13th century Buddhism classic found in Tibet

CCTV, 16 December 2013 

Tibet museum declared to have found an inscription of Pramanavarttika (Explanation of Touch-stones) dated back to the 13th century.

This inscription of scripture was identified to be produced in Beijing, then capital of the Yuan Dynasty (1206-1370) during 1281-1286.

Pramanavarttika (Explanation of Touch-stones) dated back to the 13th century.This inscription of scripture was identified to be produced in Beijing, then capital of the Yuan Dynasty (1206-1370), during 1281-1286. [Photo/GMW.cn]

The Buddhism classic Pramanavarttika was written by the great Indian logician Dharmakirti and is one of the seven theories of the Hetuvidya shastra (the Buddhist science of logic with its syllogistic method of proposition, reason and examples).

It is said that the scripture was translated to Tibetan language by Ngok Lodan Sherab, a well-known translator during the 11th to 12th century.

With the sponsorship of the third emperor Kublai Khan of the Yuan Dynasty and the initiation of Dharmapala, the emperor's teacher and a great lama, the engraving project of the Tibetan version Pramanavarttika was launched in Beijing.

It is custom for many Yuan inscriptions in Chinese to be marked as first-class ancient treasures. Yet, this Tibetan version inscription scripture is far more precious than its peers.