Richardson H.E. A Corpus of Early Tibetan Inscriptions

Royal Asiatic Society, 1985. — 210 p.The principal inscriptions in this collection can be dated between the years 764 and
840 A.D. They are arranged in groups, one for each of the three reigns to which they
relate. They have all been published separately over a period of thirty years but by
bringing them together in one volume a convenient source of reference will be
provided for these important documents which illuminate many facets of early
Tibetan history, society and language. ·
In order to round off the epigraphical material previous to the Manchu era which
I was able to collect, some fragments of uncertain date, one inscription of the 11th
century, and one of the 15th have been included in an additional section.
The purpose of the major inscriptions. of the royal period is to proclaim the
circumstances and contents of a gtsigs i.e. a sworn edict or undertaking by the btsanpo,
usually together with his ministers. Those at Bsam-yas and Skar-cung, regarding
the maintenance of the Buddhist faith, and the Treaty Inscription at Lhasa are of
national significance: the others, except for that at Lcang-bu, are in effect charters
guaranteeing privileges to meritorious persons and their families. The Lcang-bu
inscription is the account, by royal command, of the building and endowment of a
Buddhist temple by a maternal relation of the btsan-po.
No single word quite conveys the meaning of gtsigs which I have translated in
different contexts as edict, charter, agreement. The original sense seems to have
become obscured in later Tibetan. In the Rgya/-po bka'-thang, probably of the 14th
century but drawing on earlier material, gtsigs has been replaced by rtsis-e.g. rtsis
kyi rdo rings (f.48a) where it appears to mean "important". That is the primary
explanation in Tibetan dictionaries from Csoma de Koros to Dagyab; but a hint of
the earlier meaning can be seen in Jaeschke's dictionary in the secondary explanation
"subdue, force, compel"; and in the Tibetan-Mongolian dictionary of Sumatiratna
gtsigs bzung is interpreted as bka's blangs (promise, undertake) and as dam
bca' (sworn agreement).
The texts of the inscriptions are in the main those of my earlier editions but I have
here shown the original punctuation as nearly as possible; and some speculative
suggestions for restoring partially effaced words have been omitted. Lines have been
numbered for ease of reference. Critical apparatus and notes have been kept to a
minimum. A Tibetan vocabulary, with some references to other documents of the
period, and an index of names in the texts have been provided.
The calligraphy is by Mr Ngawang Thondup Narkyid for whose meticulous care
and fine penmanship I am most grateful.