A study on the sKu-ʻbum/Tʻa-erh ssu monastery in Chʻing-hai

Abstract

This thesis presents a study on one of the largest monasteries in the world, the monastery of sKu-‘bum or T’a-erh ssu in the province of Ch’ing-hai which for centuries has been a point of contact for Sino-Tibetan and Tibeto-Mongol relations. Part I presents an outline of Tibetan Buddhist monasticism, as context for the sKu-‘bum monastery’s development. Part II is devoted to a history of the Monastery with respect to the polygonal relations between Lhasa, Peking, Mongolia and local tribes based on a large number of native primary, secondary and works in other Asian and European languages. This historical discussion tests the hypothesis that the Monastery’s position on the Sino-Tibetan frontier in Central Asia was the major factor in shaping the rise of the Monastery’s religious, political and social significance. The history, broadly speaking, is the story of the increasing importance of Chinese influences over the Monastery, punctuated by efforts at the assertion of Tibetan, Mongol or other regional power. Part III is an analysis of Monastic life, showing how the human, economic and religious resources of the Monastery were mobilized to support the Monastery's significant role in its location. Part IV is a continuation of Part II outlining some of the events in the Monastery's more recent history from 1949 until the 1990s. It is mainly based on the autobiographical material of a former abbot of the Monastery. Part V presents an appendage of some reference list of persons, buildings and other possessions of the Monastery. The first volume of the thesis is concluded by an afterword. Part VI (to be found in Volume II) presents biographical sketches of important monks and officials of the Monastery who flourished from 1960 until the 1990s. The first section of Part VII contains a survey of the extant literature on the Monastery in Tibetan, Chinese, Mongol, Japanese and western languages, which is followed by a thesis bibliography and abbreviations.