It is recorded in Mahayanottara Tantra Shastra (Supreme Continuum of the Greater Vehicle) that all things relating to Dharma can relieve distress from the three realms and result in Parinirvana (extreme still- ness and extinction) as in the Buddha's sayings. The discourses attributed to the Buddha of complete enlightenment are called ka(bkav) (the Buddha's words). The Buddhist canon that contains the translated discourses of the Buddha is called Kangyur (lit. the translated discourses attributed to the Buddha). The new edition of Kangyur published by the Bureau for the Collation of Tripitaka under China Tibetology Research Center was based on eight earlier editions, with the Derge edition as the original work and the other seven for reference.

　　　　
Microfilm of Kangyur (Litang edition)

(P.S. Click on the picture to see large version)

There were altogether thirteen editions of Tibetan Kangyur(bkav-vgyur). Now only eight editions (of Derge, Yongle, Litang, Beijing, Nartang, Jone, Kure and Lhasa) exist. Besides them, the Wanli Kangyur is a reprint of the Yongle edition, the Chamdo or Yachang Kangyur is based on the Lhasa shol edition, and the Rega and Wara editions are based on the Derge edition. So they are not worthy of consideration. Only the title pages remain of other editions owing to changes of situation. The Derge cinnabar edition features distinctive characteristics; it was clearly printed, had few mistakes and was almost complete. Therefore the Derge edition was taken as the original edition and the other seven ones for reference only. The revised edition was made through collation between the Derge edition and other editions. Differences between them in volume, chapter, character, sentence and order, as well as mistakes in order and redundancy were recorded. In a word, the revised edition is completely based on the original text without any wild guesses, and it is convenient to read and consult. The revised edition is better in quality and completeness than the earlier texts and is currently the best available.

1. A brief introduction to the different editions of Kangyur

1. Yongle edition of Kangyur.

The best-known Yongle edition of Kangyur was the cinnabar edition of, based on the Tsalpa edition of and published in Nanjing in the eighth year of the Yongle period of the Ming dynasty (the metal-tiger year of the seventh cycle of Tibetan calendar, 141o) by Ming emperor Yongle. When the block printing of Kangyur was finished, the emperor wrote two eulogies for it: "Eulogy to the Kangyur Published by the Great Ming Emperor" and "Eulogy Granted to the Kangyur by the Great Ming Emperor." The Chinese originals of the eulogies and their Tibetan translation were printed on the first few pages of the book. At the beginning of each sutra were the following words, "I am grateful to my imperial father and mother who have given birth to me and brought me up, and I seek a way to return their kindness. So I sent people to the western region to take back Tibetan sutras, and had the sutras printed for publication. All living beings in the world will endlessly benefit from it. The merit it brings to us can not be described in words ... 1 wrote the preface to praise it in order that it will be passed on forever." The two eulogies were written on March 9, 1410 (the eighth year of Yongle period of the Ming dynasty). The Yongle edition of Kangyur has two catalogues, one in Chinese and the other Tibetan. The Tibetan catalogue is entitled "Catalogue of the Sutra of Buddha Tathagata, Sugata." The catalogue does not include the name of its author, or any mention of its source, edition or printing. It says: "The catalogue is made on the basis of Tibetan master Buton's classification of the five major and five minor branches of knowledge, contents of sutras, Mahayana, Hinayana and Tantra, as well as the translators' names." Thus it can be seen that this catalogue was based on that of The History of Buddhism by Buton(bu-ston). According to some Tibetan historical books, the Yongle,edition of Kangyur was printed from a copperplate. It was also said that the Kangyur was printed from copperplate in the Han areas., Actually it was block-printing. These sources confused the block printing with printing in cinnabar. The Potala and the Sera monastery each had a copy of this Kangyur. The former was the Kangyur given by the emperor Yongle to Sakya ruling lama Kunga Drashi. The Kangyur was kept in the Potala during the Cultural Revolution. It is said that two cases were absent in the Kangyur. The emperor gave the latter to Tsongkhapa's disciple Jamchen Chorje (Shakya Yeshe). Besides, another set of the Kangyur of Yongle edition was found in Labrang monastery of Gansu at the beginning of the first century.

