2022 Fiscal Year Research-status Report
Philosophical Foundations of the Legal-Political Realm in the Tibeto-sphere
| Project/Area Number |
22K01112
|
|---|
| Research Institution | Kyoto University |
|---|
Principal Investigator |
|
|---|
| Project Period (FY) |
2022-04-01 – 2027-03-31
|
| Keywords | Tibet / Legal Philosophy / Political Philosophy / Buddhism / Himalaya |
|---|
| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
During the last fiscal year, I had the chance to participate in several scholarly events and activities. Namely, I attended the conference of the International Association of Tibetan Studies in Prague (Czech), where I gave a presentation on the external and internal narratives regarding the relationship between Bhutan and the British Empire. I also attended the conference of the International Association of Buddhist Studies in Seoul (Korea), giving a presentation on the socio-political discourses in the Tibetan nitisastra texts. Finally, I had the chance to conduct in-field research in Bhutan, where I also gave academic presentations at the Law School and Center for Bhutanese Studies. Particularly, I could observe and study the legal and political significance of the Punakha Drumchoe.
|
| Current Status of Research Progress |
Current Status of Research Progress
2: Research has progressed on the whole more than it was originally planned.
Reason
This first year of this kakenhi project has also been the first year when research abroad could finally be conducted regularly and smoothly. This has meant that many academic events that where postponed because of the pandemic took place last year and I had the chance to participate in those related to Buddhism, Law & Politics in the Himalayas. I also had the chance to obtain data from in-field research that I am now studying. This relates both to textual data (the legal text or “Chayig” read during the Punakha Drumchoe in Bhutan) as well as anthropological data (the actual practice and rituals performed in the festival), the meaning of which I am currently studying with a Bhutanese anthropologist.
|
| Strategy for Future Research Activity |
Regarding the continuation and future of this line of research, we are currently under negotiations with Kyoto University Press and Asia Pacific to publish a collective volume on the Himalayas (Bhutan, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh), which should appear within the next fiscal year.
I have also been invited as a guest speaker to the next international symposium on Buddhism and Law to be celebrated at the end of September at the University of Buffalo. I will deliver a speech on the separation of Church and State and the basis of legislation in Tibetan Lama Khenpo Tsultrim Lodro.
I am also preparing a future trip to Bhutan to further develop the current research on the legal and political significance of local religious-military festivals.
|
