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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN-US><FONT size=4>Xinhua News Agency, December 27, 2006</FONT></SPAN></P>
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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><FONT size=4><?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><SPAN lang=EN-US>China</SPAN></st1:place></st1:country-region><SPAN lang=EN-US> has started editing its first punctuated version of The Tripitaka, a complete collection of Buddhist scriptures in Chinese, to assist readers and researchers.</SPAN></FONT></P>
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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN-US><FONT size=4>The Tripitaka, which covers philosophy, history, nationalities, linguistics, literature, architecture, astronomy and medicine, is considered the encyclopedia of Buddhist culture.</FONT></SPAN></P>
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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN-US><FONT size=4>The new 300-million-word edition of 5,600 Buddhist classic texts draws on a corpus of 25,000 volumes and will double the size of the most complete Japanese edition.</FONT></SPAN></P>
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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN-US><FONT size=4>The five-year project will include all the Chinese sutras contained in previous editions, those that haven't appeared in previous editions of The Tripitaka and some newly found scriptures.</FONT></SPAN></P>
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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN-US><FONT size=4>Over 100 experts and masters will comb through all the existing Buddhist classics.</FONT></SPAN></P>
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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN-US><FONT size=4>They will endeavor to ensure that scriptures are edited from the original texts, said Dan Zeng, vice president of the Chinese Writers Association.</FONT></SPAN></P>
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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN-US><FONT size=4>He said the Japanese edition, published in the 1930s, had been used by the academic world for a long time. But a new edition was needed. "The punctuated edition will be the most authoritative and most convenient text for scholars and readers," he added.</FONT></SPAN></P>
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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><FONT size=4><st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><SPAN lang=EN-US>China</SPAN></st1:place></st1:country-region><SPAN lang=EN-US> has more than 30 editions of The Tripitaka, published in different dynasties and in Chinese, Tibetan, Mongolian and Manchu language versions but none of them is punctuated.</SPAN></FONT></P>
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