The proceedings of the seminars of the International Association for Tibetan Studies (IATS) have developed into the most representative world-wide cross-section of Tibetan Studies. They are an indispensable reference-work for anyone interested in Tibet and capture the cutting edge of Tibet-related research. This volume is the first of three volumes of general proceedings of the Ninth Seminar of the IATS. It presents a careful selection of scholarly and academic articles on Tibetan history, which includes contemporary developments as well as a compact, but significant, linguistic section. The complete series covers ten volumes. The other seven volumes are the outcome of expert panels. Of special interest to readers of this book may be the edited volumes by Christopher Beckwith (linguistics), Helmut Eimer and David Germano (Buddhist canon), Lawrence Epstein (Khams pa history), Deborah Klimburg-Salter (art history) and the third volume of the general proceedings (Bhutan and art history).

An enquiry into secular and religious Old Tibetan documents from Central Asia and Tibet. The material is critically examined from different perspectives, focussing on classical disciplines (history, linguistics, lexicography, philology, codicology and diplomacy).

The ten papers presented in this eight volume of the Proceedings of the Ninth Seminar of the IATS, 2000, provide examples of the colourful and lively range of Tibetan self-expressions that exist within the modern homeland and in exile. The scholars here represent the fields of anthropology, sociology, literary studies, history, and political science. Four papers are based in studies in the modern Tibet Autonomous Region, five are grounded in the Tibetan diaspora, and one deals with both classical Tibetan history and current affairs. The mass representation of Tibetan self, delivered through various literary vehicles, by linguistic competence, body decoration, landscape, or individual deportment, constitutes the basic theme of this collection. The volume is useful for any student of Tibet and those interested in the process of identity formation and presentation.

Subject of The Many Canons of Tibetan Buddhism are both the mainstream Tibetan canons of translated Buddhist classics (known as the Bka' 'gyur & Bstan 'gyur), and the alternative canons of literature of the Nyingma sectarian traditions (known as the Rnying ma rgyud 'bum). The first section discusses the formation and transmission of Tibetan "canonical" texts, but also includes important works of reference, such as a Bka' gdams pa handbook and several unique catalogues. It also features a first report on Tibetan textual transmission in Mongolia. The second section not only presents interpretative analysis of one of the most important alternative canons in Tibet, the Rnying ma rgyud 'bum, but also discusses essential issues of legitimacy, authority and lineage during the "gray" period of the tenth to twelfth centuries which laid the foundation for the formation of all ensuing Tibetan canons. The volume thus develops fresh perspectives on the nature, plurality and contents of canons in Tibetan Buddhism.

As an indispensable introduction to local history of the Khams region of Eastern Tibet/Western China (with due attention for contemporary thinking about frontier regions), this volume contains seven papers on Khams pa (Eastern Tibet) local history, representing politics, and agency and their historiographical representations on the Khams frontiers. The articles have been arranged to reflect common themes. Wim van Spengen, William Coleman and Peng Wenbin locate Khams in a broader political history, exploring the fluidity of the frontier and its turbulent dislocations, as Khampas encountered and responded to Tibetan and Chinese national projects in the early part of the twentieth century. Fabienne Jagou and Carole McGranahan shift their gaze to individual figures and their engagement with Chinese and Tibetan social politics. Peter Schwieger’s analysis of history as oral narrative positions Khams in relation to Central Tibet, as does the subject of Tsering Thar’s paper, which concerns the influence of a Bonpo lama in religious innovation.

The proceedings of the seminars of the International Association for Tibetan Studies (IATS) have developed into the most representative world-wide cross-section of Tibetan Studies. They are an indispensable reference-work for anyone interested in Tibet and capture the cutting edge of Tibet-related research. This volume is the second of three volumes of general proceedings of the Ninth Seminar of the IATS. It presents a careful selection of scholarly and academic articles on Tibetan Buddhist and Bon religious culture, including a sizeable section of anthropological contributions. The complete series covers ten volumes. The other seven volumes are the outcome of expert panels. Of special interest to readers of this book are the edited volumes by Katia Buffetrille & Hildegard Diemberger (anthropology: territory and identity), Helmut Eimer & David Germano (Buddhist canon), Toni Huber (anthropology: Amdo cultural revival), Christiaan Klieger (anthropology: presentation of self & identity), and Deborah Klimburg-Salter and Eva Allinger (art history).

Have you ever thought about dependencies in Asian art and architecture? Most people would probably assume that the arts are free and that creativity and ingenuity function outside of such reliances. However, the 13 chapters provided by specialists in the fields of Asian art and architecture in this volume show, that those active in the visual arts and the built environment operate in an area of strict relations of often extreme dependences. Material artefacts and edifices are dependent on the climate in which they have been created, on the availability of resources for their production, on social and religious traditions, which may be oral or written down and on donors, patrons and the art market. Furthermore, gender and labour dependencies play a role in the creation of the arts as well. Despite these strong and in most instances asymmetrical dependencies, artists have at all times found freedoms in expressing their own imagination, vision and originality. This shows that dependencies and freedoms are not necessarily strictly separated binary opposites but that, at least in the area of the history of art and architecture in Asia, the two are interconnected in what are often complex and multifaceted layers.