Exploration of Theravāda Buddhist Manuscripts in Sipsong Panna : หน้า 91/141

literature.9 It is notable that the Agama Sutras (阿含经) discovered in the Xishuangbanna region are incomplete. For example, the Hinayana Agama should have contained the Khuddaka Patha (小品), Dharma-phrase Sutra (法句经), Itivuttaka (如是语经), Sutra Collection (经典), Vimanavatthu (天宫事经), Hungry Ghost Affair Sutra (饿鬼事经), Theragatha (长老偈), Therigatha (长老尼偈), the Jataka 本生经), Allegory Sutra (比喻经), History of Buddhist Sutra (佛经史), etc. According to The Complete Collection of Chinese Palm-Leaf Scriptures which were compiled, translated and published on the basis of recently collected palm-leaf and sa-paper manuscripts, volume 98 of the Hinayana Agama contains only three books: the Sutra Collection (经典), the Theragatha (长老经) and the Therigatha (长老尼经). Nearly forty copies of the Jatakas which should have been included in Khuddaka-Nikaya (小阿含经) have been published in later volumes of The Complete Collection of Chinese Palm-Leaf Scriptures. II Theravāda Buddhist manuscripts in Sipsong Panna The following is a study of the Theravāda Buddhist manuscripts of the Sipsong Panna region in terms of manuscript form, format of writing, the characters, the maker, geographical source and content, etc. Buddhist manuscripts of the Sipsong Panna region can be grouped into two types: Palm-Leaf manuscripts and sa-paper manuscripts. At one time, most Buddhist texts, especially those used regularly in ritual and practice, were recorded on palm leaves. For example, the most important manuscripts documented in The Complete Collection of Chinese Palm-Leaf Scripture are all palm-leaf manuscripts. The text on each leaf of the manuscript is set out in five uniform lines. Examples of these are Palm-Leaf manuscripts of the Agama Sutra (阿含经) and the Visuddhimagga(清净道论). There