No.219 Seminar ： “Deciphering the history of medieval Tibet from Tibetan manuscripts”
- Associate Professor Maho Iuchi (Hakubi 12th batch, Graduate School of Letters)
- 2022/06/07 4:30pm
- Online(zoom) ／Closed mode - Only for members affiliated to Kyoto University
- Japanese
Summary
The beginning of medieval Tibet (from the 10th to the 13th century), or the beginning of period of the second-diffusion of Buddhism in Tibet (the first-diffusion was the period of the Tibetan Empire), is called the “period of fragmentation“ in political history, as it was a time when local families were divided and there was no unified power such as the ancient Tibetan Empire (7th to 9th centuries) or the later Dalai Lama’s period (17th to early 20th centuries). In terms of cultural history, this period is called the “Tibetan Renaissance”, because a vast number of sūtras and commentaries were translated from Sanskrit into Tibetan, and unique Tibetan Buddhist schools such as the Kadam, Kagyu, and Sakya schools were established. This period has long been regarded as a “void in Tibetan history” because there is no historical source written about this period except in Tibetan, and the contemporaneous source in Tibetan is also limited. My research during the Hakubi project is an attempt to clarify this “void in Tibetan history” through newly discovered Tibetan manuscripts over the past 15 years. This talk will be introduced specifically on my research for the history of medieval Tibet based on these Tibetan manuscripts recently added, (1)the Fifth Dalai Lama’s secret private collection, (2) the Potala Palace collection, (3) the Khara-khoto manuscripts, and (4) Phuri manuscripts.