History of Buddhism in China and Tibet

Издание представляет собой первый перевод с тибетского на европейский язык трактата "Чойла-чжугбиго", "Дверь, ведущая в Учение", Второго патриарха школы Сакья Соднам-Цзэмо (1142-1182). В трактате изложено жизнеописание Будды, рассматриваются вопросы философии, истории и хронологии буддизма. Перевод сопровождается комментарием и исследовательской статьей.

Tsering Shakya examines one of the key turning points in Tibetan history. In 1951 Tibet was forcibly subsumed under the People’s Republic of China, an event marked both symbolically and practically by the Seventeen-Point Agreement. Shakya correctly points out the importance of international affairs to this agreement, the only one of its kind in the process of the consolidation of the modern Chinese state. Given that the Chinese launched their invasion of areas of Kham under Lhasa rule the same day that the United States sent troops into North Korea, it seems that the Chinese communists were thinking strategically about...

En este trabajo presentamos las dos inscripciones relacionadas con la construcción del gran Buda Vairocana del templo Fengxian en Longmen, y una pagoda del monasterio Shaolin en el monte Song. Se expondrá como ambas construcciones realizadas durante el reinado de Gaozong y Wu Zetian, guardan una estrecha relación con la política de refuerzo de la autoridad imperial y se empleó estas construcciones y otras fundaciones budistas como un medio propagandístico. In this paper we present the two inscriptions associated to the construction of the great Buddha Vairocana of the Fengxian temple in Longmen, and a pagoda of the Shaolin monastery on Mount Song. It will be expounding as the two constructions made during the reign of Gaozong and Wu Zetian, are closely related to the reinforcement policy of the imperial authority that used these constructions and other Buddhist foundations as a kind propaganda.

Digital Dictionary of Buddhism entry. June, 2015. Details the history and contents of Amoghavajra's Xiuyao jing 宿曜經, an astrology manual attributed to Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva compiled in Chinese between 759-764, but with no known parallels in Sanskrit or Tibet.

Tibetan Buddhist Ritual texts concerning Gling Gesar are all relatively late. It was suggested in a recent study (Watt 2012) that though most Buddhist ritual texts concerning Gling Gesar are of a Rnying-ma provenance, the oldest ritual text was one by the 13th century scion of the Karma Bka'-brgyud-pa, Karma Pakshi. This text recently came to the authors attention and this article presents a full annotated translation of it. The attribution to Karma Pakshi is however rejected. Instead a suggestion is made about the possibly 17th century origins of the text.

This is the Original English Text upon which the Korean Translation was made. This project on bodily arts of memory in Chinese religion, medicine, and divination has led her to expand her overall historical method from just analyzing the history of Chinese medicine on its own terms and within its own socio-intellectual context to physically figuring out how these bodily arts of memory practices worked corporeally as well as conceptually for Chinese religious adepts, physicians, and diviners. This article therefore first examines the earliest extant historical evidence for hand mnemonics in medieval Chinese Buddhism and then introduces the method of historical embodiment she has developed in the process of both understanding hand mnemonics herself and explaining them to others.

The role of the Oirat Khoshuts people in the history of Tibet in the middle 17th – first third of the 18th centuries is known: due to their military support, the Dalai Lama has taken power thus finishing multiyear competition of various sects of the Tibetan Buddhism in the country. However, many aspects related to their dominance in Tibet, e.g. interactions between the Tibetan leaders with the Oirat Khohut princes and khans, foreign policy of the Khoshuts, role of religion and religious institutions etc. remain poorly explored. This paper is devoted mainly to the influence of the Khoshuts on political and religious history of Tibet at the pointed period period, which specificity, in turn, influenced the Oirat history.

The paper thus aims to fill in this gap of our knowledge and focuses on Atiśa’s place of birth and his family affiliation. It challenges the unanswered question of Atiśa Dīpaṃkara Śrījñāna’s actual origin. It has been said in various Tibetan sources that Atiśa was born in a royal family of Eastern India in the land of Vaṇgala (Tib. Bhaṃ ga la), in the domain of the Chandra dynasty with its capital in Vikramapura (Tib. Bi kra ma ni pu ra). Unlike these specific local names provided, Atiśa’s family lineage is identified by the textual sources only by the Tibetan names of his father Śrīkalyāṇa (Tib. Dge ba’i dpal), mother Śrīprabhā (Tib. Dpal mo ’od zer) and his two brothers Chandragarbha (Tib. Lta ba’i nying po) and Śrīgarbha (Tib. Dpal gyi snying po). The venerable teacher Atiśa himself is referred to in texts as Padmagarbha (Tib. Pad ma’i nying po). The purpose of this paper is to answer the question whether in reality there was any kinship link between Atiśa and the Chandra royal dynasty.

