Based on the literature as well as rich data obtained during his visit to Tibet in 1959and 1988, the author explores the monastic temples in which once dwelled the Tibet antheocracy lasting over one thousand years from the 7th century to the nineteen fifties. His inquiry into the architectural data of main monasteries leads to a periodization that provides a chronological reference for other studies, for example, on Tibetan music, costume and soon. The chronological sequence he established for the monastiers of Tibetan Buddhism is based on the general layout of the temples as well as some architectural details like the pillar capital. He divides the temples into five phases, each placed wthin the historical context of contenporary political situatioin, religious development, influence from Han Chinese areaand external invasion. The author’s broad vision and careful research are excellently coalesced in this book evidently to be left to the ordeal of time.
