Jan Willem de Jong (15 February 1921 – 22 January 2000) was a Dutch 20th-century
Indologist
Indology, also known as South Asian studies, is the academic study of the history and cultures, languages, and literature of the Indian subcontinent, and as such is a subset of Asian studies.
The term ''Indology'' (in German, ''Indologie'') is ...
and
Buddhologist.
Birth and education
J. W. de Jong was born in
Leiden
Leiden ( ; ; in English language, English and Archaism, archaic Dutch language, Dutch also Leyden) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Nethe ...
. He attended primary school and the
Stedelijk Gymnasium in Leiden, and went on to study at the
University of Leiden
Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; ) is a public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. Established in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange as a Protestant institution, it holds the distinction of being the oldest university in the Neth ...
from 1939 to 1945, where he began his lifelong study of the "canonical languages" of
Buddhism
Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
; he took Chinese as his major, while minoring in Japanese and Sanskrit. With the closing of the university in 1940, following the
German invasion of the Netherlands
The German invasion of the Netherlands (), otherwise known as the Battle of the Netherlands (), was a military campaign, part of Case Yellow (), the Nazi German invasion of the Low Countries (Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands) and Fran ...
, de Jong was forced to continue his studies on his own. With the war's end in 1945, the university reopened and de Jong passed his . In 1946, he traveled to the United States as a visiting professor at
Harvard University
Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
, where he continued his study of Sanskrit texts.
From 1947 to 1950, he lived in Paris studying at both the
Sorbonne and the
Collège de France
The (), formerly known as the or as the ''Collège impérial'' founded in 1530 by François I, is a higher education and research establishment () in France. It is located in Paris near La Sorbonne. The has been considered to be France's most ...
, where he began studying
Tibetan. While still in Paris, he met his future wife Gisèle Bacquès, whom he married in 1949. That same year, he was awarded his PhD from the University of Leiden; his doctoral thesis was a critical translation of
Candrakīrti's . He also began studying Mongolian.
He returned to the Netherlands in 1950 to act as senior research assistant (1950–1954) and continuing academic employee (1954–1956) at the
Leiden University
Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; ) is a Public university, public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. Established in 1575 by William the Silent, William, Prince of Orange as a Protestantism, Protestant institution, it holds the d ...
, working at the university's ('Institute of
Sinology
Sinology, also referred to as China studies, is a subfield of area studies or East Asian studies involved in social sciences and humanities research on China. It is an academic discipline that focuses on the study of the Chinese civilization p ...
'); in 1956, he became the first Chair of Tibetan and Buddhist Studies when the position was created at the
Insituut Kern (the Indological institute at Leiden). In 1957, de Jong founded the ''
Indo-Iranian Journal
''Indo-Iranian Journal'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal focusing on aspects of Indo-Iranian cultures. The journal was started by de Jong and Kuiper in 1957 with Ludwig Alsdorf, Harold Walter Bailey, Louis Renou, Sumitra Mangesh Katre ...
'' with Leiden University colleague
F. B. J. Kuiper in 1957 in order to facilitate the publishing of scholarly articles in Indology. In 1965, he moved to Australia to become professor of Indology at the Australian National University in Canberra, a position he held until his retirement in 1986.
De Jong became a corresponding member of the
Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences
The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (, KNAW) is an organization dedicated to the advancement of science and literature in the Netherlands. The academy is housed in the Trippenhuis in Amsterdam.
In addition to various advisory a ...
in 1978.
Scholarship
De Jong was well-known for his extensive linguistic ability having had a command of Dutch, French, English, German, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, Danish, Mongolian, Sanskrit, Pāli, and Tibetan, as well as for the rather acerbic quality of his reviews. His scholarly publications number more than 800; 700 of these are reviews. He made major contributions to the field of Tibetan studies, including a study of an account of the life of
Milarepa
Jetsun Milarepa (, 1028/40–1111/23) was a Tibetan , who was famously known as a murderer when he was a young man, before turning to Buddhism and becoming a highly accomplished Buddhist disciple. He is generally considered one of Tibet's most fa ...
by Tsangnyong Heruka Rüpägyäncän (Gtsang-smyon he-ru-ka rus-pa'i-rgyan-can) (1490), and the editing and translation of all
Dunhuang
Dunhuang () is a county-level city in northwestern Gansu Province, Western China. According to the 2010 Chinese census, the city has a population of 186,027, though 2019 estimates put the city's population at about 191,800. Sachu (Dunhuang) was ...
fragments apropos of the
Rāmāyaṇa story in Tibetan. Furthermore, his work on
Madhyamaka
Madhyamaka ("middle way" or "centrism"; ; ; Tibetic languages, Tibetan: དབུ་མ་པ་ ; ''dbu ma pa''), otherwise known as Śūnyavāda ("the Śūnyatā, emptiness doctrine") and Niḥsvabhāvavāda ("the no Svabhava, ''svabhāva'' d ...
philosophy in the 1940s is some of the earliest to treat that topic in detail.
Death
De Jong died in
Canberra
Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...
. In April 2000, some 12,000 items from his personal library (which itself contained over 20,000 volumes) was purchased from his family in Canberra by the
University of Canterbury
The University of Canterbury (UC; ; postnominal abbreviation ''Cantuar.'' or ''Cant.'' for ''Cantuariensis'', the Latin name for Canterbury) is a public research university based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was founded in 1873 as Canterbur ...
in
Christchurch
Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...
,
New Zealand
New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
.
Selected works
*1949. ''Cinq chapitres de la Prasannapadā''
*1959. ''Mi la ras pa’i rnam thar: texte tibétain de la vie de Milarépa.'' ‘S-Gravenhage: Mouton
*1968. ''Buddha's word in China (George Ernest Morrison lecture in ethnology)''
*1974. ''A brief history of Buddhist studies in Europe and America.'' Supplements published in 1981 and 1991
*1987. ''Lamotte and the doctrine of non-self''
*1989. ''The story of Rāma in Tibet.'' Stuttgart: F. Steiner
*1998. "Once more, ajyate." ''Journal of the American Oriental Society'', Vol. 118, No. 1 (Jan. - Mar., 1998), pp. 69–70
References
Biography of J. W. de Jong*Ruegg, David-Seyford (2000). “In Memoriam J. W. de Jong” ''Indo-Iranian Journal'' 43.4: 313–317.
*Kuiper, F.B.J. (2000). “Jan Willem de Jong” ''Indo-Iranian Journal'' 43.1: xi-xii.
*
H. W. Bodewitz and Minoru Hara, eds (2004). ''Gedenkschrift J. W. de Jong.'' (Studia Philologica Buddhica 16). Tokyo: The International Institute for Buddhist Studies.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jong, Jan Willem De
1921 births
2000 deaths
Dutch Indologists
Leiden University alumni
Harvard University staff
Academic staff of Leiden University
Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences
Dutch expatriates in the United States
Dutch expatriates in France