INSTITUT F�R KULTUR- UND GEISTESGESCHICHTE ASIENS

RESEARCH INSTITUTE FOR THE CULTURAL AND INTELLECTUAL HISTORY OF ASIA,
VIENNA

The "Institut f�r Kultur- und Geistesgeschichte Asiens / Research Institute
for the Cultural and Intellectual History of Asia" was founded on November
29, 1991 by a Resolution of the Plenary Meeting of the Austrian Academy of
Sciences. The Institute's main task consists of research work in the field
of the history of civilization and thought of Asia.
Research is carried out within the following four departments: "South Asia"
(including the Indian sphere of influence), "Studies in Buddhism" (with
special reference to India and Tibet), "East Asia" (China and Japan), and
"Religion and Interreligious Communication". The research, although
primarily the product of individual effort, is also pursued in the sphere
of inter and multidisciplinary cooperation.

By Ernst Prets

Within the division "South Asia", research deals with the terminology of
Indian epistemology, logic, and methodology. The division "Studies in
Buddhism" is dedicated to investigation of the epistemological-logical
school of Buddhism in India and Tibet. Research in the field of "Religion
and Interreligious Communication" includes the terminological and
conceptual study of the phenomenon of religion in general and the religions
of South and Southeastern Asia in particular. Within the department "East
Asia", research focuses on both the social history and on the history of
the ideas about old age and the description of living conditions of the
elderly in pre-industrial Japan. Work on Chinese historical sources of the
Quing Dynasty is also in progress.

SOUTH ASIAN STUDIES
These studies include research work on Indian epistemology, logic, and
methodology using philological-historical methods. Since 1983, work has
concentrated on the preparation of a historical dictionary of Indian logic
and epistemology from their beginnings to A.D.1400.
The first fruits of this project on Indian logic and epistemology (which
aims to treat of some 3000 lemmata), the first volume of a specialized
dictionary dealing with the earliest methodological, dialectical,
epistemological, and logical terminology before Dign�ga (about A.D.500)
entitled "Terminologie der fr�hen philosophischen Scholastik in Indien. Ein
Begriffsw�rterbuch zur altindischen Dialektik, Erkenntnislehre und
Methodologie. Band I. A-I", was published 1991. The second volume is to be
completed in 1995.

STUDIES IN BUDDHISM
In recent years research has concentrated on the following subjects:
firstly the investigation of Buddhist schools of epistemology and logic in
India and Tibet by means of critical text-editions, translations, and
annotations as well as their systematic and historical study and, also the
examination of the adoption of Buddhism in Tibet and of the relevant
polemic literature. In addition, a historical study about the literary
sources of Tibetan art traditions has been completed.
At present, a study on the Buddhist refutation of proofs for existence of
God is in progress. This consists of a critical text-edition and the
translation of �ankaranandana's (10th century) ��var�p�karanasamksepa
("Summary of the Refutation of God"), accompanied by an incomplete,
anonymous commentary. The object is to attempt to date its author and to
clarify the philosophical and historical position of �ankaranandana's work.
This study will be accompanied by detailed indexes. Furthermore, an edition
and translation of sTag tshan lo tsa bas' Rig gnas kun �es nas bdag med
grub pa las Tshad ma rig pa, an early 15th century essay on the purpose of
epistemology and the development of the epistemological-logical school, is
in progress.
Besides this, Erich Frauwallner's "Abhidharmastudien" will be translated
into English in the project "Erich Frauwallner, Selected Studies in the
History of Buddhist Philosophy". Preparations are also continuing for the
"7th Seminar of the International Association for Tibetan Studies" which
will take place in 1995, are also well in hand.

STUDIES IN RELIGION AND INTERRELIGIOUS COMMUNICATION
Research within this division consists of the conceptual and philological
study of the phenomenon of religion in general and the religions of South
and Southeastern Asia in particular. The emphasis lies on the creation of a
philosophically and theologically reflected basis for interreligious
communication. Studies are concentrated on the two main streams within
Hinduism, namely Visnuism and �ivaism, and on the Tantristic trends within
Buddhism. Within �ivaism, the focus is on the school of the P��upatas and
the �aiva Tantras; within Visnuism, the area of specialization is that of
the South Indian philosophico-theological school of Vi�ist�dvaita-Ved�nta
and its religio-ritual base, the P��car�tra (emphasis on temple ritual).
Another area of research, which also includes reference to Southeast Asia,
is the study of Buddhist and Hinduist Tantrism as well as its syncretistic
forms in India, Tibet, and Java.

