An interdisciplinary project, the Manuscript Cultures Research Group, aims to advance the study of the vast but neglected manuscript heritage of India, Tibet, Japan, China, Iran, Ethiopia and the Arab world.
The Group involves several professors and researchers from the Asia-Africa Institute of the University of Hamburg and specialists in the regions under study. A subproject of the Group in computer science is concerned with methods of image analysis directed at automatically discerning minute variants in very large quantities of materials. In particular the group aims to develop an Encyclopedia of Manuscript Cultures in order to present the current state of research in the field.
The Manuscript Cultures Research Group is funded for three years by the DFG, starting in 2008. The head of the Group is Prof. Dr. Michael Friedrich, and its deputy head is Prof. Dr. Jörg Quenzer.
Manuscript Cultures Projects connected with tantric studies
Tibet — The Manuscript Collections of the Ancient Tantras (rNying ma rgyud ‘bum): An Examination of Variance
North India & Nepal — In the Margins of the Text: Annotated Manuscripts from Northern India and Nepal
Both of these sub-projects are overseen by Prof. Harunaga Isaacson.
See also
- Press release outlining the project (6 February 2008)
- Official site: www.manuscript-cultures.uni-hamburg.de
- Other research projects at the Centre for Tantric Studies