Asian Religions Research Guide


I. Getting started

A. Choose a topic.
B. Identify topic words and phrases.

1. Guide to Asian Religion Subject Headings
2. Bibliography of Asian Studies Subjects
3. Subject lists in Religion Index [Religion/Family History Reference Desk]

C. Find background information.

1. Encyclopedias and overviews:

Encyclopedia of Religion. Macmillan, 1993 ed.
Hum Ref BL 31 .E461993
Encyclopedic Dictionary of Religion. Corpus Publications, 1979.
Hum Ref BL 31 .E63
World Religions. Macmillan Reference, 1998.
Hum Ref BL 82 .W671997
Encyclopedia of World Religions: Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism,Zen, Hinduism, Prehistoric & Primitive Religions. Octopus Books,1975.
Hum Ref Bl 31 .E53x1975
Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Macmillan, 1967, 1972.
Hum Ref 41 .E5
Eastern Definitions: A Short Encyclopedia of Religions of the Orient.Anchor Books, 1980.
B 31 .R52 1980
Chinese Mythology: An Encyclopedia of Myth and Legend. London:Aquarian, 1992.
BL 1802 .W29x 1992
Religions of India: Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Zoroastrianism,Christianity, Islam, Judaism. Clarion Books, 1983.
BL 2001.2 .S54

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2. Outlines of teachings and writings

Great Thinkers of the Eastern World: the Great Thinkersand Philosophical and Religious Classics of China, India, Japan, Korea,and the World of Islam. Harper Collins Publishers, 1995.
Hum Ref B 5005 .G741995
A Buddhist Students' Manual. London Buddhist Society, 1956.
BL 1445 .G7 H78
The World of Tibetan Buddhism: An Overview of its Philosophy andPractice. Wisdom Publications, 1995.
BQ 7610 .B77 1995
Buddhist Spirituality: Indian, Southeast Asian, Tibetan, and EarlyChinese. Crossroad, 1993.
BQ 266 .B834 1993
The Texts of Taoism: Tao Te Ching, The Writings of Chuang-tzu, TheThai-shang. Julian Press, 1959.
BL 1900 .A153 1959
Teachings of the Tao: Readings from the Taoist Spiritual Tradition.Shambala,1997.
B 127 .T3 T43 1997
The Shambala Guide to Taoism. Shambala, 1997.
BL 1910 .W66 1997
Essentials of Shinto: an Analytical Guide to Principal Teachings.Greenwood Press, 1994.
BL 2220 .P47 1994
An Outline of Sikh Doctrines. Canadian Sikh Study & TeachingSociety, 1994.
BL 2018.2 .S558x 1994
The Sikh Religion, Its Gurus, Sacred Writings and Authors. ClarendonPress, 1909.
BL 2018 .M313 Vols.1-6

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II. Finding Research Materials

A. Bibliographies

For a list of what has been written on Asian religion topics,look in a bibliography for that religion:

Chinese Religion: Publications in Western Languages 1981 through1990. Association for Asian Studies, 1990.
BL 1802 .T5 1993
Religion in Postwar China: A Critical Analysis and Annotated Bibliography.Greenwood Press, 1994.
BL 1802 .X1 Y8 1994
Books on Buddhism: An Annotated Subject Guide. Scarecrow Press,1976.
Hum Ref BQ 4034 .X1Y64
Bibliography on Buddhism. Tokyo: The Hokuseido Press, 1961.
Hum Ref BQ 4034 .X1H3
Annotated Bibliography of the Daoist Canon
http://www.eng.taoism.org.hk/daoist-scriptures/daoist-canon/pg3-1-3-2.asp
A Select Bibliography on Taoism
. Institute for Advanced Studiesof World Religions, 1988.
BL 1920 .X1P71 1988
Western Bibliography of Taoism. Essen: Die Blaue Eule, 1992.
BL 1920 .X1W3 1992
Hinduism: A Select Bibliography. Indian Documentation Service,1984.
Hum Ref BL 1202 .X1A45 1984
Popular Hinduism and Hindu Mythology: an Annotated Bibliography.Greenwood Press, 1979.
Hum Ref BL 1202 .X1H65
Jainism: A Select Bibliography. Indian Documentation, 1984.
BL 1351.2 .X1 S271984
Shinto-bibliography in Western Languages: Bibliography on Shintoand Religious Sects, Intellectual Schools and Movements Influenced by Shintoism.E. J. Brill, 1986.
BL 2220 .X1 S33 1986.
Sikh Studies: A Classified Bibliography of Printed Books in English.Punjab Publishing House, 1982.
DS 432 .S5 X83 1982
Sikhism and the Sikhs: an Annotated Bibliography. GreenwoodPress, 1989.
Hum Ref BL 2018 .X1R8 1989
Sikhs: Their Literature on Culture, History, Philosophy, Politics,Religion, and Tradition. Delhi: Indian Bibliographies Bureau, 1990.
DS 432 .S5 X8 1990

