Life and works of Alexander Csoma de Körös : $b A biography compiled chiefly from hitherto unpublished dataDuka, Tivadar
History
Life and works of Alexander Csoma de Körös : $b A biography compiled chiefly from hitherto unpublished data
Duka, Tivadar
Kőrösi Csoma, Sándor, 1784-1842
Two more original letters in Csoma’s handwriting are extant, written by
him at Kanum, and addressed to Mr. B. H. Hodgson, resident at Katmandú,
in answer to certain questions which that gentleman addressed to Csoma.
These documents also are now in the possession of the Hungarian Academy
of Sciences. They were generously presented by Mr. Hodgson in 1882,
with a request for them to be preserved among the relics of the late
Tibetan scholar, in the archives at Budapest. These letters refer to
questions of much scientific interest at the period when they were
written, and throw light upon the history of Buddhistic literature,
when Hodgson and Csoma were fellow-labourers in the same field of
Oriental learning. They have not been published before, and deserve,
therefore, to find a place in this biography.
The first letter is dated 30th December 1829, and reads thus:
“Sir,—I beg to acknowledge the receipt of the volume you have favoured
me with, which reached me on the 21st instant. I feel much obliged for
the kindness you have done me, in making me acquainted with the names
and contents of so many valuable works you have brought to public
notice, and with many other things respecting Buddhism in Nepal. Since
you desired me that I should make any remarks on the twelfth article of
the volume, I beg you will kindly accept of some observations I take
the liberty to make on the subject. And I beg to have me excused for my
not having been more particular, as perhaps you had expected from me;
my circumstances have not permitted me to do otherwise.
2. “(With reference to p. 410, &c.) Tibetan words, if written properly,
are very distinct for the eye, but very confused for the ear, as they
are generally uttered. In the whole of Tibet there is but one mode of
writing, with respect to orthography; there are several ways of
pronunciation, according to the several distant provinces. Hence that
great discrepancy in the catalogues of Tibetan words furnished by
several Europeans. There are to be found in Tibet several examples of
alphabets used anciently in India. The late Mr. Moorcroft had sent to
Calcutta a copy of the same set that have been exhibited in the plates.
The Lantsa letters and their skeletons (that have been likewise
represented on the same plate) are used sometimes by the Tibetans now
too for inscriptions. They generally use their own characters, either
the capital or the small. Their literature in general is contained in
books written in any of these two. When one is acquainted with the
principles of the Tibetan language, he can read easily both.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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