Nāgārjuna and the Tathāgatagarbha: A Closer Look at Some Peculiar Features in the Niraupamyastava

This article examines several verses from the Niraupamyastava , where Nāgārjuna makes explicit references to the non-empty aspects of the doctrine of emptiness—a topic systematized and crystallized in the doctrine of Tathāgatagarbha , thought to have appeared later than his date and to have been unknown to him.
Establishing the authenticity of the hymn, in addition to the criteria utilized by Lindtner, the article analyses the style and the relationship of the text with texts belonging to other schools, thus locating Nāgārjuna in his historical and temporal context. The article also brings into focus the overlooked or marginalized topics present in Nāgārjuna's texts such as the practice of devotion and visualization of the Buddha as method for realizing emptiness.     

试论元朝宗教状况与道释画之嬗变

在元代短短几十年中,道教经历了一个大盛大衰的过程,中土本有的佛教也为藏传佛教所压制,中国画在这一时期则体现出比以往更多的文人气质。本文叙述了元代的宗教状况与宗教政策的关系,以及道释画在这一背景下所呈现出的不同面貌。     

Śāntideva's Bodhicaryāvatāra in Translation: A Century of Interpretation of a Sanskrit Mahāyāna Text

Many translations of ?āntideva's Bodhicaryāvatāra, a Sanskrit Mahāyāna Buddhist text of seventh/eighth‐century India, have been published since 1892. ?āntideva's Bodhicaryāvatāra is one of the few Indian Mahāyāna Buddhist texts available in Sanskrit and it was influential in Tibetan Buddhist schools. This article explores how translation of the Bodhicaryāvatāra is no longer the preserve of scholars but has moved to being carried out by Buddhist practitioners influenced by Tibetan schools of Buddhism. It shows how translators’ motives for translating the text have reflected changing attitudes to Buddhism and its texts. ?āntideva's Bodhicaryāvatāra has been translated as a source of information, a literary work, an inspirational work and, with the rise of Western interest in Tibetan Buddhism in the late twentieth century, as a vehicle for the transmission of Buddhist teachings. Nevertheless, further scholarly investigation of the Sanskrit text of the Bodhicaryāvatāra remains to be done.     

The Hawārī of Socotra, Yemen

Hawārī are traditionally logboats carved from a single tree into a double-ended vessel which can be propelled by either sails or paddle. Hawārī can be found throughout the Indian Ocean from India through to East Africa, yet little is known about this ubiquitous vessel. The aims of this research are to address this lacuna in our knowledge by documenting the rich source of hawārī present on the island of Socotra, Yemen.
© 2009 The Author     

六世班禅与达天通理会晤新考——以藏文版《六世班禅传》与《三世章嘉传》为中心

六世班禅在京朝觐期间与汉传佛教贤首宗代表人物达天通理进行了会晤,此为清代藏传佛教与汉传佛教交流史上的标志性事件。作者以藏文版《六世班禅传》与《三世章嘉传》为中心,结合新发现的汉文史料考证认为,二者会晤缘起于六世班禅为深入了解汉传佛教而临时起意,时间是乾隆四十五年(1780)九月初六日,地点是觉生寺,内容为二者在章嘉国师翻译辅助下就佛事科仪等进行的简单交流,直接成果为九月二十七日达天通理获赐"阐教禅师"尊号。     

Al-Aqir near Bahlā'– an Early Bronze Age dam site with planoconvex 'copper' ingots

Some 20 years ago the Ministry of National Heritage and Culture received an important collection of planoconvex copper ingots, tools and anthropomorphic figures which came from a site at al-Aqir near Bahlā' in the al-Zāhirah Wilāya. Several years elapsed before their provenance could be reconstructed and the site could be investigated. The finds had been deposited as building offerings in a prehistoric, 300 m-long dam built to trap soil and moisture for agricultural purposes. Although the area has been intensively used since at least 3000 BC, the evidence for irrigation installations does not pre-date 2000 BC. The finds are dedicatory rather than functional in nature.     

