This study investigates the earliest surviving Tibetan paper, from the Dunhuang cave library, using paper fibre analysis combined with codicological, palaeographical and textual information. The hypotheses tested by this method concern the regional origins and production centres of early Tibetan paper and methods for dating this material. Using overlapping typologies, we classify a sample of manuscripts into coherent groups, relating them to particular 'book cultures'. By linking three main manuscript groups to different geographical regions, we offer new insights into an important manuscript collection, and show that the method of overlapping typologies has the potential to yield further insights.shrubs belonging to the Daphne and Edgeworthia species (shog shing or dung lo ma in Tibetan)-which still provide the basic materials for paper made in the Himalayan regions-but from the roots of both the Stellera chamaejasme species (re lcag pa in Tibetan) and, more seldom, Euphorbia fisheriana (re lcag gi rtsa ba in Tibetan) (Trier 1972, 56; Dawa 1999, 156-9, 320-1). Stellera is a small genus of fewer than ten species, found growing in comparatively dry conditions in areas such as Central Asia, Iran and parts of Tibet. It is widely distributed along the Himalayan range, where it is found at altitudes of 2700-4500 m. 1 In principle, it should not be difficult to determine the relative importance of each of these different fibres in the early history of Tibetan papermaking. Stellera chamaejasme fibres can be clearly differentiated from Daphne and Edgeworthia despite the fact that all of these plants belong to the Thymelaeaceae family.It should also be possible to distinguish paper made from these Thymelaeaceae family plants from Chinese paper. According to traditional Chinese accounts, the first true paper was invented by Cai Lun in ad 105 in south-eastern China, and is said to have been made from mulberry bark, remnants of hemp, rags of cloth and fishing nets (Hunter 1932(Hunter , 1978Tsien 2004). We know that in Central China, fine paper was made for important documents primarily from hemp and mulberry (Tsien 1973;Whitfield 2007). Rattan was used from about the seventh century, until it was supposedly replaced by bamboo in southern China in approximately the 10th-11th centuries (Tsien 1973(Tsien , 1985Bloom 2001). In this way, by the end of the eighth century, the Chinese were probably using a variety of raw fibres that included the rags of hemp, flax (ropes) and ramie (known as 'Chinese grass'), bark of mulberry, bamboo and rattan, rice and wheat straw, and many other types of grass depending on the region of production. Some plants, such as ramie, were widely distributed and available in all China, while others were limited to particular geographical zones.The above accounts are, however, based on secondary sources rather than on systematic analysis. The purpose of this study is to determine the nature of the earliest available Tibetan paper, through paper analysis combined with textual, palaeographical and codicolog...

Automatic remote reflectance spectral imaging of large painted areas in high resolution, from distances of tens of meters, has made the imaging of entire architectural interior feasible. However, it has significantly increased the volume of data. Here we present a machine learning based method to automatically detect ‘hidden’ writings and map material variations. Clustering of reflectance spectra allowed materials at inaccessible heights to be properly identified by performing non-invasive analysis on regions in the same cluster at accessible heights using a range of complementary spectroscopic techniques. The world heritage site of the Mogao caves, along the ancient Silk Road, consists of 492 richly painted Buddhist cave temples dating from the fourth to fourteenth century. Cave 465 at the northern end of the site is unique in its Indo-Tibetan tantric Buddhist style, and like many other caves, the date of its construction is still under debate. This study demonstrates the powers of an interdisciplinary approach that combines material identification, palaeographic analysis of the revealed Sanskrit writings and archaeological evidence for the dating of the cave temple paintings, narrowing it down to the late twelfth century to thirteenth century.

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Dzogchen is a Tibetan word meaning “great” (rdzogs) “perfection” or “completion” (chen). It refers to a genre of Buddhist texts and associated oral transmissions and meditation practices in Tibet’s Buddhist and Bonpo traditions. In general, Dzogchen texts express the presence of a state of awareness transcending all dualities and conceptual elaborations. Common terms for this kind of awareness are “mind itself” (sems nyid) and “knowing” (rig pa). Dzogchen texts often state that in the presence of this awareness, religious practice oriented toward enlightenment is dualistic and, therefore, not only unnecessary but also obstructive. However, Dzogchen texts and oral transmissions have tended to exist in the context of Tibet’s tantric traditions. Dzogchen is considered one of the three “inner yogas,” which are Mahāyoga, Anuyoga, and Atiyoga. In most contexts, Atiyoga is synonymous with Dzogchen. Of Tibet’s main schools, it is the Nyingma lineages that have produced and transmitted most of the Dzogchen literature, though Dzogchen has also been transmitted in the Kagyü schools and, to a much lesser extent, in the Sakya and Gelug schools as well.

Dzogchen, often translated as “the great perfection,” is a tradition of meditation practice and poetic literary expression in Tibetan Buddhism. Though its origins lie in Indic Buddhism, Dzogchen developed a distinct form of practice and literary expression only in Tibet. In general, Dzogchen texts evoke and discuss a state of awareness present in all living beings that transcends dualities and conceptual elaboration. Common terms for this state of awareness are “mind itself” (sems nyid) and “awareness” (rig pa). Dzogchen literature often states that in the presence of this awareness, religious practice oriented toward enlightenment is dualistic and, therefore, not only unnecessary, but also obstructive. Nevertheless, Dzogchen is usually integrated with other forms of Buddhist practice. The Dzogchen tradition encompasses a variety of literature and practice; the most common way of categorizing this is a division into three classes, the mind series, the space series, and the instruction series. The mind series contains most of the early Dzogchen literature, and more recent material in the same style. The space series enjoyed only limited popularity, and little is known of it today. The instruction series, by contrast, increased in popularity from its appearance in the 11th century and in time supplanted the mind series and the space series, ultimately becoming the predominant form of Dzogchen. The practice of Dzogchen requires an authorized teacher and the ritual transmission of key texts, as well as an “introduction” to the nature of the mind given by the teacher to the student. The main scriptural sources of Dzogchen practice are texts held to be translations collected in semicanonical compendia, treatises by Tibetan scholars, and revealed texts known as terma, usually said to have been concealed in the 8th century by the tantric master Padmasambhava. Dzogchen is a living tradition, taught within all of the main Tibetan Buddhist schools, though it remains closely associated with the Nyingma school. Within the latter, Dzogchen is considered to be the most advanced of Buddhist meditation practices, placed at the top of a ninefold categorization of Buddhist practice, the “nine vehicles.” Known in this context as atiyoga, “the utmost yoga,” it is the highest of the three “inner yogas,” the other two being mahāyoga and anuyoga. Dzogchen is also at the pinnacle of the teachings of Tibet’s Bonpo religion, which shares much of its doctrine with the Nyingma school and has in recent years been formally identified as one of the Buddhist schools of Tibet.