Tibetan Studies

Un mistico tibetano del XVI secolo: Brug-Pa Kun Legs.

by marco pucciarini

In this paper we examine the figure and work of an ascetic Tibetan .

"Chinese State Media Representations"

by Kevin Carrico

Cultural Anthropology, "Self-Immolation as Protest in Tibet." edited by Carole McGranahan and Ralph Litzinger. April 2012.
http://www.culanth.org/?q=node/531

TartariaMag_issue1-2012

by Nikolay Tsyrempilov

Joseph Gergan et l'Histoire : le Tibet Occidental vu par un chrétien Ladakhi

by Jonathan Guyon Le Bouffy

Master Inalco (Paris)

Presentation of the Ladakhpa's Joseph Gergan's book, "The Eternal Treasure of the Ladakhi's Chronicles" (bla... more Presentation of the Ladakhpa's Joseph Gergan's book, "The Eternal Treasure of the Ladakhi's Chronicles" (bla dwags rgyal rabs 'chi med gter). How this book is different from the ancient chronicles? Who are the writer and his inspirators.

[Non-refereed Op-ed] Whose Arms Will Embrace You? The United States and the Beijing Consensus

by Amarnath Amarasingam

The United States is increasingly playing a game of subtle communication in the international arena. I suspect we had... more The United States is increasingly playing a game of subtle communication in the international arena. I suspect we had a passing glimpse of this at the 19th Session of the Human Rights Council, which gathered in Geneva last month. The question is: who is the United States talking to and what is it trying to say?

The Blazing Horror of Now

by Cameron Warner

published in Cultural Anthropology Hot Spots Series, April 12, 2012

On following posts on Tibetan self-immolation on Facebook and the sense that our normal academic tools of analysis... more On following posts on Tibetan self-immolation on Facebook and the sense that our normal academic tools of analysis fail to give us the sense that we can derive significant meaning.

Het beeld van Tibet in de Westerse populariserende pers gedurende de periode 1913 - 1959.

by Pieter-Jan Buyle

Diss. master

In deze scriptie heb ik getracht het beeld van Tibet in de Westerse populariserende pers gedurende de periode 1913 –... more In deze scriptie heb ik getracht het beeld van Tibet in de Westerse populariserende pers gedurende de periode 1913 – 1959 te onderzoeken.  Het is natuurlijk onmogelijk om de hele Westerse pers als dusdanig te onderzoeken.  Niet alleen is dit binnen het kader van een masterscriptie onhaalbaar om alle persbladen van een periode van meer dan 46 jaar te verwerken, maar is het ook niet noodzakelijk om een beeld te krijgen van een gedeelde perceptie die leefde in de verscheidenheid aan persbladen.  Het is dus niet de bedoeling hier een exhaustieve analyse van de pers als dusdanig te bieden, maar om een welomlijnd aantal gekozen bladen onder de loep te nemen en daaruit de nodige conclusies te trekken. 

Arrested Histories: Tibet, the CIA, and Memories of a Forgotten War

by Cameron Warner

published in Ethnos 77 (1): 150-153

My review of Carole McGranahan's excellent book on the veteran's of the Tibetan guerilla war against China. My review of Carole McGranahan's excellent book on the veteran's of the Tibetan guerilla war against China.

“Touched a nation's heart”: Sir E. Denison Ross and Alexander Csoma de Kőrös

by Imre Galambos

“Globalizing Tibetan Buddhism: Modernism and Neo-Orthodoxy in Contemporary Karma bKa’ brgyud Organizations ” Contemporary Buddhism 13.1 (2012), pp. 125-137.

by Burkhard Scherer

This article addresses the wider issues of continuity and change in the context of the globalization of Tibetan... more This article addresses the wider issues of continuity and change in the context of the globalization of Tibetan Buddhism. Specifically, it looks at the emergence of lay oriented convert movements within the global Karma bKa’ brgyud school, which are led by ‘crazy wise’ teachers. Firstly, the activities of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche (1939-1987) are interpreted on the background of the tension between tradition and modernity. In dialogue with modernity, Trungpa gradually pushed the borders of Tibetan Buddhist identity to the point of collapse and established a secular teaching lineage and discourse. Trungpa’s case is then compared to the development of one of the fastest growing and largest global lay movements of contemporary Tibetan Buddhism, the Diamond Way of the Danish lay teacher Ole Nydahl. The Diamond Way has transitioned into a late-charismatic stage, in which the traditionalist and modernizing features of Nydahl’s teachings are creating an increasing tension. Post-Buddhist secularization and modernist packaging of neo-orthodoxy emerge as contesting paradigms of the globalization of these Tibetan Buddhist movements, which produce surprising intertextualities and shed light on the negotiation of convert Buddhist identities in a global context.

A Miscarriage of History : Wencheng Gongzhu and Sino-Tibetan Historiography

by Cameron Warner

Inner Asia, 2011, 13(2): 239-264

In this article, I examine how Wencheng Gonghzu, the Chinese consort to the first Tibetan emperor Songtsen Gampo,... more In this article, I examine how Wencheng Gonghzu, the Chinese consort to the first Tibetan emperor Songtsen Gampo, served as a contentious rhetorical site for Tibetan and Chinese historiographers for over 1,000 years. I argue present exile Tibetan and Chinese propaganda on such topics as Tibetan political, cultural, and hereditary independence from China is at least analogous and possibly influenced by historiographic traditions found in texts such as the Tang Annals and post-imperial Tibetan Buddhist works like the Vase-shaped Pillar Testament. However, as Central Tibetan and Chinese historians used Wencheng to index the complex relationship between Tibet and China, Eastern Tibetan historians preserved lesser-known, potentially subversive narratives of Wencheng's travels, especially regarding her possible love-affair with the Tibetan minister Gar Tongtsen and their illegitimate child. After briefly reviewing Central Tibetan and Chinese metanarratives, I focus on Eastern Tibetan narratives, including the apparently lost Secret Autobiography of Wencheng Gongzhu, which I argue point to the former political autonomy, and cultural hybridity of areas of Eastern Tibet, especially Minyak and Powo. My investigation into Wencheng-narratives from Eastern Tibet demonstrates that her journey from China to Tibet should not be thought of a mere liminal period of her life, but rather central to debates among Tibetans and Chinese regarding the politics of national unity (minzu tuanjie) and constructions of pan-Tibetan identity.

