My speech consists of two parts. The first part is a short summary of the activities of the Sanskrit & Pali Department of the School of Foreign Languages and in particular, about our work since the establishment of the RESEARCH INSTITUTE OF SANSKRIT MANUSCRIPTS & BUDDHIST LITERATURE (RISMBL) AT PEKING UNIVERSITY. In the second part, I am going to offer some suggestions in reference to the preservation & research of Sanskrit manuscripts in Tibet.

I. Introduction

As it is well known, the Sanskrit & Pali Department of the School of Foreign Languages at Peking University is the only place in China where systematic courses are offered for students who intend to major in Sanskrit and Buddhist studies. All the most famous Sanskrit scholars in China such as the late Professor Jiang Zhongxin, Professor Huang Bao- sheng and Guo Liangyun of Chinese Academy of Social Science (CASS), just to name a few of them, graduated from PKU in the 60s of the last century and Professor Ge Weijun and Li Nan in the 80s.

1. Training at PKU Since the study of Sanskrit is not considered a kind of pursuit that will lead to a promising career with lucrative financial returns to the students here in China, and otherwise with the prevailing sentiment across the country where economical development is of utmost importance, it is not surprising to see that Sanskrit has little appeal amongst university candidates. For over twenty years, we have suspended absorbing undergraduate students for majoring in Sanskrit and the related subject. During this period, we adjust our strategy by offering Sanskrit courses to undergraduate students as one of the options among the repertory of foreign languages at Peking University, with a purpose that some good students will be interested in the ancient language and its related culture. At the same time, we offer a full-fledged program for MA and PhD students majoring in Sanskrit and Buddhist studies. In this way, quite a number of brilliant students had been attracted to Indology and subsequently became young scholars in this field. Up till now, their achievements are truly commendable. As an example, I would like to mention Mr. Saerji, Tibetan by ethnicity, who is now a young teacher at Peking University both teaching Sanskrit and classical Tibetan. Other examples, just to name a few, include Mr. Zhang Zhan, a student formerly majored in chemistry, and Mr. Li Hao, a student formerly majored in medicine. Both of them had proved to be excellent by passing the college examination with very high marks. It is of interest to note that they developed a keen interest in Sanskrit through taking the above-mentioned non-specialist Sanskrit course and later switched from their previous major to Indology. Following our policy and the development in the past, the group of Sanskrit scholars in China, though still not quite big enough, it is steadfast and keeps on growing.

In June 2004, there had been some dialogues concerning possible co-operation between the Cultural Relics Administrative Bureau of Tibet Autonomous Region of China on one side, and Peking University on the other. Both sides wish to launch a co-operation and agreed to appeal jointly for the establishment of a project for the preservation and research of Sanskrit manuscripts in Tibet which shall be financially supported by the Ministry of Education of China (ME).

Already in July of the same year, the good news arrived, according to which (Document 2004. No.19 from ME) the School of Foreign Languages (SFL) of PKU shall resume recruitment of students majoring in Sanskrit and the related disciplines. In September, 2005, after the General Highschool Examination of China, we welcomed a group of 8 fresh students majoring in Indology, among which two came from the Tibetan Autonomous Region. They are currently in the second year of their college life. Beside the group of undergraduate students, we have at present three MA students and six PhD candidates (one from Hong Kong). During their study at Peking University, they will have opportunity to study for a short period in abroad, as for instance in India, Japan and Europe via exchanging programs between China and the respective countries.

