The main emphasis of the project "Buddhist Kanjur Collections in Tibet’s Southern and Western Borderlands" (P 30356; 6/2017-06/2021) is laid on the Tibetan Buddhist canon, the Kanjur, without neglecting other literary genres, the majority of it religious in nature. In particular, Tanjur texts and relevant historiographical sources will be taken into account. From the 9th century onward, Buddhist sacred texts of mainly Indian origin were systematically translated into Tibetan. These translations were copied, disseminated, and collected at monasteries and royal palaces. By the early 14th century, the literary corpus “Kanjur” emerged from these collections via various intermediate stages. For Kanjur research, especially ‘local’ Kanjurs, independent of two main lines following the edition of Tshal (~1350) and the Them spangs ma Kanjur (~1430), become increasingly significant. Such Kanjurs can be located primarily along the southern and western borders of the Tibetan cultural area. Based on the results of previous projects, now lines of transmission between Central Tibet, Bhutan, Sikkim, Mustang, Dol po, mNga’ ris, and Ladakh are being investigated, as well as the entangled traditions emerging en route, and their contribution to the development of Tibetan canonical literature in general.

Project Leader

Helmut Tauscher

Project Members

Bruno Lainé
Markus Viehbeck

Hosting Institution

Department of South Asian, Tibetan and Buddhist Studies