Fang Guangchang Professor, Department of Philosophy, Shanghai Normal University
關鍵詞
Chinese Buddhist canon; Dunhuang manuscript; periodization; printing; digitization
摘要
This article is written by an eminent Chinese author of the Chinese canon and provides the author’s insights on how to understand the history of the canon in relation to Chinese Buddhism. Fang discusses the issues of historical periodization of the canon in history and various possibilities for the future development of the canon. This paper examines the history of the Chinese Buddhist canon by reflecting upon various essential issues. Fang first clarifies the origin of various name of the canon and proposes a working definition for the study of the canon. He also provides a periodization scheme of the canon and divides the history of the canon into the period of manuscript editions, the period of printed editions, the period of printed editions in modern times, and the period of digital editions. The author provides a detailed analysis of the characteristics of the canon during different periods and also makes suggestions for future studies.
