This volume presents new findings and original research concerning early Tibet and the social and cultural history of the Tibetan Empire (c. 600–850 CE). In five chapters, leading scholars approach the problem of textual production in interrelated and complementary ways. These include a chapter on the social history of scribal practice in Dunhuang, a codicological study of royally commissioned sutras, a palaeographical essay at a typology of early Tibetan writing, a study of hunting topoi in narrative and ritual texts, and a text-critical approach to an early Bon tantra. Demonstrating the methodological breadth of the field of early Tibetan studies, the remaining contributions range from an archeological study of pre-historic ritual artefacts and an art-historical study of illuminated tomb panels to two chapters on Tibetan imperial administration and a chapter on the cosmopolitan origins of materia medica used in the Silk Road entrepôt of Dunhuang.
The work will be of interest to all those interested in the language, history, and culture of early Tibet. Its essays are appropriate for those ranging from undergraduates to professional scholars.