Dear Bryan,

thank you. That is excellent. There has been similar works in Asian scholarship too, particularly the Japanese and to a lesser extent the Taiwanese. Pardon me, but I could not produce a reading list now.

This is why it would be good if you can list the four text in the Chinese canon. It would be good too if you give the titles in English and Chinese [scripts] (please use Unicode, not Big5 or GB). At the same time, please also provide the edition of the Chinese canon you refer to. If the four texts are lengthy, say above 10,000 characters, please give more details to locate the specific section containing the Buddha's last words. Thank you.


metta,
Yong Peng.

--- In Pali@yahoogroups.com, Bryan Levman wrote:

There are seven sources of the Buddha's last words that I am aware of. Two in Indic languages (Pāli and Buddhist Sanskrit), one in the Tibetan Vinaya, and four in the Chinese canon.

There are also four Chinese versions which I have tentatively translated (my Chinese is not that great), but they by and large follow the Sanskrit. Since this is a Paali forum I will not burden the group with a translation of each one, unless it is wanted.