As to the editorial arrangement, the Yongle edition of Kangyur begins with the Phala-vajra-yana or esoteric sect. The Yongle Kangyur has io6 cases, consisting of 24 cases of Tantra, 24 cases of Prajnaparamita sutra, six cases of Mahavaipulya, six cases of Maharatnakuta-sutra, 32 cases of Exoteric sutra, and 13 cases of Vinaya-sutra as well as a case for the catalogue. On the title page of each case are portraits of the Ten-Dhyani Buddhas, the Seven Buddhas, the Thirty-five Tathagatas, the Eight Tathagatas, and the Eight Disciples, as well as peaceful and wrathful portraits of Tutelary-deities of Upper and Lower Tantra. The Yongle Kangyur is characterized by being published earlier than other editions, and was the first of all Tibetan editions of Kangyur.

2. Litang edition of Kangyur.

The Litang edition of Kangyur, or Lijiang edition, was published by the Lijiang Tusi (headman) Senglong Rabten. The woodcarving began in the 36th year of the Wanli period of Ming emperor Shenzong (the Earth-monkey year of the loth year of the Tibetan calendar, or 19o8) and completed in the first year of Tianqi period of Ming emperor Xizong (the yin metal-cock year of Tibetan calendar, or August 1621). Then the wood-plates were moved to Litang monastery, so the edition was called "Lijiang edition" or "Litang cin-nabar edition."

The origin of Litang edition of Kangyur was that Chokyi Wangchuk, the 6th ruling lama of the Karma Kagyu Red Hat sect, when he practiced Buddhism at Tsari lake, asked Lijiang Tusi (headman) Senglong Rabten to publish a complete set of Kangyur. Lijiang Tusi Senglong Rabten asked the ruling lama to give him a set of an authoritative edition of Kangyur upon which to base the new one. So the ruling lama gave him the Tsalpa Kangyur, which had been proofed several times by Translator Gor Shonnupa, Karma Rangjung Dorje and Chokyi Drakpa, an attendant of the ruling lama of the Red Hat sect. The Tsalpa Kangyur was then kept at Chingwar Taktse Castle in Chongye Dzong(vphyong-rgyas rdzong).

The "Catalogue of Able Man's Joy" said: "In Tibet most of the editions of Kangyur, according to some wise men, were based on the Tsalpa Kangyur. Though some scholars found fault with the Tsalpa Kangyur, yet, in spite of what they said, the teachings of Karma Kagyu's supreme tradition are still considered as the main principle. There are many source texts for Kangyur, yet the Tsalpa Kangyur was the best of them. The Tsalpa Kangyur was edited by Shonnu Shakya Gyaltsen, all the previous ruling lamas of Karma Black Hats, Karma Red Hats, and other saints. It is the best of all editions of Kangyur." From this it can be seen that the Tsalpa Kangyur was the source text of the Litang Kangyur.

The editorial arrangement of the Litang Kangyur is in accordance with the order of all vehicles, starting with the Four Truths of the first turning of the wheel according to the doctrine of the Buddha, and four Vinaya-sutras. The Litang Kangyur has iocg cases, including 13 cases of Vinaya, 26 cases of Prajnaparamita- sutras, 32 cases of Scriptures of Exoteric School, six cases of Mahavaipulya, six cases of Maharatnakuta- sutra, 24 cases of Tantra, one case of Vimala and one case of catalogue. On the title page of each case are portraits of Seven Buddhas, great Shravakas (personal disciples of the Buddha), the Six Ornaments and Two pupreme Buddhist Philosophers of India, Eight Great Tathagatas, Eight Great Bodhisattvas, Sixteen Arhats, and Seven Protectors of Buddhism. On the title page of the case of Tantra are portraits of the Five Dhyani- Buddhas including Vairochana at the right side, and those of five Dharanis at the left side. This is the first block-printed edition of Kangyur in Tibet.

3. Kangxi or Beijing edition of Kangyur.

Kangxi edition of Kangyur, also called Beijing edition of Kangyur, was published by the order of Qing emperor Kangxi (also called Dekyi Gyalpo) in the iith cycle of Tibetan calendar. So the block-printed edition was called Kangxi edition. As it was printed at Beijing, it is also called the Beijing edition.

