Proceedings of the Tenth Seminar of the IATS, 2003 – serie

This volume deals with specific issues related to Tibetan art, ranging from the earliest Buddhist buildings in central, southern and eastern geocultural Tibet up to the artistic traditions flourishing in the 20th century. The papers are arranged following the chronology of the sites or the themes taken into consideration in the first part and logical criteria in the latter part. Illustrated with numerous black-and-white pictures and 32 pages of colour plates, its contents are of special interest to scholars and specialists, while a large part is accessible to non-specialists, too, which makes the book useful also to university students interested in the subject as well as amateurs of Tibetan art.

Recent archaeological discoveries and scientific research especially focussed on western Tibet and the western Himalayas have resulted in a remarkable redefinition of the historical and cultural processes of the entire Indo-Tibetan civilisation. The present volume reflects these sometimes startling new insights for the first time, covering the wide time range from the Zhang zhung period up to the 20th century, spanning secular, religious and economic history, as well as art and archaeology.

This volume focuses on the interface between Mongolian and Tibetan cultures and aims to create a platform to encourage the development of new forms of scholarship across geographical and disciplinary boundaries. This forum lets new materials emerge and brings to the fore a variety of different approaches to studying Mongolian and Tibetan cultures and societies. The papers in this volume deal not only with the substantial Mongolian contribution to and engagement with Tibetan Buddhism, but also with multiple readings of shared history and religion, reconstruction of traditions, shifting ethnic boundaries and the broader political context of the Mongolian-Tibetan relationship.