# Taishō Tripiṭaka

The Taishō Tripiṭaka (Chinese: 大正新脩大藏經; pinyin: Dàzhèng Xīnxīu Dàzàngjīng; Japanese: Taishō Shinshū Daizōkyō; lit. "Taishō Revised Tripiṭaka") is a definitive edition of the Chinese Buddhist canon and its Japanese commentaries used by scholars in the 20th century. The name is abbreviated as "大正藏" in Chinese (Dàzhèngzàng) and Japanese (Taishōzō).

## Development

The Taishō Tripiṭaka project was initiated by the Department of Sanskrit and Indian Studies at Tokyo Imperial University. It was edited by Takakusu Junjiro, Watanabe Kaikyuko, and others. More than 300 people contributed to the compilation.
The editors were educated in both Japan and Europe and their goals included modernization and meeting European academic standards, in addition to creation of a resource for Buddhist practitioners. The project adopted several innovations of previous Japanese editions of the Buddhist canon, including punctuation, indexing, and collation. The texts were collated and verified against other versions of the canon, building on the work of the Reduced Print Edition, published from 1880 to 1885. It used a sequential numerical numbering scheme for texts, as did the Manji Edition, in contrast to the Thousand Character Classic indexing approach used by previous Chinese and Korean versions of the canon. The Taishō Tripiṭaka uses footnotes to indicate the origin of the texts. While most texts are from the Tripitaka Koreana, the Taishō Tripiṭaka uses a different ordering based on a combination of historical development and textual classification, abandoning the Chinese and Korean tradition of placing Mahāyāna scriptures first.
The Taishō Tripiṭaka includes an expanded number of Esoteric texts in comparison to the Tripitaka Koreana. These texts were sourced from manuscripts in Japanese temples. Several texts from Dunhuang manuscripts, found in archeological expeditions, were included. In addition, drawings and Japanese Buddhist literature is included in the Taishō Tripiṭaka.

## Contents

Volumes 1–85 are the literature, in which volumes 56–84 are Japanese Buddhist literature, written in Classical Chinese. Volumes 86–97 are Buddhism related drawings, includes drawings of many Buddhas and bodhisattvas. Volumes 98–100 are texts of different indexes of Buddhist texts known in Japan ca. 1930. The 100 volumes of literature contains 5,320 individual texts, classified as follows.
| Volume | Order | Name | Chinese | Japanese | Sanskrit | Description |
| T01–02 | 1–151 | 阿含部 | Āhán bù | Agon-bu | Āgama | Āgama Section |
| T03–04 | 152–219 | 本緣部 | Běnyuán bù | Hon'en-bu | Jātaka | Birth Stories |
| T05–08 | 220–261 | 般若部 | Bōrě bù | Hannya-bu | Prajñapāramitā | Perfection of Wisdom |
| T09a | 262–277 | 法華部 | Fǎhuá bù | Hokke-bu | Saddharma Puṇḍarīka | The Lotus Sūtra |
| T09b–10 | 278–309 | 華嚴部 | Huáyán bù | Kegon-bu | Avataṃsaka | Flower Garland |
| T11–12a | 310–373 | 寶積部 | Bǎojī bù | Hōshaku-bu | Ratnakūṭa | Jewel Peak |
| T12b | 374–396 | 涅槃部 | Nièpán bù | Nehan-bu | Nirvāṇa | The Parinirvāṇa |
| T13 | 397–424 | 大集部 | Dàjí bù | Daishū-bu | Mahāsannipāta | The Great Collection |
| T14–17 | 425–847 | 經集部 | Jīngjí bù | Kyōshū-bu | Sūtrasannipāta | Collected Sūtras |
| T18–21 | 848–1420 | 密教部 | Mìjiào bù | Mikkyō-bu | Tantra | Esoteric Teachings |
| T22–24 | 1421–1504 | 律部 | Lǜ bù | Ritsu-bu | Vinaya | Monastic Discipline |
| T25–26a | 1505–1535 | 釋經論部 | Shìjīnglùn bù | Shakukyōron-bu | Sūtravyākaraṇa | Sūtra Explanations |
| T26b–29 | 1536–1563 | 毗曇部 | Pítán bù | Bidon-bu | Abhidharma | Systematic Analyses |
| T30a | 1564–1578 | 中觀部類 | Zhōngguān bùlèi | Chūgan-burui | Mādhyamaka | Mādhyamaka Texts |
| T30b–31 | 1579–1627 | 瑜伽部類 | Yújiā bùlèi | Yuga-burui | Yogācāra | Yogācāra Texts |
| T32 | 1628–1692 | 論集部 | Lùnjí bù | Ronshū-bu | Śāstra | Treatises |
| T33–39 | 1693–1803 | 經疏部 | Jīngshū bù | Kyōsho-bu | Sūtravibhāṣa | Sūtra Clarifications |
| T40a | 1804–1815 | 律疏部 | Lǜshū bù | Rissho-bu | Vinayavibhāṣa | Vinaya Clarifications |
| T40b–44a | 1816–1850 | 論疏部 | Lùnshū bù | Ronsho-bu | Śāstravibhāṣa | Śāstra Clarifications (sub-commentaries) |
| T44b–48 | 1851–2025 | 諸宗部 | Zhūzōng bù | Shoshū-bu | Sarvasamaya | Sectarian Teachings (Nichiren etc.) |
| T49–52 | 2026–2120 | 史傳部 | Shǐchuán bù | Shiden-bu | | Histories |
| T53–54a | 2121–2136 | 事彙部 | Shìhuì bù | Jii-bu | | Cyclopedia |
| T54b | 2137–2144 | 外教部 | Wàijiào bù | Gekyō-bu | | Non-Buddhist Texts (Hinduism, Taoism, Manichaeism, Nestorianism, etc.) |
| T55 | 2145–2184 | 目錄部 | Mùlù bù | Mokuroku-bu | | Catalogues |
| T56–83 | 2185–2700 | 續經疏部 | Xùjīngshū bù | Zokukyōsho-bu | | Additional Sūtra Clarifications (influential Japanese sub-commentaries) |
| T84 | 2701–2731 | 悉曇部 | Xītán bù | Shittan-bu | Siddhaṃ | Siddhaṃ Script (esoteric script imported to Japan by Kūkai) |
| T85a | 2732–2864 | 古逸部 | Gǔyì bù | Koitsu-bu | | Ancient |
| T85b | 2865–2920 | 疑似部 | Yísì bù | Giji-bu | | Doubtful |
| T86–97 | | 圖像部 | Túxiàng bù | Zuzō-bu | | Illustrations (exegesis of standard Buddhist imagery, with inserts) |
| T98–100 | | 昭和法寶 總目錄 | Zhāohé fǎbǎo zǒngmùlù | Shōwa Hōbō Sōmokuroku | | Shōwa Treasures of the Faith (catalogs of scripture collections and canon editions) |

## Digitalization

The SAT Daizōkyō Text Database edition contains volumes 1–85. The Chinese Buddhist Electronic Text Association (CBETA) edition contains volumes 1–55 and 85. The Fomei edition (佛梅電子大藏經) contains texts in Classical Chinese other than Nichiren Buddhism.
Volumes 56–84, although they were written in Classical Chinese, were composed by Japanese Buddhist scholars.