Kingship Ideology in Sino-Tibetan Diplomacy during the VII-IX centuries Emanuela Garatti In this paper I would like to approach the question of the btsan-po’s figure and his role in the international exchanges like embassies, peace agreements and matrimonial alliances concluded between the Tibetan and the Tang during the Tibetan Empire. In order to do that, I examine some passages of Tibetan and Chinese sources. Tibetan ancient documents, like PT 1287, the PT 1288, the IOL Tib j 750 and the text of the Sino-Tibetan treaty of 821/822. For the Chinese sources I used the encyclopaedia Cefu yuangui which has never been extensively used in the study of the Tibetan ancient history. Concerning the embassies one can see that they are dispatched with important gifts when the btsan-po want to present a request. Those are registered as tribute (ch. chaogong) by the Chinese authors but one can assume, analysing the dates of embassies that the Tibetan emissaries are sent to the court with presents only when they had to present a specific request from the Tibetan emperor. Moreover, the btsan-po is willing to accept the diplomatic codes but refuses all attempt of submission from the Chinese authorities like the “fish-bag” (ch. yudai) proposed to the Tibetan ambassadors as a normal gift. For the treaties, the texts of these agreements show the evolution of the position of the btsan-po towards the Chinese court and the international diplomacy: the firsts pacts see the dominant position of Tang court over the btsan-po’s delegation. The Chinese choose and change sacrificial animals and the ceremony. However, as the two countries go on in making agreements, the position of the Tibetan emperor and his court changes, until the last pact. Here, the Tibetan emperor is called in the treaty pillar as ’prhul gyi lha btsan-po. This term can be merged with the Chinese epithet sheng used for the emperor. In the Chinese text there is mention of the Tibetan Empire as “Great Tufan”(ch. da Tufan). The Tibetan emperor through the terms used in the different peace agreements, pass from an inferior position to a totally equal position with the Chinese emperor. The matrimonial alliances with Chinese court are another tool to observe how the btsan-po consider himself in the international relations. With the first marriage with the Princess of Wencheng, the relations become a “nephew- maternal uncle” relation (tib. dbon-zhang, ch. jiusheng). In the context of the diplomatic exchanges, as stated by the Chinese sources, this was the proof of the superiority of the Chinese emperor on the Tibetan btsan-po. Nevertheless, from a Tibetan point of view, this relation offer the opportunity to deal with the Chinese court from an equal level and as claimed by the btsan-po in a letter arrived at Chang’an in 781. Khri Srong-lde-brtsan asks to be treated like an equal because part of the family ans asks to change the peace agreement (Cefu yuangui, p. 11360). In the text of the treaty pillar, the “nephew-maternal uncle” is viewed as a political tool to extend the Tibetan political influence. The Tibetan version of the agreement, describe this relation as chab-srid giving it a political connotation. The Tibetan kingship ideology, the way the btsan-po presented themselves - as stated by the inscription of Khri Lde- srong-brtsan’s tomb, which defines the emperor as “extending his powers to the four confines and the eight directions” (tib. lha ’prhul gyi snga nas mtha’ bzhi phyogs brgyad du. Tomb inscription, ll. 22-23), is fully reflected in the Tibetan diplomatic activity during the Tibetan Empire: the btsan-po consider himself equal with the Chinese “Son of Heaven”. Both the Tibetan and the Chinese emperors try to extend their dominion over all the world through the diplomatic exchanges, with peace agreements, letters, matrimonial alliances, or exacting the tribute from their neighbours. In 152 being so diplomatically active, the btsan-po try to maintain their traditional ideology. Using the diplomatic and official codes, the Tibetan emperor achieve to be treated as an equal by the Chinese court, which consolidate and reflects the ideology of btsan-po to be de jure another maître du monde. 