Akester, Matthew, Jamyang Khyentsé Wangpo's Guide to
Central Tibet, Chicago (Serindia Publications), 2016. 824
pp. ISBN 978-1-932476-60-6.
Per Kværne
(University of Oslo)
J
amyang Khyentsé Wangpo (1820–1892) is widely recognized
as one of the most important intellectual and spiritual
masters in Tibet in the nineteenth century. It is therefore not
without relevance to point to Matthew Akester's earlier book
containing a carefully annotated translation of the biography of this
great Tibetan scholar, composed by the latter's disciple, friend and
colleague, the not less renowned scholar Jamgön Kongtrul (1813–99):
The Life of Jamyang Khyentsé Wangpo by Jamgön Kongtrul, New Delhi
(Shechen Publications), 2012.
A native of Dergé, Jamyang Khyentsé Wangpo was at the centre of
the ris med 'eclectic' or 'non-partisan' movement which reached its
apex in Eastern Tibet in the nineteenth century. Among the strongest
motives for travelling extensively in Central Tibet was his interest in
different religious traditions, and although such pious peregrinations
were common then – as they remain today – writing a handbook for
other pilgrims (as opposed to catalogues and inventories of specific
monasteries) was new. His Guide (dBus gtsang gnas rten rag rim gyi
mtshan byang mdor bsdus dad pa’i sa bon),1 compiled on the basis of
travels in Central Tibet in the 1840's, would therefore seem to be the
first of its kind; it gained wide popularity and is still in print in Tibet.
Apart from a few earlier references (Ferrari 1958, p. xx), Jamyang
Khyentsé Wangpo's Guide first came to the notice of Western scholars
in 1958 with the posthumous publication in the Serie Orientale Roma
of Alfonsa Ferrari's annotated translation. 2 Unfortunately Ferrari
(1918–1954) did not live to see the publication of her work, which was
completed and edited by Luciano Petech in collaboration with Hugh
Richardson, the latter also supplying a considerable number of
photos of the places dealt with in the Guide. At the time of its
1
This is the title found in the Dergé edition. Different editions have different titles,
cf. p. 17 and note 26.
2
Ferrari, Alfonsa, mK‘yen brtse’s Guide to the Holy Places of Central Tibet, Rome
(IsMEO), 1958. Serie Orientale Roma XVI.
Per Kværne, “Book review of Akester, Matthew, Jamyang Khyentsé Wangpo's Guide to Central
Tibet”, Revue d’Etudes Tibétaines, no. 46, Octobre 2018, pp. 154–157.
Compte-rendu 155
publication, Ferrari's work was a uniquely informative and richly
annotated source of information concerning the monasteries and
temples of Central Tibet, which has retained its usefulness until
today.
Matthew Akester's work, which largely replaces the Italian study
from 1958, is impressive. For once, the term "awesome", in current
usage usually emptied of its meaning, is not out of place. It is, with
respect to comprehensiveness combined with breadth and variety of
it sources, among the most ambitious works this reviewer has seen in
Tibetan studies for a great many years. Briefly stated, it contains a
translation of Jamyang Khyentsé Wangpo's Guide, a short and concise
text, comprising only 18 fols. in the original rDzong-gsar edition (p.
15), reproduced in Akester's work (pp. 702-710). Following the Guide,
Akester divides this text into sections, each section dealing with a
district in Central Tibet. The individual monastery or temple
mentioned in the relevant section is then presented in great detail – in
fact, each entry, in all about 200, is a virtual storehouse of
information. Akester makes use of multiple historical sources,
primary as well as secondary, to outline the history of each location
through the centuries: its foundation, expansion or decline, famous
(and less famous) monks and lamas associated with it, and, not least,
its fate during the disastrous period of the pre-1960's and the
subsequent Cultural Revolution. He then describes the process of
reconstruction, generally from the 1980's onwards, and the current
state of the monastery or temple. Abundant notes contain a wealth of
supplementary information concerning lamas and textual sources,
including references to Jamyang Khyentsé's biography, and much
else. There are indexes of place-names and personal names, with
transliterated spellings.
A major source of information is the Moon Crystal Necklace (Gangs
ljong dbus gtsang gnas bskor lam yig nor bu zla shel gyi se mo do) a
"pilgrimage diary of …Urgyen Chökyi Gyatso of Ka-tok (1880–1925),
a far more ambitious work (280 folia)…compiled from notes made by
the author during his 1918-20 tour of Ü-Tsang" (p. 17). This work,
which has so far not been translated into English, is to a large extent a
commentary to Jamyang Khyentsé Wangpo's Guide.
The illustrations are exceptionally numerous and well chosen.
They include photos of thangkas and statues of important lamas, as
well as wall paintings and actual portrait photos, many of which
have not been published before, at least in Western publications. The
author systematically presents pre-1959 photos of the temples and
monasteries wherever available, making the book the most
comprehensive photographic documentation of its kind up to now.
Some of the photos taken by the late Hugh Richardson have been
Revue d'Etudes Tibétaines 156
published previously in other publications, but many others will be
new to almost all readers, not least the many photos taken by the
Gyalyum Kunsang Dechen Tsomo Namgyel (1906–1987) during her
pilgrimage in Central Tibet in 1935-36. With more than 200 sites
described, the book gives a unique and deeply disturbing insight into
the scale of the destruction that took place in Tibet after 1960, both
before and during the Cultural Revolution, simply by juxtaposing the
"before" and "after". The extent of reconstruction, especially in the
1980's and 1990's, is also amazing, especially taking into account that
most of the funding was provided by Tibetans locally, in the form of
donations and voluntary labour.
A highly commendable feature of the present work is the fact that
in the 1990's the author visited a great many of the sites mentioned in
the Guide, resulting not only in numerous photos, but also in the
collection of oral information which contributes to the unique
usefulness of this book.
Reviewing a work of such complexity, it is not possible to provide
a brief presentation of even a selection of the entries. The possible
sources of pictorial material might of course be expanded, but
wherever choice is possible, the author seems to have made a
judicious choice. It might nevertheless be useful to point out to
interested readers two works containing illustrations which
supplement Akester's presentation of the holy sites of Lhasa:
• Vaniš, Josef, Vladimir Sis, Josef Kolmaš, Per Kvaerne, Recalling
Tibet, Oslo/Prague (The Institute for Comparative Research in
Human Culture/ Práh Press), 1997 (containing numerous photos not
published in Sis and Vaniš, On the road through Tibet, London (Spring
Books), 1957.
• Larsen, Knud and Amund Sinding-Larsen, The Lhasa Atlas.
Traditional Tibetan Architecture and Townscape, London (Serindia
Publications), 2001.
The book is provided with maps that "attempt to depict central Tibet
as it was in the middle of the nineteenth century, at the time of
Khyentsé Rinpoche's travels, using a traditional Tibetan format with
which he would have been familiar (p. 9)". While the resulting maps
contribute to recreating the mid-19th century atmosphere in Tibet,
Akester's book would have benefited – and this is the only element
which I feel is lacking in this volume – from a detailed conventional
map, pinpointing the exact location of each site.
Akester's work is the result of decades of travelling and reading,
dedication and careful scholarship. It is a unique and extraordinary
Compte-rendu 157
book, a virtually inexhaustible mine of information and a pleasure to
read (the speed recommended by this reviewer is one entry a day).
Whether one's primary interest is the religious, political or cultural
history of Central Tibet, this work is fundamental, and due to the
circumstances of its origin, is not likely to be superseded.
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