INTRODUCTION TO ASIAN CIVILIZATION: TIBET Course description
Evaluative mechanisms (i.e. requirements)
Academic Integrity
Disability Support
Required Reading:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Week 1 (9/5) Introduction to Class & Why Tibetan Civilization is Taught Lobsang Gyatso, Memoirs of a Tibetan Lama, pp. 7-84. (9/7) Introduction to Tibet (Regions & Monastic Life) Kapstein, The Tibetans, Chapter 1 "The Vessel and Its Contents" Lobsang Gyatso, Memoirs of a Tibetan Lama pp. 84-198 Week 2 (9/12) Overview of Tibetan Society, Chinese Occupation & Exile Lobsang Gyatso, Memoirs of a Tibetan Lama pp. 199-22. Courseworks materials ( www. courseworks.columbia.edu , look under course number): Elliot Spering, "Exile and Dissent: The Historical and Cultural Context," in Tibet since 1950,. pp. 30-37. Tsering Shakya, "Whither the Tsampa Eaters?" Optional: Melvyn Goldstein, "The Dragon and the Snow Lion: The Tibet Question in the 20 th Century," in China Briefing, 1989, Anthony J. Kane, ed. (Boulder: Westview Press, 1990), pp. 129-167. (9/14) Tibetan Pre-history, Myths of Early Tibet & Rise of Imperial Tibet 7 th-8 thc. Kapstein, The Tibetans, Ch2 "Pre-history & Early Legends"; CH 3: Introduction & "The Rise of the Tibetan Empire" Dreyfus, George "Proto-Nationalism in Tibet" ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Week 3 (9/19) Introduction of Buddhism ( India, China) 8 th-9 th centuries Kapstein, The Tibetans, CH3: "Later Monarchs and the Promotion of Buddhism" & CH7: "Buddhist Basics" Primary Sources, on Courseworks : 1) Li and Coblin 1987. A Study of Old Tibetan Inscriptions. Institutionalization of Buddhism and treaties with China 2) Old and New Tang Annals & "Prayers at the Dega Tempe celebrating the 821/2 treaty between China and Tibet" . 3) Abidharma Sampler. Questions to which you should post answers (25 line paragraph) in the Discussion section (see left hand column of courseworks website) by 5pm the day before you meet in for discussion: 1) For the Old Tibetan Inscriptions:
2) For the Tang Dynasty Annals & the "Prayers at the Dega Temple celebrating the treaty":
(9/21) Zenith & Decline of Imperial Tibet (War & Peace with Tang China) 8 th-9 th c. Kapstein, The Tibetans, CH3 "The Empire's Implosion" Secondary and Primary Sources, on Courseworks :
Discussion Questions:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Week 4 (9/26) Tibet in Fragments 10-11 th c. Kapstein, The Tibetans, CH7: Introduction & "Propitiation, Therapy & Life Cycle" Courseworks materials:
(9/28) Revival of Buddhism at Tibet’s Margins, Return to Center Kapstein, The Tibetans, Chapter 4: Introduction & "Dynastic Successors & Gugé Kingdom" Courseworks materials: 1) Selections from The lotus-born : life story of Padmasambhava / "composed" by Yeshe Tsogyal; "revealed" by Nyang Rel Nyima Ozer pp. 55-116, 160-162, 174-175. 2) Selections from John Snellgrove's Nine Ways of Bon Optional teading: Davidson, Chapter 3, Tibetan Renaissance Questions to consider for this week's primary readings:
Week 5 (10/3) Renaissance Tibet 11 th-12 th c. Kapstein, The Tibetans, Chapter 4: "The Buddhist Renaissance;" CH7 "Monastic Institutions and Education," & "Tantrism and Yoga" Primary Source: Lhalungpa, The Life of Milarepa, 9-46 (10/5) “New” Schools of Tibetan Buddhism (Kadam, Sakya, Kagyü; Bön) Kapstein, The Tibetans, CH7, "Major Orders and Schools" Primary Source: Lhalungpa, The Life of Milarepa, 47-74, 108-203. Questions: What elements of Buddhist tradition seem similar from this period (the Milarepa reading) and the earlier periods we have studied? What is different? What about the political situation: what similarities and differences do you see between this period and earlier periods? What other useful insights into contemporary society can we glean from Milarepa's biography? (Remember this text was not actually written until the 15th century, so it does not transparently reflect the 11th-12th centuries, but it reflects at least what the author imagined life to be like at that time, based on earlier biographies of Milarepa). ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Week 6 (10/10) Tibet under the Mongols 13 th-14 th c. Kapstein, The Tibetans, Chapter 4: "Mongols and Tibetan Buddhists"; CH8 "Sites of Learning" Read first five pages carefully, skim next five pages; the rest of the chapter is relevant to this week and next week. Primary Sources, on Courseworks: "Multi-lingual Mongol Edicts concerned with Tibet" & Cyrus Stearns Hermit of Go Cliffs on Mongol invasion (10/12) Intellectual developments ("National" Histories) Primary Sources, on Courseworks: 1) Sakya Pandita, translated by Bosson: A Treasury of Aphoristic Jewels 2) Sakyapa Sonam Gyaltsen, The Clear Mirror, 75-177, 255-266. 