The Tibetan Empire in Central Asia

The Tibetan Empire in Central Asia

Author: Christopher I. Beckwith

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2020-07-21

Total Pages: 303

ISBN-13: 0691216304

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This narrative history of the Tibetan Empire in Central Asia from about A.D. 600 to 866 depicts the struggles of the great Tibetan, Turkic, Arab, and Chinese powers for dominance over the Silk Road lands that connected Europe and East Asia. It shows the importance of overland contacts between East and West in the Early Middle Ages and elucidates Tibet's role in the conflict over Central Asia.


Book Synopsis The Tibetan Empire in Central Asia by : Christopher I. Beckwith

Download or read book The Tibetan Empire in Central Asia written by Christopher I. Beckwith and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2020-07-21 with total page 303 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This narrative history of the Tibetan Empire in Central Asia from about A.D. 600 to 866 depicts the struggles of the great Tibetan, Turkic, Arab, and Chinese powers for dominance over the Silk Road lands that connected Europe and East Asia. It shows the importance of overland contacts between East and West in the Early Middle Ages and elucidates Tibet's role in the conflict over Central Asia.


The Tibetan Empire in Central Asia

The Tibetan Empire in Central Asia

Author: Christopher I. Beckwith

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 1993-03-28

Total Pages: 308

ISBN-13: 9780691024691

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This narrative history of the Tibetan Empire in Central Asia from about A.D. 600 to 866 depicts the struggles of the great Tibetan, Turkic, Arab, and Chinese powers for dominance over the Silk Road lands that connected Europe and East Asia. It shows the importance of overland contacts between East and West in the Early Middle Ages and elucidates Tibet's role in the conflict over Central Asia.


Book Synopsis The Tibetan Empire in Central Asia by : Christopher I. Beckwith

Download or read book The Tibetan Empire in Central Asia written by Christopher I. Beckwith and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 1993-03-28 with total page 308 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This narrative history of the Tibetan Empire in Central Asia from about A.D. 600 to 866 depicts the struggles of the great Tibetan, Turkic, Arab, and Chinese powers for dominance over the Silk Road lands that connected Europe and East Asia. It shows the importance of overland contacts between East and West in the Early Middle Ages and elucidates Tibet's role in the conflict over Central Asia.


Buddhism and Empire

Buddhism and Empire

Author: Michael Walter

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2009-06-24

Total Pages: 344

ISBN-13: 9047429281

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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.


Book Synopsis Buddhism and Empire by : Michael Walter

Download or read book Buddhism and Empire written by Michael Walter and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2009-06-24 with total page 344 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.


The Chinese Revolution on the Tibetan Frontier

The Chinese Revolution on the Tibetan Frontier

Author: Benno Weiner

Publisher: Cornell University Press

Published: 2020-06-15

Total Pages: 402

ISBN-13: 1501749412

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In The Chinese Revolution on the Tibetan Frontier, Benno Weiner provides the first in-depth study of an ethnic minority region during the first decade of the People's Republic of China: the Amdo region in the Sino-Tibetan borderland. Employing previously inaccessible local archives as well as other rare primary sources, he demonstrates that the Communist Party's goal in 1950s Amdo was not just state-building but also nation-building. Such an objective required the construction of narratives and policies capable of convincing Tibetans of their membership in a wider political community. As Weiner shows, however, early efforts to gradually and organically transform a vast multiethnic empire into a singular nation-state lost out to a revolutionary impatience, demanding more immediate paths to national integration and socialist transformation. This led in 1958 to communization, then to large-scale rebellion and its brutal pacification. Rather than joining voluntarily, Amdo was integrated through the widespread, often indiscriminate use of violence, a violence that lingers in the living memory of Amdo Tibetans and others.


