Zhang Zhung Culture

Discussion of the fifth religious tradition of Tibet.
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kalden yungdrung
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Re: Zhang Zhung Culture

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Tashi delek,

ཞང་ཞུང་ཀླུ་བྲག་ཡུལ་དུ་རྟེན་གཞི་བྱས་པའི་ཕྱ་ཀེང་ཙེའི་སློབ་ཕྲུག་རྣམས་ཀྱིས་ཞང་བོད་ལོ་སར་དུས་སྟོན་དུ་ཞང་ཞུང་སྤུ་ཧྲེང་ལུགས་ཀྱི་ཞབས་གཞས་འཁྲབ་སྟོན་གནང་བཞིན་པ།

Shangshung traditionally Dance
by: Cha Kingtse Bönpo students

at Triten Norbutse Bön Monastery for Earth Pig Tibetan New Year on 01/06/2019.

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kalden yungdrung
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Re: Zhang Zhung Culture

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Tashi delek,

Like you would know , one time Mustang was a part of the Zhang Zhung kingdom.

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Chinese Emperor Chia ch'ing  - 00.jpg
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A document written in Tibetan and Chinese.

The Samling Gompa possesses numerous historical documents, nearly all of which were filmed by the NGMPP in the summer of 1997. Among them are two documents written in both Tibetan and Chinese.

In the document shown here, a certain bDa lo yer from Shigatse, on the order of the Chinese Emperor Chia ch'ing (1796–1820), orders the King of Mustang and others to protect the possessions of the Samling, Drolung and Tarap monasteries
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kalden yungdrung
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Re: Zhang Zhung Culture

Post by kalden yungdrung »

Tashi delek,

Zhang Zhung, was once a great and famous kingdom, consisting out of 16-18 smaller kingdoms, in the pre Buddhist time table of Tibetan history. These kingdoms were mainly situated in the western part of Tibet, along the famous silk route.

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སྲིད་པའི་ཞང་ཞུང་།

Ancient & Zhang Zhung
By: བོན་རྒྱལ་ལོ། BönGyalo

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kalden yungdrung
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Re: Zhang Zhung Culture

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Tashi delek,

The Gurugyam Monastery is located in western Tibet.

The monastic complex is one of the largest and most important Bönpo monasteries left in Tibet, due in part to its remote western location.

Here you can see some of the main buildings, as well as the cliff side meditation areas and hermitages.

It is believed that this area was once an important ritual center during the height of the Zhang Zhung empire, which predated the rise of the modern Tibetan state, and controlled much of western Tibet, India and Nepal in the 6th century.

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Last edited by kalden yungdrung on Thu Jan 17, 2019 12:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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kalden yungdrung
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Re: Zhang Zhung Culture

Post by kalden yungdrung »

Tashi delek,

Below a link which shows a Bön Prayer to Buddha Tönpa Shenrab Miwoche in the old pre-Buddhist Zhang Zhung Language.

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viewtopic.php?f=78&p=479866#p479866
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Re: Zhang Zhung Culture

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Tashi delek,

Great news! :twothumbsup:

A copy of the famous "Zhangzhung-Tibetan Dictionary" (sha ri'i sgra mdo) is found today 07-02-2019, in Sharkhog, Amdo, Tibet.

This dictionary was composed by Zhangzhung scholar Shari Uchen who lived in 8th century.

This a part of his 'Collected Works on Grammatical Compositions' (Sha ri'i sgra 'bum).

It is said that the known last copy of the text was brought to Amdo from Yungdrung Ling monastery in Tsang, Central Tibet in 1959. This is one of the oldest Zhangzhung-Tibetan Dictionaries.

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Z.Z.- Tib. dictionary - 00a.jpg
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Re: Zhang Zhung Culture

Post by lelopa »

kalden yungdrung wrote: Thu Feb 07, 2019 8:00 pm Tashi delek,

Great news! :twothumbsup:

A copy of the famous "Zhangzhung-Tibetan Dictionary" (sha ri'i sgra mdo) is found today in Sharkhog, Amdo, Tibet.

This dictionary was composed by Zhangzhung scholar Shari Uchen who lived in 8th century.

This a part of his 'Collected Works on Grammatical Compositions' (Sha ri'i sgra 'bum).

It is said that the known last copy of the text was brought to Amdo from Yungdrung Ling monastery in Tsang, Central Tibet in 1959. This is one of the oldest Zhangzhung-Tibetan Dictionaries.

