Besides the manuscripts discovered at Dunhuang, two additional types of record figure prominently among the Tibetan-language sources conserved from the epoch of the Tibetan empire. First and foremost are the various royal edicts preserved as inscriptions and, with a few exceptions, notably from Amdo and Kham, carved on stone columns found in Central Tibet. There are also a small number of official documents that survived in manuscripts preserved in parts of central and southern Tibet (for instance, at the monastery of Samyé and in the district of Lhodrak), some of which were eventually copied into the writings of later Tibetan historians, above all Pawo Tsuklak Trengwa (1504–66). Both religious and political matters are treated in these manuscript and inscriptional sources, which are invaluable for the information they provide about the customs and uses of the Tibetan imperial chancellery. For in most cases, what we find recorded are the carefully crafted formulas employed by a rigorous bureaucracy, though on a few occasions the authors seem to allow personal expressions to break through the official conventions.
The selection in the present chapter begins with the most ancient example of Tibetan writing now known, the inscription of the minister Takdra Lukhong, who held a prominent place in Tibetan affairs in the final years of the reign of Tsenpo Tri Detsuktsen (r. 712–755) and the beginning of the rule of his son and successor, Tri Songdetsen (r. 755–c. 797). Following are texts related to Tri Songdetsen’s adoption of Buddhism and the foundation of Samyé monastery, the first full-fledged monastic establishment in Tibet, which became an important center of translation and scholarly activity. Tri Songdetsen’s favorable policy toward Buddhism was continued in turn by his son, Tri Desongtsen (r. 804–815), who was in fact educated by Buddhist monks in his youth. This is reflected in the texts included here: a series of grants in favor of the clan of his major teacher, his vow expressing royal support for the promulgation of Buddhism, and a learned disquisition by the Tsenpo himself on the art of translation. The final section includes the surviving official records relating to Tibet’s 821/822 treaty with China, concluded with the Tsenpo Tri Tsukdetsen, also known as Relpachen (r. 815–838). MTK
A famous three-sided, eighteen-foot-tall pillar is located in the Lhasa district of Zhöl, south of the hill on which Songtsen Gampo built his palace and where the Potala Palace was constructed and expanded beginning in the time of the Fifth Dalai Lama, during the seventeenth century. The pillar was erected by the Tibetan official Takdra Lukhong (known in Chinese as Ma Zhongying) in about 764 to commemorate his deeds and the grants made to him. (The stele was originally located near a mound that is presumed to be his tomb, in the Tri valley about six miles from Lhasa, and was moved to its present location during the building of the Potala.) The centrality of the minister and the relative unimportance of the emperor in this inscription confirm that during his minority, Tri Songdetsen’s power was still quite limited. Problems of the succession and authority of the Tibetan imperial line in relation to other powerful clans are clear; hence, the minister’s loyalty is constantly reiterated in the inscription. According to some sources, Takdra Lukhong played an important role in the coup d’état that ended the reign of Tri Detsuktsen. Be this as it may, the minister served as an intimate advisor to both Tri Detsuktsen and Tri Songdetsen and was a general in the Tibetan campaign against Tang China.
The Chinese troubles referred to in the inscriptions are the An Lushan rebellion of 755 and the chaos that it instigated. The south face of the pillar, given here, recounts Tibetan successes: the Tibetans annexed Chinese-ruled territory in what is today Qinghai and exacted tribute from the Tang dynasty. Some years later, when the Chinese refused to pay tribute, Lukhong led the campaign of 763 in which the Tibetans occupied the Tang capital, Chang’an (present-day Xi’an), placing an emperor of Tibetan choosing on the throne. (The details of this are probably lost on the obscured parts of the inscription, indicated by ellipses.) Since it is assumed that the pillar was erected shortly after this event, around 764, this is also thought to be the earliest extant record written in the Tibetan language. A historical work from 1434 called the China–Tibet Records (Gya-Bö Yiktsang) was the only later Tibetan source to mention this inscription until the twentieth century. GT
In the time of the emperor (tsenpo), Tri Detsuktsen, Lukhong of the Ngenlam clan was loyal in official duties, Dongtsap of the Bel clan and Nyetsik of the Lang clan continued to be the Great Ministers; and after they were disloyal they endangered the life of the emperor, Tri Detsuktsen, the father, and he passed away.
The life of the emperor, Tri Songdetsen, the son, was almost endangered. The government of the black-headed Tibetans was disorganized, and after Lukhong brought to the notice of the emperor, Tri Songdetsen, the son, the evidence of the disloyalty of Bel and Lang, Bel and Lang were proven to be disloyal, and they were punished. Lukhong was loyal.
In the time of the emperor, Tri Songdetsen, because Lukhong of the Ngenlam clan was loyal, after a great council, [the emperor’s] mind was made up, and after he [i.e., Lukhong] was appointed the Interior Minister Who Participated in State Affairs, he observed the troubles of the Chinese government. He was also ordered to be the army commander leading the troops in the direction of Khartsen [Liangzhou in the Gansu corridor]. As he was skillful in warfare, he proceeded with caution. The numerous Azha [i.e., Tuyuhun] who belonged to the Chinese realm were gathered together, and a great deal of authority [over them] was cut off from China. China was frightened, and Yarmotang which belonged to the Chinese realm . . . . . . and the Tsongka area [both areas in present-day Qinghai province] . . . . . . and barley and so forth … spread. Lukhong . . . . . . the disorganized enemy . . . . . . made a great government . . . . . . he requested the council . . . . . . he was loyal and performed difficult tasks that were beneficial to the government.
The emperor Tri Songdetsen was profound in his mind, and the extent of his council was great. Whatever he did for the government was good. He conquered many districts which belonged to the Chinese realm, and gathered them together. Afterwards, the Chinese Emperor Heugi Wangte (Ch. Huangdi, probably referring to Emperor Suzong), both the Emperor and his ministers, being afraid, offered every year in perpetuity a tribute of fifty thousand bolts of silk. China was compelled to pay tribute.
After that, the Emperor Heugi Wangte, the father, died. The Emperor’s son Wangpeng Wang (Prince Guangping) was enthroned as the ruler. Then it seemed improper for him to pay Tibet tribute. When the [Tibetan] emperor was unhappy [about this], he asked Lukhong of the Ngenlam clan to be the great chief of the council to lead the Tibetan army toward the center of the Chinese realm, namely the emperor’s palace, i.e., Kengshi [Chang’an]. Both Zhang Gyelzik Shuteng, of the Chimgyel clan, and Minister Takdra Lukhong were appointed the great army commanders to attack Kengshi.
After attacking Kengshi, they fought a great battle with the Chinese at the ford on the river banks of Chiuchir. The Tibetans beat back the [enemy] army, and killed many Chinese. Consequently, the Chinese Emperor Kwangpeng Wang (Prince Guangping) also came out of the city of Kengshi, and fled to Shemchiu (Shanzhou). Kengshi fell, and the Emperor’s Interior Minister, Jeu Tsinkeng (Miao Jinching) and others … the Dongkwan (i.e., the Tongguan border gate) . . . . . . Kimsheng Kongco’s (Princess Jincheng’s) brother was inclined to . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . minister . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . princes, great and small, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . the government at last . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . was made in the glory [of the Tibetan emperor]. Lukhong was loyal, and performed difficult tasks for the benefit of the state.
[Li Fang Kuei and W. South Coblin, A Study of the Old Tibetan Inscriptions, Institute of History and Philology, Special Publications No. 9 (Taipei: Academia Sinica, 1987), Text VII, 158–160. See too: Guntram Hazod, “Wandering Monuments: The Discovery of the Place of Origin of the Shöl Stele of Lhasa,” Orientations 41, no. 3 (April 2010).]
Fortuitously, an edict in which the Tsenpo Tri Songdetsen proclaimed his intention to promote Buddhism survived to later times and was reproduced by the sixteenth-century historian Pawo Tsuklak Trengwa in his famous work, the Scholars’ Banquet (Khepéi Gatön). The edict does not appear to have been promulgated by the monarch at the time of his adoption of Buddhism, which occurred probably in 761/2. Rather, it reflects a later reassertion of his religious position, apparently in the interest of securing the sworn loyalty of his ministers and vassals. The edict itself is accompanied by a brief summary of the history of Buddhism in Tibet, which Hugh Richardson has fittingly termed the “first Tibetan Chöjung [‘religious history’].” In the text as translated below, the paragraphs in italics represent Pawo’s introductory statements. The monastery of Samyé, where Pawo located the surviving copy of the edict, was the first true monastery in Tibet and had been founded by Tri Songdetsen, probably in 779. MTK
Formerly, because Mazhang Drompakyé and others had made up their minds to destroy the Dharma, in order that that would not occur thereafter, an edict was promulgated that no Tibetan destroy the Dharma. Commanding that an oath be sworn, such edicts were twice promulgated, of which the first is copied from the example deposited in a golden casket in the treasury of the Samyé Lhüngidrupa temple during the lifetime of the monarch Tri Songdetsen, the text of the edict having been written with gold upon deep blue paper.
