Author: Preface of Chinese Version: A History of Indian Buddhism by British scholar AK waddell, published by 1970. Indian scholars and western scholars have written a lot about the history of Indian Buddhism. The Chinese translation of this book is worth introducing to readers. Buddhism once flourished in India, but it did not become the dominant ideology of Indian society. It didn't have the supreme status in China like Confucianism, and it didn't affect people's social life more widely. When it comes to its influence, if it is barely compared with China's thought, it is a bit like China's Taoist position; It has a long tradition, but it is not orthodox; It has certain beliefs among the masses, but not in the majority; It is collectively called Buddhism, but there are many branches. Buddhism originated in India. Most international academic circles believe that India is a nation that values myths and legends rather than history. Whether this view is scientific or not can be studied. People who study the history of ancient India really think that the events and figures in the history of ancient India are true or false, and it is difficult to date them accurately. Works also pay attention to word of mouth, mentoring, not words. The application of papermaking was much later than that of China, and many works were written on Bayeux leaves. At the beginning of the fifth century, Faxian went to India to look for a copy of Faji. Tianzhu country in the north, all taught by teachers, has been passed down from mouth to mouth, and there are no books to write. The Biography of the Fate of Reward contains: Ananda marched to a bamboo forest and heard a monk chanting: "If you are a hundred years old, you might as well see it one day." Ananda talks about monks, and monks are not Buddhism. You should listen to me today: "If you are a hundred years old and don't know the law of birth and death, why not be born to learn?" The monk said to his teacher, Ananda. The teacher told him: "Ananda is old, and his words are too many mistakes and fallacies to be trusted." You should recite it as before. "The original data was written late. Most of them were written several years later, and the identification of historical materials is a major difficulty in studying ancient Indian history. The Story of the Buddha and The Tale of the Western Regions of Datang provide extremely precious original records for scholars who study Indian history. It filled a gap from the 4th and 5th centuries to the 7th century. Unfortunately, 1000 years before Fa Xian was not complete, which was a very important historical period in the history of Buddhism. Although waddell's History of Indian Buddhism is a textbook work, it uses a wide range of materials and the author's attitude is relatively objective. He doesn't have the airs of a believer, and he doesn't believe in the records in Buddhist scriptures. The author also has a good language literacy and uses many languages in India to find credible materials. The author also makes use of the achievements of modern archaeology, ethnology and anthropology, as well as some materials preserved in China Buddhist scriptures, so the records in the book are plain and credible. The author is not only a historian, but also familiar with Buddhist philosophy. He gave more space to Buddhist thought, especially in the Ming Dynasty. This, of course, shows the author's interest and his academic attainments. Professor waddell paid due attention to the social and historical phenomena in ancient India, and this effort is also worthy of recognition. The author also explains the process of Buddhism from Hinayana to Mahayana from the perspective of development. This view is also valuable. The History of Indian Buddhism is a good book for many reasons. One of the reasons is that the author is not interfered by religious superstitions and Buddhist myths, so narrating history is more convincing. This book also has some shortcomings. Due to the author's lack of historical materialism, some phenomena can only be described superficially. For example, when this book talks about the origin of Buddhism, the narrative is more general. For another example, the historical data of ancient Indian Buddhism preserved in Hanzeben are very rich, more than those from other sources other than Chinese, and earlier, but they are not well used. Tibetan materials are also very rich, and the author has never used them. There are still some arguments in the book that are arbitrary, which is the deficiency of this book. In a word, gold is not enough, and books are not finished. This book is a good university reference book, which has been evaluated abroad and is worth recommending to readers. The translation of this book is also worth recommending to readers. To translate a professional book, a translator should have some necessary conditions. As we all know, translators should recite the translation and the translation. But what is more important is that the translator is familiar with the basic content of this knowledge, rather than looking at the text to make sense. Buddhism has its special category, and the same noun has a specific meaning in Buddhist classics; If you don't know the approximate scale of its ideological system, you can't translate well just by picking up the dictionary. That is to say, on the one hand, the translator should know the meaning of the original text, on the other hand, he should try to make the meaning contained in the translation original, not additional. If the translator is familiar with the major involved in the translated work, he can always find mistakes and inappropriateness in the original translation. There are many "translator's notes" in the translation of this book. Don't underestimate this little note in a few words. It truthfully points out the problems and shortcomings of the original to readers, and also shows the translator's knowledge and attainments. Careful readers will get the necessary knowledge from it, which they can't get by reading the original. The translation should be faithful to the original and clear. Many Chinese versions have done this, but many translations have not, which makes it awkward to read. Everyone engaged in translation knows the ups and downs. Daoan's experience of "five losses and three difficulties" is indeed inexperienced. The advantage of Mr. Wang Shi 'an's translation is that the text is concise. Jane is not tired of talking, and she speaks clearly and fluently. As long as it is compared with the original, it is not difficult to find that the translation is as concise, clear and fluent as the original, and it is easy to lift weights, or it is not as good as the original. Mr. Wang Shian is from Huangmei, Hubei. Huangmei is the former site of the five ancestors of Zen Buddhism. Mr. Wang was educated by Peking University Tang Yongtong and Xiong Shili in his early years. He is studious, thoughtful and stands out from the crowd. After graduation, I experienced ups and downs and wandered between Miluo and Dongting. I have been engaged in education for decades and have traveled all over Hunan. In his later years, he retired to Linquan and stayed at the foot of Xiangshan to collect entries for the Buddhist dictionary. This translation is a work of his spare time. Every time I translate a chapter, I can have a look. As this book will be published soon, I want to write this short sequence to recommend it to readers.
