Tibetology () refers to the study of things related to

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...

, including its

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

religion Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatur ...

language Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of ...

culture Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups ...

politics Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...

and the collection of Tibetan articles of historical, cultural and religious significance. The last may mean a collection of Tibetan statues, shrines, Buddhist icons and holy scripts, Thangka embroideries, paintings and tapestries, jewellery, masks and other objects of fine

Tibetan art The vast majority of surviving Tibetan art created before the mid-20th century is religious, with the main forms being thangka, paintings on cloth, mostly in a technique described as gouache or distemper, Tibetan Buddhist wall paintings, and sm ...

and craftsmanship.

History

*The

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

Antonio de Andrade (1580–1634) and a few others established a small mission and church in Tsaparang (1626), in the kingdom of

Guge Guge (; ) was an ancient dynastic kingdom in Western Tibet. The kingdom was centered in present-day Zanda County, Ngari Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region. At various points in history after the 10th century AD, the kingdom held sway over a va ...

(Western Tibet) in the 17th century. When the kingdom was overrun by the king of

Ladakh Ladakh () is a region administered by India as a union territory which constitutes a part of the larger Kashmir region and has been the subject of dispute between India, Pakistan, and China since 1947. (subscription required) Quote: "Jammu a ...

(1631), the mission was destroyed. *A century later another Jesuit, the Italian Ippolito Desideri (1684–1733) was sent to Tibet and received permission to stay in

Lhasa Lhasa (; Lhasa dialect: ; bo, text=ལྷ་ས, translation=Place of Gods) is the urban center of the prefecture-level Lhasa City and the administrative capital of Tibet Autonomous Region in Southwest China. The inner urban area of Lhasa ...

where he spent 5 years (1716–1721) living in a Tibetan monastery, studying the language, the religion of the

lama Lama (; "chief") is a title for a teacher of the Dharma in Tibetan Buddhism. The name is similar to the Sanskrit term ''guru'', meaning "heavy one", endowed with qualities the student will eventually embody. The Tibetan word "lama" means "hig ...

s and other Tibetan customs. He published a couple of books in Tibetan on

Christian doctrine Christian theology is the theology of Christian belief and practice. Such study concentrates primarily upon the texts of the Old Testament and of the New Testament, as well as on Christian tradition. Christian theologians use biblical exeg ...

. Because of a conflict of jurisdiction (the mission was entrusted to the

Capuchins Capuchin can refer to: *Order of Friars Minor Capuchin The Order of Friars Minor Capuchin (; postnominal abbr. O.F.M. Cap.) is a religious order of Franciscan friars within the Catholic Church, one of Three " First Orders" that reformed from t ...

, and not to the

Jesuits , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders = ...

) Desideri had to leave Tibet and returned to Italy, where he spent the rest of his life publishing his ''Historical notes on Tibet''. They were collected, in 4 volumes, under the title of ''Opere Tibetane'' (Rome;1981–1989). Desideri may be considered as the first Tibetologist and he did much to make Tibet known in Europe. *Desideri was however a pioneer, and as such what he produced were rather 'observations' on Tibet, a work he did with objectivity and sympathy, but not always perfect accuracy. The inception of Tibetology as an authentic academic discipline is thus associated with the Hungarian Sándor Kőrösi Csoma (1784–1842) who is considered as its founder to present day, the other early tibetologists of note being Philippe Édouard Foucaux who in 1842 occupied the first chair for Tibetan studies in Europe and Isaac Jacob Schmidt, who was primarily the pioneering mongolist residing in Saint Petersburg. The publications of the British diplomat

Charles Alfred Bell Sir Charles Alfred Bell (October 31, 1870 – March 8, 1945) was the British Political Officer for Bhutan, Sikkim and Tibet. He was known as "British India's ambassador to Tibet" before retiring and becoming a noted tibetologist. Biography ...

contributed towards the establishment of tibetology as an academic discipline. As outstanding tibetologists of the 20th century the British Frederick William Thomas,

David Snellgrove David Llewellyn Snellgrove, FBA (29 June 192025 March 2016) was a British Tibetologist noted for his pioneering work on Buddhism in Tibet as well as his many travelogues. Biography Snellgrove was born in Portsmouth, Hampshire, and educated a ...