Historical outline The Liao 遼 Empire was founded by Yelü (Ei. ra. ud) Abaoji (耶律阿保機, reigned until 926) of the Diela 迭剌 tribe of the Kitan (qid. un) confederation in 907. The rise of Kitan state was facilitated by the collapse of the Tang dynasty and following period of political disorder, known as the period of Five dynasties and Ten states (五代十國, 907-979). As in the case with the Tangut state, there is certain ambiguity in the dynastic title of the Liao. During its history, the Liao Empire changed its title four times: 907-938 the Chinese title of the state was the Great Kitan State (大契丹國); incorporation of the 16 prefectures of Northern China signaled the change of the title into the Great Liao State (大遼國); in 983 the title Great Kitan State was adopted again; and in 1066 the state was again renamed into the Great Liao State (Kane, 2009: 162-163). Administratively, the Liao Empire was divided into the so called Northern and Southern Regions (南北兩院), each headed by the "officials facing North" and "officials facing South". "Northern Court" was generally responsible for the nomadic population, whereas the "Southern Court" was controlling the sedentary areas, mostly composed of the captured Chinese territories. The dual system recognized the differences between the customs and social organization of predominantly nomadic Kitan, and agricultural Han regions, and intended to maintain the uniqueness of the Kitan tribal organization and its military prowess. Despite increasing symbiosis between the peoples of the Empire, its dual structure remained intact until the collapse of the Liao state (Wittfogel and Feng, 1949: 7). Another characteristic feature of the Liao administrative geography was the system of "five capitals" (五京), which included the "Upper Capital" (now in the vicinity of Chifeng 赤峰 in modern Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region), Eastern Capital (modern Liaoyang 遼 陽 , Liaoning province), Southern capital Xijin fu 析津府 (modern Beijing), Middle Capital Dading fu 大定府 (Ningcheng county also in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region) and the Western Capital, in modern Datong 大同 in Shaanxi. Imperial period in the history of the Kitan people continued until 1125, when they were finally defeated by the rising power of their former vassals, the Jurchen. Generally, Kitan imperial history numbers eight successive imperial reigns. After collapse of the Liao, elements of Yelü royal family reestablished the empire in Central Asia. This empire known as the Western Liao (Qara-Kitai) continued from 1124 to 1218. At the height of its power Liao occupied enormous territory stretching far NorthWest from the lake Baikal into the Central Asia; ancient state of Bohai 渤海 renamed into Dongdan guo 東丹國 located in areas of modern Dongbei 東北，Korean peninsula and modern Russian Far East became part of the Liao in 925. In the South, Liao borders almost reached Kaifeng 開 封, which was once captured by the Liao forces in 947. Through a combination of diplomatic efforts, a military power and inner disorder in the Northern China, the Liao emperors secured occupation of the so-called "sixteen prefectures of You and Yun 幽雲十六州" in modern Hebei province, including the area of modern Beijing in 938. Expanse into the Central Plains was concluded with the treaty of Chanyuan 澶淵 in 1005, which established the borderline between the Song and the Liao and determined the principles of the relationship between the two states. According to the treaty the Song and the Liao recognized each other as "brotherly states", while the status of the "elder brother" was assigned to the Song. In exchange for the recognition of its superior status, the Song authorities agreed to substantial yearly payments to the Kitan. Peaceful relations with the Song were maintained throughout the remainder of the Liao history. Directly to the West from the Liao, the Tangut state (1038-1227) remained its powerful neighbor: despite several attempts of conquest, the Tanguts managed to maintain their independence and benefit from a complex balance of power between the Song and the Liao. The Liao and Tangut courts exchanged emissaries, and Kitan princesses married Tangut emperors, while the Tanguts accepted the status of nephew to their Kitan uncle. On the basis of linguistic features observable from surviving evidence, the Kitan language is generally believed to be Altaic; however specific matters of subgrouping remain debatable: the language can be related to either Mongolic or Tungusic branches or to no branch at all. Kitan language now survives in two types of graphs, the so called "large" and "small" scripts. Both were created almost simultaneously, during 920-925, i.e. shortly after the state was proclaimed. Despite their seeming similarity both between themselves and the Chinese characters, both types of Kitan script proceed from different principles, and are only superficially related to the Chinese writing. Sources generally agree that the small script was phonetic combined with logograms used for common words (Kane, 2009:3), whereas some logographs could perform the capacity of meaningful words, and be used as elements of phonetic writing. According to D. Kane's calculations, about 15 monuments of Kitan epigraphy survive in the large script and 32 in small script (Kane, 2009: 8-12; 168-169), but the number is increasing. Since the texts are in general epitaphs and memorial inscriptions, their content is

