The Tibetan Annals, or Old Tibetan Annals (OTA), are composed of two manuscripts written in Old Tibetan language found in the early 20th century in the "hidden library", the Mogao Grottoes near Dunhuang in northwestern Gansu province, Western China, which is believed to have been sealed in the 11th century CE. They form Tibet's earliest extant history.[1]
First page of Pelliot Tibétain 1288Paul Pelliot examines manuscripts in cave 17
The two manuscripts are known as the "civil" and "military" versions of the Annals.[2] The "civil" version is designated IOL Tib J 750 in the British Library in London and Pelliot tibétain 1288 in the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris are originally from the same original roll, 4.34 metres long and 0.258 metres wide.[3] The "civil" version covers the years 650–748 with some gaps.[4] The "military" version is designated Or.8212/187 is also held at the British Library. This version is much shorter and covers the years 743–765 with some gaps.[4]
An enormous number of early manuscripts in a variety of languages were collected by A. Stein and P. Pelliot at the famous sealed-up Library Cave (no. 17) of the Mogao Grottoes and sent back to London and Paris respectively. Among these Dunhuang manuscripts, The Tibetan Annals (or "Tibet’s First History") were found along with the "Old Tibetan Chronicle", which was probably compiled between 800 and 840 CE.[5]
ContentsEdit
Cave 16 and the manuscripts piled up for Aurel Stein near the entrance to Cave 17, the “library cave”
The Annals begin with a very brief account of the early events of the reign of Songtsen Gampo, the first Tibetan Emperor. From the time the Chinese Princess Wencheng arrived in 643 CE until Songtsen Gampo's death in 650 it is possible to accurately date the entries. It then gives a dated, year-by-year précis of important events from 650 to 764 CE. For example, in 763 CE, Tibetan soldiers captured the Chinese capital of Chang'an for fifteen days when the ruling Tang dynasty was recovering from the An Lushan Rebellion.[6][7] Of course, annals continued to be recorded after this date but, unfortunately, only one or two other minor fragments have survived.[8] The Tibetan cyclic system dates are in much-faded red ink.[9]
These accounts, generally accepted as sober court records, provide a priceless view of Tibet in its early phase of expansion and establishment as a powerful empire. They also provide a valuable way of checking and dating events mentioned in later Tibetan and Chinese historical records.[10]
Neither the Annals nor the Chronicle make any mention of Buddhism in the reign of Songtsen Gampo.[11]
^"Preface to the Asianart.com edition of this article." By Amy Heller, Jan 21, 2007.
ReferencesEdit
Bacot, Thomas and Toussaint (1940–1946). Documents de Touen-houang relatifs a l'histoire de Tibet. J. Bacot, F. W. Thomas, Ch. Touissant. Paris. Libraire orientaliste Paul Geunther.
Choephel, Gedun (1978). The White Annals. Library of Tibetan Works & Archives Dharamsala, H.P., India.
Dotson, Brandon (2009). The Old Tibetan Annals: An Annotated Translation of Tibet's First History. VÖAW, Austria. ISBN978-3-7001-6102-8 (book); ISBN978-3-7001-6712-9 (online edition).
Stein, R. A. (1972) [1962], Tibetan Civilization (1st English ed.), Stanford: Stanford University Press, ISBN0-8047-0806-1.
External linksEdit
Wikisource has original text related to this article:
དོན་ཆེན་གནད་བསྡུས་ཀྱི་ལོ་ཚིགས།
Free access to the original Tibetan texts online
"Preface to the Asianart.com edition of this article." By Amy Heller, Jan 21, 2007.