3) Pakpa, Elucidation of the Knowable, Extracts (10pp) & PDF of end of Chapter 3, Ch4-5. Questions: How do these texts, written by Khon clan members of the Sakya tradition help shape your understanding of Tibetan civilization? What do you think their original purposes were? I have highlighted some of the places that these lamas inserted themselves or their political patrons into these texts. How important a role do you think such insertions played? If they were not a central purpose of the texts, what were the central purposes of such texts? What do you make of all the lists in these texts (see especially the Pakpa scanned text) and how do you think they were understood by their original audiences? Week 7 (10/17) Era of Aristocratic Hegemonies (Struggles over Central Tibet) 14 th-16 th c. Kapstein, The Tibetans, CH4: "The Successive Hegemonies" & "Tibetan Buddhism and the Ming Court" Primary Sources, on Courseworks: Bilingual Ming Edicts concerning the Karmapa Lama Questions: Compare the edicts from last week and this week. Aside from the contents, what does the material presence of these edicts convey? (Remember, most people were illiterate at this time, so you might consider these edicts as material objects as well) (10/19) Intellectual developments Primary Sources, on Courseworks:
Questions: Compare the autobiographies of Tsongkhapa and the second Dalai Lama. How are they different, and who do you think their respective audiences were? What was the purpose of writing works like these? Finally, compare Tsongkhapa's Buddhist writings to those of Pakpa for Jingim: what would you describe as the central points of each of these works? What is different about their messages. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Week 8 ( 10/24)Mid-term in-class exam (10/26) Rise of Gelukpa Tibet and the Dalai Lamas (Biographies, Histories) 16 th-17 th c. Kapstein, The Tibetans, Ch5: Introduction & "Monastics and Monarchs" Schaeffer, "The Fifth Dalai Lama" Week 9 (10/31) Zenith and Decline of Reunited Tibet (New Government & Support) 17 th-18 th c. Kapstein, The Tibetans, CH5: "Between the Mongols and Manchus" & CH6 "Government and Law" Primary Sources, on Courseworks :
(11/2) Intellectual Developments (Women's Lives & Religious Ideals) Kapstein, The Tibetans, CH6 "Women in Traditional Tibet" & Conclusion Primary Sources, on Courseworks:
What similarities do you see between the two lives of Tibetan women? What impact does the Gelukpa religious and institutional establishment (at its peak during this period) seem to have had on the writing of these lives of Tibetan women? Do the Nyingma and Kagyü traditions, in which these two biographies were written, seem very supportive of the lives of actual women practitioners? What can we learn about the social role of women and society in general from the life of the Orgyan Chokyi? Week 10 No class 11/7 Go Vote! (11/9) Manchu Protectorate of Tibet ( Tibet Divided) 18 th-19th Kapstein, The Tibetans, CH 5"Regency and Retreat"; CH6 Introduction & "Property, Economy and Social Class" Petech, "The Administration of Tibet during the first half-century of Chinese Protectorate" & Conclusion to China and Tibet in the Early Eighteenth Century. Primary Sources, on Courseworks: 18th c Qing Edicts on Tibet Discussion Questions:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Week 11 (11/14) Economic and Monastic Expansion Kapstein, The Tibetans, CH6: "Cultural Developments in Eastern Tibet"; CH6 "Marriage & Kinship" Shabkar Tsogdruk Rangdrol; Matthieu Ricard, Constance Wilkinson, and Michal Abrams, trans. The life of Shabkar: the autobiography of a Tibetan yogin, 1994. xviii-xxiv, 1-64, 349-393. (11/16) Uniting Features of Tibetan Social Life Kapstein, The Tibetans, CH6 "Festivals, Pilgrimages, and Ritual Cycles" Shabkar Tsogdruk Rangdrol; Matthieu Ricard, Constance Wilkinson, and Michal Abrams, trans. The life of Shabkar: the autobiography of a Tibetan yogin, 1994. 447-546. Discussion Questions:
Week 12 (11/21) Invasions by British and Chinese (international trade & colonialism) Kapstein, The Tibetans, CH5: "The Life and Times of the Great Thirteenth" (to 1911) Tuttle, "Global Forces in Asia," Tibetan Buddhists in the Making of Modern China, 34-67; 253-261; map. Primary Sources, on Courseworks
Optional readings:
Discussion Questions:
(11/23) No class; Thanksgiving Break Week 13 (11/28) Independent Tibet (Addressing Foreign Audiences) Kapstein, The Tibetans, CH5: "The Life and Times of the Great Thirteenth" (from 1911) & CH9 Introduction & "The End of Traditional Tibet" Primary Sources, on Courseworks:
Week 14 (12/5) Tibet-in-Exile & under the People’s Republic of China (Pleas for help) Kapstein, The Tibetans,.CH9 "Rebellion & Exile" Song, "Reflections on the 17 Point Agreement 1951" Goldstein, "Moving Beyond Stereotypes" Wang, "Dispute between Tibetans and Han" (12/7) Global Out-reach & Offers of Assistance (Tibetan Buddhism abroad) Kapstein, The Tibetans,.CH9: "The Promise & Perils of Century's End" Cao, " Tibet through Dissident Chinese Eyes" 14th Dalai Lama, "Dimensions of Spirituality" Kolas & Thowsen, On the Margins of Tibet, "In Search of Tibetan Culture" & Conclusion re-read Tsering Shakya's "Whither the Tsampa Eaters?" |