, Michael Aris, and Richard Keith Sprigg, the Italians

Giuseppe Tucci Giuseppe Tucci (; 5 June 1894 – 5 April 1984) was an Italian orientalist, Indologist and scholar of East Asian studies, specializing in Tibetan culture and the history of Buddhism. During its zenith, Tucci was a supporter of Italian fasc ...

and

Luciano Petech Luciano Petech (8 June 1914, Trieste – 29 September 2010, Rome) was an Italian scholar of Himalayan history and the early relations between Tibet, Nepal and Italy. He was Chair of History of Eastern Asia at the University of Rome from 1955 to 1 ...

, the Frenchmen Jacques Bacot and

Rolf Alfred Stein Rolf Alfred Stein (13 June 1911 – 9 October 1999) was a German-born French Sinologist and Tibetologist. He contributed in particular to the study of the '' Epic of King Gesar'', on which he wrote two books, and the use of Chinese sources in Tibet ...

, finally the Germans Dieter Schuh and Klaus Sagaster, may be mentioned. In recent decades, particularly in English-speaking countries, the study of Tibet and Tibetology has opened out towards other disciplines, prompting works with an interdisciplinary approach. This has become most obvious in the regular conferences of th
IATS
(International Association of Tibetan Studies), held at intervals of three years in different cities around the world. Examples of such broader-based research include the work of the American anthropologist

Melvyn Goldstein Melvyn C. Goldstein (born February 8, 1938) is an American social anthropologist and Tibet scholar. He is a professor of anthropology at Case Western Reserve University and a member of the National Academy of Sciences. His research focuses on ...

, among others, who has produced publications on subjects such as lexical questions, Tibetan nomadism, and the modern history of Tibet. Other recent research includes the work of Robert Barnett,

Matthew Kapstein Matthew T. Kapstein is a scholar of Tibetan religions, Buddhism, and the cultural effects of the Chinese occupation of Tibet. He is Numata Visiting Professor of Buddhist Studies at the University of Chicago Divinity School, and Director of Tibetan ...

Elliot Sperling Elliot Sperling (January 4, 1951 – January 29, 2017) was one of the world's leading historians of Tibet and Tibetan-Chinese relations, and a MacArthur Fellow. He spent most of his scholarly career as an associate professor at Indiana University ...

, Alex McKay, Geoffrey Samuel, among others.

External links

IATS - The International Association of Tibetan Studies

Tibetology Network

Tibetan & Himalayan Digital Library

Additional images

File:Turrell Wylie.png, Turrell Wylie, Professor Turrell Wylie in 1979 at the University of Washington Department of Asian Languages and Literature File:David Germano.jpg, David Germano in 2013 File:GiuseppeTucci.jpg,

(1894-1984) Italian Tibetologist drinking butter tea in Tibet in the 1930s File:Elliot Sperling 2014 (cropped).jpg,

2014 File:Passeportshakabpa2.jpg, Shakabpa on the Tibetan Passport 1947 issued to Wangchuk Deden Shakabpa (Tibetan: ཞྭ་སྒབ་པ་དབང་ཕྱུག་བདེ་ལྡན།), then "Chief of the Finance Department of the Government of Tibet" File:Charles Alfred Bell.jpg, Sir Charles Alfred Bell, Author of the "Biography of the Dalai Lama" about the 13th Dalai Lama File:Kőrösi Csoma Sándor.jpg, Sándor Kőrösi Csoma authored the first Tibetan-English dictionary File:Hugh Richardson in Tibet c. 1940.jpg, Hugh Richardson in Tibet about 1940 File:AntónioAndrade.jpg, The Jesuit priest, Antonio de Andrade, born 1580, died 1634 was the first known European to have visited Tibet

Footnotes

Literature