Notes

n.1Knowledge Base Entry on the Degé Kangyur Catalog

n.2The Royal Genealogy of Degé (sde dge’i rgyal rabs ), a history of the Degé royal family that was written nearly a century later in the 1820s by one of Tenpa Tsering’s successors, gives rather more emphasis to the Sakya affiliations of this royal family. The Royal Genealogy of Degé overlaps in many of its details with the family history given in the Catalog, but tends to be a bit more elaborate. For example, the The Royal Genealogy of Degé devotes a full seventeen folios to the life of Tenpa Tsering himself, who is presented as the fortieth generation incumbent of the royal house, and draws out his own extensive religious education, especially within the Sakya Ngor tradition. The Tibetan text is transcribed and introduced in Kolmaš 1968.

n.3The very turbulent political situation in central Tibet in the early eighteenth century saw a number of Qing interventions in central Tibetan politics, which raised the political profile of the Degé region. In 1721 the Qing sent an army to Lhasa to end the Dzungar occupation there, and install the Seventh Dalai Lama Kelzang Gyatso. The Seventh Dalai Lama already had good relations with Degé, having previously been granted temporary asylum there in 1714, when his life was threatened by Lhazang Khan. The further civil war in central Tibet in 1727–28, from which Pholhané emerged victorious, led to the Seventh Dalai Lama temporarily leaving Lhasa, whereupon the Qing arranged for him to have a residence built in the territory of Degé. In the context of such events, the Qing initiated an attempt to reorganize nominal imperial administration in the frontier districts of eastern Tibet. While the regions of Kham west of the Drichu River (Ch. Jinshajiang) were recognized to be under the authority of the government at Lhasa, the territories east of the Drichu were to be formally incorporated within the Qing’s imperial bureaucracy. Practical local governance over these areas, however, was to be left in the hands of what were referred to in imperial documents as “local rulers” (Ch. tuzi). Tenpa Tsering, as the ruler of the largest and most prestigious Tibetan kingdom east of the Drichu, which had recently expanded its territories to the north and east, and had favorable relations with the Seventh Dalai Lama, was granted imperial titles by the Qing and made the titular ruler of much of eastern Tibet. On the imperial titles conferred, see Tenpa Tsering’s entry at The Treasury of Lives. Also Kolmaš 1968, pp. 37–39.

n.4The Royal Genealogy of Degé states that he was “empowered to act as general ruler of Dokham and granted a golden seal, a hundred rolls of silk, and five thousand ‘ounces’ (Tib. srang) of silver.” The Royal Genealogy of Degé, fol. 27.a. Kolmaš 1968, pp. 118, 38.

n.5This is mentioned at folio 103.b, 1.3.­2.

n.6This is mentioned at folio 105.a, 1.3.­21.

n.7According to Situ Paṇchen, the Phanthangma was the first of the two catalogs and the Denkarma was produced some years later. However, there is disagreement on this issue among both traditional Tibetan scholars and modern historians, as discussed by Herrmann-Pfandt 2008. In her introductory survey of these two catalogs, Herrmann-Pfandt provides an overview of the various opinions and proposes that the most likely dating for the Phanthangma is the year 806 (pp. xxiv–xxvi) while for the Denkarma she suggests the year 812 (pp. xviii–xxii).

n.8Chomden Rikpai Raldri first produced a survey of translated scriptures, which has been presented with an introduction in Schaeffer and van de Kuijp 2021. In their introduction to this work, earlier canonical collation efforts in the thirteenth century are also discussed; see Schaeffer and van de Kuijp 2021, pp. 9–32. Whether such earlier efforts, before the compilation of the Old Narthang Kangyur, constituted what could be called a “Kangyur” as such remains a subject of scholarly debate. For a good general survey of the evolution of canonical collections see Harrison 1994 and Skilling 1997. For a summary treatment of the diversity of Kangyurs see Facts and Figures about the Kangyur and Tengyur.

n.9Situ Paṇchen’s source for his discussion of how the Old Narthang Kangyur was compiled appears to be based on the individual section colophons found in the Tshalpa Kangyur, which were also carried over into the Lithang Kangyur. Only the Vinaya section colophon was also included in the Degé Kangyur, while the Sutra and Tantra section colophons were summarized by Situ Paṇchen in the Catalog.

n.10The Kangyur known as the Lithang Kangyur was produced between 1610 and 1614 under the supervision of the Sixth Shamar (zhwa dmar) Rinpoché, with patronage from the king of Jang Satham. It was later moved to Lithang monastery during the upheavals of the 1640s. See Jampa Samten and Jeremy Russell 1987.

n.11Tib. bka’ ’gyur shin tu dag pa, folio 109.a.