Book Synopsis The Chinese Revolution on the Tibetan Frontier by : Benno Weiner

Download or read book The Chinese Revolution on the Tibetan Frontier written by Benno Weiner and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 2020-06-15 with total page 402 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In The Chinese Revolution on the Tibetan Frontier, Benno Weiner provides the first in-depth study of an ethnic minority region during the first decade of the People's Republic of China: the Amdo region in the Sino-Tibetan borderland. Employing previously inaccessible local archives as well as other rare primary sources, he demonstrates that the Communist Party's goal in 1950s Amdo was not just state-building but also nation-building. Such an objective required the construction of narratives and policies capable of convincing Tibetans of their membership in a wider political community. As Weiner shows, however, early efforts to gradually and organically transform a vast multiethnic empire into a singular nation-state lost out to a revolutionary impatience, demanding more immediate paths to national integration and socialist transformation. This led in 1958 to communization, then to large-scale rebellion and its brutal pacification. Rather than joining voluntarily, Amdo was integrated through the widespread, often indiscriminate use of violence, a violence that lingers in the living memory of Amdo Tibetans and others.


Empires of the Silk Road

Empires of the Silk Road

Author: Christopher I. Beckwith

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2009-03-16

Total Pages: 512

ISBN-13: 9781400829941

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The first complete history of Central Eurasia from ancient times to the present day, Empires of the Silk Road represents a fundamental rethinking of the origins, history, and significance of this major world region. Christopher Beckwith describes the rise and fall of the great Central Eurasian empires, including those of the Scythians, Attila the Hun, the Turks and Tibetans, and Genghis Khan and the Mongols. In addition, he explains why the heartland of Central Eurasia led the world economically, scientifically, and artistically for many centuries despite invasions by Persians, Greeks, Arabs, Chinese, and others. In retelling the story of the Old World from the perspective of Central Eurasia, Beckwith provides a new understanding of the internal and external dynamics of the Central Eurasian states and shows how their people repeatedly revolutionized Eurasian civilization. Beckwith recounts the Indo-Europeans' migration out of Central Eurasia, their mixture with local peoples, and the resulting development of the Graeco-Roman, Persian, Indian, and Chinese civilizations; he details the basis for the thriving economy of premodern Central Eurasia, the economy's disintegration following the region's partition by the Chinese and Russians in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and the damaging of Central Eurasian culture by Modernism; and he discusses the significance for world history of the partial reemergence of Central Eurasian nations after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Empires of the Silk Road places Central Eurasia within a world historical framework and demonstrates why the region is central to understanding the history of civilization.


Book Synopsis Empires of the Silk Road by : Christopher I. Beckwith

Download or read book Empires of the Silk Road written by Christopher I. Beckwith and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2009-03-16 with total page 512 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first complete history of Central Eurasia from ancient times to the present day, Empires of the Silk Road represents a fundamental rethinking of the origins, history, and significance of this major world region. Christopher Beckwith describes the rise and fall of the great Central Eurasian empires, including those of the Scythians, Attila the Hun, the Turks and Tibetans, and Genghis Khan and the Mongols. In addition, he explains why the heartland of Central Eurasia led the world economically, scientifically, and artistically for many centuries despite invasions by Persians, Greeks, Arabs, Chinese, and others. In retelling the story of the Old World from the perspective of Central Eurasia, Beckwith provides a new understanding of the internal and external dynamics of the Central Eurasian states and shows how their people repeatedly revolutionized Eurasian civilization. Beckwith recounts the Indo-Europeans' migration out of Central Eurasia, their mixture with local peoples, and the resulting development of the Graeco-Roman, Persian, Indian, and Chinese civilizations; he details the basis for the thriving economy of premodern Central Eurasia, the economy's disintegration following the region's partition by the Chinese and Russians in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and the damaging of Central Eurasian culture by Modernism; and he discusses the significance for world history of the partial reemergence of Central Eurasian nations after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Empires of the Silk Road places Central Eurasia within a world historical framework and demonstrates why the region is central to understanding the history of civilization.


Qarakhanid Roads to China

Qarakhanid Roads to China

Author: Dilnoza Duturaeva

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2022-02-28

Total Pages: 300

ISBN-13: 9004510338

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Qarakhanid Roads to China reconsiders the diplomacy, trade and geography of transcontinental networks between Central Asia and China from the 10th to the 12th centuries and challenges the concept of “the Silk Road crisis” in the period between the fall of the Tang Dynasty and the rise of the Mongols. Utilizing a broad range of Islamic and Chinese primary sources together with archaeological data, Dilnoza Duturaeva demonstrates the complexity of interaction along the Silk Roads and beyond that, revolutionizes our understanding of the Qarakhanid world and Song-era China’s relations with neighboring regions.


