Transfer of Buddhism Across Central Asian Networks 7th to 13th Centuries (Dynamics in the History of Religions, 8)

The interdisciplinary volume Transfer of Buddhism across Central Asian Networks (7th to 13th Centuries) , edited by Carmen Meinert, offers a new transregional and transcultural vision for religious transfer processes in Central Asian history. It looks at the region as an integrated (religious) whole rather than from the perspective of fragmented sub-disciplines and analyses the spread of Buddhism as a driving force in a societal and cultural change of pan-Asian importance. One particular dimension of this ¿́¿Buddhist globalisation¿́¿ was the rise of local forms of Buddhism. This volume explores Buddhist localisations through manuscripts and material culture in the multiethnic oases of the Tarim basin, the Transhimalyan region of Zangskar, Ladakh and Kashmir and the Western Tibetan Kingdom of Purang-Guge Contents 6 Acknowledgements 8 List of Illustrations, Maps and Tables 9 General Abbreviations 12 Bibliographical Abbreviations 13 Notes on Contributors 15 Introduction—Dynamics of Buddhist Transfer in Central Asia 20 Changing Political and Religious Contexts in Central Asia on a Micro-Historical Level 36 Chapter 1 Changing Relations between Administration, Clergy and Lay People in Eastern Central Asia: A Case Study according to the Dunhuang Manuscripts Referring to the Transitionfrom Tibetan to Local Rule in Dunhuang, 8th–11th Centuries 38 Textual Transfer 74 Chapter 2 Tibetan Buddhism in Central Asia: Geopolitics and Group Dynamics 76 Chapter 3 The Transmission of Sanskrit Manuscripts from India to Tibet: The Case of a Manuscript Collection in the Possession of Atiśa Dīpaṃkaraśrījñāna (980–1054) 101 Visual Transfer 138 Chapter 4 The Tibetan Himalayan Style: Considering the Central Asian Connection 140 Chapter 5 Origins of the Kashmiri Style in the Western Himalayas: Sculpture of the 7th–11th Centuries 166 Transfer Agents 208 Chapter 6 Buddhism in the West Uyghur Kingdom and Beyond 210 Chapter 7 Esoteric Buddhism at the Crossroads: Religious Dynamics at Dunhuang, 9th–10th Centuries 269 Bibliography 304 Index 339 The interdisciplinary volume Transfer of Buddhism across Central Asian Networks (7th to 13th Centuries), edited by Carmen Meinert, offers a new transregional and transcultural vision for religious transfer processes in Central Asian history. It looks at the region as an integrated (religious) whole rather than from the perspective of fragmented sub-disciplines and analyses the spread of Buddhism as a driving force in a societal and cultural change of pan-Asian importance. One particular dimension of this ‘Buddhist globalisation'was the rise of local forms of Buddhism. This volume explores Buddhist localisations through manuscripts and material culture in the multiethnic oases of the Tarim basin, the Transhimalyan region of Zangskar, Ladakh and Kashmir and the Western Tibetan Kingdom of Purang-Guge. Contributors are: Kazuo Kano, Deborah Klimburg-Salter, Rob Linrothe, Linda Lojda, Carmen Meinert, Henrik H. Sørensen, Monica Strinu, Gertraud Taenzer, Sam van Schaik, and Jens Wilkens. Transfer of Buddhism across Central Asian Networks (7th to 13th Centuries), ed. Carmen Meinert, offers a transregional and transcultural vision for religious transfer processes in Central Asian history. It explores Buddhist localisations in the Tarim basin, the Transhimalaya and Tibet.; Readership: All interested in an interdisciplinary approach towards understanding religious transfer processes across a Central Asian Buddhist network, best known as the Silk Road(s)