Jokhang : Tibet's Most Sacred Buddhist Temple.

by Cameron Warner

In: International Association of Tibetan Studies. Journal, Vol. 6, 12.2011, p. 451-466.

A review essay (fifteen pages) of Dorje et al.'s "Jokhang" A review essay (fifteen pages) of Dorje et al.'s "Jokhang"

Buddhism and Empire: The Political and Religious Culture of Early Tibet

by Cameron Warner

In: Journal of Asian Studies, Vol. 71, No. 1, 02.2012, p. 249-252.

Tibetan education in exile

by Kalsang Wangdu

China’s minority education policy with reference to Tibet

by Kalsang Wangdu

The dichotomy between China’s claim to respect, protect and promote Tibetan culture in the education system and its... more The dichotomy between China’s claim to respect, protect and promote Tibetan culture in the education system and its actual practice of alienating Tibetans from their linguistic and cultural heritage and identity through a vigorous imposition of Chinese curricula under its Han-Chinese nationalist agenda has only resulted in a failure to achieve the kind of domination it seeks over the Tibetan people.

Seeing to the distant mountain: diagnosis in Tibetan medicine.

by Eliot Tokar

Tokar, Eliot, 1999, Seeing to the distant mountain: Diagnosis in Tibetan medicine, Alternative Therapies In Health And Medicine, 5(2): 50-58

To make use of an ancient traditional medical system we must first be able to comprehend the singular concepts and... more To make use of an ancient traditional medical system we must first be able to comprehend the singular concepts and language it utilizes to understand and describe health and illness. The diagnostic procedure is the method by which a person's medical condition is interpreted into the epistemological categories and language of medical science. This article provides a description of traditional Tibetan medical diagnosis, and explains how a Tibetan physician perceives and analyzes a presenting illness. It discusses the spiritual, psychological and physical aspects of the Tibetan medical approach to diagnosis. By addressing these issues we can understand what is unique about this system of alternative medicine and how it can inform other models of medical practice.

Preservation and Progress: Using Tibetan Medicine as a Model to Define a Progressive Role for Traditional Asian Medicine in Modern Healthcare

by Eliot Tokar

Tokar, Eliot. 2007, Preservation And Progress: Using Tibetan Medicine As A Model To Define A Progressive Role For Traditional Asian Medicine In Modern Healthcare, Asian Medicine: Tradition and Modernity, 2(2): 303-314.

The history of Tibetan medicine's development provides an excellent model for planning the appropriate utilization of... more The history of Tibetan medicine's development provides an excellent model for planning the appropriate utilization of 'foreign' medical systems and traditions within a new culture that incorporates progressive approaches for the use of both medical pluralism and integration. This history takes on increasing relevance in the modern world as the practice of Tibetan medicine and other forms of traditional Asian medicine have been spreading in the West where they have been faced with commoditization and the hegemony of biomedicine. In the face of modern globalization, certain key questions have yet to be sufficiently addressed. How can systems of traditional Asian medicine be incorporated into western cultures in a manner that permits them to contribute to our understanding of health and disease while allowing them to retain their own integrity? How can they be utilized to aid in the solution of public health problems that exist in the West? What should be the proper interaction between traditional Asian medical systems (e.g., Tibetan medicine) and biomedicine? To determine the answer to these and other vital questions, we must take into account the many cultural, political, economic and scientific issues that affect the state of both public health and individual healthcare.

An Ancient Medicine in a New World: A Tibetan Medicine Doctor’s Reflection from ‘Inside"

by Eliot Tokar

Tokar, Eliot 2008, "An Ancient Medicine in a New World: A Tibetan Medicine Doctor’s Reflection from ‘Inside’." Tibetan Medicine in the Contemporary World: Global Politics of Medical Knowledge and Practice, Ed. Pordié, Laurent. London: Routledge. 229-248

FROM: “Tibetan Medicine in the Contemporary World" (pub. Routledge)
Edited by Dr. Laurent Pordié.
Awarded the International Convention of Asia Scholars 2009 Book Prize Award

Based on his own Tibetan medicine practice, the author analyzes the rapprochement between Tibetan medicine and the... more Based on his own Tibetan medicine practice, the author analyzes the rapprochement between Tibetan medicine and the industry of complementary and alternative medicine/integrative medicine. Discussed in depth are the social, ethical and medical significance of the transformation of traditional Tibetan medicine in the context of Western (esp. American) normative public health policies. The author shows how in that context, a neo-traditional medical practice can be constructed, that advances the translation of traditional Asian medical concepts and terminology in a way that is intended to be both faithful to traditional theory, and that makes it accessible and useful to the wide spectrum of patients of diverse cultural, language and economic backgrounds found in New York City.

Charting the Tibet Issue in the Sino-Indian Border Dispute

by Tsering Topgyal

‘The Earth-ox and the Snowlion’

by Mona Schrempf

in Toni Huber (ed.), Tibetan Revival in Modern Amdo: Society and Culture During the Late 20th Century (PIATS, Leiden, Brill Academic Publishers), pp. 147-171.