Th is paper argues that until 1680s, the Oirat political culture in the upper Irtysh area was based on the leadership of Khoshut clan rather than Jungars, as it is believed nowadays. Ablai Taiji of the Khoshut nobility, the founder of the Buddhist monastery Ablai-kit, inherited and pursued a policy of cooperation with Muscovy in an attempt to profi t from its trade with China. Over the course of 1670s, under pressure from his brother, Ablai lost his domains and was defeated by his enemies. To construct this narrative, this paper engages in critical analysis of diverse archival sources and existing historiography.

"Paramārtha's Doctrine of a Ninth Consciousness, as Transmitted in Tibetan Texts: Tsong kha pa's Kun gzhi dka' gter and its Context"

This study aims to elucidate a portion of the reception and evaluation of Paramārtha's doctrines in Tibet, taking as its entry point controversy about Paramārtha's theory of a ninth consciousness as seen in Tsong kha pa's (Tsong kha pa Blo bzang grags pa, 1357-1419) Kun gzhi dka' gter, while simultaneously investigating the background to that text. The development of our argument will incorporate new insights gained through investigation of the texts upon which Tsong kha pa based himself: Wǒnch'ŭk's commentary on the Saṃdhinirmocana-sūtra, and commentaries on the Abhidharmasamuccaya by gZad ring (gZad ring Dar ma tshul khrims, latter half of the 12th century), bCom ldan rig ral (1227-1305), Bu ston (Bu ston Rin chen grub, 1290-1364) and Blo gros brtan pa (dPang Blo gros brtan pa, 1276-1342).

Wǒnch'ŭk, bCom ldan rig ral and Bu ston understood that ninth consciousness is ultimately the seeds of the eighth consciousness, or else the pure part thereof. In terms of the content of the controversy, gZad ring, bCom ldan rig ral and Bu ston largely follow a common archetype. They introduce the ninth consciousness without mentioning Paramārtha; they refer to tathāgatagarbha doctrine, relying upon a passage from the Samādhirāja-sūtra as their proof-text; and in rejecting the doctrine of ninth consciousness, they propose that ninth consciousness must exist either actually or potentially, and then reject both alternatives. Since these two points cannot be identified in Wǒnch'ŭk's commentary, we can postulate that the controversy between these scholars was an innovative creation and development from within Tibetan Buddhism. Furthermore, it also seems that in the transmission of ninth consciousness doctrine in Tibet, there arose certain distortions (or deviations from Wǒnch'ŭk's theories), such as when gZad ring ascribes the doctrine of ninth consciousness not to Paramārtha, but to Bhavya. 

We also must not neglect the fact that the doctrine of ninth consciousness affirmed in these commentaries to the Abhidharmasamuccaya is not completely identical to that described by Tsong kha pa. Comparison with these texts, which constitute the immediate context for his discussion, highlights the fact that in discussing Paramārtha's doctrine of ninth consciousness as it appears in Wonchuk, Tsong kha pa cites Wonchuk's work directly, rather than second-hand (i.e. rather than relying
upon predecessors who utilize Wonchuk's exposition); and in refuting the doctrine of ninth consciousness, he attempts to construct proofs on the basis of his own original viewpoint, rather than recycling the arguments of his predecessors. We are surely justified in judging that it was Tsong kha pa's achievement to absorb Wonchuk's commentary for himself, and to attempt to correct the distortions incidental to the transmission of ninth consciousness doctrine in Tibet.