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Z.Z.- Tib. dictionary - 00a.jpg


but the picture doesn't show a single letter in zhang-zhung script... only tibetan :shrug:
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kalden yungdrung
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Re: Zhang Zhung Culture

Post by kalden yungdrung »

lelopa wrote: Thu Feb 07, 2019 8:11 pm
kalden yungdrung wrote: Thu Feb 07, 2019 8:00 pm Tashi delek,

Great news! :twothumbsup:

A copy of the famous "Zhangzhung-Tibetan Dictionary" (sha ri'i sgra mdo) is found today in Sharkhog, Amdo, Tibet.

This dictionary was composed by Zhangzhung scholar Shari Uchen who lived in 8th century.

This a part of his 'Collected Works on Grammatical Compositions' (Sha ri'i sgra 'bum).

It is said that the known last copy of the text was brought to Amdo from Yungdrung Ling monastery in Tsang, Central Tibet in 1959. This is one of the oldest Zhangzhung-Tibetan Dictionaries.

.
Z.Z.- Tib. dictionary - 00a.jpg


but the picture doesn't show a single letter in zhang-zhung script... only tibetan :shrug:
The Zhang Zhung words are transliterated into Tibetan.
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lelopa
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Re: Zhang Zhung Culture

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:thumbsup:
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kalden yungdrung
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Re: Zhang Zhung Culture

Post by kalden yungdrung »

Tashi delek,

John Vincent Belleza does any archeological research in Tibet, regrading the old Zhang Zhung Culture, which was situated near the holy mountain Kailash.

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By: John Vincent Belleza.



More Ancient Secrets from Asia's Holiest Peak: Mount Kailash

Hidden high up in inaccessible valleys and cliffs all around Mount Kailash are the remains of buildings constructed before Buddhism spread to Western Tibet. These are the physical traces of what is commonly called Zhang Zhung civilization.

There are nearly one hundred of these structures, ranging from multi-roomed residences to monumental edifices that once housed dozens of people. But who were these inhabitants?

Tibetan texts and archaeological findings suggest that the archaic all-stone corbelled structures accommodated a wide range of the prehistoric elite including early Bön adepts and political leaders. Yungdrung Bön texts tell us that the first capital of Zhang Zhung, Gyantrak Yulojong, was located in the very centre of Mount Kailash. While the archaeological evidence cannot confirm this identity, the sheer number of pre-Buddhist settlements at the holy peak speaks of its political and cultural pre-eminence.

Until I began my survey work in Upper Tibet in the early 1990s, many Western scholars thought that Yungdrung Bön
ön accounts of Mount Kailash and Zhang Zhung were purely mythical, but the archaeological evidence brought to light at the holy mountain shows that civilization in Western Tibet was relatively advanced even before Buddhists took control of the region around 1000 CE. Radiocarbon dating of associated organic remains indicates that the corbelled edifices, such as those found at Mount Kailash, began to be built sometime in the first millennium BCE.

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Mount Kailash - 00.jpg
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A pre-Buddhist residential complex at Mount Kailash. Pictured is but a small portion of the complex. Its original purpose is not clear: it may have functioned as a temple or palace. However it was used, there were dozens of tiny windowless rooms to occupy, some built partially underground. There are no large rooms though that could be used as public halls of congregation centers. Whatever individuals were doing in these buildings, they were doing it with just a very small number of people in the same room. The warren of little cells may have housed prehistoric bon practitioners. However, in historic times Buddhist and Yungdrung Bon adepts built much more rudimentary shelters. The era of monumental construction at very high elevations in Upper Tibet did not survive the transition to Lamaism.
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Re: Zhang Zhung Culture

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By JVB:

The north side of Mount Kailash, still known in Tibetan by its Zhang Zhung name, Tise. It is remarkable that the six Buddhist monasteries established around the mountain beginning around 1100 CE pale in comparison with the dozen settlements founded by the earlier inhabitants. Also, the monasteries are without exception at set at lower, less defensible locations than those of the so-called Zhang Zhung civilization.

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Re: Zhang Zhung Culture

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By: JVB


This multi-storied structure clings to a cliff face. It is part of a complex of buildings called Mighty Mountain Fortress. However, it is not known if it was actually used for military purposes. Note the large corbels on the upper left wall. These onces supported another floor. At a nearby is a better preserved all-stone corbelled structure said in local tradition to have been used by the famous Buddhist ascetic Rechungpa in the late 11th century or early 12th century CE.


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Re: Zhang Zhung Culture

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IN ADDITION:

By: JVB.


THE ANCIENT HEART OF MOUNT KAILASH.


