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.

BRANDON DOTSON (D.Phil., Oxford 2007) is the leader of the “Kingship and Religion in Tibet” research group at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (2010-2015). Among his many works is The Old Tibetan Annals: An Annotated Translation of Tibet’s First History (Vienna, 2009).

KAZUSHI IWAO (岩尾一史) (PhD, Kyoto, 2006) is visiting scholar at Kobe City University of Foreign Studies. His work on Tibetan administration has appears in “Historical and Philological Studies of China’s Western Regions, Memoirs of the Toyo Bunko,” and other scholarly journals.

TSUGUHITO TAKEUCHI (武内紹人) (PhD, Indiana 1994) is Professor of Linguistics and Dean of Research at Kobe City University of Foreign Studies. He is the author of numerous books, articles, and catalogues, including “Old Tibetan Contracts from Central Asia” (Tokyo, 1995). He is editor-in-chief of Old Tibetan Documents Online.