Origin of Tibetan Writing
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3964853 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Berthold Laufer (0000-0001-7303-7726, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1918 |
| Volume | 38 |
| Pages | 34 |
| Publication date | 1918-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of the American Oriental Society (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0003-0279 • E-ISSN: 2169-2289 |
| Publisher | JSTOR (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.2307/592582 |
| OpenAlex | W2322775245 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 5 |
THE CHINESE ANNALS of the T'ang Dynasty (A. D. 618-906) report that the ancient Tibetans (T'ur-far) possessed no writing, but that they availed themselves of notched tallies and knotted strings (quippus) in concluding treaties.1 This account evidently refers to the people at large, but not to the government of Lhasa; for continuing our reading of the annals we notice sufficient evidence for the existence of some form of actual writing as a means of official communication. We are informed that in A. D. 634 the'king (btsar-p'o) K'i-tsuA luhi-tsan or K'i-su-nuni (corresponding to Tibetan Srof-btsan sgam-po) sent envoys with tribute to the Chinese emperor, and subsequently despatched to him a respectful letter petitioning for a matrimonial alliance. In A. D. 641 he received in marriage the Chinese princess (kung chu) Wen-ch'eng, and gradually adopted Chinese customs and manners. He invited scholars from China to compose his official reports to the emperor. After his successful participation in Wang Hiian-ts'e's campaign in central India (A. D. 648)2 he applied to the emperor for work
Ancient history · Geography · Asian Geopolitics and Ethnography · China's Ethnic Minorities and Relations · History · Indian and Buddhist Studies
| Unique citing works | 5 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0.36 |
| Citation span | 2012 - 2020 (9) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 5 |