Speaker: Karl Debreczeny (Rubin Museum of Art)
Tibetan Buddhism’s dynamic political role in the courts of Northern Asia was a major catalyst in moving it beyond Tibet’s borders. Even after the collapse of the Mongol Empire, ca 1368, and the Chinese reclaimed their land establishing the Ming dynasty, the Chinese court followed Mongol precedents and Tibetan Buddhism continued as a faith of the powerful within the inner court. A number of objects and commissions reveal that engagement with Tibetan Buddhism became a defining aspect of imperial identity for the first half of the Ming. Thus a great deal of Tibetan Buddhist art was created in the Ming imperial workshops, both for internal court use and as part of complex diplomatic exchanges with Tibetan hierarchs, a projection of what we might call today “soft power.” However, if one looks closely at the context of these courtly gifts, one often finds the underlying meaning and intent was still as much about the Ming emperor as their Tibetan recipients.
This event is hosted by the Société Française d'Etudes du Monde Tibétain. For more information, click here.