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Vol. 17, No. 3 (42)
Autumn 2020

Journal based in 2004
Issued quarterly

The entire issue as a *.PDF file

PUBLICATIONS
HISTORY, PHILOSOPHY, PHILOLOGY

Vasubandhu. [“The Great Compassion and the Perfections of All Buddhas”]. A Fragment of the Seventh Part of the Abhidharmakośabhāṣya. Introduction, translation from Sanskrit and notes by H. P. Ostrovskaia — 5
The paper presents a commented translation of the fragment “Jñāna-nirdeśa” (“The doctrine of knowledge”) from the seventh part of the exegetic compendium Abhidharmakośabhāṣya ascribed to the eminent medieval Buddhist thinker Vasubandhu (4th–5th centuries AD). The fragment can be used as a historical source for the study of evolution of the image of the Buddha in post-Canonical treatises where the real Śakyamuni was invested with the attributes of a transcendental object of religious cult. The text explicates the conceptual differences between the great compassion (mahākāruṇā), treated as the Buddha’s attribute, and compassion (kāruṇā) as a characteristic trait of enlightened ascetics (śravakas and pratyekabuddhas) and explains the postulate of identity of all buddhas’ perfections (the perfection of religious merits and knowledge, the perfection of the Dharmic body, the perfection of serving all sentient beings). This is the first translation based on the Sanskrit edition by P. Pradhan (Pradhan 1967: 414–416).
Key words: Buddhism in early medieval India, the Abhidharmakośabhāṣya, Vasubandhu, great compassion as the Buddha’s attribute, compassion as a trait of enlightened ascetics, identical perfections of all buddhas

RESEARCH WORKS
HISTORY, PHILOSOPHY, PHILOLOGY

Gulbakhrem M. Molotova, Elvira M. Molotova. The Quṭb al-‘alām Degree of the Sufis according to the Tadhkira-yi Khwāja Quṭb ad-dīn ‘Irāqī — 16
The authors of the article studied a copy of the hagiographical Tadhkira-yi Khwāja Quṭb ad-dīn ‘Irāqī housed at the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts, RAS, St. Petersburg. On the basis of the data from this source, the relationships between the Sufis of Naqshbandiya in Central Asia and some aspects of the tradition of knowledge inheritance are considered. Emphasis is placed on the Quṭb al-‘alām degree of the Sufis, which is revealed in the Tadhkira. The value of this copy also lies in the fact that it contains information on the tradition of Uvaysiya, popular in Eastern Turkestan.
Key words: interrelations between the Sufis, Tadhkira, lists, Uvays, Naqshbandiya, Central Asia, Eastern Turkestan

Marina Ye. Kravtsova. On Collections of the Chu Verses (chuci) of the 3rd–10th Centuries — 25
The article deals with factual data on chuci (verses of Chu) collections, presented in the bibliographical treatises from the official historiographic works Suishu (Book of Sui), Jiutangshu (Old Book of Tang) and Xintangshu (New Book of Tang). Although most of the texts there recorded were irretrievably lost, the available information about the genre enables us to assume, firstly, a further growth in the popularity of chuci poetry in the spiritual life of the 3rd–6th centuries and among a variety of groups of educated people: from court scholars to literati, who preferred a free-from-service lifestyle, and, secondly, the existence of a series of different versions of the Chuci collections. Thirdly, we may assume the formation of the commentary school of chuci, within which the most important directions of the future studies in the area have emerged.
Key words: Chinese poetry, verses, Chuci collections, Six Dynasties epoch, Tang epoch, bibliographical treatises, Suishu, Jiutangshu, Xintangshu

Stanislav M. Prozorov. An Arab-Islamic Lexicon of Russian Academic Islamic Studies (A Project) — 34
The structure of the proposed publication: The introductory part, where the author examines the necessity of the unification of Arab-Islamic terminology in Russian Academic Islamic studies as a step on the way to the proper understanding and translation of Arab-Islamic lexicon and as a measure contributing to the improvement of professional knowledge of Islam. Two subject-matter parts contain a database of Arab-Islamic vocabulary, prepared on the basis of the contents of original Arab- Islamic sources and presented in the form of two tables, in which the selected terminology is presented in Arabic script, Cyrillic alphabet and Latin transliteration, with an appended Russian translation.
Key words: academic Islamic studies, Arab-Islamic sources, classification of Islamic sciences, Islam, Sufism, unification of Arab-Islamic terminology in Russian literature.

