TI B E TA N B U DD H I S T I M A G E S : C U LT U RAL I N T E RA C TIO N B E T W E E N TI B E T, E A S T A N D C E N TRAL A S IA – TAASA Review December 2013

Zhang Jianlin, based on his presentation translated by Adjunct Professor Daniel Kane I n the early 7th century, in the central regions of the Tibet Plateau, the Sing-porje tribe expanded from its territory in the Yarlung river valley, conquered other tribes in central and south Tibet, and established a centralised monarchy known as Tubo or Tufan.

Over the next two centuries, the Tubo conquered the Zhangzhung, Supi and Tuhuyun, in the north and the west, gradually occupying a large area of Central Asia right up to the borders of the Tang Empire. Simultaneously, there were frequent cultural exchanges between the Tubo, the Tang empire and Central Asia.

Since the 1980s, in the Qinghai-Tibet plateau, many rock carvings, murals, and painted coffin panels have been discovered including a considerable number of Buddhist statues...