Your comments
I'll post some links to the Chinese translation of the Pali canon, just for reference. In theory I think it should be possible to automatically extract the title and text of each sutta with this info - the link is always to the line of text containing the sutta title.
DN 1 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
DN 2 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
DN 3 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
DN 4 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
DN 5 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
DN 6 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
DN 7 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
DN 8 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
DN 9 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
DN 10 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
DN 11 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
DN 12 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
DN 13 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
DN 14 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
DN 15 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
DN 16 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
DN 17 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
DN 18 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
DN 19 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
DN 20 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
DN 21 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
DN 22 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
DN 23 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
DN 24 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
DN 25 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
DN 26 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
DN 27 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
DN 28 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
DN 29 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
DN 30 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
DN 31 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
DN 32 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
DN 33 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
DN 34 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 1 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 2 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 3 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 4 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 5 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 6 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 7 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 8 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 9 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 10 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 11 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 12 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 13 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 14 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 15 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 16 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 17 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 18 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 19 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 20 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 21 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 22 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 23 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 24 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 25 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 26 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 27 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 28 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 29 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 30 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 31 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 32 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 33 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 34 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 35 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 36 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 37 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 38 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 39 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 40 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 41 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 42 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 43 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 44 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 45 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 46 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 47 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 48 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 49 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 50 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 51 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 52 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 53 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 54 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 55 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 56 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 57 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 58 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 59 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 60 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 61 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 62 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 63 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 64 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 65 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 66 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 67 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 68 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 69 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 70 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 71 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 72 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 73 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 74 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 75 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 76 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 77 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 78 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 79 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 80 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 81 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 82 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 83 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 84 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 85 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 86 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 87 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 88 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 89 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 90 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 91 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 92 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 93 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 94 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 95 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 96 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 97 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 98 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 99 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 100 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
DN 1 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
DN 2 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
DN 3 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
DN 4 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
DN 5 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
DN 6 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
DN 7 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
DN 8 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
DN 9 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
DN 10 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
DN 11 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
DN 12 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
DN 13 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
DN 14 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
DN 15 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
DN 16 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
DN 17 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
DN 18 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
DN 19 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
DN 20 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
DN 21 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
DN 22 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
DN 23 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
DN 24 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
DN 25 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
DN 26 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
DN 27 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
DN 28 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
DN 29 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
DN 30 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
DN 31 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
DN 32 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
DN 33 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
DN 34 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 1 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 2 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 3 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 4 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 5 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 6 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 7 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 8 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 9 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 10 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 11 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 12 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 13 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 14 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 15 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 16 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 17 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 18 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 19 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 20 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 21 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 22 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 23 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 24 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 25 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 26 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 27 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 28 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 29 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 30 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 31 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 32 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 33 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 34 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 35 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 36 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 37 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 38 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 39 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 40 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 41 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 42 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 43 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 44 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 45 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 46 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 47 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 48 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 49 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 50 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 51 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 52 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 53 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 54 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 55 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 56 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 57 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 58 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 59 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 60 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 61 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 62 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 63 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 64 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 65 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 66 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 67 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 68 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 69 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 70 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 71 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 72 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 73 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 74 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 75 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 76 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 77 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 78 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 79 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 80 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 81 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 82 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 83 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 84 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 85 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 86 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 87 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 88 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 89 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 90 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 91 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 92 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 93 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 94 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 95 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 96 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 97 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 98 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 99 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
MN 100 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/
"what would be really useful is some help in preparing the files for SuttaCentral."
I'd be happy to try, what kind of thing is required? I'm not too familiar with XML CSS or HTML, nor do I know how to use programming language to efficiently batch edit text files, but I can copy and paste, do find=>replace on notepad, enter data into a template and check for errors! If you would like to send me some templates to fill or files to check, then do email anotherDELETETHISoliATgmailONEDOTcom
A couple of things I have just noticed: http://suttacentral.net/zh/da21 is showing the text of Taisho 21. It should be showing DA 21, ie. part of the text from Taisho 1 scroll 14. The Taisho numbers in square brackets under the DA listings http://suttacentral.net/da are wrong after DA 8 (presuming the notation is [T SutraNumber.ScrollNumber]). DA 9 does not start on scroll 9 it starts on scroll 8 [T 1.8].