SINOLOGICAL STUDIES
At present, a project entitled "History of the Dsungars" is in progress.
Its aim is the translation and classification of those texts of the Qing
Shilu - the most extensive collection of sources of the Qing - concerning
the wars between the Chinese imperial court and the West Mongolian Dsungars
at the end of the 17th century. 

JAPANESE STUDIES
Within this division, research has been focused on studies of the
historical as well as the  actual living conditions of the elderly in
pre-industrial Japan. An analysis of the sources of the Japanese antiquity
on these subjects is in the press. A study on this aspect of the Japanese
Middle Ages will be completed within the year. In the course of a
multidisciplinary conference in Autumn 1994, the significance of old age in
historical traditions and in various other Asian cultures will be treated
comparatively. The volume "Japanese Biographies: Life Histories, Life
Cycles, Life Stages"  is and attempt to take stock of research on the
organization of the stages of life.
The study of historical Japanese conceptions of the hereafter has become a
new focus of research. Medieval and modern representations of the hereafter
have been iconagraphically analyzed and interpreted. Simultaneously, an
attempt has been made to find explanations for these within the religious
and social development of the appearance of new artistic representations,
firstly with respect to the idea of special hells for women and children.
The department is also engaged on the compilation of a up-to-date and
comprehensive bibliography of German language publications on Japan
published after 1980. The data for the third volume dealing with the years
1990 - 1991 is nearing completion. 

STAFF
Prof. Gerhard Oberhammer, director; Prof.Ernst Steinkellner,
deputy-director; Susanne Formanek M.A., Japanologist; Dr. Helmut Krasser,
Tibetologist, Dr. Max Nihom, Indologist, Bernd Scheid M.A., Japanologist;
Dr. Sylvia Stark, Indologist; Dr. Ernst Prets, Indologist; Dr. Wolfgang
Romanovsky, Sinologist

INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION
1.Contract between the International Institute for Asian Studies (Prof.
Stokhof) and the Institut f�r Kultur- und Geistesgeschichte Asiens,
February 2, 1994
2.Accord on scientific cooperation between the Centre National de la
Recherche (France) and the �sterreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften

BOOKS PUBLISHED SINCE 1991
Formanek, S. und S. Linhart (eds.), Japanese Biographies: Life Histories,
Life Cycles, Life Stages (Beitr�ge zur Kultur- und Geistesgeschichte Asiens
Nr. 11), Wien 1992, 299 S.
Much, M.T., Dharmak�rtis V�dany�yah, Teil I und II (Ver�ffentlichen der
Kommission f�r Sprachen und Kulturen S�dasiens Nr. 25) Wien 1991
Oberhammer, G. und Ch. Werba (ed.), Erich Frauwallner, Nachgelassene Werke
II, (Ver�ffentlichungen der Kommission f�r Sprachen und Kulturen S�dasiens
Nr. 26) Wien 1992.
Prets, E., Der Beweis bei Bh�sarvaj�a, Dissertation zur Erlangung des
Doktorgrades an der Geisteswissenschaftlichen Fakult�t der Universit�t
Wien. Wien 1992.
Steinkellner, E. (ed.), Studies in the Buddhist Epistemological Tradition,
Proceedings of the Second International Dharmak�rti Conference, Vienna,
June 11-16, 1989 (Beitr�ge zur Kultur- u. Geistesgeschichte 8) Wien 1991.
Wiener Zeitschrift f�r die Kunde S�dasiens und Archiv f�r Indische
Philosophie. Herausgegeben von Gerhard Oberhammer. Band 35 - 37, Wien 1991
- 1993.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Austrian Academy of Science
Research Institute for the Cultural and Intellectual History of Asia
Postgasse 7/4/3 
A-1010 Vienna 
Austria
Tel: +43-222-51581 415/420