Buddhism and empire : the political and religious culture of early Tibet / by Michael L. Walter.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Walter, Michael L.

Contributor:

Alumni and Friends Memorial Book Fund.

Series:

Brill's Tibetan studies library ; v. 22.

Brill's Tibetan studies library, 1568-6183 ; v. 22

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Buddhism--China--Tibet Autonomous Region--History.

Buddhism.

China--Tibet Autonomous Region.

History.

Buddhism and state--China--Tibet Autonomous Region--History.

Buddhism and state.

Physical Description:

xxvii, 311 pages ; 25 cm.

Place of Publication:

Leiden ; Boston : Brill, 2009.

Summary:

This book convincingly reassesses the role of political institutions in the introduction of Buddhism under the Tibetan Empire (c. 620-842), showing how relationships formed in the Imperial period underlie many of the unique characteristics of traditional Tibetan Buddhism. Taking original sources as a point of departure, the author persuasively argues that later sources hitherto used for the history of early Tibetan Buddhism in fact project later ideas backward, thus distorting our view of its enculturation.

Following the pattern of Buddhism’s spread elsewhere in Asia, the early Tibetan imperial court realized how useful normative Buddhist concepts were.

This work clearly shows that, while some beliefs and practices per se changed after the Tibetan Empire, the model of socio-political-religious leadership developed in that earlier period survived its demise and still constitutes a significant element in contemporary Tibetan Buddhist religious culture.

Contents:

Chapter 1 Religion and Politics in Tibet’s imperial government, and the place of Buddhism therein 1

Politics and Publication 1

Buddhism and society 4

Oaths and oathing 10

Anti-Buddhist attitudes 13

Court religion 14

The mythology of rule 18

The noble clans 24

Tibet’s military culture and the comitatus 26

The Tibetan court in context 30

Conclusion 36

Methodological observations 37

Endnotes 38

Chapter 2 Sku, bla, lha, etc.: The language and phraseology of early Tibetan politics and religion 75

Language, ethnicity, and the Sino-Tibetan ‘Theory’ 75

Tibet’s honorific language 86

sku 92

sku bla 97

bla, bla ma 106

lha 110

A brief excursus on the concepts lha chos and myi chos 123

Conclusions 130

Methodological observations 131

Endnotes 132

Chapter 3 Rituals in the Imperium and later: Continuity in the rituals of Tibetan Buddhism 165

rim gro, sku rim 166

Oathing rites, cup rites 174

Rites dealing with the founding of Bsam-yas 186

Confession rites 189

The Bon tradition 191

Conclusions 195

Methodological observations 196

Endnotes 197

Chapter 4 The intersection of religion and politics 215

Why Avalokiteśvara? 215

Gtsug lag 225

A ‘mountain cult’ in the Imperium, and after? 230

Cakravartins in Tibet 240

Btsan po and Rgyal po 245

Nongs 250

Conclusions 254

Methodological observations 257

Endnotes 259.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Alumni and Friends Memorial Book Fund.

ISBN:

9789004175846

9004175849

OCLC:

313666771

Publisher Number:

99934932562