The Written Text

[vc_row css_animation=”” row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”full_width” angled_section=”no” text_align=”left” background_image_as_pattern=”without_pattern” z_index=”” background_color=”#f2f2f2″][vc_column][qode_elements_holder number_of_columns=”two_columns”][qode_elements_holder_item cover=”yes” vertical_alignment=”middle” horizontal_alignment=”center” advanced_animations=”no” background_image=”4654″][vc_empty_space height=”420px”][/qode_elements_holder_item][qode_elements_holder_item vertical_alignment=”middle” horizontal_alignment=”left” advanced_animations=”no” item_padding=”80px 80px 100px 80px” item_padding_768_1024=”30px 30px 30px 30px” item_padding_600_768=”30px 50px 30px 0px” item_padding_480_600=”30px 50px 30px 0px” item_padding_480=”30px 50px 30px 0px” custom_class=”page-title-bloc”][vc_custom_heading source=”post_title” font_container=”tag:h1|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text el_class=”subtitle”]Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Morbi ut efficitur dui. Etiam mattis tellus dui, a luctus enim placerat ac.[/vc_column_text][/qode_elements_holder_item][/qode_elements_holder][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css_animation=”” row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”full_width” angled_section=”no” text_align=”left” background_image_as_pattern=”without_pattern” z_index=”” side_padding=”10″ background_color=”#ffffff”][vc_column offset=”vc_col-lg-1/5″ el_class=”col_1-8″][vc_row_inner row_type=”row” type=”full_width” text_align=”left” css_animation=””][vc_column_inner][qode_elements_holder number_of_columns=”one_column” switch_to_one_column=”1300″ alignment_one_column=”left”][qode_elements_holder_item vertical_alignment=”top” advanced_animations=”no” item_padding=”100px 0px 0px 0px” item_padding_600_768=”40px 0px 0px 0px” item_padding_480_600=”40px 0px 0px 0px” item_padding_480=”40px 0px 0px 0px” item_padding_768_1024=”40px 0px 0px 0px”][vc_custom_heading text=”Introduction” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:15|text_align:left|line_height:22px” google_fonts=”font_family:Noto%20Sans%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal” el_class=”intro-title”][/qode_elements_holder_item][/qode_elements_holder][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][vc_column offset=”vc_col-lg-4/5″ el_class=”col_7-8″][vc_row_inner row_type=”row” type=”full_width” text_align=”left” css_animation=”” css=”.vc_custom_1606917349626{padding-left: 0px !important;}”][vc_column_inner css=”.vc_custom_1603804296393{padding-left: 0px !important;}”][qode_elements_holder number_of_columns=”one_column” switch_to_one_column=”1300″][qode_elements_holder_item vertical_alignment=”top” horizontal_alignment=”left” advanced_animations=”no” item_padding=”100px 0px 80px 0px” item_padding_768_1024=”10px 0px 40px 0px” item_padding_600_768=”10px 0px 40px 0px” item_padding_480_600=”10px 0px 40px 0px” item_padding_480=”10px 0px 40px 0px”][vc_column_text el_class=”intro”]Written by Sam van Schaik and Matthew Kapstein, chapter 3 explores major aspects of Tibetan paleography, with emphasis on the history and forms of the Tibetan script, as well as on multilingual documents that include Tibetan.[/vc_column_text][/qode_elements_holder_item][/qode_elements_holder][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css_animation=”” row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”full_width” angled_section=”no” text_align=”left” background_image_as_pattern=”without_pattern” z_index=”” background_color=”#efefef” padding_top=”50″ side_padding=”10″ el_class=”bcrumbs”][vc_column][vc_row_inner row_type=”row” type=”full_width” text_align=”left” css_animation=”” side_padding=”8″][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text]

