Tibetology () refers to the study of things related to

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...

, including its

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

religion Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...

language Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of met ...

culture Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups.Tyl ...

politics Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...

and the collection of Tibetan articles of historical, cultural and religious significance. The last may mean a collection of Tibetan statues, shrines, Buddhist icons and holy scripts,

Thangka A ''thangka'', variously spelled as ''thangka'', ''tangka'', ''thanka'', or ''tanka'' (; Tibetan: ཐང་ཀ་; Nepal Bhasa: पौभा), is a Tibetan Buddhist painting on cotton, silk appliqué, usually depicting a Buddhist deity, scene, ...

embroideries, paintings and tapestries, jewellery, masks and other objects of fine

Tibetan art The vast majority of surviving Tibetan art created before the mid-20th century is religious, with the main forms being thangka, paintings on cloth, mostly in a technique described as gouache or distemper, Tibetan Buddhist wall paintings, and sma ...

and craftsmanship.

History

*The

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

Antonio de Andrade (1580–1634) and a few others established a small mission and church in

Tsaparang Tsaparang was the capital of the ancient kingdom of Guge in the Garuda Valley, through which the upper Sutlej River flows, in Ngari Prefecture (Western Tibet) near the border of Ladakh. It is 278 km south-southwest of Senggezangbo Town and ...

(1626), in the kingdom of

Guge Guge (; ) was an ancient dynastic kingdom in Western Tibet. The kingdom was centered in present-day Zanda County, Ngari Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region. At various points in history after the 10th century AD, the kingdom held sway over a vast ...

(Western Tibet) in the 17th century. When the kingdom was overrun by the king of

Ladakh Ladakh () is a region administered by India as a union territory which constitutes a part of the larger Kashmir region and has been the subject of dispute between India, Pakistan, and China since 1947. (subscription required) Quote: "Jammu and ...

(1631), the mission was destroyed. *A century later another Jesuit, the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

Ippolito Desideri Ippolito Desideri or Hippolyte Desideri (21 December 1684 – 14 April 1733) was an Italian Jesuit missionary and traveller and the most famous of the early European missionaries to visit Tibet. He was the first documented European ethnic groups ...

(1684–1733) was sent to Tibet and received permission to stay in

Lhasa Lhasa (; Lhasa dialect: ; bo, text=ལྷ་ས, translation=Place of Gods) is the urban center of the prefecture-level city, prefecture-level Lhasa (prefecture-level city), Lhasa City and the administrative capital of Tibet Autonomous Regio ...

where he spent 5 years (1716–1721) living in a Tibetan monastery, studying the language, the religion of the

lama Lama (; "chief") is a title for a teacher of the Dharma in Tibetan Buddhism. The name is similar to the Sanskrit term ''guru'', meaning "heavy one", endowed with qualities the student will eventually embody. The Tibetan word "lama" means "hi ...

s and other Tibetan customs. He published a couple of books in Tibetan on

Christian doctrine Christian theology is the theology of Christian belief and practice. Such study concentrates primarily upon the texts of the Old Testament and of the New Testament, as well as on Christian tradition. Christian theologians use biblical exegesis, ...

. Because of a conflict of jurisdiction (the mission was entrusted to the

Capuchins Capuchin can refer to: *Order of Friars Minor Capuchin, an order of Roman Catholic friars *Capuchin Poor Clares, an order of Roman Catholic contemplative religious sisters *Capuchin monkey, primates of the genus ''Cebus'' and ''Sapajus'', named af ...

, and not to the

Jesuits The Society of Jesus ( la, Societas Iesu; abbreviation: SJ), also known as the Jesuits (; la, Iesuitæ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

) Desideri had to leave Tibet and returned to Italy, where he spent the rest of his life publishing his ''Historical notes on Tibet''. They were collected, in 4 volumes, under the title of ''Opere Tibetane'' (Rome;1981–1989). Desideri may be considered as the first Tibetologist and he did much to make Tibet known in Europe. *Desideri was however a pioneer, and as such what he produced were rather 'observations' on Tibet, a work he did with objectivity and sympathy, but not always perfect accuracy. The inception of Tibetology as an authentic academic discipline is thus associated with the Hungarian

Sándor Kőrösi Csoma Sándor Csoma de Kőrös (; born Sándor Csoma; 27 March 1784/811 April 1842) was a Hungarian people, Hungarian philologist and Orientalist, author of the first Standard Tibetan, Tibetan–English language, English dictionary and grammar book. H ...

(1784–1842) who is considered as its founder to present day, the other early tibetologists of note being

Philippe Édouard Foucaux Philippe Édouard Foucaux (15 September 1811 – 20 May 1894) was a French tibetologist. He published the first Tibetan grammar in French and occupied the first chair of Tibetan Studies in Europe. He was born in the town of Angers on 15 Septem ...

who in 1842 occupied the first chair for Tibetan studies in Europe and

Isaac Jacob Schmidt Isaac Jacob Schmidt (October 4, 1779 – August 27, 1847) was an Orientalist specializing in Mongolian and Tibetan. Schmidt was a Moravian missionary to the Kalmyks and devoted much of his labours to Bible translation. Born in Amsterdam, he s ...

