CCTV.com
09-26-2012 09:28 BJT
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By CCTV reporter Stanley Lee
There is no better place to find pattra-leaf scriptures than at the Potala palace in Tibet. The palace holds the largest collection of the "Beiyejing". So let’s venture into its inner sanctum for a look at the hidden treasures.
Layer upon layer of protection, finally we are about to get a glimpse of the ancient treasure locked away here.
All of the Scriptures written on pattra leaves are carefully preserved on these wooden shelves.
Puncog Tseten is an expert in "Beiyejing". He gently unfolds the multiple layers of wrapping and reveals to us the "Beiyejing" that’s at least 12 hundred years old, all 200 pages of them.
Phuntshogs Tseten, Artefact expert, said,"Here you can see holes on the side, we used strings to link them together so that they won’t scatter all over the place"
Tseten also says the paintings on the "Beiyejing" is about the Budda. There are also commentaries and stories about famous Buddist figures. It’s remarkable how the paintings and text have retained its sharpness after more than a millennia.
However the artefacts are need of being organized and classified as time has brought confusion on their order.
Phuntshogs Tseten said,"These page numbers are in Sanskrit, and these are in Tibetan. They are a bit misleading as they were written down later, usually we look at the Sanskrit numbers. "
The organizing project took a couple of years, every piece was extracted and carefully examined and catalogued. The experts also made photo copies of all of them so that the treasures will be available to researchers and academics.
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| There is no better place to find pattra-leaf scriptures than at the Potala palace in Tibet. The palace holds the largest collection of the "Beiyejing". |
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| There is no better place to find pattra-leaf scriptures than at the Potala palace in Tibet. The palace holds the largest collection of the "Beiyejing". |
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| There is no better place to find pattra-leaf scriptures than at the Potala palace in Tibet. The palace holds the largest collection of the "Beiyejing". |
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| Potala Palace |
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Potala PalaceNorwegian professor studies" Beiyejing"
09-26-2012 09:58 BJT
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The pattra-leaf scriptures have recorded not only the scriptures of Buddhism but also philosophy, history, calendars, literature, art, science and so on. Therefore, studying the pattra-leaf scriptures demands a lot from a scholar. Now we head to Oslo, the capital of Norway, to meet an expert on "Beiyejing".
Professor Jens Erland Braarvig has dedicated his life to the study of the pattra-leaf scriptures. His main focus also includes languages, which helps him a lot in studying the pattra-leaf scriptures.
From the 2nd century to 8th century, many pattra-leaf scriptures were transported to countries in Central Asia from India on the ancient Silk Road. Professor Braarvig mainly studies those discovered in Afghanistan.
Professor Braarvig and his study team collected these pieces of "Beiyejing", scanned them into computers, categorized them, and then found their Sanskrit, Tibetan or Chinese version.
Professor Braarvig hopes that his team can cooperate with Chinese experts to study the pattra-leaf scriptures in the future, which he believes will help more people understand the history of Buddhism as well as the influence Buddhism has had on politics, language and culture.
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