Song gaoseng zhuan completed
Posted by marcus.bingenheimer on 2010/05/12
This post is several weeks late. The markup of the Song gaoseng zhuan was completed in March and the data is available:
A) via the GIS interface at http://buddhistinformatics.ddbc.edu.tw/biographies/gis/interface/
B) as zip-archive containing tei/xml source, rnc schema, readme file at http://buddhistinformatics.ddbc.edu.tw/gaosenggis/
With this addition the four major collections are complete. Together they contain more than 1300 biographies.
With this we have a strong basis for a “Corpus of Chinese Buddhist Biographies”. Currently, we are expanding the corpus by adding the Biqiuni zhuan 比丘尼傳 (T. 2063, dated 516)), and the two 18th century collections compiled by Peng Shaosheng 彭紹升 (1740-1796): Jushi zhuan 居士傳 (CBETA/X. No. 1646) and Shan nüren zhuan 善女人傳 (CBETA/X. No. 1657). We will also input the 30+ biographies of translators in the Chusanzang jiji.
Digital Resources for Buddhist Studies 
Paula T. F. said
Congratulations! Your work is cardinal indeed!
I wish I could help you, but I can’t read Chinese, which I strongly regret right now.
As you see, I need to read Kumarajiva’s biography as in the Gaoseng Zhuan for my doctoral research, but I can’t access the text in Chine and I wonder if this source is partially or completely translated in English.
Is there any link or place providing this material in English language which I could browse for my work (my field is Translation Studies)?
If not, could you refer me to any English complete and reliable source on Kumarajiva’s translation approach?
Thank you very much for any help you could provide in this regard.
marcus said
Hi Paula,
Kumarajiva’s biography is been translated into French in:
Biographies des moines éminents de Houei-Kiao. Kao seng tchouan.
by: Shih, Robert
Louvain: Institut orientaliste, Bibliothèque de l’Université, 1968.
I do not know of any extensive treatment of his translation idiom in English, there are studies in Chinese and Japanese of course.
all the best
marcus
Paula T. F. said
Thank you, Marcus.
I am trying to get this book for my research. If you happen to be aware of any internet link where it could be available and you share it with me, I would be much obliged.
By the way, there will be an International Conference on Kumarajiva next February, in New Delhi, organized by the Indira Gandhi Centre for the Arts, as, according to certain sources, next year is one of the possible commemorative dates for the 1600th anniverssary of his death, being next possible date our 2013 year.
For those interested, this is the link:
http://www.ignca.nic.in/PDF_data/ea_kumarjiva_program.pdf
Thanks to you all, and the best with your research!
If there is anything I can help with, please don’t hesitate to ask.
With gratitude,
Paula