, who was primarily the pioneering mongolist residing in Saint Petersburg. The publications of the British diplomat

Charles Alfred Bell Sir Charles Alfred Bell (October 31, 1870 – March 8, 1945) was the British Political Officer for Bhutan, Sikkim and Tibet. He was known as "British India's ambassador to Tibet" before retiring and becoming a noted tibetologist. Biography H ...

contributed towards the establishment of tibetology as an academic discipline. As outstanding tibetologists of the 20th century the British Frederick William Thomas,

David Snellgrove David Llewellyn Snellgrove, FBA (29 June 192025 March 2016) was a British Tibetologist noted for his pioneering work on Buddhism in Tibet as well as his many travelogues. Biography Snellgrove was born in Portsmouth, Hampshire, and educated ...

Michael Aris Michael Vaillancourt Aris (27 March 1946 – 27 March 1999) was an English historian who wrote and lectured on Bhutanese, Tibetan and Himalayan culture and history. He was the husband of Aung San Suu Kyi, who would later become State Counsellor ...

, and

Richard Keith Sprigg Richard Keith Sprigg (31 March 1922 – 8 September 2011) was a British linguist who specialised in the phonology of Asian languages. Sprigg was educated under J. R. Firth and was a member of the first generation of professional British linguis ...

, the Italians

Giuseppe Tucci Giuseppe Tucci (; 5 June 1894 – 5 April 1984) was an Italian orientalist, Indologist and scholar of East Asian studies, specializing in Tibetan culture and the history of Buddhism. During its zenith, Tucci was a supporter of Italian fascism ...

and

Luciano Petech Luciano Petech (8 June 1914, Trieste – 29 September 2010, Rome) was an Italian scholar of Himalayan history and the early relations between Tibet, Nepal and Italy. He was Chair of History of Eastern Asia at the University of Rome from 1955 to 1 ...

, the Frenchmen

Jacques Bacot Jacques Bacot (4 July 1877 – 18 June 1965) was an explorer and pioneering French Tibetologist. He travelled extensively in India, western China, and the Tibetan border regions. He worked at the École pratique des hautes études. Bacot was ...

and

Rolf Alfred Stein Rolf Alfred Stein (13 June 1911 – 9 October 1999) was a German-born French Sinologist and Tibetologist. He contributed in particular to the study of the '' Epic of King Gesar'', on which he wrote two books, and the use of Chinese sources in Tibet ...

, finally the Germans

Dieter Schuh Dieter Schuh (; born 1942) is a German Tibetologist, entrepreneur and politician. Life Schuh graduated in 1972 from Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms University in Bonn and submitted his habilitation in 1976. He has been a Professor of Tibetan Studies ...

and Klaus Sagaster, may be mentioned. In recent decades, particularly in English-speaking countries, the study of Tibet and Tibetology has opened out towards other disciplines, prompting works with an interdisciplinary approach. This has become most obvious in the regular conferences of th
IATS
(International Association of Tibetan Studies), held at intervals of three years in different cities around the world. Examples of such broader-based research include the work of the American anthropologist

Melvyn Goldstein Melvyn C. Goldstein (born February 8, 1938) is an American social anthropologist and Tibet scholar. He is a professor of anthropology at Case Western Reserve University and a member of the National Academy of Sciences. His research focuses on ...

, among others, who has produced publications on subjects such as lexical questions, Tibetan nomadism, and the modern history of Tibet. Other recent research includes the work of Robert Barnett,

Matthew Kapstein Matthew T. Kapstein is a scholar of Tibetan religions, Buddhism, and the cultural effects of the Chinese occupation of Tibet. He is Numata Visiting Professor of Buddhist Studies at the University of Chicago Divinity School, and Director of Tibetan ...

Elliot Sperling Elliot Sperling (January 4, 1951 – January 29, 2017) was one of the world's leading historians of Tibet and Tibetan-China, Chinese relations, and a MacArthur Fellow. He spent most of his scholarly career as an associate professor at Indiana Uni ...

, Alex McKay, Geoffrey Samuel, among others.

External links

IATS - The International Association of Tibetan Studies

Tibetology Network

Tibetan & Himalayan Digital Library

Additional images

File:Turrell Wylie.png, Turrell Wylie, Professor Turrell Wylie in 1979 at the University of Washington Department of Asian Languages and Literature File:David Germano.jpg,

David Germano David Francis Germano is an American Tibetologist and Professor of Tibetan and Buddhist Studies at the University of Virginia (UVa), the largest Tibetan Studies program in the Americas, where he has taught and researched since 1992. With dual appo ...

in 2013 File:GiuseppeTucci.jpg,

(1894-1984) Italian Tibetologist drinking butter tea in Tibet in the 1930s File:Elliot Sperling 2014 (cropped).jpg,

2014 File:Passeportshakabpa2.jpg, Shakabpa on the Tibetan Passport 1947 issued to Wangchuk Deden Shakabpa (Tibetan: ཞྭ་སྒབ་པ་དབང་ཕྱུག་བདེ་ལྡན།), then "Chief of the Finance Department of the Government of Tibet" File:Charles Alfred Bell.jpg,

Sir Charles Alfred Bell Sir Charles Alfred Bell (October 31, 1870 – March 8, 1945) was the British Political Officer for Bhutan, Sikkim and Tibet. He was known as "British India's ambassador to Tibet" before retiring and becoming a noted tibetologist. Biography H ...

, Author of the "Biography of the Dalai Lama" about the 13th Dalai Lama File:Kőrösi Csoma Sándor.jpg,

authored the first Tibetan-English dictionary File:Hugh Richardson in Tibet c. 1940.jpg, Hugh Richardson in Tibet about 1940 File:AntónioAndrade.jpg, The Jesuit priest, Antonio de Andrade, born 1580, died 1634 was the first known European to have visited Tibet

Footnotes

Literature