Book Synopsis Qarakhanid Roads to China by : Dilnoza Duturaeva

Download or read book Qarakhanid Roads to China written by Dilnoza Duturaeva and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2022-02-28 with total page 300 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Qarakhanid Roads to China reconsiders the diplomacy, trade and geography of transcontinental networks between Central Asia and China from the 10th to the 12th centuries and challenges the concept of “the Silk Road crisis” in the period between the fall of the Tang Dynasty and the rise of the Mongols. Utilizing a broad range of Islamic and Chinese primary sources together with archaeological data, Dilnoza Duturaeva demonstrates the complexity of interaction along the Silk Roads and beyond that, revolutionizes our understanding of the Qarakhanid world and Song-era China’s relations with neighboring regions.


Sources of Tibetan Tradition

Sources of Tibetan Tradition

Author: Kurtis R. Schaeffer

Publisher: Columbia University Press

Published: 2013

Total Pages: 853

ISBN-13: 023113598X

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The most comprehensive collection of Tibetan works in a Western language, this volume illuminates the complex historical, intellectual, and social development of Tibetan civilization from its earliest beginnings to the modern period. Including more than 180 representative writings, Sources of Tibetan Tradition spans Tibet's vast geography and long history, presenting for the first time a diversity of works by religious and political leaders; scholastic philosophers and contemplative hermits; monks and nuns; poets and artists; and aristocrats and commoners. The selected readings reflect the profound role of Buddhist sources in shaping Tibetan culture while illustrating other major areas of knowledge. Thematically varied, they address history and historiography; political and social theory; law; medicine; divination; rhetoric; aesthetic theory; narrative; travel and geography; folksong; and philosophical and religious learning, all in relation to the unique trajectories of Tibetan civil and scholarly discourse. The editors begin each chapter with a survey of broader social and cultural contexts and introduce each translated text with a concise explanation. Concluding with writings that extend into the early twentieth century, this volume offers an expansive encounter with Tibet's exceptional intellectual heritage.


Book Synopsis Sources of Tibetan Tradition by : Kurtis R. Schaeffer

Download or read book Sources of Tibetan Tradition written by Kurtis R. Schaeffer and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2013 with total page 853 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The most comprehensive collection of Tibetan works in a Western language, this volume illuminates the complex historical, intellectual, and social development of Tibetan civilization from its earliest beginnings to the modern period. Including more than 180 representative writings, Sources of Tibetan Tradition spans Tibet's vast geography and long history, presenting for the first time a diversity of works by religious and political leaders; scholastic philosophers and contemplative hermits; monks and nuns; poets and artists; and aristocrats and commoners. The selected readings reflect the profound role of Buddhist sources in shaping Tibetan culture while illustrating other major areas of knowledge. Thematically varied, they address history and historiography; political and social theory; law; medicine; divination; rhetoric; aesthetic theory; narrative; travel and geography; folksong; and philosophical and religious learning, all in relation to the unique trajectories of Tibetan civil and scholarly discourse. The editors begin each chapter with a survey of broader social and cultural contexts and introduce each translated text with a concise explanation. Concluding with writings that extend into the early twentieth century, this volume offers an expansive encounter with Tibet's exceptional intellectual heritage.


The Cambridge History of Early Inner Asia

The Cambridge History of Early Inner Asia

Author: Denis Sinor

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 1990-03

Total Pages: 542

ISBN-13: 9780521243049

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This volume introduces the geographical setting of Central Asia and follows its history from the palaeolithic era to the rise of the Mongol empire in the thirteenth century. Distinguished international scholars discuss chronologically the varying historical achievements of the disparate population groups in the region.


Book Synopsis The Cambridge History of Early Inner Asia by : Denis Sinor

Download or read book The Cambridge History of Early Inner Asia written by Denis Sinor and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1990-03 with total page 542 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume introduces the geographical setting of Central Asia and follows its history from the palaeolithic era to the rise of the Mongol empire in the thirteenth century. Distinguished international scholars discuss chronologically the varying historical achievements of the disparate population groups in the region.


