72 P a r t 1 : p o l i t i c a l E x pa n si o n

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 minori-
ties down to the time when they act as governmental rulers, spiritual advisors
having been nominated from among the bhik sus [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 be-
lievers, having been led into deliverance, from those among them who are ca-
pable 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 ven-
eration, 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 amanusa [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 de-
cree written in the time of my father.
[Li and Coblin, A Study of Old Tibetan Inscriptions, Text IX, 325–328.]

An Imperial Decree on Translation

Among the most significant documents relating to the Tibetan court-sponsored trans-
lation 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
 Imperial Edicts from Central and Far Eastern Tibet 73

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 de-
crees 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, to-
gether 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, ex-
pressed 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 con-
tradiction 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 pal-
ace 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 Acarya Jinamitra, Surendrabodhi, Silendrabodhi, Danaqila,
and Bodhimitra, and the Tibetan preceptors Ratnaraksita and Dharmataqila,
and those who had become master translators, including Jñanasena, Jayaraksita,
Mañjuqrivarma, and Ratnendraqila, 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 Song-
detsen], Acarya Bodhisattva [Santaraksita], Yeshé Wangpo, Zhang Gyelnyen Nya-
zang, Minister Trizher Sangshi, the translator Jñanadevakosa, Che Khyidruk, the
brahman Ananda, and others coined many terms of religious language that were
unfamiliar in Tibetan, among which some accord with neither doctrinal texts

7
The Qarluk, an Inner Asian Turkic people, were frequently at war with the Tibetans, in
intermittent conflicts down to the first centuries of the second millennium. During the Tibetan
imperial period they were much under the influence of the Church of the East, so-called
“Nestorian” Christianity, but later adopted Islam.
74 P a r t 1 : p o l i t i c a l E xpa n si o n

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 Nagarjuna and Vasubandhu, and with the conven-
tions 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 ap-
propriately translated in a literal manner, assign terminological conventions in-
dicating 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 defini-
tively the method for translating the Dharma and the Sanskrit-Tibetan assign-
ments of terms.
“As for the method of translating the genuine doctrine, without contradict-
ing the meaning, make it so as to be as easy as possible in Tibetan. In translat-
ing 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 re-
lationships 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 rearrang-
ing both word and meaning as is easy. Where many names apply to a single say-
ing, in accord with the sequential order, apply a name as arrives at [the appropri-
ate meaning]. For instance, Gautama: the word gau has many meanings,
including ‘speech,’ ‘direction,’ ‘earth,’ ‘light,’ ‘vajra,’ ‘cow,’ and ‘heaven.’ In the
case of kauqika, ‘pertaining to kuqa 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 San-
skrit 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 ap-
proximately, it is uncertain whether or not the meaning is just right. In those

8
As we have seen earlier in this chapter, Tingngedzin had been the Tsenpo Tri Songdetsen’s
tutor and guardian. Pelgi Yönten occupied a similar position for his son, the subsequent Tsenpo
Tri Tsukdetsen (Relpachen), as is seen in chapter 1, n. 18.
 Imperial Edicts from Central and Far Eastern Tibet 75

cases, add at the head [of the word] ‘country’ or ‘flower,’ etc., according to what-
ever is named, and leave the Sanskrit unaltered. As for numbers, if one trans-
lates 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 appro-
priate 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, desig-
nate 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 ver-
bally 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, qravakas, 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 pre-
ceptors and translators in translating and establishing the dharma [here mean-
ing “scriptures”] of the Ratnamegha and La{kavatara 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 deter-
mined 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,

9
The first of these prefi xes means roughly “around” (compare “peri” in “periscope”); the
second “altogether” (like “com” in “combine”); and the third “proximity” (like “ad” in
“advance”).
10
Tibetan, like Japanese and some other languages, makes extensive use of various levels of
honorific language, reflecting gradations of rank from common people to rulers. By granting
high honorific status to the Buddha, an analogy was in effect created between the Tsenpo and
the highest religious principle. Accordingly, lesser figures in the Buddhist pantheon were ac-
corded lower status in the imperial ranking.
76 P a r t 1: p o li t i c a l E xpa n si o n

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 trans-
lated 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
dharanimantras 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 Mahavyutpatti.
Studia Tibetica 18 (Tokyo: The Toyo Bunko, 1990). Trans. MTK.]

THE CHINESE-TIBETAN TREATY OF 821–822

The “ Uncle-Nephew ” Pillar Inscription
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 Chi-
nese 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 Ti-
betan; 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 sig-
natories. These bilingual inscriptions are particularly important for their invaluable
evidence in regard to the interpretation of the names and titles they contain. In con-
trast to the prayers from the Dega temple on the border of China and Tibet (given be-
low), 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,

Esoteric, or “Tantric” Buddhism has its own special class of scriptures, called tantra, that
11

are manuals setting out, often in coded language, the complicated ritual procedures, involving
spell-like formulae (mantra), special gestures (mudra), and diagrams (mandala), that are to be
disclosed only to initiates; for the uninitiated, this branch of Buddhism is “secret.” Moreover,
because Tantric rituals sometimes involve—whether symbolically or in actual practice—
ritualized violations of conventional Buddhist ethical codes, the tantras were sometimes re-
garded as threatening established order. For these reasons, the early Tibetan monarchy sought
to keep esoteric Buddhism under strict control.