n.12As Situ Paṇchen says, the Lhodzong Kangyur was compiled on the advice of the Fifth Dalai Lama by his regent Sönam Rabten (bsod nams rab brtan) (1595–1658) on the basis of the Gyantsé Themphangma (rgyal rtse them spang ma) recension and stored at Lhodzong (lho rdzong).

n.13These two lines, presented on the chapter title page in the source text as a stanza of Sanskrit verse (with the note decribing their meter in small writing at the top of the page), are then rendered in Tibetan as the first of the five stanzas that follow.

n.14Tib. bdag rkyen byed pa po. Lit. “producer of the primary condition.” While the general meaning could be rendered as “sponsor” or “patron,” Situ Paṇchen does not use the more common word for a material supporter of Dharmic activity, sbyin bdag, and instead employs this more unusual formulation, which emphasizes that the project was initiated by Tenpa Tsering himself.

n.15These lines could not be found verbatim in the Degé Kangyur edition of The Root Manual of the Rites of Mañjuśrī as quoted here, but the following lines are found: kha ba can gyi nang dag tu/ /sA la’i nags ni yang dag ’byung.

n.16The first line of this quote is the root text from Śaṃkarasvāmin’s Devātiśayastotra (Toh 1112), whereas the subsequent text is Prajñāvarman’s commentary on it from Devātiśaya­stotra­ṭīkā (Toh 1113).

n.17The same section of Prajñāvarman’s commentary, concerning the figure of Rūpati as the putative ancestor of the Tibetans, is also cited (and eventually dismissed) by Pawo Tsuklak Trengwa in his Feast for Scholars, p. 158.

n.18This quote is taken from Feast for Scholars. Pawo Tsuklak Trengwa, pp. 277–78.

n.19Tib. khri bshos rgya mtsho’i klu blon byang chub sems. In Feast for Scholars this line reads khri shod rgyal mo’i klu sman byang chub sems, or “bodhisattva nāga maidens of the queen of Tri Shö.”

n.20Reading snubs mtsho from Feast for Scholars instead of sbubs mtsho.

n.21Reading ha bo’i gangs from Feast for Scholars instead of kha’u’i gangs.

n.22The term “central land” does not refer only to a centrally located land, but to a land where the Buddhist teachings have been established.

n.23The term “perfect place” is the fourth of the five perfections (phun tshogs lnga), a category used in tantric contexts. The five perfections are perfect teachings, perfect time, perfect teacher, perfect place, and perfect company.

n.24The quotation here varies slightly from the Degé Kangyur version of the Vajraḍāka Tantra, which reads bod yul du ni lhan skyes te// rang byung gi nis kye gnas byung// chu srin rgyal mtshan lag na thogs// zhi zhing gsal ba’i gzugs can te// yul der gnas pa’i lha mo de// brag gi khyim la brten te gnas.

n.25lha mo dri ma med pa’i ’od lung bstan pa’i mdo seems to be an alternative title for the Vimalaprabha­paripṛcchā (Toh 168), based on its reference in the Dungkar Dictionary, which describes it as being in volume ba of the Kangyur, four fascicles in length, and lacking a colophon.

n.26This image, of the Tibetan plateau from the far west to the far east as a single irrigation system, is found in similar terms in Pawo Tsuklak’s Feast for Scholars, p. 149.

n.27Tib. shar zla chu. The Dachu (zla chu) is one of the names by which the upper Mekong River, formed by the joining of the Dzachu (rdza chu) and Ngomchu (ngom chu) Rivers at Chamdo (chab mdo) is known. However, the Shardachu likely here refers to the eastern Dzachu (rdza chu), which flows through Sershu and Lingtsang to the east of Degé, and is known in Chinese as the Yalong. A historical kingdom of Ling or Lingtsang (gling tshang) in Kham is attested in many sources, particularly from the fourteenth century. In folklore, it is strongly associated with the legends of the Gesar epic (Tib. gling sgrung). Often this kingdom is localized by reference to the Drichu and the eastern Dzachu or Yalong River. Since Degé is located between the Drichu and this eastern Dzachu, it seems likely that Shardachu here refers to the eastern Dzachu (Yalong), rather than the Dachu (Mekong).

n.28These are two of the “three wheels” (’khor lo gsum), that is, the wheel of study and contemplation (klog pa thos bsam gyi ’khor lo), the renunciation wheel of meditation (spong ba bsam gtan gyi ’khor lo), and the action wheel of practical deeds (bya ba las kyi ’khor lo).

n.29Though it is not entirely clear what ratnakūṭa vihāra refers to here or why Situ Paṇchen wrote it in transliterated Sanskrit, we assume it refers to its literal meaning of "temples heaped high with jewels." It could, however, also possibly refer to a specific temple complex in India, though we know of no such place.

n.30According to The Royal Genealogy of Degé, he also took Sakya Paṇḍita and others as teachers. Kolmaš 1968, p. 84.

