The Filiation of Phylogenetic Analysis in the Study of Tibetan Buddhist Canonical Texts.

Introduction to Digital Humanities: Buddhism

In this chapter I briefly explain the critical editing and restitution of Tibetan Buddhist canonical texts through the text critical analysis of manuscripts supported with computer technology. The chapter succinctly outlines the principles and methodology involved in applying phylogenetics to investigating the genealogy of texts found in Tibetan Kanjurs. In the following sections I discuss the current known history of Tibetan Kanjurs to account for the textual witnesses under philological consideration, outline the principles of text criticism for editing Tibetan versions of Buddhist canonical texts, and explain the method of applying phylogenetic analysis to critical editions of Tibetan texts. The chapter concludes with a brief example that illustrates the techniques involved in utilizing phylogenetic analysis in text criticism.

de Gruyter