142256 UE Exercise in Advanced Philology pertaining to Buddhist works (2024S)

After the demise of the Tibetan Empire (633–842), Tibetan Buddhism continued to spread along the Silk Road and became a shared religious belief of the multi-ethnic communities of eastern Central Asia. Among them, the Tangut Kingdom (西夏，1038–1227) was a devout follower of Tibetan Buddhism and instrumental in the spread of Tibetan Buddhism in eastern Central Asia. It was the Tangut influence that led the rulers of the Mongol Yuan Dynasty (元朝1271–1368) to embrace Tibetan Buddhism. From the Tanguts, the Mongols adopted the Imperial Preceptor Institution and the worship of the War Lord, the Great Black One (Mahākāla). During the Yuan Dynasty, Tibetan Buddhism was first introduced to the interior of China, and it was then fostered by the rulers of Ming and Qing dynasties, and further spread and developed in the central part of China.
From the Tangut Kingdom through the Mongol-Yuan period to the Ming and Qing dynasties, Tibetan Buddhism, in order to meet the needs of local devotees, translated and edited a large number of Buddhist texts into other languages such as Chinese, Tangut, Uyghur, Mongolian, Manchu and so on. However, most of the translated Tibetan Buddhist texts have been dispersed through history. Since the beginning of the 20th century these materials have been discovered: in 1907, the Russian expedition unearthed a vast amount of Buddhist texts at the former location of the Tangut Kingdom, Kharakhoto. These Buddhist texts were written in a variety of languages, such as Tibetan, Tangut, and Chinese, Uyghur, etc. Through collation and cataloguing, scholars found that a large number of them were Tibetan Tantric texts. These materials are preserved in St Petersburg today. Since 1990s, the Ningxia Institute of Archaeology has excavated the remains of monasteries, caves and pagodas in the Helan Mountains(贺兰山), and found a large number of Tangut and Chinese literature on Tibetan Tantric Buddhism. In addition to the archaeological findings, there are also some Tibetan Buddhist materials that came out of the Qing Palace during the Republic of China period, as well as other Tibetan Tantric Literature in Chinese that have been discovered from museums and libraries in recent years.
Dacheng Yaodao Miji大乘要道密集[The Secret Collection of Works on the Essential path of Mahayana], which was discovered and published in the Republic of China, is the most representative of these Chinese-translated tantric materials. It is a collection of Chinese translation of Tibetan Tantric texts of the Tangut, Yuan, and Ming dynasties, and was the essential source for the emperors of the Tangut, Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties to practice Tibetan Tantric Buddhism in the court.
This course focuses on the study of materials selected from the Dacheng Yaodao Miji and other Chinese sources preserved at National Library of China. In total, four texts are included:
1) Dabei Shenghai Qiuxiu Fangbian大悲胜海求修方便(Tib. Rgyal ba rgya mtsho’i mngon rtogs)[Visualization of the Jinasagara Avalokiteśvara]
2) Amituofo Linzhong Yao阿弥陀佛临终要(Tib. Snang ba mtha’ yas bsgom don) [Essentials of Meditation on Amitābha for the Moment of Death]
3) Zhuohuo Shiliu Yaoyi拙火十六要仪(Tib. Gtuo mo chen po la chos drug) [Sixteen Succinct Rituals for Practicing Inner Fire]
4) Dajingangcheng Xiushiguanmen大金刚乘修师观门(Tib. Bla ma rnal ’byor) [Guruyoga of the Great Thunderbolt Vehicle]