2. Research Works

As earlier as in 80s of last century, Professor Ji Xianlin had the intention to investigate in different regions of China the preserved materials written in Sanskrit or other dead languages, especial in Xinjiang and Tibet. Training students in these different languages was one of his many concerns. Due to Professor Ji's influence, some students managed to study abroad, as for instance in Germany, in order to be trained in Sanskrit and other languages once spoken on the Silk Road. It is a great pity that due to various reasons his wish to launch the research of Sanskrit manuscripts did not materialize Coming to the 21st century, modern technology rapidly improves, and so is the salary for professors at universities. Under the new condition, we decided to pick up the topic again and that we should resume the project concerning the Sanskrit manuscripts and Buddhist studies. In the autumn of 2001, we received some small funding from ME, and the SFL also granted us 10,000 RMB. With the small number of money, we managed to equip us with basic equipment with which we could scan the entire facsimile we possess into computer. Now, we can read on computer thousands of facsimile of over 200 manuscripts. Thus the basic condition for further research work is established.

2.1. Organizations and Basic Data

In order to promote the research of the Sanskrit manuscripts collection which we possess, in November 2004, as per the advices and suggestions from the Office of Social Sciences of PKU, the establishment of the RESEARCH INSTITUTE OF SANSKRIT MANU- SCRIPTS & BUDDHIST LITERATURE AT PEKING UNIVERSITY (RISM) was established. Professor Duan Qing is currently appointed as the director of the institute. Members of RISM come from the Sanskrit & Pali Department of the SFL including its MA & PhD students.

SFL and the Institute of Oriental Studies, of which Professor Wang Bangwei is the director, stand by us with unfailing support, granting us office rooms and books which they bought from India and Germany with their received donations. Thanks to the efforts of our students, we own in our small library a whole set of Tibetan Tripitaka and the Taisho. It is obviously that our institute cannot be compared with all the renowned institutions of Indology and Buddhist studies around the world, we are nevertheless grateful and glad to be working in it.

2.2. Main Achievements

Now I would like to name some achievements and activities since the establishment of our institute.

Mr. Ye Shaoyong managed to discover amongst our facsimile collection several leaves from the Mulamadhyamaka-Wrika and Buddhapdlita's Commentary (No. 17 according to the unpublished cataloge of Wang Sen). Thanks to the generous support of several international friends, Mr.Ye managed to take part in the Conference of the International Association of Buddhist Studies which was held in London in August 2005 and read his paper based on his discovery. The publication of his work, A Sanskrit Manuscript of the Mulamadhyamaka-karika and Buddhapdlita's Commentary from Tibet, is forthcoming as the first volume of a series of RISM bilingual publication (Chinese and English).

Saerji, our Tibetan colleague, had finished the transcription of Dasa Kriyd which is a Sanskrit manuscript written on forty three palm leaves which are well preserved in Lin Yin Temple in Hangzhou. The manuscript is littered with scribal errors and restoration was a challenging task. Though a similar version is found also in Nepal Sanskrit manuscript collection, there is no translation available, either in Chinese or Tibetan. In spite of the greatest difficulty Saerji made .excellent progress. In April 2006, his paper named Twelve Earths in Lingyin Manuscript referred at Korea International Buddhist Conference was one of the primary achivements.

Advayasamatdvijayakalpa is a manuscript from which there are Tibetan and Chinese versions present. Ms Fan Muyou, a PhD student is currently working on it. A transcription of the text and a comparative study of the 3 versions will be part of her doctor thesis. Assistant Professor Gao Hong, PHD Students Luo Hong and Bill Mak are also engaged with research of different Sanskrit manuscripts.

All the members I just mentioned above exhibit a generic peculiarity that they are very young-some of them are at beginning of thirty, some even in their twenties, but are competent linguists on their own accord, mastering Sanskrit and other different languages. They demonstrate brilliantly that projects on Sanskrit manuscripts from Tibet may be well managed by Chinese scholars.

Furthermore, the collective project, viz Tutorial on the Letterform of Sanskrit Manuscript is unfolding.