153 Gesar’s Therapeutic Geographies Frances Garratt This paper will consider the connections between the Gesar epic and Tibetan healing traditions. It will discuss epi- sodes in the epic tradition that depict healing acts, the mapping of Gesar-identified healing sites, and how Gesar- inflected healing has spread beyond epic literature or performance to ritual practice. The paper aims to consider epic-inflected healing power and explore a network of religious healing technologies that is powered by the potency of the Gesar epic. 154 The Tibetan community of Buryatia and its role in the religious life of Buryats Irina Garri The paper will discuss a place of the Tibetan community in the religious life of Buryatia, the problems of its adaptation and socialization in the Buryat society as well as the role of Tibetans in the revival of Buddhism in the Post-Soviet period. Tibet and Buryatia are very closely related to each other. Both regions belong to the cultural and historical area of Inner Asia, embody a common tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. Both regions are the ethnic territories in the multi-national countries with socialist part (Russia) and socialist present (China). Social and political processes of Russia in the Post-Perestroika period made the broken Tibet-Buryatian ties to restore. The visits of the Dalai Lama and representatives of the Tibetan Diaspora to Russia in 1990s, arrivals of the Tibetan teachers to the Buryat Buddhist temples for teaching, studying of the Buryat novices in the Buddhist monasteries in India facilitated a creation in Buryatia of the small Tibetan community residing in the Republic on the permanent base and engaging in religious activity, medicine and Buddhist teaching. Notwithstanding its relative paucity (about 30 persons) the members of the Tibetan community play an important role in the religious life of Buryatia, enjoy not less popularity among the Buryat religious population. 155 Constructing the Secular in Buddhist Advice to the Laity in Contemporary Tibet Holly Gayley How do contemporary Tibetan Buddhist masters deploy the notion of secularity? In what ways do they differentiate between religious and secular spheres and also attempt to encompass secular concerns into a traditional Buddhist framework? This paper examines contemporary tracts of advice to the laity by leading proponents of ethical reform in Tibetan areas of the PRC. In particular, I analyze recent works by cleric-scholars at Larung Buddhist Academy of the Five Sciences (Bla rung dgon rig lnga’i nang bstan slob grwa) that attempt to harmonize traditional Buddhist ethics, having to do with individual moral cultivation and the soteriological aim for a favorable rebirth, with social - and largely secular - concerns of public health, language preservation, mass education, and cultural survival. The main rubric used in these tracts is the “two systems” (lugs gnyis) - referring to chos srid or alternatively chos dang ‘jig rten - as a dual lens on social issues confronting Tibetans today. Through seeking to harmonize these two, leading figures at Larung Buddhist Academy present a modernist articulation of Buddhist praxis in this-worldly and socially-engaged terms. Exploring the rhetorical strategies of these works of advice, I highlight the complexities and potential ironies of such a project. 156 Buddhist Communities in Contemporary Kalmykia: Revival or Reinvention? Valeriya Gazizova Based on the results of anthropological fieldwork conducted during 2011 and 2012, the article is intended to reveal the individual characteristics of the present state of religiosity in Kalmykia, with the primary focus on the interrelation between different Buddhist communities. The article presupposes answering questions concerning the survival and change of religious traditions under the influence of persecution and repression. What forms can belief systems assume when revived after having been prohibited for almost a century? If there have been many changes, can the religious situation in Kalmykia still be called a revival or is it an introduction of new religious traditions? Another important question posed in the article is concerned with the sources of inspiration for present-day Kalmyk Buddhist communities. Situated in the southeast of the European part of Russia, Kalmykia is one of the three ethnic Buddhist republics along with Buryatia and Tuva of the Russian Federation. Its population is about 330,000; of these Kalmyks comprise about 60%. Ethnically the Kalmyks are of Mongolian origin; their language belongs to the Mongolian group of languages. Buddhism began to spread among the Kalmyks in the 13th century A.D,21 and until the beginning of the 20th century they followed the Gelugpa school of Tibetan Buddhism. However, from the 1930s to the 1980s Buddhism was persecuted by the Soviet government, and not a single prayer-house functioned in Kalmykia.22 Since the beginning of the 1990s there has been a boom of religious revival in Kalmykia: temples (khurul)23 have been built in almost every Kalmyk town, more and more Kalmyks receive Buddhist education, Buddhist teachers from abroad visit Kalmykia regularly, and pilgrims come from all parts of Russia and from abroad. However, my fieldwork experience showed that because of a rupture in the continuity of Kalmyk Buddhism the present religious revival is very complex, being much more