Personally I don't think that putting gaps between the Chinese characters as you have done http://suttacentral.net/zh/zh-mg-bu-vb-pj1 helps with readability. I find the spacing used on http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/N09n0005_002 easier to read.
I'd be happy to try, what kind of thing is required? I'm not too familiar with XML CSS or HTML, nor do I know how to use programming language to efficiently batch edit text files, but I can copy and paste, do find=>replace on notepad, enter data into a template and check for errors! If you would like to send me some templates to fill or files to check, then do email anotherDELETETHISoliATgmailONEDOTcom
A couple of things I have just noticed: http://suttacentral.net/zh/da21 is showing the text of Taisho 21. It should be showing DA 21, ie. part of the text from Taisho 1 scroll 14. The Taisho numbers in square brackets under the DA listings http://suttacentral.net/da are wrong after DA 8 (presuming the notation is [T SutraNumber.ScrollNumber]). DA 9 does not start on scroll 9 it starts on scroll 8 [T 1.8].
Personally I don't think that putting gaps between the Chinese characters as you have done http://suttacentral.net/zh/zh-mg-bu-vb-pj1 helps with readability. I find the spacing used on http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/N09n0005_002 easier to read.
In the new CBETA you can still hash link to a line (eg. http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/T01n0001_017#0107a20 ) but i'm not sure if you can get it to turn red like you can in the old version (eg. http://www.cbeta.org/cgi-bin/goto.pl?linehead=T01n0001_p0107a20 )
I've got a little free time in the next few weeks, if it would help I wouldn't mind going through the Chinese translation of the Pali Tipiṭaka and finding the locations of the individual suttas.
eg.
DN 1 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/N06n0004_001#0001a01
DN 2 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/N06n0004_002#0054a01
...
AN 11.20 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/N25n0007_012#0308a06
AN 11.21 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/N25n0007_012#0309a13
etc. (The Chinese translation of the Aṅguttara Nikāya at CBETA is numbered according to the numbering listed in grey square brackets here http://suttacentral.net/an11.20 so my link next to AN 11.20 above actually takes you to a sutta numbered 21 on the Chinese page)
I could work through all the suttas in the nikayas and post the links up here like that, if that would help.
I've got a little free time in the next few weeks, if it would help I wouldn't mind going through the Chinese translation of the Pali Tipiṭaka and finding the locations of the individual suttas.
eg.
DN 1 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/N06n0004_001#0001a01
DN 2 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/N06n0004_002#0054a01
...
AN 11.20 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/N25n0007_012#0308a06
AN 11.21 http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/N25n0007_012#0309a13
etc. (The Chinese translation of the Aṅguttara Nikāya at CBETA is numbered according to the numbering listed in grey square brackets here http://suttacentral.net/an11.20 so my link next to AN 11.20 above actually takes you to a sutta numbered 21 on the Chinese page)
I could work through all the suttas in the nikayas and post the links up here like that, if that would help.
Yes, that's great. It was only when it was gone that I realised how much time it saves to be able to click directly on a link. Otherwise going from 'MA 116' to the text on cbeta involves browsing for the correct 'scroll'.
EDIT: I had thought the Chinese on the site may have been in Japanese font, but after some experimentation, that's not the case. I was just thrown by the way some complex characters are simplified at different font sizes.
EDIT: I had thought the Chinese on the site may have been in Japanese font, but after some experimentation, that's not the case. I was just thrown by the way some complex characters are simplified at different font sizes.
Just to say that the link to the Chinese text of DA 21 points to here http://suttacentral.net/da21/zh/ rather than the cbeta website.
