Buddhism/Catalogs

Collections of authoritative literature

There is no complete translation of any of these in any Western language.

Southern branch

Burma, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia; neighbouring parts of Bangladesh, China, Vietnam, Malaysia; Ceylon. Language: Pali.

• Pali Canon; regarded as the Word of the Buddha
• commentaries
• subcommentaries (i.e. commentaries on commentaries)

Northern branch

Tibet, Bhutan, Mongolia; neighbouring parts of India, Nepal, China, Russia; Kalmykia.

• Kanjur: Tibetan translations of Indian texts regarded as the Word of the Buddha
• Tenjur: Tibetan translations of Indian texts not so regarded (including soem works of Indian missionaries written in Tibet)
• Nyingma Gyuwum: texts similar to both the above, but recognized only by the Nyingma school

Eastern branch

China, Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Singapore. Here, the standard collection is the Taisho Shinshu Daizokyo, which includes

• Chinese translations of Indian texts regarded as the Word of the Buddha
• Chinese translations of Indian texts not so regarded
• Chinese texts
• Japanese texts

These are not grouped in separate sections.

In addition, major divisions of Japanese Buddhism have produced collected editions of literature important to them, overlapping the above.