An exemplary copy, placed in a casket, of the edict causing the Three Precious Jewels to be never abandoned and never destroyed:
In accordance with the meaning of the pronouncements of the Tathāgata [the Buddha], if one does not master what is genuine, the three realms become an abode of suffering. There are none who are not born from an earlier [life]. Having been born, they act meaningfully or meaninglessly. And then they die. Having died, they then are born again in good or bad abodes. Among them, the one who teaches well is the Buddha, the evidence is the writ of Dharma, and those who strive for virtue are the saṅgha—it is well that these are the enduring refuge and isle.
The Three Precious Jewels are most great in splendor. In each of the generations among all my ancestral forebears such was the custom, so that there are actually new and old temples. After the monarch my father had journeyed to heaven, the troubles that followed were exemplary. When the shrines in the [Samyé] Lhüngidrupa temple were inaugurated on the seventeenth day of the first spring month in the year of the sheep [probably 779], from then on, Tibet became endowed with the shrines of the Three Jewels. [I] the monarch, my sons, and their mothers took an oath, and made it our vow, never to destroy the deeds of the Buddha’s Dharma. The writ of the edict was written so as to be sworn to by all the outer and inner ministers, great and small.
The Miraculously Appearing temple of Rasa [Lhasa], the temple of Gyatak Ramoché [also in Lhasa], the Samyé Lhüngidrupa temple of Drakmar, the Unfailing Liberation of the Three Worlds temple [in Yarlung], etc., were constructed as shrines of the Three Precious Jewels, among the Tibetan race under royal authority. Among the Tibetans, entering liberation and practicing the Buddha’s Dharma must never be abandoned or destroyed. Among the Tibetans too, there are those who will enter liberation.
In those temples, the material conditions required for the Three Precious Jewels have been measured in moderation, and offered under royal authority. They are never to be reduced or diminished. Henceforth, in every generation, the monarch and his sons will assent to a vow in just this way. Each and every minister will swear to it.
Concerning such a vow, may all the buddhas of the ten directions, all the holy Dharma, all the sa
ṅgha of bodhisattvas, all the
pratyekabuddhas and
śrāvakas,
1 all the deities of the stages of heaven and earth, all the tutelary deities and various deities of Tibet, and all the
nāgas, yakṣas, and spirits bear witness to it! Know that there will be no deviation from this edict!
And if the edict is not upheld, if the images of the Three Precious Jewels are sold or brought to ruin, let beings be born in hell! But if it is practiced accordingly, may all then become manifestly awakened in unsurpassed, genuine, and perfect enlightenment!
A writ of proclamation, concerning the manner in which the Buddha’s Dharma arose in Tibet in earlier and later times, has been placed together [with this edict].
Thirteen exemplary copies like this have been written. One has been placed in the treasury. Two have been sealed and deposited, respectively, with the sa
ṅgha of the Miraculously Appearing Temple in Rasa and of Samyé Lhüngidrupa in Drakmar. Ten, finally, have been sealed, and sent to be held as examples by the Miraculously Appearing Temple in Rasa, the Auspicious Gods’ Country Temple in Tradruk, the sa
ṅgha in the palace retinue, Gyatak Ramoché in Rasa, Unfailing Liberation of the Three Worlds temple in Drakmar, the land of Drusha [Gilgit], the land of Zhangzhung, Domé [Amdo], the domains of the Delön,
2 and the sa
ṅgha of their temples.
Those affirming the oath are … [a list of names follows].
A record of the edict on how the Dharma emerged in the land of Tibet, earlier and later, has been set down as a companion.
Copied by Drangti Shilawarma.
3As for the second edict, in the lifetime of the Tsenpo Tri Songdetsen, the record of the story of the emergence of the Dharma, deposited as a companion, was written on gold-plated silver and placed in a golden casket. It is copied [here] from the example that was then placed in the treasury of glorious Samyé:
The history of the practice of the Buddha’s Dharma, in olden times in the land of Tibet, together with that of the shrines of the Three Jewels, is [here] written down. This copy is kept in a casket.
In the fourth ancestral generation of the Tsenpo, during the time of Tri Songtsen [Gampo], the Vihāra of Rasa was built, and this was the inception of the Buddha’s Dharma. Thereafter, during the time of [my] father, the Tsenpo Tri Detsuktsen, a temple was built at Kachu in Drakmar, and the Buddha’s Dharma was thus practiced. Up to then, there were five generations.
After the Tsenpo [my] father passed into heaven, some of the uncle-ministers had thoughts of rebellion. They destroyed the Buddha’s Dharma that had been practiced since the time of [my] father and ancestors. They contended that it was not right to practice [according to] the god and religion of the southern barbarians in the land of Tibet, and, moreover, they wrote a law forbidding it later on. Then, when I, the present Tsenpo, reached my twentieth year [in 761], at first there were evil prognostications and omens, and, whatever rites were supposed to be practiced, for many months the prognostications and omens [remained] evil. Thereupon, I abandoned as illegitimate the law that forbade the practice of the Buddha’s Dharma, and ordered that worship of the Three Jewels be performed. At that, there was change for the good.
Then, as delivered by a spiritual benefactor, I also heard the Dharma. The writings were also brought before my eyes, whereupon I commanded that the Dharma of the Buddha be promulgated.
That [Buddhism] was not the old religion. Because it did not accord with the propitiations and rites of the tutelary deities, all suspected it to be no good. They suspected it would harm [me, His Majesty]. They suspected it would threaten governance. They suspected [that it brought about] epidemics and cattle plagues. They suspected it, when famine suddenly fell upon them.
If you look in the Dharma itself—for what emerges from the Dharma is not found in worldly realms—there are numberless states of sentient beings. All those who are born and revolve among the four sorts of birth,
4 from beginningless origins to the infinite end, become just so owing to their own deeds. Thus, all good that they perform, whether of body, speech, or mind, is virtue, and all the evil they perform is sin. That which is neither good nor evil is unspecified. The result of what one does to another ripens upon oneself. One may be born as a god among the heavenly stages, or as a human on earth, or as an antigod, a hungry ghost, an animal, or a subterranean creature of the hells—all born in these six forms have become so owing to their own deeds.
Transcending the world are those who become buddhas, transcendent lords, and those who make progress as bodhisattvas, self-awakened ones, and pious attendants—all of them have done so owing to the provisions of merit and gnosis that they themselves have amassed.
Such is what came [to be known from my study of the Dharma].
You may ask, what is virtue? The ten virtues, etc. And what is nonvirtue? The ten nonvirtues, etc. What is unspecified? The four paths of conduct, etc. What is the world-transcending provision of merit and gnosis? It is, in addition to the ten virtues, the four truths, their twelve aspects that include the conditions and summarizations, the thirty-seven factors allied with enlightenment, the ten surpassing perfections, etc. Their results are the four fearlessnesses, the four particular authentic cognitions, the ten powers, the eighteen unshared principles, great compassion, the thirty-two [marks of a buddha], etc.
5 The detailed proofs of it are found in the writings of the Dharma.
If one investigates these [matters] that come from the Dharma, some are immediately evident in their good or evil consequences, while others that are not immediately evident may nevertheless be inferred on the basis of those that are, and so are also fit to be held with certainty.
“Is it correct to abandon or to practice this Dharma in association with those sūtras?” Having discussed this [question] and counseled those who are [my] subjects, the lesser kings, such as the lord of the Azha [i.e., the Tuyuhun], and the outer and inner ministers, [I have concluded that] in the first instance one is to rely upon the scriptural pronouncements of the Buddha, the Transcendent Lord; in the second instance, one must look to the exemplary precedents of my royal ancestors; and, third, one must also connect this with what has been set forth through the power of spiritual benefactors. By examining [these criteria] in brief, besides not being impelled at present to what is nonvirtuous and evil, one will be able to realize a great purpose.
If you ask why it is that one will not come into evil ways, and in what way is there a great purpose, [then in response I say:] having well adhered to the scriptures of the doctrine, one attains the unsurpassed objective. First, because no fault comes about to the extent that one adheres to the good, there is therefore always benefit for all. Second, it is unfit to destroy necessary precedents through mere whim. Third, as my ancestors have so practiced for many generations, nothing evil has come of it. [For these three reasons,] I say, at present too, no fault will come of it, and the purpose is great. It has been counseled to act thus.
