Die lHan kar ma

The lHan kar ma is one of three 9th century Tibetan catalogues enumerating Tibetan translations of Buddhist texts. The list contains about 750 titles and was written in 812 AD on behalf of the Tibetan king in order to get an overview of the translations already existing. Together with the second exstant catalogue, the 'Phang thang ma, the lHan kar ma is an important source for the literary history of Buddhist texts in India and Asia. In the 14th century, the Tibetan scholar Bu ston Rin chen grub used the lHan kar ma as a model and source text for creating and structuring the Tibetan Buddhist canonical collections of bKa' 'gyur and bsTan 'gyur. This volume contains the first critical edition of the lHan kar ma, using the five most widely used bsTan 'gyur editions and abiding by the serial numbers given by Marcelle Lalou. Each text title is completed by an apparatus containing numbers of all text versions of the respective title in the Dunhuang collections of Paris and London, in the 'Phang thang ma, in the canon catalogues by Bu ston and in Tibetan and Chinese editions of the Buddhist canon including the rNying ma rgyud 'bum, followed, where necessary, by a discussion of the identification of the respective catalogue entry with existing texts. The book begins with an extensive introduction about the historical context of the lHan kar ma, its structure and its text stock as well as extensive registers and indexes.