Tibetan and Himalayan Library - THL

Editions of the Tengyur

The history of the Tengyur has received far less study than that of the Kangyur. It appears that there is much greater uniformity among Tengyur editions than those of the Kangyur, though further study may reveal more variations than expected. At this point it is apparent that the five extant Tengyurs can be divided into two groups: the Peking, Golden, and Narthang (sṇar thang) Tengyurs in one group and the Derge (sḍe dge) and Cone (Co ne) Tengyurs in a second group.

Of the total of five Tengyurs, all of which are printed xylograph collections, four have been cataloged and are included in the database work that is the basis of the Tibetan Buddhist Canonical Collections Project, namely the Peking, Cone, Derge, and Narthang. 4,093 Tengyur texts with 162,000 pages have been identified in the “Combined Tengyur” portion of the database. The Combined Tengyur thus has 3.5 times the number of texts and 2.3 times the number of pages than in the “Combined Kangyur.”

Descriptions of Extant Tengyur Editions

The field of the canonical study of the Kangyurs and Tengyurs is undergoing rapid growth. It is quite likely that additional collections, especially Kangyurs, will come to light and that the historical links between the collections will become ever clearer. With the rapid growth in the field, is has not been uncommon that some previous interpretations of the relationships between the collections have had to be refined. At present there is no single work that definitively settles the matter of the relationships between the extant collections and their likely or possible relationships to lost collections. The summary of the extant Tengyurs that follows here endeavors to summarize the findings of many scholars with the knowledge that their will likely be changes to be made in some of the details.

The Tengyurs will be divided into two groups of related Tengyurs:

1. The Peking, Golden, and Narthang Tengyurs
2. The Derge and Cone Tengyurs

Within these categories, individual Tengyurs are generally arranged chronologically based on their dates of completion, if known. The sigla for each Tengyur will be given first, followed by a description of the collection in question. The sigla used for the different Tengyur editions in the Tibetan Buddhist Canonical Collections will follow the proposal set forth in Paul Harrison and Helmut Eimer’s “Kangyur and Tengyur Sigla: A Proposal for Standardization.” In addition, as there will be recurring references to the The Nyingma Edition of the Derge Kangyur and Tengyur and this collection was not included in the standardized sigla list, the project will utilize the sigla “NE” for it. Note that in the list that follows, the symbol “#” indicates that the University of Virginia and/or Naropa University have the texts of these Tengyurs.

The Peking, Golden, & Narthang Tengyurs

Q #: Peking xylograph impression of Tengyur prepared in 1724 under the Kangxi emperor, with 224 +1 volumes. This Tengyur is related to the Narthang and Golden Tengyurs rather than to the Derge and Cone Tengyurs, which followed it. The modern photographic Otani reprint of both the Kangyur and Tengyur form 1955-58 is somewhat widely available. There is also a partial 1977 Tengyur from the University of Tokyo that includes the dBu ma, Sems tsam, and Tshad ma sections, a copy of which is also held by the University of Virginia, as are copies of the Otani Kangyur and Tengyur.

G #: Ganden (dga’ ldan) or “Golden Manuscript” Tengyur from Central Tibet, 1731-1741. Reprinted by Chinese Nationality Library in Beijing, 1988. Related to the Narthang and Peking Tengyurs rather than to the Derge and Cone Tengyurs. Not widely available yet. This is the only extant manuscript copy of the Tengyur.

N #: The Narthang Tengyur is from 1741-1742 with 223 volumes with a supplementary mdo (sūtra) volume “Ki” added after 1763. It was created after the Narthang Kangyur of 1730-32 with 100 + 1 volumes. The Tengyur is related to the Peking and Golden Tengyurs rather than to the Derge and Cone Tengyurs. The Narthang Tengyur and Kangyur are widely available.

The Derge & Cone Tengyurs

D #: The Derge Tengyur is from 1737-1744 with 212 + 1 volumes. It was created after the Derge Kangyur of 1733 with 102 + 1 volumes. The Tengyur is related to the Cone Tengyur rather than to the Peking, Narthang, and Golden Tengyurs. It was reprinted in New Delhi in 1982 in 215 volumes. Derge Tengyurs are widely available like the Derge Kangyurs, but to a lesser degree. There is also apparently an unfinished Urga Tengyur from 1937. The Urga Kangyur is based on the Derge Kangyur, but information on the basis of the Urga Tengyur is, to our knowledge, not available. There is also apparently an unfinished Wara Tengyur from 1945 for which the basis is also unclear.

C #: Cone xylograph Tengyur (and Kangyur). The Tengyur is dated 1753-1773 with 209 volumes, which is after the Cone Kangyur of 1721-1731 in 108 volumes. Tengyur related to the Derge Tengyur rather than to the Peking, Narthang, and Golden Tengyurs. The Cone Tengyur and Kangyur are relatively rare. The University of Virginia has the texts for the Tengyur only. The Library of Congress has the Kangyur texts.