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css_animation=”” row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”full_width” angled_section=”no” text_align=”left” background_image_as_pattern=”without_pattern” z_index=”” padding_top=”50″ padding_bottom=”40″ background_color=”#efefef” side_padding=”8″][vc_column offset=”vc_col-lg-1/5 vc_hidden-xs”][qode_elements_holder number_of_columns=”one_column”][qode_elements_holder_item advanced_animations=”no” item_padding=”50px 20px 0px 0px” item_padding_768_1024=”0px 0px 0px 0px” item_padding_600_768=”0px 0px 0px 0px” item_padding_480_600=”0px 0px 0px 0px” item_padding_480=”0px 0px 0px 0px”][vc_widget_sidebar sidebar_id=”Fix TOC Table of content”][/qode_elements_holder_item][/qode_elements_holder][/vc_column][vc_column el_class=”shadow-content” offset=”vc_col-lg-4/5″][vc_row_inner row_type=”row” type=”full_width” text_align=”left” css_animation=”” background_color=”#ffffff” side_padding=”5″ padding_top=”40″ padding_bottom=”50″][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=”Origins and History” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][qode_elements_holder number_of_columns=”one_column”][qode_elements_holder_item vertical_alignment=”top” advanced_animations=”no” item_padding=”30px 0px 0px 30px” item_padding_768_1024=”30px 30px 0px 0px” item_padding_600_768=”30px 30px 0px 0px” item_padding_480_600=”30px 30px 0px 0px” item_padding_480=”30px 30px 0px 0px”][vc_column_text]For an expanded discussion of Sam van Schaik’s summary account of the origins of the Tibetan script 
in chapter 3, with full references to earlier scholarship, see his article “A New Look at the Invention of Tibetan Writing.”

On the dbu-med script in particular, one may refer to his “The Origin of the Headless Style (dbu med) in Tibet.”[/vc_column_text][/qode_elements_holder_item][/qode_elements_holder][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner row_type=”row” type=”full_width” text_align=”left” css_animation=”” background_color=”#ffffff” side_padding=”5″ padding_top=”50″ padding_bottom=”50″][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=”Major Styles of Tibetan Script” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][qode_elements_holder number_of_columns=”two_columns” switch_to_one_column=”1000″][qode_elements_holder_item vertical_alignment=”top” advanced_animations=”no” item_padding=”30px 30px 0px 30px” item_padding_768_1024=”30px 30px 0px 0px” item_padding_600_768=”30px 30px 0px 0px” item_padding_480_600=”30px 30px 0px 0px” item_padding_480=”30px 30px 0px 0px”][vc_column_text]Many manuals of Tibetan calligraphy are now available, providing models of the major print and cursive styles in used, sometimes with detailed descriptions of ideal proportions, names of strokes, and ornamental scripts used for Sanskrit texts,
or the ’Phags-pa script used in Tibet for seal inscriptions. Some of the available manuals also include introductions to abbreviation (skung-yig),
as well as recently invented forms of the Tibetan script used for contemporary sign boards, advertising, etc.

The following, among the roughly thirty books on “forms of writing” (yig-gzugs) now available in the BDRC archive, will be particularly useful for those seeking to master the Tibetan scripts.
In Tibetan practice, school children are first taught
the “headless” (dbu-med) cursive script before learning the print letters “with a head” (dbu-can) .[/vc_column_text][image_with_text image=”4805″]

W1KG16575

[/image_with_text][vc_column_text]For the proportions of the print characters, together with main “headless” styles, the yig gzugs kyi ka dpe slob ma’i snying nor, “calligraphic models of the syllabary, wealth for the student’s heart,” is noteworthy (see below)[/vc_column_text][/qode_elements_holder_item][qode_elements_holder_item vertical_alignment=”top” advanced_animations=”no” item_padding=”30px 0px 0px 30px” item_padding_768_1024=”20px 0px 0px 0px” item_padding_600_768=”20px 0px 0px 0px” item_padding_480_600=”20px 0px 0px 0px” item_padding_480=”20px 0px 0px 0px”][vc_column_text]This example of a yig gzugs sbyong deb, or “calligraphy primer,” offers a good example of models for pupils to copy:[/vc_column_text][image_with_text image=”4804″]

W3CN6882

[/image_with_text][image_with_text image=”4803″]

