About

Table of Contents

1. Purpose

This site publishes the “Taishō Shinshū Daizōkyō Base and Collation Texts Database.” It systematically organizes bibliographic information on materials used as base texts and collation texts (comparison texts) in compiling the Taishō Shinshū Daizōkyō (the Taishō Tripiṭaka), focusing on the Chinese portions (Volumes 1–55).

This database presents, in an integrated manner, bibliographic information and institutional holdings information for manuscripts and printed editions consulted in compiling the Taishō Tripiṭaka, as well as related images and text data, thereby visualizing— from a bibliographical perspective—what materials each scripture was based on.
As a result, users can confirm base- and collation-text information for each scripture and conduct comparative examination while accessing the original materials.

Furthermore, by including materials that were not used for collation despite being included in the Taishō Tripiṭaka (uncollated materials), as well as witnesses of scriptures not included in the Taishō Tripiṭaka (non-included materials), we are building a digital foundation for Buddhist textual materials that is not confined to the traditional framework of the “Taishō Tripiṭaka.”

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2. Overview

① About the Taishō Tripiṭaka

The Taishō Tripiṭaka is a collection of Buddhist scriptures published in Japan between 1922 and 1934. It consists of 100 volumes and contains 3,493 works in 13,520 fascicles. To this day, it has been widely used as a standard text for Buddhist studies. In compiling it, collation was carried out using manuscripts and printed editions transmitted both within Japan and abroad as base texts and collation texts.

 

② On the Base and Collation Texts of the Taishō Tripiṭaka

In compiling the scriptures included in the Taishō Tripiṭaka, one text was selected as the base text and several other texts were used as collation texts (comparison texts). Information on the base and collation texts used for each scripture is recorded in the Taishō Shinshū Daizōkyō Kan’dō Mokuroku (in Shōwa Hōbō Sōmokuroku, vol. 1, pp. 153–656; hereafter “Kan’dō Mokuroku”) and in the footnotes to Volumes 1–55 of the Taishō Tripiṭaka.

This database collects, cross-checks, and integrates the base- and collation-text information recorded in the Kan’dō Mokuroku and in the footnotes. This enables users to grasp, at a glance, the composition of base and collation texts used in compiling each scripture.

Conceptual image of the Taishō Tripiṭaka Base and Collation Texts Database

③ On Bibliographic Data, Images, and Texts

For materials used as base and collation texts, we prepare bibliographic data based on bibliographic surveys conducted at holding institutions. We also digitize images and full text as much as possible so that they can be consulted within the database. For materials that have already been digitized and made publicly available by external institutions, we interlink databases so that users can access the original materials directly.

 

④ On Expanding the Scope of Coverage

This database also includes witnesses that were not used for collation in the compilation of the Taishō Tripiṭaka (uncollated materials), as well as witnesses of scriptures not included in the Taishō Tripiṭaka (non-included materials). In this way, we are developing a research infrastructure that goes beyond identifying base- and collation-text configurations within the Taishō Tripiṭaka, and also takes into view materials situated around that corpus.

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3. Main Features

In addition to organizing base- and collation-text information, this database provides the following features to support research use.

  • Systematic display of base and collation text information
    For each scripture, base and collation text information can be checked at the levels of scripture, textual witness, and individual fascicle/volume.
  • Comparative viewing of witness images
    With a single click, images of multiple textual witnesses can be opened and viewed side by side for simultaneous reference and comparison.
  • Interlinking with external databases
    We interlink with image and text databases published by external institutions so that users can access relevant materials directly.
  • Bibliographical research bibliography
    We provide bibliographical references for each scripture and textual witness, enabling users to consult research outcomes on textual lineages and transmission history. Please note that this feature is currently under development, beginning with a limited set of scriptures, and the scope and contents will be expanded progressively.

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4. Data Sources

The main sources for the data included in this database are as follows. For databases created and published by external institutions, we provide guidance to pages regarding their Terms of Use and Secondary Use Policy.

① Individual volumes of the Taishō Tripiṭaka

  • We organized information on the volume in which each scripture is included, its division, distribution number, and publication date.
  • We checked the footnotes throughout and extracted information regarding the base and collation texts for each scripture.

 

② Kan’dō Mokuroku (Catalogue of the Collations)

  • We organized information on the titles of scriptures included in the Taishō Tripiṭaka (including readings in multiple languages, variant and abbreviated titles), number of fascicles, compilers/authors (including their active dynasty), locations within various canons (Koryŏ, Song, Yuan, Ming Canons; Reduced-Size Edition (Shukusatsuzō); Manji Canon; and the Nanjō Catalogue (NJ)), as well as information on base and collation texts.
  • We digitized the entire first edition (privately held) of the Kan’dō Mokuroku and made it available via IIIF.

 

③ SAT Taishō Tripiṭaka Text Database, 2018 Edition (SAT 2018)

  • We provide links to the opening portions of the Taishō Tripiṭaka text data and page images for each volume.
  • For SAT’s Terms of Use, see here.

