedied. One problem is that many conventions of careful and critical scholarship in philology and lexicology seem to have been summarily dispensed with by producers of Tibetan electronic texts and dictionaries. Another disturbing trend is the seeming emphasis on quantity rather than quality, which frequently leads to hurried publication of electronic resources. The result is sometimes disastrous and often discouraging from a scholarly point of view. A third problem is that electronic texts and dictionaries are often used in an uncritical and superficial manner. If we want better digital resources, and a more responsible use of them, we must first understand the current problems. In my paper I provide a brief outline of the shortcomings of some of the available Tibetan digital texts and dictionaries and analyze their possible causes. I will also illustrate in some detail the kind of mistakes that arise from using "bad" digital texts and dictionaries, and discuss some of the possible remedies.