An Enigma of Tibetan Leu (le’u): Ritual, Ritual Lore, and Divinities of Foetus

Result code in IS VaVaI
<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F00216208%3A11210%2F25%3A10501401" target="_blank" >RIV/00216208:11210/25:10501401 - isvavai.cz</a>
Result on the web
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DOI - Digital Object Identifier
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Result language
angličtina
Original language name
An Enigma of Tibetan Leu (le’u): Ritual, Ritual Lore, and Divinities of Foetus
Original language description
The paper attempts to contribute to better understanding the rather enigmatic term leu (le'u) that figures in Buddhist chronicles, Bonpo literature, and is known locally in the region of eastern Bhutan and in the Minshan mountain range in the northeast of the Tibetan Plateau. It appears as a designation of certain non-Buddhist lore, rituals, texts, and ritual specialists, but it is argued here that it was commonly associated with certain divinities in early sources. The first part of the paper reiterates the existing research on the topic published by R. A. Stein, Ngawang Gyatso, and Toni Huber. This is followed by the second part, where examples of mentions of certain leu or legu (le gu) in the Bonpo texts dated mostly from between the 12th and 14th centuries will be presented. The conclusion then offers a hypothesis concerning the connection of leu divinities with human foetus and fertility, and identification of them with nyen (gnyan) and lu (klu) spirits based on both texts and anthropological data from the north-eastern part of the Tibetan Plateau. Part of this paper was originally presented at a conference held at Tsinghua University in 2021 entitled "Buddhist and Eurasian Philology in Memoriam of Professor Tschen Yin-Koh."
Czech name
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Czech description
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Project
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Continuities
I - Institucionalni podpora na dlouhodoby koncepcni rozvoj vyzkumne organizace

Publication year
2025
Confidentiality
S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Article name in the collection
BUGU-BUJIN-BUZHONG-BUXI ZHI XUE： JINIAN CHENYINKE XIYU YU FOJIAO YUWENXUE YANJIU WENJI/ Learning that is neither modern nor ancient, neither Chinese nor Western: Collection of reaserch papers in memoriam of professor Tschen YIn-Koh
ISBN
978-7-5475-2397-1
ISSN
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e-ISSN
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Number of pages
26
Pages from-to
357-382
Publisher name
Zhongshu, Shanghai Century Publishing Group
Place of publication
Shanghai
Event location
Peking, Tsinghua University
Event date
Oct 15, 2021
Type of event by nationality
WRD - Celosvětová akce
UT code for WoS article
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