20-24 septembrie 2009 - Biblioteca Metropolitana Bucuresti

On the symbolism of the Tibetan bookKlaus SagasterUniversity of Bonn –BonnObviously, not everybody will know how a traditional Tibetan booklooks like, so let me first give you a short description of its form, whichderives from that of the traditional Indian book (Sanskrit pustaka, NewIndian pothī).The Tibetan book (dpe-cha/ phyags-dpe, glegs-bam) (Fig. 1, Fig. 2)consists of loose leaves, mostly paper leaves, which are placed betweentwo wooden covers and then wrapped in cloth, usually of yellow colour.The bundle is normally bound together with fabric ribbons, but sometimesalso with leather straps. The books are kept on a table or in a closed or openbookcase. 1Fig. 11For a traditional Tibetan description (in Tibetan and Mongolian) of the form of theTibetan (and Mongolian) book and of the shape of the library see Klaus Sagaster, ”Zumtibetisch-mongolischen Buch- und Bibliothekswesen”, in Aspects of Altaic Civilization,ed. Denis Sinor, Bloomington (Ind.) 1963, 123-136. Cf. also the beautiful exhibitioncatalogue Tibetische Buchdeckel, 1991, Text by Günter Grönbold, München, 9-11.