The Tibetans / Matthew Kapstein.

Cover
Title Page
Contents
List of Figures
List of Maps
Preface
Acknowledgments
A Note on Transcription and Translation
1 The Vessel and Its Contents
High Peaks, Pure Earth
Peasants, Nomads, and Traders
The Tibetan Language
2 Prehistory and Early Legends
Sources of Archeological Evidence
Children of the Ape and the Ogress
Tibetan Religion before Buddhism
3 The Tsenpo�s Imperial Dominion
The Rise of the Tibetan Empire
Later Monarchs and the Promotion of Buddhism
The Empire�s Implosion 4 Fragmentation and Hegemonic Power Dynastic Successors and the Kingdom of Gugé
The Buddhist Renaissance
Mongols and Tibetan Buddhists
Successive Hegemonies
Tibetan Buddhism and the Ming Court
5 The Rule of the Dalai Lamas
Monastics and Monarchs
Between Mongols and Manchus
Regency and Retreat
Cultural Developments in Eastern Tibet
The Life and Times of the Great Thirteenth
6 Tibetan Society
Property, Economy, and Social Class
Government and Law
Marriage and Kinship
Women in Traditional Tibet 7 Religious Life and Thought Propitiation, Therapy, and the Life-cycle
Buddhist Basics
Monastic Institutions and Education
Tantrism and Yoga
Major Orders and Schools
Festivals, Pilgrimages, and Ritual Cycles
8 The Sites of Knowledge
The Speech-Goddess�s Mirror
To Form Body, Speech, and Mind
Medicine, Astronomy, and the Divinatory Sciences
9 Tibet in the Modern World
The End of Traditional Tibet
Rebellion and Exile
The Promise and Peril of Century�s End
Notes
Spellings of Tibetan Names and Terms

In the past, for largely geographical reasons, Tibet was isolated from the rest of the world, which meant that our country, people and culture were not only shrouded in mystery, but often gravely misunderstood. More recently, as interest has grown, scholarship concerning Tibet has improved beyond expectation, although it has often singled out narrow topics for consideration.