Forging the Golden Urn

Forging the Golden Urn

Author: Max Oidtmann

Publisher: Columbia University Press

Published: 2018-07-31

Total Pages: 215

ISBN-13: 0231545304

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In 1995, the People’s Republic of China resurrected a Qing-era law mandating that the reincarnations of prominent Tibetan Buddhist monks be identified by drawing lots from a golden urn. The Chinese Communist Party hoped to limit the ability of the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government-in-exile to independently identify reincarnations. In so doing, they elevated a long-forgotten ceremony into a controversial symbol of Chinese sovereignty in Tibet. In Forging the Golden Urn, Max Oidtmann ventures into the polyglot world of the Qing empire in search of the origins of the golden urn tradition. He seeks to understand the relationship between the Qing state and its most powerful partner in Inner Asia—the Geluk school of Tibetan Buddhism. Why did the Qianlong emperor invent the golden urn lottery in 1792? What ability did the Qing state have to alter Tibetan religious and political traditions? What did this law mean to Qing rulers, their advisors, and Tibetan Buddhists? Working with both the Manchu-language archives of the empire’s colonial bureaucracy and the chronicles of Tibetan elites, Oidtmann traces how a Chinese bureaucratic technology—a lottery for assigning administrative posts—was exported to the Tibetan and Mongolian regions of the Qing empire and transformed into a ritual for identifying and authenticating reincarnations. Forging the Golden Urn sheds new light on how the empire’s frontier officers grappled with matters of sovereignty, faith, and law and reveals the role that Tibetan elites played in the production of new religious traditions in the context of Qing rule.


Book Synopsis Forging the Golden Urn by : Max Oidtmann

Download or read book Forging the Golden Urn written by Max Oidtmann and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2018-07-31 with total page 215 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1995, the People’s Republic of China resurrected a Qing-era law mandating that the reincarnations of prominent Tibetan Buddhist monks be identified by drawing lots from a golden urn. The Chinese Communist Party hoped to limit the ability of the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government-in-exile to independently identify reincarnations. In so doing, they elevated a long-forgotten ceremony into a controversial symbol of Chinese sovereignty in Tibet. In Forging the Golden Urn, Max Oidtmann ventures into the polyglot world of the Qing empire in search of the origins of the golden urn tradition. He seeks to understand the relationship between the Qing state and its most powerful partner in Inner Asia—the Geluk school of Tibetan Buddhism. Why did the Qianlong emperor invent the golden urn lottery in 1792? What ability did the Qing state have to alter Tibetan religious and political traditions? What did this law mean to Qing rulers, their advisors, and Tibetan Buddhists? Working with both the Manchu-language archives of the empire’s colonial bureaucracy and the chronicles of Tibetan elites, Oidtmann traces how a Chinese bureaucratic technology—a lottery for assigning administrative posts—was exported to the Tibetan and Mongolian regions of the Qing empire and transformed into a ritual for identifying and authenticating reincarnations. Forging the Golden Urn sheds new light on how the empire’s frontier officers grappled with matters of sovereignty, faith, and law and reveals the role that Tibetan elites played in the production of new religious traditions in the context of Qing rule.


Islam and Tibet

Islam and Tibet

Author: Anna Akasoy

Publisher: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.

Published: 2011

Total Pages: 444

ISBN-13: 9780754669562

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The first encounters between the Islamic world and Tibet took place in the course of the expansion of the Abbasid Empire in the eighth century. The significance of these interactions has been long ignored in scholarship. These papers explore for the first time the multi-layered contacts between the Islamic world, Central Asia and the Himalayas from the eighth century until the present day in a variety of fields including art history, history of science, literature, archaeology, and anthropology.


Book Synopsis Islam and Tibet by : Anna Akasoy

Download or read book Islam and Tibet written by Anna Akasoy and published by Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.. This book was released on 2011 with total page 444 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first encounters between the Islamic world and Tibet took place in the course of the expansion of the Abbasid Empire in the eighth century. The significance of these interactions has been long ignored in scholarship. These papers explore for the first time the multi-layered contacts between the Islamic world, Central Asia and the Himalayas from the eighth century until the present day in a variety of fields including art history, history of science, literature, archaeology, and anthropology.