The nearest contemporary witnesses to the lords of central Tibet in 1200. Lama Zhang, who died in 1193, founded Tsal (1175) and Gungthang (1187) and ruled the Lhasa district as a warrior lama; his collected works include his autobiographical writings and the records of his disputes and conquests, which show a monastery acting as a territorial power. The lives of Jigten Gonpo of Drigung (founded 1179) and Taklung Thangpa (Taklung, founded 1180), written by their pupils, describe the houses that in 1200 were gathering the largest followings in Tibet. These texts are devotional and partisan, and dates in them are given by the animal cycle.
About this source
- Title
- Zhang g.yu brag pa brtson 'grus grags pa'i bka' 'bum, with the early Kagyu biographies
- Author
- Lama Zhang (Zhang Yudrakpa Tsondru Drakpa) and his disciples; the biographers of Drigung, Taklung and Phagmodru
- Author's dates
- Lama Zhang 1123 to 1193
- Written
- the 1160s to the early 13th century
- Language
- Tibetan
- Covers
- the Kagyu founders and their seats, about 1150 to 1220
- Kind
- Biography
The Drigung and Taklung biographies were not located as single online items in this task; they are on BDRC under the names of the founders. For the lay houses of 1200 (the Lang of Phagmodru, the Che of Zhalu) the evidence is later genealogies only.
Where to read it
Editions
- dPal ldan tshal pa bka' brgyud kyi bstan pa'i mnga' bdag zhang g.yu brag pa brtson 'grus grags pa'i gsung 'bum rin po che (2004), Tibetan; BDRC scan
- Zhang g.yu brag pa brtson 'grus grags pa'i bka' 'bum, Tibetan; BDRC scan
Translations
- No full English translation; C. Yamamoto, Vision and Violence: Lama Zhang and the Politics of Charisma (Leiden, 2012) translates extracts; in copyright (not freely online)