n.31The Degé Kangyur print appears to read dbon rgyud, indicating religious transmission lineage passed from uncle to nephew. However, the Comparative Edition (dpe bsdur ma) reads this as dpon rgyud, indicating a lineage of local rulers.

n.32Kolmaš observes that it was during the time of Sönam Rinchen of the twenty-fifth generation that the secular and spiritual powers in the Degé royal family were first merged together. Kolmaš 1968, p. 34.

n.33Tib. mchod yon. This traditional concept in Buddhist societies, often translated as the “priest-patron” relationship, became a dominant trope in Tibetan history, particularly from the thirteenth century, to describe the relations between Tibetan lamas and their secular, often imperial, patrons. For a survey of this concept’s origins in Indian Buddhist social history and the shortcomings of translating it as “priest-patron,” see Ruegg 2014, pp. 67–75.

n.34Kolmaš notes that the Chinese title used for the office in charge of eastern Tibet during the Yuan period appears to have been named after Samar monastery. Kolmaš 1968, p. 66, n. 34.

n.35Tib. rims gyis lcags ra na gling gi chen po bdag drung gi spyan sngar ’byor. The implication seems to be that Sönam Sangpo moved to Jakra and performed a ministerial function for the lord of Ling. In the next generation, as described in The Royal Genealogy of Ling, his son Bothar would expand their family’s territories at the expense of the kingdom of Ling, and establish the family center around the present site of Degé town.

n.36On Bothar’s acquisition of territory from the kingdom of Ling in exchange for the marriage of his beautiful daughter, as told in the The Royal Genealogy of Degé, see Kolmaš 1968, p. 31.

n.37Likely the Zungdrel temple (zung ’brel lha khang).

n.38According to The Royal Genealogy of Degé (folios 10.b–11.a), Jampa Phuntsok was revered by Guśri Khan and thereby the territories of Degé were greatly expanded. See Kolmaš 1968, pp. 33, 94, 167–68.

n.39Also spelled bla ma lha drung elsewhere.

n.40On Tenpa Tsering’s uncle and predecessor Sönam Phuntsok, who shortly before his death in 1714 offered temporary asylum at Degé to the fugitive Seventh Dalai Lama Kelzang Gyatso, as mentioned in The Royal Genealogy of Degé (folios 21.b–22.a) and the Seventh Dalai Lama’s biography. Petech 1972, p. 22; Kolmaš 1968, pp. 36, 110.

n.41The representations of the Buddha’s body, speech, and mind are statues, texts, and stūpas, respectively.

n.42Toh 4329, folio 221.a.6–7.

n.43This passing mention of Tenpa Tsering’s increased wealth likely references his expansion of the Degé kingdom, and the material resources he received based on his relations with the Seventh Dalai Lama and the Qing, especially from 1728.

n.44Toh 4329, folio 105.a.1–3.

n.45This is a reference to a parable about a fox that painted or dyed itself blue and grew arrogant. In Elegant Sayings (1977) it is translated as: “When the lowly become wealthy or learned, / They think only of quarreling with others, / Like the fox who fell into a vat of indigo / And claimed to be a tiger.” This parable also appears in verse 18 of Nāgārjuna’s Nītiśāstra­jantupoṣaṇa­bindu (Toh 4330, lugs kyi bstan bcos skye bo gso ba’i thigs pa) and is discussed in Frye 1994 pp. 49–50.

n.46Toh 4155, folio 184.a.6–184.5.2.

n.47Toh 4330, folio 115.b.7.

n.48Toh 4334, folio 131.a.5–7.

n.49Toh 4334, folio 131.b.4.

n.50The divinely mandated emperor Mañjughoṣa here refers to the Qing emperor Yongzheng (r. 1722–35), under whom the Tibetan lands east of the Drichu were formally brought within the imperial administrative bureaucracy in 1728, albeit still under the practical supervision of local rulers, foremost among whom was Tenpa Tsering.

n.51Despite this statement that the first son of Tenpa Tsering would take on his political duties, it was in fact his second son Phuntsok Tenpa (?–1751), who on Tenpa Tsering’s death in 1738 succeeded him in both his political and religious roles. Phuntsok Tenpa was in turn succeeded as both king and throne holder of Lhundrup Teng by Tenpa Tsering’s third son, Lodrö Gyatso (1722–74). Kolmaš 1968, pp. 50–52.

n.52Toh 4335, folio 142.b.3–4.

n.53Dharmachakra Translation Committee, trans., The Play in Full , Toh 95 (84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2013), 12.­12–12.­13.

n.54Toh 4335, folio 142.b.5–6.

n.55Toh 4335, folio 143.a.1–2.

n.56Toh 4335, folio 142.b.7.

n.57Toh 4335, folio 142.b.7.

n.58Toh 4335, folio 143.a.3.