2.3 We launched a website httpsfl.pku.edu.cnsanskrit

2.4 The research on manuscripts from Tibet is only one of the missions of RISM. There are also other important tasks the research institute currently engaged in, some of which have already led to notable results.

a) Research on Central Asian scripts and manuscripts. Mr. Zhang Zhan, MA student of PKU, conducted a research on an ancient letter in Jewish-Persian discovered in the Hetian area of Xinjiang. Based on his research, Zhan completed his MA thesis of a high-quality. This ancient letter in Jewish Old Persian is preserved in excellent condition. It is considered a relic of great historical value and is now in kept in the collection of National Library. (SLIDE)

Thanks to the effort by all, we have obtained a batch of facsimile of Khotanese manuscripts newly discovered. We are currently working on these manuscripts and the research result will be available in due course. Amongst those which had already been published is Dr. Duan Qing's The Newly Discovered Khotanese Survanaprabhasasutra, the facsimile of which has been published in the 9th Vplume of Dunhuang Turfan Research. (SLIDE)

b) Joint research project on Sanskrit-Chinese comparative textual studies by RISM and Chinese Department of PKU. Academic achievement resulted from this project include a series of papers by Dr. Wang Jihong, PhD graduate from Chinese Department, PKU, who now holds a teaching position at the Beijing Foreign Languages University. Representative works by Dr. Wang Jihong (1)《阿毗达磨俱舍论·分别界品中的语法仿译现象》(Grammar calques in Abhidharma kola bhg2ya) . Published in Zhongwen Xuekan 《中文学刊》, Hong Kong, 2005.12. ( 2 )《玄奘译经的语言学考察》 (Linguistic Analysis of the Buddhist Scriptures Translated by Xuanzang  A Case of Abhidharma kol a bhg2ya of Vasubandhu) . Published in Teaching and research of Foreign Languages《外语教学与研究》2006. l. Also in Yuyanwenzixue Renmin University（人大复印资料《语言文字学》）2006.5. (3) 《玄奘译经四言文体的构成方法》 (On the four-character style of the Buddhist Scriptures Translated by Xuanzang) published in Research on Chinese Culture 《中国文化研究》2006.3. (4) 《阿毗达磨俱舍论》角经方式考察 (On the interpretation pattern in Abhidharma kol a bhg2ya) selected paper for the 2005 Conference of International Sinology, published in Collected Papers for 2005 Conference of International Sinology (forthcoming 2007).(5) 《论部汉译佛典篇章连接成分考察》(On the conjunctive elements in the abhidharma division of the Tripitaka) Collaboration with Prof. Duan Qing (forthcoming).

c) Launching of the compilation of Sanskrit-Chinese dictionary. The forementioned is a preliminary summary of the projects undertaken by RISM.

II. Several recommendations regarding the preservation of Sanskrit Manuscripts and development of experts in this field.

With the support of the government, CASS and China Tibetology Research Center(CTRC) had commenced in project of investigating, as well as consolidating Sanskrit Manuscripts collected in Tibet. As professionals in this field, we are very much concerned with the progress of this project and we would therefore like to make some recommendations.

1. Firstly, we must have a proper understanding of the cultural value of the Sanskrit manuscripts. Without a doubt, Sanskrit Manuscripts of the Tibetan Collection is important cultural relic, as well as valuable cultural heritage of humankind. What make the Sanskrit palm leaves stand out from other cultural objects are the scripts written on them.However, manuscriptology, both the script as well as the content, belongs to the domain of academic research. That is to say, if Sanskrit palm leaves were to simply taken as collector's item, there is no way for the true values of these manuscripts to be realized. As materials for academic research, the studies of these manuscripts helped to promote the academic status of our country as well as establishing the academic discipline. In a way, the question that Chinese scholars may successfully conduct the research on Sanskrit manuscripts with their own initiative means a challenge not only to the capacity of the scholars themselves, but also to the structure of our scholarly institutes, education system, as well as academic standard.