[Dpa’ bo Gtsug lag phreng ba, Chos ’byung mkhas pa’i dga’ ston, 2 vols. (Beijing: Mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 1986), 1:370 ff. Trans. MTK. See too: Hugh Richardson, High Peaks, Pure Earth: Collected Writings on Tibetan History and Culture, ed. Michael Aris (London: Serindia Publications, 1998).]
This text, preserved as a stone inscription at Samyé monastery, is the earliest Tibetan-language record related to Buddhism in Tibet to survive. It is assumed that the inscription was erected at the time the monastery was founded by Tri Songdetsen, probably in 779. This text makes clear that Buddhism was embraced by the Tibetan emperor and at least some of his followers, who pledged protection and support for both the objects of veneration and the practices associated with them. This inscription establishes that a network of temples with some sort of regular practice of Buddhism (in Rasa [Lhasa], Drakmar [a valley near Samyé], and at Samyé itself) were all to be supported in perpetuity. All these areas were removed to varying degrees from the heartland of the Tibetan imperial dynasty, whose origins were the Yarlung Valley south of the Tsangpo River, not far from Drakmar and Samyé (which are on the north bank). The more detailed record mentioned in the last line of the text was distributed to various temples throughout the empire. The edicts given just above appear to offer versions of this record. GT
The establishment of the receptacles of the Three Jewels at the temples, etc. of Rasa and Drakmar and this practice of the Buddha’s doctrine there shall never be caused to be abandoned or destroyed. And, as to the provision of the necessary accoutrements, also, there shall be no reduction or diminution therefrom.
Hereafter, for generation after generation, the Tsenpos, fathers and sons, shall in accordance with this make their vow. Pursuant to that, in order that no violations of the oath shall be perpetrated or caused to come about, all the gods who have left this world and are in this world and all of the amānuṣa [spirits] are invoked as witnesses. The Tsenpos, fathers and sons, and the ruler and ministers have all sworn their heads and avowed it.
A detailed text of this oath exists in a different place.
[Li and Coblin, A Study of Old Tibetan Inscriptions, Text III, 190.]
The bell containing this inscription is still preserved from the imperial period. It is cast in the Chinese style and hangs in the central temple of Samyé, to which it was donated by a queen around the time of the monastery’s foundation. Temple bells occupy an important place in Chinese and other East Asian Buddhist traditions, but were less prominent in later Tibetan monasteries. The Samyé bell, therefore, seems to represent the early phase in the development of Tibetan Buddhism, when Chinese influences were particularly notable. Though Tri Songdetsen himself appears to have favored Indian teachers, such as the famed philosopher
Śāntarak
ṣita, other members of the royal family were more partial to Chinese Chan Buddhism (which became Zen in Japan). A famous Chan teacher, Moheyan, in fact journeyed from Dunhuang to Central Tibet, where he is said to have participated in a debate at Samyé (see
chapter 5). GT/MTK
The queen, Gyelmotsen, mother and son, made this bell in order to do honor to the Three Jewels of the ten directions. They pray that by the strength of its merit the god, Tsenpo Tri Songdetsen, the father and son, the lord and lady, being possessed of the harmony of the sixty melodious sounds, will be perfected in the highest enlightenment.
[Li and Coblin, A Study of Old Tibetan Inscriptions, Text X, 337.]
These two edicts, on pillars some fifty miles northeast of Lhasa, concern the grants of awards, titles, rank, privileges, and exemptions to the relatives of the monk Tingngedzin of the Nyang clan, who had served as the emperor’s tutor and guardian prior to his accession to the throne. The problem of succession is made clear in these texts, which reward a loyal supporter and his family so richly for the critical support provided in the ruler’s youth and thereafter. The first edict probably dates to early in the reign of Tri Desongtsen (r. c. 804–815). The second edict dates to 812 and adds to the previous grants. Because Tingngedzin was a monk, and because the grants extended in perpetuity, they were conferred on his lay relatives and their descendants. The two inscriptions were carved on eleven- and nine-foot-tall pillars, respectively, by the west and east gates of the Zhé Temple complex.
The fact that a monk could play such an important role in the government, essentially guiding the emperor and stabilizing the state at this time, marked a dramatic shift in the power of Buddhist monks at the court. This is the earliest record we have of a Buddhist monk serving in a political and temporal position, as Great Minister of State, with what sounds like almost unbridled power: “control over above and below.” Of course, he and his family remained subjects of the emperor, and their continued loyalty was to be examined. Yet, due to the service of this loyal minister, in the case of future misdeeds by his family, punishment was to be reduced. Even more important for the continued familial lineage, only the offending person was to be punished and not the entire family (as was customary), and their collective property was not to be confiscated by the government. In addition, the family was given a hereditary government position and, as is clear from the second edict, a separate “ecclesiastical estate.” The legal nature of this inscription and the accompanying documents described on the pillar demonstrates a strong sense of the rule of law in imperial Tibet. GT
THE WEST PILLAR INSCRIPTION, ZHÉ TEMPLE
By command of the God of Supernatural Qualities, the emperor, Tri Desongtsen, king of broad heaven, the text of a solemnly sworn oath granted under the [sign of the] eternal
yungdrung6 [for] the monk, Tingngedzin of the Nyang clan: The monk Tingngedzin, in particular, was loyal from beginning to end. From the time when I was small, during the period when I had not yet taken over the government, he took the place of my father and mother, and was devoted to the good. Taking the place of a wise uncle he raised me. He joined together father and son, elder and younger brother, mother and son, upper and lower in gladness and harmony. He offered good advice to all, and as to the way he proceeded in his work, etc., he continually did useful things and was constantly loyal.
Later, disagreements between my father and elder brother arose in close succession; and thereafter, at the time when I had not yet taken over the government, there were also some certain individuals who stirred up dissension and demons. The monk Tingngedzin, having taken the measure of the situation, offered useful advice. He caused that there should be no disorder and took in hand the basis for doing all manner of good things, whereupon, in connection with my government, etc., he did great good deeds for all. On my behalf he continually advanced the government and was constantly loyal. He exercised control over all above and below and continually caused there to be happiness and no disturbance in [all] directions. And also through his having performed the duties of a Great Minister of State, he continually did only good and useful things for all at both that time and subsequently.
Thus, he was more loyal than anyone both before and after, and he constantly made great contributions. In accordance with earlier appropriate precedents I intended to bestow my favor in a suitable manner, whereupon the monk himself, adhering to the custom of a follower and subject and the proper way of a bhikṣu [monk], begged not to receive my favor. But despite this, because recompense for a contribution is the rule in bestowing favor, therefore, by my command:
To the monk Tingngedzin a mighty decree is given, and by the [sign of the] eternal yungdrung prerogatives are granted. In order to cause that all shall know of it, at this temple, the receptacle of the [Three] Jewels, a small building for [housing] the decree was built and a stone pillar was set up, after which the main points of the decree were clearly written on the stone and a seal was affixed [at] the end. And because it has been put in place, let my sons and grandsons who afterwards exercise power and the ministers of state who afterwards hold sway, etc., ensure that no one shall never diminish, tamper with, or make changes in what comes from the text of the decree or what is written on the pillar.
For all time the line of the generations of emperors shall with their eyes scrutinize the sons or male descendants of the minister, Nangzang Dükong, grandfather of the monk Tingngedzin, whereupon the worthy ones shall be placed in the [royal] retinue; and they shall be honored and praised according to whatever their capabilities may be.
And if by others they are tormented or put under arrest resulting in punishment, it shall be suppressed by the authorities. And if the [alleged] evil prove to be untrue, the slander will not be heeded; and they shall not be punished in consequence of their incarceration.
And if someone among the sons or male descendants of Nangzang Dükong shall be disloyal to our person or government, or shall commit some other crime, whoever has offended shall be condemned; but upon others, his fellow clansmen and male progeny who have done no wrong, judgment shall not be pronounced. They shall not be charged with penalty, nor shall [the case] be continued. And whatever shall have been done wrong, on that one count [his punishment] for such an offense shall be reduced.
It is permitted that the prestige of the immutable insigne shall not be destroyed; and it is further granted to them as a group that their great offices shall be felicitous. And the rank of district governor is given hereditarily.
As regards the liegemen, fields, high pastures, grasslands, and forests of the sons and male descendants of Nangzang Dükong, it is granted, etc. that if [the said descendants] are without issue or if they are involved in penalties, then [the said properties] will not be confiscated or given [to] others. Until they have been offered from below, they will not in any way be taken away or seized.