On that page the large font Chinese title should perhaps be 梵動經 ('Brahmajāla sutta'), rather than 第三分梵動經第二 ('Third vagga second sutta, Brahmajāla sutta').
Anyway, the title does correspond to DA 21梵動經. However text underneath is not that of DA 21 but of a Chinese parallel T 21 梵網六十二見經.
The Chinese dictionary function works quite well. Impressive!
Something I just came across: a version of the complete Udāna 6.4 story (the arguing Brahmins and then the blind men + elephant simile) is to be found within Dīrghāgama 30, starting here: http://www.cbeta.org/cgi-bin/goto.pl?linehead=T01n0001_p0128a17
I'm not sure how the parallel/ fragment relationship works in this case. DA 30 contains a parallel of Ud 6.4, but DA 30 also contains several other stories. Could you say Ud 6.4 is a fragment of DA 30?
Anyway, great website, I have got a lot of use out of it.
There are four modern Chinese translations from Pali by Deng Dianchen in the collection 藏外佛教文獻 'Buddhist Texts not contained in the Tripitaka' on the CBETA website
| W05n0045 小誦 ( 1 卷) 【鄧殿臣譯】 (Khuddakapāṭha 1-9) | |
| W05n0046 即興自說 ( 1 卷) 【鄧殿臣譯】 (Udāna 1.1 - 8.10) | |
| W05n0047 大隧道本生 ( 1 卷) 【鄧殿臣譯】 (Selections from the Pali Jataka) | |
| W05n0048 大念處經 ( 1 卷) 【鄧殿臣．趙桐譯】 (Dīgha Nikāya 22) |
There's a translation of the Pali canon 漢譯南傳大藏經, published 1990-1998 by 元亨寺, Kaohsiung, Taiwan. It is a Chinese translation of a modern Japanese translation from the Pali (Takakusu Junjiro 高楠順次郎 (ed.) 南伝大蔵経, published 1935-41) . Chinese Buddhist Electronic Text Association is in the process of digitising it, it should be online by the end of his year.
http://www.cbeta.org/news/20120223.php
There's a recent (2008) Chinese translation direct from the Pali of the Digha Nikaya 汉译巴利三藏 . 经藏 . 长部 http://www.mldc.cn/sanskritweb/publi/dn-intro.htm
It's a collaboration between Peking University and Dhammachai Institute.
They plan to publish a Chinese translation of the Majjhima Nikaya in 2014.
I should say, it's a modern translation of DN 22 (using the Sri Lanka Buddha Jayanti Tipitaka text).
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I'm not sure that Chinese naturally goes in a grid pattern. Here's a page from a 1239 Song dynasty printing of the Buddhist canon, here's a page of the Dīrghāgama from the 1251 Korean printing of the canon on which the Taisho canon is based. You can see that in the vertical lines each character almost touches the preceding and following characters, whereas there is clear space between the vertical lines.
I'd say the natural layout of Chinese was formed when it was written by hand on vertical strips of bamboo. There characters were only of an approximately fixed width(height), and there was not a fixed number of characters per vertical line. So it's all about the vertical line, there's no hint of a horizontal+vertical grid-like alignment.
I think the reason why bunched together characters are easier to read (in the case of Buddhist texts at least) is that it makes it easier to recognise compounds and set phrases. Just as in English you don't read familiar words letter by letter, so familiar compounds of Chinese characters (like 阿難 for Ananda, 涅槃 for nirvana, 世尊 for Bhagavan 如來 for Tathagata, and so on) can be visualised as a whole and read as a whole. With the convenience of the Taisho punctuation, whole phrases such as ."..。佛告諸比丘。" '...The Buddha told the Bhikkhus', can be picked out by the eye and read as a whole in a similar way to reading a single English word. This only really works if there is a clear contrast between the ordinary spacing between characters and the spacing between punctuated phrases.