Reading history critically

What can we claim from a historical record? Answer through seven examples from Buddhist traditions. Take 5–10 minutes for an initial reading, and allow more time if you investigate the full sources. This selection teaches a method; it does not summarize the whole history of Buddhism.

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7

Step 4 / 7

Is the oldest surviving object the first invention?

Read how the copy is dated. Separate the object’s date from the history of the technique and translation. Which originals, workshops, or readers disappear when we only see the surviving copy?

868 · Printed copy of the Diamond Sutra

Open the sources and locate the passage

My explanation

Saved in this browser. Not sent to the server.
Check my answer

A dated example documents that the technique already existed. An object’s survival alone does not establish when the technique was invented.