Chinese Buddhist Canonical Attributions database

The Chinese Buddhist Canonical Attributions database project is the brainchild of Michael Radich and Jamie Norrish.

The aim of the database is to record information about ascriptions of Chinese Buddhist texts, especially in the very many cases in which scholars have questioned received ascriptions (as embodied, for example, in Taishō bylines).

Users may find a detailed Guide to the database and its contents here. Users are strongly urged to read the Guide before using it.

The database uses a certain number of Abbreviations, which can be seen here.

Brief description

Content of the database may relate to ascriptions of all texts in the Taishō 大正 and Xuzangjing 続蔵経 collections, and also of a range of other texts (e.g. paracanonical texts, Dunhuang texts, etc.). The database includes a large number of "assertions" summarising arguments in both traditional and modern scholarly "sources", which overturn or problematise received ascriptions. Sometimes, where controversy is longstanding, we also record arguments or evidence supporting received ascriptions. The database also includes basic data about ascriptions automatically extracted from the CBETA xml versions of those texts.

Using the tabs at the top of the screen, you can search for assertions about texts that interest you—by keyword, persons involved in the production of the text, date (including a range of dates), or the "source" of the assertion.

There is no intention that the database itself ever be used as a direct source of information about texts or "assertions". Rather, it should be used like an annotated index: it points users to potentially useful scholarly sources. Users should then follow up directly in the actual sources, rather than relying exclusively upon CBC@. This frees contributors from onerous responsibility for excessive accuracy; only thus can such a user-contributor database be expected to reach and maintain relatively full coverage. Put differently: The database is a venue for friendly sharing of informal notes on sources—not, itself, an authoritative source.

CBC@ is a user-contributor database, and its success depends upon contributions from qualified users. We are very keen to recruit specialist contributors willing to lend their expertise to help the database grow, and gradually, pull abreast of the current state of scholarship. At the same time, the database is a scholarly resource, and content is moderated to maintain accuracy and relevance, which means we cannot make it a completely wiki-style open resource. If you are interested in becoming a contributor to the database, please email Michael Radich.

Credits and thanks: Throughout the process of planning and building this database, we benefited greatly from the generous and matchless advice of Jan Nattier. For the period 2017-2018, work on CBC@ was generously supported by funding from the Chiang Ching-kuo Research Foundation (RG003-P-16). With the support of that funding, Atsushi Iseki added a large amount of information about works in modern Japanese scholarship. Earlier work on the database was supported by funding from the Victoria University of Wellington (VUW) Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences; and by funds associated with a Fellowship for Experienced Researchers from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in 2015. We have also benefitted from the advice and support of the following scholars and projects: Iyanaga Nobumi, Chuck Muller (Digital Dictionary of Buddhism), Marcus Bingenheimer (Bibliography of Translations from the Chinese Buddhist Canon into Western Languages), Nagasaki Kiyonori (SAT Daizōkyō Text Dabatase), Élie Roux (Buddhist Universal Digital Archive), and Profs. Fang Yixin 方一新 and Lu Lu 盧鷺 (Zhejiang University).