INTRODUCTION TO THE HISTORY OF INDIAN BUDDHISM . By Eugène Burnouf . Translated by Katia Buffetrille and Donald S. Lopez Jr . Chicago : The University of Chicago Press , 2010 . Pp . 608 . $65.00 .
摘要
Given its far‐reaching influence on Buddhist Studies, it is astounding that Burnouf's seminal 1844 work is only now translated into English. Lopez suggests in his introduction that it became “so fully integrated into the mainstream representation of Buddhism, which it helped to create, that it is no longer visible.” This is also one of the best reasons for reading this book today; it has shaped the Western approach to Buddhism like no other. Lopez's concise, yet extremely instructive, introduction discusses the author and the impact of the book, provides a history of its genesis and an analytical summary of its content, and discusses Burnouf's major concerns: demythologizing and humanizing the Buddha, emphasizing Buddhism's thoroughly Indian character, and highlighting the Buddha's humanity, which, for Burnouf, made Buddhism exceptional among Indian religions. The book, translated by Buffetrille and Lopez from early nineteenth‐century French into pleasantly readable twenty‐first‐century English, is largely based on Burnouf's analysis of Sanskrit manuscripts from Nepal. He provides translations of these (about 40 percent of his text) and a detailed, comprehensive discussion of Indian Buddhism's history, literature, and teachings. While Burnouf's work has been superseded in some respects (but not in others), it remains highly instructive. The breadth and depth of Burnouf's scholarship still humble students of Buddhism today.
