BUDDHISM IN ITALY IN เอกสารที่อางอิงบางชิ้นในบทความนี้ไมเคยตีพิมพ THE NINETEENTH มากอน หรือเปนเอกสารหายากจากหอจดหมายเหตุ 1 CENTURY ในประเทศอิตาลี Paolo Euron2 Abstract บทคัดยอ First reports on Buddhism arrived in Italy in the sixteenth century through Italian Catholic missionaries. Later several รายงานเกี่ยวกับพุทธศาสนามาถึงประเทศอิตาลีเปน scholars developed a philological and ครั้งแรกในราวคริสตวรรษที่สิบหก ผานทางคณะ philosophical understanding of it. The attitude toward Buddhism changed from มิชชันนารีของอิตาลี ในเวลาตอมานักวิชาการได an anthropological interest to a พัฒนาความเขาใจดานภาษาและปรัชญาเกี่ยวกับ philological study. In the academic field of philology the Theravāda tradition and the พุทธศาสนา ทาทีตอพุทธศาสนาไดเปลี่ยนจากความ Siamese edition of Tripitaka had great สนใจดานมานุษยวิทยา มาเปนการศึกษาดานภาษา importance. The spread of Buddhism in Italy in the nineteenth century also ในการศึกษาดานนิรุกติศาสตร ประเพณีของเถรวาท increasingly influenced Italian culture and และพระไตรปฎกฉบับของสยามมีความสําคัญมาก ideas. Outside of academic debate Buddhism became a subject of apologetics การแพรกระจายของพุทธศาสนาในอิตาลีใน and philosophy as well as a topic of คริสตศตวรรษที่สิบเกา ก็ไดรับอิทธิจากวัฒนธรรม general interest. This essay is based on books and printed material published in และแนวคิดตางๆของอิตาลีดวย ในบรรดาผูที่อยู Italy before the twentieth century. It นอกวงการวิชาการ พุทธศาสนาไดกลายเปนหัวขอ contains the complete bibliography of Italian studies on Buddhism in the ของการพยายามแกตาง และของวิชาปรัชญา รวม nineteenth century. Some texts cited in this ไปถึงหัวขอที่คนทั่วไปสนใจ บทความอาศัย essay are unpublished or rare documents หนังสือและเอกสารสิ่งพิมพที่ตีพิมพในประเทศ from Italian archives. อิตาลีเกี่ยวกับพุทธศาสนาในคริสตศตวรรษที่สิบเกา Introduction The first accounts of Buddhism in Italy 1 (พระพุทธศาสนาในอิตาลีในคริสตวรรษที่สิบเกา) This essay arrived through the memories and writings has been written with the support of the Faculty of of Italian Catholic missionaries coming Arts, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok. back from the Far East in the sixteenth 2 (เปาโล ยูรอน) Ph. D., Lecturer, Department of century. These descriptions of another Western Languages, Faculty of Arts, philosophical and religious tradition, so Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand. different from the Classical culture of Downloaded from Brill.com09/25/2021 02:47:34PM via free access MANUSYA: Journal of Humanities Regular 19.2, 2016 Europe, conjure up an idea of Buddhism and scientific attitude to Buddhism (1985: which is vague and imprecise, as well as 175). fascinating. In this essay the description of the Interestingly, a century later, many evolution of Italian Buddhist studies is not authors still show a certain superficiality strictly chronological and we will take into in dealing with the subject. “Interest in account the most significant authors and Buddhist studies in Italy, so flourishing in their works. Nevertheless, since we are other European lands, has started very researching in a delimited chronological late” (Botto 1997: 101). The slow spread frame, we will consider above all the first of Buddhism in the nineteenth century and second phases and only some shows two different effects on Italian examples of critical consciousness and culture. On one side, we can state an adequate method, for instance Pavolini’s enthusiastic appreciation of Buddhism; on excellent book Buddismo (1898). In other the other side Buddhism is considered a words, we will consider the period of threat with some authors attempting to uncritical enthusiasm for Buddhism and show its limits and inferiority to the the open criticism against it and, after that, Christian religion. On the other hand the origins of a correct philosophical and several distinguished scholars develop an accurate philological method in Italian adequate understanding of Buddhism, Buddhist studies. opening a field of study from a philosophically and philologically correct First reports on Buddhism perspective. Since the beginning of the seventeenth Oscar Botto, in his essay Appunti per una century, reports of travelers and storia degli studi Buddhisti in Italia (Notes missionaries stoked an interest in the on the History of Buddhist Studies in “East” and in Asian philosophical and Italy), writes that there are three different religious traditions. As a consequence of phases in the Italian history of Buddhist that, some Western thinkers viewed studies: first of all, there is a phase of Buddhism in its peculiarity. From almost uncritical acceptance of documents Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646-1716) to on Buddhism from different sources, Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882), from considered without the right background Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) to