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Civilisation at the Foot of Mount Sham-Po

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Descriptionངོ་སྤྲོད།

The present publication offers to the academic readership for the first time a translation, transliteration and facsimile edition of three medieval and rare manuscripts recently traced in the Central Tibetan monastery of g.Ya’-bzang located in Yar-stod, foremost among which counts the g.Ya’bzang chos ’byung composed in 1475 A.D. Together the texts constitute a unique and compelling source for the post-dynastic history of the region of upper Yar-lung (i.e.Yar-stod) in southern Central Tibet. The sources deliver valuable information concerning the history and genealogy of the local royal house of the lHa Bug-pa-can-pa,and shed light on the formative history and rise of the religious throne of g.Ya’-bzang (est.1206), the key site of the g.Ya’-bzang bKa’-brgyud school, in particular emerging under the active patronage of this noble house. Throughout the 13th and 14th century it developed into the influental g.Ya’-bzang myriarchy (khri skor). The sources include the biography of the central figure behind this powerful local entity, the charismatic g.Ya’-bzang-pa Chos kyi smon-lam (1169–1233 A.D.), whose monastery at the foot of the holy Sham-po Mountain turned into a powerful spiritual centre in this part of southern Tibet. A fascinating and illustrative portrait is drawn here, depicting the political and ideological mechanisms that governed the establishment of local post-dynastic rulership and its claims for legitimacy. The study,combining philology,historical research and social anthropology, may serve as a sort of case-study by investigating the background and formation of these local ruling structures with their symbiotic politico-religious relationship to the religious institutions that flourished in their domain. (Source Accessed Nov 5, 2025)

Citation

Gyalbo, Tsering, Guntram Hazod, and Per K Sørensen, trans. Civilisation at the Foot of Mount Sham-Po: The Royal House of lHa Bug-pa-can and the History of g. Ya'-bzang. Beiträge zur Kultur- und Geistesgeschichte Asiens Nr. 36, Bd. 290. Wien: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 2000.

Table of contents

• ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS1

• INTRODUCTION3
  • 1. Historical Presuppositions4
  • 2. The Three g.Ya'-bzang Manuscripts6
  • 3. The Structure of the Present Book10
  • 4. Yar-lung and Yar, the Yar lha and Sham-bu10
  • 5. Upper and Lower Yar: Geographical Delimitations12
  • 6. The lHa Bug-pa-can-pa14
  • 7. g.Ya'-bzang-pa Chos kyi smon-lam and the Time of the Foundation of g.Ya'-bzang: The Religious Presuppositions and the Ideological Basis of the g.Ya'-bzang bKa'-brgyud Order16
  • 8. The g.Ya'-bzang Myriarchy and the Later History of the Abbatial See20

• TRANSLATION
• I The Genealogy of the Royal House of lHa Bug-pa-can including the Origin History of the spyan snga [of g.Ya'-bzang]25
  • [I] [The Royal House of Bug-pa-can]25
    • [I.I] [The Story of dPal Grags-pa mTha'-yas mi-'gyur dbang gi sde]32
    • [1.2] The Princely Lineage of rje Sorna-badzra [A Recapitulation]36
  • [II] [A Short Chronology based upon the Dates of King Srong-btsan sgam-po]36

• II The Dharma History of g.Ya'-bzang, an Elucidation of the Teaching41
  • [I] [Eulogy Saluting the Dvags-po'i bKa'-brgyud Lineage]41
  • [II] [Genesis of the Universe: A Cosmological Vista and the Way of Conversion of the Six Classes of Living Beings in the World-system of Endurance]44
  • [III] [How Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara was sent by Buddha Amitabha to Tibet on a Missionary Errand]48
  • [IV] [The Appearance of the Monkey-Bodhisattva and the Origin of the First Tibetan People in Yar-klung Zo-dang]51
  • [V] [The Taming of gnod sbyin Sham-bu]61
  • [VI] [Chos kyi sMon-lam, the Vinayadhara of sNubs and the Founding of g.Ya'-bzang]66
    • [VI.1] [The Demise of King Srong-btsan sgam-po and His Rebirth as g.Ya'-bzang-pa in the Year of the Great Golden Bull]66
    • [VI.2] [The Ecclesiastical Career of g.Ya'-bzang-pa]69
      • [VI.2.1] [The Transmission of the bKa'-brgyud-pa Teachings]72
    • [VI.3] [The Religious Assembly at Sham-bu-bcal]77
    • [VI.4] [The Topographical and Geomantic Features Unraveling the Terra Sacra of g.Ya'-bzang and the Founding of the Monastery]80
  • [VII] [The Succeeding Ecclesiastical Lords of g.Ya'-bzang]87
  • [VIII] [The Abbots of the bDe-[db]yangs College of g.Ya'-bzang]93
  • [IX] [The Succession of the g.Ya'-bzang khri dpori]96
  • [X] [The Successive Princes of lHa Bug-pa-can]99
  • [XI] [The Story of dPon-pa rNam-rgyal-'od]99
  • [XII] [Concluding Verses and Colophon]102

