Knowledge and Power: Material Culture History of Tibetan Buddhism during the Qing Dynasty…

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The mid-seventeenth century ushered in a series of momentous political changes in China and Tibet. The Dalai Lama-led Ganden Phodrang state emerged in Lhasa with the ambitious ruler and his coterie displaying their power through new art and infrastructure. Further east, the Manchus, despite being a minority in Confucian China, rose to become the Qing emperors in Beijing. As they expanded the empire’s territories to include the Inner Asian regions of Mongolia and Tibet, they projected a complex model of Buddhist kingship to gain legitimacy among the new subjects. How are these historical developments reflected in the material and print culture of this period (17th-19th centuries)? Each week, we will cover one theme of Buddhist material culture. Topics include book publishing and written technology; monastic architecture and replication of infrastructure; creation of statues, paintings and ritual objects among others.