Feast master edition
The three masterpieces of the Feast Master, The History of Buddhism in India, The History of Buddhism in Tibet and A Brief History of Buddhism in Japan and South Korea, were originally a hardcover masterpiece, entitled A General History of Buddhism in the World (I), which was published by Dongchu Publishing House, the predecessor of French drum culture, in 1969.
Because of Master's rigorous academic background, solid training time, extensive educational thoughts and profound bodhi compassion, the coverage and uniqueness of this book have been achieved. Its content is simple, the historical materials are complete and rich, the textual research is accurate and detailed, and the writing is beautiful and smooth. It has been widely liked by the public inside and outside the church, and has also won great attention and praise from the academic community. It is really rare in similar works. So this book was reprinted many times, and 1993 was included in The Complete Works of Fa and Drum.
The original General History is rigorous and orderly, even if it is read in chapters, it can be regarded as three works with complete structure. On the one hand, in response to the enthusiastic response of many readers, on the other hand, in view of the changes of the times and the convenience of reading, French Drum Culture has been reorganized and edited, and divided into three volumes according to regions, so as to meet the diverse needs of readers in reading.
The feast master once said that if you want to have a macro understanding of this long-standing, profound religion, it is best to cut in from a historical perspective. Buddhism originated in India more than 2000 years ago. In the change and cycle of karma, there are the divisions of Buddhist sects, the development of Mahayana Buddhism, and the characteristics presented after combining with different national cultures. This is not only a religious development process, but also a milestone in the history of human culture and thought.
Starting from the rich objective historical materials and the unique writing opinions of the master, this book is a good book integrating history, philosophy, religion and literature. The book is based on the social environment and the changes of the times, with missionary activities and teaching ideas as the warp and weft. It not only has the necessary knowledge of Buddhists, but also is suitable for people from all walks of life to learn to read. No matter what background readers are, I believe they will have a satisfactory harvest.
Doronata edition
The historical record of Indian Buddhism. Doronata (also known as Qing Tibet), a Tibetan Buddhist scholar, wrote a book on 1608. The book is divided into 44 chapters with more than 100,000 words. Based on the alternation of dynasties and the inheritance of Buddhist masters, this paper describes the spread and rise and fall of Buddhism in India from the death of Sakyamuni to the collapse of the two dynasties of Polo and Sinatra in India. Chapter 1 ~ 12 describes the spread of Hinayana Buddhism during the third gathering of King Ashi and King Ganixiga. Chapters 13 ~ 27 describe the rise of Mahayana Buddhism and the activities of famous masters such as Long Shu, Tipo, Zuo Wu, Qin Shi, Dignā ga and Fa Wei (above belong to the period before Xuanzang and Yijing visited India). Chapters 28 ~ 37 describe the process of the prevalence and decline of secret Buddhism in the period of Polo and Sina. Chapters 38 ~ 44 describe the inheritance of Chaojie Temple, the spread of Buddhism in the neighboring areas of the South Asian subcontinent, the division of Hinayana Buddhism, the origin of Pravda and the schools of Buddhist sculpture techniques.
Before Xuanzang and Yijing visited India, there were only sporadic legends in China's materials, and the records of Faxian, Xuanzang and Yijing's visits to India became the most reliable historical materials of Buddhism in this period. With regard to the spread of Buddhism in India after I Ching's visit to India, the Chinese materials were lost in The Story of Fogu, which was written by Dorona on the basis of Ma Ji Tuo An Zhu Xian. As well as several legends of Panditha he personally heard in India, writing this book can not only supplement the deficiency of Chinese materials before Xuanzang and Yijing, but also fill some gaps in later historical materials. During the period of Polo and Senna, esoteric religion prevailed, and many famous esoteric masters were produced centering on Chaojie Temple. Since 10 century, this esoteric classic and practice has been introduced into Tibet in large quantities, forming a unique school of Tibetan Buddhism. In addition, this book records the rise and fall of dynasties and the reign of kings, and also provides valuable information for the study of ancient Indian history, which is highly valued by western and Indian academic circles. However, the early historical facts of Buddhism described in this book are quite different from those in Hannan, and the later throne change and reign years are not completely consistent with modern archaeological discoveries. Therefore, modern scholars only admit that it has irreplaceable historical value, not as a complete history of trust.
There are many versions of this book. 1840, Russian scholar vasiliev discovered the original Tibetan version of this book in Beijing, and published the German translation of West Verna and the Russian translation of Vasiliev in St. Petersburg in 1869. 1928 Tokyo, Japan published a translation of "Temple Day". 1946, China published Wang Yiwen's Translation of China Festivals. 1980, an English translation of Rama Chimba was published in Kolkata, India.