The title page of the edition had an article under the title of "Qing-xu-shu" (A memorial to the emperor to ask for a preface). The article said: "Ministers re- quest Emperor Kangxi to write a preface for the new edition of Kangyur, so Kangxi wrote it on the 16th day of the eighth month of the 22nd year of Kangxi period. " Another article under the title of "Qin-ding-zao-Kangyur-zhi-guan-zhi" (on the positions of the officials assigned by the Emperor for editing the new edition of Kangyur) lists Tibetan names and positions of the officials who were responsible for publishing the Kangxi edition of Kangyur, and says at the end of the list that the edition was completed on an auspicious day of the fourth month of the 39th year of Kangxi period. Therefore, we reckon the woodcut printing of the Kangxi edition of Kangyur began in the 22nd year of Kangxi period (the 11th cycle of Tibetan calendar, 1683), when the emperor wrote the preface, and was completed at the end of the fourth month of the 39th year of Kangxi period (yang-metal-dragon year of Tibetan calendar, 1700).

As for the source text of the Kangxi edition, it was the Wanli edition according to some scholars. However, the edition's postscript did not say anything about it. Nor did we find any evidence to prove it. We thought that its source edition might be the Yongle edition, so we compared the Kangxi edition with the Yongle one. Through comparison we found that over 95% of the number of cases, pages, lines of words, the words at the beginning and end of each line, and mis- takes in word and printing are identical.

The editorial arrangement of the Beijing edition begins with a tantric sutra. It has 107 cases, including 25 cases of Tantric sutras, 24 cases of Prajnaparamita sutras, six cases of Maharatnakuta-sutra (Great Gem-Heap Sutra), 6 cases of Mahavaipulya (Sutras of Mahayana), 32 cases of exoteric sutras, and 13 cases of Vinaya-sutras as well as a case of catalogue. On the title page of each case are portraits of the Buddhas of the ten directions, the Eight Great Bodhisattvas, the Seven Buddhas, the Thirty-five Tathagatas, and the Present, Past and Future Buddhas, as well as the Tutelary Deities of the Kalachakra Tantra. On the last page are portraits of Yellow Jambhala, the six-armed Protector, Shridevi (the Glorious Goddess), and Vasudhara (the Goddess of Fortune).

The wood blocks of the Beijing edition of Kangyur were destroyed in the 26th year of Guangxu period (igoo) when the Eight-Power Allied Forces of the west invaded Beijing. Afterwards, owing to the efforts of the 13th Dalai Lama and Tsarong Dasang Dramdul, a set of Kangyur and a set of Tengyur were moved to Tokyo by the end of the 15th cycle of Tibetan calendar. Now they are kept in the library of the Otani University. The Japanese Institute of Tripitaka has the Kangyur and Tengyur photo-printed. The photo- printed edition has the title "Tibetan Tripitaka" written in Chinese characters. It has 151 cases including a catalogue, of which the first 45 cases are Kangyur and the rest, Tengyur. The Beijing edition of Kangyur used for collation is the photo-printed one.

4. Jone edition of Kangyur

The 11th Jone Tusi Maso Gongpo for the propagation of Buddhism published the Jone edition of Kangyur. The carving of its wood blocks began in the sixth month of the Goth year of Kangxi period (the yin-metal-ox year of the lath cycle of Tibetan calendar, 1721) and ended in the loth month of the 9th year of Yongzheng period (yin-metal-hog year, 1731). It took 11 years to produce. The wood blocks of the edition were kept in the Jone Monastery, and thus it was called the Jone Kangyur.

The Jone edition of Kangyur was based on Yongle, Litang and UTsang editions of Kangyur. It was the Jone Buddhist master Drakpa Shedri who proofed the edition and edited its catalogue. The woodblocks of the Jone editions of Kangyur and Tengyur were de- stroyed in the military conflicts between the Jone Tusi and neighboring ethnic groups in 1929. An American bought a set of Jone Kangyur and Tengyur for the American National Library in 1925, and the Kangyur and Tengyur are now kept in Washington,D.C. The American World Religion Promotion Association reprinted the Jone Kangyur and Tengyur in Washington, and the reprinted Kangyur and Tengyur are also kept in the World Association of Buddhism and some well-known libraries. In addition, the Shifangtang monastery at Wutai Mountain has a set of the old-edition Jone Kangyur and Tengyur. The China Buddhist Association in Beijing and the Labrang monastery in Gansu both have a set of Jone Kangyur.