n.59Toh 4335, folio 143.a.3–4.

n.60Toh 4335, folio 142.b.6.

n.61Tib. shar phyogs tong ku’i rgyal khams . Lit. “the eastern land of Tongku.” It is believed that the term “Tongku” is derived from the Chinese dong jing (東京) or “Eastern capital” but came to refer to the Chinese lands east of Tibet. Use of this term is attested as early as 960 ᴄᴇ, before the creation of the modern political designation “China,” but it was used as an epithet for various Chinese empires over the course of centuries. For more on this term, see van Schaik 2013.

n.62Tib. gyi ye’ur. Ch. jī yǒu 雞酉.

n.63res gza’ mnga’ lha. According to Khenpo Tashi Pal, this term refers to the day of Venus, or Friday.

n.64Tib. rgyal ba’i bka’ ’gyur ro cog phyogs gcig tu bsgrigs pa. Situ Paṇchen uses the term kangyur (lit. “translated words”) here to describe the collection at the Phangthang palace.

n.65There is some disagreement among historical sources concerning the name and title of this king. Tucci (1950, p. 19) gives a thorough discussion of the confusion surrounding the identities of the emperors Ralpachen and Senalek Jingyön and concludes that the name Tri Desongtsen refers to Senalek Jingyön, not Ralpachen.

n.66The quotation is from the commentary to the Mahāvyutpatti , known as the Drajor Bampo Nyipa (sgra sbyor bam po gnyis pa), Toh 4347, folios 131.b–132.a. Both the Mahāvyutpatti and the Drajor Bampo Nyipa can be viewed side by side, along with some sections translated into English, on the website of the University of Oslo. See bibliography.

n.67This refers to the reign of the Tibetan emperor Tri Songdetsen.

n.68Here the Sanskrit term for grammatical conventions, vyākaraṇa, is transcribed in Tibetan as byA ka ra Na.

n.69The story of how the scholar Jampaiyang came to leave Narthang and take up residence with the Mongol Khan Buyantu, from whence he sent material assistance for the creation of the Old Narthang Kangyur, including “a small chest full of ink,” is told in some detail by Zhönu Pel (1392–1481) in his Blue Annals (Tib. deb ther sngon po). This appears to have been prior to Buyantu Khan becoming the Yuan emperor known in Chinese as Renzong (r. 1311–20). For a translation and discussion of the relevant passage in the Blue Annals, see Harrison 1996, pp. 74–77.

n.70As noted in the introduction, Situ Paṇchen’s account of how the Vinaya, Sūtra, and Tantra sections of the Old Narthang Kangyur were compiled appears to be based on the individual section colophons of the Tshalpa Kangyur, which were carried over into the Lithang Kangyur. Of these section colophons, only the Vinaya colophon was included in the Degé, while the others were summarized here. These colophons have been transcribed and translated in the appendices to Jampa Samten and Russell 1987.

n.71We are reading this as gtsang ma’i in place of gtsang mi to accord with the known name of this individual.

n.72Situ Panchen provides another more detailed account of these early translations and manuscripts in Chapter Two on folios 88.b–89.a; and for yet more detail drawn from a variety of sources see the introduction to The Perfection of Wisdom in One Hundred Thousand Lines , i.23–35.

n.73As discussed by Jampa Samten, the blocks appear to have been moved to Lithang monastery during the upheavals of the 1640s. Jampa Samten and Russell 1987, p. 19.

n.74According to Harrison, in total over a hundred copies of the Thempangma Kangyur were made during the reign of the Fifth Dalai Lama. Harrison 1996, p. 81.

n.75Though produced in the kingdom of Jang, this Kangyur came to be housed at Lithang and is now commonly referred to as the Lithang Kangyur.

n.76This refers to the later translation of the Sarvadurgati­pariśodhana Tantra (Toh 485), which was completed in the thirteenth century. The first translation (Toh 483) was completed in the late eighth century.

n.77ma mya dang sa stsogs dang ral gri la ral gyi. These are given as examples of spelling and pronunciation variations between regional Tibetan dialects.

n.78These refer to particular features of the written script such as the shape of the vowels and the relative heights of different elements. See Cuppers et al. 2012, pp. 365–66.

n.79Tib. bzang ja sbob rtse. Bricks of tea were packed in long bamboo baskets known as japobtse or jakhordruk. The value of these were used as the benchmark for calculating wages and expenses. See Chaix, p. 67, n. 7.

n.80This verse relates Tenpa Tsering and his sponsorship of this Kangyur to the Hindu deity Brahmā. According to tradition, the four foundational texts of traditional Hinduism, the Vedas, emerged from Brahmā’s four mouths.

n.81This is a list of the four pursuits of noble beings, or puruṣārtha. An important concept in Hinduism, these four traditionally encompass the proper goals of a human life.