The Reputed First Capital of the Zhang Zhung kingdom

The first capital of the glorious Zhang Zhung kingdom is said in Yungdrung Bön sources to be a place known as Mountain Walls Turquoise Leaf Tree Fortress. According to the 19th century savant Karru Drupwang, this site is where the Buddhist monastery Famous Walls now sits, Built in the 13th century by the Drigung Kagyu subsect, Famous Walls is set in the very middle of the vast amphitheater at the heart of Mount Kailash. ( Many Bönpos were converted to Drikung Kagyud, their family names prove this)

Tibetologists could not put much stock in Drupwang's account purporting to document the prehistory of Western Tibet. No one is quite sure where he got his information and older texts that might corroborate what he wrote are still lacking. Unless there was hard evidence to support Drupwang's claims they could only be taken as myth. I set out to test the old master's information and began systematically exploring all the nooks and crannies around Mount in the 1990s and 2000s. I had to negotiate a maze of hidden valleys and ridges, covering hundreds of kilometres on foot in very difficult terrain.

What I discovered exceeded my highest expectations. All around Famous Walls were the ruins of archaic all-stone corbelled buildings, some even with their roofs partially intact. Below the monastery of Famous walls were the remains of what appears to have been a stronghold guarding the narrow approach to the amphitheatre. In the upper reaches of the amphitheatre and along its rim I found more than 50 ancient buildings, each once housing members of the highest elevation race on the planet. These structures were built with the most extraordinary views of the surrounding sacred lakes of Manasarovar and Rakas Tal, a most inspiring backdrop for the ancient residents.

While none of the ruins around Famous Walls have 'Zhang Zhung capital' inscribed on their stones, the size and scope of this cluster of archaeological sites is so extensive as to make that a distinct possibility. There is still so much to learn about Famous Walls and how it was used in prehistory. Perhaps one day we will be able to confirm its status as the capital of a great kingdom.
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Re: Zhang Zhung Culture

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Re: Zhang Zhung Culture

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Tashi delek,

Geshela Gelek from Triten Norbutse Monastery / Kathmandu, went in 2009 to Mustang.
Mustang was a part of the Zhang Zhung kingdom, which was divided in 18 smaller kingdoms.

=======================



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Re: Zhang Zhung Culture

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Re: Zhang Zhung Culture

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Tashi delek,

Bön Stupa in Lubrak / Mustang .
Sometimes it is possible to walk through a Bön Chörten, there is an opening.

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Re: Zhang Zhung Culture

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Tashi delek,

A devoted Bönpo, Tom Maroshegyi is on holiday in Lubrak, Nepal.
This area is mainly inhabit by Bönpos since it was a part of the Zhang Zhung kingdoms.

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By: Tom Maroshegyi

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Footprints left in stone of Master and his Yak ... At the entrance of cave where 2 masters attained Rainbow Body ...


"Gongphu Gompa

Founded in the early part of the 12th century, Gongphu Gompa (‘The Temple of the High Cave’) is one of the oldest sacred sites in the entire Mustang region.

It sits high on a bare hill, overlooking Lubrak village and the surrounding valleys. Its isolated position suits its purpose well - the temple was built over the cave where Lubrak’s founder, the Bön master, Tashi Gyaltsen, had meditated for 9 years, 9 months and 9 days.

Legend has it that, as a miraculous sign of his spiritual achievements, a ridge appeared in the rock wall above the cave to mark each year that he spent in retreat. After the completion of his retreat, a small temple was built to commemorate his achievement, and was given the name Gongphu Gompa.

Over the centuries, Bönpo practitioners had sought this site to follow in the path of this great master."



Gongphu Gompa and Cave
Lubrak, Mustang, Nepal
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Re: Zhang Zhung Culture

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IN ADDITION:


Look also here:

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viewtopic.php?f=78&t=1877
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Re: Zhang Zhung Culture

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Tashi delek,

Geshela Sönam Gurung, was one of the beloved monks of the late H.H. The Gyalwa 33th Menri Trizin Lungtok Tenpai Nyima Rinpoche, no doubt about it.

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Geshe Sonam Gurung, who is the subject of the film “From Mustang to Menri”, left his home in Mustang Valley at the age of 9 years, to be trained as a monk at Menri Monastery.

Now, 30 years later, Geshe Sonam has returned back to his home in the region of Mustang. He is returning to rebuild Bön Culture in this great spiritual home of the world. This is the fruit of his root Lama’s wishes and the precious teachings he received from His Holiness Gyalwa Menri Trizin, the 33rd Abbot of Menri Bon Monastery and the spiritual head of the Tibetan Bön religion and his other teachers at Menri monastery.

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