Among extant Manchu translations of Buddhist scriptures, the Manchu Canon, first printed under imperial auspices in vermilion characters during the Ch'ien-lung period (1736-1795), is the most valuable. Elaborately bound and lavishly illustrated, the Manchu Canon is a superbly crafted, original work. The Palace Museum in Peking houses seventy-six cases of the 'Canon'; the National Palace Museum in Taipei, thirty-two, making a total of one hundred and eight cases in all. The Manchu translations are of great value in interpreting Chinese versions of the same texts. In addition, in the process of translation, many new Manchu words were created in order to accommondate the needs of translation. Manchu vocabulary was expanded as names of Buddhas and bodhisattvas, as well as Buddhist technical terms were, for the most part, transliterated on the basis of their Sanskrit originals. At the same time, words already extant in Manchu were invested with new meanings as a consequence of this project. By gathering together names and technical terms from the Manchu Canon, it would be possible to compile a dictionary of Manchu Buddhist terms. The Manchu Canon further provides a wealth of material for research on the development of the Manchu language during the Ch'ing.