W1AC287

[/image_with_text][vc_column_text]For more detailed explanations, including the designations used to describe individual strokes, a popular textbook from Qinghai, the yig gzugs mig gi bdud rtsi, “calligraphy, ambrosia for the eye,” may be recommended.[/vc_column_text][/qode_elements_holder_item][/qode_elements_holder][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner row_type=”row” type=”full_width” text_align=”left” css_animation=”” background_color=”#ffffff” side_padding=”5″ padding_top=”50″ padding_bottom=”50″][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=”Scribal Hands” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_custom_heading text=”Scribal Hands H3″ font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][qode_elements_holder number_of_columns=”one_column”][qode_elements_holder_item vertical_alignment=”top” advanced_animations=”no” item_padding=”30px 0px 0px 30px” item_padding_768_1024=”30px 30px 0px 0px” item_padding_600_768=”30px 30px 0px 0px” item_padding_480_600=”30px 30px 0px 0px” item_padding_480=”30px 30px 0px 0px”][vc_column_text]The investigation of individual scribal hands is not so advanced in the study of Tibetan paleography as it is in some other areas of Manuscript Studies, for instance, in the study of medieval English manuscripts. 
A beginning may nonetheless be found in Jacob Dalton, Tom Davis, and Sam van Schaik’s “Beyond Anonymity: Paleographic Analyses of the Dunhuang Manuscript.”.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text el_class=”reference_block”]Beyond Anonymity: Paleographic Analyses of the Dunhuang Manuscript.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Among the treasures of many Tibetan private collections are manuscripts and letters attributed to famous teachers, hierarchs, and aristocrats. Distinctive handwriting in these cases has been sometimes a topic of oral tradition, but formal analyses remains a task for the future. An example of a manuscript in the BDRC archive that is said to be the author’s original is a work on the fivefold Mahāmudrā practice written by Dpa’ bo gtsug lag phreng ba (1504-1564/66) for a disciple. The available copy is unfortunately based upon a monochrome photocopy but is of much interest nevertheless.

The note following the title reads: dpe ’di dpa’ bo gtsug lag phreng ba’i phyag bris ’khrul bral yin, “this copy is the authentic handwriting of Dpa’ bo gtsug lag phreng ba.”[/vc_column_text][/qode_elements_holder_item][/qode_elements_holder][qode_elements_holder number_of_columns=”one_column”][qode_elements_holder_item vertical_alignment=”top” horizontal_alignment=”center” advanced_animations=”no”][image_with_text image=”4898″]

W1GS45202

[/image_with_text][/qode_elements_holder_item][/qode_elements_holder][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner row_type=”row” type=”full_width” text_align=”left” css_animation=”” background_color=”#ffffff” side_padding=”5″ padding_top=”50″ padding_bottom=”50″][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=”Polyglot Texts” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][qode_elements_holder number_of_columns=”two_columns” switch_to_one_column=”1000″][qode_elements_holder_item vertical_alignment=”top” advanced_animations=”no” item_padding=”30px 30px 0px 30px” item_padding_768_1024=”30px 30px 0px 0px” item_padding_600_768=”30px 30px 0px 0px” item_padding_480_600=”30px 30px 0px 0px” item_padding_480=”30px 30px 0px 0px”][vc_column_text]The Dunhuang documents provide considerable evidence of multilingualism in the late first-millennium Gansu corridor, a topic that has been explored by Tokio Takata in his important article “Multilingualism In Tun-huang.”

One of the exceptional examples of a Sino-Tibetan document is Pelliot tibétain 1257, preserved at the Bibliothèque nationale de France, and containing a Tibetan and Chinese Buddhist vocabulary.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text el_class=”reference_block”]A Sino-Tibetan: Pelliot tibétain 1257
For a recent study of this manuscript, see James B. Apple and
Shinobu A. Apple’s “A Re-evaluation of Pelliot tibétain 1257: An Early Tibetan-Chinese Glossary from Dunhuang[/vc_column_text][/qode_elements_holder_item][qode_elements_holder_item vertical_alignment=”top” advanced_animations=”no” item_padding=”0px 0px 0px 30px” item_padding_768_1024=”20px 0px 0px 30px” item_padding_600_768=”20px 0px 0px 30px” item_padding_480_600=”20px 0px 0px 30px” item_padding_480=”20px 0px 0px 30px”][image_with_text image=”4904″]Pelliot tibetan 1257
[/image_with_text][/qode_elements_holder_item][/qode_elements_holder][qode_elements_holder number_of_columns=”one_column”][qode_elements_holder_item advanced_animations=”no” item_padding=”30px 0px 30px 30px” item_padding_768_1024=”30px 30px 0px 0px” item_padding_600_768=”30px 30px 0px 0px” item_padding_480_600=”30px 30px 0px 0px” item_padding_480=”30px 30px 0px 0px”][vc_column_text]A remarkable example of later Tibetan interest in Sanskrit studies, including Sanskrit paleography, is a bilingual manuscript of one of the major tantric treatises, the Āmnāyamañjarī of the great Pāla-period scholar and adept Abhayākaragupta .In this superb manuscript, probably produced in eastern Tibet during the eighteenth century, and published in facsimile in Chengdu, Sichuan, in the Sanskrit text appears in a close copy of handwriting from twelfth- or thirteenth-century northeastern India, reflecting the keen attention of Tibetan calligraphers to established models.[/vc_column_text][/qode_elements_holder_item][/qode_elements_holder][qode_elements_holder number_of_columns=”one_column”][qode_elements_holder_item vertical_alignment=”top” horizontal_alignment=”center” advanced_animations=”no” item_padding=”0px 120px 0px 120px” item_padding_600_768=”0px 30px 0px 30px” item_padding_480_600=”0px 30px 0px 30px” item_padding_480=”0px 30px 0px 30px”][image_with_text image=”4908″]