HISTORY AND HISTORIOGRAPHY
TEXTOLOGY, CODICOLOGY, PALEOGRAPHY, ARCHEOGRAPHY

Tatiana I. Vinogradova, Ekaterina A. Zavidovskaia. Preliminary Findings about the “Okulich” Collection of Chinese Popular Prints (MAE No. 3676) in the Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (The Kunstkamera) — 68
There are several collections of Chinese popular woodblock prints nianhua in the fund of the Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography, Russian Academy of Sciences (the Kunstkamera) acquired from different collectors. The paper addresses the so-called “Okulich” collection (MAE No. 3676) consisting of 250 original titles, most of which possess undoubted artistic value. According to the dated sheets, the prints were produced in the last years of the 19th century, and no later than 1904. We only know that, in 1928, a man named Okulich donated these prints to the Kunstkamera. Two groups of paintings from this collection are discussed in more detail: a series of prints that represent illustrations for the main Chinese textbook The Thousand Character Essay (Qian zi wen), and those named xiaojiaochang nianhua printed in Shanghai in the early 20th century. Their scrutiny allows us to conclude that the collector was both serious and skillful in selecting sheets for this collection: apart from being fluent in Chinese, he was a connoisseur of Chinese traditional culture and lived in China for a long time. We discovered a large family with surname Okulich who lived in China in the first half of the last century, and contacted a member of this family, but she was unable to help us with identifying the potential collector.
Key words: the Kunstkamera, Okulich, Chinese popular prints nianhua, The Thousand Character Essay, illustrations, Shanghai prints Xiaojiaochang nianhua, Russians in China

Mark A. Kozintcev. Turkic Poetic Passages Written in Uyghur Vertical Script from the Collection of the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts, RAS — 90
The article contains photos housed at the Photograph Collection of the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts RAS (folder “Appendix No. 2”, shelf mark ФВ-277/10) and their description. The photos feature short texts written in Uyghur vertical script on the margins of an unknown manuscript. The language of the manuscript itself is unknown, although some photos let us presume that it used the Arabic script. The texts on the photos are accompanied by their transcriptions in Cyrillic and Arabic letters made by W. Radloff. Examination of the verses has shown that they belong to several authors, including masters of medieval Turkic poetry.
Key words: manuscript fragments, Oriental poetry, Kamran Mirza, Ali Shir Nava’i, Haydar Tilbe

Youli A. Ioannesyan. Three Important Sources for the Study of Shaykhism and Early Babism — 100
The ground for the Babi Faith (Babism) as an independent religious system was laid by Shaikhism, an esoteric Shi’ih school. A great role in this process was played by one of the prominent Shaykhi theologists and religious thinkers Sayid Kazim Rashti. He developed certain concepts which, apart from being revolutionary for Islam, paved the way for Babism to some extent, while many of his disciples made up the ranks of the first Babis. The article considers three sources which reveal the crucial factors of this process from the theological standpoint as well as focuses on the transformation of the mindset of some of Sayid Kazim’s prominent disciples into the Babi worldview.
Key words: the Babi Faith, Babism, Shaykhism, Shaykh Ahmad Ahsa’i, Sayid Kazim Rashti

