Talk:Pali Text Society

message: Hello, my name is Deoles. My goal is to share what I plan on doing regarding editing this Wiki article. One thing I plan on doing is adding footnotes to this article, from what I've seen there aren't any. Another I plan on doing is adding more references about the Journal of the Pali Text Society. Lastly, I want to either add more to the history or create a new section altogether about the Pali Text Society; what I will add is still being figured out. Now that you all know my plan, I would like some feedback and/or help in this process of mine. You are not inclined to help, but your help will be useful to me.Deoles G. (talk) 15:33, 29 March 2021 (UTC)
thread_title:  My editing plan 

message: — Assignment last updated by Ziegenbalg66 (talk) 00:36, 16 November 2022 (UTC)
thread_title: Wiki Education assignment: Asian Religions in America

message: My Editing Plan for the “Pali Text Society” Wikipedia Page
The Pali Canon is one of the most vitally important and accurate collection of scriptures for Theravada Buddhists; they are said to be the direct words of the Buddha himself, serving as a definitive word-for-word recalling of his teachings. Yet, for such an important artifact, there is little on Wikipedia about how the scriptures spread to the rest of the world. The Pali Canon Wikipedia page is quite dense, filled with information backed by reliable sources, but if the Pali Canon Wikipedia page was a novel, then the Pali Text Society Wikipedia page are some notes written on a napkin.
From what I’ve previously learned on conducting histographic research, stories are always going to be told from someone’s point of view, meaning that other points of view will NOT be told. When information is left out of documents, it is usually because evidence has been erased by centuries of colonization, racism, xenophobia, genocide; the list goes on and on. Yet, the Pali Text Society is an interesting case- Thomas William Rhys Davids was a white clergyman from Essex, England; he fits the image of the person who writes history, and yet there’s little information on him. As far as the research goes, forming the Pali Text Society was his greatest, and only, achievement. But what led Davids, a scholar from the UK, to Sri Lanka, and what led him to develop an obsession with Buddhism, the Pali Language, and Sri Lankan culture? What was his motivation in bringing said texts to the printing press, and how did Therevada Buddhists react to him doing this? What was the response of the general public- seeing that the Pali Text Society is still around today, one can only assume that the public responded generally well to this, but how did it change the practices of Buddhism in Sri Lanka? Furthermore, what recognition did Thomas William Rhys Davids receive for his work aside from a mediocre Wikipedia page?
These are all questions that have guided my research, however, where one cannot provide answers, due to lost and/or missing evidence, the protocol for a scholar is to fill in the blanks as best as possible, drawing on the research they have already conducted. However, while archival research is important to help form the repertoire, Wikipedia doesn’t like it so much when there are questions left up to speculation. Therefore, my job is to play detective. Attached below are the resources I have already found and wish to include. My goal is to add more to the page; what’s there already is a good starting point for a Wikipedia page, but the information doesn’t explain the greater significance of the Pali Text Society. My goal is to use my sources to explain WHY the Pali Text Society was so cultural significant, and why it’s still relevant today.
For example, one of my sources is “India and the Pali Text Society”, an article written for a scholarly journal by Davids’ wife, Carolina Augusta Foyley, published in 1919. This is a particularly helpful source as it tells readers about Thomas William Rhys Davids through the point of view of someone who was particularly close to him, and his wife’s perspective on his work. While Davids’ work primarily was focused in Sri Lanka, this article is focused on his personal relationship with his work, in Ceylon and elsewhere. First and foremost, I can use this article to put his wife’s name on the Wikipedia page, as she was also a notable scholar of the Pali language. Just as importantly, I can use this document to unpack Davids’ motivations behind sharing the Pali Canon with the world. Wife.of.mothman (talk) 17:51, 16 November 2022 (UTC)
thread_title:  My Editing Plan for "The Pali Text Society" Wikipedia Page (Wife.of.mothman 2022)