Blue Annals

The Blue Annals (Tibetan: དེབ་ཐེར་སྔོན་པོ, Wylie: deb ther sngon po'') completed in 1476, authored by Gö Lotsāwa Zhönnu Pel (gos lo tsā ba gzhon nu dpal, 1392–1481), is a Tibetan historical survey with a marked 'ecumenical' (Tibetan: Rimé) view, focusing upon the dissemination of various sectarian spiritual traditions throughout Tibet.^[1]

An English translation by George de Roerich with help from Gendun Chöphel was published in 1949 and has since remained one of the most widely consulted sources on the history of Tibetan Buddhism up to the fifteenth century.

The Tibetan & Himalayan Digital Library is working on a new online translation of the Blue Annals^[2].

A similar work from a later period is Thuken Chökyi Nyima's Crystal Mirror of Philosophical Systems (grub mtha' shel gyi me long), completed in 1802. Thuken is more slanted in favor of the Gelug school, but he nonetheless provides broad and useful historical information, relying heavily on the Blue Annals himself. A complete English translation is available January 2009.

Editions

The following modern editions^[3] are in print:

• Chandra, Lokesh (Ed. & Translator)(1974). The Blue Annals. International Academy of Indian Culture, New Delhi. This edition is a reproduction from block prints kept at Dbus gtsang Kun bde gling Monastery, Lhasa. The colophon (Chandra 970; Chengdu 1271; Roerich 1093) was composed by Rta tshag 8 Ye shes blo bzang bstan pa’i mgon po (1760–1810).
• Chengdu (Si khron mi rigs dpe skrun khang) (1984). deb ther sngon po. Two volumes, paginated continuously. According to Martin (1997), this modern edition is based upon the Kun bde gling blockprint, and collated with the edition of Dga’ ldan chos ‘khor gling Monastery, Amdo.
• Roerich, George N. and Gedun Choepel (Translator) (1988). The Blue Annals by Gö Lotsawa. Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, 1976, Reprint in 1979. [reprint of Calcutta, Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1949, in two volumes].

Notes

References

• Martin, Dan (1997). Tibetan Histories: A Bibliography of Tibetan-Language Historical Works. London.