Brian Houghton Hodgson. At the origins of European Buddhology

Abstract

The article describes the life and work of Brian Houghton Hodgson (1801–1894), who was servant of the Honourable East India Company (HEICo) in Nepal in 1820−1843. After this he worked as an independent scholar in Sikkim until 1858. Hodgson was among the first European scholars of Buddhism, and the article focuses on the analysis of his views on Buddhism, as well as his efforts to collect Sanskrit manuscripts of classical Buddhist texts. The life and scientific research of Hodgson is considered a typical example of the activities of the first Western Orientalists, who combined service in the colonies with the study of the languages and culture of the Asian peoples. Hodgson received special training for colonial officials and worked for many years as a servant of the HEICo in Nepal, where, along with his official duties, he studied natural history, ethnography and religion of the region. Hodgson collected and donated to universities, libraries and museums in Europe more than four hundred manuscripts of Sanskrit Buddhist writings, previously either completely unknown to European science, or known only in Chinese and Tibetan translations. The study and translation of these manuscripts laid a solid foundation for European Buddhology. In his own works on Buddhism Hodgson identified and characterized four philosophical schools of Indian Buddhism, outlined the Buddhist concepts of the "primordial Buddha" (Adi-Buddha), "contemplation buddhas" (dhyani-buddhas), described Buddhist cosmology and a number of other Buddhist concepts. In addition, he classified the genres of Buddhist literature, took part in the discussion about the original language of the Buddhist canon, showed the inconsistency of the ideas that existed at that time about the African origin of Buddha Shakyamuni. Hodgson's Buddhist views gained recognition in the 19th century, but the accumulation of scientific knowledge about Buddhism showed the fallacy of many of the concepts he put forward. Nevertheless, they played a role in the formation of Western Buddhology, and understanding the history of the study of Buddhism in the West is completely impossible without taking into account Hodgson's works.