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The Tibetan History Reader
Covering the social, cultural, and political development of Tibet from the seventh century to the modern period, this resource reproduces essential, hard-to-find essays from the past fifty years of Tibetan studies, along with several new contributions. Beginning with Tibet's emergence as a regional power and concluding with its profound contemporary transformations, the collection is both a general and specific history, connecting the actions of individuals, communities, and institutions to broader historical trends shaping Asia and the world. With contributions from American, French, German, Italian, Chinese, Japanese, and Tibetan scholars, the anthology reflects the international character of Tibetan studies and its multiple, interdisciplinary perspectives. By far the most concise scholarly anthology on Tibetan civilization in any Western language, this reader draws a clear portrait of Tibet's history, its relation to its neighbors, and its role in world affairs.
720 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2013
About the author
Gray Tuttle
8 books2 followersGray Tuttle is Leila Hadley Luce Associate Professor of Modern Tibetan Studies at Columbia University.
Professor Tuttle, in his Tibetan Buddhists in the Making of Modern China (Columbia University Press, 2005), examines the failure of nationalism and race-based ideology to maintain the Tibetan territory of the former Qing empire as integral to the Chinese nation-state. He discusses the critical role of pan-Asian Buddhism in Chinese efforts to hold onto Tibetan regions (one quarter of China’s current territory).
His current research project, for a book tentatively entitled “Amdo (Qinghai/Gansu): Middle Ground between Lhasaand Beijing,” focuses on Tibetan Buddhist institutional growth from the seventeenth to the twentieth century and how economic growth in the Sino-Tibetan borderlands fueled expansion and renewal of these institutions into the contemporary period. Other long-term writing projects include co-editing Sources of Tibetan Tradition for the series Introduction to Asian Civilizations and The Tibetan History Reader (both with Columbia University Press).
Professor Tuttle teaches courses on modern Tibetan history, the history of Chinese and Tibetan Buddhist relations, nationalist historiography in East Asia, and Tibetan civilization.
He received his AB from Princeton, his MA in regional studies (East Asian) from Harvard, and his PhD in inner Asian and Altaic studies, also from Harvard. He joined the Columbia faculty in 2005.
Professor Tuttle, in his Tibetan Buddhists in the Making of Modern China (Columbia University Press, 2005), examines the failure of nationalism and race-based ideology to maintain the Tibetan territory of the former Qing empire as integral to the Chinese nation-state. He discusses the critical role of pan-Asian Buddhism in Chinese efforts to hold onto Tibetan regions (one quarter of China’s current territory).
His current research project, for a book tentatively entitled “Amdo (Qinghai/Gansu): Middle Ground between Lhasaand Beijing,” focuses on Tibetan Buddhist institutional growth from the seventeenth to the twentieth century and how economic growth in the Sino-Tibetan borderlands fueled expansion and renewal of these institutions into the contemporary period. Other long-term writing projects include co-editing Sources of Tibetan Tradition for the series Introduction to Asian Civilizations and The Tibetan History Reader (both with Columbia University Press).
Professor Tuttle teaches courses on modern Tibetan history, the history of Chinese and Tibetan Buddhist relations, nationalist historiography in East Asia, and Tibetan civilization.
He received his AB from Princeton, his MA in regional studies (East Asian) from Harvard, and his PhD in inner Asian and Altaic studies, also from Harvard. He joined the Columbia faculty in 2005.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 5, 2013
There exists a pressing need for a comprehensive survey of Tibetan history in a western language - after some 20 years of looking, I've not come close to finding such a work. It was my hope that this collection of scholarly essays would partially serve this function, as it is organized chronologically in sections that suggest something of a panoramic overview of the whole story, but it does not. Rather, it's a collection of journal articles, book excerpts, et cetera, old and new, assembled chronologically.
I can't criticize the book for not being what I had hoped it would be, but I do find it hard to get too excited about. It is an assortment of very deep, very narrow examinations of topics ranging from those of great general importance (the career of the Fifth Dalai Lama, or the origins of the Tulku system, for example), to rather obscure (the Mongol Census in Tibet).
I particularly welcomed Aldenderfer and Yinong's survey of our archaeological knowledge of pre-Imperial Tibet, which did an excellent job of laying out what we know and what we don't know about that fascinating period.
Many of the articles are surprisingly short, and I frequently came to the end with great surprise, feeling that the topic had barely been addressed. Van der Kuijp's examination of the Great Fifth in particular hardly covered the basics in a cursory way.
Apparently the barriers to Tibetan historiography are high, because the work that exists is primarily a collection of fragments and hagiography. I hope I live to see contributions of greater scope.
I can't criticize the book for not being what I had hoped it would be, but I do find it hard to get too excited about. It is an assortment of very deep, very narrow examinations of topics ranging from those of great general importance (the career of the Fifth Dalai Lama, or the origins of the Tulku system, for example), to rather obscure (the Mongol Census in Tibet).
I particularly welcomed Aldenderfer and Yinong's survey of our archaeological knowledge of pre-Imperial Tibet, which did an excellent job of laying out what we know and what we don't know about that fascinating period.
Many of the articles are surprisingly short, and I frequently came to the end with great surprise, feeling that the topic had barely been addressed. Van der Kuijp's examination of the Great Fifth in particular hardly covered the basics in a cursory way.
Apparently the barriers to Tibetan historiography are high, because the work that exists is primarily a collection of fragments and hagiography. I hope I live to see contributions of greater scope.
October 5, 2023
definitely not a comprehensive introductory history reader. it's a thicc boi for sure.
many of the topics were esoteric, which made them hard to follow (also due to my lapse of knowledge—hopefully it'd be better when i re-read it!). found it a bit incohesive; some articles were awkwardly short. i thoroughly enjoyed certain articles though (e.g., Tuttle's essay on "Lamas in Exile in China and America").
many of the topics were esoteric, which made them hard to follow (also due to my lapse of knowledge—hopefully it'd be better when i re-read it!). found it a bit incohesive; some articles were awkwardly short. i thoroughly enjoyed certain articles though (e.g., Tuttle's essay on "Lamas in Exile in China and America").
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews