The Kangyur and the Tengyur.
Tibet's canon in two halves: what the Buddha said, and what everyone since has said about it. Over three hundred volumes, printed from hand-carved blocks, and heavy enough that carrying a set is itself a practice.
Tibet's canon is unusual in dividing translated scripture from commentary as a matter of structure. The Kangyur holds what is attributed to the Buddha; the Tengyur holds the Indian treatises and commentaries — over two hundred volumes of it. The translation project that produced them ran for six centuries, with state-funded translation teams and a standardised Sanskrit-Tibetan glossary imposed in the ninth century to keep terminology consistent, which is why Tibetan translations are literal enough that lost Sanskrit originals can sometimes be reconstructed from them. Printed sets are also objects of devotion: carried in procession, circumambulated, and placed above head height.
The same ground, other faiths
claims that share this one's ideasSign in to open the first thread. Everything here is attributed.
