Costantino Moretti 牟和諦
Buddhist Manuscript Cultures in Medieval China: Methodological Reflections and New Research Perspectives
The notion of “mistake” and that of “textual variant” share, at times, some ambiguities. By comparing several manuscripts containing the same Chinese Buddhist scripture, for example, it becomes apparent that a number of presumed variants in modern edited texts are in fact simple scribal copying errors. This presentation explores the mechanisms linked to the production of specific mistakes and textual alterations in Dunhuang manuscripts, which provide information of codicological interest, in particular on the formal characteristics of a manuscript archetype, on its production phases/techniques, and its formal evolution. It also draws attention to the importance of surveying the alterations in the arrangement of textual and paratextual elements by means of a structural analysis revealing manuscript filiation based on formal characteristics, a methodological approach that can help to explore not only the codicological evolution of a book in manuscript form, but also its textual ties with branches of a specific tradition, opening new research perspectives in this domain.