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B. Journal articles

1. Bibliography of Asian Studies
Indexes books and articles published worldwide on all subjects pertainingto East, Southeast, and South Asia. Updated quarterly. 1971-
2. Religion Index [Religion/Family History Reference Desk]
Indexes over 500 journals and multiple author works in church history,biblical literature, theology, and the sociology and psychology of religion.Updated monthly. 1975-
3. ProQuest Research Library
(ABI/INFORM Global; PA Research II; ProQuest Newspapers) ABI/INFORM Global searches 1000 premier worldwide business periodicals (many articles available in full text), and provides information on 60,000+ companies. PA Research II searches over 1800 popular and scholarly periodicals and selected newspapers in all disciplines with many articles appearing in full text. ProQuest Newspapers indexes the full text of over 300 U.S. and international news sources, including over 150 major U.S. and international newspapers.
4. Academic Search Premier (EBSCO)
1984+ Provides indexing and abstracts for nearly 2,880 journals and full text for over 1,250 academic, social sciences, humanities, general science, education, and multicultural journals. Over half of the journals are peer reviewed. Full text backfiles as far back as January 1990. Updated daily

C. Newspapers

1. LexisNexis Academic
Full text database providing access to national and international news,as well as business, legal and reference information.
2. English-language Asian newspapers in the Periodicals Room:

Japan Times Weekly
Korea Herald
China Daily
Asian Wall Street Journal

3. Chinese, Japanese, and Korean newspapers in the Asian Collection:

Shi jie ri bao
Renmin ribao
Asahi shinbun
Chosen ilbo

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D. Books

1. Use the BYU Library Catalog to look up your topic by keyword or subject.
2. Go to the bookstacks and browse through the books in the call numbersfor your subject:

Buddhism
BQ 600-649 Buddhism in China
BQ 650-669 Buddhism in Korea
BQ 670-699 Buddhism in Japan
BQ 1100-4999 Buddhist doctrines and teachings
BQ 5000-7000 Buddhist practices
BQ 7001-9500 Schools of Buddhism
Confucianism - BL 1800-1875
Daosim (Taosim) - BL 1900-1940
Hinduism - BL 1100-1295
Jainism - BL 1300-1380
Shinto - BL 2204-2227
Sikhism - BL 2017-2018
Zoroastrianism - BL 1500-1590

Asian religion sources on the World Wide Web

Buddhism- Buddhist Studies WWW Virtual Library
http://www.ciolek.com/WWWVL-Buddhism.html
Confucianism- Confucianism
http://sun.sino.uni-heidelberg.de/igcs/igphil.htm#confucianism
Daoism(Taoism) - Taoist Information Page
http://www.clas.ufl.edu/users/gthursby/taoism
Hindusim
http://www.hlrl.hessen.de/~gk1415/hinduism.htm
Jainism - Jainism: Principles, Sources, Images, History
http://www.cs.colostate.edu/~malaiya/jainhlinks.html
Shinto- Shinto
http://www.religioustolerance.org/shinto.htm
Sikhism - The SikhismHome Page
http://www.sikhs.org
Zoroastrianism - Traditional Zoroastrianism
http://www.zoroastrianism.com/

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III. Write the paper.

A. Collect and evaluate sources.
B. Keep complete author, title, and place of publication information.
C. Use dictionaries to look up specialized terms.

1. Buddhism:

Bukkyo kotowaza jiten. Tokyo: Keisuisha, 1992.
Asian JapaneseBQ 130 .K33x 1992
Nichi-Ei Bukkyo jiten. Tokyo: Daito Shuppansha, 1965.
Asian JapaneseBQ 130 .N52 1963
Zhongguo Fo jiao fan Han zidian. Taipei, 1993.
Asian Ref BQ133 .E38x 1993
Historical Dictionary of Buddhism. Scarecrow Press, 1993.
Hum Ref BQ 130.P74 1993
A Popular Dictionary of Buddhism. Curzon Press, 1976.
Hum Ref BR 130.H85
The Shambala Dictionary of Buddhism and Zen. Shambala, 1991.
BQ 130 .L4925131991

2. Taoism:

Daoism Handbook. Leiden: Brill, 2000
Hum Ref BL 1925 .D36 2000
Historical Dictionary of Taoism. Scarecrow Press, 1998.
Hum Ref BL 1923.P37 1998
The Shambhala Dictionary of Taoism. Shambala, 1996.
BL 1923 .S481996

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3. Hinduism:

Historical Dictionary of Hinduism. Scarecrow Press,1997.
Hum Ref BL 1105.S85 1997
A Popular Dictionary of Hinduism. Curzon, 1994.
Hum Ref BL 1005.W47x 1994
An Illustrated Dictionary of Hindu Iconography. Routledge &Kegan Paul, 1985.
Hum Ref N 8195.A4 S78 1984
A Dictionary of Hinduism: Its Mythology, Folklore and Development,1500 BC - AD 1500. Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1977.
Hum Ref BL 1005.S88x 1977

4. Sikhism:

Historical Dictionary of Sikhism. Scarecrow Press, 1995.
Hum Ref BL 2018.M38 1995
A Popular Dictionary of Sikhism. Riverdale Co., 1990.
Hum Ref BL 2017.3.C64x 1990

5. Shinto:

Shinto jiten. Tokyo: Kobundo, 1994.
Asian Ref BL2216.1 .S56x 1994
A Popular Dictionary of Shinto. Curzon Press, 1996.
Hum Ref BL 2216.1.B63x 1996

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D. Take notes in your own words.
E. Write.
F. Revise.
G. Polish and hand in.

If you have questions or need help, see the Asian Studies Librarian, Gail King.

4523 HBLL, ext. 2-4061

gail_king@byu.edu