420 klaus sagaster
not only bring their theological knowledge back to Mongolia, but also
artistic knowledge and abilities. In this way, especially the Labrang
monastery instigated the development of a peculiar Mongolian style
of painting and sculpture. The architectural form of the monasteries
was certainly very much in uenced by Chinese architecture.^174
Buddhist scholarship was by no means a one-way track from Tibet to
Mongolia. Mongolian scholars on their part made a great contribution
to the spiritual culture of Tibet, be it as theologians or as historians.
In this respect, Sum-pa mKhan-po Ye-shes-dpal-’byor (1704–1788), a
high Lama from the Kukunor area, e.g., wrote a famous work about
the history of Buddhism in India, Tibet, China and Mongolia.^175 One
of the most important Tibetan-speaking logicians was Blo-bzang-rta-
mgrin, also called rTsa-ba rTa-mgrin (Zava Damdin) (1864–1937) from
the Qalqa territory. He is also the author of a history of Buddhism in
Mongolia.^176 The Mongolian disciples of Tibetans very soon became
masters themselves.^177
- dGe-lugs-pa Buddhism as the Religion of the
Common People in Mongolia
Also in Mongolia, dGe-lugs-pa Buddhism was already at a very early
date not only the religion of monks and nobility, but increasingly also
the religion of the common people. By performing their rituals, monks
provided protection against the dangers of every-day life. At the same
time, they also contributed to the moral education of the people by
urging them to obey the ten precepts so as to ensure themselves of a
better existence, and, eventually, to attain buddhahood. Proof for this
is seen in the manuscript discoveries of Olon Süme and Kharbukhyn
Balgas. They show that already at the end of the sixteenth century the
same texts were used in both Inner and Outer Mongolia. These texts
de nitely were used for the religious welfare of the lay community. The
(^174) See, e.g., Pozdneyev 1978, p. 67; Majdar 1972, pp. 20–42; Majdar & Pjurveev
1980, pp. 50–123.
(^175) dPag-bsam ljon-bzang, “The Wishing Tree”, completed in 1748. About the author
and his work see Vostrikov 1970 and Pubaev 1981. Sum-pa mKhan-po also composed
a History of Kukunor, mTsho-sngon-gyi lo-rgyus, published and translated in Yang 1969,
pp. 4–5, with chronological data on his life.
(^176) “The Golden Book” (gSer-gyi deb-ther), edited in Lokesh Chandra 1964. On his
work and life, see Lokesh Chandra, pp. v–vii.
(^177) A Catalogue of Tibetan works written by Mongolian authors is Bjambaa 2004.
For historical works in particular, see Bira 1970.