Re: Romanization, East vs. West

>>The blanket judgement that many academics offer that all Asian
>>editions are "full of errors" is really prejudicial and false...
>>
> Here I would like to pick up a problem; what is the hallmark of a
> "critical edition" ...

Bhante, while the 6th council edition from Burma is legendary, it is *not*
the only critical edition to be produced in Asia: the Royal editions of
Thailand described in my last message, and various editions of Sri Lanka,
India (Maha Bodhi Society, etc.), all meet these criteria as "critical
editions".  There is the separate question as to whether errors are
introduced in typesetting --and I would say this is a problem in both East
and West.  At any rate, living traditions in all Theravada countries have
continued to produced critical editions and other scholarship unto the
present day; and, again, there is much more of this than the west could ever
produce.  The intellectual isolation that has been forced upon monks in
Burma is indeed very unfortunate (although, I believe, these are even more
desperate times to be a layperson in Burma) --when/if the country opens up
again, I think Westerners will find that Ledi Sayadaw (one of the few
Burmese masters published and known in English) was not the only
intellectual monk of his generation.  (Incidentally, I would encourage
anyone/everyone to judge Ledi Sayadaw's work by the primary sources only,
and not the second hand reports/interpretations offered by some of the
lay-preachers of our day).

> The real editorial work was done in */nissaya/s*. It was up to/ nissaya/
> authors to seek out various sources, to collate them, to pick up the
> best readings out of variant ones, and to explain how and why a
> particular reading was better than others.

Yes indeed --and these Nissayas are only available as manuscripts.  Thus,
all the more reason for western scholars to learn to read Pali in the local
script!  Enough said.

> The earlier printed editions were not better than their manuscript
> counterparts. They were made from one or two manuscripts that could be
> found and their editors were just proof readers.

The same could be said of many western editions!

In reply to Ong Teng Kee:
  I do not think I will bore everyone by repeating the (supposed) merits of
my book.  However, the text I am producing is a general textbook, including
a new edition of Mason's textbook (which is closely based on Kaccayana) and
the original text of Kaccayana, typeset in classical-literary Sinhalese &
also Burmese script.  It is a very different book, both in appearance and in
function, from Pind's work --the latter is an experimental reconstruction of
the text based on a Sri Lankan commentary, and is Romanized, and will only
be of use to a small number of scholars (myself included!) and will not,
e.g., alleviate the dire need for (affordable/free) Pali textbooks in Laos
and Cambodia.  Thus, in priority, purpose, and substance, Pind and I are
working on very different projects.

E.M.

--
A saying of the Buddha from http://metta.lk/
Get your Dhamma Books from http://books.metta.lk/
One should not strike a Brahmana, nor should a Brahmana vent (his wrath) on
one who has struck him. Shame on him who strikes a Brahmana! More shame on
him who gives vent (to his wrath)!
Random Dhammapada Verse 389