W3CN8399, volume 1

[/image_with_text][/qode_elements_holder_item][/qode_elements_holder][qode_elements_holder number_of_columns=”two_columns”][qode_elements_holder_item vertical_alignment=”top” advanced_animations=”no” item_padding=”30px 0px 0px 30px” item_padding_768_1024=”30px 0px 0px 0px” item_padding_600_768=”30px 0px 0px 0px” item_padding_480_600=”30px 0px 0px 0px” item_padding_480=”30px 0px 0px 0px”][vc_column_text]The broad interest of Tibetan-educated scholars in a variety of scripts and languages is exemplified in a work of the Inner Mongolian Lcang-lung Paṇḍita (1770-1845) on the scripts of India, Nepal, and Kashmir, among others:[/vc_column_text][/qode_elements_holder_item][qode_elements_holder_item vertical_alignment=”top” advanced_animations=”no” item_padding=”0px 0px 0px 30px” item_padding_768_1024=”20px 0px 0px 30px” item_padding_600_768=”20px 0px 0px 30px” item_padding_480_600=”20px 0px 0px 30px” item_padding_480=”20px 0px 0px 30px”][image_with_text image=”4909″]

W6799-3034-559-616, ebook pdf

[/image_with_text][/qode_elements_holder_item][/qode_elements_holder][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner row_type=”row” type=”full_width” text_align=”left” css_animation=”” background_color=”#ffffff” side_padding=”5″ padding_top=”50″ padding_bottom=”50″][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=”What Tibetan Writing Styles Tell Us of Dating and Provenance” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][qode_elements_holder number_of_columns=”one_column”][qode_elements_holder_item vertical_alignment=”top” advanced_animations=”no” item_padding=”30px 0px 0px 30px” item_padding_768_1024=”30px 0px 0px 0px” item_padding_600_768=”30px 0px 0px 0px” item_padding_480_600=”30px 0px 0px 0px” item_padding_480=”30px 0px 0px 0px”][vc_column_text]Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Morbi ut efficitur dui. Etiam mattis tellus dui, a luctus enim placerat ac. Cras ac sem mi. Vivamus placerat urna turpis, vitae scelerisque augue fringilla et. Ut nec odio cursus augue eleifend maximus. Nulla sed tortor aliquet, aliquam nisl et, tempor nisi. Mauris non metus at turpis convallis tempus bibendum ut sapien.

Donec placerat tincidunt purus in luctus. Nunc quis auctor urna. Duis non venenatis diam. Nullam mollis mattis suscipit. Praesent eget ligula in diam tempor ultrices eu a ligula. Mauris facilisis sem eu tristique mattis. Quisque eget erat in est ultricies lacinia. Fusce non imperdiet quam, nec euismod turpis. Aenean sed blandit quam.

Nullam ac enim a enim rutrum mattis. Donec aliquam consectetur nisl, vestibulum eleifend magna pulvinar eu. Fusce aliquet, neque eget suscipit gravida, nisi sapien sagittis.[/vc_column_text][/qode_elements_holder_item][/qode_elements_holder][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”80px”][/vc_column][/vc_row]