Tibet I - Autochthonous Religion and Imperial Buddhism Flashcards
Tibet History main periods
Prehistory (–7th c. C.E..)
Old History: the Tibetan Empire (c. 600–842) - EARLY DIFFUSION OF BUDDHISM TIBET I VL
Medieval/ Classical/ Pre-Modern History: Local
Hegemonies (842–1642) - LATER DIFFUSION OF BUDDHISM- TIBET II VL
Modern History: the Rule of the Dalai Lamas (1642–
1949) TIBET III VL
Contemporary History (1950–): Tibet within the PRC
TIBET OLD HISTORY
- ca 600-842 CE
The Rise of the Yarlung Dynasty & The Tibetan Empire
“The Early Diffusion of Buddhism” (snga dar): Ruling Class Adoption of Buddhism
▪ The First Temples, The Early Translations, The First Tibetan Monastery
YARLUNG DYNASTY
- ca 600-842 CE
Leader that confederates all the neighbouring “clans” under his rule.
Introduction of the Tibetan writing system, standardization of the administration, introduction of code of law.
Military expansion & control of the entire plateau, assimilation of neighbouring people: Zhang zhung.
PRE BUDDHIST CULTS charectristics
- Sacral Quality of the King (bTsan po): Divine mighty one, divine son descends from heaven. Clans (rü) and their links with mountains
- Elaborate burial rituals, i.e. with nine chambers
- Nearly identical (complementary and interchangeable) ritual specialists :
bon (invokers) and shen (who make religious sacrifices).
▪ Funerary rites, healing, and divination
▪ Tales and riddles
Diverse Religious landscape, probably multiple religious traditions and customs
BÖN TRADITION
Became a catch-all category for pre-Buddhists, non- Buddhists, anti-Buddhists, Tibetan Imperial religion, “autochthonous/ native” Tibetan beliefs, folk religion, “animism,” “shamanism,” etc.
DUAL USE of term:
Pejorative intent = archaic/primitive (religion of “the red-faced barbarians” before the civilizing impact of Buddhism)
Fascination for origins = authentic Tibetan, autochthonous religion, native, ancient (new value for Tibetan nationalism)
Pre-Buddhist/ Autochthonous Religion of Tibet, practiced before the introduction of Buddhism
A monastic religious tradition of Tibet, very similar in institutional organization, textual tradition, and religious practice to the major Tibetan Buddhist schools: developed in the Medieval Period alongside Tibetan Buddhism
The folk/nameless religion of Tibet/ shamanism of the Himalayas
EMIC narrative of BÖN
Teacher Shenrab Miwo (Ston pa Gshen rabMi bo) 16016–7816 BCE
Born in ‘Ol mo lung ring
In Tazik (Stag gzig) to the west
In the Bön tradition, their own origin is NOT located in Central Tibet, but in the West: Ol mo lung ring /Tazik
Important stress is on the links to Zhang zhung Western Region Western (Iranian) or South-Western (Kashmirian) influences?
Problem of BÖN historiography
Very little data available: sketchy picture
All available textual data date to the imperial period = post introduction of Buddhism
Issues of retro-projection in an unattainable past
Post imperial historiography written with polemical agenda
Although ritual specialists at the royal court were called bon and shen, their adherence to one and the same religious tradition, called Bön, is not attested.
Part of complex and diverse religious picture.
Non-Buddhist is not necessarily
autochthonous or more ancient.
BONPO religious school
Developed in close interaction with Tibetan Buddhism (monasticism, canon, ritual calendar, pantheon)
Doctrinally and Textually close especially to the Old School (Nyima)
However, the identity is constructed in opposition with Buddhism (symbolism, direction of circumambulation, etc.)
BONPO polemical historiography
Opposite historical tale on the Imperial period Claims to antiquity and primacy in Tibet’s
religious landscape
Constructed by Buddhists as “the other” (nang pa / phyi pa)
Polemical treatises and historiography (“plagiarism” accusations, etc.)
IMPERIAL ADOPTION of Buddhism
- Songtsen Gampo (the first Emperor) had the Nepalese wife Bhrikuti and the Chinese Wife Wencheng (buddhists)
- budddhism in all neighboring states, international trade and travel routes
- first buddhist temples in Lhasa und JOKHANG Statue
“Taming the demoness”
“Conversion” narrative:
* The Jokhang is constructed at the center of the land.
* Techniques of vertical suppression and horizontal opposition are employed to counteract the negative signs.
* The body of the demoness is “pinned/bound down” with the erection of twelve temples forming 3 concentric squares.
- Feminine Ground / Representation of Misogynist Social Order
- Relationship between Buddhist religion and autochthonous cults
- Rule as Geomancy
- Political centralization
“International Buddhism”
- panasiantrans-cultural Buddhist community
Trade Economy (market towns, nouveau riche) vs. Landed Aristocracy
Cosmopolitan, multi-ethnic, polyglot culture
A culture package including:
* writing system/ literate culture
* code of law
* model of kingship
* symbolic paraphernalia
- Cult of VAIROCAN (crowned Buddha Statues)
Dunhuang Caves Texts
caves at eastern gate of Silk Road (the Tibetan), earliest records of Buddhism in Central Asia: In local languages, with local ritual and practice traditions, narratives, and texts.
Produced until the late 10th or early 11th c.
▪ letters, documents, Buddhist texts
Produced also by non Tibetans for international
communication
Tibetan was the most widely used second language
among the various ethnic groups in East Turkestan,
including Chinese, Khotanese, and Uighurs.
Tibetan was by then an international lingua franca.
- multilingual phrasebooks for travelers
Tibetan Empire and Introduction of Buddhism
The influence of Chinese princesses and costumes, the conversion of the court.
Control of the Silk Road and contacts with surrounding Buddhist communities.
The adoption of a universally recognized symbolic representation of royal power (Vairocana, the crowned Buddha).
Translation of Buddhist Texts into Tibetan from Sanskrit, Middle Indic, Chinese, and Central Asian languages (e.g. Khotanese).
- SAMYE first buddhist monastary (755)
- PILLAR of SAMYE scriptures
- Indian vs Chinese Buddhism debate
Was bezeichnet man als erste Ausbreitung des Buddhismus in Tibet?
Ausbreitung unter Songsten Gampo
- durch Könige gefördert
- beinhält viele verschiedene Texte aus versch. Sprachen/Ländern/Traditionen
