Tibetan astronomy is a living form of traditional astronomy, and is the basis of the Tibetan calendar which is used in Tibet and in Tibetan communities in India, and other places in the world.
There are four branches of Tibetan astronomical science (rtsis). The most important branch is skar-rtsis (star calculation) which is based on the Kālacakra astronomy of India. Another branch is dbyaṅs-‘char which is based on Indian divination, svarodaya. Another is nag-rtsis (black calculation), based on Chinese astrology and natural philosophy, and the last branch is rgya-rtsis (Chinese calculation), based on the Shixian calendar of China.
Indo-Tibetan Astronomy
The Tibetan Tripitaka is a collection of Tibetan translations of Buddhist works, some of which include astronomical information. There is a Tibetan translation of the Śārdūlakarṇa-avadāna, which is a Buddhist work in which early Indian astronomy and astrology of the Vedāṅga period, the post-Vedic period before Greek influence, are...
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References
Primary Sources: Tibetan Translations of Sanskrit Texts
Raghu, V., & Chandra, L. (Eds.) (1966). Kālacakratantra and other texts, Part 1, (Śaṭa-piṭaka Series, Vol. 69). New Delhi, India: International Academy of Indian Culture. (This book includes Sanskrit, Tibetan, and Mongolian texts of the Kālacakra-tantra.)
Tibetan Tripitaka. (1955–1961). Peking edition, Reprint, Vol. 168. Tokyo-Kyoto: Tibetan Tripitaka Research Institute (The Kālacakra-tantra is in Vol. 1, (text no.4). The Vimalaprabhā is in Vol. 46 (text no. 2064)).
Primary Sources: Tibetan Classical Texts
Bu-ston Rin-chen-grub. (1987). rTsis-kyi bstan-bcos mkhas-pa dga’-byed. Xizang, China: Xizang renmin chubanshe.
Bu-ston Rin-chen-grub. (1992). Bu-ston skar-rtsis phyogs-bsgrigs. Lanzhou, China: Gansu minzu chubanshe.
Chandra, L. (Ed.). (1965). The collected works of Bu-ston, part 1. New Delhi, India: International Academy of Indian Culture.
Dharma-śrī. (1983). rTsis-kyi man-ṅag ñin-byed snaṅ-ba’i rnam-‘grel gser-gyi śiṅ-rta. Xizang, China: Xizang renmin chubanshe.
Dharma-śrī. (1990). rTsis-kyi man-ṅag ñin-mor byed-pa’i snaṅ-ba. Xizang, China: Xizang renmin chubanshe.
Karma Ṅes-legs-bstan-‘dzin. (1977). rTsis-kyi lag-len ñer-mkho’i bum-bzaṅ. New Delhi, India: T.G. Dhongthog Rinpoche.
mKhyen-rab-nor-bu. (1976). rTsis-kyi man-ṅag rigs-ldan sñiṅ-thig. Leh, India: O-rgyan-rnam-rgyal.
Saṅs-rgyas-rgya-mtsho. (1971). Vaiḍūrya-g. ya’-sel (Vol. 2). New Delhi, India: T. Tsepal Taikhang.
Saṅs-rgyas-rgya-mtsho. (1978). Baiḍūr-dkar-po (Vol. 2). Dehra Dun, India: Sakya Centre.
sMin-gliṅ Lo-chen Chos-dpal. (1968). ‘Byuṅ-rtsis man-ṅag zla-ba’i od-zer. Dharamsala, India: Bod-gźuṅ chos-don lhan-khaṅ.
sMiṅ-gliṅ Lo-chen Dharmaśrī. (1976). rTsis-kyi man-ṅag ñin-mor byed-pa’i snaṅ-ba. Leh, India: Dondup Tashi.
Primary Sources: Tibetan Modern Texts
Bod-ljoṅs groṅ-khyer lHa-sa sman-rtsis-khaṅ-gi Bod-gi lo-tho rtsom-sgrig-khaṅ. (1978). Bod-ljoṅs skar-rtsis gnam-rig-gi dus-rtags gnam-dpyad. Xizang, China: Xizang renmin chubanshe.
bSam-‘grub-rgya-mtsho. (1990). sKar-rtsis kun-‘dus nor-bu (Vol. 2). Qing-hai, China: Zhongguo zangxue chubanshe.
Tshe-tan-źabs-druṅ. (1980). rGya-rtsis-gi-don. Lanzhou, China: Gansu minzu chubanshe.
Tshe-tan-źabs-druṅ. (1985). Mi’u-thuṅ sgyu-ma’i gom-‘gros. Xining, China: Qinghai minzu chubanshe.
Secondary Sources
Huang, M. (2002). Xizang de tianwen lisuan (the astronomical calendar of Tibet, in Chinese). Xining, China: Qinghai renmin chubanshe.
Huang, M., & Chen, J. (1987). Tibetan title: Bod-kyi rtsis-rig-gi go-don daṅ lag-len. Chinese title: Zangli de yuanli yu shijian. (The principle and practice of Tibetan calendar, in Tibetan and Chinese). Beijing, China: Minzu chubanshe.
Ōhashi, Y. (1986). Putun no tenmon-rekihō. (Mathematical astronomy of Bu-ston, in Japanese). In Yamaguchi Zuiho (Ed.), Chibetto no Bukkyō to Shakai (pp. 629–646). Tokyo: Shunjusha.
Ōhashi, Y. (2000). Remarks on the origin of Indo-Tibetan astronomy. In H. Selin (Ed.), Astronomy across cultures (pp. 341–369). Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Kluwer.
Petri, W. (1968). Tibetan astronomy. Vistas in Astronomy, 9, 159–164.
Schuh, D. (1973). Untersuchungen zur Geschichte der Tibetischen Kalenderrechnung. Wiesbaden, Germany: Franz Steiner Verlag.
Tshul-khrims-chos-sbyor. (1983). sKar-nag-rtsis-kyi lo-rgyus phyogs-bsdud mu-tig phreṅ-ba (A concise history of skar-rtsis and nag-rtsis, in Tibetan). Lhasa, China: Xizang-renmin-chubanshe.
Yamaguchi, Z. (1973). Chibetto no rekigaku (Tibetan calendrical science, in Japanese). Suzuki gakujutsu zaidan kenkyu nenpo, 10, 77–94.
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Ōhashi, Y. (2016). Astronomy in Tibet. In: Selin, H. (eds) Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7747-7_8460
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