On March 10, 1959 Tibetans invaded the squares and streets of the capital to demand the end of the Chinese regime, but the revolt was quelled with weapons: 65,000 people lost their lives in the brutal repression of an occupation that still today has not stopped reaping victims.

In these days overshadowed by the drama of the war in Ukraine and the exodus of more than two million refugees, women, children and men older than 60, we also want to remember the tens of thousands of Tibetan deaths at the hands of the government of China and the continuing exodus of refugees from the now formerly independent Tibet - to date, at least 135,000 people.

Since its establishment in 1682, the Lamo Dechen Monastery of Amdo has been one of the leading Tibetan Buddhist institutions in Amdo’s history. Its significance is further highlighted by the political and religious activities of its two major incarnation lineages, namely Zhapdrung Karpo and Lamo Serti. This essay sheds new light on the importance of this lesser-known monastery and its temporal and spiritual authorities by centering on the successive generations of incarnate lamas. The essay begins by offering basic information on the monastery, including its historical background, current situation, and connection to Central Tibet. It then outlines the lives of Zhapdrung Karpo and Lamo Serti and their successors up to the current lineage holders. The goal is to demonstrate the changing fortunes and significance not only of the institution of the incarnate lamas, but also of the role of the Lamo Dechen Monastery in Amdo history. It is hoped that this preliminary discussion will encourage scholars in the field to examine this unique monastery and its prelates in more detail to better understand the convoluted dynamics found in the history of Amdo.

In the early twentieth century, Chinese Buddhists sought to strengthen their tradition through publications, institution building, and initiatives aimed at raising the educational level of the monastic community. The Huayan University Network traces the influence of Huayan University, the first Buddhist monastic school founded after the fall of the imperial system in China. Although the university lasted only a few years, its graduates went on to establish a number of Huayan-centered educational programs throughout China. While they did not create a new sectarian Huayan movement, they did form a network unified by a common educational heritage that persists to the present day. Drawing on an extensive range of Buddhist texts and periodicals, Hammerstrom shows that Huayan had a significant impact on Chinese Buddhist thought and practice and that the history of Huayan complicates narratives of twentieth-century Buddhist modernization and revival. Offering a wide range of insights into the teaching and practice of Huayan in Republican China, this book sheds new light on an essential but often overlooked element of the East Asian Buddhist tradition.

Thirteen ancient Chinese manuscripts have been seen as texts of a long lost 8th-century early Chan
Buddhist chronicle, the Lidai fabao ji. A number of textual indications, however, suggest that they
cannot be taken as the Tang sources, because their texts have been redacted between 907 and the
early 11th century. The original Tang source, Lidai fabao ji, remains mysterious to date.

Buddhism binds the two most populated regions of the world – South Asia and China. In developing a holistic understanding of thehistorical linkages between these two regions, scientific studies of the Buddhist texts, its monumental and material remains, and numerous archaeological sites haveplayed a very important role. In the recent past consistent and dedicated endeavours by the archaeologists of the two regions have brought to light many hitherto unknown or understudied Buddhist monastic sites. The results of excavations at many such sites have altered our understanding of monasteries as mere residences for monks, and have simultaneously revealed the existence of many important Buddhist centres which were an integral part of the cultural and religious fabric of the society. These excavations have also brought forth the need for studying these sites in a wider religious landscape and network.

This volume contains 18 papers that were presented by leading archaeologists and art historians from South Asia and China at an international conference on ‘Buddhist Monasteries in South Asia and China’ that was organized by the Society for Buddhist Art and Archaeology (SBAA) in New Delhi in December 2015. Thesecontributions focus on themes such as: newly discovered or worked Buddhist monastery and temple sites in South Asiaand China; a comparative study of design of the Buddhist monastery in the two regions; stupas, paintings and sculptures discovered in the Buddhist monastery sites, and documents and inscriptions related to the Buddhist monastery and temple.

This volume aims to provide fresh insights and information on new sites, and place them along with the earlier known ones in a wider cultural landscape. It also aims to open many new vistas for future research and collaboration between scholars in South Asia and China, especially by refining comparative approaches to the theme of Buddhist monasteries, as well as their architecture, sculptures, inscriptions, manuscripts and other texts related to these monasteries.