• III [The Biography of g.Ya'-bzang-pa Chos kyi smon-lam]105

• TRANSLITERATION
  • Text I lHa Bug pa can pa 7 gdung rabs spy an snga 'i 'khrungs rabs bcas111
  • Text II g.Ya' bzangchos 'byung bstan pa gsal byed116
  • Text III [Chos kyi smon lam mam thar]141

• APPENDICES
  • I The bKa'chems mTho[n] mthing ma147
    • (Per K. Serensen)
    • 1. The Cult of Avalokitesvara and the Emanational Nexus between King Srong-btsan sgam-po and g.Ya'-bzang-pa Chos kyi smon-lam147
    • 2. The Prophecy concerning g.Ya'-bzang-pa and the Ideology of Power and Space149
    • 3. bKa'chems mtho[n] mthing ma (Excerpts)151
  • II The Cycles of the Planetary Divinity gZa'-bdud or Drang-srong Rahula Transmitted through Chos rje g.Ya'-bzang-pa167
    • (Per K. Sørensen)
    • 1. The Role of Rahula in g.Ya'-bzang167
    • 2. The Nyi ma mdung gang ma170
    • 3. The Transmission of the g.Ya'-bzang gza' skor172
  • III The sa mo glang Year 569 A.D174
    • (G. Hazod)
  • IV The Yum-brtan Lineage177
    • (G. Hazod)
  • V The Nine Royal Heirlooms192
    • (G. Hazod)
  • VI A Note on the g.Ya'-bzang/Phag-mo-gru-pa Border Dispute in the 14th Century198
    • (G. Hazod)
  • VII The Land of g.Ya'-bzang-pa-Supplementary Data and Summary203
    • (G. Hazod)
    • 1. From dMar-mo mkha'-'gro and mTsho-nub to Yol-ba203
    • 2. Yar-lung Sog-kha206
    • 3. The Protective Deities of g.Ya'-bzang and the Invitation of lHa-mo Tsandika208
    • 4. The Goddess and the God in the Landcsape of Sham-po211
    • 5. Manifestations of Yar-lha sham-po214
      • 5.1 The Course of the Yak around the Mountain214
      • 5.2 The White Yak and the Youth218
    • 6. The Territory of the Four Roads and the Eight Temples221

• TABLES
  • I The Lineage of Sorna-badzra229
  • II The Dvags-po bKa'-brgyud230
  • III The Religious Lords of g.Ya'-bzang231
  • IV The Abbots of the bDe-[db]yangs College232
  • V The g.Ya'-bzang khri dpon233
  • VI Chronological Table234
  • VII Forms of Abbreviations within the Tibetan Texts236

• MAPS
  • Map 1: Yar and the Left Horn Province of g.Yo-ru239
  • Notes on Map 1240
  • Map II: Upper ond Lower Yar241

• PHOTOGRAPHS243

• BIBLIOGRAPHY265
  • Tibetan Sources266
  • European Language Sources275

• FACSIMILE OF THE TIBETAN MANUSCRIPTS289

• INDEX319
  • Tibetan Index321
    • Personal Names321
    • Place Names331
    • Texts337
  • Sanskrit Index337

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Bodhisattva - A person who seeks enlightenment for the sake of others. In Mahāyāna Buddhism, a bodhisattva is a compassionate being who is training on the path to buddhahood and aspires to eliminate the suffering of all beings and take all sentient beings to the state of enlightenment. The Mahāyāna sūtras including those on buddha-nature generally have bodhisattvas as the main audience or interlocutors for the Buddha's discourses. Skt बोधिसत्त्व  Tib བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའ།  Ch 菩薩  

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