Guides
Wayfinders for our collections, tools, and servicesBuddhism and Asian religions: Find Chinese/Japanese/Korean primary sources
This guide is intended to help students, faculty, and researchers locate and access sources and reference tools for the study of Buddhism and other Asian religions.
Primary sources - Chinese/Japanese/Korean
- Bavarian State Library Digital East Asia CollectionsLarge collection of digitized Chinese and Japanese texts.
- The Bookshelf (Shuge.org)Free and open online library of ancient books, containing high-definition PDF scans of texts from the medieval to the modern periods. (Website is in Chinese only)
- British Library Endangered Archives - ChinaDontains digitized manuscripts including Yao, Yi, Tangut, Tibetan, and other languages.
- Chinese Buddhist Canonical Attributions databaseRecords information about ascriptions of Chinese Buddhist texts.
- Chinese Buddhist Electronic Text Association (CBETA)Open access collection of Chinese Buddhist material, including texts from the Taishō shinshū daizōkyō, Zokuzōkyō, Jiaxing zang, and several other collections. Search online or download the desktop application.
- Chinese Medical ManuscriptsDigitized medical manuscripts from the Unschuld Collection at the Berlin State Library.
- Chinese Rare Book Digital Collection at the Library of CongressCollection of digitized Chinese rare books, includes Buddhist and Daoist materials.
- Chinese Religious Text AuthorityThe Chinese Religious Text Authority (CRTA) provides reliable bibliographic and academic information about Chinese religious texts, focusing on texts produced prior to 1949.
- Chinese Text ProjectThis database has a heavy focus on ancient Chinese texts (Warring States => Han) but also includes dynastic histories, literary collections, gazetteers, and canonical materials such as the Daozang.
- CUHK Daoist Text CollectionDaoist texts collected in Guangdong.
- Database of Medieval Chinese Dunhuang TextsDatabase of medieval Chinese texts from Dunhuang.
- Erudition Chinese ClassicsLarge database that includes the Siku quanshu, histories, Buddhist materials, local gazetteers, dictionaries, and other important sources. Select "Ancient Classics" and press the "Login" button.
- Harvard-Yenching collection of baojuanDigitized baojuan manuscripts from the Ming-Qing periods.
- Jodoshu zenshu text databaseDigital search interface for the Jodoshu zenshu.
- Kanseki RepositoryOpen access database offering full-text searching of a number of primary source and canonical collections, including the Siku quanshu, Taishō shinshū daizōkyō, Zhengtong Daozang, and others.
- National Archives of Japan Digital ArchiveIncludes many old and rare Chinese and Japanese books.
- Popular Literature and Folk Religion from ChinaWaseda University collection of rare digitized manuscripts including many baojuan.
- SAT Daizōkyō Text DatabaseSearch interface for the Taishō shinshū daizōkyō with built-in dictionary. Includes Japanese materials that were not incorporated into the CBETA collection.
- Scripta SinicaDatabase produced by Academia Sinica that features dynastic histories, literary collections, canonical religious texts such as the Da zangjing, Zhengtong Daozang, Daozang jiyao, and others.
- Shanben from the Tokyo University Institute of Oriental CultureDigital images of rare Chinese shanben.
- Temple Gazetteer ProjectDigitized and searchable archive of Chinese Buddhist monastery gazetteers.
- Vijñapti-Mātratā Text Database 唯識典籍數位資料庫Database of Chinese and Sanskrit texts related to the Vijñapti-Mātratā treatises.
- Wanli Da zangjingWanli printing of the Chinese Buddhist canon.
- Yogācārabhūmi Database 《瑜伽師地論》資料庫Database of Chinese, Sanskrit, and Tibetan editions of the Yogācārabhūmi and related texts.
