Contributions to the Cultural History of Early Tibet

Contributions to the Cultural History of Early Tibet
Author: Matthew Kapstein
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 324
Release: 2007-09-30
Genre: History
ISBN: 9047421191

The study of the rise and institutions of the Tibetan empire of the seventh to ninth centuries, and of the continuing development of Tibetan civilization during the obscure period that followed, have aroused growing interest among scholars of Inner Asia in recent decades. The six contributions presented here represent refinements in substance and method characterizing current work in this area. A chapter by Brandon Dotson provides a new perspective on law and divination under the empire, while the post-imperial international relations of the Tsong kha kingdom are analyzed by Bianca Horlemann. In “The History of the Cycle of Birth and Death”, Yoshiro Imaeda’s investigation of a Dunhuang narrative appears in a revised edition, in English for the first time. The problem of oral transmission in relation to the Tibetan Dunhuang texts is then taken up in the contribution of Sam van Schaik. In the final section, Matthew Kapstein and Carmen Meinert consider aspects of Chinese Buddhism in their relation to religious developments in Tibet.

A Cultural History of Tibet

A Cultural History of Tibet
Author: David L. Snellgrove
Publisher:
Total Pages: 300
Release: 1968
Genre: Tibet
ISBN:

"In their discussion of the three major periods of Tibetan history, the authors draw parallels with the structure of life in England and Western Europe. Strong analogies breakdown with the European Renaissance, a cultural development that Tibet, of course, did not experience. A final section focuses on Tibet's belated emergence into modern times, ending with its subjugation by the Chinese Communists"--

Tibet

Tibet
Author: Sam van Schaik
Publisher: Yale University Press
Total Pages: 350
Release: 2011-06-28
Genre: History
ISBN: 0300154046

Presents a comprehensive history of the country, from its beginnings in the seventh century, to its rise as a Buddhist empire in medieval times, to its conquest by China in 1950, and subsequent rule by the Chinese.

Scribes, Texts, and Rituals in Early Tibet and Dunhuang

Scribes, Texts, and Rituals in Early Tibet and Dunhuang
Author: International Association for Tibetan Studies. Seminar
Publisher: Dr Ludwig Reichert
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2013
Genre: Dunhuang (China)
ISBN: 9783895009389

This volume presents new findings and original research concerning early Tibet and the social and cultural history of the Tibetan Empire (c. 600-850 CE). In five chapters, leading scholars approach the problem of textual production in interrelated and complementary ways. These include a chapter on the social history of scribal practice in Dunhuang, a codicological study of royally commissioned sutras, a palaeographical essay at a typology of early Tibetan writing, a study of hunting topoi in narrative and ritual texts, and a text-critical approach to an early Bon tantra. Demonstrating the methodological breadth of the field of early Tibetan studies, the remaining contributions range from an archeological study of pre-historic ritual artefacts and an art-historical study of illuminated tomb panels to two chapters on Tibetan imperial administration and a chapter on the cosmopolitan origins of materia medica used in the Silk Road entrepot of Dunhuang. The work will be of interest to all those interested in the language, history, and culture of early Tibet. Its essays are appropriate for those ranging from undergraduates to professional scholars.

A History of Zhang Zhung and Tibet, Volume One

A History of Zhang Zhung and Tibet, Volume One
Author: Chogyal Namkhai Norbu
Publisher: North Atlantic Books
Total Pages: 265
Release: 2013-05-14
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1583946101

A History of Zhang Zhung and Tibet, Volume One explores ancient Tibet's Zhang Zhung kingdom and Bon religion that preceded the advent of Buddhism in the seventh century. Countering the long-held idea that Tibet's pre-Buddhist indigenous culture was primitive and undeveloped, this book shares the rich cultural origins of the kingdom of Zhang Zhung--the "cradle of Tibetan culture," which encompassed a vast area of Western and Northern Tibet in an area that includes sacred Mount Kailash. Presenting the meticulous research of internationally known Dzogchen Buddhist teacher and scholar Chögyal Namkhai Norbu, the book investigates the mysteries of Zhang Zhung's Bon religion, a set of shamanistic and animistic beliefs and practices only recently studied by a handful of academic scholars. Offering a critical analysis of a vast array of literary and primary sources, Norbu discusses the role of the Bon traditions within Zhang Zhung's lineages, dynasties, and culture. Examining Zhang Zhung's written language, sacred ornaments, rock carvings, healing practices, music, and magical divination techniques, Norbu contributes to an understanding of the roots of Tibetan Buddhist culture and modern-day Bon religion--a practice followed by an estimated ten percent of Tibetans. Table of Contents: Translator's Foreword; A Technical Note about the Translation; I. The Human Generations of Ancient Zhang Zhung; II. The Bon Lineages of Ancient Zhang Zhung; III. The Royal Lineages of Ancient Zhang Zhung; IV. The Written Language of Ancient Zhang Zhung; V. The Civilization of Ancient Zhang Zhung; Indexes--Tibetan and Zhang Zhung Names and Terms, Textual Sources, Sanskrit Names and Terms, Chinese Names and Terms