Dimitri V. Pirbari, Nodar Z. Mossaki. The Hymn of P’īr Dāwid (Qawlē Pīr Dāwid) — 115
The article publishes and analyzes a Yezidi sacred hymn — The Hymn of P’īr Dāwid (Qawlē P’īr Dāwid) in Kurmanji with a translation into Russian, which was carried out for the first time. P’īr Dāwid is one of the companions of the main Yezidi saint — Sheikh ˈAdī. The authors verify their version of the hymn (Qawl) with previously published in Kurmanji and English, correct existing errors and clarify the terminology. They also point out the historical data found in this religious hymn.
Key words: Yezidism, Yezidis, Sheikh ˈAdī, P’īr Dāwid, ʿImād al-Dīn Zangī, Qawls

COLLECTIONS AND ARCHIVES

Th. I. Stcherbarsky’s Letters to I. P. Minaev (1890). Preface, publication, commentaries by Tatiana V. Ermakova — 127
Letters by Th. I. Stcherbatsky (1866–1941) to his teacher I. P. Minaev (1840–1890) were addressed to Pou resort, France and dated January–March 1890. The preface to the publication analyzes important aspects: the university life and circumstances, scientific plans of the young Stcherbartsky. It expounds, for the first time, his attitude to the system of local self-government in rural regions (zemstvo). This publication explains the early period of Th. Stcherbatsky’s biography and is thus an important contribution to historical studies of the period. Letters by Th. Stcherbatsky are housed at the personal archive of I. P. Minaev at the Archives of the Orientalists at the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts, RAS. They are being published for the first time.
Key words: Archives of the Orientalists IOM RAS, Th. Stcherbarsky, I. P. Minaev, S. F. Oldenburg, D. N. Kudriavsky

“I’m Doing Well in the Center of Siberian World under Strict Police Supervision…”: F. I. Knauer’ Letters from His Tomsk Exile in 1915–1917. Part 1 (Letters 1–7). Preface, publication and commentaries by Elena N. Gruzdeva — 137
The article introduces the letters of the Professor of Kiev University, Sanskrit scholar Fyodor Ivanovich (Friedrich) Knauer (1849–1917) sent by him to his colleague, philologist Vladimir Nikolaevich Peretz. They are now housed at the Personal Fund of V. N. Peretz in the Russian State Archive of Literature and Art (RGALI. Fond 1277. Inv. 1. F. 35). This set of letters is undoubtedly of great importance because, among other things, we have no other surviving epistolary heritage of the scholar. Revealing the author’s personality, the letters (there are only 21 of them) acquaint us to some extent with his inner world. Until recently, F. I. Knauer’s biography, especially the years of his exile, was full of blank spots which we can finally fill. The entire sequence of events relating to Knauer’s arrest, up to his arrival in Tomsk and life in Siberia, is presented by him as an uninterrupted narrative. The letters give us an idea of relations between the scholar, when he was out of favor, and his colleagues, friends, common people, local and higher authorities. They provide reliable documentary evidence of the terrible misfortune of a sincere person, who fell a victim to a complicated political period. The letters may also be regarded as sketches of Siberians’ everyday life. The present article includes 7 letters out of 21, the others are to be published in the next issue of the Journal.
Key words: epistolary heritage, Sanskrit scholar F. I. Knauer, anti-German sentiment of 1914, political exile, Tomsk, Academy of Sciences, V. N. Peretz

ACADEMIC LIFE

Tatiana V. Ermakova. A Review of the “Current Problems of Buddhist Studies–7, 8” Conferences’ Agendas (St. Petersburg, February 2019 — June 2019) — 157

REVIEWS

Bertova A. D. Christians in Japan: Experience of Historico-Religious Analysis. St. Petersburg: Nauka, 2017. 318 pp. (Vadim Yu. Klimov) — 163

I. N. Medvedskaia. The History of the Median Kingdom: the 7th–6th Centuries B. C. St. Petersburg: Eurasia, 2018. 322 pp. (Nelly V. Kozyreva) — 170