As for this decree which has been granted, wherein [it is stipulated that] the prerogatives of the sons and male descendants of the minister, Nangzang Dükong, shall forever be felicitous and secure, having been so granted for all time, it is not to be changed or tampered with; wherefore I have granted a solemnly sworn oath. And, Muruk Tsen my elder brother, my queens, the feudal princes, the ministers of state, and below them the officials high and low having all been sworn by oath, the decree is hereby granted under [the sign of] the eternal yungdrung.
The details of the way the monk Tingngedzin was loyal, and how he made contributions, and how he did useful things, and [moreover] of what decree was given [him] have been written into the text of the decree and placed in the archives. One copy, with seal affixed, has been placed in this depository for [housing] the decree. One copy, with seal affixed, has been caused to be held as a secondary copy.
As to the line of Yigong, great-uncle of the monk Tingngedzin, [to them] also a solemnly sworn decree is granted.
Formerly, while the Nyang and the Ba [clans] were similar in having been loyal and having made contributions, yet, if compared with the corresponding case of the Ba, the grace [shown] the Nyang seems to have been small. Consequently, by my command, it is granted that with regard to the decree for the Nyang a supplement shall be added.
If it shall ever prove necessary to open this decree depository, then whoever of my sons and grandsons holds governmental power shall appoint more than three honest keepers of the decree, [and?] reliable representative(s) of [the Buddha, that is, Buddhist monk(s) serving as leader(s) in an imperially supported monastery], and in concert they shall bring [the decree] forth. And afterwards it shall in this way be sealed with a [royal] seal and the seal of the representative and then redeposited. It is so granted.
THE EAST PILLAR INSCRIPTION, ZHÉ TEMPLE
By command of the king of men, personified by a god, the emperor, God of Supernatural Qualities, Tri Desongtsen, for the monk, Tingngedzin of the Nyang clan, a solemnly sworn decree granted subsequent [to the earlier decree]:
The monk Tingngedzin advanced my government and continuously made great contributions. And at the time of granting of the former decree, in accordance with appropriate precedents and the circumstances of his contributions, I granted favor to the appropriate degree, whereupon the monk himself begged not to receive my favor. Then, having been diminished, and lowered from the [originally] correctly proportioned decree, the grace did not [any longer] correspond to the circumstances of the contributions and so had become small and fallen short.
After the monk Tingngedzin had given over the government to me, during my reign he offered good advice for my person and my government, both at that time and subsequently; and he did great deeds which were beneficial to all. He continuously did great essential things which were felicitous and useful to those above and below. He was continuously loyal and made greater contributions.
I had in mind to expand the decree of my favor; but the monk begged that, being sufficient by virtue of the decree granted earlier, it not be further expanded. Nevertheless, ruler and ministers having conferred upon the correctness of bestowing undiminished favor as recompense for great contributions, then, because the monk Tingngedzin had been loyal and made great contributions, therefore, with regard to my grace, in the later Dragon year (812), at the time I was in residence at the royal court at Önchangdo, it was granted by my command that the decree be expanded anew, over and above the bestowal made according to that decree which was granted earlier. And it was granted that, having been exalted, it shall be greater than the immutable insigne granted earlier.
Those of the sons or male descendants of the minister, Nangzang Dükong, even commoners, who are of Tsang and the thousand[-districts], etc. and who are well-qualified in household status shall be granted the rights of Maternal Uncle Ministers possessing insignia to that effect.
And if there be a case where, though they are guiltless yet someone perpetrates trickery or harm against their lives or prerogatives, then, no matter who is involved, they shall not be cast down in the face of the tricksters and accusers; but those who [belonging to the tricksters] are implicated in the treachery shall be charged with penalty. It is so granted.
And from what has been dedicated to the ecclesiastical estate, whatever happens, others either above or below shall not exercise power [over it]. It is so granted, etc.
The things which have been granted to add to and expand the later decree, over and above the earlier decree, are in this way eternally and firmly granted; and even by my solemnly sworn oath are they granted.
Having fixed my gaze firmly upon my queens, the feudal princes, the ministers of state, and all the lesser officials, and sworn them by oath, [now] in order that what has been granted to add to and expand the decree shall be made eternally firm and clear, the main points have been written on the stone pillar and a seal affixed at the end, whereupon [the pillar] has been set up before the temple and the depository [housing] the decree.
Wherefore let the later generations of rulers and ministers who hold sway ensure that no one shall never diminish, tamper with, or make changes in what comes from the texts of the two decrees or what has been written on the two stone pillars.
What was granted subsequently, adding to and expanding the decree, over and above the former decree, has been carefully written into the text of the decree and deposited in the archives. One copy has been placed beside the former decree in this depository for [housing] the decrees. One copy was caused to be held as a secondary copy.
[Li and Coblin, A Study of Old Tibetan Inscriptions, Text VII, 276–281, 291–294.]
This inscription, on a thirteen-foot-tall pillar just southwest of Lhasa, celebrated the founding of a temple at Karchung by the Tibetan ruler Tri Desongtsen (r. 804–815). The inscription renews the vows of his father (Tri Songdetsen) to support Buddhism, as was recorded at Samyé monastery. It also outlines the history of the royal patronage of Buddhism, one of the most important contemporary sources to do so. Royal support of Buddhism was measured by the building projects of successive Tibetan rulers, from the establishment by Tri Songtsen (i.e., Songtsen Gampo) of the Rasa temple, now known as the Jokhang, in Lhasa, to Tri Düsong’s (r. 676–704) building of a temple in the southeastern borderlands in Ling and the construction of two temples in south-central Tibet by Tri Detsuktsen (r. 712–755). The long-reigning Tri Songdetsen (r. 755–797) was most significant for his role in founding Samyé at the center of the Tibetan empire, as well as temples on the borders.
The fact that Buddhists had become central to the royal institutions, being venerated within the palace, as described here, marks an important shift from the earlier period of the Tibetan empire. Moreover, the financial basis for Buddhist institutions, the registers Tri Songdetsen established granting property to support the monastic community, are reaffirmed here, and all future leaders are commanded to renew them. Vows to protect Buddhism were made according to indigenous Tibetan custom related to non-Buddhist gods, as this served to bind all future rulers and ministers in an oath that they respected, whether or not they venerated the Buddhists they were swearing to protect. The insistence that no matter who spoke against Buddhism, it should still be supported and practiced clearly indicates that resistance to Buddhism continued during this period. This inscription also confirms that the children of the royal family were being trained and educated by Buddhist monks, as we have seen in the preceding selections from the Zhé Temple steles. GT
A decree confirmed in the time of the God of Supernatural Qualities, Tsenpo Tri Desongtsen, so that the holy Law shall be firm for all time.
In the time of the God of Supernatural Qualities, Tsenpo, the ancestor Tri Songtsen, the Buddha’s Law was practiced; the temple of Rasa, etc., was built, and the receptacle of the Three Jewels was set up. And in the time of the ancestor Tri Düsong a temple was built at Tritsé in Ling, etc., and the receptacle of the Three Jewels was set up. And in the time of the ancestor Tri Detsuktsen temples were built at Kachu and Chingpu in Drakmar, and the receptacles of the Three Jewels were set up. And in the time of the father Tri Songdetsen temples were built at the center [of the realm] and on the borders, [at] Samyé in Drakmar, and such places, and the receptacles of the Three Jewels were set up. And also in the time of the god, Tsenpo Tri Desongtsen the temple at Karchung, etc., was built, and the receptacle of the Three Jewels was set up, etc.
If the line of generations in this way never destroys or abandons this practice of the Buddha’s Law, there will come about good without measure. But if it is abandoned and destroyed or if it is no more, then sins will come without number.
Therefore, hereafter and for all time: [in view of] the statements, etc., made in the time of the God of Supernatural Qualities, Tsenpo, my father, Tri Songdetsen, which say that the line of generations will make vows that the establishment of the receptacles of the Three Jewels and the practice of the Buddha’s Law will not be abandoned or destroyed, the Tsenpos, fathers and sons, rulers and ministers, all having sworn on their heads and avowed it, will act according to the words of the decree and what has been written on the pillar.
Thus, as for this establishment of the receptacles of the Three Jewels and practice of the Buddha’s Law by the line of generations of my ancestors, if [someone] says concerning whatever high regard [there is for the said establishment and practice], “It is evil,” or “It is not good,” then, [whether it be said] on account of divinations and dream omens, etc., or for any reason whatsoever, [the said establishment and practice] shall nonetheless not be destroyed and shall not be abandoned. And no matter who, great or small, has uttered those words, nevertheless it shall not be thus done.
From the time when the Tsenpo’s, i.e., my, descendants are in their minorities down to the time when they act as governmental rulers, spiritual advisors having been nominated from among the bhikṣus [ordained monks] shall teach [them] the Law, greatly imparting any and everything to their minds; and the gate whereby all Tibet shall study and practice the Law shall not be closed.
