Description: As Tibet enters into its 50th year of Chinese rule, questions of cultural distinctions and similarities become ever more important in determining the future of the relationship between the Snow Lion and the Red Dragon. But often left unsaid is the long history the two countries share, and the significant cultural interchanges that have existed over time. Setting political agenda aside, " Buddhism Between Tibet and China" features a collection of noteworthy essays that probe the nature of this relationship, from the Tang Dynasty (618-907 CE) to the present. Annotated and contextualized by noted scholar Matthew Kapstein and others, the historical accounts that comprise this volume display the rich dialogue between Tibet and China in the areas of scholarship, the fine arts, politics, philosophy, and religion. This thoughtful book provides insight into the surprisingly complex history behind the relationship from a variety of geographical regions.
Brief description: Matthew Kapstein is Numata Professor of Buddhist Studies at the University of Chicago. His previous publications include the Tibetan Assimilation of Buddhism: Conversion, Contestation, and Memory and, with the anthropologist Melvyn C. Goldstein, Buddhism in Contemporary Tibet: Religious Revival and Cultural Identity. He is co-translator of the late H.H. Dujom Rinpoche's The Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism. Since 2002 he has also served as director of Tibetan Studies at the ecole Pratique des Hautes etudes, Paris.
Review Quotes: "This splendid book about the multifaceted Tibetan-Chinese interactions through Buddhism will quickly become established as ground-breaking and authoritative in its field. The book is diverse in the different regions of the Chinese world that come under discussion, from Tibet, Qinghai and Sichuan to Beijing and Taiwan; and in the periods considered, which range from the seventh to the twenty-first centuries. And this book is a veritable storehouse of insight and information on Tibetan Buddhism in China, including art, thought and eminent personalities. The writing is objective, detailed and highly readable. I recommend it strongly."--Colin Mackerras Ph.D. Professor Emeritus, Griffith University