August 31, 2023
tibetan, annals, composed, manuscripts, written, tibetan, language, found, early, 20th, century, hidden, library, mogao, grottoes, near, dunhuang, northwestern, gansu, province, western, china, which, believed, have, been, sealed, 11th, century, they, form, ti. The Tibetan Annals or Old Tibetan Annals OTA are composed of two manuscripts written in Old Tibetan language found in the early 20th century in the hidden library the Mogao Grottoes near Dunhuang in northwestern Gansu province Western China which is believed to have been sealed in the 11th century CE They form Tibet s earliest extant history 1 First page of Pelliot Tibetain 1288Paul Pelliot examines manuscripts in cave 17The two manuscripts are known as the civil and military versions of the Annals 2 The civil version is designated IOL Tib J 750 in the British Library in London and Pelliot tibetain 1288 in the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris are originally from the same original roll 4 34 metres long and 0 258 metres wide 3 The civil version covers the years 650 748 with some gaps 4 The military version is designated Or 8212 187 is also held at the British Library This version is much shorter and covers the years 743 765 with some gaps 4 Contents 1 Discovery 2 Contents 3 Footnotes 4 References 5 External linksDiscovery EditAn enormous number of early manuscripts in a variety of languages were collected by A Stein and P Pelliot at the famous sealed up Library Cave no 17 of the Mogao Grottoes and sent back to London and Paris respectively Among these Dunhuang manuscripts The Tibetan Annals or Tibet s First History were found along with the Old Tibetan Chronicle which was probably compiled between 800 and 840 CE 5 Contents Edit Cave 16 and the manuscripts piled up for Aurel Stein near the entrance to Cave 17 the library cave The Annals begin with a very brief account of the early events of the reign of Songtsen Gampo the first Tibetan Emperor From the time the Chinese Princess Wencheng arrived in 643 CE until Songtsen Gampo s death in 650 it is possible to accurately date the entries It then gives a dated year by year precis of important events from 650 to 764 CE For example in 763 CE Tibetan soldiers captured the Chinese capital of Chang an for fifteen days when the ruling Tang dynasty was recovering from the An Lushan Rebellion 6 7 Of course annals continued to be recorded after this date but unfortunately only one or two other minor fragments have survived 8 The Tibetan cyclic system dates are in much faded red ink 9 These accounts generally accepted as sober court records provide a priceless view of Tibet in its early phase of expansion and establishment as a powerful empire They also provide a valuable way of checking and dating events mentioned in later Tibetan and Chinese historical records 10 Neither the Annals nor the Chronicle make any mention of Buddhism in the reign of Songtsen Gampo 11 Footnotes Edit Dotson 2009 p 9 Dotson 2009 p 14 Bacot Thomas and Toussaint 1940 1946 pp 9 12 a b Dotson 2009 p 15 Foreword by Per Sorensen in Dotson 2009 p 1 Beckwith 1987 p 146 Stein 1972 p 65 Dotson 2009 pp 12 13 136 137 Bacot Thomas and Toussaint 1940 1946 p 9 Choephel 1978 pp 44 46 Preface to the Asianart com edition of this article By Amy Heller Jan 21 2007 References EditBacot Thomas and Toussaint 1940 1946 Documents de Touen houang relatifs a l histoire de Tibet J Bacot F W Thomas Ch Touissant Paris Libraire orientaliste Paul Geunther Beckwith Christopher I 1987 The Tibetan Empire in Central Asia Princeton Princeton University Press ISBN 0 691 02469 3 Choephel Gedun 1978 The White Annals Library of Tibetan Works amp Archives Dharamsala H P India Dotson Brandon 2009 The Old Tibetan Annals An Annotated Translation of Tibet s First History VOAW Austria ISBN 978 3 7001 6102 8 book ISBN 978 3 7001 6712 9 online edition Stein R A 1972 1962 Tibetan Civilization 1st English ed Stanford Stanford University Press ISBN 0 8047 0806 1 External links Edit Wikisource has original text related to this article ད ན ཆ ན གནད བས ས ཀ ལ ཚ གས Free access to the original Tibetan texts online Preface to the Asianart com edition of this article By Amy Heller Jan 21 2007 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Tibetan Annals amp oldid 1162695174, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