In order that the gate whereby they shall be led into deliverance shall never be shut off, for the subjects of Tibet from the nobility downwards: from the believers, having been led into deliverance, from those among them who are capable there shall always be appointed spiritual advisors to carry on the doctrine of the Bhagavan [Buddha], bound to the command that they do everything through the Wheel of the Law, and exercising the functions and power of the Wheel of the Law.
As to those who have entered the priesthood, we, father and sons, having acted according to [the principle of] granting them [positions] as objects of veneration, have set up and honored a receptacle of the Three Jewels in the royal palace; and, neither abandoning nor putting it aside in a separate place, we shall treat it as an object of veneration.
In summary, in the royal palace and in the whole realm of Tibet no measure whatever will be taken which would lead to the loss or abandonment of the Three Jewels. According to the rule that the properties set aside for the Three Jewels are not to be reduced or destroyed, in the time of the forebears and their progeny, whoever it happens to be, they shall conduct affairs in accordance with what arises out of the primary exigencies of the household registers of the religious communities. Hereafter, during each generation, the tsenpos, fathers and sons, shall make vows to this effect.
Pursuant to that, in order that no violations of the oath shall be perpetrated or caused to come about, all the gods who have left this world and who are in this world and all the amānuṣa [spirits] are invoked as witnesses. The Tsenpo, ruler and ministers, all have sworn on their heads and avowed it. A detailed text confirming the decree has been placed in combination with the text of the decree written in the time of my father.
[Li and Coblin, A Study of Old Tibetan Inscriptions, Text IX, 325–328.]
Among the most significant documents relating to the Tibetan court-sponsored translation of Buddhist scriptures and treatises that has come down to us, the
Two Fascicle Lexicon (
Drajor Bampo Nyipa) is a Buddhist glossary explaining key terms, introduced with a royal proclamation concerning the principles of translation. It was composed as a guide for the translation college of Samyé monastery that had been established by Tri Songdetsen, where large parts of the Buddhist canon were rendered in Tibetan during the late eighth and early ninth centuries. There seem to have been at least two editions of the work, of which the one issued by the Tsenpo Tri Desongtsen, whose decrees in favor of his tutor are given just above, has been preserved intact in the available Tibetan Buddhist canons. The presence of a partial manuscript from Dunhuang, together with later versions, helps to establish the general reliability of the transmission of this important work. The ruler’s indications concerning the methods of translation, as given here, demonstrate a remarkably sophisticated grasp of translation practices, expressed with a clarity unequaled in other medieval sources, whether Asian or European. Significantly, the preamble recounts that the royal decision to sponsor a revision of the Buddhist canonical vocabulary was announced at a ceremony in which tribute from the empire’s colonies was received and awards were granted to distinguished officers. Religious merit was seen as a counterpart of worldly success, and not essentially in contradiction with the (sometimes brutal) business of empire. Nevertheless, as we shall see in the prayers for the Monastery of the Turquoise Grove, given later in this chapter, the harmony of secular and spiritual was sometimes not easy to maintain. MTK
Homage to the Buddha!
In the horse year the Emperor Tri Desongtsen dwelt in the Önchangdo palace in Kyi. The old armies of east and west had been rotated and the brigands quelled. The messengers of the Qarluk offered homage.
7 The Great Ministers Zhang Trizur Ramshak, Mangjé Lhalö, and others brought much tribute from the territories, and offered most of the camels, horses, and cattle to His Majesty. As a follow-up to the awards that he granted to each according to rank from Zhanglön [Maternal Uncle Minister] on down, he gave his command that the Bactrian preceptors
Āc
ārya Jinamitra, Surendrabodhi,
Śīlendrabodhi, D
āna
śīla, and Bodhimitra, and the Tibetan preceptors Ratnarak
ṣita and Dharmat
āśīla, and those who had become master translators, including Jñ
ānasena, Jayarak
ṣita, Mañju
śr
īvarma, and Ratnendra
śīla, should write a catalogue of the Tibetan translations and coinages deriving from the Sanskrit of the Great and Lesser Vehicles, saying, “Make it fit to be learned by all, so that they never depart from those textual traditions.”
Then he decreed, “Formerly, in the days of the Divine Son’s father [Tri Songdetsen],
Āc
ārya Bodhisattva [
Śāntarak
ṣita], Yeshé Wangpo, Zhang Gyelnyen Nyazang, Minister Trizher Sangshi, the translator Jñ
ānadevako
ṣa, Che Khyidruk, the brahman
Ānanda, and others coined many terms of religious language that were unfamiliar in Tibetan, among which some accord with neither doctrinal texts nor the conventions of grammar. Those that it would be inappropriate to leave uncorrected should be corrected. Having augmented them with all those terms of language of which we are fond, and remaining in accord with the original texts of the Greater and Lesser Vehicles, and with the explanations of the great former preceptors, such as N
āg
ārjuna and Vasubandhu, and with the conventions of language as they are established according to grammar, write them down in a text, explaining those that are difficult to understand logically and word by word. As for plain language that requires no explanation, which is appropriately translated in a literal manner, assign terminological conventions indicating the words [employed]. Some phrases may be appropriately designated according to meaning, in which case the terminology is to be assigned with an indication of meaning. Having done this, let the Most Reverend Pelgi Yönten, the Most Reverend Tingngedzin,
8 and others assemble before the emperor, and, inquiring of the lord and ministers who are gathered together, establish definitively the method for translating the Dharma and the Sanskrit-Tibetan assignments of terms.
“As for the method of translating the genuine doctrine, without contradicting the meaning, make it so as to be as easy as possible in Tibetan. In translating the Dharma, without deviating from the order of the Sanskrit language, translate into Tibetan in such a way that there is no deviation in the ease of relationships among meaning and word. If it be the case that in deviating [from the syntax of the original] ease of understanding is brought about, whether in a verse there be four lines or six, translate by reordering the contents of the verse as is easy. In the case of prose, until the meaning be reached, translate rearranging both word and meaning as is easy. Where many names apply to a single saying, in accord with the sequential order, apply a name as arrives at [the appropriate meaning]. For instance, Gautama: the word gau has many meanings, including ‘speech,’ ‘direction,’ ‘earth,’ ‘light,’ ‘vajra,’ ‘cow,’ and ‘heaven.’ In the case of kauśika, ‘pertaining to kuśa grass’ and ‘skilled’; in that of padma, ‘joy,’ ‘owl,’ ‘possessing a treasure,’ etc. If one translates these, bringing out the senses of the words, because they reach a great many enumerations [of meaning], it is not possible to combine all those enumerations in a single translation. In those cases in which there is no great reason to delimit a single [usage], let it remain in Sanskrit without translation. If a term occurs that may be interpreted in several ways, then, without translating it one-sidedly, make it so as to arrive at generality.
“If one translates the names of countries, species, flowers, plants, and the like, one errs and the terms are awkward. Though it may be correct to translate approximately, it is uncertain whether or not the meaning is just right. In those cases, add at the head [of the word] ‘country’ or ‘flower,’ etc., according to whatever is named, and leave the Sanskrit unaltered. As for numbers, if one translates in accord with the Sanskrit, one speaks, for instance, of ‘thirteen hundred monks with a half,’ which, if translated in the Tibetan manner, is ordinarily ‘a thousand two hundred fifty.’ Because there is no contradiction in meaning, and [the latter] is easier in Tibetan, put numbers capable of summarization in the Tibetan way. If one translates such particles and ornamental expressions as are found, like
pari, sam, or
upa, translate them literally in the semantically appropriate manner as
yongsu, or
yangdakpa, or
nyewa.
9 But in cases where meaning is not augmented [by them] and there is no need for a surplus of words, designate as accords with the meaning. If words conforming to synonyms have not been stipulated, the term that is generally well known in Tibetan, and is verbally easy is used. If they have been stipulated, designate them in accord with their respective designations. As for the honorific and rank-ordered terms for buddhas, bodhisattvas,
śrāvakas, etc., translation in [high] honorific terms is for the Buddha. For the others, only middle-rank terms and lower apply.
10 Translate according to the manner followed, in the past, by the assembled learned preceptors and translators in translating and establishing the
dharma [here meaning “scriptures”] of the
Ratnamegha and
Laṅkāvatāra in the presence of our father, the son of the gods.
“Besides the ways of language that are decided by order in this way, it is not permitted for anyone, on their own, to correct and form neologisms hereafter. If there is a need for the respective colleges of translation and exegesis to assign terms in new language, in each and every college, without stipulating the determined term, it should be investigated according to the axioms literally derived from the doctrinal texts and grammars, and according to the literal usages in the doctrine, and then offered in the palace in the presence of the lineage holder of the transcendent lord and the college of the official redactor of the Dharma. Requesting a hearing, after they have decided by order, it may be added directly into the catalogue of language.
