The Blue Annals (In Two Parts)

The Blue Annals is a landmark in the historical literature of Tibet composed by a well-known scholar and translator Gos lo-tsa-ba-gZon-nu dpal (1392-1481 A.D.). It is the main source of information for all later historical compilations in the "Land of Snows". This work is invaluable inasmuch as it establishes a firm chronology of events of Tibetan history and works out in detail the list of the names of famous religious teachers and their spiritual lineage.

The work is divided into fifteen chapters, each dedicated to the history of a particular school or sect of Tibetan Buddhism. It provides a comparative study of the chronological data given by T'ang Annals, Blue Annals, and Tunhuang chronicles. The Blue Annals appear to be a faithful reproduction of the list given in the T'ang Annals with minor differences. The book concludes with the portrayal of the origin, etc. of the communities of the four schools. It contains indexes for Sutras and Sastras, Personal Names and Book Titles and Personal Names (Tibetan), etc.

Introduction

1. The Beginning of the Story of the Doctrine - The Royal Chronicle. - The Period of the Early Spread of the Doctrine.

    

2. Later Spread of the Doctrine The Story of the Beginning of the Period of the Later Spread of the Doctrine

    

3. The Early Translation of the Mantrayana Tantras.

    

4. The New Tantras (gsan-snags gsar-ma) and the Followers of the "Path and Fruit" (Lam'Bras) Doctrine

    

5. The Venerable Lord (jo-bo-rje, Atisa) and his spiritual Lineage

    

6. rNog lo-tsa-ba, Pa-tshab lo-tsa-ba and their Lineage. The Origin (of the teaching) of the Madhyamika, the Nyaya and the "Five Treatises" of Maitreya-Asanga

    

7. The Preaching of the Tantras

8. The spiritual Lineage of the Lord Translator Mar-pa which was known as Dwags-po bKabrgyud

    

9. The book on Ko-brag-pa and Ni-gu

    

10. The Kalacakra

     

11. The Mahamudra

     

12. The Early, Later and Intermediate Lineages of zi-byed

     

13. The (system) of God-yul and Kha-rag-pa

     

14. The Cycle of the Mahakaruniya and that of the Vajravali

     

15. The origin of religious schools such as the four Tshogssde, and others, Queries and replies (concerning the "Blue Annals", zu-lan). The story of the printing of this edition

Sutras & Sastras (Sanskrit)

Personal Names (Sanskrit)

Book Titles (Tibetan)

Personal Names (Tibetan)

Chinese Names

Mongol Names

List of Errata