Chapter 1. Amdo: An Overview Chapter 2. Tibetan Religion in Amdo Chapter 3. Labrang's Society Chapter 4. Growth and Development: The Evolution of Labrang Monastery Chapter 5. Twentieth-Century Labrang Chapter 6. Visions and Realities at Labrang
Paul Nietupski is professor of religious studies at John Carroll University.
One of the largest and most powerful institutions in Tibetan
history, unique in its placement amid segmented territories ruled
by several distinct inner Asian groups, Labrang Monastery has long
been a site in need of critical study. Paul Kocot Nietupski's work
brings us a thoroughly researched and sophisticated social and
political history of Labrang Monastery. Drawing on a wide range of
written and oral source material, Nietupski supplements a welcome
survey of Amdo's religious and social structures with a careful
study of the shifting social and political infrastructure
underlying Labrang and its support communities. His examination of
the spiritual and temporal authority of Labrang Monastery and the
special forms of diplomacy needed for interaction with surrounding
Manchu, Chinese, Mongol, and Muslim groups in this volatile region,
makes a fundamental contribution to our knowledge of Asian
history.
*Frances Garrett, University of Toronto*
Labrang Tashikyil is one of the major Tibetan Buddhist monasteries
and no contemporary Western scholar has researched its place in the
Tibetan cultural world more deeply or more extensively than Paul
Nietupski. This study is rich in detail in so many different areas.
Labrang's history, economic structure, scholarly traditions,
political role in the Tibetan Northeast, and much more are
intricately described by Prof. Nietupski. He brings to the reader
much that is new in the way of both information and insights. This
is a most welcome volume...
*Elliot Sperling, Indiana University*
Nietupski has provided us a fascinating snapshot on how
multi-dimensional Buddhist monasteries can be and often were. The
placement of the monastery in the frontier between Tibet and China,
with significant Mongol and Muslim populations in the mix, reveals
in detail the institutional, political and religious dynamics of
the area. Far from the image of Buddhist monasteries as
contemplative enclaves removed from society, Labrang is shown to be
the major social force in its area of Chinese Central Asia. An
excellent example of the intersection of written sources in Tibetan
and Chinese with the oral histories that Nietupski secured during
his lengthy fieldwork in Labrang.
*Ronald M. Davidson, Fairfield University*
Labrang Tashikyil is one of the major Tibetan Buddhist monasteries
and no contemporary Western scholar has researched its place in the
Tibetan cultural world more deeply or more extensively than Paul
Nietupski. This study is rich in detail in so many different areas.
Labrang's history, economic structure, scholarly traditions,
political role in the Tibetan Northeast, and much more are
intricately described by Prof. Nietupski. He brings to the reader
much that is new in the way of both information and
insights. This is a most welcome volume.
*Elliot Sperling, Indiana University*
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