The Blue Annals (Pt. 1 & 2) [Hardcover]

George N. Roerich (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1996

This book is divided into 15 chapter, each dedicated to the history of a particular school of Tibetan Buddhism. It provides a comparative study of the chronological data given by T'ang annals, blue annals, and Tunhuang chronicles.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 1275 pages
• Publisher: Motilal Banarsidass Pub; 2 edition (December 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 8120804716
• ISBN-13: 978-8120804715
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 1 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #799,106 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars notice re: review of Sept. 13th, 1999, October 30, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Blue Annals (Pt. 1 & 2) (Hardcover)

There are a number of misleading comments in the September 13, 1999 review from "A reader from Southern Vermont." For what it's worth: the *Blue Annals* is, in fact, a fine translation by Mr. Roerich of an extremely important Tibetan historical text by the renowned Tibetan historian `Gos lo-tsaa-ba gZhon-nu-dpal. The Tibetan text translated here is known as the *Deb-ther sngon-po*; it dates from the late 15th century. Roerich's translation is from 1946. I have not examined the 1988 reprint, but if it conforms to the previous edition, there is not (indeed there could not be, given the dates) any information whatsoever about "the Chinese takeover of Tibet, the genocide of the Tibetan people and the attempted eradication of the Buddhist tradition in the 1950's" in this work. For a very detailed (and fortunately still in print) treatment of post-1950 Tibetan history, the reader should see M. Goldstein, *A History of Modern Tibet, 1913-1951 : The Demise of the Lamaist State*.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Oft-cited, classic piece of the Tibetan religious history genre, September 15, 2009

By 

hanyi ishtouk (Budapest, Hungary) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Blue Annals (Pt. 1 & 2) (Hardcover)

also known as 'chöjung' (written form: chos-'byung) among the ecclesiastically educated natives. The usual way of reading from cover to cover is not applicable here, for the simple reason of doing so presupposes a great deal of preliminary familiarity with Tibetan Buddhism and its history. In other words, it works as a primary source for tracing particular lineages of the Nyingma, Kadam, Kagyü, and Sakya sects, with many of their by now extinct branches; abbatial successions; excerpts from the hagiographies of wandering siddhas/druptob-s and yogins/neljorpa-s; related names and places; royal and noble patrons; su(u)tra and tantra transmissions during the later diffusion (phyi-dar, pronounced 'cheedar')and, to some extent, under the early diffusion (snga-dar) of Dharma in Tibet.

The compilation of this treasure trove of primary data came to completion in 1478 at the quill of the "translator from the Gö region, Shönupel"; a fact which naturally implies that the systematic destruction of Tibetan culture by the Chinese lies almost half a millenium beyond the scope of the book. For a much more recent treatment of similar kind, see Dudjom rinpoche's (1904-87) "The Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism: Its Fundamentals and History," (trans. and annot. by Gyurme Dorje & Matthew Kapstein, 1991 Boston) originally in two volumes, but of late reissued in one tome. To researchers: T.V. Wylie's "A Place Name Index to George N. Roerich's Translation of the Blue Annals" (1957 Rome) comes in handy! As for the translator (1902-1960), he was a student of the pioneering French Orientalist Paul Pelliot's. His father, the famous Nicholas Roerich, was a Russian-born painter, Theosophist, traveler, art collector and potential intel gatherer who is also said to have been the "guru" to Vice President Henry Wallace (Secretary of Agriculture, and of Commerce). This latter gentleman is credited with having come up w/ the pyramid and the all-seeing eye (of Horus?) design being visible on back of the US dollar bill.

As a concluding note, the saffron-robed novices/monks, shown on the cover photo while on their daily routine to collect alms, are not Tibetan but hail from some Therava(a)din/Hinaya(a)na country in Southeast Asia.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Awesome book, but..., March 4, 2009

By 

Derik - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Blue Annals (Pt. 1 & 2) (Hardcover)

Its a great book, very very specific and with lots of details on the history and dates. The only recommendation i will give to any possible buyer is: it is NOT a easy book to read, it has many names(of persons and places), many dates, very specific information that if you just are just looking for an overview of the history this is not the book. Besides that, its a great compilation of Buddhist history . Enjoy.