“The tantras of secret mantra, according to the texts, are to be kept secret. It is also not appropriate to explain and to teach them to the unqualified. Still, in the meantime, though it has been permitted to translate and to practice them, there have been those who have not deciphered what is expounded allusively, and seizing upon literal understanding have practiced perversely. It is stipulated that, among the tantras of mantra, there have also been some haphazardly translated into the Tibetan language. This being so, hereafter, it is not permitted to translate haphazardly the tantras of mantra and the mantra terms except for those
dhāraṇīmantras and tantras that have been caused to be translated on order from above.”
11[Mie Ishikawa, A Critical Edition of the Sgra sbyor bam po gnyis pa, An Old and Basic Commentary on the Mahāvyutpatti. Studia Tibetica 18 (Tokyo: The Toyo Bunko, 1990). Trans. MTK.]
The four-sided stone pillar recording the last treaty between Tang China and imperial Tibet was erected in 823. The treaty was first signed at the Tang capital in Chang’an (modern Xi’an) in 821, and then again in Lhasa in 822 (see
chapter 1). The fifteen-foot-tall monument was originally mounted on a stone tortoise (a standard feature of Chinese steles), which has since been buried. The monument stands in front of the oldest Tibetan Buddhist temple, the Tsuklak-khang built by Songtsen Gampo, now known as the Jokhang. The west side has a bilingual version of the treaty in Chinese and Tibetan; the east side records an edict of Tri Tsukdetsen (also known as Relpachen, r. 815–838) summarizing Chinese-Tibetan relations up to the time of the treaty. The north side lists in Tibetan and Chinese scripts the names of the seventeen Tibetan signatories to the treaty, while the south side similarly lists the eighteen Chinese signatories. These bilingual inscriptions are particularly important for their invaluable evidence in regard to the interpretation of the names and titles they contain. In contrast to the prayers from the Dega temple on the border of China and Tibet (given below), references to Buddhism (e.g., to the Three Jewels, and “various saints”) appear to be restrained in even this late imperial inscription. The stele has long been famed as the “uncle-nephew pillar” (Tib.
Önzhang doring) for its reference to the quasi-familial relationship that had been established between the Tang and Tibetan royal lines through the marriages with Tang princesses sent to Tibet. As we have seen in
chapter 1, the
Tang Annals refer to the same convention. Chinese and Tibetan versions of the terms of the treaty are similar in most respects. GT
THE WEST FACE OF THE PILLAR: THE TEXT OF THE TREATY
The great ruler of Tibet, the God Incarnate, the Emperor (Tsenpo), and the great ruler of China, the Chinese Lord, the Emperor (Tib. hwangte, Ch. huangdi), both the Nephew and the Uncle, have conferred together [and agreed] that their government be as one, and made a great peace. In order that the treaty that they made may never change, it has been made known to, and witnessed by, all gods and men. [Inscribed] on the stone are the main terms of [the peace treaty] which will be held in praise for generations and generations.
The God Incarnate, the Emperor Tri Tsukdetsen’s . . . . . . the Chinese Lord Wenwu Xiaode (= Muzong, r. 820–824) the Emperor—the Nephew and the Uncle both . . . . . . any good or evil of the present or the time to come. With great compassion they do not discriminate between the interior and the exterior in protecting [the people] with their favors. They concur in the intention that all people shall be made happy. Their councils agree on the noble intention of an ever-lasting good (i.e., peace). After they have conferred [and agreed] that respect between the relatives of long standing [shall be continued] and the happy neighborly [relationship] shall be strengthened, a great peace is made.
The two, Tibet and China, guard the land and the frontier now in their possession. All to the east of that [frontier] is the land of Great China, and all to the west is indeed the land of Great Tibet. Thereafter both sides shall not struggle like enemies, shall not lead armies into war, and shall not invade and seize each other’s territory. If there is any suspected person, after having seized the person and made an investigation, and [if innocent] having provided him [with food, clothing, etc.], one shall send him back.
Now as the governments become one and a great peace is thus made, it is necessary to communicate with [each other] with good tidings wherein the Nephew and the Uncle rejoice. The emissaries from either side, having followed the old route in proceeding on the journey, shall be in accordance with the former custom. Between the two, China and Tibet, they will change horses at Tsangkunyok and meet the Chinese at Tsezhengchek, below which (i.e., to the east) the Chinese shall honor them (i.e., provide them with the necessary supplies for their journey and their sojourn in China). They [will] meet the Tibetans at Tsengshuhywan, above which (i.e., to the west) the Tibetans shall honor them.
In accordance with the proper custom between the Nephew and the Uncle who are close and dear, it shall be done with honor and respect. Between the two countries smoke and dust (i.e., warfare) shall not appear. The name (words) of hatred and enmity shall not be uttered all of a sudden. The people guarding the boundary and those above them (i.e., their superiors) may be without fear and alarm and in every country and quarter precaution (defense) may be removed. The people shall live happily. The benevolence [of the rulers] will be found through ten thousand generations and the words of praise will penetrate any place which is reached by the sun and the moon.
After the great governments under which the Tibetans are happy in the Tibetan land and the Chinese are happy in the Chinese land are united, a treaty that is made like this may never change. May we invoke the Three Jewels, the various saints, the sun and the moon, and the planets and stars as witnesses. Having been declared by the solemn words, after the animals have been sacrificed and the oath has been sworn, the treaty is made.
If one does not act in accordance to, or violates, this treaty, it does not matter whether it is Tibet or China who first threatens to commit an offence, any trick and treachery may even be resorted to in retaliation. It (retaliation) does not appertain to violating the treaty.
Thus the sovereigns and the ministers of both Tibet and China together declared and swore an oath. After the text of the treaty was accurately written, the two great rulers affixed their seals. It was signed by the various officials who participated in concluding the treaty. The treaty document was preserved in the treasury.
[Li and Coblin, A Study of Old Tibetan Inscriptions, Text I, 78–81.]
One of the most famous of the Dunhuang Tibetan documents is an incomplete manuscript, roughly the last half of which is preserved as Pelliot tibétain 16 in Paris and IOL Tib J 751 at the British Library in London. The portions available to us provide a highly formalized and eloquent series of prayers and memorials, celebrating the establishment of a temple, known as the “Temple of the Treaty” (
Tsikgi Tsuklak-khang), that were first studied by the British scholar F. W. Thomas. As the narration of the text itself makes clear, the Temple of the Treaty was founded during the reign of the Tsenpo Tri Tsukdetsen (r. 815–838), best known to later history by his epithet Relpachen. Specifically, the foundation of the temple was intended to commemorate the council and subsequent treaty concluded between Tibet and the powers of China, the Uighurs, and possibly Nanzhao, during the early 820s, and probably corresponds to the same treaty as that engraved on the “uncle-nephew pillar” in Lhasa (see above). The relevant background can be reconstructed in brief on the basis of the available Chinese and Tibetan sources: during the second decade of the ninth century, the Uighur empire repeatedly petitioned the Tang court for a princess to marry the Uighur Khan, to seal the alliance between the two empires. The request was granted toward the end of the decade and was quickly interpreted by the Tibetans—no doubt correctly—as ratifying a strategic partnership whose aim was primarily to force the Tibetans out of the Gansu corridor by exerting pressure from both the east and the west simultaneously. The Tibetan response was therefore furious, and Gansu and adjacent areas were soon plunged into intensive warfare. Beginning in 821, a treaty was negotiated, aiming to stabilize and reaffirm the integrity of the frontiers and to restore harmonious relations between the Tibetan and Tang courts. The edification of the Temple of the Treaty commemorates what appears to be a slightly later phase in the same pacification process, probably dating to 823. Despite the uncertainties surrounding many points of detail, these events were generally remembered in much later Tibetan historiography. The Fifth Dalai Lama, for instance, refers to them in his famous
Chronicle, and they may be seen accordingly illustrated in the murals of the Potala Palace even today.
The first, long prayer given below begins with an elaborate statement of the services performed at the commencement of Mahāyāna Buddhist rituals in general: salutations (Skt. vandana), rejoicing in the good done by others (Skt. anumodana), worship with offerings (Skt. pūjā), confession of sins (Skt. pāpādeśana), and going for refuge (Skt. śaraṇagamana). Later, the iconographic program of the Temple of the Treaty is explained in some detail, and it corresponds closely to the iconography of Cave Temple 25 in the Anxi Yulin complex not far from Dunhuang. Anxi Yulin 25 is famous for its exquisite artwork, and dates to roughly the period during which the Temple of the Treaty was constructed. It has therefore been proposed that it is none other than the Temple of the Treaty, although a problem that remains to be resolved concerns the use in these prayers of the toponym Dega. Though it has now been shown that this must be a Tibetan transcription of Chinese Daxia, it is not entirely clear that, in Tang-period usage, Daxia could have referred to the region that includes Anxi Yulin.
