This book presents unknown Tibetan Buddhist art and hitherto overlooked Sino-Tibetan lamaseries on the Silk Road fringes. Labrang Monastery in the Tibeto-Chinese borderlands, for instance, highlights the nexus between Tibet, East and Central Asia. Gansu, in the Sichuan part of Amdo, contains a wealth of local Tibetan cultural centers. The Ngawa Gelugpa realm and the last Jonangpa communities in Dzamthang, that have been greatly underestimated for centuries, are given the prominence they deserve. This work helps to dispel uninformed views that have been spread in the West. Detailed descriptions of the major historic sites facilitate the understanding of their development, and provide further guidance to find the sites and understand what can be seen there. One can prepare a tour to this region by getting knowledgeable about the extraordinary cultural monuments presented here. Serta, the world's largest Buddhist academy, virtually unknown, has impressive architectural features such as the Jonangchbrten and temple towers seen nowhere else in Tibet. These add to the hidden treasures of Amdo's revitalized Buddhist tradition. The region presented in this book is one of diversity in a highland realm that for long was neglected in respect of its historic and cultural importance.
目次
List of Maps .vii List of Plates .viii List of Colour Photos .ix Foreword .xvii List of Abbreviations .xx Introductory Notes .1 Introduction to Tibet’s Cultural Provinces Amdo and Kham.5 Part 1. Northeast and eastern Tibet: Settlement pattern and current political divisions.7 Part 2. Amdo .10 2.1. Derivation of the toponym ‘Amdo’ .11 2.2. A historical sketch of Tibet’s Amdo region.12 2.3. Highlights of Amdo culture.16 The Gansu Part of Amdo 1. Lamaist Temples on the Silk Road Margin .21 1.1. Monasteries in Thendru: northernmost Tibetan settlements.21 1.1.1. Chorten Thang .21 1.1.2. Yarlung Thurchen Monastery .22 1.1.3. Tawen Gompa .22 1.1.4. Taglung Monastery .23 1.1.5. Tethung Dorje Changgi Lhakhang.23 1.1.6. Tethung Gonchen .23 1.1.7. Namtethung Drag Gon .23 1.2. Mati Monastery and the Horseshoe Grottoes.24 1.3. Ming dynasty Tibetan Art in Bingling Si .25 2. Labrang Tashi Chil - Gelugpa Order’s spiritual centre.27 3. Monasteries- of Heitso, Chone and the marshes of the Ma Chu .41 3.1. Heitso Monastery .41 3.2. Chone Lamasery .44 3.3. Tagtshang Lhamo .46 3.4. Other Lamaseries of Kanlho .48 3.4.1. Shitshang Gompa .49 3.4.2. The White Crag Monastery .49 3.4.3. Terlung Monastery .50 3.4.4. Ganden Tashi Samdrub Ling.50 3.4.5. Yerwa Gompa.50 3.4.6. Pelshe Dengkha Gompa .50 3.4.7. Wangtshang Monastery.51 3.4.8. Marnyung Jampa Ling.51 The Sichuan Part of Amdo 4. The Dzoge area in the marshes of the Ma Chu . .55 4.1. Deshing Gompa .55 4.2. Tagtsha Gompa . 56 4.3. Juxiang Si and other Bon centres of Dzoge .56 4.4. Chogyal Monastery .56 5. The Flourishing Monastic Life in Ngawa .59 5.1. The Bonpo order and its monasteries in Ngawa.59 5.1.1. The Bon religion . 59 5.1.2. Nangshig Gompa .62 5. 2. Monasteries of Buddhist sects in Ngawa valley.64 5.2.1. Kirti Gompa .64. 5.2.2. Gomang Monastery .65 5.2.3. Amchog Tshennyi Gompa . 66 6 . Long-hidden and unexplored Dzamthang .67 6.1. Buddhist Monasteries of Dzamthang .67 6.1.1. Sirin Kar.67 6.1.2. Bangtuo Monastery . 71 6 . 2. Monasteries of the forgotten Jonangpa.71 6.2.1. The Jonangpa Order.72 6.2.2. Dzamthang Tsangwa Monastery . 74 6.2.3. Ngayiil Se Monastery .78 7. Serta and the world’s largest Buddhist Academy .81 7.1. The Buddhist Academy of Serthang Larung Ngarig Nangten Lobling (Larung Gar).81 7.2. Dundiil Chorten . 86 Amdo and Tibet: common cultural features and differences.89 1. Tibet and its Periphery .91 2. Amdo: aspects of popular religion - prayer-flags, lhatos and chorten.92 Concluding Remarks . 97 Photographs . 99 Map Section .181 Notes . 193 Bibliography .215 Glossary .225 Index-gazetteer.235