A feeling of regret and dismay can be always sensed if Chinese scholars begin to speak about the secret cave of Dunhuang. It is indeed a slight hidden anguish in the heart of the most Chinese scholars when they are recalling that a hundred years ago, thousands of cultural relics were captured by international explorers, and that they are scattered now in different countries in the world. Bearing the historical event in mind, it is recommendable to ponder how to act today by the administrative offices and bureaus of different levels responsible for preservation of cultural relics, as well as the Chinese academic circle, since we are lucky enough with the Sanskrit Manuscripts from Tibetan autonomous regions likely to stand again before a small secret cave in Dunhuang. It is for the recommendation that the administrative bureaus and academic circle shall work co-operative together, benefit from each other and build up a new field which needs to be very much promoted in China. We should conduct the project on Sanskrit manuscripts for the earnest purpose of protecting the heritage of humankind and promoting the Chinese academic standard. Herewith we earnestly hope that the administrative bureaus for cultural relics should realize the special feature of Sanskrit palm leaves as a relic item, keeping to the principle of independence, and afford all convenience for researching scholars and specialists in this field.

2. For the Preservation of Sanskrit Manuscripts

Without any doubt, the task of protecting Sanskrit manuscripts is to be carried out by administrative departments of cultural relics. It might be useful that some special training shall be organised for those who are working in the departments for preservation of cultural relics in Tibet Autonomous Region. The training shall be designed not only for the aim that they may acquire some modern technique in order for a better preservation of the Sanskrit manuscripts, but also for the more important purpose that they should learn about the concern of the scholars who are deciphering the scripts. The British library is now conducting the International Dunhuang project, with which more than 100,000 manuscripts and paintings from Dunhuang and other Silk Road sites will be better conserved and at the same time made available for research purpose. If it is possible, a group of decision-making officials from administrative bureaus of Tibet Autonomous Region should be sent to such places like Beijing National Library and British Library where there are also great collections of old manuscripts and documents. They may visit Hamburger University, where German scholars had successful helped in the project of preservation of Nepalese Sanskrit manuscripts and taken pictures of 190,000 manuscripts. Such a training trip shall serve for the purpose that administrative officials may learn from the experiences of their colleagues how to use modern technique for a better preservation of the Sanskrit manuscripts as a cultural relic item, and how to work together with scholars as well.

The natural dry climate in Tibet is in fact the best endowment for preservation of Sanskrit palm leaves. With some modern technique and equipments, the palm leaves can last for long. It is better to invest more money on training of personnel's than to build houses.

3. Training of Students

It is obvious that for the research project of Sanskrit manuscripts we need to train students. Sanskrit is one of the ancient languages of India and pertains to the most difficult languages for learners in the world. The language training in Sanskrit alone will be a time-consuming process, besides our students of Indology have to acquire the related knowledge about ancient Indian culture, Buddhism (Indian, Chinese and Tibetan) and other foreign languages. Such a profound system of know- ledge can not be mastered in a short time. Among the Sanskrit manuscripts there are texts on medicine, grammar, classical literature and tantra literature. We need much more competent and willing scholars for working on these objects. It is to be preferred that the project on Sanskrit manuscripts shall be conducted firstly by our own scholars. With the economic development, China is now days stronger than never before. Under such a background, it would be a pity if the Sanskrit manuscripts would be exported to abroad as raw materials.

As mentioned above, since year 2005, 8 fresh students are majoring in Sanskrit and related disciplines, from which there are 2 Tibetan by ethnic. When we are looking at the mainstream of young generation in China which tends to chase after a promising career with lucrative financial returns, all the more we pay respect for our students. Like the students of economic department, our students have also to pay fees to the University. They have to invest even more for books and other necessary materials. In the past year, we managed to help them with some donation from society that they may worriless concentrate on their studies. But after one year, amount of the donation had been exhausted. It is obvious, that the students after graduation from Peking University will have chance to work either in CTRC, or in administrative departments of cultural relics, or in CASS. It is recommended from our side that their employer in future may invest in advance and offer our students with some stipend which should be enough for paying the fees for the university and their daily life.

Duan Qing, Professor of Peking University

Oct. 11, 2006