Though the prayers celebrating the temple are all named as the dedications of particular individuals or offices, because the manuscript is incomplete this information has been lost in the case of the first prayer, the longest and most elaborate of the seven contained in the text (two of which are given here). It no doubt came from the highest strata of the Tibetan imperial hierarchy, perhaps from the Central Tibetan chancellery itself. The second of the prayers given here, which is the third in the manuscript, reproduces, with small modifications, Thomas’s pioneering translation. It is attributed to the delön, the “Pacification Minister,” one of the highest officers in the Tibetan colonial administration of regions in Gansu and adjacent areas northeast of Tibet. MTK
I
The offering of a prayer. Homage to the Three Jewels! Diffused throughout the expanse of reality of world systems in the ten directions, the sphere of space to the limits of the horizon, abiding throughout the three times [past, present, and future]—the transcendental lord buddhas are the peaceful Body of Reality, [endowed with] omniscient gnosis, power, and fearlessness, the major and minor marks adorning [their manifest] bodies, like unto wish-granting gems. Homage to them, as many as who dwell with compassion fulfilling the hopes of all sentient beings!
The holy Dharma is in essence pure, by nature free; without any trace of fault or conceptualization; its scope, like that of space, extending everywhere, without taint or attachment; embracing all that is knowable, unadulterated, removed, vast, open, and unbounded, and so all-pervasive; free from the limits of apprehended object and apprehending subject, and hence in the scope of those endowed with inconceivable gnosis; the source of all qualities such as the magnificence and absorptions of all buddhas; the clear means to open the door of the provisions of merit and wisdom for all beings; it is the Body of Reality, difficult to imagine and outside the scope of the lowly. To that which is intuitively known by those who are sublime, homage!
The saṅgha of bodhisattvas is altogether beyond the five fears and has attained the stage from which there is no backsliding; through means and wisdom it acts in the interest of self and others; possessing the ten forces, they are endowed with the spontaneous realization of body, mind, and speech, and so, by force of compassion, act on behalf of creatures without exception, while maintaining the qualities of dynamic nirvāṇa; to them, as many as thus abide, homage!
The blazing wrathful [deities], embodiments of glorious splendor, do not rest in the ways of those tamed by the vows of the Vinaya; but by their beauty they tame heedless beings inflated with pride, who express the wrath and gladness of their compassionate nature but at the same time put down pride because they are emanated from the body of the Tathāgata, who are skilled in training all beings while neither purposing to enter into careless sin nor transgressing the bounds of sin, who radiate light rays so as to overwhelm the three realms, and who in an instant [throughout] the world ocean cause all worlds to prosper by the emanations of their body, speech, and mind—to them, as many as abide, homage!
The great qualities of the Three Jewels are inconceivable, ineffable, inexhaustible through explanations; the qualities they possess cannot be grasped, even in part, in the speech of all beings throughout eons as numerous as the sands of the river Ganges; they are not grasped in terms of what may be spoken, nor are they adduced in utterance by means of the words designated in language; beginning thus, seeking an example through which to count what is beyond even the world system, they cannot be grasped, and even counting so many qualities they surpass utterance and estimation; with great rejoicing for those who possess such inconceivable qualities, we rejoice!
As for the worship offered to the Three Precious Jewels: divine substances or the best of human riches, to the measure of Mount Sumeru, as extensive as the oceans, filling the sky, or proliferating throughout the world; or mentally emanated, visualized in thought, without limit, without number, worshipping with all that is perfect, [including] flowers, incense, garlands, ointments, powders, cymbals and chimes, fluttering canopies, flags and banners, lamps, ma
ṇḍalas, delicacies, perfumed water, and more; raising st
ūpas and the shrines of the Three Precious Jewels adorned with valuable images; mounts, walkways, pleasure gardens, great temples—all endowed with immeasurable perspectives; and all sorts of perfectly pure provisions; with these, to all of those who are
tathāgatas [buddhas], we do honor, we exalt them, we offer hospitality, we worship. We perform devout service.
The Lord of Tibet, together with his ministers and retinue, and all sentient beings, from inconceivable past lives until now, [as for whatever we have done] whether by body, speech, or mind, that may be afflictions’ cause, or the seed of birth-and-death, or bringing grief to self or other, [all] such sinful actions, contradicting Dharma and Vinaya, whether performed by myself, or urging others [to perform them], or wishing that others perform them; whether performed out of pride and arrogance, or by force and power to delight oneself and to afflict others, or for whatever reason they were performed; all such evil deeds, which have been denounced by the sublime ones who surpass the world, but remain within the perverse scope of those who are like lowly children; these evil deeds that in cause and effect [bring one] to meander through the three evil destinies [of the hells, ghosts, and animals], cut off the path to heavenly happiness, and so become the anchor chain of saṃsāra; [deeds which] if, having performed them, are not confessed, repented, renounced, and abandoned, but which, over a long time, become exceedingly afflicted; for this reason, we perceive before us and recall, upon a single atom, as many Lord Buddhas as there are atoms, [each] surrounded by a retinue of bodhisattvas; and just as many as there are [we imaginatively emanate] bodies so that we touch their feet with our crowns, and with firm resolve confess and repent. With great regret, pained conscience, we renounce and abandon our past sins, requesting and praying that they be purified.
The Lord, his ministers and retinue, we and all sentient beings, beginning from this time, until the point when enlightenment is realized, go for refuge to the Three Precious Jewels; we turn to and rely [upon them].
The goods of heaven are exalted and vast—we do not conceal [our reverence]—the goods of the earth are fine and great—we do not withhold honor; the goods of the king are straightforward and fair—we do not fail to be nourished.
As for the divine Tsenpo of Tibet who acts as the divine lord of men, Tri Tsukdetsen: as the embodiment of miraculous powers of his ancestors, he is hidden and honored like heaven and earth. He is straight and even, transforming all living creatures. He is broad and vast, upholding the doctrine, excellent in custom, profound in thought, his governance firm as his crown; because he is most splendid, all kingdoms beneath the sun—south and north, east and west—respectfully receive his command.
Those gathered beneath his authority, spontaneously performing all according to his intentions, the great ministers of his government, [namely,] the great minister Zhang Trisumjé and the great one Zhang Lhazang, being supreme in wisdom, are like wish-granting gems. Being full in their heroism, the Chinese, the Uighur, and others, though conceited in their arrogance so as to engage in fierce enmity, were robbed of their courage, so that their deceits were destroyed, and the weapons of their enmity brought down. The great principles of the ancients were thus maintained. Excellence was increased, so that the [royal] line being enthroned, courage and conscience were securely established. Without strife, making [others] dear, [in] the sole realm of the king of Tibet, [they] graciously [ensured that] none among the subjects both high and low, great and small, would not be happy before his own door. Having established Great Tibet, China, and the Uighur, etc., in an age of happiness in each of their respective countries, the Chinese and Uighur, moreover, requested that there be a governmental peace council, and, as if among men of a single household, a treaty for a common peace with the powers of China and the Uighur was made in the auspicious land, Dega Yutsel, the peace-council plain.
Thereupon, as a sign of [its] truth, so that the limits of government would be perpetually unshaken and firm, and forever trusted by the many, it was inscribed upon a stone pillar. And afterward, this shrine of the Three Jewels was established in accord with the transmission of the sūtra—“When someone establishes a temple in the world, as an image of that great merit a gods’ mansion arises in the Akaniṣtha heaven”—as was declared by the Buddha.
