Transforming Technologies and Buddhist Book Culture: The Introduction of Printing and Digital Text Reproduction in Tibetan Societies

本项目将通过将“书”作为藏传佛教背景下的人工制品、传播媒介、政治权威的象征和仪式对象来探索佛教文化与技术变革之间的关系。通过使用一个来自以前ahrc资助项目的团队（成员来自剑桥大学、大英图书馆和西藏研究机构），它将确保一个坚实的知识基础和物有所值。它将对从事西藏文化遗产保护工作的广泛学者和土著学者以及参与迅速发展的国际藏书史领域的所有学者具有世界范围的多学科吸引力。藏传书籍文化反映了佛教的思想，即文本是遗物，分发是一种善行。这些思想对7世纪中国印刷术的发明及其后来在东亚和蒙古帝国（包括西藏）的传播有着重要的影响。这些思想和态度使西藏采用了印刷技术，形成了一种独特的、无与伦比的图书文化，其影响远远超出了青藏高原。该项目将研究两个核心问题：木版印刷术传入西藏，以及目前数字技术在西藏收藏品保护中的应用。对15 -16世纪西藏木版版画的初步调查表明，印刷技术促进了专业工艺的发展，并导致了独特的人力和资源调动方式。这本书的佛教道德推动了赞助网络的发展，包括西藏内外的统治者和居士和僧侣社区成员，以支持印刷项目。藏区频繁的政治动荡并没有导致佛教书籍文化的破坏，而是更持久地努力恢复和保存文本。同样，在文化大革命（1966-76）之后，僧侣、尼姑和世俗学者组成的网络出现了，他们寻找丢失的藏品，重新整理寺院档案，恢复文本；数字技术的采用正在协助这一努力。该项目建立在之前两个由亚洲人权委员会资助的项目的基础上：一个项目揭示了保存在英国的一些杰出的早期西藏印刷术的例子（特别是在扬赫夫收藏品中），另一个项目出版了一位15世纪公主的传记，这位公主在西藏贡唐地区引进印刷术方面发挥了重要作用，那里的古代图书馆仍然存在。全面考察西藏早期版画、传记和生活传统的典籍，将为更广泛地探索印刷技术传入西藏及其社会文化影响提供基础。此外，该项目将在数字技术的帮助下，对迄今为止没有记录的文本恢复和编目过程进行民族志调查。这项对西藏书籍和印刷文化实践的开创性研究将阐明藏传佛教文化未被探索的方面，同时为书籍的比较研究提供宝贵的材料。它将建立一个数据库、一个网站、几份学术出版物、一个由世界领先学者组成的网络、一个专门的会议，以及在大英图书馆和剑桥大学举办的展览。因此，它将在学术和大众层面为ahrc资助的研究提供可见性。它还将促进知识和技能向英国和西藏的青年学者的转移，并将鼓励在政治敏感领域的对话与合作。

This project will explore the relationship between Buddhist culture and technological transformations by looking at 'the book' as artifact, medium for communication, symbol of political authority, and ritual object in the context of Tibetan Buddhism. By using a team from previous AHRC-funded projects (with members from Cambridge University, the British Library and Tibetan research institutions) it will ensure a firm knowledge base and good value for money. It will have world-wide multidisciplinary appeal for a broad range of academics and indigenous scholars engaged in the preservation of Tibetan cultural heritage and for all scholars involved in the rapidly growing international field of the history of the book.Tibetan book culture reflects Buddhist ideas that texts are relics and that their distribution is an act of merit. These ideas had a significant bearing on the invention of printing in 7th century China and on its later spread throughout East Asia and the Mongolian empire, including Tibet. Inspired by the notion that books are embodiments of the words of the Buddha, Tibetans treat them as persons worthy of respect who can bestow blessings and act on people. These ideas and attitudes led to the adoption of printing technologies in Tibet and the development of a unique and unrivalled culture of books reaching far beyond the Tibetan plateau.The project will investigate two core issues: the introduction of block printing into Tibet, and the current use of digital technologies in the preservation of Tibetan collections. A preliminary survey of 15th-16th century Tibetan block prints showed that printing technologies promoted specialised craftsmanship and led to distinctive ways of mobilising people and resources. A Buddhist morality of the book propelled the development of networks of patronage involving rulers and members of lay and monastic communities, both within Tibet and beyond, in support of printing projects. Frequent political upheavals in the Tibetan areas resulted not in the destruction of Buddhist book culture, but in more sustained efforts to recover and preserve texts. Similarly after the Cultural Revolution (1966-76) networks of monks, nuns and lay scholars emerged to search for lost collections, re-order monastic archives and recover texts; an effort now being assisted by the adoption of digital technologies.The project builds on two previous AHRC-funded projects: one brought to light some remarkable examples of early Tibetan printing kept in the UK (especially in the Younghusband Collection) and the other published the biography of a 15th century princess who played a seminal role in the introduction of printing in the Gungthang region of Tibet where ancient libraries are still in existence. A comprehensive survey of colophons of early prints, biographies and the living tradition in this region will provide the basis for a broader exploration of the introduction of printing technologies into Tibet with their social and cultural ramifications. In addition, the project will conduct an ethnographic investigation of the hitherto undocumented process of recovery and cataloguing of texts carried out by grass-root networks of monastic and lay scholars with the help of digital technologies.This pioneering study of cultural practices surrounding Tibetan books and printing will illuminate unexplored aspects of Tibetan Buddhist culture while providing valuable materials for comparative studies of the book. It will produce a database, a website, several academic publications, a network of world-leading scholars, a dedicated conference, and exhibitions at the British Library and in Cambridge. It will therefore provide visibility for AHRC-funded research at the academic and the popular level. It will also promote the transfer of knowledge and skills to junior scholars in the UK and Tibet and will encourage dialogue and cooperation in politically sensitive areas.