Abstract

The Stonesutras Project, a long-term initiative housed at the Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften, focuses on Buddhist texts, or sutras, the sacred teachings and sermons of the Buddha, that were carved into stone slabs and cliG faces in China. Spanning twenty years, the project’s ambition has been to integrate print publication with digital standards for diverse materials, ranging from monumental cliG carvings to small stone steles.

This presentation highlights the unique challenges inherent in managing such a long-term project. The initial commitment to a unified data strategy using XML/TEI/MADS/MODS was a solution for internal consistency, ensuring the use of the same data for both academic print volumes and the web. Maintaining this system across decades presented significant obstacles, notably the constant threat of the obsolescence of web technologies. This was addressed by the creation of the open-source TEI Publisher platform, which solved some critical challenges and sustained the project’s output, with the exception of technologies like 3D models and GIS analysis tools. Ultimately, this presentation maps the eGorts and remaining challenges required to preserve the legacy of the project, which is vital for future collaboration and the potential integration of data from related projects, such as Altergraphy (INALCO). Unlike the robust infrastructure and federations found in the European community, no similar standards or consolidated network of epigraphy projects currently exists for the Sinophone world. The contribution to this workshop is intended as a first step towards adapting the community model to Chinese resources and incorporating them into a global dialogue on digital epigraphy.

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