The Tibetan History Reader

The Tibetan History Reader
Author: Gray Tuttle
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Total Pages: 750
Release: 2013-04-02
Genre: History
ISBN: 0231144695

Answering a critical need for an accurate, in-depth history of Tibet, this single-volume resource reproduces essential, hard-to-find essays from the past fifty years of Tibetan studies. Covering the social, cultural, and political development of Tibet from the seventh century to the modern period, the volume is organized chronologically and regionally to complement courses in Asian and religious studies and world civilizations. Beginning with Tibet's emergence as a regional power and concluding with its profound contemporary transformations, this anthology offers both a general and ..

Being Human in a Buddhist World

Being Human in a Buddhist World
Author: Janet Gyatso
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Total Pages: 539
Release: 2015-01-20
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0231538324

Critically exploring medical thought in a cultural milieu with no discernible influence from the European Enlightenment, Being Human in a Buddhist World reveals an otherwise unnoticed intersection of early modern sensibilities and religious values in traditional Tibetan medicine. It further studies the adaptation of Buddhist concepts and values to medical concerns and suggests important dimensions of Buddhism's role in the development of Asian and global civilization. Through its unique focus and sophisticated reading of source materials, Being Human adds a crucial chapter in the larger historiography of science and religion. The book opens with the bold achievements in Tibetan medical illustration, commentary, and institution building during the period of the Fifth Dalai Lama and his regent, Desi Sangye Gyatso, then looks back to the work of earlier thinkers, tracing a strategically astute dialectic between scriptural and empirical authority on questions of history and the nature of human anatomy. It follows key differences between medicine and Buddhism in attitudes toward gender and sex and the moral character of the physician, who had to serve both the patient's and the practitioner's well-being. Being Human in a Buddhist World ultimately finds that Tibetan medical scholars absorbed ethical and epistemological categories from Buddhism yet shied away from ideal systems and absolutes, instead embracing the imperfectability of the human condition.

The Museum on the Roof of the World

The Museum on the Roof of the World
Author: Clare Harris
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 344
Release: 2012-10-30
Genre: Art
ISBN: 0226317471

For millions of people around the world, Tibet is a domain of undisturbed tradition, the Dalai Lama a spiritual guide. By contrast, the Tibet Museum opened in Lhasa by the Chinese in 1999 was designed to reclassify Tibetan objects as cultural relics and the Dalai Lama as obsolete. Suggesting that both these views are suspect, Clare E. Harris argues in The Museum on the Roof of the World that for the past one hundred and fifty years, British and Chinese collectors and curators have tried to convert Tibet itself into a museum, an image some Tibetans have begun to contest. This book is a powerful account of the museums created by, for, or on behalf of Tibetans and the nationalist agendas that have played out in them. Harris begins with the British public’s first encounter with Tibetan culture in 1854. She then examines the role of imperial collectors and photographers in representations of the region and visits competing museums of Tibet in India and Lhasa. Drawing on fieldwork in Tibetan communities, she also documents the activities of contemporary Tibetan artists as they try to displace the utopian visions of their country prevalent in the West, as well as the negative assessments of their heritage common in China. Illustrated with many previously unpublished images, this book addresses the pressing question of who has the right to represent Tibet in museums and beyond.

On the Cultural Revolution in Tibet

On the Cultural Revolution in Tibet
Author: Melvyn C. Goldstein
Publisher: Univ of California Press
Total Pages: 258
Release: 2010-10-28
Genre: History
ISBN: 0520267907

This resource revisits the Nyemo incident, which has long been romanticised as the epitome of Tibetan nationalist resistance against China. The authors show that far from being a spontaneous battle for independence, this event was actually part of a struggle between rival revolutionary groups and was not ethnically based.

The Ancient Tibetan Civilization

The Ancient Tibetan Civilization
Author: Tsewang Gyalpo Arya
Publisher: Library of Tibetan Works and Archives
Total Pages: 244
Release: 2022-01-27
Genre: History
ISBN: 9390752728

How interesting it is to realize that the lifestyle we live, beliefs and faith we live by and the language we converse in, all has its own distinct history of origination and how it has evolved and progressed over time to become everything present today. The book is a marvellous attempt to understand one’s own civilization enlightening the path to startling revelation on ‘How did Tibetan civilization came about?’. The widely popularized Tibetan origin myth of ‘The Monkey and the Ogress’, is it really true? Did Tibet really had its first king descended from the sky? How is Tibetan scripts so similar to the Gupta Brahmi script? This book leaves no stone unturned to fill this grey area on the dawn of Tibetan civilization and intrigues the readers to deliberate over the subject. ‘The Ancient Tibetan Civilization’ explicitly debunks popular mythologies, misconceptions and misinformation surrounding the origination and evolution of Tibetan civilization. -Tenzin Wangmo