and without adequate philosophical and Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) philological tools. Then there is a middle Buddhism was considered as a theoretical phase, in which we can appreciate a system and as a new intellectual development of critical skills along with perspective, which was often unclear and the refinement of a philosophical and confused with Hinduism. Nevertheless, in philological consciousness of the subject. many Western authors it appeared to be a This awareness leads to the third period, in consistent belief. In 1844, the French which there is a fully developed critical scholar Eugène Burnouf (1801-1852) proposed a systematic and influential 72 Downloaded from Brill.com09/25/2021 02:47:34PM via free access Buddhism in Italy in the Nineteenth Century interpretation of Buddhism, and soon after, Italian missionaries. Actually missionaries in France, Germany and England, were the only Italians interested in the Buddhism was considered as a speculative religious and philosophical aspects of fact rather than as a religious practice. We Asian cultures. De Gubernatis writes in his have to consider that the first contact with Matériaux pour servir à l’Histoire des Buddhism occurred through written texts Etudes Orientales en Italie [Materials to separated from the cultural background use for the History of Oriental Studies in and real experience of it. (see Filoramo Italy] 2007: 377) Il est hors de doute qu’il revient What happened in Germany, England, the aux missionaries italiens le mérite United States and France did not happen in d’avoir les premiers apporté en Italy. At the beginning of the eighteenth Europe une notice de la region century, there is in Italy no cultural asiatique la plus impenetrable. interest in or curiosity about Buddhism. […] Il est surtout à regretter que Though the first travelers to India and the cette etude soit resté en Italie le Far East were Italian, they brought back to privilège des missionaires, qui Italy above all geographical descriptions, n’avaient certainement aucun historical reports and commercial notes. In intérêt à nous donner une idée 1867 Angelo de Gubernatis describes the exacte du bouddhisme. (1876: contribution of Italian travelers to the 367, 376) knowledge of the Far East in his book Memoria intorno ai viaggiatori italiani [No doubt that Italian missionaries nelle Indie Orientali (Memoire about have the merit to be the first to Italian travelers to East India). From bring to Europe news from an Marco Polo to the sixteenth century Asian region among the most travelers reported unsystematically on impenetrable. (…) It is a pity that geography, history and commerce. There in Italy such a study remained the is little information about language. Facts privilege of missionaries, who about culture and religion are very general definitely had no interest in giving and poor. In his book Milione Marco Polo us a precise idea of Buddhism.] uses the very generic expression “they worship idols” in order to describe the In 1876, Carlo Puini announced the religious practices of many different non- recovery of an ancient report written by Muslim peoples. The Italian travelers the Jesuit missionary Ippolito Desideri notice rather the extravagance of these (1684-1739) who went to Tibet in 1713. In religious practices and show little interest this book, Di una relazione inedita del in the rest. (See de Gubernatis 1867b: viaggio al Tibet del padre Desideri 137). (Unpublished Report of Father Desideri’s Travel to Tibet) Father Desideri declares The first Italian scholars of Oriental that he travelled to Tibet in order to bring studies considered the contribution of the Catholic religion. There he meets 73 Downloaded from Brill.com09/25/2021 02:47:34PM via free access MANUSYA: Journal of Humanities Regular 19.2, 2016 Buddhist monks; he is touched by the metempsychosis in the Buddhist system, kindness and tolerance of the people in but his work is an external, almost Lhasa, where he can study the Tibetan anthropological description of rites, beliefs “Kaa-n-ghiur” which living in a Buddhist and customs. temple “where the monks transformed a room into a Catholic chapel” (Puini 1876: It is worth remembering that Italian 37). Desideri is able to study the Buddhist scholars in the eighteenth century, thanks religion and to read the original texts, but to the influence of European translations his aim is to fight Buddhism and to show and studies (rather than because of its supposed errors. Desideri is the first Desideri’s report), consider the Tibetan European scholar of Tibetan Buddhism, canon as the first and most important but he fails to undertake a scientific and source of Buddhism, along with Chinese philological study. His only interest is an translations. The publishing of the apologetic one. He does not offer