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Potala Palace
Potala Palace ( Tibetan: པོ་ཏ་ལ་ཕོ་བྲང Chinese: 布达拉宫) is the name of a museum in Lhasa, the capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region in China, built in the ''dzong''-style. It was previously a palace of the Tibetan sovereign, the Dalai Lama, and was the winter palace of the Dalai Lamas from 1649. In 1959 the Tibetan government ceased inhabitation when the buildings were seized by the People's Republic of China. The palace is named after Mount Potalaka, which within Buddhist thought is the mythical abode of the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara. The 5th Dalai Lama made decree for its construction in 1645Laird, Thomas. (2006). ''The Story of Tibet: Conversations with the Dalai Lama'', pp. 175. Grove Press, New York. . with advice of Konchog Chophel the Thirty-Fifth Ganden Tripa of the monastical tradition of Tsongkhapa. The Potala is on ruins of the White or Red Palace, built by decree of Songtsen Gampo in 637. Built at an altitude o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lhasa (prefecture-level City)
Lhasa is a prefecture-level city, one of the main administrative divisions of the Tibet Autonomous Region of China. It covers an area of of rugged and sparsely populated terrain. Its urban center is Lhasa, with around 300,000 residents, which mostly corresponds with the administrative Chengguan District, while its suburbs extend into Doilungdêqên District and Dagzê District. The consolidated prefecture-level city contains an additional five, mostly rural, counties. The city boundaries roughly correspond to the basin of the Lhasa River, a major tributary of the Yarlung Tsangpo River. It lies on the Lhasa terrane, the last unit of crust to accrete to the Eurasian plate before the continent of India collided with Asia about 50 million years ago and pushed up the Himalayas. The terrain is high, contains a complex pattern of faults and is tectonically active. The temperature is generally warm in summer and rises above freezing on sunny days in winter. Most of the rain falls ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tibetan Sovereignty Debate
There are two political debates regarding the relationship between Tibet and China. The first debate concerns whether Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) and parts of neighboring provinces that are claimed as political Tibet should separate themselves from China and become a new sovereign state. Many of the points in this political debate rest on the points which are within the second debate, about whether Tibet was independent or subordinate to China during certain periods of its history. China has claimed control over Tibet since the 13th century, though this has been contested. All countries today officially recognize Tibet as part of the People’s Republic of China and do not acknowledge it as an independent state. While Tibetan independence advocates argue Tibet had periods of de facto independence, Chinese control was solidified in the 1950s. Today, Tibet is officially designated as the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) within the People's Republic of China. It is generally believ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
International Institute For Asian Studies
Introduction The International Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS) is a global research institute and knowledge exchange platform, based in Leiden, the Netherlands. The Institute initiates and promotes multidisciplinary as well as inter- and trans-regional initiatives that engage institutional partners and knowledge communities in Asia, Africa, Europe, the Americas, and beyond. Across multiple platforms and programmes, the IIAS promotes critical, humanistic, and collaborative work on, with, in,and beyond Asia. In so doing, the Institute promotes a more integrated understanding of present-day Asian realities, pioneers new approaches to Asian Studies in a changing global context, and contributes to new humanistically-informed and policy-relevant knowledge about Asia. Establishment The IIAS was established in 1993, following recommendations by two successive committees, installed by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (Netherlands) (1989) and the Royal Netherlands Acad ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gelukpa
240px, The 14th Dalai Lama (center), the most influential figure of the contemporary Gelug tradition, at the 2003 Bodh_Gaya.html" ;"title="Kalachakra ceremony, Bodh Gaya">Bodhgaya (India) The Gelug (, also Geluk; 'virtuous')Kay, David N. (2007). ''Tibetan and Zen Buddhism in Britain: Transplantation, Development and Adaptation,'' p. 39. Routledge. is the newest of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. It was founded by Je Tsongkhapa (1357–1419), a Tibetan people, Tibetan philosopher, Vajrayana, tantric yogi and lama and further expanded and developed by his disciples (such as Khedrup Je, Gyaltsap Je, Dulzin Drakpa Gyaltsen, and Gendün Drubpa). The Gelug school is alternatively known as Kadam (''bKa’-gdams gsar-pa''), since it sees itself as a continuation of the Kadam tradition of Atisha (c. 11th century). The school of New Kadam, or New Kadampa is an offshoot of the Gelug-tradition. Furthermore, it is also called the Ganden school, after the first monastery ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Decree
A decree is a law, legal proclamation, usually issued by a head of state, judge, monarch, royal figure, or other relevant Authority, authorities, according to certain procedures. These procedures are usually defined by the constitution, Legislative Law, Legislative laws, or customary laws of a government. Belgium In Belgium, a decree is a law of a Communities, regions and language areas in Belgium, community or regional parliament, e.g. the Flemish Parliament. Catholic Church A decree (Ecclesiastical Latin, Latin: ''decretum'') in the usage of the canon law (Catholic Church), canon law of the Catholic Church has various meanings. Any papal bull, papal brief, brief, or motu proprio is a decree inasmuch as these documents are legislative acts of the pope. In this sense, the term is quite ancient. The Roman Congregations were formerly empowered to issue decrees in matters which come under their particular jurisdiction but were forbidden from continuing to do so under Pope Benedic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rolf 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 Tibetan history. He was the first scholar to correctly identify the ''Minyag'' of Tibetan sources with the Xixia of Chinese sources. Early life Stein was born in Schwetz (now Świecie, Poland) to a family of Jewish origin in 1911. As a young man, Stein became interested in the occult, and it was from there that his interest in Tibet began. He received his first degree in Chinese from the ''Seminar für Orientalische Sprachen'' at the University of Berlin in 1933. He fled to France the same year. He obtained degrees from l' École nationale des langues orientales vivantes in Chinese (1934) and Japanese (1936). In Paris he studied Tibetan with Jacques Bacot and Marcelle Lalou. He became a French citizen on 30 August 1939. Stein spent the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Avalokiteśvara