The great benefactors who have established the Temple of the Treaty Edict are the great minister Zhang Trisumjé and the great Zhang Lhazang. Several benefactors, rejoicing in this, joined the effort with faith and devotion. Because it is said, “as for those who give aid, the fruit of merit will be like that of the master of the undertaking,” for all those who have given precious aid, [their merit] will not go to waste, but an image of that great merit will arise in the heavens of the gods. The causes and conditions for [the arising of this image] are: the construction of the temple with the bodily image of Vairocana installed in its center. His body, achieved through inconceivable accumulations of merit and gnosis, teaches the enjoyment of the doctrine by means of the three secrets to bodhisattvas of the tenth level, and thus removes and purifies in an instant the obscuration of the knowable. By means of the emanational body he thoroughly matures sentient beings of the world realms of the ten directions. Installed, too, is the bodily image of Buddha Amit
ābha, whose field is best among those of all buddhas, where even the names of the three evil destinies and eight obstacles are unknown. Dwelling there, adorned with all the ornaments of divine enjoyment, so that there cannot even be the name of nirv
āṇa, in that field adorned with all perfect, world-transcending happiness, he acts on behalf of sentient beings. Because his compassion is especially great, just by calling his name all sins are purified and one is blessed to be born in that buddha field. Installed, too, is the bodily image of Buddha Maitreya, who now, in the Tu
ṣita heaven, in a jeweled mansion adorned with all divine ornaments, matures all the offspring of the gods (
devaputra), and so abides, never straying from that single mode of conduct, turning the wheel of the doctrine. Nevertheless, by means of light rays of great compassion and instantaneous omniscient gnosis he abides delighting in the bliss of divine attributes throughout the ocean of world systems. That Buddha Maitreya, in future time, will encourage the wishes and aspirations of all, and his name will accord with its meaning, so that by the power of great compassion all will be embraced by love.
Also installed is the retinue of eight great bodhisattvas, the two wrathful [deities, i.e., Acala and Trailokyavijaya], etc. Also installed are the shrines that have been established of the lords and protectors of the four directions, of the eight classes of gods and nāgas, etc.
Having done so, and having offered donations of mounts and walkways and groves and all pure requisites, by the merits of the authority thus determined, we pray that the countenance of the Tsenpo Tri Tsukdetsen enjoy limitless longevity, great power, and the achievement of all his intentions, so that, like a Cakravartin emperor, he exercises authority over the four continents and other kingdoms as well, and in the end achieves unsurpassed buddhahood!
A meeting of governments with China and the Turks having being agreed, having edified the Temple of the Treaty, the authority was determined and worship was done. The patrons who made the donation, endowed with enlightened spirit and taking their refuge in the Three Precious Jewels, were the great minister Zhang Trisumjé and the “great-uncle” Lhazang. In the future two like them, great among those in the refuge of the Three Precious Jewels, will not arise. Greatheartedly benefiting all, they generously cherish all the masses; hence, that they be taken to heart and known by the sublime, compassionate [bodhisattvas], and so that they be taken to heart and known by the lords of the four directions, the divinities, nāgas, and others, whereby all obstructions and obstacles are removed, may they be blessed with measureless life and freedom from illness! Consider them! Gaze upon them! Shelter them with compassion! Cause all their perfect thoughts to be realized! We pray that in the future all their inner and outer circle find their obstructions and obstacles entirely pacified, be of long life, without illness, and endowed with perfect happiness!
The great minister Zhang Trisumjé and the great one, Zhang Lhazang, and others—we turn our spirits to unsurpassed enlightenment, and so dedicate the roots of virtue as follows: by constructing the Temple of the Treaty, by edifying the shrines of the Three Precious Jewels, may the life of the Lord of Tibet, his ministers and retinue, be long, their power great; and may the other kingdoms at the frontiers not enter into enmity, but be gathered as subjects, and make treaties secure in duration, so that even the words “enemy” and “strife” be unknown; crops and cattle always good, and the doctrine of the Mahāyāna forever firm and expanding, so that all beings have faith and devotion in the True Dharma, and be endowed with perfect happiness. So we pray.
By edifying the temple, may the abodes of the great minister Trisumjé and the great one, Zhang Lhazang, with others, all sentient beings, come to be worldly and world-transcending, precious divine palaces and mansions!
[Pelliot tibétain 16/ IOL Tib J 751. Trans. MTK. See too: Matthew T. Kapstein, “The Treaty Temple of the Turquoise Grove,” in Buddhism Between Tibet and China, ed. M. T. Kapstein (Boston: Wisdom, 2009), 21–72.]
II
PRAYER OFFERED BY THE DELÖN (PACIFICATION MINISTER) AT THE FACE-WARMING [CONSECRATION] OF THE DEGA MONASTERY FOUNDATION.
To all the Tathāgatas of the Three Times living in the Ten Directions, infinite and limitless, and those, entirely free from restriction, possessing a nonexistence and eternity without bounds, with honor and laud seeking refuge in them, in reverence hail!
To the Exalted in the universe and in the beyond, possessed of omniscient wisdom, as many as abide in their state, to the Dharma, the Buddha and the Saṅgha, seeking refuge with them, in reverence hail!
From the time when Odé Pugyel came from the gods of heaven to be lord of men, and ever in other exalted bodies—with great dominion, good religion, and great science, a royal lineage unbroken as far as the origin of the land where the kingdom arose—with the kind of sway of a sovereignty firm on all sides and great filled and encompassed the Eight Regions; to us upright people, without and within, equally considerate; by their influence and measures taming the high and proud and bringing them under the rule of right; with joy and encouragement in both present and future extolling the humble and afflicted; filling us upstanding people beneath the ends of heaven with perpetual kindness; rulers of the Four Quarters of the great heaven, equal to the manner of the divine, their Majesties the Tsenpos of Tibet, of divine descent—
Furthermore, established in his place, the pure and, his high kingdom, above great rivers and at the foot of high snow-mountains, His Divine Majesty, the Tsenpo, in the counting of the generations of his line equal to the manner of the gods, is beyond other kings manifestly great and permanent.
Of ancestry thus rivaling the gods, furthermore also great sovereign and of firm helmet, His Divine Majesty, the Tsenpo Tri Tsukdetsen, in body firm knit, in mind divinely endowed, with due foundation of all monasteries gives joy [to the people], headed by the great persons, their shepherds; and even all the gods and nāgas of heaven and earth.
At the time when, through his great compassionateness towards us upright people, the great authority of his government spread and flourished, protecting us with respect in a manner resembling heaven, there came into power certain exalted councilors of state, the great Councilor, Uncle Trisumjé, and the Great Uncle Lhazang, these two. Humbling the might of enemies and setting them in the bosom of the state, by the power and influence of their stern commands they tamed all the border kings, of China, the Uighur, Nanzhao and others, till then venturing and making effort for dominion, and cut short their hopes. After a long time, when righteous and prosperous kindness had engendered trust and encouragement, as though heaven were realized in men’s minds, some several states, respectfully heeding the orders of the high councilors of Tibet, made this great concordat of states; whereby, to say nought of ephemeral good and happiness both in present and future, there is among friend and foe alike reason profound indeed for extolling and celebrating the bosom of the state. Through myriad millenniums, undiminishingly beneficial and welcome, may this great, publicly enacted concordat, known and witnessed by the Three Jewels and by all gods and
nāgas of the universe, stand for all time unimpaired and firm. The subjects of the several kingdoms, by virtue of the thus enacted great concordat, consigning to oblivion their sufferings during the time of arms, and being united at one time in a situation of felicity, through the great merit thereof may His Divine Majesty, the honored Tsenpo Tri Tsukdetsen and the great councilors of State, successful in righteous achievement, the Great Councilors, Uncle Trisumjé and Great Uncle Lhazang and the rest, together with their retinue of High Councilors of Tibet, and all beings, cleansed from the double darkness, and fulfilling their store of merit and wisdom, finally in supreme, perfected enlightenment attain to consummate Buddhahood.
In respect of the choice of this place as site for the foundation of the monastery erected on the Dega Turquoise-Wood Plain of the Treaty and for biennial convention of the three great kingdoms and for great foundations, the site being moreover one fully blessed by Āryas of old, may it furthermore, through a foundation in respect of such great good realized at one time, be even more manifestly of great merit and auspiciousness. And through the grandeur of those great merits may this monastery be perpetual in time, as long as sun and moon exist; and on the part of His Divine Majesty, the Tsenpo Tri Tsukdetsen, may there be long life, great dominion, and purposes accomplished according to his mind.
Whereas formerly, in the time when China and the Uighur were not in accord and harmony with the State, the firm-helmeted prince and the wise, heroic councilors, in the ardor of their warlike skill, smote at the foe and by the mighty power of large armies laid low enemy cities, won battles, conquered countries, slew the people and so forth, may the sin of severing the lives of many enemy men and cattle and of taking what was not given be altogether dominated by the splendor and power of this great merit and be dissolved and washed away.
In condevotion with the merit of this donation in honor of the Three Jewels and of the confession of sins and so forth, supplication for insight, for tolerance, and for remission of the confessed is made equally with what is above set forth.
[F. W. Thomas, Tibetan Literary Texts and Documents Concerning Chinese Turkestan. Part II: Documents (London: Luzac, 1951), 92–109; F. W. Thomas, Tibetan Literary Texts and Documents Concerning Chinese Turkestan. Part III: Addenda and Corrigenda (London: Luzac, 1955), 4–5, 42–46.]