清代皇家雅曼达噶神坛丛考

“雅曼达噶”即大威德金刚,是藏传佛教重要的护法神。本文考证了乾隆时期所建的七处皇家“雅曼达噶坛”,分析了神坛的建筑特点与文物陈设状况,理清了这种重要的佛堂模式的特点。同时探讨了清富神坛与西藏寺庙的渊源及乾隆与藏传佛教的关系。藏传佛教中神灵众多。有一个庞大的神系。乾隆皇帝建七处雅曼达噶坛。说明了清宫廷对保护神大威德的特别崇拜,这种做法来自藏传佛教格鲁派的直接影响。由此种神坛之模式可见藏传佛教曾对清代宫廷的文化环境产生过深刻的影响。     

唐卡艺术品产业化发展对策

当今世界,开发独具特色的民族文化资源,打造民族文化品牌,已成为人们的共识。文章通过对唐卡的历史内涵、文化价值、商业前景的研究,提出应采取有效措施,提高唐卡艺术品的社会化、产业化和市场化水平。从而使其成为青海独具魅力的旅游产品。     

作为“转轮王”和“文殊菩萨”的清帝——兼论乾隆帝与藏传佛教的关系

从历史背景来看,藏传佛教赋予中原统治者的"转轮王"和"文殊菩萨化身"称号只是一种尊称和象征性符号。不管是被动接受还是主动悦纳,它们对于清帝的核心意义在于确认其作为中原王朝统治者的身份。乾隆帝制作御容佛装像的基点在于以传统王朝的皇帝面对蒙藏族群,在此前提下融入个人的宗教趣味,形成了以"转轮王"兼"文殊菩萨化身"呈现的皇帝形象。如果说这种形式有什么更多的含义,那也不外乎是增加他对蒙藏高层的亲和力和他身为清帝的神圣性。新清史学者所主张的乾隆帝以藏传佛教的转轮王、菩萨身份治国的观点缺乏依据。     

藏文历史名著《贤者喜宴》史料价值探析

《贤者喜宴》是一部内容广博而厚重的藏文历史著作,涉及到了中原、印度、于阗等地的帝王世系和佛教历史,而全书叙述的重点在于藏传佛教史。作者重视史料的搜集,言之有据,其吐蕃史部分和噶玛派部分的史料价值尤为突出。《贤者喜宴》对研究藏族历史、民族关系史、佛教文化等方面的重要价值,值得进一步研究和挖掘。     

First Toranba Geshi Degree Issue

In October 2005, a total of 11 students of the China Tibetan Language Higher Institute of Buddhism completed their Buddhist studies for the Toranba Geshi title and a grand award ceremony was held. This marks the fresh progress that Tibetan Buddhism is making in Buddhist studies.     

文本话语与行为规范:西藏宗教人物传记的史学史意义

From the perspective of historical anthropology, this article examines a great deal of the biographies of religious figures in Tibetan history, reveals their special way of writing, classification, and circulation. In Tibetan Buddhism, biographies of religious figures are considered as a subject’s demise (lung-rgyun) and have their special meanings. They are the text of the largest quantity in the historical works of Tibet and had great influence on Tibetan historiography. A comprehensive research on their cultural characteristic, historical evolvement and historical influence will help us understand the Tibetan culture in depth. __________ Translated from Shixueshi Yanjiu 史学史研究 (Journal of Historiography), 2007, (4): 67–77     

The Trouble with Propaganda: the Second World War,Franco's Spain,and the Origins of US Post-War Public Diplomacy

This paper explores the internecine conflict that characterised and undermined US propaganda toward neutral Spain in the Second World War. These tensions primarily confronted those who saw US propaganda as an ideological weapon of mass persuasion in a crusade against Fascism with those who defended that US informational and cultural operations should be subservient to traditional diplomacy, and so be limited to explaining US foreign policy and advancing bilateral friendship. In addition, the article argues that the unambiguous subordination of propaganda to diplomacy that characterised US public diplomacy during the cold war was one of the lessons learnt out of the civil war that US propagandists fought over Spain between 1941 and early 1945.     

Life of Monks

If Tibetan Buddhism were taken as a lake.Lhasa would be an island inits center.When the wind blows,the lake ripples with gentle waves spreading out to the eastern tip of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.That part of the world is home to Tibetan.Tu and Han ethnic groups and boasts 29monasteries of Tibetan Buddhism. Why were there so many monasteries in sucha small and remote place inhabited by not only Tibetans,but also people of other ethnic groups?     

西藏佛教文化旅游资源开发与研究

西藏是我国西部地区藏传佛教的发源地,具有丰富的佛教文化旅游资源。本文在概述西藏丰富而独特的佛教旅游资源并对其进行评价的基础上,针对西藏发展佛教文化旅游的优劣势,提出了进一步开发西藏佛教文化旅游的策略。