The article focuses on the Crystal Mirror of Tenet Systems by Tuken Lozang Chökyi Nyima (1737-1802). It traces the history of the text and its reception, analyzes its genre, and examines in some detail the question of Tuken’s oft-alleged impartiality toward the various Tibetan orders that he describes. The latter is explored through an analysis of the rhetoric he employs in discussing three traditions: the Jonang, the Geluk, and the Nyingma. While Tuken clearly is more favorable to some traditions than others (and the Geluk above all), he also defends traditions like the Nyingma against certain criticisms, some of which may come from Geluk quarters. And even the Jonang, though disparaged, is not so unequivocally condemned that some virtues are not acknowledged. The conclusion is that although Tuken may not approximate today's ideal of dispassionate scholarship, he does seem on balance to be reasonably fair within the context of premodern Tibetan intellectual discourse.
