Scripts, Manuscripts, and Xyloscripts: Old and New Approaches to Tibetan Palaeography and Codicology

7 May 2015

May 7–9, 2015, Universität Hamburg, Hamburg

Tibetan palaeography, codicology, and philology, all of which are parts of “ textual scholarship,” become highly interesting and relevant for all of us who strive to gain a nuanced and well-founded knowledge of Tibetan intellectual culture, intellectual history, religion, philosophy, textual criticism, literature, language, culture of the book, and the like. The workshop “Scripts, Manuscripts, and Xyloscripts: Old and New Approaches to Tibetan Palaeography and Codicology” aims at focusing on the palaeographical aspect of the Tibetan culture of the book—be it manuscripts or xylographs—has been conceived in connection with the three-year project “Scholars and Scribes: Leveraging Computerized Tools for Navigating an Uncharted Tibetan Buddhist Philosophical Corpus,” funded by the German-Israeli Foundation for Scientific Research and Development (GIF), one of whose aims is to develop a computerized tool for Tibetan palaeography. The workshop brings together scholars of Tibetan Studies, Computer Science and Digital Humanities wishing to discuss various aspects of Tibetan palaeography, possible schemes and digital tools. The talks focus on different script types and subtypes found in the various media known in the Tibetan book culture—including manuscripts, xylographs, and legal documents—in different regions within the Tibetan cultural sphere—including Central Tibetan, West Tibet, East Tibet, and the Tibetan-Nepalese borderlands.