A Canon in the Making: The History of the Formation, Production, and Transmission of the bsTan 'gyur, the Corpus of Treatises in Tibetan Translation

• Applicant: Dr. Orna Almogi
• Subject Area: Asian Studies
• Term: from 2015 to 2019
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 278082154

What is known today as the Tibetan Buddhist canon consists of two parts, namely the bKa' 'gyur (=K) and bsTan 'gyur (=T). From early on this massive bulk of literature naturally captured the attention of Western scholars from the fields of Tibetan and Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies. For various reasons, however, the scholarly focus hitherto has been primarily on the K. While the study of the K seems even to have evolved into a distinct research area, the T has thus far received much less attention than it deserves, and the study of the history of its formation, production, and transmission has thus been a desideratum. The proposed project intends to redress this state of affairs and fill the gap. The main subject matter of the project is thus the study of the history of the formation, production, and transmission of the T from the early stages, which took place in sNar-thang at the beginning of the 14th century, to the later stages, which are reflected in the five available T editions. The project also aims at contributing to the better understanding of the role of editors in the three levels of formation, production, and transmission concerning Buddhist corpora within the Tibetan cultural sphere. The role of editors in the above-mentioned three levels will thus be one of the primary focuses. The project is intended to be carried out on two levels: bibliographical and historical. The study of the catalogue of the Old sNar-thang edition, which was compiled by dBus-pa-blo-gsal (b. 13th c.), one of the main editors of this first edition, stands at the centre of the bibliographical investigation. This catalogue was believed, until very recently, to be lost and had been known to scholars merely from reports found in various historical sources. The present applicant was able to locate two manuscript versions of this catalogue. A detailed study of it, including comparing it with the catalogue of the Zhwa-lu edition (14th c.) compiled by Bu-ston (1290-1364) and to a lesser degree also with the catalogue of the 5th Dalai Lama edition (17th c.), will allow one for the first time to gain insight into the history of the formation of the T, particularly concerning the editorial policies and practices leading to its form as we know it today. The assessment of numerous Tibetan sources among a wide range of literary genres stands in the centre of the historical investigation, particularly findings concerning the history of the production and transmission of various T editions, i.e., editions produced from the 14th to the 18th century. The present applicant has so far succeeded in locating historical accounts regarding twelve T editions. In addition to findings concerning editorial policies and practices, the main focus here will be on socio-political, logistical, and economic aspects. The historical investigation particularly aims at enabling a general overview of the history of the formation, production, and transmission of the T as a whole.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Israel
• Cooperation Partners: Professor Dr. Nachum Dershowitz; Professor Dr. Dorji Wangchuk; Professor Dr. Lior Wolf