The Dharma King Who Took Care of His Family: Penden Trashi and the Rise of a Clan-Based Tibetan Buddhist Society in the Fifteenth-Century Northern Sino-Tibetan Borderland (original) (raw)
Related papers
On the Margins: Between Beliefs and Doctrines within Tibetan-Ruled Dunhuang Scribal Culture
Buddhist Road Paper 1.6, Doctrines, 2023
This article explores the disparity between the Central Tibetan Buddhist doctrines espoused and spread by the Tibetan Empire (Tib. Bod chen po, ca. 7th c. to 842) and those of the multi-ethnic inhabitants of Dunhuang (敦煌) during the same period. It begins with the multi-ethnic background of the Tibetans themselves and how the Tibetan Empire maintained complex relations with those on its borders, as well as their Buddhism(s). It then unpacks the ‘self-presentation’ of Tri Songdétsen’s (742–ca. 800, Tib. Khri Srong lde brtsan) royal discourse (Tib. bka’ mchid) of doctrine and its spread throughout the Tibetan Empire by means of imperial machinery of state administration. The second half of the paper focuses on Tibetan-ruled Dunhuang (perhaps late 750s/early 760s, or 787, to 848) and evidence of the many different beliefs there not contained in Tri Songdétsen’s royal discourse. It looks at the Aparimitāyurnāmasūtra from the perspective not only of content but also of the evidence of scribal practice spread over its many copies from Mogao Cave 17, also known as the Library Cave (Chin. Cangjing dong 藏經洞). This view from the periphery suggests the variety of Buddhist beliefs not explicitly included in the royal discourse, as well as the varying perspectives on how the Tibetan emperors connect with them and some of the ways in which these influenced the margins of the Tibetan Empire after it fell in the mid-ninth century.
Harvard University, 2023
The dissertation examines a pivotal moment concerning Buddhism in Inner Asian history, namely the rise of Tibetan Buddhism in the Tangut Xia State (1038–1227) from the early twelfth century to the early thirteenth century. The dissertation views the Tangut Xia as a prototypical Inner Asian empire from which later empires of China and Inner Asia – the Mongol Yuan (1271– 1368) and Manchu Qing (1636–1911) – arose. Buddhism, and Tibetan Buddhism in particular, has been widely acknowledged as a crucial factor that contributed to the maintenance of the political, social, and cultural structures of those empires. And I propose, to fully understand the dynamics, we must trace its origin to the Tangut State. In general, the dissertation delineates some major figures and events related to the rise of Tibetan Buddhism in the Tangut Xia and discusses their implications. It demonstrates that the success of Tibetan Buddhism in the Tangut Xia was because of some preferable fortuitous conditions of time and space as well as the efforts made by both participants. Specifically, the dissertation investigates the Tangut assimilation of the Gsang phu ne’u thog scholastic tradition, which was initiated by Rngog Lo tsā ba Blo ldan shes rab (ca. 1059– 1109), a fact that has till now remained unnoticed by previous scholarship. The advent of the scholastic tradition gave rise to an audience of Tangut monks who engaged in scholastic training in monastic settings. The many Tangut translations of the Tibetan texts from the Gsang phu scholastic tradition, because their originals are not extant, shed light on the early intellectual history of the Later Diffusion (phyi dar) in Tibet as well. Notably, the significant interest in Dharmakīrti’s (7th c.) Nyāyabindu of some early Gsang phu masters, as attested by the Tangut texts, was previously unknown. The philological connections between the Tangut texts and their Tibetan counterparts provide us with many possibilities to examine the Tangut language. Hence, the dissertation also serves as an attempt to broaden our knowledge of the Tangut Buddhist language, especially with regard to its scholarly language, which was previously often overlooked. The dissertation further examines and presents a partial annotated translation of the first volume of a twelfth-century Gsang phu scholar’s work only preserved in Tangut translation, namely the Clarification of the Words and Meaning of the Nyāyabindu (*Rigs pa’i thigs pa’i tshig don gsal bar byed pa). The translation establishes a substantial ground that allows us to observe the many points addressed above.
Sino Tibetan Buddhism across the Ages, edited by Ester Bianchi and Weirong Shen. Brill 2021
Brill, 2021
This book introduces the reader to different cases of cultural intersections between Tibet and China in the field of Buddhism. The ten chapters provide a series of insights into Sino-Tibetan exchanges within religious practices and doctrines, material culture and iconography. Spanning from pre-modern encounters in Central Asia to contemporary forms of Sino-Tibetan hybridity in Chinese-speaking environments, Sino-Tibetan Buddhism Across the Ages produces further evidence that, beginning with the very introduction of Buddhism into Tibet, there were constant and fruitful contacts and blending between the Buddhist traditions developing in China and those of Tibet. The volume is dedicated to the memory of Monica Esposito.
Where the Two Worlds Met: Spreading a Buddhist Canon in Wanli (1573–1620) China
The imperial bestowal, as a major way of distributing the Buddhist canon, profoundly affected the contours of Buddhism in late imperial China. But why did the inner court engage in the distribution? How did it choose the recipient from the outside world? How was it possible for an aspirant to the canon to win out among the competitors? These questions concern the dynamics and mechanism behind the diffusion of the canon. They also cast new light on the relationship between Buddhism and the state and local society by revealing how the two otherwise separated worlds interacted. This paper is intended to tackle these unexplored questions by examining the extensive bestowal of the Ming Beizang during the Wanli court . It first makes a survey, revealing how uneven the distribution was in terms of both time and region. It then explores the motives of the imperial members as patrons in the context of court politics. Its focus, however, is on the agents and elements working behind the selection of the beneficiaries, and how their interplays conditioned the influence of the canon in local societies. In the process, the roles of the emperor, court women, eunuchs, officials, monks, and local elites are all examined.
Pure Land Buddhism in China : A Doctrinal History Chapter Seven : T ’ an-luan Shinkø Mochizuki
2001
IN THIS ISSUE WE continue with the publication of selections from Leo Pruden’s translation of Shinkø Mochizuki’s Pure Land Buddhism in China: A Doctrinal History. Given the theme of this issue, we have chosen to publish chapter seven, on T’an-luan, out of order. As mentioned in the previous issue, editing of Pruden’s typescript has been limited to improvements in the readability and updating some of the terminology employed. We again wish to express our appreciation to everyone who contributed to initiating this project, especially the Pruden estate for their permission to publish the work.