Cataloguing of the Tenjur section of the Tibetan Buddhist Canon preserved in the Narthang woodblock edition
Filippo Lunardo – Department of the Institute of Oriental Studies (ISO), Sapienza Università di Roma (2022-2025)
In November 2022, a three-year research project was launched at the Department of the Institute of Oriental Studies (ISO) at Sapienza University of Rome. The project aimed to catalogue a collection of Tibetan texts belonging to the Tenjur (bsTan ’gyur) section of the Tibetan Buddhist Canon, preserved in the ISO library.
This initiative was made possible through an agreement between Sapienza and the Italian Buddhist Union (UBI), which provided funding and enabled the establishment of a fixed-term research position held by Dr. Filippo Lunardo.
The Tenjur Collection and its Historical-Cultural Context
The Tenjur section of the Tibetan Buddhist Canon comprises exegetical texts, commentaries, and philosophical treatises – mostly of Indian origin – related to the sūtra and tantra literary genres.
The copy preserved at the ISO library is a complete woodblock-printed edition, consisting of 224 volumes produced at Narthang Monastery (sNar thang), which is a monastery originally linked to the Kadam school (bKa’ gdams) and built near the city of Shigatse (gZhis ka rtse) in Tsang (gTsang) province. Prof. Giuseppe Tucci acquired this collection during his 1948 expedition to Tibet; the copy was created using wooden matrices and was based on the Tenjur edition produced between 1741 and 1742, commissioned by the regent at the time, Pholane Sonam Thobgye (Pho lha nas bsod nams stobs rgyas). Due to the wooden matrices used for the printing of this copy being most likely “exhausted”, that is, consumed by excessive use, its reading and analysis presents significant challenges.
Aims of the Cataloguing Project
The project aimed to produce a systematic catalogue of the Tenjur collection, with particular focus on:
- identifying and recording the titles of the texts contained in the 224 volumes;
- comparing them with existing catalogues and bibliographies related to the Tibetan Canon;
- analyzing the miniatures found on the first and last pages of each text in order to interpret their potential functions and iconographic references.
In particular, the identification of the subjects depicted in the miniatures highlights the connection between certain texts and the images. In fact, the miniatures, which portray Indian and Tibetan masters, translators, and deities, can quickly indicate a lineage of transmission as well as the symbolic meaning of what is conveyed in the written instructions.
This last element represents an original contribution, not yet explored in prior studies, aimed at investigating the intentions of the patrons and the contexts of production and dissemination of the collection.
Outcomes and Future Directions
The project resulted in a detailed bibliographic database, providing a valuable resource for future philological, historical, and artistic research on the Tibetan Buddhist Canon and its historical editions.
The Tenjur section of the Canon, although already catalogued through other collections, has never been examined as thoroughly as the Kanjur section (bKa’ ’gyur). For this reason, alongside the publication of the final work of cataloguing, enriched by the research conducted on the iconographic aspect accompanying the volumes, the publication of a text that highlights the relationship between image and word is also planned.
The work, overall, contributes to the preservation and recognition of a rare literary heritage and serves as an important reference for Tibetan Buddhist studies in Europe.
The initiative also highlights the importance of collaboration between academic institutions and UBI in promoting specialized research on texts and sources of historical and spiritual significance.