 

④ “Three Editions of Buddhist Sacred Canons stored at Zojoji (増上寺三大蔵)” Digital Archive

  • For the Three Editions of Buddhist Sacred Canons stored at Zojoji (the Koryŏ recarved edition Buddhist Canon, the Song Sixi edition Buddhist Canon, and the Yuan Puning Temple edition Buddhist Canon), we interlink with the image database published in the “Three Editions of Buddhist Sacred Canons stored at Zojoji” Digital Archive and provide links to relevant materials.
  • For Terms of Use and Secondary Use, please refer to “Secondary use of images of the Three Editions (三大蔵画像の二次利用について)” within the archive’s “zojoji_sandaizo/about” page.

 

⑤ Ming Jiaxing edition held by Yūren-ja (formerly the Hōon-zō of Zojoji)

 

⑥ The “Kyūhon (宮本)” in the Catalogue of Chinese Classics held by the Imperial Household Agency Archives and Mausolea Department

 

⑦ Materials held by university libraries

 

⑧ Shigeo Kamata et al. (eds.), Complete Encyclopedia of the Buddhist Canon (Yūzankaku, Aug. 1998)

  • We consulted this work in collecting information on alternative titles, number of fascicles, and names of translators/authors for each scripture.

 

⑨ Chinese Buddhist Canonical Attributions database (CBC)

  • For scriptures included in the Taishō Tripiṭaka, we provide links to research information registered in CBC concerning each scripture’s author(s), translator(s), and estimated date of composition, among other data.

 

⑩ Authority Database of Buddhist Tripiṭaka Catalogues

  • We provide links to relevant pages by referencing each scripture’s “Authority id” (scripture ID) and information on compilers/authors/translators registered in the Authority Database of Buddhist Tripiṭaka Catalogues.

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5. Update History

This database was first released to the public in July 2021. Since then, we have expanded the database by adding basic and bibliographic information and images, and by improving the system; in September 2024 we implemented interlinking with the “Buddhist Texts Bibliographic Database.” Following further user-interface enhancements and other improvements, a fourth major update was released in February 2026.

We will continue to add bibliographic data, images, and text on a rolling basis. Major updates will be announced on the Toyo Bunko website and within this database.

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6. Project Team

Members of this JSPS KAKENHI project are as follows.

Principal Investigator

Co-Investigators

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7. Research Outputs Related to This Project

Major research outputs that formed the basis of this project’s conception and data development are as follows.

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8. Acknowledgments

For the digitization and publication of the Yūren-ja materials, we are deeply grateful to Chief Priest Shōken Aoki and Deputy Chief Priest Akihiro Hosokawa of Yūren-ja for their generous consideration and cooperation.

For interlinking with the “Three Editions of Buddhist Sacred Canons stored at Zojoji (増上寺三大蔵)” Digital Archive, we received approval following deliberations conducted by Zojoji and the Jodo Shu Planning and Coordination Office (浄土宗企画調整室). We also thank Shunken Saitō (Senior Research Fellow, Jodo Shu Research Institute) for his cooperation in implementing the database linkage.

We thank Daizō Shuppan Co., Ltd. for recognizing the public value of this database and granting permission to publish the Kan’dō Mokuroku digitally.

We thank the libraries of Ōtani University, Ryūkoku University, and Taishō University for their cooperation in bibliographic surveys and document reproduction of manuscripts and printed editions in their collections, and for permitting digital publication within this database.

For interlinking with the Chinese Buddhist Canonical Attributions database (CBC), we obtained the kind permission of Professor Michael Radich (Heidelberg University).

We also acknowledge the contributions of Kōsuke Fujimoto (then a graduate student at Meiji University) to the addition of basic information (FY2021–2023) and to making the Yūren-ja image data IIIF-compliant.

We express our sincere gratitude to all those involved.

This database was created with support from JSPS KAKENHI Grant Numbers 18K00073, 21H04345, and 25H00464.

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  • (1) The “Catalogue of Chinese Classics held by the Imperial Household Agency Archives and Mausolea Department” forms part of the results of JSPS KAKENHI Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (A), “Reexamination of the provenance of classical Chinese books in the Imperial Household Agency Archives and Mausolea Department: Towards the construction of a digital archive” (PI: Tomohiko Sumiyoshi, 24242009, FY2012–2016), and Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (A), “The reconstruction and dissemination of the Edo shogunate Momijiyama Bunko: Philology through digitization of classical Chinese texts in the Imperial Household Agency Archives and Mausolea Department” (same PI, 20H00013, FY2020–2024). Aitani, the PI of this database project, also participated as a Co-Investigator and was responsible for compiling the bibliography of the Kyūhon. For the bibliography of the Kyūhon, see the catalogue section “III Song Editions,” entry “38. [Buddhist Canon] (also known as Yi qie jing) 1,454 titles in 5,733 fascicles, plus Zihan shiyin 532 fascicles,” in Zushoryō Kanseki Sōkō (図書寮漢籍叢考), ed. Research Group on the Chinese Classics in the Imperial Household Agency Archives and Mausolea Department (Kyūko Shoin, March 2018). Back