Dr. Drölma Chökyi Jusa (Vienna University)Letters, Gifts, and Authority: Material Exchange in Tibetan Correspondence (11th–15th Century)

21 January 2026

16:00, 21 January 2026. ESA-Ost, Raum 120 & Zoom

This study examines the practice of Yig rten (ཡིག་རྟེན་, “letter-gift”)—the exchange of material objects alongside written correspondence. Through analysis of letters from Sa skya Paṇḍita (1182–1251), ’Bri gung sKyob pa (1143–1217), and ’Phags pa (1235–1280), this study reveals how correspondence functioned as “dual instruments”—simultaneously vehicles for spiritual exchange and conduits for material transactions.

Drawing on letters to Mongol rulers and regional patrons, this presentation shows how medieval Tibetan religious leaders operated as sophisticated political actors who strategically deployed both spiritual teachings and material gifts to build alliances and maintain institutional authority. These exchanges were carefully framed within Buddhist discourse, transforming material transactions into spiritual relationships.

This interdisciplinary approach—combining textual analysis with material culture studies—reveals how letters that appear purely religious actually document complex networks of medieval diplomacy. The research offers new perspectives on how religious authority operated across political and cultural boundaries, with implications extending beyond Tibet to broader questions about the relationship between spiritual and material power.

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Prof. Dr. Dorji Wangchuk (Director) & Dr. Orna Almogi (Co-director)
Khyentse Center for Tibetan Buddhist Textual Scholarship (KC-TBTS)
Abteilung für Kultur und Geschichte Indiens und Tibets
Asien-Afrika-Institut
Universität Hamburg
Alsterterrasse 1
D-20354 Hamburg