Conference on “Manuscript and Xylograph Traditions in the Tibetan Cultural Sphere: Regional and Periodical Characteristics”
15 May 2013
Photo: Orna Almogi
May 15th–18th, 2013, Universität Hamburg, Hamburg
Organisers: Dorji Wangchuk, The Khyentse Center for Tibetan Buddhist Textual Scholarship (KC-TBTS) and Orna Almogi, The Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures, Asia-Africa Institute
Textual culture, including the culture of the book, has a long and rich history throughout the Tibetan cultural sphere, and since the development of the Tibetan script—according to traditional sources sometime in the 7th century—thousands of texts, be they of Indic origin or autochthonous Tibetan, have been written down on Tibetan soil either in the form of manuscripts or xylographs and subsequently further reproduced and transmitted. In recent years we are witnessing a growing interest in the Tibetan textual culture and culture of the book that goes beyond the mere textual aspects, looking into various codicological issues including material and stylistic matters.
With the conviction that a better understanding of these aspects will advance and enhance Tibetan textual studies as a whole, the KC-TBTS is organising—in cooperation with Orna Almogi, Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures, Asia-Africa Institute—a conference on “Manuscript and Xylograph Traditions in the Tibetan Cultural Sphere: Regional and Periodical Characteristics,” to be held at the University of Hamburg in May 2013. As the title suggests, the conference aims at identifying regional and periodical characteristics of the various manuscript and xylograph traditions within the Tibetan cultural sphere, touching upon a variety of issues including material and format, ornamentation and art, palaeography and special symbols, production and binding, and paratexts and compilation. Apart from looking into the individual characteristics from regional and periodical perspectives, the conference also seeks to determine whether social, economical or other factors had influences on the development of specific manuscript and xylograph traditions in a specific region or period.
- Click here to download the abstracts of the papers as a PDF file.
- Click here to download the program.
- The symposium is open to interested audience. However, due to limitation in space interested observers should contact the organizers beforehand.
University of Hamburg, Main Building
Akademischer Senatssaal
Edmund-Siemers-Allee 1
20146 Hamburg