In Buddhism, Avalokiteśvara (meaning "the lord who looks down", International Phonetic Alphabet, IPA: ), also known as Lokeśvara ("Lord of the World") and Chenrezig (in Tibetan), is a Bodhisattva#Bhūmis (stages), tenth-level bodhisattva associated with great compassion (''Karuṇā, mahakaruṇā''). He is often associated with infinite light Amitabha Buddha. Avalokiteśvara has numerous Great 108 manifestations and is depicted in various forms and styles. In some texts, he is even considered to be the source and divine creator of all Hindu deities (such as Vishnu, Shiva, Brahma, Saraswati, Bhumi (goddess), Bhudevi, Varuna,..etc). While Avalokiteśvara was depicted as male in India, in East Asian Buddhism, Avalokiteśvara is most often depicted as a female figure known as Guanyin (in Chinese). In Japan, Korea, and Vietnam, he is known as Kannon, Gwaneum, and Quan Âm, respectively. Guanyin is also an important figure in other East Asian religions, particularly Chinese folk rel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bodhisattva
In Buddhism, a bodhisattva is a person who has attained, or is striving towards, '' bodhi'' ('awakening', 'enlightenment') or Buddhahood. Often, the term specifically refers to a person who forgoes or delays personal nirvana or ''bodhi'' in order to compassionately help other individuals reach Buddhahood. In the Early Buddhist schools, as well as modern Theravāda Buddhism, bodhisattva (or bodhisatta) refers to someone who has made a resolution to become a Buddha and has also received a confirmation or prediction from a living Buddha that this will come to pass. In Theravāda Buddhism, the bodhisattva is mainly seen as an exceptional and rare individual. Only a few select individuals are ultimately able to become bodhisattvas, such as Maitreya. In Mahāyāna Buddhism, a bodhisattva refers to anyone who has generated '' bodhicitta'', a spontaneous wish and compassionate mind to attain Buddhahood for the benefit of all sentient beings. Mahayana bodhisattvas are spiritua ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tibetan Mythology
Tibetan mythology refers to the traditional as well as the religious stories that have been passed down by the Tibetan people. Tibetan mythology consists mainly of national mythology stemming from the Tibetan culture as well as religious mythology from both Tibetan Buddhism and Bön Religion. These myths are often passed down orally, through rituals or through traditional art like sculptures or cave paintings. They also feature a variety of different creatures ranging from gods to spirits to monsters which play a significant role in Tibetan mythology. These deities and monsters/evil entities deal with our mental emotions and how to control them. Some of these myths have broken into mainstream Western media, with the most notable one being the Abominable Snowman – the Yeti. National mythology National Tibetan mythology stems from the history of the country, and was passed down by word of mouth or works of art such as cave paintings. The latter include gods and sacred mythologica ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Buddhism
Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or 5th century Before the Common Era, BCE. It is the Major religious groups, world's fourth-largest religion, with about 500 million followers, known as Buddhists, who comprise four percent of the global population. It arose in the eastern Gangetic plain as a movement in the 5th century BCE, and gradually spread throughout much of Asia. Buddhism has subsequently played a major role in Asian culture and spirituality, eventually spreading to Western world, the West in the 20th century. According to tradition, the Buddha instructed his followers in a path of bhavana, development which leads to Enlightenment in Buddhism, awakening and moksha, full liberation from ''Duḥkha, dukkha'' (). He regarded this path as a Middle Way between extremes su ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mount Potalaka
Mount Potalaka (, Japanese: 補陀洛 ''Fudaraku-san''), which means "Brilliance", is the mythical dwelling of the Buddhist bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara, said to exist in the seas south of India. Origins The mountain is first mentioned in the final chapter of the '' Avataṃsaka Sūtra'', the '' Gaṇḍavyūha Sūtra'', where the chapter's protagonist journeys to seek the advice of Avalokiteśvara. The Japanese scholar Shu Hikosaka, on the basis of his study of Buddhist scriptures, ancient Tamil literary sources, as well as field surveys, proposed the hypothesis that the ancient Mount Potalaka, the residence of Avalokiteśvara described in the ''Gaṇḍavyūha Sūtra'' and Xuanzang’s '' Great Tang Records on the Western Regions'', is the real mountain Potikai or Potiyil situated near the town of Ambasamudram in the Tirunelveli District of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The mountain is located in an area within the Singampatti Zamindar Forest.Hikosaka, Shu. "The Potiyil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chinese Communist Party
The Communist Party of China (CPC), also translated into English as Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Founded in 1921, the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Civil War against the Kuomintang and Proclamation of the People's Republic of China, proclaimed the establishment of the PRC under the leadership of Mao Zedong in October 1949. Since then, the CCP has governed China and has had sole control over the People's Liberation Army (PLA). , the CCP has more than 99 million members, making it the List of largest political parties, second largest political party by membership in the world. In 1921, Chen Duxiu and Li Dazhao led the founding of the CCP with the help of the Far Eastern Bureau of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) and Far Eastern Bureau of the Communist International. Although the CCP aligned with the Kuomintang (KMT) during its initia ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
